18th Oct - Day 35 Last Day!

I’m Back Home! 10:30pm touchdown. 11:30pm reached home! WEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

17th Oct - Day 34

It’s free and easy today and we decided to go for our last shopping at Carrefour. They bought many stuffs and I bought some little stuff for friends and family.

Went back to the hostel to complete a video which, we are presenting to Louise and Edith. I did the photo editing and Alyssa and Shermond did the video. We weren’t able input all the photos as at last minute, the card reader died on us. What can we do? All we could do is just to state our apologies for the lack of photos for the last few days in Wuhan.
All of us stayed up late to pack our luggage and to complete the video.

16th Oct - Day 32

Long arranged for a tour to other universities to take a look and we heard from Edith that there might be a Anti-Japan Riot that is going to be held. And so we didn’t go too far nor anywhere near Japanese stores.

Taking a look at other universities really made me realize how big china is as Wuhan alone is already that big as each university can consist of their very own lake or pond! So cool! Just sitting around and chat with friends can really relax oneself. We had street food for lunch and we had chats as we walked. We had a really nice buddy chat.

Went back early as the Sun is that bright that I couldn’t stand not washing any clothes and hanging them out. Haha!

晓飞 then asked me out for dinner and we had chats and Jerry called and invited me to take a look at their dance party. Their dance party are usually held on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. It looks more like a big and outdoor park to me. Not used to the atmosphere and so I decided to go back to the hostel early to rest.

15th Oct - Day 33

Graduation! It’s our big day! We went to Carrefour to shop for formal shoes and blazer as Gladys doesn’t have a formal shoe and Pamela doesn’t have both. Halfway through, Jerry called and said he needed help to translate his speech which he is going to present during our graduation ceremony. And so I left early and took the bus back to the hostel to meet him and also to look for Mr Satha to get a hard copy of his speech as I need to translate it to Chinese too.

After translation I changed into my formal wear and rushed down to the printing shop to get Mr Satha’s Speech in Chinese version printed as I don’t have the time to hand write it out. We are to assemble at the hostel gate at 3:00pm to walk to the meeting hall together.

However, as we waited for everyone, Louise called and asked where we were. It is then we realized that it is suppose to start at 3:00pm! We’re late again! But it was really a miscommunication as all of us heard that it’s going to start at 3:30pm and that is why we decided to meet at 3:00pm. Probably there was a change in time and Louise forgot to inform us.

When we reached there, the Dean and other teachers are already sitting there waiting for us. Even the student representatives. First, we ran through the ceremony procedure. The Dean started to give his speech and 张老师 translated it. Next, Mr Satha gave his speech and I translated it. I was so super nervous and I wasn’t prepared and so there was little mistakes as I translated. Next is Andrew’s and my turn for our speech. Andrew’s was in English and mine in Chinese. This time round, I was prepared and so it went smoothly. Jerry and Mr Andy took their turn in presenting a speech too.

And last but not least, our certificate presentation presented by the Dean. We are so super honored! And in turn, Mr Satha present gifts to the Dean too. What a heartwarming scene. We all went down to take a group photo and this marks the end of our 5 weeks study in Wuhan Polytechnic. Awww….
We all went to the restaurant together after all the photo-taking and our friends all arrived soon after. I ushered the teachers in to the VIP room and we all had a wonderful dinner. We had lots of fun playing crazy games and mark the end of the dinner only when we realize the local friends still have lessons to attend. We were all very reluctant to end the dinner so early. It’s hard to bid farewell with only a few days of getting together.

14th Oct - Day 31

Industrial park visit. Got a feel of how big China is with the fact that 1/6 of the industrial park is already as big as our Shenton Way! It was interesting to see all the building structures and get to know their design concept and how they manage their buildings. Very useful for REB students as we might be property managers in future. Also, we went to take a look at their residential area. All I could say is that their middle class and high-end estates are really luxurious. Their HDB is our Condominium and their Bungalow is our Villa. What a luxury can that be? How I wish the buildings are in Singapore as their price for purchase is really affordable! We even joked with Mr Satha to buy a unit so that we can have chalet in China during our holiday!

