Day 11- Yangtze River Cruise

Today is the first day of the Yangtze River Cruise. Was quite excited initially because there won't be lessons for 3 whole days. Haha.. Anyway, we gathered together at 12.15pm. And, off we went! The bus journey was super duper long! I think it's even longer from Singapore to KL! :O

Finally, we arrived at our destination :D And here are some photos:

Yan Fang and my room

The very small toilet (like airport toilet)

The city

Getting ready for ship lock!

Ship lock in action! The water is rising....

Yay! Water has risen to a certain level and the gate is going to open..

Ship lock was at about 9.40pm. After seeing the ship lock, we went back to our own rooms.

Reflection

Today, I've learnt about some history about the Yangtze River. And today was also the first time I experience a ship lock. Something new I learnt today.

Day 10- Physiology quiz and bye Da-jie...

Felt really sad today when I woke up because Da-jie will be leaving for Shanghai in the afternoon :(

Woke up early to have breakfast at the hotel. Food was not too bad.

Had a nice morning walk from the hotel to the classroom with Da-jie :) Reached the classroom super early, but I studied for the quiz while waiting for class to start.

Physiology quiz was quite ok because Dr Lau went through with us what he has taught before quiz started. Then, after quiz, he continued with the lesson. And today, he cancelled the afternoon class again. So some of us went out with the china students to eat the xiao chi while others went back to the hostel to rest and pack for tmr's cruise. As for me, I met Da-jie at my classroom block, went back to my room, put down my stuff then went out with her for lunch.

After lunch with her, we went to the bakery and the supermarket. Then, took a bus back to her hotel and check out. After that, walked to my school and put down her things in my room. We left hurriedly to the place we went last night because Da-jie wanted to buy a thick, good jacket for her tibet trip. Finally, we reached the place and bought one which I thought looked quite pretty :)

Then, we had to rush back to the hostel so that Da-jie can catch her train back to Shanghai on time. Reached the hostel, quickly packed everything and I left with her to the main road outside my school. Managed to catch a taxi quite fast (Didn't take a bus because she might not have enough time) Said my goodbye to her and watch her leave in the taxi :( See you again next year.

First and foremost, really want to thank Dr Lau for allowing me to stay with my sis for 1 night and entrusting me into her hands.

Thank you Da-jie for keeping me company. It's been great having you around :D Will remember what you told me and all your encouragements. And to always count my blessings that God has given me.

Thank you Father for providing this opportunity for Da-jie and I. And thank you that Da-jie managed to make it on time to catch her train. I pray that you continue to keep both of us safe and that as we're away from our family, in a foreign land, we can learn to always depend on you and to be the salt and light of the world wherever we are. May we always be reminded of the verse in Joshua 1:9 that says :" Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." Amen.

Day 9- Physiology lesson and presentation; Meet up with Da-jie!!!

Today, I woke up feeling both nervous and excited. Nervous because of the presentation later on. And excited because I'm going to meet Da-jie later in the afternoon! :D

When my friends and I walked out of the hostel, we were surprised! Wuhan is finally raining and the temperature has dropped a lot!! Wow, it's now even colder than air-con! Haha.. Here are some pictures outside my hostel:


So Physiology lesson started at 9am. And my group was the last to present because we were the most unprepared :P Anyway, it turned out quite ok, I guess :)

Dr Lau also cancelled the afternoon class which means I get to spend more time with Da-jie. So, after class, Dr Lau and I waited at the hotel that Da-jie will be staying at. Waited quite long though. But, glad that Da-jie managed to find her way to the hotel on her own :)

After checking in, we went out for lunch at the soup stall. It's nice to drink a bowl of hot soup in a cold weather. Haha. After lunch, we went to the bookstore nearby and bought a few things for my friends and mummy's bible club kids. Hope they like them.

