Hi everyone,
I'm back in wonderful Singapore already. It sure was hectic trip to the Wuhan airport. I couldn't sleep on Saturday night for no reason. It was only at 3 plus am that I finally managed to sleep. I woke up 4 hours later to start packing the rest of my stuff into my luggage. I had breakfast at the beef lamian stall before we boarded the bus to head to the airport. What supposedly took 2 hours to get to the airport, we arrived within an hour. The bus driver, or shi fu, drove really quickly there. In usual airport procedures, passengers have to be at the airport 2 hours before the flight timing. However, we could only check in our luggage 1 hour earlier. All of us had no choice but to sit around to wait for the time to pass before we could enter to check-in our luggages. It took us quite a while to clear all our baggage. By then, we had missed the flight timing and so the plane was delayed. We finally managed to take off at 3.15pm. Jovin and I entered the plane and our first reactions was: "Malays! How long have we not seen them!". There were two malay air stewardesses assigned to that flight and we were exclaiming loudly at the sight of them. Surprisingly, I did not sleep for the entire journey as Jovin and I were watching a Korean variety show. We were trying to control our laughter as some parts were really funny. Soon, it was almost the time to reach Singapore. As all 45 of us spotted the brightly-lit Singapore at a distance, we were all exclaiming loudly on the plane. The moment the plane landed onto the runway of the airport, we all clapped and cheered. Even the air stewardess seemed very happy for us as she sounded very happy through the intercom system. I was so happy to see all my loved ones waiting for me outside the gates as I have not seen them for such a long while. It sure is good to back in your home country.
This OIP trip was really a great and enriching 35 days for me. I have made many wonderful and great friends across semesters and courses and I have also learned many things along the way.
Our last day was really quite sad for me as I have grown accustomed to the environment and learned to adapt to the different situations and places around me. Even though I may complain sometimes, I really appreciated everything that was provided to us. From the living quarters to the weekend trips, everything was planned quite well and I could enjoy the trip.
As much as it is a study trip where we have to clear two modules in Wuhan, I got to learn even more things than Forensic Science and Chinese Culture. I have grown to be even more mature, understanding, appreciative and adaptive after the 35 days. This trip has also taught me to appreciate Singapore even more and to be thankful and grateful for whatever we have. When comparing between Singapore and Wuhan, there are so many different aspects that Wuhan is lacking or is vastly different from Singapore. I am sure that this is the life the people in Wuhan are used to and are brought up in. Thus, this makes me feel that I am indeed very lucky to have been born in such a wonderful country like Singapore.
The people there whom I met were all really nice to us. The street food vendors always greets us with smile and chats with us when we purchase food from them. The van driver who drives us to town also talks to us, asking us about various things like the weather in Singapore. The dean of the Foreign Language school and Liu Lao Shi were all very hospitable and friendly. Shan Hui and Jovin even went to see Liu Lao Shi's dogs and played with them too!
Some of us who met each other for the first time on this trip were strangers at first. However, we've become much closer throughout this trip by working with one another for our different projects. I will miss those times where we could go up or down each other's units to just chit chat or play around and laugh. I became closer to the friends whom I've known previously and I became close with the strangers whom I didn't recognise at the start. Without all of them, this trip would be boring and meaningless. The lecturers and technical officers who came with us also became close with the whole group as we were always around each other, going on the weekend trips and having meals together.
I will miss so many things in Wuhan. However, I will be able to retain the wonderful memories by reading this blog that I have created and the photos which I took.
This will be the last post for my Journal of Memories. Thank you readers for accompanying me on this trip to Wuhan by silently reading my posts.
~Over and out~
xoxo
Zayneeer
Monday, 8 April 2013
Friday, 5 April 2013
OH MY GAWD IT WAS FREEZING TODAY. SO COLD. D-2
Hello!
It's two more days till I'm home! I'm so excited and happy that I'll be going back. :) Talking about going back, I had a weird and scary dream this morning.. I dreamt that I left my luggage in the hostel and left for the airport. Because I left it in the hostel, I had to go back to take it and thus miss my flight. It was so vivid it scared me. Haha! Anyway, sorry for not posting anything till today.. There wasn't much to write about but I'll write something today! And a summary of what I did for the past few days..
