Day 34- Flying off to Singapore!

I enjoyed my last sleep in Wuhan :)

Woke up at about 6.35am, washed up and Rani went to dou lou jie to help me buy porridge for breakfast. Thanks Rani! :)

After that, we (my roomates and I) were rushing like mad! There were so many more things to pack and so much rubbish to throw! :O When I went to the ground floor, it was like a mini smelly mountain! Piles and piles of rubbish! Hahaha..

Finally, we made it at 8am :)

Look at all the luggages and bags!

And Yuan Yuan, Xing Xing, Betty and a few other China students also came to our dorm to help us out and to bid farewell to us! How sweet of them..

Our gate: B01

Carol and YF at the airport slacking:)

In the aeroplane

Bye Bye Wuhan!

See that? CZ351 Singapore! My flight! :)

Honestly, this is my first time I've seen someone sleeping with the jacket over the head.

So the whole plane ride was Wuhan to Guangzhou then to Singapore. And I left my ipod pouch at the Guangzhou airport. Hehe.. Luckily, it was a cheap one.

Finally touched down at 10.05pm and some of the students were singing the song 'Home' in the aeroplane. Hahaha...

After getting back our luggages, we met Dr Lau and our families. Oh, it feels so good to be back home :) Finally.

Reflection

This whole 5 weeks in wuhan has been an unforgettable experience. Firstly, being away in a foreign land without our families made us more independent. And we've also learnt many things. Secondly, we made many wonderful friends and I don't just refer to the China friends we've made but also Singapore friends like those who were not in my class and some of the MDE students. These friendships are so special because we've been through so many experiences together and we learn so many things together! As for the China friends, I really want to thank them because despite their busy schedule, they set aside some time to bring us out to the city and try out the local food, to shop and constantly showing us care and concern to make us feel welcomed and at home. I also want to thank the teachers who were with us: Dr Lau and Mr Imran. You all are always looking out for us, making sure we're safe and sound. It must had been a really tough job taking care of all 20 of us. Lastly, this whole learning experience had been an enriching one and after spending 5 weeks here, I feel so attached to the place and culture. It's sad to leave Wuhan. However, all these memories will be etched in my mind. For sure.

The End

Day 33- Last Day for Shopping!

Today is the second last day so what do we do? Shop and Eat!!! :D

Went to the dou lou jie to buy breakfast and after breakfast, Letty, Melissa, Kimberley and I sneaked into Eddy's room (with the help of Dion) to take revenge! Muahahaha..Because Eddy scared the 3 of them before on one of the nights so they had been planning how to take revenge. Hehe.. As for me, I'm the kay poh one :) So this is the plan: While Eddy is sleeping, we would use eyeliner and marker to draw on Eddy's face. However, Kimberley was in a laughing fit so I helped her draw a heart shape on Eddy's face. I, myself had a hard time trying to control my laughter while drawing on Eddy's face. Hahaha... then Kimberley and I played tic tac toe on Eddy's hand. Hehehe.. Ok, while I was drawing something on Eddy's face, he suddenly opened his eyes sooo big and shouted," BOO!!!" Kimberley and I screamed!!! Then, we kept laughing and laughing! I was curious to find out when he woke up and he said about 5 mins ago! My goodness! How did he control his laughter?!

Then at about 12 plus, I went out with Faith, Pei Wen, Letty, Kimberley and Melissa to shop! But in the end, I didn't buy anything :( As for Kimberley, she's the bargain queen!!! I'm sooooo surprised! She could bargain from 160 plus to 60 yuan!! Amazing.

At about 4 plus, we tried to hail a taxi but it was the peak period and we were at the town area so it was difficult to catch one. End up, we walked further down the street to a bus stop and we called Betty to ask her what bus to take. Finally, we took 588 and I experienced the pushing of the China people! It was soooo packed inside the bus!

At last, we reached the bus stop and we bought bread from the bakery. My last bo luo bao. Following that, I bought the dessert from the soup stall and we then made our way back to dorm.

For my last dinner in Wuhan, we (my classmates, Kimberley, Melissa and Letty) went to dou lou jie again to buy all the special, favourite food we can buy/ find :D We even took photos of our favourite stalls! Hahaha.. I bought my fav lemon waffle, tang bao, and chicken on stick :D Plus brick milk ice-cream from the provision shop :) We even told the tang bao uncle that we'll be leaving tomorrow morning at 8am and he said he'll purposely open the stall at 6am for us to have tang bao for breakfast :D Whoa, so happy! :)

Went back dorm and started to pack my stuff and I even used a hair dryer to dry my clothes :P

Following that, we had mutton at 12am! Guess what? Dion, Carol, Eddy and Mr Imran bought 160 mutton sticks!!! :O Oh my! How to finish??? Hahaha... But we had lots of fun in Dion and Eddy's room :)

Oh well, I'll be waking up at about 6 plus am.. It's so sad that we'll be leaving Wuhan. I'm surprised to say this but, I think I'll miss my dorm :( The thing I miss most will be the China friends I've made here :( But a comforting thought will be that they'll be coming to Singapore next year :)

Day 32- Shopping and Farewell Dinner

Today is shopping time!! Was supposed to get shoes for Kor but because don't have his size and colour he wants, I ended up buying shoes for myself. Geena, Jas Min, Rani, Hana and Melissa did their manicure which was super cheap! The service was great and they really like them :)

At about 5.45pm, we met the others to go for buffet with the MDE students and China students.

