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Sunday, November 22, 2009 @ 5:04 pm
BOOOHOOO MINA'S BACK FROM HER TRIP TO CHINA.Manz, it's really hard to put everything in words you know. 10 days, 10 days! Any idea how long it is? This trip's really memorable, and I'd probably regret it if I don't go for it. I'mma try to keep the details of the trip as short as possible. Even wanted to blog everything in Chinese. :P Please just skip everything and read the summary only if you want. Warning: The content below's gonna be so dry that it'll cause crenation of your cells. Day 1 (11 November 2009) Took flight SQ830 to Shanghai. Was rather impressed with Singapore Airlines's In-flight entertainment. Watched The Time Traveller's Wife and The Girl Who Leapt Through Time with Aileen and Yvonne on board. Reached Shanghai Pudong International Airport and headed for 苏州雅戈尔皇朝大酒店 (Suzhou Youngor Business Hotel) after 2 hours of coach ride. 徐姐姐 and 钱姐姐 introduced Suzhou to us in the meantime. Ok la the hotel name sounds so grand right. It was average luh. :D Day 2 (12 November 2009) Went to some park early in the morning. It was cold ok. :-( Took photos, and headed for 苏州新加坡工业园区 (Singapore Industrial Park). There was the mini Merlion and pavillion. The only things I could remember, LOL. Lunch, finally ate a bit more than yesterday. -.- Got to see 木渎古镇, but there wasn't anything much other than the street stalls and pretty willow trees and nice scenery of the river. Headed for 新苏州博物馆 (change in iternary due to wet weather), saw historical stuff (like duh), and went for dinner after that. Camped at Miss Tan's room to discuss about the performance thing. Day 3 (13 November 2009) Temperature fell. It was rather cold in the morning. Got to 苏州昆曲博物馆. Especially because the place is outdoors, the temperature was sorta unbearable. -.- Got to know the history of 昆曲 and how it developed. The operas, scores, stage setting, etc. Headed for 苏州市第一丝厂 (Suzhou No. 1 Silk Factory). Witnessed the process of silk production, the silkworm cacoons, machines, handmade silk, etc. More importantly, I learnt how to differentiate real silk and fake silk. HAHAHAHA! Shopped at 观前街 after lunch! (Y) Didn't buy much stuff, 'cuz there's really, really nothing much to buy from there. Got a few books and some sweets. And and and, they sell portuguese egg tarts in KFC in China! :D Day 4 (14 November 2009) LOL, went to another park. No idea what park is that, but never mind. What the hell la the weather is so damn cold. Stood rooted to the original spot for like damn long, took photos, and left. Too cold. Left for 无锡, and went to 三国城 there. New tour guide Jacky 哥哥. Damn cool. Visited the 后宫 and there was the 刘备洞房 thingy upstairs. Had a good laugh, and saw the grandmaster of calligraphy write many poems. Pro luh, he came out with a poem based on someone's name in just a few minutes. Bought a green mask to protect my poor nose and ears from frostbites. Took a boat there. The scenery was picturesque, such that I couldn't get my eyes off it. Went to 锡惠公园 after lunch. The many many pretty flowers, 天下第二泉, caves, temple, etc. Day 5 (15 November 2009) 西山绿光农场 in the morning. Animals like goats, cows, rabbits, peacocks, birds, horses were there, and also various species of plants. Deepest impression of this place was me stepping on rabbits' poo for more than a thousand times. Too many varieties of plants and animals to observe luh. Worst lunch of the trip, LOL. Went to the "playground" there to play. See-saw, mini suspension bridge, slides, and some cool stepping thingy. Benedict, Jinghui and some others got unglam videos of Miss Tan falling down, LOL. Left the farm for 太湖湿地公园. Only impression I had of the place were the newly wed couples, the not-so-deep lake, windmill, rickety platform, candied haw and milk tea! :D Some newly wed couples were taking their wedding photos there, and guess what, the temperature was below 8 degrees Celsius and there was wind. The females had to go sleeveless, like wth. :o Day 6 (16 November 2009) SCHOOL SCHOOL SCHOOL! Went to 苏州第16中学 (Suzhou No. 16 Middle School) for lessons today. Stepped in the school, and was awed by the warm welcome from the school. The electronic signboard which showed "热烈欢迎新加坡中正总校师生来校交流！" It was really cool, LOL. Sorta changed my impressions of the Chinese schools. Didn't know that they were so high-tech, HAHAHA. Headed for Conference Room, watched a video that 宋校长 showed on screen while drinking hot tea. :D Started having lessons. English lessons were first. Honestly speaking, no kick luh. But I got to know my buddy 周钰. The english standards were significantly different, and so were the chinese standards. Got to realise this when having 语文课. The Chinese students kinda underestimated our commands of chinese as well, cuz they constantly ask if we understand what the teachers were speaking. -.- Analysed the poem 《春》 by 朱自清. Calligraphy up next. Each person wrote a word from a poem and everything was compiled on one single sheet of paper. Cool. :D Headed towards 虎丘 after lunch. There, there was the second Leaning Tower of Pisa. HAHAHA. Went to 寒山寺 after visiting 虎丘. It was a temple, and sorta slacked there while the others got the chance to have a go at the gigantic bells and pray for Peace. Day 7 (17 November 2009) Tired, tired, tired. And there was a blackout at the hotel. Thankfully, Miss Chan had a torchlight. Same school as yesterday, and the first lesson was Physics with the Year 8 students. The chapter Light, yet again, but this time purely in Chinese. Next up, Mathematics. The kids were learning about solving problem sums using ratio with algebra if I'm not wrong. Music lesson was fun. Learnt the song 《青春舞曲》 and got to know about the 新疆 culture. Next up was 汉画课. Produced a piece of art with the students there and took a photo with them. Streaming results after lunch, not very important, but quite sad. Learnt how to play the Chinese drums after that. Failed attempts LOL. Went to bid goodbye to the students. :( Left a note on my buddy's table as well as the chalkboard, and took photos. Ugh miss them! :( Touring again after school. Went to take a boat and view 山塘街. Cool scenary. Appreciated the 琵琶 and 三弦(?) performance, as well as the high-pitched singing of the performers. Day 8 (18 November 2009) Went to a new school, 苏州中学园区校 (SHSSIP). Like yay, we have an extra 1 hour to sleep on the bus. I was shocked initially at the sight of the school once we disembarked. W-T-H. The school's like entirely huge, easily more than twice of Chung Cheng. Check this:
Ok please don't bother reading that whole chunk up there, please. LOL it's too lengthy and it's for me to read when I'm bored. Mwahahahaha. Overall, the trip was fantastic. Wonderful, awesome, whatever adjectives you can find to describe it. Made new friends, new good friends, shared joy, learnt to live together as a group, and have fun! Intermediately, to learn about China's education system and the culture, history and advancements of China. The trip also increased my sense of belonging to Singapore, and more importantly, I've learnt to treasure everything I have that I had to live without in China, namely the water resource, cleanliness and convenience of having a family. :P I've also become very very interested in Chinese Literature. *shy. Lastly, we learn to be sensitive, like how we shouldn't use the words 'boomz the toilet', '炸厕所', 'bongggz', etc, in public places where people might get the wrong ideas of our pure and harmless intentions. New names: Billie Jean, Mina, KNN, Fatimah and our M'ams. HAHAHAHA! I really enjoyed being Mina. So gonna miss all the camping, chatting, laughing, teasing, emo-ing and sharing from the trip. Suzhou Twinning Programme 2009 FTW! P.S.: Photos are all on Facebook! |