Tuesday: D-5
I had my project discussion in the morning with Lynn, Sherdyn and Monisha all the way till the afternoon. We kept wrecking our brains to come up with a good solution and experiment for our presentation on wednesday. I had to destress so I went for dancing with Jovin and Shan Hui. Shan Hui decided to go on the treadmill and I "ran" facing her in the dance studio as there was only a glass panel separating the gym from the dance studio. I had a great time dancing and fooling around. However, I had to go back and continue with my project. By then, we have finally decided and solved all the problems faced while doing the experiment.
Wednesday: D-4
It was project presentation day. We were the second group to present in our tutorial group. As our topic is on blood splatter, our classmates took abit of time to understand the concept especially on how to calculate the origin where the blood splatters came from. We had to explain as detailed as we could and we demonstrated how to carry out the experiment. Thankfully, all of them understood us and the activity was carried out very smoothly. Our group was really thankful to Ms Tan for guiding and helping us along as she knew that our topic and experiment was abit tedious and complicated. The rest of the group presentations were very interesting and fun so I enjoyed it very much. By the time we ended, it was almost 3 so I hurried back to the hostel to study. Jovin came up to study with Shan Hui and I but Shan ended up falling asleep and Jovin and I were on the brink of falling asleep. I guess the presentation preparations drained most of our energies. We continued to study after dinner till about 10 plus before Jovin went back down to her unit to rest for the night.
Thursday: D-3
COMMON TEST DAY. I woke up at 7 and went out into the living room to study with Jovin who came up at around 8. Shan Hui was up by then so she joined us as well. By 10 plus, all of us including my dorm mates seemed to be restless so they started playing random tunes using their piano app on their phones and we started braiding each other's hair. I went for lunch with Jovin and Shan Hui at 1130 and came back around 1225 to study abit more and prepare to head to the school for the test. It was the start of the Qing Ming Festival so there was no school and the gates were locked. We were joking that there wouldn't be any test but eventually somebody in the school opened the gates for us so we could enter. Overall, the test was manageable so I hope that I'll get good grades. Unfortunately, I won't be able to know my grade until I'm in Year 3 as Forensic Science is a Year 3 module. I felt a load literally lifting off my shoulders and I was so happy that it was finally over. We returned to the dorm and Jovin helped Shan Hui and I join our beds so that three of us could lie on the bed with more ease. We watched How To Train Your Dragon, Transformers and Night At The Museum 2 with Mr Lee who left halfway during the show that night.
Friday: D-2
I woke up at 1030am today. This was the latest I woke up in this trip. Jovin apparently spammed messaged me but I turned off my phone so she spammed Shan Hui instead. Poor Shan Hui got woken up by the constant phone vibrations due to the messages Jovin sent. It was exceptionally windy today so I had to wear three layers including my windbreaker when we out to have brunch at the beef lamian stall. For the first time in the trip, I wasn't able to finish my food. I have no idea why though as I am usually able to finish my food. At 1pm, 29 of us went to a place town got Chu He Han Jie. There were three streets full of shops on either side. The wind was really strong when we got there and there were rain droplets felt. Soon enough, it started raining so we had to go into one of the shops to cover for the time being. The shops there were international brands and thus the prices were on the high side. I ended up only buying an item for 12 yuan. I went shopping with Clarissa, Junli, Kristine, Sherdyn and Asaph. We passed by a big bookshop and there was a papa roti cafe inside. All of us immediately rushed in and bought a papa roti for 8 yuan. Although I think it was a bit expensive, it was worth it as I have not eaten such yummy papa roti ever since the Singapore stores closed down. As the night started to set in, it started to drizzle again and it got really cold. I was only two layers then as I lent my JEP windbreaker to Sherdyn who was really freezing. The vans came to pick us up at 7pm and we were sent back to the polytechnic. The roads were really bumpy even though it was flat road, making it abit hard for some of my friends to rest in the van. We finally reached the polytechnic but it was SUPER cold. My whole body shook and my teeth were chattering really badly the moment I got down from the van. Thinking back, I can't even remember very clearly how did I even manage to come back to the warm hostel so quickly. I had a warm bath immediately and ate my spicy mushroom cup noodles for dinner.