The place is called: Golden Hans and it was really big!

Btw, while we were eating, I saw a fat guy seated inside and he's half naked! My gosh! We were all so shocked to see this in a relatively high class restaurant!

The singer

What?! So many glasses of beer?! Look at Geena's facial expression!

LSCT group photo!

Whoa! I see lesbian activity here..

Betty, Yuan Yuan and me :)

Betty, Yuan Yuan, me, Yan Fang and Cindy. (And a whole lot of leftovers..btw, this is not my table)

Xing Xing and I :)



Whoa! Kimberley still can eat some more ah!

Letty, Maqqie and I :)

Awesome friends! :D (Cindy, Yan Fang, Letty, me, Rani and Hana)

Jump shot! Althea showing her legs! And this is the first time the china students take a jump shot so they were quite excited! :D

After the photo-taking, it was time for appreciation! So we presented to the china students our letters and a Singapore keychain :) Hope they like it :D

This is the china class monitor. He gave a thank you speech :)

Mr Chia also gave a word of appreciation

After we left the restaurant, we took more jump shots with the China students and it was super fun!!!

So, we started to make our way when it was close to 10pm. It was pretty hard to get a taxi but we finally got onto one ;)

Reflection

Today is once again one of the best nights in Wuhan. We had so much more fun and interaction with the China students and I also found out that they would be going to Singapore as well! So, when they come, it will be our turn to bring them around! I'll be so looking forward to that time! The whole trip with them had been enjoyable and I love the concern and hospitality that they've shown to us. It wasn't something I expected when I came to China! So this had been a pleasant surprise! I'm very delighted I had forged wonderful friendships here in Wuhan.

Day 31- Common Test

I was the only one still sleeping in the morning when YF and Carol have already woken up to study for common test :P

We had our common test from 9.30am to 11.00am.

And after that, YF, Geena, Kimberley, Faith and Pei Wen did their hair for like super duper long!

When they came back at about 6 plus, all of us were in shock! Geena and YF looked so mature after their perm! Hahaha.. but not too bad lah :)

After they settled down, we went to the night market in the cold and wet weather. But the night market also nothing much to buy. Surprisingly, I saw the same bag as I bought from taobao! They were selling it at 59 yuan when I bought mine for 39 yuan.. Hahaha.. But they had the colour that Rani wanted (which was out of stock online) Oh well, I think she's happy with the colour she bought :)

After night market, we went to the street behind our dorm to buy supper. I bought the chicken on stick (Like an extented version of satay but don't taste like satay) and lemon flavoured waffle-- whoa, super nice :D [shiok ah!!]

Day 30- Study for Common Test

Yes, I spent my 30th day in Wuhan studying for common test. Study, study, study, study, study... it goes on and on and on... Conclusion: Never ever cram Biology facts into your brain within 1 day (although I did that for O's prelims :P Haha)



While studying halfway, YF and I suddenly crave for ice-cream despite the freezing weather out there! So, we went to the provision shop downstairs and buy one small tub of ice-cream. Hahaha.. It seems that for the past few days, the weather here has been really cold and rainy. I could even see my own breath when I speak :) And when we go out to get stuff, we only wear 1 T-shirt, 1 jacket, shorts and slippers. Haha..We always stand out from the China students :) Sometimes, we could see people looking at us, as if they're thinking, are they mad? Aren't they feeling cold?

No doubt, we're champions! :D

Day 29- Cultural Performance Preparation and Cultural Performance

Met the class at 10.20am today to prepare for the cultural performance which starts at 7pm. We were quite sian (non-dance people) but towards the end, was quite pressurised because of the lack of time. Anyway, at about 6pm plus, we left the classroom for the lecture theatre where we'll be performing. (It was really really small!)