And, due to the high believe in Fengshui in China, their estate layout is very interesting. As Chinese has a Chinese believe that there is a Chinese immortal that lives in a bottle – in Chinese it’s called 葫芦 and so their estate layout is designed with a narrow entrance and as it proceeds, the buildings are arranged round to shape like a Chinese bottle. They believe that with these, the people who lives in the estate will have longevity and live a healthy life.

Got back to hostel and had dinner before going for the farewell party that the local students from the school of IT prepared for us. Jerry and Wen Zhan arrived at our hostel to bring us to the classroom where the party was to be held. They decorated the whole classroom and gave us a very warm welcome. So happy and excited!

I helped to translate what Jim said and we had lots of fun and laughter! There were games and singing and everyone were contented! It left us with a memorable night and stay in Wuhan!

13th Oct - Day 30

8:30am in the morning!!!! I woke up at 7:30am!!!! Went for Andy’s lesson and to continue Mr Satha’s last lesson. Andy have some topics to complete from the previous lesson and so he arranged a 8:30am lesson. Oh well, local students starts lesson at 8am and so can’t blame their teacher for setting the time so early. I admit Singapore students like to wake up late!

Mr Andy’s lesson was very enriching however most of us couldn’t really catch it as what I realize is that the materials prepared and taught were of more usage for career aspect and for those who already have experience in the working field. To us who are still studying might not be able to understand such topics. Well, it still took Mr Andy lots of effort to prepare these materials and so let’s do appreciate. Probably we would use it in the future.

Next up, Mr Satha’s lesson. He completed our last chapter and we have to rush to have our lunch before we meet another group of students to have another interaction section. This trip is still arranged my Edith. We really got to thank her.

We went and took a look at some temples and the red house in Wuhan with the local students. As I’m a Christian, the temples are of no interest to me. But of course out of politeness, I listened to them explaining about the Tao culture. Well, getting to know another religion is not a bad thing but of course be very strong in your own believe and not be shaken by any temptations and influences.



So as not to be caught in a jam, we left for our hostel early again. Well, reaching back to the hostel early is better than being stuck in a jam for hours on the bus.

Jerry and Jim came to our hostel and had meeting with us (me, Weishan and Matin) to prepare for the party that they are going to prepare for us tomorrow. I was appointed to be the MC for Singaporean students and Jim for the Local students. We decided on some games and introduced Wacko to them too. It’s going to be a fun day tomorrow night!

12th Oct - Day 29

First interaction with the local students! So super excited! We assembled at the hostel gate thinking that the students would come and lead us to the classroom. However, there was a misunderstanding, they are meeting us at the entrance of the building and not our hostel and so we were late and we walked as quickly as possible, although some still didn’t notice the situation and walked as per normal.

We were warmly welcomed into their class by their students and were arranged to sit between the students for better interaction during class. Edith arranged for us to attend her lesson to give us a feel of local study and also to interact with her students. They were all very friendly and even Edith couldn’t believe that within that short period of time, we all could become such close friends!

The students took us for lunch and talked about their study life and their experience. My buddy was Jordan and Long. They are very nice. Long even arranged for a second meet-up to bring me around to take a look at other universities around.

Had to end lunch early as we still have a IS lesson to attend in the afternoon. I was the first to arrive to class and Jordan and Long were nice enough to accompany me until the others arrive. Thank You!

Another Day of rest marks the end of the day. I seriously need my sleep. My energy is running low. I need to replenish. Goodnight!

11th Oct - Day 28

LcL Presentation Day! But something happened. Was in a dazed mode when I heard Pamela calling for Gladys. Andrew got injured at the back! We rushed up to their apartment and took a look. Luckily it was just light injury just that the impact as he hit the cabinet was that huge, the pain was unbearable. We were worried too as the injury is very near the spine so we called Mr Satha and Ms Thoo and they suggested bringing him to a nearby clinic. Mr Satha together with Allson and Shermond accompanied Andrew to the clinic while the rest of us are to prepare for the presentation.

Our group is left with 3 girls with one guy down and the other accompanying the other. We managed to complete the slides and rushed to class. Luckily we are the last group to present. We hope as we waited for Andrew and Shermond to come back in time or we will have to present their parts too. Other groups are so super creative and their presentations are super good! We are worried!