I currently have no plans for tomorrow except to pack my luggage so that I won't need to panic on Sunday morning.
Shall rest now! Have a good rest and sweet dreams!
xoxo
Zayneeer
It's two more days till I'm home! I'm so excited and happy that I'll be going back. :) Talking about going back, I had a weird and scary dream this morning.. I dreamt that I left my luggage in the hostel and left for the airport. Because I left it in the hostel, I had to go back to take it and thus miss my flight. It was so vivid it scared me. Haha! Anyway, sorry for not posting anything till today.. There wasn't much to write about but I'll write something today! And a summary of what I did for the past few days..
Tuesday: D-5
I had my project discussion in the morning with Lynn, Sherdyn and Monisha all the way till the afternoon. We kept wrecking our brains to come up with a good solution and experiment for our presentation on wednesday. I had to destress so I went for dancing with Jovin and Shan Hui. Shan Hui decided to go on the treadmill and I "ran" facing her in the dance studio as there was only a glass panel separating the gym from the dance studio. I had a great time dancing and fooling around. However, I had to go back and continue with my project. By then, we have finally decided and solved all the problems faced while doing the experiment.
Wednesday: D-4
It was project presentation day. We were the second group to present in our tutorial group. As our topic is on blood splatter, our classmates took abit of time to understand the concept especially on how to calculate the origin where the blood splatters came from. We had to explain as detailed as we could and we demonstrated how to carry out the experiment. Thankfully, all of them understood us and the activity was carried out very smoothly. Our group was really thankful to Ms Tan for guiding and helping us along as she knew that our topic and experiment was abit tedious and complicated. The rest of the group presentations were very interesting and fun so I enjoyed it very much. By the time we ended, it was almost 3 so I hurried back to the hostel to study. Jovin came up to study with Shan Hui and I but Shan ended up falling asleep and Jovin and I were on the brink of falling asleep. I guess the presentation preparations drained most of our energies. We continued to study after dinner till about 10 plus before Jovin went back down to her unit to rest for the night.
Thursday: D-3
COMMON TEST DAY. I woke up at 7 and went out into the living room to study with Jovin who came up at around 8. Shan Hui was up by then so she joined us as well. By 10 plus, all of us including my dorm mates seemed to be restless so they started playing random tunes using their piano app on their phones and we started braiding each other's hair. I went for lunch with Jovin and Shan Hui at 1130 and came back around 1225 to study abit more and prepare to head to the school for the test. It was the start of the Qing Ming Festival so there was no school and the gates were locked. We were joking that there wouldn't be any test but eventually somebody in the school opened the gates for us so we could enter. Overall, the test was manageable so I hope that I'll get good grades. Unfortunately, I won't be able to know my grade until I'm in Year 3 as Forensic Science is a Year 3 module. I felt a load literally lifting off my shoulders and I was so happy that it was finally over. We returned to the dorm and Jovin helped Shan Hui and I join our beds so that three of us could lie on the bed with more ease. We watched How To Train Your Dragon, Transformers and Night At The Museum 2 with Mr Lee who left halfway during the show that night.
