Friday, May 15, 2009
When the rain is blowing in your face
and the whole world is on your case
I could offer you a warm embrace
To make you feel my love.
1:16 AM
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Thank you to the 3 of you, SM and Family
I got it, I'll try. Promise
1:24 AM
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Life is all about decision making. Recently I thought about how decisions I made could have change my life. If at that point of time, I chose the other path instead of the one I chosen, would I have a different ending or will I have a different story to tell, would my life be different? If I chose to join my orientation camp in my first year would it be different. If I chose not to participate in GL training would it be different. If I chose to give up sports camp over my own division's camp would it be different. In actual fact, I may have finally regretted something that i thought i would never. Could all these be different if I've taken another path, if I made another choice?
1:08 AM
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Reading the blogs of the 2nd batch of MDE students who are at Wuhan for their OIP makes me miss my 43days in Wuhan. I miss the hostel life we had in Wuhan, the food, the people there. Looking at the pictures they take really bring back memories, the 20 of us plus Mr phua, Mr wong and Lixuan. Ohhhh, how I miss Mr Phua's porridge =(
2:46 AM
Friday, February 20, 2009
I'm not gonna hide
I'm fucking upset I didn't get in
4:12 AM
Monday, February 02, 2009
I feel down
Don't ask me why, cause I don't know
I'm losing the will, losing myself
Just let me be, I'll be fine
I hope
2:07 AM
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Food chain 2 on Friday and Saturday, Friday being the pre-race and Saturday the actual.
Results similar to Food chain 1, same placing for pre-race, same exemption from one road block, same shit that happen, came in first ended up forth, a case of de jevu maybe. Its fine, I know my team performed the best and thats it, we were just unlucky, thats all. Credits to Willis, Jeff and Julian. We did great guys, and a special thanks to our marshall, Vivien who ran with us throughout the race.
8:32 PM
Sunday, January 11, 2009
RSP finally over, it was fine, not the best but not horrible either. Well, I'm sleepy and i just finish watching the matches today, so I'll continue tomorrow, night =D
3:55 AM
Tuesday, January 06, 2009
I'm a tad late but its fine! 2008 is over and well, 2008 was quite a good year actually. GLs training at the beginning the year, GL camp then sports camp, I admit I felt a rather disappointed because i wasn't able to commit to both sports camp and MDE camp, but well, I didn't regret the choice I made because I had a hellava time going through GL camp and sports camp itselfs. 2008 also consisted of memories that I am gifted with, Wuhan OIP 2008. Those 6 weeks was really awesome, being overseas without my parents was tough but I had friends who helped me pull through.
Its 2009 and well when everybody have listed down their new year resoultions, I will not. I do not believe in resoultions cause hardly people will actually stick to them and I'm included. I just hope 2009 will be a good year. =D
12:56 AM
Monday, December 08, 2008
OPCS and IMGT common test on wed and thurs. Fast fast, class chalet on thurs, finally! =D
Come on, CTs will end fast! Japan next monday, then christmas. More or less my schedule for the next 3 weeks. Still have the RSP activity planning day. Alright, back to MRP, cheers people =D
6:33 PM
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Had dinner at Sakura at Shaw plaza today with my family. The food there was quite good actually. Quite a few of us, around 12, so we took quite a few tables and i still remember my table number! 50! Good memory eh, but actually its because we had to use this clips on our table to get some food. Just to be random, ARHH, I should have ask for her number.
10:02 PM
Sunday, November 09, 2008
A random thought, I suddenly miss my 42days in WUHAN.
11:45 PM
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Camp log was fun, made some new friends. Some surprises here and there but nonetheless, still fun for me. Not quite looking forward to school this days, no motivation to go at all. Just want to stay at home and rot. I doubt people understand me, well, who cares.
1:01 AM
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
I tried doing everything
I really did, but it just ain't working
You'll never know, I doubt you will
1:22 AM
Friday, October 10, 2008
These past 43 days have been one of the best experience in my life. At the beginning, life at Wuhan was really tough, we have to adapt everything from scratch. Different lifestyle, different food, we were in a totally foreign land. I admit, I was afraid i weren't be able to adapt. At the start, time really moves very slowly and I start to learn to look after myself. For me the main reason I was able to survive through these 43 days was because of 20 people. Andy, Teckyi, Willis, Benji, Julian, Vivien, Shiuan, Suelyn, Huizhi, Fiza, Amirah, Sebas, Steffi, Yuting, Weiling, Clarrisa, Yining, Karen, Samantha and Mr Phua. Thank you guys for taking care of me throughout this whole trip. Thanks for the memories that you all have given me these 43 days. These memories will always stay with me.