Just as we are halfway through, the three guys appeared! We are so happy and relieved. But only Shermond came up for presentation as Andrew was still having his backache and so Gladys took over his part of the presentation. Everything went smoothly and we were all glad that we made it through this small crisis.

We all were exhausted and we all went back to our hostel and the next minute you know, I fell asleep! They took super long to decide where to go for lunch that resulted to me having to eat cup noodle as I was super hungry after the short nap.

For the rest of the day I decided to sleep through and relax myself. I’m super tired!

10th Oct - Day 27

It’s free and easy today! But we decided to complete our LcL project. But all of us are reluctant to do it. All of us wanted to have fun and play as it’s been awhile since we have a full day for ourselves. But nevertheless, we all pushed ourselves to complete what we are required as it’s going to be our presentation tomorrow!

I sat in the room, closed the door and complete my part. Sitting alone will isolate me from all the distractions like the random chatting and the temptations from friends to go out for shopping. I was relieved that I made my way to completing the work.

Was about to do my journal when Gladys nudged me on msn asking me to join them in compiling all our work for our group. What can I do? Go up and join them! That’s why my journal is stuck again.

We stayed up all night to do editing and script writing to prepare for our special segment for our presentation which is Voice Dictation! The slides have to coincide with our script and thanks to Gladys and Alyssa, the slides and script is ready in no time!

We woke up 4am in the morning to do the voice recording as we spent the whole night preparing the script and the slides and also to edit the points that we are going to present to answer the question given to us. The recording was fun and for us who are from REB, it was the first time we did such fun and interesting presentation, all our past presentations are dull and boring. It was a fruitful and interesting experience.

Time to catch some sleep. Nights!

9th Oct - Day 26

It’s the Wuhan City Tour today to Mulan Pond and this would be our last excursion for this 5 weeks immersion programme. What I can say is, coming to China = Climbing. Even at Mulan Pond site we have lots of climbing to do. Luckily it’s not as tough as Wudang Moutain climb. The sceneries in China are really beautiful and some of them have stories behind. Mulan Pond is where Mulan stays. We took the boat across the pond and arrive at the place where we are going to have our lunch.
The view was beautiful and the lunch was just like how we have it in Singapore. It made me thought of home. Matin and Junwei tried out their bungee jump and Matin looks super handsome! He’s awesome!!!

After lunch, Andrew, Andy, John and Shermond tried out their water balloon. They had super lots of fun! All of us were standing at the shore, listening to their weird noises and were all laughing like mad at the comments they are shouting from inside! Super funny! We all had fun!

To avoid the jam, we left the area early and reach back our hostel at about 7pm. Time for dinner and homework!

8th Oct - Day 25

It’s my Mum’s birthday today!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUM!!!

Supposed to have our LcL presentation today, but Ms Thoo was kind to allow a extension till next Monday instead and so we had Mr Satha’s lesson instead. The projector is still not working and so we had to use our laptop for the lesson again.

During lunch, Ms Thoo texted the SLs the result for the test. Our spirit immediately went low as there were 11 passes and 10 failures. We were all shocked and I was worried that It would be one of me. We didn’t really have a pleasant lunch after the receiving the text.

After lunch, it was supposed to be IS lecture but when the lecturer came and got people to check the projector, the projector still doesn’t work and she would have to postpone her lesson too! She felt apologetic but we told her that it wasn’t her fault. However, after she left, Ms Thoo re-announced the result for the test to the whole class and announced the top 5 for the test. Amazingly, John and Shermond passed their paper while after the class we went to ask Ms Thoo, got to know that I failed my paper and so do Minghui and Alyssa. But of course, we will not be despair because of this and we know how much effort we have put in and this is a wake-up call to almost all of us. What we hope for now is that Mr Satha’s test result wouldn’t be as bad.

It’s time to really buck-up and we did out LcL project really seriously. Slept slightly earlier tonight as we would have a early morning departure tomorrow for a Wuhan City Tour.

7th Oct - Day 24

It’s our test today!!!!! I decided to wake up early to study for the test and Ms Thoo texted me saying that she would like to meet me and Andrew for dinner as she wanted to discuss something with us. We were to meet her after the test.