Friday: D-2
I woke up at 1030am today. This was the latest I woke up in this trip. Jovin apparently spammed messaged me but I turned off my phone so she spammed Shan Hui instead. Poor Shan Hui got woken up by the constant phone vibrations due to the messages Jovin sent. It was exceptionally windy today so I had to wear three layers including my windbreaker when we out to have brunch at the beef lamian stall. For the first time in the trip, I wasn't able to finish my food. I have no idea why though as I am usually able to finish my food. At 1pm, 29 of us went to a place town got Chu He Han Jie. There were three streets full of shops on either side. The wind was really strong when we got there and there were rain droplets felt. Soon enough, it started raining so we had to go into one of the shops to cover for the time being. The shops there were international brands and thus the prices were on the high side. I ended up only buying an item for 12 yuan. I went shopping with Clarissa, Junli, Kristine, Sherdyn and Asaph. We passed by a big bookshop and there was a papa roti cafe inside. All of us immediately rushed in and bought a papa roti for 8 yuan. Although I think it was a bit expensive, it was worth it as I have not eaten such yummy papa roti ever since the Singapore stores closed down. As the night started to set in, it started to drizzle again and it got really cold. I was only two layers then as I lent my JEP windbreaker to Sherdyn who was really freezing. The vans came to pick us up at 7pm and we were sent back to the polytechnic. The roads were really bumpy even though it was flat road, making it abit hard for some of my friends to rest in the van. We finally reached the polytechnic but it was SUPER cold. My whole body shook and my teeth were chattering really badly the moment I got down from the van. Thinking back, I can't even remember very clearly how did I even manage to come back to the warm hostel so quickly. I had a warm bath immediately and ate my spicy mushroom cup noodles for dinner.
I currently have no plans for tomorrow except to pack my luggage so that I won't need to panic on Sunday morning.
Shall rest now! Have a good rest and sweet dreams!
xoxo
Zayneeer
Tuesday, 2 April 2013
D-6
Hello!
Yesterday was the first day of April! Happy April's Fool Day!
So sorry for the very late post. I know I shouldn't be awake at this time since I'm having a little flu and I need to wake up at around 8am later for my IS class. But, I'll do this post in double quick time!
This morning I had my presentation discussion with my group members Lynn, Monisha, Sherdyn and Shan hui. We are suppose to plan an activity for our tutorial class based on blood splatter on Wednesday. We bought materials and started trying out our activity. There were some problems and we tried to solve it but no progress was made. We decided to go for a consultation session with Ms Tan and see if we could do anything. We decided to take a break and think of solutions while Shan hui and I went to a tea shop in town with Jovin, Ms Tan and Mr Lee where the lady who conducted our tea ceremony session worked in.
The place was really grand with the different tea utensils and the amount of tea in the shop. We tried different types of tea which have different price ranges from 70 yuan to 6000 yuan. It was a really nice experience. We headed back to the hostel after that and Shan hui and I continued our project with the three other girls. We finally reached a conclusion after such a long while.
Alright! I shall go sleep now! Rest well and sweet dreams!
Xoxo
Zayneeer
Yesterday was the first day of April! Happy April's Fool Day!
So sorry for the very late post. I know I shouldn't be awake at this time since I'm having a little flu and I need to wake up at around 8am later for my IS class. But, I'll do this post in double quick time!
This morning I had my presentation discussion with my group members Lynn, Monisha, Sherdyn and Shan hui. We are suppose to plan an activity for our tutorial class based on blood splatter on Wednesday. We bought materials and started trying out our activity. There were some problems and we tried to solve it but no progress was made. We decided to go for a consultation session with Ms Tan and see if we could do anything. We decided to take a break and think of solutions while Shan hui and I went to a tea shop in town with Jovin, Ms Tan and Mr Lee where the lady who conducted our tea ceremony session worked in.
The place was really grand with the different tea utensils and the amount of tea in the shop. We tried different types of tea which have different price ranges from 70 yuan to 6000 yuan. It was a really nice experience. We headed back to the hostel after that and Shan hui and I continued our project with the three other girls. We finally reached a conclusion after such a long while.
Alright! I shall go sleep now! Rest well and sweet dreams!
Xoxo
Zayneeer
Monday, 1 April 2013
Three Gorges 3D2N
Hi everyone!
I'm back from my weekend trip to the three gorges! Time sure flies now that I think about it. I have officially spent four weeks in Wuhan, China. When I just arrived, I was still thinking how long it will be till I return to Singapore. But now, I'll be heading back to Singapore in a week's time! Super happy and excited :):) I can't wait to get back and see my dear family and friends. I miss all of them so much.
