Day 25 - To the girl who have never seen it

After our visit to the second biggest Fibre optic factory in the world, we headed over to the “Wuhan University” which was said to have one of the best views of the cherry blossoms. We had to walk quite a bit to get to the area where all the cherry blossom trees were, the longer we walked, the greater the excitement built up in our hearts. Most of us had only seen cherry blossoms on the television or just from books and magazines; little did we know that what we were about to see was indescribable by books or any form of media.

It was like candy floss on branches occupying every corner of our eyes, with layers of pink peddles coating the floor, the sight was unbelievable. It was said that this cherry blossoms are symbols of love, if that was true then I have to say that place will be filled with love every spring....

 Even though the phenomenon happens only once a year and only for 2 weeks at a time, how great would it be if Singapore has it too. It would be a great opportunity for Singaporeans like us who are so used to the urban sceneries to see the other side of the world we live in.

We were there for just a short period of time but we didn’t miss the chance to test the shutter limit of our cameras, pictures after pictures were taken even though they all looked the same in the end. What we have seen and felt can never be experience by just photos or words but I am still going to show some pictures taken that day. Hope that no one in their lifetime will miss such a beauty of our mother nature.                            P.S don’t miss it again next year^^

Day 19,20 -to climb or not to climb? we climbed!

Hate to start a post like this, yet another day with long bus trips. Day 19 morning, we set off to Wudang Mountain. It was a cold morning and everyone had not enough sleep the night before, as usual.  What more is there to say, crump seat, limited leg space, more than 4 hrs of sitting on my butt and aching butt.

Finally we arrived at Wudang Mountain! We took the tour bus that brought us to the different parts of the mountain. There was so much information introduced to us about the mountain and its history that I may have forgot some of them but at such high altitude the view was unforgettable; it was some that you will never see when you climb Bukit Timah hill. But what we saw was nothing compare to the view from the golden peak which is the highest point of the mountain.

There was just one problem at that time, there were two ways to get to the peak; it was either by taking the cable car or we had to climb all the way up. The choice was clear; everyone wanted to climb their way up the mountain. But we were strongly dis-encouraged to do so by the tour guide as it was not an easy task, which require lots of strength and time plus if we do to make it up to the top on time, we will end up delaying the others are not climbing. But Mr Chong was very supportive because he knew that we really wanted to do it and we were determined.

In the end we made it all the way up with Mr Chong, and the most amazing thing is that we made it there before those that took the cable car! It was a tough journey that we made it together with each other encouragement and determination  

Now here are some pictures from the 2 days at Wudang:

Day 17- xiao ling's last lecture

Today we had our last lecture from xiao ling. Tried really hard to give her my fullest attention but somehow was still able to doze off for a couple of minutes. Even though she had only taught us for 3 weeks, she had tried to make lessons more interesting each time she steps into class. She may not know from our action (sleeping and talking in class) but we truly appreciate everything she had done for us.

Day 11,12,13 - Things you will never see in singapore

Day 11 was the day we set off for a long journey to the 3 gorges dam. Wasn't very excited about the trip because I didn’t know what is so special about a dam. But the journey there was the longest trip that I ever had in my life! I sat till my butt hurts! With limited leg space, i can hardly move through the whole journey and OMG it’s a 4 hours ride to our first destination! But the scenery passes were amazing, there were no high rise building or bust streets; there were just small houses with a vast area of plantation around them which all seems so calm and peaceful.But it such a pity that i dont have any pictures of them. 

First destination was the 3gorges dam; we were brought to a spot for tourist like us to enjoy an amazing view of the whole dam. Time to let the pictures do the talking:

First thing that came into my when I first saw the dam was WOW!  This is something that you will never be able to see in Singapore! After that we had to take the bus to the cruise that will bring us through the dam itself. (OH NO! not the bus again!)

The cruise that we were board was a local 4 stars cruise called “silver moon”. I thought to myself, “Finally we can enjoy a comfortable time in this 4 stars cruise” but how was I to know that their 4 star cruise made me want to go back to the hostel! There is no heater in the whole cruise, a room for 2 with hardly any walking space for 1, a toilet that I can hardly stand straight in! For the first day in the cruise, some of the rooms don’t even have water in their toilet! But not everything in the room was bad, I love the bed! It is so soft it makes it hard to wake up in the morning.

The following morning, breakfast was at 7.30am, we bored a smaller to that will bring us to our next destination where we were going to board a even smaller boat that could take less than 20 people . This was to allow us to experience how people in the past used to travel pass the valley. We were rowed through the valley allowing us to have a better view of the scenery and when we reached a part where it was too shallow for us to be rowed through this become our new motors that will bring us through it :

On the way back to our cruise, the tour guide that was with us on the boat was kind enough to sing us the songs that people in the past used to, if only you could be there to hear it yourself; it was really beautiful.

After that we headed to our last stop of the day. We had to climb approximately 200 plus step before reaching the main door and it was so dark that this was the only picture i could take.

by the time we got back to the cruise it was already 9 plus , which is the lastest dinner i had ever had.

the following morning we had to get up really early to board the bus back to Wuhan which is another 4 hours plus of butt torturing.

Day 8,9,10 - "Xiao ling"

All we did this 3 days are just having lessons. So boring ....... we had IS lessons on monday and tuesday. 4 hours each time!! oh my gosh! everyone falls asleep during the lesson. But the teacher, xiao ling, is hmm... she not a bad teacher, in fact she really want us to learn as much as we can .I can tell that she is trying her best to make the lessons more interesting . She even printed out a lot of notes for us! so we should try our best to pay attention in class too ! Thanks xiao ling for teaching us so much .