I want to thanks my 2 bunkmates Julian and Teckyi, living with each other may be tough but hey we manage to survive through. Thanks guys!
Special thanks to my family in Wuhan, Andy, Vivien, Shiuan, Willis, Suelyn and Sebas. You guys made me felt home when we were in Wuhan, supporting each other when we needed a hand, sharing problems and having fun. You guys are the best thing that happen to me in Wuhan and I thank all of you for it. Thanks guys.
Wuhan has really open my eyes to many things and teaching me that friends are most important when you're away from home. I never regret my choice of going to Wuhan, it has been a good experience and all those things that i missed in Singapore was all worth it. These 43 days has really been an eye-opener for me, learning new stuffs and learning new cultures. I do miss Wuhan and Wuhan will always hold a special place in my heart. The 20 of you will also hold a special place in my heart and I'll never forget all of you. Thanks
10:01 PM
Day 43
This post will most probably be the last post about China. Woke up in the morning, shower, pack up and got ready to leave for the airport. Move our lagguge into the bus and we bid a final goodbye to our home for the past 42 days and left for Wuhan airport. At Wuhan airport, we check-in our bag and we were overweight by a total of 120KG. Mr phua paid for it but we came up with a part of it and paid it back to him. The flight was about 1 and a half hours before we reach GuangZhou airport for our transit. We wasted alot of time in GuangZhou airport due to the different instructions given to us by the ground staff there and we only manage to check in at the last call. I had a shock of my life when i was stopped at the calling gate as they found some prohibited items in my check in lagguge. They told me to remove the lighters I bought before I was allowed to enter the plane. Sat with Clar and Kaiyi on the plane back to Singapore. Rested abit and played some childhood games with Clar after dinner, thanks clar for entertaining me during the flight. When we finally touch down in Singapore Changi Airport, we were all super happy. Spend some time at the duty free shop before going out. Finally saw my parents and friends after 6 weeks. Went home after that!
9:45 PM
Day 42
Our last free day in Wuhan. Went to Walmart with Vivien, Shiuan, Sebas, Steffi and Suelyn to get some local products to bring back to Singapore. Spend an hour or 2 there before heading back to the hostel, caught a quick rest and we headed off to Bu Xing Jie for the last time with some of the ECE guys. Our main aim today was to go to the night market. I didn't get anything there as I was done with my shopping. Went back to the hostel and did our final packing. Had some drinks and chit chat with some of them and i drank a little too much and so went to bed at around 4. Will surely miss Wuhan when we go back.
9:26 PM
Day 41
Went out again today, with Vivien and Shiuan. 2 Destinations, first was Han Zheng Jie and second was Bu Xing jie. We been to this 2 places before but today was our last chance of getting any things that we haven't get as we won't be going back again. We walk for a few hours before heading to Bu Xing Jie. We settle our dinner at a steakhouse and the food was really worth the price, its similar to Jack's place just much cheaper. The ambiance was also very comfortable, too bad we only discover the place just when we were about to go back. Oh well, Met the rest of them after that as we wanted to go to the night market but due to the rain most of the stalls weren't open. Walk abit before walking along the main streets doing abit of shopping. Left for the hostel after that.
2 more days before we go back!
9:10 PM
Day 40
Didn't go out in the afternoon today, some of them went out shopping while the rest went to the salon to do their hair but i stayed in the hostel as i had a bad headache in the morning. Spend my day watching drama and savouring the my alone time. In the evening I went to Bu Xing Jie alone to get some stuff for my family in Wuhan and for some friends. For me, whenever I go overseas I must go walk around the country alone at least once, I think by walking will be the best way to see the place. True as it seems as I manage to walk the whole Bu Xing jie, quite quickly. Went back and ate Mr Phua's porridge. It tasted as good as ever, how I will miss his porridge when we go back to Singapore. 3 more days, I'll miss Wuhan.
2:52 PM
Day 39
Went out with Lixuan, Suelyn, Andy, Benji, Teckyi today to another part of Bu xing jie and to an Adidas discount shop. It was a shopping center similiar to our Far east plaza but we didn't buy much there as the stuffs there were really expensive. Instead we went to the Adidas discount shop and i got Chuan fa's jacket there!