Back to my weekend trip..
To start off, I thought that we might be able to see the Three Gorges Dam for my own eyes instead of just looking at the 10 yuan note. However, we did not see any dam at all. We only saw mountains, hills, buildings, and lots of water. The amount of food on board was not enough for some of us including me. So Jovin and I ended up having instant noodles for lunch and dinner.
It was a tough ride getting there let me tell you. Firstly, we took almost 5 to 6 hours on the bus to reach the second largest city of Hubei, Yichang. All of us had muscle aches all over our body when we got down. However, we still had to transfer to another bus which ferries us to the port where our small cruise, 金太阳 (Golden Sun), awaits us. That took us about a rockety hour as the roads were not even. The reason why we had to change buses was because the three gorges dam area only allows their own city vehicles (meaning Yichang) to enter.
By the time we reached the cruise, it was 9 plus pm. The drastic amount of pressure decrease above my head caused me to feel disoriented and dizzy because of the really low ceiling. I was super scared I would hit my head, but I wasn't that tall to get my head hit. We had our dinner at a restaurant before we came on board but Jovin, Shan hui and I still felt hungry so we bought cup noodles from the small provision shop in the cruise to eat. The rooms were small but sufficient enough for us to make ourselves home for the next two days. However, the toilet was really small in our room. Just getting into the toilet was as if I was challenging an obstacle course. I went to use the toilet in Jovin's room to bathe on Saturday night as theirs was so much bigger. Another cause of headache (literally) was the floor. As the main structure was made out of metal, some parts of the metal would "bend" and come back with a loud and annoying noise. There was a particularly loud one right outside our door. Thus, anyone who walked past our door could be heard by us in the room. Also, the top deck is just right above us, so we can hear anyone who runs on the deck. You can imagine just how peaceful our sleep is..
Throughout the cruise, there are 4 places we could visit. 2 places were sponsored by the school while the other two had to be paid by ourselves if we wanted to go. As most of us didn't want to go, we spent the time studying or resting on the cruise. I decided to maximize time and wrote notes for my upcoming test on Thursday. Jovin and I went to the upper deck and sat under the sun and cool breeze to study. However, it started getting really hot as it neared noon so we scrambled down under the shade.
On Saturday afternoon, we got off 金太阳 and went to this place called 白帝城 (white emperor city). The structure and scenery around that area was really pretty. When we boarded the cruise again, we managed to catch the sunset! It was so pretty with the mountains and water to form the picturesque view.
I woke up at 5.30 am this morning by the music being broadcasted as a morning call. Our breakfast was very simple consisting of porridge, peanuts, salted vege and eggs! We were all sitting at the table when someone said they wanted to catch the sunrise, so we took out bowls and hard boiled eggs up to the deck and sat there to eat and wait for the sunrise. Unfortunately for us, the fog and tall mountains blocked our view to see the sunrise. We left the boat at around 7am and took a dragon boat to visit 九畹溪. There was a theater stage set up and we had to walk on a squishy floating walkway quite deep inside to climb up the steps built at the side of the mountain. It was there where all of us finally saw a glimpse of the sun! All of us headed back to 金太阳 and prepared to leave. We had a very nice lunch at a restaurant in a hotel on land before continuing our 5 hour plus journey back to Wuchang Polytechnic.
Even though the amenities on the cruise was not very good and not what I expected it to be, it was still better than nothing and it still provided the basic things like a bed, toilet, water and plug for charging electronic items. Wuhan also possess many beautiful places that holds magnificent and picturesque views and sceneries.
That basically concludes my whole weekend trip.
Rest well and sweet dreams!
Xoxo
Zayneeer
PS: I managed to finish my notes on Forensic Psychology during my weekend trip. That chapter is the longest and the most wordy chapter out of all the chapters. So, you can imagine how much time I had to actually finish writing everything. :)
I'm back from my weekend trip to the three gorges! Time sure flies now that I think about it. I have officially spent four weeks in Wuhan, China. When I just arrived, I was still thinking how long it will be till I return to Singapore. But now, I'll be heading back to Singapore in a week's time! Super happy and excited :):) I can't wait to get back and see my dear family and friends. I miss all of them so much.