We had our test at 2pm and we had both Ms Thoo and Mr Satha’s paper and they ended at 4:45pm.
Met Ms Thoo at the slope towards the track and field and we went to have dinner at the steamboat restaurant.

Ms Thoo told us that we were selected to do a speech on the last day of the trip during the graduation ceremony which would be held next Friday. I was asked to prepare it in Chinese and Andrew to prepare it in English.

We had a great dinner and Ms Thoo told us that the LcL project presentation has been postponed to next Monday. We were so happy! And she even told us that she wants to treat all of us for a meal since we just had our Test 1!

Got back to the hostel earlier than the rest as they went to Carrefour to shop. Ironed the clothes and did some editing for the LcL project slides. Slept early today too as I’m really tired.

6th Oct - Day 23

Stayed up the whole night and still wasn’t really appreciated by the sick. Never mind. Sometimes, when we care for someone, they think that we’re a nuisance. Helping them to make themselves feel better and get well from the illness, they refuse to listen or listened reluctantly and probably scold you from the back. Well, I’ve done my part and if my care is not appreciated, at least I know I did not just leave her alone when I’m suppose to take care of her as being her room-mate.

Didn’t go for lesson this morning and Alyssa took down notes for us and we all went out to have lunch at the café restaurant again but this time almost all of us ordered porridge as everyone is in the midst of getting sick. Alyssa assured me that she would take care of herself and would tell me if she is feeling unwell anywhere immediately.

We went to the mini-mart to get some egg (the only thing we found suits us and could be micro-waved) as Ms Thoo told us that Louise has instructed 大婶 to prepare porridge for us. But as we had just had our lunch, we would keep it for dinner instead.

When I got back to the hostel, I went over to大婶’s place to get the pot of porridge. She’s super nice! She even offered prickled vegetable and fish and also rice if we needed more! But of course I only took the pot of porridge. I micro-waved the egg and we heated up preserved peanuts, tofu skin and sausages to go with the porridge and guess what, it taste just like home! It made me miss Singapore even more!
All of us studied and slept early to replenish our strength for our test which is going to be held tomorrow.

5th Oct - Day 22

Lessons as per normal and we woke up again at 7:30am to get ready for Ms Thoo’s lesson. When we reach the classroom, Ms Thoo was already there and she told us that the projector wasn’t working. So we proposed her to send us the slides and we can view it through our laptop as she goes through her lesson and we started calling everyone who hasn’t reach to bring their laptops if possible.

Lesson went on smoothly and Mr Satha introduced us our second assignment for MS Project. It seems to be difficult at first glance but I hope after a little understanding would make things easier.

It’s quite a coincidence that our trip met with two of their bigger occasions like the mid-autumn festival and national day and they had many days of holiday which affected us as we couldn’t use the classrooms on certain days. However, if we knew what we wanted and that we know that we have to complete something, we have to be firm on our stand and Ms Thoo showed these as she told us that she knocked on the glass door of the main entrance to the classroom so loudly that the classroom keeper came and opened the door after much explanations given by Ms Thoo. She could have cancelled the lesson, but in long run, it would affect both the lecturer’s and student’s weekend when we go back to Singapore as we would have to have make-up lessons on Saturdays.

Afternoon’s IS Lecture is cancelled again as the projector couldn’t be used and that the teacher did not respond to Ms Thoo clearly. We used the time wisely to start on our LcL Project which is due this Friday after a push-forward of time.

…….

There was a surprise birthday celebration prepared for Zi Gui as her birthday is on the 6th and the celebration would be held at mid-night. We went over to Weishan’s apartment and we prepared for Zi Gui’s arrival!

During the celebration, Minghui started to feel uncomfortable and vomited. John brought her back to the apartment and we went back straight after the celebration ended. When we got back, she has vomited again and the floor is dirtied. I mopped the floor and asked Alyssa to sleep over at the other apartment as she is not feeling well too and I wouldn’t want her to vomit too.

Cleaned up the whole place again and washed the dirtied clothes from the celebration (creamed smashed all over everyone) and Minghui’s dirtied jacket.

I’m staying up to monitor her. Hope she’ll feel better tmr.