 

Day 7 - Where Mr chong goes every night for dinner

Tonight Mr ching brought us to the places where he had most of his dinner. Thank goodness Mr chong order things that are neither too salty nor spicy because that was what we had been eating for the past 6 days in China . The food there was great , it has many variety and very appealing too. The best part, dinner was on Mr chong! Thanks again Mr chong

Food was so good i only took 2 pictures of them and could stop to take pictures of the other 5 dishes.^^

Day 6 - "Amusement" "Park"

Today we went to the amusement park! The student from "The Student Union" brought us there but there were so many people in all the buses that we had to split ourselves into 3 different groups to take the bus there. Its the first time we took a bus in China, was'nt a very pleasant experience, There were so many people in the bus and everyone was pushing their way through the bus! But at least now we can say that we took a bus in China before.


When the student told us that they were going to bring us to the amusement park all i thought about is roller coasters and rides that will turn your stomach inside out. But when we arrived it seems that the places is really a park! Unlike any amusement parks that we see in Singapore, the ride is in a park itself, with flowers and benches and grass and every a park will have!



Thats the "park" part . Now its time for the "amusement" part! Its the biggest amusement park i have ever seen, There is so many rides there! but i took only 2 of them which was really fun !




After having so much fun, we were brought into the city to have dinner. It was really beautiful at night

In the shopping centre where we had our dinner, there were so many people that we had to line up just to get into the lift.

Had the most fun today and what better way to end the day but by having a hot bath and good sleep....

Day 5 - Beauties of Wuhan

Woke up at 7am this morning! earliest we have woke up so far. There was a sight-seeing trip today so we are going to be out the whole day but luckily the weather was great, neither too cold nor too hot. We went to quite a few places and took so many pictures, now i shall let the picture do the talking:

This are just some of the pictures that are taken. The places we visited is beautiful!! so glad that i woke up for this trip, though the bus trip to the places are long and boring . But its a pity that we were unable to vist the yellow crane tower at night . It would be so much more beautiful when it lights up .

After the trip , everyone was very tired but there was a 5 of us that secretly went to play pool. ^^ , we had to take a VIP room because there was no tables available at that time . The room was unbelieveble! There are even a sofa in there! So comfortable~

After that we took a walk at in the alley beside the shopping centre where it is filled with food! of course boys like us can't resist temptation like that! So.....

Day 4 - Without YQ

The weather here is finally getting warmer, just hope that the temperature will not increase to unbearable heat. Didn't do much today , we all got to wake up late because our classes only started at 12. Even so, we didn't fail to be late.(sorry Mr Chong)
I realize how important YongQi is today. He is the one that help me order all my meals, even though i studied chinese for so many year, reading the chinese chractors have always been a problem for me. but thanks to YongQi i dont have to worry about miscommunitcation. thank you YQ! ( haha sounds damn gay)
YQ and hardy found a new way to entertain themselves today! Playing badminton in the room! here's some pictures!

Day 3 - Blogging is no easy task

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Day 2 - Pity

Just as I expected, I woke up shivering from the cold. Starting the day only at 11 am. We were shown around the area surrounding the hostel and places where we will be eating our meals. Most of them were self service and the food here is quite different from Singapore. Most of their dishes are either spicy or salty so there will be quite a bit of getting use to do.
Most of today was spent on shopping and a lot of eating , we went to a supermarket where we could get things like kettle, cups, pillows and other stuffs to make our stay here more comfortable. The room that we stayed in was not exactly 5 star but the students there were very generous and tried to make us feel as comfortable as they could by giving us thick blankets and cleaning up the rooms before we came the day before.
During lunchtime, a group of friends and I went to MacDonald’s where I saw this women standing around just looking at people eating their meals. At first it all seems normal until she ate the left-overs after people were finished eating and she did that to almost every table that was left unattended. I wondered to myself, how pitiful would that have been if she had to do this every day just to fill her stomach. We are really fortunate to been living in Singapore.
After that we took a long walk again to get back to the host for some rest before heading out for dinner at a noodle place around the corner. There was a movie screening session planned for us but led just time of indroduction of the WUST students due to a technical problem.
After a long day I head back to my hard cold bed excited to start tomorrow =)

Day 1 - "Journey"

Walking through countless customs and hours of air sickness, I set foot in the place where I will begin my 6 weeks which I believe is the longest time that someone my age have ever been away from home for, but my overwhelming excitement was already drowned out by exhaustion. Though there is not much difference in the way things look in the airport deep inside there is still a feeling that I am far away from home.Welcoming us at the airport were students from "Wuhan University of Science and Technology" but at first sight they were just a line of people with big smiles on their faces. It was amazing how just a simple smile from them could take away the anxiousness that built up in me. As I took the first step out of the airport an overwhelming gust of cold air hit my face, it felt like needles piercing my skin. Even though its spring, the temperature here can still get to as low as 0 degrees. Being famished from the long trip without a proper meal, we were brought to a restaurant near the hostel for dinner where the students from WUST were spread out among us. There were at least 2 to 3 Chinese student per table but for my table, there was only one and her name was "Journey". She was really friendly and not at all nervous even though she was the only WUST student there. She had lots of things to tell us about the environment that we were going to me in for the next 6 weeks. In fact she got me listening so attentively that I almost forgot how tired I was. Here's a picture:

After dinner we had to walk all the way to the hostel where we are sleeping and it was the longest and coldest walk that I ever had before we reached and got settled into our rooms.
The best part of Day 1 was getting to know "Journey"