Back to my weekend trip..
To start off, I thought that we might be able to see the Three Gorges Dam for my own eyes instead of just looking at the 10 yuan note. However, we did not see any dam at all. We only saw mountains, hills, buildings, and lots of water. The amount of food on board was not enough for some of us including me. So Jovin and I ended up having instant noodles for lunch and dinner.
It was a tough ride getting there let me tell you. Firstly, we took almost 5 to 6 hours on the bus to reach the second largest city of Hubei, Yichang. All of us had muscle aches all over our body when we got down. However, we still had to transfer to another bus which ferries us to the port where our small cruise, 金太阳 (Golden Sun), awaits us. That took us about a rockety hour as the roads were not even. The reason why we had to change buses was because the three gorges dam area only allows their own city vehicles (meaning Yichang) to enter.
By the time we reached the cruise, it was 9 plus pm. The drastic amount of pressure decrease above my head caused me to feel disoriented and dizzy because of the really low ceiling. I was super scared I would hit my head, but I wasn't that tall to get my head hit. We had our dinner at a restaurant before we came on board but Jovin, Shan hui and I still felt hungry so we bought cup noodles from the small provision shop in the cruise to eat. The rooms were small but sufficient enough for us to make ourselves home for the next two days. However, the toilet was really small in our room. Just getting into the toilet was as if I was challenging an obstacle course. I went to use the toilet in Jovin's room to bathe on Saturday night as theirs was so much bigger. Another cause of headache (literally) was the floor. As the main structure was made out of metal, some parts of the metal would "bend" and come back with a loud and annoying noise. There was a particularly loud one right outside our door. Thus, anyone who walked past our door could be heard by us in the room. Also, the top deck is just right above us, so we can hear anyone who runs on the deck. You can imagine just how peaceful our sleep is..
Throughout the cruise, there are 4 places we could visit. 2 places were sponsored by the school while the other two had to be paid by ourselves if we wanted to go. As most of us didn't want to go, we spent the time studying or resting on the cruise. I decided to maximize time and wrote notes for my upcoming test on Thursday. Jovin and I went to the upper deck and sat under the sun and cool breeze to study. However, it started getting really hot as it neared noon so we scrambled down under the shade.
On Saturday afternoon, we got off 金太阳 and went to this place called 白帝城 (white emperor city). The structure and scenery around that area was really pretty. When we boarded the cruise again, we managed to catch the sunset! It was so pretty with the mountains and water to form the picturesque view.
I woke up at 5.30 am this morning by the music being broadcasted as a morning call. Our breakfast was very simple consisting of porridge, peanuts, salted vege and eggs! We were all sitting at the table when someone said they wanted to catch the sunrise, so we took out bowls and hard boiled eggs up to the deck and sat there to eat and wait for the sunrise. Unfortunately for us, the fog and tall mountains blocked our view to see the sunrise. We left the boat at around 7am and took a dragon boat to visit 九畹溪. There was a theater stage set up and we had to walk on a squishy floating walkway quite deep inside to climb up the steps built at the side of the mountain. It was there where all of us finally saw a glimpse of the sun! All of us headed back to 金太阳 and prepared to leave. We had a very nice lunch at a restaurant in a hotel on land before continuing our 5 hour plus journey back to Wuchang Polytechnic.
Even though the amenities on the cruise was not very good and not what I expected it to be, it was still better than nothing and it still provided the basic things like a bed, toilet, water and plug for charging electronic items. Wuhan also possess many beautiful places that holds magnificent and picturesque views and sceneries.
That basically concludes my whole weekend trip.
Rest well and sweet dreams!
Xoxo
Zayneeer
PS: I managed to finish my notes on Forensic Psychology during my weekend trip. That chapter is the longest and the most wordy chapter out of all the chapters. So, you can imagine how much time I had to actually finish writing everything. :)
My lunch at the restaurant
My dinner at the restaurant in a hotel.
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