Next, we went back to my room to pack my stuff as I'll be staying with Da-jie for 1 night in the hotel :D After packing and everything, we had a nice walk from my school to the hotel. And the next activity was dinner and a bit of shopping. Because Da-jie said on her way to the hotel, she saw a few shops and a big supermarket so we decided to take bus 551 to that place. Journey was only about 10 minutes. Saw a few shops (mainly sports shop which reminded me that I need to get a jacket for Rhoda) Anyway, we walked around and found a resaurant selling beefsteak set meal for 29 yuan. Thought was quite ok as it came along with bread, soup, egg, pasta/potato, and free flow of salad.

I had a great talk and dinner with Da-jie :D

Da-jie :)

After dinner, walked around a bit more and headed back to the hotel (took a taxi). Because I have Physiology quiz tomorrow, I had to study at night :( If not, I will definitely watch the DVD Da-jie brought. So, while I was studying in the hotel room, she was doing her own things then took a nap. After my studying, she woke up and we talked a bit more then fell asleep at about 11.30pm.

I had lots of fun with Da-jie today!

Day 8- OIE Lesson, Physiology Lesson and Melissa's Birthday!!!

Today, is our 3rd OIE lesson. We had a different teacher today and I found her quite funny sometimes. Hahaha.. We learned about the geography of China and the popular food in China. Glad that I've tried a few of the dishes already (Eg, Tang Bao aka xiao long bao) :) One interesting thing was the nickname given to the people of Wuhan: Nine Headed Birds. This means that they're crafty (say it nicely, they're smart. Hahaha)

Our class group work: locating a few of the cities on the map of China! Those are placed wrongly :P

Cheaters caught! Use ipod touch to help them... -.- hehe

Here comes the highlight of the day: Melissa's 17th Birthday Surprise!!! :D

All of us da bao food to eat in class--got air-con! :) While some of them went to buy cake, Letty, Kimberley and I pulled Melissa back to the room to get their physio notes.

So when it's time to begin the party, we return to the classroom and wa-la! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSA!!! :D And she was so surprise to see the cake! Haha.. Glad she loved the surprise! :)

Reflection

For today's OIE lesson, I've learned a different aspect of China. There are actually so many things to learn about China and it's always enlightening to find out more and realise that one lesson is just not enough to cover so many topics.

Day 7- OIE lesson and Visit to Medical School

Today, we had our 2nd OIE lesson at 8.30am. And what we learned today was about China politics. It was actually quite interesting to learn how the government works and about China being a communist party but Taiwan, HK, Macau are not. I see....

During the break, many of them fell asleep except for the 3 MDE guys seated right in front asking the teacher qns.

OIE lesson ended at 11.30am and a few of us went to the small canteen to have our lunch. Place was super crowded and so we decided to da bao. Ate rice with veg, potato , meatball and chicken. (All these dishes had already been scooped--no choosing) Food was actually not too bad but just a bit too salty for us.

Next, we gathered together for our visit to the medical school. An extremely long bus ride= sleep. (auto-mode) Finally, we reached the school campus and we stayed on the bus as the bus drives along the road so that we can have a look around the entire school. The school is huge! I thought the hostels looked like condos from the outside but I don't know about the inside. Heard from the China students that each room has 4 people. While looking out of the window, I saw so many basketball courts!! That was the first time I saw so many at one glance. (The basketball courts are like side by side)

After the tour around, we alighted from the bus and the China students started to talk to us. They're really friendly! :) And they brought us all to the room with lots and lots of specimens! And I saw so many real body parts! Some of the skin and hair are still intact, facial features and all that. Was so fascinated by so many different specimens!!!

Shelves of specimens! (there were so many shelves!)



Even the baby's face is still there!
Does he/she have the chinese look? haha

The hair is still on the head!

The Brain.

After looking at the amazing specimens, we (LSCT students) gathered in a room where we get to interact with the China students.

Look! They gave us a mooncake, a bottle of water and banana! (All that I wanted! :D)

Eddy prepared a ppt slides about Singapore and Ngee Ann while Letty presented the slides to the local students (She spoke chinese so fluently! :)

Letty in action!

Then after that, it was the china students turn to present to us.

After the presentation, we broke up into 4 groups and presented a performance for everyone. Quite fun! :) Following that, we played charades! Super fun and exciting! Hehehe :D

After the interaction, we went to the library. It's located at the centre of the whole school. And it's huge! Hahaha...

