Wuhan Replay!

Special thanks to Ngee Ann Polytechnic.

Day 42: I'm going home. Back to a place where I belong

Today is the day that we had awaited since the 1st day we reach Wuhan!! We are finally going home. 

We did some last minute cleaning up and packing to our house as we waited for the bus to come and fetch us to the airport.

Renoma's model. Last photo before leaving our place.

After that, the bus fetch us to the airport. We really enjoyed our last 1 hour journey on the bus in Wuhan. We've got to change 2 flight before we reach Singapore. A domestic flight from Wuhan to GuangZhou then from Guang Zhou to Singapore. around 6 hrs plus of travelling time. 

Photos taken while waiting.

Before entering the door

Do not doubt. Thats my private jet.

Last group photo

We reached Singapore at 11pm. We arrived in Singapore. Upon leaving the airport, I can breathe the air that I am so used to. I can feel the temperature that I onced enjoy. I feel proud of our Clean City upon leaving the airport. The 42 days at Wuhan was very well spent. I made a lot of new friends and learnt to appreciate what I have now. Wuhan will definitely be missed by me and everyone. 

Day 41: Last day in Wuhan

Today as we move live our last day in Wuhan, there are many memories and feelings when we think back of our past 40 days here. We came Wuhan not knowing each other except for those from my class. But after 40 days of bonding, we knew each other quite well now. All the bad and good habits were exposed and shown fully during the 40 days programme. 

The first thing I did today was to interview 田阿姨, who is the caretaker of the building we are staying in. Basically what I asked was questions about the culture here. I wanted to understand what's the difference in culture between China and Singapore. One of the thing I realise is that wearing shorts and slippers to class in China is not acceptable, it's a form of disrespect for the lecturer. Unlike Singapore, it is part of our culture. Back in school, we can see people wearing shorts and slippers walking around freely. I feel that we are luckier in a sense that we are not restricted in our dressing in Ngee Ann Poly. 

Another thing is that more than 80% of the students here are studying away from home. Meaning to say that they stay in the Campus student hostel most of the time and go home only twice a year. For the better-off students, maybe 4 to 5 times a year. Unlike us, we get to go back to our comfort zone daily after school, a place where we belong. Yes, Singapore may be smaller as compared to China, but doesn't the feeling of being able to go home for dinner and have a roof over your head daily surpasses that? I am beginning to appreciate my campus location being quite close to my home. 

There is a closing ceremony organised by WIT to mark the end of our 42 days trip in Wuhan. We were brought to the International Affairs Main Office where there is a room to hold all of us. Upon entering, we realised that we were all not dressing appropriately except for Mr Wee, Jack Boon and Han Soo. They wore business shirts. During this ceremony, there were speeches by Mr Wee and Jia Fu as well as by the Vice-Principal of WIT. Jia Fu's speech really represent what is going on right in our mind. All the events came upon my mind as Jia Fu read on. The ceremony ended with a certificate presentation. How I wished that was my Ngee Ann Graduation Certificate.

 

Mr Wee decided to treat all of us to dinner today as it was the last meal, however, we have made an appointment at the tepanyaki resturant. Initially we wanted to have our last dinner at the tepanyaki restaurant but it was shifted up as we wanted to attend Mr Wee's dinner as well. In the end, we changed the appointment earlier. When we reached there, we were greeted by the warm smile of the waitress. Today we had a good meal. We were treated to a lot of good food, it was really fulfilling and we still have to go for another meal!! Immediately after our tepanyaki, we took a cab down to Chicony as we were late for the dinner. We ate some food there although we were full. We were really apologetic to Mr Wee as he ordered a lot of food and we didnt finished it. This meal, we had some china students joining us. This can be considered as some sort of interaction I guess..

After dinner, we went home immediately. I wanted to pack my luggage. It is really fustrating whenever I see it. How I wished there is someone to pack for me right now. The jacket is really the cause of my problems. Luckily I passed on the jacket to Xiu Jin's zao lor bag, and I managed to get everything in. All I hope now is to get home and unpack everything and just sleep. 