At night we went to Lixuan house for dinner as her family invited us over for dinner. Her family are super super nice can! They treated all of us like family and they cooked more then 15 dishes for all of us. They also prepare alot of snacks and tibits for us too. Lixuan's house is also super big and her room has this very fantasy feeling and we all called it the princess room! Day 39 already, I will really miss Wuhan and Lixuan! She is our first friend in Wuhan and she has taken care of us throughout the whole trip. Thanks alot LIXUAN, we will all miss you.
2:44 PM
Day 38
Happy national CHINA national day! Their national day also means that all the shops are having discounts! The 5 of us, Vivien, Shiuan, Suelyn, Andy and myself went to bu xing jie again to shop! We had lunch at a famous restaurant called Si Ji Mei and that place is famous for its xiao long bao. It was really good, after lunch we walk about Bu Xing jie to shop and I got myself a pair of keeper's glove! YIPEE. Had dinner mixed rice for dinner before we head off to the night market. The night market was really big and really crowded, even walking for 2 hours we still couldn't finish walking the whole night market and thus we decided to go back first and that we will go back again another day!
2:13 PM
Day 37
Today was spent in the hostel again but slightly more meaningful, group B started on their video today but we weren't the most productive spending most of the day picking the photos which we decide to put into the video. We haven't even plan the story line of our video, OH MY. Anyway we spend some time in the evening doing sports to relieve the stress.
Thanks Amirah and Fiza for buying us dinner. They bought back many food for us to celebrate the breaking of fast, fried rice, noodles, jian bing, pastry and alot other foods, all of us were bloated. Thanks! and selemat hari raya.
Alright, back to the video making, cya people =D
1:50 AM
Day 36
Happy birthday ADELENE LOW HUI ZHI!
So at 12am the MDE people went to help celebrate my little sister birthday, and we all has a speical surprise for her! This time her birthday cake was a rockmelon! cool eh, first a watermelon, then a durian now a rock melon! Amirah and Fiza also bought a big cake for her too! Me and andy has a small surprise for her too which was the grand finale.A hint? It involves a small cake and her face! Well i Hope adelene enjoyed her 18th birthday in Wuhan with all of us
Mei arh, you're finally 18. I still remember how we first met, i still don't know why we started qurraeling that day but I'm glad we did, cause thats how we met each other. I want you to know I'm glad that I have you as my god-sister and that you will never be forgotten. Once again happy 18th girl!
Nothing much today, spend the whole day in the room, watching dramas and catch up with some rest, doing start doing much work though.
Evening was spent running and doing sports and stuff, kinda routine.
1:49 AM
Day 35
SHOPPING TODAY! So 7 of us, Andy, Willis, Vivien, Shiuan, Sebastini, Suelyn and myself went to the wholesale street called 汉正街. Our main aim there was to source for cheap buys but mostly stuffs are only cheap if you buy in bulk as the place is mainly for people to purchase stock. For example a cap can be sold at 15 RMB individually but 7RMB when you purchase in bulk. So we walked around for quite a long time searching for guys clothes but we couldn't find any good ones. We bought more of accessories and soft toy. Other than that we found some good food from the push cart around 汉正街 like sweet potato and this popiah look-alike thing but it tasted super good.
Went to 步行街 after that to walk around before heading back to the hostel to prepare for something! Shall end here, night people
1:21 AM
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Day 34
We had our last excursion of this OIP trip. We went to the Wuhan botanic gardens, Mo-shan and Dong hu. The weather here has been much colder and we are still wearing shorts, some of us anyway. Wuhan's botanic garden quite similar to Singapore's one, just that the species of flowers are really different due to the different climate and weather. Its also much bigger then ours,
Next stop was Mo-Shan, this use to be a gate for the Chu dynasty (if I remembered correctly). The historical monuments there are very unique and there were even roleplaying shop where you pay a small price and you can dress up in a ancient costume and take as many pictures as you want and as expected most of us tried it out. We also went for some chimes performace, it was really cool.
Our last stop was Dong Hu, the main focus at the park was cui yuan, the guy that people commemorate during the mid-autumn festivle.
Pictures will be posted up when i get it, so nothing much left, shall end here, cya
11:37 PM
Sunday, October 05, 2008
Day 33
Firstly I wanna wish Shiuan a happy 18 birthday and I hope you enjoyed that little surprise we planned for you. 18 already arh, grow up! haha
Heres a little testimonial for you. Lew Shiuan Shiuan, I have known you since we were both year 1 but I hardly have the chance to talk to you. Only got to know you better during this OIP trip and I find that you're a really nice girl. You're super straight forward and outgoing. Maybe to strangers you may be a little quiet but once they get to know you, you're actually real fun to talk too. You may be unglam at times but hey thats what makes you cute! Hope you have a memorable 18th birthday and that you'll have a super good day. =D
At 1 am in the morning, we went to shiuan's room to give her a birthday surprise and as usual, the cake this time was DURIAN! yes! DURIAN. So when we went into her room she had a real shock as she was rushing her IS project. We presented her with some gifts and a cake and followed by photo taking! It was really fun and the family had a bit of a chit chat when the rest of the class went back to their rooms.
