Day 18- Physiology lessons

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

I was flipping through YF's bible this morning and I chance upon this verse. Somehow, I felt that the Lord is speaking to me. Reminding me that my life is in His hands and I do not need to worry. And that whatever is happening in my life right now is part of God's big plan. (Yes, I remembered what da-jie said) Although at times, we feel uncertain and start to doubt... but we know that God is in control and He knows what's best for us. Entrust

Today is China's National Day. But the school is rather empty and the first thing I saw when I stepped outside the dorm is a girl quarrelling with her boyfriend -.- (some more the girl so fierce!)

We had Physiology lesson in the morning. And after the morning lesson, some of us went to the small canteen to da bao the food back to the classroom.

After lunch, Dr Lau played the movie Sherlock Holmes :) Some of them fell asleep, some were so engrossed. As for me, I was in between. Haha..

After the movie, we continued with Physiology lesson. After that, some of us stayed behind to talk to Dr Lau about GPA, universities, etc.

After lesson, some of us went out to eat.. And then return back to the dorm.

Reflection

I think the way people in China celebrate National Day is very different from that in Singapore. In Singapore, everyone will be in the celebration mood, some of them will be in the marina bay platform, watching the National Day Parade while some will be at home, having their eyes glued to the television, awaiting for all the exciting performances during the parade. In China, the streets are rather quiet and everyone has gone back to their hometown to reunite with their families. I guess because China is so big compared to Singapore and since travelling from 1 city to another in China can take a few hours or even a day, they make use of this long holiday to visit their families. Wheares in Singapore, travelling from the east to the west only takes about maximum 2hours. Morover, transport in Singapore is so convenient and efficient so it's not a problem if one wants to visit his/her family at the other end of Singapore.
But something similar is that we will spend this holiday, be it long or short with our family members. I guess in both countries, spending time with your family is important and much cherished. However, in Singapore, this mentality is fast disappearing due to the hectic lifestyle in this busy city. I'm not sure about this in China but from what I think, the people in China cherish their family quite a lot because some of them are apart from each other for quite a long period of time. I'm suddenly remembered of the saying "absence make the heart grow fonder"

Day 17- Physiology Lesson

Physiology lesson started at 9am as per normal..

Went out for lunch after Physiology lesson. Then went bakery and supermarket to stock up food because for the next 7 days, it'll be China's national holiday.

Because the holiday will be 7 days long, most of the China students will be going back to their hometown. We even saw a few students leaving the campus with their luggage already. Anyway, throughout the following 7 days, we are going to own the whole school!!! We're going to use the table tennis table, badminton court, basketball court, etc! Hahaha... They're always used by the China students (even at night)

I'm alone in the dorm right now because YF, Carol, Geena and some others went out for shopping at the place we went before... Hahaha. They love the place so much. But, I had a good chat over dinner with Letty just now :D And, I found out that Kimberley is a heavy sleeper! Although we were chatting, she was fast asleep! Amazing! Yan Fang is totally the opposite of her! Even a soft noise can wake her up! Hehe...

Alright, guess that's about it! Waiting for Carol and YF to come back :) At the mean time, I can spend some quiet moments with the Lord :)

Day 16- Industrial Visit and OIE Presentation

Last night, there was no tap water! And it was only at about 11.30pm when the MDE people told me that I could get water from the 4th floor girls toilet. Because YF was sleeping and Carol was still doing her project, I had to get the water myself. And because it's so late at night, the temperature is really low. Morever, I was just wearing T-shirt, shorts and slippers. Walking down the stairs in the dark, carrying a heavy pail of water was really an experience. Haha..

Today, we had to wake up early for our visit to the coca cola factory! I was quite excited! :)
Btw, while I was looking out of the window, on the way to the factory, I realised that there are actually quite a lot of low rise buildings and in the city area, there are high rise buildings, but not as packed as those in Singapore. Hmm.. maybe Wuhan is not such a big city area or China land is just huge enough to afford low rise buildings. We see high rise buildings almost everywhere in Singapore...

Below are the photos taken in the coke factory:

Coca cola truck-- it's huge!

Byebye...

Ahhh!!! Kimberley! Don't die.....

(this pic is not so well taken :P Kimberley is supposed to look like she got knock down by the car. Hahaha)

The coke given to us :)
(It wasn't as sweet as those we usually drink..)

The manufacturing line (the bottles are moving really fast so the camera can't really catch the bottles)

Stacks of coca cola glass bottles

In the "coke museum"

After the coke factory visit, it's time for our OIE presentation! Nervous........

So we rushed back to our dorm and finish up the slides. Following that, I had lunch in the canteen with Letty, Melissa, Kimberley and Rani :) Food was not too bad.

After lunch, we headed to the OIE classroom where our doom begins...

Finally, we all presented and I thought it was quite alright :) except that my friends laughed at the time difference thing.. Really very funny/ weird meh?

So, after presentation, we should have a good meal and the China students brought us out to eat western food :D I feel so happy because they've been really nice to us and they still brought us out even though they have a quiz tomororrow... aww... feel bad leh

Below are some pictures of the restaurant:

The waiting area

(But we didn't sit here.. we went to walk around the mall while waiting)

The restaurant is so dark.. how romantic...