It is less than 24 hours before I reach home. See you later! =]

Day 40: Slowly.. packing

I was awaken by Kuan today. He asked me if I wanted to go to Hua Luo Li Shopping Centre as Jian Wen they all are going there to buy some stuffs and change a t-shirt that he bought a few days ago as he realise the printing on the t-shirt has some spelling errors. 

Today was abit special as we took a tram ride from our campus to the shopping centre. It was the first time we are taking it. It is a nice experience and saves time for us. I wonder why NP do not have such service? Maybe the cabbie used by the securities guard can do this to earn extra money.

As it was near to lunch time when we went there, I had my first meal of the day there. There is a food court inside the shopping centre. It was the first time we had our meals there. Ordering food from there is really about luck. You do not know if the food you ordered is nice or not nice. Sometimes you just have to drool over the food that the others ordered. However, one thing that surprise me at this food court is that there is someone to serve you food after you ordered. Just that the service is . . . very . . . slow and take a . . . very . . . long time. When our food has arrived and we have finished eating, Jian Wen and Jia Fu's one still have not arrived. They even had to go and rush the person 2 - 3 times. I think if this is in Singapore, that stall would have been complained and scolded by their customers.

After lunch comes the shopping part! I think this is a part loved by many of us. Many of us grabbed this chance to make the last spending as this might be the last time we are going there, since we are going to leave on Tuesday. 

When we are about to leave the shopping centre, it started to rain and we do not have enough umbrella for everyone, so we have to share. We decided to walk and take the tram at the tram stop, since it was raining quite heavily. 

Initially we decided to have dinner at the Japanese restaurant at Chicony. But we didnt managed to book a place there as it was very crowded. So we changed our plans to go to Houcaller. Meanwhile, I start to pack my things. All of a sudden, I realise that it was very difficult to pack the things. I have to pack all the clothes in + the things that I bought during my 6 weeks stay in Wuhan. All of a sudden, I realise I bought a lot of things back. It is really fustrating packing the luggage. Especially when I need space to put the things. 

Our room in a mess

Cars collection

We had our dinner today at Houcaller, I am actually quite tired of the food there as it was the same everytime we went. Now, as I head back to my apartment, I am having a headache again. What to do with all my stuffs?!?!! 

Day 39: 2 more days!

Today is the last Saturday for us in Wuhan. There aren't much things for us to do now except shopping and spending money. I have used up all my money I brought to Wuhan and I have also borrowed 400 yuan from Mr Wee as he is doing a mass drawing from the ATM Machine today. 

We went to Si Men Kou again today. Initially we planned to take a bus down, however, as everyone got their money from Mr Wee, they wanted to take a cab instead. Same thing, we went there for lunch before going off to buy our things. I do not have much things to buy from there already as I have mostly bought all the gifts for people. 

We splited when we were at SMK. After that, we meet up at 3pm before heading to Han Kou. This itinerary seems very familiar to the trip on Thursday. It is very difficult to get a cab at SMK especially when it is raining as well. The cabs here are differentiated by odd numbers day and even numbers day car. Meaning that an odd number day cab will only be allowed to cross the bridge to go to Han Kou. Similarly for even numbers days car. After 15min or so, we managed to get our first cab. It was raining quite heavily then and all of us didnt bring jacket or umbrella as it wasn't raining the past few days.

At Han Kou, we first went to eat the egg tarts and foods. Today I saw a shop that sells chopsticks. I decided to buy a few sets as gifts in case I missed out any. It carries the Beijing Olympics 2008 logo. Quite a good suvenior, in my opinion. We splited again and walk our own, we plan to meet at 7pm before going for dinner. However, after we met and are walking to take transport back, the girls went into a shop and got stuck inside it. Nevermind that, they even influence us to go in and we also ended up with things. I bought a shirt for myself. It was having a 50% discount then. 

Initially we wanted to take a bus to Carrefour or Chicony where we will have our dinner there. But after everyone settled their stuffs, it was already quite late and there aren't any bus service around. The bus service ends at 8:30pm. Thus, we have our dinner at a fastfood restaurant at Han Kou before we take a cab back. The girls haven't shop enough after dinner. They still went back to do more shopping and we waited until 10 plus before we can leave that area. 