In the morning we had our IS presentation and my group was the first to present, we presented on Wuhan. I was a little nervous at the start as it was a foreign place and I don't think I did that well, but I figure its alright. The whole presentation took us a few hours before ending and we were dismissed after that. We went to the nearby shopping mall to shop as we had vouchers but the vouchers were actually "scam" cause you have to spend like at least 400RMB before you can use the voucher, but I still bought 1 shirt. Mr puah treated us to dinner to celebrate all of those who celebrated their birthday in Wuhan and the food was good! Anyway here I would like to wish all those who have celebrated their birthday here in Wuhan a happy birthday. I know most of you spent your 18th birthday here, but I hope we have all made it special for each other, cause I know you guys made my 18th a real special one and I'll remember it for life, thanks guys.
9:38 AM
Day 32
Oh! Did I mention IS lessons being a chore last time? Actually its not really, its actually quite interesting but sad to say, today was our last IS lesson with Xiaoling laoshi =(. Xiaoling laoshi is a super super nice teacher, she'll always do her best to help us understand the topic and always help us clear our doubts. It is really our pleasure to me taught by her. Not only is she helpful in class, she is also willing to help us outside class. Shes even willing to answer us qustions not relavant to the module and also help us with our case study and stuff and for that, I'm really grateful to her and I'll really miss Xiaoling laoshi
9:30 AM
Day 30
Woke up early today because of IS, darn, IS can be a chore sometimes. Sports as usual. Its just another routine day
Day 31
Computer town today. Went there with Andy, Benji, Vivien & Suelyn. Our main aim was to help Andy purchase some thumbdrives for Mr puah which will be use a tokens of appreciation for the staff here in WUST. Didn't get anything for myself except the cute little fish earphones coil. Bought for some of my friends and some for the class with suelyn. OH! I forgot to mention, we went to this vegetarian restaurant for lunch and the food was really good, not to mention really cheap too! We walk quite a distance from the restaurant to Computer town and stop by quite alot of shops. OH! I'm gonna miss the REALLY REALLY cheap prices here!
9:18 AM
Day 29
Nothing much happen today, no lessons, which gives me a reason to wake up late! 12pm! like finally, after so long in Wuhan I got to sleep in.
So the day was spent in campus, doing sports and running, table tennis with some of the ECE guys, badminton with the rest of us, and "monkey" with the rest. Actually, for the past few weeks, sports are our form of entertainment, when there are no televisions, you'll find other form and we found SPORTS. =D
Alright, nothing much today, means no pictures, SORRY!
Off now, bye
9:12 AM
Monday, September 22, 2008
Day 27 & 28 - Wudang trip
Our weekend was spent in Wudang Shan, the temple of taoism and the origin of the Qi-gong. The highest point of Wudang Shan is called the Jin-ding and its 1600m above sea level. Tourist are to travel up the mountain in coaches and drop at the designated stopping points to proceed to the scenic spots.
Day 27
Woke up early in the morning to prepare for the 5 hours ride to Wudang Shan, left the school at around 8, the whole journey took us around 5 and a half hours! I swear my butt was super numb larh. Spend most of the journey sleeping though. When we finally reach Wudang Shan, everybody was super cui, with a super numb butt. Had lunch before making our way to the tourist center at Wudang Shan. First we made our way to the prince slope to see some of the attractions followed by another attraction which i forgot the name, but it was super foggy and cold, just like genting, and the best part, i left my jacket in the bus, GOOD GAME. The sight seeing was fine, but some of my classmates got scammed, as they went in to pray and they though it was free but after the taoist priest ask them for donation and the sum they ask ain't small, its all in 3 digits. We left the mountain in the evening when it turn dark and headed for dinner after which. Oh did I mention the coach ride up the mountain was horrible, so many turns and corners most of us felt sick after the ride. Made our way to the hotel, quite a few of us went out for a walk around the hotel before heading back. Rest and good night.