The library

When we entered, I thought it looked like a hospital. Haha. Anyway, we had a tour around the "school museum" in the library and there was a tour guide to show us around.

The entrance of the school museum

The miniature of the school compound. In the centre is the library.

Refection

For today's OIE lesson, I've learned that the government is very far-sighted as they've already planned a strategy that will be carried till 2050. (sth like that) And like what I've previously mentioned, planning ahead is so essential in a government as the nation is all dependent on how the government plans for the future. I've also learned about the fact that China relies too heavily on foreign investment. And I feel that a country should always base their economy on not only one sector. For if that sector fails, the nation will be in trouble.

For today's medical school visit, I've learned more about the education system here in China and I interacted with students who are studying something similar to what I'm studying. I realised we have more things to talk about and I can better understand how it is like studying in China. This trip had been a great one and I hope I won't forget what I saw and heard today.

Day 6- City Tour

Today, my roomates and I woke up at 6am for the city tour. We had to gather at 7.15am. Most of us were dead tired because we slept so late last night.

Throughout the whole tour, there was a tour guide who introduced to us the places and the stories behind them. Actually, I found the stories rather interesting.. The first stop is the East Lake. The place just looks like a china park.. but pretty nice place.


The next stop is the museum. Something I was actually looking forward to :)

The outside of the museum

There was a tour guide in the museum to bring us around. She spoke quite good english and I could understand the artefacts better as she explains.

A plate used by Qin Shi Huang. It's yellow because Huang= Yellow. And the butterflies represent love.

After the whole tour around, we get some time off for free and easy in the museum. So we went to the Italian museum and the museum shop.

Next stop was Lunch! Great food in a restaurant! Here's just one of the many dishes:

After a good meal, it's time to climb the Yellow Crane Tower! Here is just the entrance of the place:

A huge bell opposite the yellow crane tower. Have to pay to ring the bell.

Yellow Crane Tower

We climbed about 184 steps all the way up to the highest floor.

After the good workout, we went shopping. But the place that they brought us sold mostly sports stuff and they're branded (Eg. Nike, Puma, etc.) so didn't buy anything because they were quite expensive. We were dead tired during the shopping. Felt like my legs were going to break. Haha.

So, that was the last stop for the day. Headed back to the hostel and bid farewell to our tour guide.

Soon after that, made my way with Letty, Melissa and Kimberley to Macs outside school. Actually, the walk is long!! It's like walking from home to the park! So fit, right?? :D

So, after Macs, went back hostel and rest! :)

Reflection

Today, I enjoyed the museum tour the most because I've always been interested in these chinese artefacts. And, we get to ask the tour guide some qns. :) Learned a lot about chinese culture in that trip. Like what dragons represents, what deer represents and the way people in the past do things. It was an eye-opener to me. And the tour guide was well prepared and she was ab;e to answer most of our questions.

Day 5- Free & Easy

Today, is a free and easy day = Sleep more, shop, and slack.

Woke up at 9 plus am and at about 11 plus, YF, Letty, Melissa, Kimberley and I went to wash our clothes using the washing machine. We only need to pay 3 yuan per washing machine we used. Hence, each of us only need to pay 1.80 yuan.

And after the laundry, we ate cup noodles for lunch. At 2.30pm, Betty and her 2 other friends arranged for us to go out to the city by taking a public bus :) this means shopping!!! Hahaha..

So, we took a public bus from the bus stop near the school and waited for the bus to come.

We have to take bus 549. The words are read downwards. Each column represents one stop.

The bus is actually similar to the ones in Singapore. They have both double decker and just the normal, single level ones. The one we took was the single level one. And the windows inside actually have curtains! But the air-con isn't strong enough so we felt sleepy after a while.

The traffic on the way to town


When we arrived, we walked through an underground route to Wuhan plaza. It's like a departmental store. But the thinds there are very expensive! Clothes were quite nice but the price was *ahem* haha.. so end up, none of us bought anything except for Carol who bought a charger for her camera.