Two more days and I am going back!

Day 38: Last Outing!

Today is our last official outing in Wuhan that are planned by the lecturers. We visited 黄鹤楼, 江滩 and zoo. 

黄鹤楼 view from the outside. 

Although we can see that there is only 5 stories from outside, but inside, it is actually 9 stories. Every 1 level, there is a half storey. The only stories that have things to view are 1,3 and 5.

After that, we went for lunch at a food street which is totally new to us. It was the first time we have been there. It's a food street which is similar to Si Men Hou, Hu Bu Xiang. However, this street requires a card to buy things which I find it quite troublesome.

After that, we went to 江滩. It tells us a story of a legend in which it kept the river in place, preventing it from overflooding.

We went to the Zoo immediately after 江滩. The only animal I guess everyone is interested is Panda.

Today's dinner was quite special. We had japanese food for dinner. It was really cheap and good. Luckily we had pre-booked before going, otherwise, we will have to wait for about an hour. 

Day 37: Shopping Spree today

Today is the day I spent most of my money in a single day. We went to Si Men Kou for lunch + shopping at 1pm. Basically we already have an idea of what to get there as we went there before. I intended to get a pair of shoe for myself but it turns out that there is no more size for me. =( I bought quite a number of items at SMK. Most of it are clothes for my cousins and siblings. We planned to leave SMK by 3pm so that we have sufficient time to shop when we go to Han Kou. 

We took a cab down to Han Kou. It was quite near as Si Men Kou was halfway to Han Kou. The first thing we did was to get the egg tarts there. My mum wanted me to get car models for ang mo kia as she did not buy any during her trip the previous time. Spent quite a lot there as well. Actually only I wanted to get the toy car model at Han Kou but when Jian Wen and Tee Yong enter a sports shop there, they also bought some things as they are having a discount. 

It was around 6pm when we left Han Kou. We are supposed to meet the rest at Carrefour before heading to a restaurant near that area. One speciality of the restaurant is that there is a theme for it. It has Mao Ze Dong, communist theme. You could see that the waiters there are all wearing the communist uniform. The food there is quite nice and it is quite cheap also. it's around 12 yuan per person. 

Day 36:

Today, we went to Culture street which is beside Chicony Shopping Centre. It was a small area with quite a lot of shop. I bought quite a number of things from there as gifts. 

We had porridge today for dinner. 

Day 35: 武当山 trip. Day 3

Today we visited the place where Zhuge Liang stayed in when he was young. In this place, we have to climb up 700 stairs to reach the peak. Up there, we can enjoy the cool breeze and beautiful scenery. 

Bronze statue of Zhuge Liang. Donated by his desendants. 

Thats all for our day today as we travel back to our place. Travelling needs 6 hours and by the time we go back, it's dinner time. We went to HouCaller when we reach Wuhan. 

Day 34: 武当山 trip. Day 2

Woke up early at 6am today. we are supposed to gather at 7am for breakfast. After breakfast, we board the bus. Around 10-15 mins we reach WDS. 

The gate of the town

The buses that are supposed to bring us up to the cable car

Firstly, we will be brought up to the foot of the hill where we will take the cable car up to WDS. The buses in WDS are more special as the drivers are specially trained to drive up the hill. The narrow pathway could not be driven by any Tom Dick and Harry. The cable car can allow 2 person at one time. Each ride is around 20-25 mins. We could view the magnificent scenery on the ride. However, we waited for 1 hour plus before we board the cable car as it was very crowded and the system is moving very slowly. 

On the way to take the cable car

Have to queue up to take the cable car

WDS. The highest is the golden roof, everyone come to WDS will go up

Scenery at the peak

At the peak of WDS

Training ground

The golden roof. 

Thats all for the visit to WDS. After that we took the cable car down and went for lunch. Following that, we went to the WDS Prince Temple. It's the place where the prince stay in at the age of 15.