Day 28
Morning call was suppose to be at 6 but Julian and I woke up late, we only woke up at 630am so I was actually late for breakfast, quite alright larh, cause the table I went too only had 4 person, including Adam, Kahyee, this china guy and myself. The pancake tasted super nice can, had the prata with sugar feeling. So we made our way back to the bus heading back to Wudang Shan, this time we were suppose to choose to either hike up to the summit of Wudang Shan or take a cable car. Everyone knows I'm afraid of heights but I chose to take the cable car hoping I would be able to overcome the fear, oh well and I did it, I manage to overcome it a little, still scare but not as bad. We queued up for the cable car ride for about 3 hours? The wait was super long and it didn't help when the chinese nationals keep shoving their way thru and cutting into the queue, it was SUPER SUPER irritating and I was really annoyed. I took the ride with Andy and he help by calming me down and stuff thanks brother! The ride was about 30 mins, and we reached the bottom of the summit. We still had to climb to the top called the "Jin Ding" The route was alright as it was stairs but it was really high up, 1600m above sea level, and the railing wasn't the highest in fact it didn't even reach my waist so you can imagine how I felt. The climb took around 45 minutes, but the view from the summit was really nice, just that I was afraid of heights so I couldn't really appreciate the actual beauty of it but oh well, at least I can tell people I've been to the true Wudang Shan. Bought a lock to wish for good luck and harmony for my family and auntie ah hui's family. Went down the mountain after that and took the cable car down Wudang Shan. Went for lunch after that and then the 5 hours ride back to school.
The trip to Wudang Shan was interesting, but I felt that the schedule arrange for us by the tour agency was very dis-organized and not properly planned. For example, we were suppose to report back at the bus at 12 pm and we were let down the bus at 8, which gave us 4 hours in between to reach the summit but they didn't consider that for those taking the cable car the wait was 3 hours, put this aside, we have people who were climbing up to the summit, they themselves know it will take about 3 hours but still they didn't give us sufficient time, and after which put the blame on us being late, and so called "insulting" Singaporeans. I felt that they're really irresponsibility. But oh well, what can we do, this isn't our country, tough luck.
Hergrey,
On the morning of sep 21, she left us. None of us know how she went and all we could do is guess. She was like the baby to the 20 of us, there were even plans to bring her back to Singapore but now shes gone. We miss her and we all hope that shes having fun up there.
2:27 PM
Day 26
No lessons today! We finished our all our chapters and whats left is the 2 case studies, 1 test, IS presentation and the video. Woke up in the morning for my jog with willis, viven, shiuan and suelyn. Went for Mac breakfast after that. Came back and play some badminton with teckyi and julian before showering and get some rest. Went to Jian She Qi Lu at around 4 to shop abit. We spent around 2 hours in the bookshop and i got 3 books! Walk around the night market but didn't get anything though. Dinner after that and headed back to the hostel to pack for the Wudang trip the next day. Quite a short day, nothing much really.
1:58 PM
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Day 25
Morning started with being raped by the guys! BULLY =( Is lecture with xiaoling laoshi followed by BPE with Mr Phua. The rest of the afternoon was spent playing badminton, table tennis and running. Dinner and rest, went over to steffi's room for a group meeting until the rest of them surprise me with a "watermelon cake". Super shocked can, cause i open the door and so many of them outside, was super surprise. Had to finish half the watermelon and i was super bloated after that. Still it was a great 18th birthday, spending your 18th birthday oversea isn't that bad when you have super great friends with you.
Thanks CANDY for the wallpaper
Thanks SUELYN for the picture
Thanks JULIAN for the dettol (and spiking my old bottle)
Thanks WEILING, CLAR, YINING and KAREN for the cup
Thanks ADE, FIZA, AMERA, ANDY, KAHYEE, RAMESH, ADAM, ELAINE and MEIYAN for the surprise at midnight
Thanks FATS for the birthday song over the phone
Thanks MUMMY AND DADDY for the wishes
Thanks guys for making my birthday a memorable one, love all of you yo!
and thanks to all of those who have wished me, through text messages, friendster comments or MSN.
I really appreciate everything that you guys have done, from the bottom of my heart,
Thank you.
11:20 PM
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Day 24
BPE in the morning, we had a early dismissal today as we were to go to the WUST new campus for an exchange programme with the local students. So we took an hour bus ride to the new campus which I happen to forgot the name. When we arrived, we were welcomed to the lecture theater where we were welcome by their foreign language students. They gave us a welcoming speech and then we were assigned our partners thorough drawing lots. My partner was called KeKe, shes a year 2 student majoring in English in WUST. We were showed around the campus, the new campus is really very nice, but our campus ain't that bad either! Oh yarh! We saw LIXUAN! Shes also in the new campus undergoing "jun xun" something like our NS. Its a must for any students who are being enrolled into any school but its only over a course of 2 weeks, both gender will have to participate, and according to my partner KeKe, its super super tough. OMG, jiayou lixuan!