4th Oct - Day 21

A whole day of studying and assignment and projects again. A bit tired of the apartment and I want to go out and walk soon! Handed up our journal for the first three weeks and proceed to completing our assignment to hand it up in the evening to Mr Satha. It’s super amazing that Ms Thoo manage to complete reading all of our journals by lunch!!! I think I was first to go over to her room to collect back my journal. Her room was like the deluxe of all the apartments! It’s super nice! And CLEAN! Her apartment has one bedroom, a living room and a kitchen, just one bedroom less than ours. But her furniture were of better quality! I’m so envious! Okay, maybe because she’s our dear lecturer. I think Mr Satha’s apartment might be of the same to Ms Thoo’s!

I think that’s all for today, it’s more or less monotonous with all the work to be done.

3rd Oct - Day 20

Second Day of studying and assignment completion.

Woke up at about 10am and started to do my work. As usual, nothing much and Alyssa suggested to make all of us walk to Macdonalds which is like 20-30min walk from our hostel to wake all of us up and have a better meal other than street food for lunch. Macdonalds too can’t be compared to that you get in Singapore.

We went to walk a little around a the area and once again back to the hostel to complete our work which is due tomorrow!

I took a break from working to do some housework or I’ll definitely bore.
That’s all for today and I’m going to do some touch up on my assignment!

2nd Oct - Day 19

PToday is more of a relaxing day and a studying day as we have a whole weekend to complete our journal and assignment. Wanted to start the LcL project but I seems that many of us wants to concentrate on completing the journal and the assignment first.

Went to the food street again to have our lunch and I tried their “ramly-like” burger. It’s not too ad just that it’s still a little too oily for me. But at least its filling and I need not look for other stores to settle my lunch. Thereafter is back to school work again.

Met Mr Satha, Ms Thoo and the rest for dinner at 6pm. It’s Mr Satha’s treat. Thanks Mr Satha! We went back to the restaurant down the street where we had with Haibo for the first meal again as if we were to go to Carrefour at this timing, there won’t be any vancancy for all 23 of us! Had a try on their western food and it’s not too bad just that as expected, no as nice as that we can get in Singapore.

Well, there’s not much fun today but studying.

1st Oct - Day 18

Today is China’s National Day! Everyone in the country is on 7days holiday. Some students went back to hometown, some stayed in school and some might have went to Shanghai or Beijing to celebrate this joyous occasion with friends and family.

As for us, the school has arranged a one day tour to the “Yellow Crane Tower” which is a tower with a very beautiful fairytale story, the “East Lake” and the Hankou Garden.

First stop is the east lake. We toured the East lake and tried their haunted trail and roller coaster. To be honest, nothing much compared to Singapore’s what more compare to the better onces. Its just for experience! The scenery at the lake was very pretty and the weather was good!

Second stop is the “Yellow Crane Tower”

The fairytale story goes like this. Once, there was an old master who came across this small little restaurant in the village. He asked for food from the owner and the owner gave him the best that he has. The old master did not pay for the meal and he even came back on other days. However, every time he comes, the owner served him all the best and did not complain of the non-payment meal.

When the old master was about to leave the village, he thanked the restaurant owner however told him that he has nothing to give him in return, but he took a mandarin orange peel and drew a yellow crane on the wall of the restaurant. The old master told the owner that with the sound of three claps, the yellow crane would come alive and dance for him. Half believing, the owner clapped and the crane did come alive and dance in the middle of the restaurant. The old master then left.

Because of this yellow crane, many people came to the restaurant to dine and the business of the restaurant went very well. When the old master came back, the owner thanked him and clapped for the yellow crane once again and the old master sat on it, playing a flute flew off. To remember the old master and the yellow crane, the owner built the yellow crane tower.











China has many many of such fairytale which is very touching and meaningful. For me, this story tells us that sometimes your rewards for doing good doesn’t come straight away but it takes time for people to notice you’re true willingness in doing so and reward you in accordance. There is also always a give and take.
After touring the tower, we went to have our lunch at Hankou and we proceed to the garden at Hankou which is of the biggest around and also to get a feel of how the locals celebrate National Day. We bough kites and flew them and bubbles to recall our childhood memory!



Oh and did you see that clock building up there? It chimes every 1 hr!

It’s quite a relaxing day today.