一柱十二梁. 1 column 12 beam

After a visit to it, we were getting ready to head down to our hotels. We took a bus to the foot of the hill afterwhich we were brought to another hotel in Xiang Fan city. We are going to visit the place Zhuge Liang stay when he was young tomorrow. Our hotel was very good also. One of the main point of the hotel room is that the toilet is fully glass door. Means we can see the inside from outside. Also, there is computer with internet access inside. 

It is really a pity that we have to wake up so early on both mornings as the hotel rooms are really very comfortable. How I wished I can stay longer in it.

Day 33: 武当山 trip. Day 1

The bus is coming at 1pm. The 5 of us went opposite to have breakfast before we head to Wudang. At opposite, we tried a new RGM stall and to our surprise, we saw Mr Wee and the 6 REB students there. The stall's RGM was not bad. However, I prefer the first stall one. I think it's all up to personal preference. After that, Jian Wen brought his new specs back to the specs shop for repair works. He said that the new specs were very blurry and caused him dizziness. It turns out that the new specs do not have astigmatism. To add on, he have to pay an additional 20 yuan. He is collecting it after we return from Wudang. 

We went back and checked everything. Making sure we packed sufficiently for the 3D2N trip. Actually the 1st day of the trip was nothing much. As travelling alone takes up 1/4 of the day. When we reached the foot of Wudang Hill, it was already 7pm, time for dinner. Along the way, the tour guide told us not to expect too much for the food as it might not be as good as what we are having in Wuhan. However, the food at the hotel was quite tasty. To our surprise, the hotel room was even fantastic. It was a room for 2, the toilet is as big as our apartment toilet, in fact, it was even bigger. With air-con inside it.

The toilet, this is only half of the size

Our beds

Slip and fall down carefully. The hotel won't be responsible for any accidents.

The shops at Wudang foot hill closes quite early. Thus, there isn't much to buy or shop around. We could only walk around and see see.

Thats all for the first night as we went to bed. Hansoo brought his laptop and was able to go online. He lend me use for a while to check results. Tomorrow, we will be heading up to WDS. As it is Qing Ming Festival these few days, crowd is expected. Thus, we have to get up early tomorrow for breakfast and head up.

Day 32: Set for 武当山?

Yesterday, 5 of us sleep together in 1 room. It was squeasy but I think it is quite memorable. It is not easy getting asleep yesterday due to the strain on my back and my cough and also, I took a nap in the afternoon. 

I woke up today at about 11am. We have not made any plans for today as it was too early. Around 1pm, there was a mass conversation with the girls to decide where to go. We planned on Chicony Shopping Centre, 群光广场. We have not been to this place before and have been hearing quite alot about this place from Mr Wee. 

We took a cab there, we have a very bad experience with this taxi driver. Firstly, he fetches more than 1 customer along the way and also dun run on meter. He quote us a price and if it is ok then he carry on looking for new customers along the way. When we alighted, we checked the price with the others. We were about 5 yuan more exp than them!! Imagine the feeling of being scammed. 

Chicony is like takashimaya in Singapore. Most of it were branded stuffs and were quite expensive. We have our lunch in the food court and Jia fu's porridge was IMBA! There aren't many choices to choose from, in the end, I ordered roasted goose rice.  

After that, we window shopped in the shopping centre before making our way to opposite. It was a computer street. Meaning all computer products and spare parts could be found there. Also, there were people selling DVDs along the street. I bought Football Manager 2009. But it ended up that the disc cannot be used. The keygen is not working. So sad. =(

For dinner, we had pizza. It is a shop called "Papa John". The food there is average and expensive. Not say expensive but just that is it not worth the money. The food is not very tasty. We should have gone to the Japanese restaurant below it. 

 

Tonight, we are going to sleep 5 ppl in a room again. And tomorrow, we are going to 武当山. It will be a 3 day trip and I am looking forward to it. I heard the scenery there is very nice but the weather there is very cold. I have already packed the super fat jacket in my bag for tomorrow. Let me be a fatty for the next 3 days. WAHAHAA! I hope that it won't be used. Why? The weather forecast for the next 3 days is sunny and no rain. around 24 degree to 8 degree. I think the weather have been kind on us for this trip. The weather for our outing has been very good so far. It does not rain when we are out. I hope this continues as we venture into our last week of our trip.