Oh did i mention, we were given a stock of flower too, so sweet right. Anyway we had some telematch and after that we toured their library. We had dinner at their canteen after that and then we left for the hostel. Alright larh, the exchange programme wasn't that boring, but maybe just abit tiring, alright off I go, enjoy the pictures people.
National Education Message 1
Singapore is our homeland; this is where we belong
Singapore is our homeland, my whole life I have been living in Singapore. No matter where I am, no matter how far away I am from Singapore, I'll never forget where my roots are, the place where I've grown up at, the place which nurture me to be who I am today. Singapore will be the only country I would want to be a citizen of. Singapore will forever be the home for my family, home for my friends and will always be my home. I'm proud to be a Singaporean and I'll treasure it deeply.
9:49 PM
Day 23
Nothing much happen in the afternoon, the usual, lesson, rest than my usual jog. Oh yarh, something i forgot to mention the previous post, Mr Puah cooked us porridge yesterday and today! SUPER SUPER NICE! Oh my god, reminds me of home! Nothing much, today, alright, night =D
9:46 PM
Day 22
Holiday for us today, as its a public holiday in China, due to the mid-autumn festival. So around 13 of us planned to go to the Wuhan Zoo. Our main goal was to see the panda. At first I had quite a high expectation of the Zoo, as I visualized it to Singapore Zoo, but when we got there, its 2 different thing, totally different. Wuhan Zoo is much much bigger then Singapore Zoo, but the animals here are all kept in cages. Not only their living habitat is very dirty and the animals themselves are very dirty. Their fur look very messy and they weren't properly groomed. Kinda sad to see the poor animals though. Oh well, but we still got to see the panda in the end.
9:29 PM
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Day 21
Morning call was at 7am, had breakfast before leaving the cruise, the ride back to Wuhan was 5 hours, spent most of it sleeping. The rest of the afternoon was spent resting and exercising. At night Mr Wont bought us some mooncake to celebrate the mid-autumn festival, and I think miss Sandra who will be teaching English here in Wuhan bought us some mooncake from Singapore, super cool can. Nothing much else, and oh, i ate dinner under the full moon, cool right.
11:50 PM
Day 20
Morning call was at 630am, super early, but what to do, have to keep up with the schedule. So first we headed to Sheng Nong Xi, the boat ride took around an hour. Sheng nong xi is filled with many nice views, hills and water, don't you think green and blue makes a good combination. When we reach our destination, we were transfer to a bigger version of a sampan, able to hold 17 of us, 1 tour guide, and 6 rowers. All the crew members and the tour guide belong to a minority group in China. The ride was about 1 and a half hour. At the furthest point of our ride, it is said that the water was super clear and it has beautifying purposes. I tried abit of the water and it taste better then mineral water! So at one point of the ride when we were going upstream, the "sampan" was pulled instead of being rowed, it's like a tradition, super hard work.
The whole journey took around 4 hours, after which we headed back to the cruise for lunch and some rest, at 2 different timing, we were called to the deck to see 2 of the more popular attraction of the 3 gorges, being the goddess peak and Wu xia.
At night we were brought to the Crown prince temple, where we got to see some statues of past historical events and some artifacts. Headed back to the boat after that. Most of the night was spent on the deck enjoying the breeze and night scenes of the 3 gorges. The breeze was super relaxing and super refreshing. Its something you cannot experience on board a big cruise.
9:33 PM
Monday, September 15, 2008
Hey guys, I'm back, will be blogging about the past few days including the cruise to the 3 gorges. You may be wondering what san xia (3 gorges) is, a gorge is actually a rather narrow river between two mountains. The 3 gorges are formed after years of being beaten by the chang jiang thus the birth of the 3 gorges is a process of more than 2 thousand years.