Rani and Melissa. Look at how happy and pleased they are! Haha

Yes, I know, it's dark and romantic

After a heavy dinner, we took a taxi back to our dorm. Ahh.. so full. Hehe...

Thanks a lot Betty and Xing Xing :)

Reflection

Today's industrial visit was amazing. Instead of just looking at how drinks are manufactured in videos or magazines, we got to see them in action with our own eyes! I thought the trip was really fun. I've also learnt the brief history about coca cola and how it became famous. I thought that the coca cola company must had been very startegic in terms of how they promote coke and how it rose to fame quickly. I felt that coca cola always sponsors campaigns or major events such as the Beijing Olymics in 2008. This might had been one of the ways of promoting the products. Through this visit, I also realised that the coca cola factory actually also produces sprite and many other drinks like Qoo as well! That was really something new to me!

As for today's OIE presentation, I thought everyone presented quie well and I've learnt a lot of additional information about Wuhan through the many presentations. Some were very interesting and insightful. Now, I know Wuhan better!

Day 15- Industrial visit and Physiology lesson

Today we gathered at 8am for the Industrial visit-- A steel company. We had to wear helmets when we enter the place-- it's where they make steel.

Hot metal coming through!

We could feel the heat when the burning hot metal was moving past us although we were standing at quite a distant.

lWe then had our lunch in the canteen. And Physiology lesson started at 12pm so lesson ended early too since we started early :) After Physio lesson, YF, Geena and I did our OIE project.. And we're still doing it now :( This is the first time I do a project for soooo long. Hahaha...

Reflection
Today's industrial visit was an eye-opener for me. I saw how the metal is being made and what it is like in a steel factory. Although it's something different from what I'm studying now, I think that it was a great learning experience for me and I can better understand other jobs such as management,etc.

Day 14- OIE lesson and Physiology lesson

Today's OIE lesson is about Chinese Philosophy.And it feels like I've gone back to my secondary school chinese lessons again.. Why? Because we learnt some famous mottos by Chinese Ancient Sages. To write it simply, they're just those chinese phrases I was forced to memorise last time. Hahaha.. Apparently, I've forgotten a lot of them :P It has been more than a year since I last touch chinese.

Below is a photograph of the classroom and my teacher. She's playing for us a video in chinese -.- I couldn't understand it... I only found the cartoon characters amusing. Hehehe...

After lunch, we had our Physiology lesson and after that, went back to our room and do tutorial.

Reflection
Though today's OIE lesson was a bit boring and dry, I was reminded of the chinese phrases I used to learn. That brings me back to how we always remember the phrases because of the story behind it. And it's interesting to find out how people come out with so many different stories and ends up with a phrase that is used to describe something. I think that's one of the beauties of Chinese language; where there are always stories linked to whatever is present now. (Eg. Ancient artefacts or pictures always have a story to tell, the chinese phrases also have a story behind it, etc)

Day 13- Dorm Sweet Dorm

It's time to go back to our dorm! Dorm Sweet Dorm :) [can't believe we were missing it!! hehehe]

But before we set off, we still had one more stop-- to see the hydroelectricity dam (I think.. something along that line.. ya, I know.. I don't even know what I'm looking at, right? :P)

Right at the top, we'll have the bird's eye view of the thingy

The Gang (Dr lau look too kind already! Hahaha)

A high class restaurant for lunch. Very nice food! Yummy! :D

After a nice lunch, we were ready to go! (Finally...) The whole bus ride is soooooooo long!!! There was a jam halfway through because a truck was overturned and all the cabbage was spread on the road!! Jam was about half an hour long :(

We reached our 'condo' at about 6 plus. Rushed to shower and do laundry.. I ran to the washing machine place in shorts, T-shirt, and slippers. The temp outside is like super cold! (even colder than an air-con room!) Hahaha... What an experience!

Reflection

I had a great time chatting with my friends on the bus today. And I'm sure all of us had bonded pretty well.

On the way back, I saw many plantations and farmers. This makes me wonder: What if I was born in this environment? How would life be like? This has really set me thinking. Maybe life won't be as stressful as that in a city. But, do these people living in the outskirts also realise that there are other things that they are missing out? And same goes to people who live in the city. Life in the outskirts is so different. Will city dwellers be able to adapt to the changes? What a difference!

Day 12- Yangtze River Cruise

Today is the 2nd day of our cruise. Below is my breakfast for the day, yummy...

Nice red dates milk (taste like strawberry milk)

As I looked at the sceneries, I marvel at God's creation. Indeed, he has created this beautiful earth. What an awesome God.

Halfway through, we had to transfer to a small boat whereby we sail through the narrower rivers

Melissa and I :)

This was our boat (It's a convertible..top part can open and close.. haha.. just the wooden version)

We got down fromthe boat and walked through a trail

Rani, me, Melissa, Letty and Hana :)

Finally, the last stop is climbing 300 plus steps...

This is just the beginning...

Hana, Eddy and Rani (Kimberley was at the back! Her hands are raised! Hahaha)

Yay! We reached the top!! :D

After such a long walk, we had a great dinner! :)

Reflection

Today, I see hills after hills and all the pictures I took all look so similar. But actually, you can create a picture out of a rock or the shape of the hills. Like, a person lying down, etc. It's indeed interesting to see how these landscapes can also be a form of art. How different people have different ways of interpreting things and how people have various perspectives. The mind we have can be so imaginative!