Sweets and snacks were provided on the table. Hehehe :)

Yan Fang, Cindy and Kimberley

The China students

First presentation put up by the MDE students

They are wearing ethnic costumes

One of the first few performances put up by the China students

Presentation by MDE

Gassing-- a game China and Singapore students played

Performance by China students

A China student who could sing pretty well

One of my favourite performance put up by the MDE students-- a shadow puppet show :)

And of course, our very own LSCT performance! Main characters are Hana and Eddy

Yan fang, the taxi driver

We thought our performance was quite good :D although we didn't have much time to prepare

A dance by the China students

Remember the Xie Shao Guang show?? Yes, the MDE guys sang this song! :D Miss the show so much!! (The actor above is not Xie Shao Guang though. Haha)

Song and dance by MDE students

A combined performance by MDE students

The whole performance ended at about 9 plus, close to 10 and after that, we went back to our classroom to put back the tables and watched the video of us performing. Awesome :)

Reflection

Tonight had been one of the most nervous yet exciting nights ever in Wuhan! Nervous because all of us were afraid we would screw up the performance. Exciting because there were so many performances put up by the China and MDE students. We definitely had lots of fun today. No doubt, it had been really tiring practising and spending almost the whole day in class but the result was really rewarding.

Regarding the performance we put up, it's about this foreign exchange student from America who came to Ngee Ann and experience school life and Singapore's lifestyle and culture. We actually showed the China students many things about Singapore such as the over-usage of acronyms, the ERP system, choping place with tissues or umbrellas, NDP, and many more! I was glad to hear that Betty (A China student) was able to understand the skit and many of them enjoyed it!

As for the MDE students performance, I thought it was good too because they covered a more wide variety of topics such as races in Singapore, cultural games, history of Singapore and many others. I thought they were actually quite well prepared and they were very organised.
Now, for the China students' performance, I thought they were very entertaining becuase some of the skits were really amusing although some of us couldn't catch the jokes but overall, they put up many performances and we really enjoyed ourselves. However, I thought they could put up more performances regarding the school life here in China or their China culture. I think that would be even better! But I still love what they had prepared for us!

Overall, I thought tonight was wonderful!

Day 27- Hike up Wudang Mountain

After a good night rest, it's time to conquer Wudang Mountain!



We endured the 1 hour winding journey up to the base of the mountain.



When we reached there, we were freezing but, when we started to hike up, homeostasis takes place.

At the base of the mountain

Stairs, stairs and more stairs

We climbed and climbed and climbed and climbed... My body is telling me: Sarah, noooo.... But, my mind is telling me: Keep going! This is so much like running.

While I was climbing up, I'm reminded of Daddy because I bet if he was there, this climb would be an easy one for him ( I guess) since he always conditions himself to this kind of high endurance situations when running. And if he was there, I'll make it a point to keep to his pace just like what I do if I ever run with him (which is so rare and if it ever happens, I always can't catch up with him :( ) . I suddenly just miss him and all the jokes and how he always teases mummy.

We've reached about 3/4 of the climb (I think) See the locks at the foreground of this pic? Those are the love locks.

More stairs to climb. We're almost reaching!

Towards the end, the steps become really steep and we had to be really careful because it was raining so the steps were slippery

Finally, we reached the peak of Mt Wudang!! :D

Nice pic? I cope from Geena because my hands were cold, numb and too painful to even take out my cam. The following pics are from Geena's cam.

Yan Fang, Me and Letty

My hair was so wet because of the rain and it's freezing up at the peak because of the howling wind.

You see that? The Golden Summit.

Walking down the stairs was not as tiring but I could still feel my legs wobbling and my knee caps and muscles aching.. Old liao..

After a total of 5 hours, we reached back to the base of the mountain. And guess what? Rani, Hana, Jasmin, Letty and I all bought ice-cream despite the cold weather! I shared my ice-cream with Letty. Seriously, ice-cream had never tasted that good :D Now I know why the stall holders sellice-cream there. Hahaha..

After the climb, we needed a good lunch. So we had lunch in a hotel restaurant.

Soon, we set off to our bus where we will be heading back to our dorm. Yay.

My shoes were wet and so were my socks.. kinda gross when you have to endure that for a 5 hour bus ride.

Finally, it's Dorm Sweet Dorm. And we had Mcdelivery for dinner :)

Reflection

I felt that the climb was a real challenge. It not only test our physical capability but also how perservering our powerful mind is. Despite all the body aches and discomfort, we need to press on in order to reach the peak. I personally felt it was a great experience as we put our mind to the test and when we reached our goal, it feels like an achievement.

As I was climbing up the stairs, I saw hard labour. Why? Becuase I saw how an elderly man slowly, carefully and maybe even painfully climb up the stairs with a heavy load of about 100kg on his shoulders. My heart goes out to him. In order to earn a living, he needs to climb the stairs to deliver the goods. And not only that, on our way down, I saw him carrying another load. This time he was carrying gas canisters. This is so unbelievable! Even youngsters like us won't be able to climb the stairs twice in a day. What more to say for an elderly man? This really makes me appreciate the life I have and how much easier it is to earn a living in Singapore (rather than a physically challenging job) We must learn to cherish what we have and stop complaining.

Another scenario is when an old lady would press on to climb up the stairs with a heavy load to pray in the temple at the top. These people are so religious and they would rather be physically tired and worn-out then to not pray to their god(s).

I've learnt a lot throughout this climb today.