Day 19
Woke up at 630 in the morning just so to get myself prepared early so i can go get breakfast before the long ride to yichang, 5 hours mind you. Adelene didn't come along as she wasn't feeling well, so mr phua accompanied her in the hostel. The bus ride was kinda fine actually, our tour guide, Lin Dao ( Lin being the surname, and dao a form of addressing) is a super nice guy. So halfway throughout the trip, the bus started out own karoke session. Super fun, quite a few talents arh, not bad not bad. So we arrived at Yichang and had lunch before continuing our journey to the 3 gorges dam. Along the way we got to see many nice views from the bus, and what can i say, it was beautiful. When we reached the visitor welcoming station of the dam we were told that we will be heading to 3 parts of the dam. Personally, I don't think theres anything special about the dam in terms of the scenery, I still prefer natural beauty. So we stayed at the dam for about 4 hours before heading off for dinner. After dinner we headed to the port before boarding our cruise. Our cruise was a "local" 4 star cruise, ain't that bad actually, quite a small ship though but a small ship has it good points too, the breeze i felt on board was excellent, something I cannot find on big cruise ships. The night started with the Ngeeann people being welcomed aboard by the crew, they had some small showcase, small it may be, but it is much appreciated. The rest of the night was spent in the karoke room singing and enjoying the view on the deck.
8:43 PM
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Day 18
The same in the morning, IS and BPE. This i getting boring, every morning always the same routine, nothing much to blog about. Anyway lets skip to lunch, had lunch with Andy, Julian and Teckyi. Went to try to muslim canteen. The food ain't so bad, but i notice that they like to spam green chilli, and the green chilli are different from those you find in Singapore, it's super super spicy even for someone like me who LOVE spicy food. So afternoon was spent dotaing with Andy, Julian, Willis and some of the ECE guys. We won, not bad not bad, good job guys =D. Went for my usual jog before going to shopping mall with Andy, Julian and Teckyi. Our main aim today, to go walmart to get some supplies. I got myself a hand carry language and we got alot of snacks. We're stocking up for tomorrow 3 gorges trip.
Speaking of 3 gorges, I'm super excited going there, it may also be the first and last time I'll be seeing it, since next year the 3 gorges will be completely flooded =(, what to do, also not my country.
No pictures today, will update again when i get back, cya people =D
10:24 PM
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Day 17
The usual morning, started the day with BPE lecture followed by lunch and the rest of the afternoon was spent resting in the room. Nothing special actually. Went jogging in the evening alone. Since i started to run, I always like running alone. The daily jog gives me time to reflect on stuffs and relax the mind, its like when running, you're free, relax, and all your troubles seem to disappear for that short while. Interesting? You can try it out sometimes.
Its steffi's birthday today! happy birthday steffi, you're finally 19! Time to grow up! We had a mini celebration for steffi just now, it was fun, many food from the backstreet and snacks. Had a great time crapping around and joking. Alright better stop here, night people =D
10:01 PM
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Day 16
Lesson in the morning again, started with 2 hours of IS lecture followed by our BPE test 1. The test was rather difficult but it was manageable i guess, but I don't think I'll do that well though. The rest of the afternoon was spent dotaing with a few friends and i played basketball today! EH! I'm a soccer player, not a basketball player, so play basketball not bad lorh. This chinese guy bang into me when i was doing a jump shot, painful, around my left waist area, bruise =( My usual jog was followed, along with weiling and suelyn and YINING! She finally join us today, after 2 weeks!
Went to a night market near lixuan house in the evening, so took a mini bus to jian she 7 lu. Dinner at some cafe, had some bbq food and fried rice! I swear, i like the sausages here, super nice can!
After dinner, walked around the night market, wanted to get some ZIPPO lighters for the brothers but couldn't get them at the right price, but i did buy a wallet for my mum! Mini-bused to the hostel after that and now I'm going to DOTA! cheers people =D
11:21 PM
Day 15
Nothing much today, only had BPE lecture/tutorial in the morning followed by lunch. The rest of the afternoon were spent in the room watching my drama show! I finally took a nap, but its only for 1 hour, but good enough to be refreshed i guess. Went running with suelyn in the evening and i finally manage to find the track, and i ran 13 rounds, super shoik!
I notice something in China, china can be very friendly or super unfriendly. For example, some of them can be super helpful while others will be like super fierce and rude. They can also be super cruel to animals. Like today when i was buying dinner, there was these 2 dog who were being kicked around by this old man. I personally ain't a big fan of dogs but at least I wont abuse them or anything, I'll rather leave them alone, so sometimes i really do not know what these people are thinking.
No pictures today. alright, time for bed. Night people
12:22 AM
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Didn't blog on Saturday as we were away for the weekend. We went to the outskirt of Hubei, in another term the country side at Hubei. We went to 游绿林寨, where we went water rafting and hiking. 游绿林寨 is a hill and it is recorded in history that it is the base camp for the 绿林 13 heroes. It is actually a mountain where the peak is 1000m above sea level and it is used as a flame beacon in the past.