I shall end this post here as it is getting quite late. I will be back with more photos updates of 武当山. 

Day 31: I will miss the classroom!

Woke up with a strain in my shoulder. Could not turn my head at all. 

Today is the last lecture of Project Management and the last day we are attending class in the classroom. After 1 month of climbing 7 stories and attending class in such a cold environment, you will really miss all the things here. The experience of climbing up 7 stories to go to class can never be experienced in Ngee Ann as there is a lift. In here, there is no choice as there is no lift at all. Mr Wee covered 2 topics to complete the module today. So far, we have done 1 test for this module. We have 1 more test and 1 presentation to go. Comparing to the rest of my classmates, this module is non-examinable to us but examinable to them. 

After lesson, we passed by a roadside store selling books. I bought 2 books. 三国演义 &  秦始皇. This 2 books look interesting and are in chinese. I hope I am able to complete reading it. We headed for lunch at a store which we never try before. I had friend kuay teow as one of the customer is eating it and it looked delicious. It is not as good as Singapore Char Kuay Teow. 

After lunch, we accompanied Jian Wen to go and collect his jersey. Actually, I wanted to buy the Portugal jersey that I seen yesterday. But today as we went there, it was sold out. So too bad to me. After that, we went home and I took a nap till 7pm. Close to 4 hours of sleep. 

Dinner today was self-cooked. Basically just rice with egg. 

Just some "bo liao" photo taking.

Day 30: Last IS lesson

Today is the last lesson for our IS. After 1 month of lesson, though not everyday, it is finally over! I would like to apologise to Mr Andy Xi if I did not pay full attention during your lesson. Mr Wee presented the lecturers with a corporate gift from Ngee Ann after lesson today as it was the last time we are seeing them. I really learnt alot from this module, regarding China's economy as well as it's effects on others around it.

Photo taken in class

The lesson today dagged on for about 3 hours and ended at 11am. We were deciding whether to go home or go shopping for a while as there is another lesson at 2pm. There were some disputes to be settled before we left. In the end, we took a van to 马家庄, a place where they sell sports products. It's abit similar to our Queensway. Along the row of shops, they sell all kinds of sports products you can ever imagine. Jian Wen ended up ordering a Barcalona Jersey with Messi printing. He have to order and collect tomorrow as there is no stock for his size. It comes in a set of shirt and shorts. It cost him 55 yuan.

Class Photo with Mr Andy Xi

After that, we went to the shopping mall behind our classroom. I finally know the name of the mall. It's 华罗丽广场. We had Mcdonalds for lunch, and there is Yam pie and Banana pie in stock already. For the past 2 weeks, Macs ran out of stock for these 2 flavours of pie. After lunch, I went to buy a Tee Shirt that I ordered yesterday due to the lack of size. 

The 2nd lesson was about China's history. It is the first and the last time I am seeing the teacher. She gave us a brief introduction about China's history as well as the structure of China's government. She too, was presented with a gift when lesson ended. 

Class photo with Ms Huang

We went back after lesson and arranged to meet at 6:30pm to go to Carrefour for Tepanyaki for dinner to celebrate Kuan wee and Jian Wen's birthday. Today's dinner was quite fulfilling. We ordered some side dishes as well as main course. The bowl used to served rice was upgraded today. I think it's due to our frequent refilling that the waitress served us with bigger bowls upon seeing us. I felt that our dinner was quite worth it. Considering 6 person, the total bill of 270 yuan. 

When we are going home, there was a plan going underway. The girls had camped at level 1 apartment and getting ready to spring a surprise when we reached home. So the cake-cutting process went on as usual and they 2 were presented with gifts. Mainly tee-shirts. Hope they like the shirt we chipped in to buy for them.

The 2 Birthday Boy

CEE Group Photo

Group Photo

My parents came back from China today. Just recieved news that the shirt I bought for my Grandmother is too small. So I think I have to buy something else for her.