Wuhan Plaza

However, at the top floor, we ate some food because they were selling Singapore food like roti prata, ice-kachang, etc. And so, we bought a quite a lot of food like ice-kachang, sushi, roti-prata, 'mango ice-kachang'

Our friend came back! "Good Year"!


After that, we left earlier than planned to another shopping centre. One that has cheaper things (plus can bargain.. hehe) The name of the street Jiang Han Lu. (I think) We tried to catch a taxi but it was at about 6 plus and many people are trying to catch one too. So there were some china people who just snatched the taxi! Quite shock to see that. Finally, we walked further down to get a taxi and crossing the road in China is something like crossing the road in Vietnam just that Vietnam one has more motorbikes and horns and it's scarier. So, wasn't first time crossing like 'I don't care about the vehicles coming'.

Because there was only 3 china students and one taxi can only fit 4 people, one group of 4 of us have to go on our own. Hence, Letty, Melissa, YF and I shared one taxi. The taxi fare was only 8 yuan!

And later, everyone met up in Macs. Macs in China looks almost the same as those in Singapore.. guess because it's international. Finally, we started our shopping! Yay! And the first but only thing I bought was sunglasses! Hehehe.. have been looking for one for a long time. And since here, they sold it for 38 yuan which later the china student help me bargain to 25 yuan, I just bought it! It's only $5 Sing!!! haha.

Spent quite a long time walking around in our own small groups. Had lots of fun shopping around with Letty, Melissa, Betty (china student) and Eddy :) Was trying to look for clothes or other stuffs to buy for my family but just couln't find/ thought of anything to buy for them. Sorry! Maybe another time :)

Just before we meet the rest at 8.15pm at macs, Eddy wanted to buy the 'porcupine' bag! (I called it the durian bag. Hahaha). Melissa managed to bargain from 160 yuan to 115 yuan. Not bad girl! Hahaha.. Must learn from her!

The streets at night!

Yan Fang was the most successful!

So after the shopping, it's time for food!! we went to another mall that sells all types of xiao chi! Yummy! I love the dumpling with corn! Something quite different! :D Then, bought passion fruit slush (ice-blended). Was a bit too sour, but they actually use the real passion fruit because there were seeds in my drink. After that, we went outside to buy eclair puffs (Honestly, I didn't know Spore has this and Hana and Rani were shocked that I didn't know. Hahaha. Totally noob here. After wuhan trip, bring me around Spore! hehe)

My eclair puff!


After that, we went to another mall with some more xiao chi, but some of us were quite full already. Others went to buy takoyaki. It's so much cheaper

Next, YF and Betty crossed over to another street to da bao shen jian bau for all of us! While waiting for both of them, there were a lot of dogs with owners around.. I think they're trying to sell them. (on the streets?? Interesting.)


Finally, after they came back, it was already 9 plus pm and it's time to go back!

So we walked further down to take a public bus. Journey was about 20-30 mins. And we took a double decker bus. In China, you can just stand on the 2nd level. No one really cares :O Quite dangerous though.


When we reached the school, everywhere is just so dark and it's already 10.20pm. Surprisingly, there were some students studying in the classrooms and the china students says that they're medical students. Very dilligent! When I ask the china students what they'll be doing tmr (Sunday), I got a shock! They have class at 8am! And so they said it's because they need lessons to make up for the 1 week holiday (China National Holiday) :O

Finally, we've reached the room! It's been a long and tiring day!! But filled with lots of fun and laughter! :D

Our awesome china friends

Reflection

Being out on the streets for the whole day, I saw many things that were very different. For example, the roads are so messy and poeple just anyhow cross the road. I was thinking that maybe because there are so many people in China. Hence, it's so difficult to maintain order. Oh, and on the bus, when there was someone carrying a violin case and eating ice-cream at the same time, she was struggling to balance. So, Betty (who was sitting with her friend) actually shifted to the side so that there's space for her to put down her case! Pretty surprised that they're so gracious. In Singapore, I don't think anyone would do that for me even though I might be struggling to keep my balance with my violin case on the bus. Singaporeans need to be more gracious!