Day 13
Woke up super early in the morning at 630am as the bus will be leaving at 730. The bus ride took close to 4 hours and we reach our destination at 12pm. Had lunch at the restaurant located at the resort before heading off for river rafting. We also bought some straw slippers. Our rafting route is actually man made therefore its super safe, nothing much to worry about. It was 2 person to a boat so i partner adelene. It was super fun but we took quite a long time as a few of us waited for each other so we can keep a lookout for each other, just in case. This river rafting is actually more similar to kayaking, there wasn't any real rapid for us to paddle into anyway, but over it was still fun. The whole route was 7KM! Super long right, we took around 2 and a half hour to finish the whole route. It was tiring of course but i enjoyed it. Mainly because i got to tone my arms, yay! my alternative to no gymming =(
After rafting, we washed up before headed to 美人谷. Whats so special about this place is that it focus on many natural beauty that the 游绿林寨provides. The path where we walk was really uneven, the path are actually rocks along the river and bamboo poles connecting these rocks together. But the scenery was awesome, water rapids, waterfalls, scenes that i doubt I'll ever forget. Looking at the water rushing down, the pictures taken will not do justice to how beautiful the place was, if you ever want to immerse yourself in its beauty, you'll have to go see it for yourself. Looking at the clear water just makes you forget everything, as if you're troubles are being washed away just for that short time, for me at least. Soon we left the place and headed back to the resort for dinner. We were assigned our room and in the room was 2 QUEEN SIZE BED! OMG! it was like heaven, not only that there was a television set as well. We rent a mahjong set and played a rew rounds before going to bed. We also light fireworks!, OMG, seriously beautiful! swear! How often can you light your own fireworks, you tell me!
During the bus ride, i was looking at the greens and blues of the country side and i figured. The life that we experience in urban Singapore is really different from those in rural China. For example, there are really farmers. Farmers as in they used traditional methods like irrigation and uses cows to farm, the only machine i saw that they use were tractors. The bus driver said that in the country side, the average income per year for one person is around 2000 to 3000 RMB. Looking out of the window, you can really feel the hardship these people faced, washing clothes in rivers filled with rubbish, drying up corn along the road just so to make some cornflour. Come to think of it, Singaporeans like me have never stop to think how fortunate to live in Singapore, to have the latest technology to be living in a peaceful environment. We always take things for granted, but if one day, you ever get to see how these people in the countryside live, you will know how fortunate we are.
Day 14
Woke up at 7am this morning, as we are suppose to have breakfast at 730 before heading off to 绿林 forest. I'm not sure of its exact name but it's basically a mountain that was used as a base camp for the 绿林 13 heroes. The hike up started from the base where we will introduce to the 13 heroes. There were stairs during the hike up, but it was really steep. Imagine Bukit Timah hill but times 20. Along the hill we went through many attractions, like Tian nan men and gates to heaven. The hike was actually quite touch as the steps were really steep and uneven, one wrong move and SPAT, you're gone. It was really dangerous and tiring of course. At around mid-hill we had a bus to assit us continue our journey. The bus route was actually only one lane but 2 bus was able to squeeze into that lane and there wasn't much safety barriers so it was really dangerous. Not helping was how the bus driver was speeding up the cliff, it was like a roller coaster ride and for someone like me who is afraid of heights, i swear, i couldn't breath, was really scared. But the view from the top was maginificant and upon reaching the peak i could feel a sense of achivement. From the top of the mountain looking down, you can see many valleys surrounding the mountain. The air from the mountain is also much fresher then those in the city. Its really hard to describe what I felt up that until you experience it yourself.
9:50 PM
Friday, September 05, 2008
Day 12
No IS and BPE this morning, instead, we went for another factory visit. To Wuhan Coca Cola beverages factory. Kinda interesting, we were shown how the drinks were packed into their different SKU. Reminds me of Warehousing, general warehouse, for storage of drinks and food products. They gave us a bottle of coke, the glass bottle type, was suppose to return the bottle after we finish the drink but i "stole" it instead =D. After the visit, we went to Bu xing jie again, has pizza hut for lunch. Separate from the rest of the group along with andy, julian and teckyi. Walk around abit before going back earlier. Went for a run and played badminton before cooking instant noodles for dinner. Going to stay at a resort tomorrow, water rafting and hiking, cool yo =D Better go to bed earlier, gotta wake up at 6 tomorrow, nights people
9:56 PM
So many things I wanna say
So many things I'm keeping within me
So many things I cannot say, not here at least
So many people, yet alone
I still want you, in me you have never left
1:20 AM
