Cost of living
Local's satisfaction with the cost of living in China
After interviewing my buddy, I have found out that their monthly school fee was about 2000 RMB, which is very expensive, as compared to our school fees in Singapore. I'm addition, most of them had to pay for the hostel as well, which was another 700 RMB or so. This makes the cost of living of a Nanyang Model High School student quite high, but from what I could see, everyone was coping well. They all received pocket money and on Day 7, when we got to spend time together with our buddies, they all seemed to have enough allowance to spend on luxury items. Therefore, I think that the students would be satisfied.
The overall, general cost of living in Shanghai is lower than that in Singapore. Even though the average salary of a working adult earned in a China was much less, there were local and imported products, which means the people would have a choice of whether to buy local or imported products. Obviously, local products would be much cheaper as no tax needs to be paid. So, they can choose to buy the cheaper items and thus lowering their cost of living. However, in Singapore, we do not have this choice, as there are no local products, all are imported. Thus, even though their salary may not be as high as a Singaporean's, they need not spend as much on daily necessities as Singaporeans do and would still have money left over for some luxury. Therefore, they would be satisfied.
Education
Thoughts and observation on behaviour in class and style of teaching
China's students actively participate in class. This conclusion is derived from the observations that I have made during the English lesson we had in Nanyang Model High School. Even though they clearly knew that our standards of English were much higher, just like how their Chinese was much better than ours, they volunteered to share their experiences when the teacher asked for class sharings. When we doing reading comprehension, the students were always prepared to answer the teacher's question, unlike how we would always check our answers with our neighbors after being called by the teacher before answering. In the music lesson, the students were also ready to answer any question that the teacher asked. This showed that they were confident, and were not afraid to make mistakes, and I think it is something that us Singaporean students could learn from them.
The teachers there also used power point slides to teach, and I think that it is a good method as it gets across messages to students easily. Also, it is easy for students to copy down any notes or answers if they wish to. The way that the physics lesson was carried out, I would say, was the most interesting. We had to make a tower as tall as possible where the tip could balance a ping pong ball for 4 seconds minimum. This activity was fun, unlike a dull, boring science lesson full of facts and things to memorise. At the same time, it tests us on our understanding of the physical property that a tower must have in order to remain stable. It was a creative way to carry out the lesson, and I think it would be good if we could have more interesting lessons as such. :)
Life of a student in China
Monuments
Postcard
I did buy a postcard when we were at Tianzifang with our buddies, but I never to chance to actually stamp and mail it.
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Dear Mom and Dad,
It'a already Day 7 of OELP, and I'll be going back to Singapore soon! The trip has been very fun and enjoyable so far, not to mention that I've learnt lots of new things. I'm with my buddies and other group members now, so I can't write much, but rest assured, I'm healthy and safe. Tomorrow is the last day, also probably the most exciting one, because we'll be visiting the Pearl Tower! I'll take tons of pictures back :D. Although I don't want to go home so soon (yes I don't :p), I'm still kind of glad at the same time that I'll be back soon, because I miss Singapore food and of course mom's. Plus, many things happened in the trip and I've had so much freedom and fun, I can't wait to start spilling everything when I get back. Okay, I'll just end this card here, don't want to keep everyone waiting. See you soon~ :D
Yan Yang x
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Poem: Oriental Pearl Tower
东方明珠入云霄，
壮观璀璨撼心房。
万人登塔观美景，
齐赞明珠耀中华！
壮观璀璨撼心房。
万人登塔观美景，
齐赞明珠耀中华！
That's all for this post :D Till the next~
Yan Yang x
From my 8-day OELP trip to Shanghai, I have learned a lot about this place. The main points that we focused on are heritage, economy, urbanization/development, education and national icon.
Firstly, I have visited many heritage sites that have been preserved in Shanghai, including the Confucius Temple, Cheng Huang Miao, Zhu Jia Jiao Gu Zhen and the museums. The Confucius Temple, as explained by the tour guide, used to be a place for scholars to study for their examinations, as well as pray for safety and that they could pass. There is certainly deep heritage, which we could all feel when the tour guide was explaining to us about the different structures in the temple, and the meanings behind it, some of which was even beyond my understanding. One that I remembered very clearly was that we should learn to let go, because what's ours will always be ours and what doesn't belong to you will never be, and sometimes letting it go is what you need to do to move on. It seems to me that the Chinese valued spiritual well-being. Another place that we went to is Cheng Huang Miao. Unlike the Confucius Temple which was quiet and deserted, Cheng Huang Miao was bustling with people and full of shops. It is definitely a popular shopping destination, and it definitely contributes much to the economy of Shanghai. Although it is a heritage site, it has become an attraction, or rather, a business district. This is probably due to the urbanization of the heritage site. The third place is Zhu Jia Jiao. It is a really old place, preserved for many years. It feels like I had gone back to the past as I walk on the bridges and along the street. The shops were kept traditional-looking on the outside, and there were even wooden boats around, which makes me feel as though I were taken back to ancient China. When we were given free time to walk around, my friends and I went into a shop and ordered smoothies and honestly, despite the small shop, it was not cheap as I assumed it would be. This place probably contributes to the economy as well, but most of all, it definitely preserves heritage. Last but not least, we visited many museums. We saw many famous paintings about war, artifacts, statues and learnt a lot about the history of Shanghai, for example, how the Bund developed over time, the making of coins etc.. Also, the museums also show us how much Shanghai has changed and developed over time. For example, the Science and Technology Museum proved that technology in China now is indeed much more advanced, we even watched a 3D show there. It definitely helps in preserving of heritage and remembering history, and also contributes to the economy as we have to buy tickets and there are also souvenir shops.
Secondly, we studied the economy of Shanghai. Many of the places we visited contributes to the economy of Shanghai, in fact, all of them probably do. A few more significant places I would use as examples are Nanjing Road and Xin Tian Di. They are both popular shopping destinations, with many malls and smaller shops, selling all kinds of different things from varying from clothes to food. There are many people around buying things, and we were all excited to shop as well. My friend and I bought clothes at Nanjing Road, and ate at Xin Tian Di, and wished that we could shop more but we couldn't because of our budget. Many clothes shops we visited in Xin Tian Di were really expensive, but I guess there still are customers, because it is a popular place for tourists and maybe locals as well. I would have assumed that people in Shanghai were rich, but while the tour guide was giving us a brief explanation of Nanjing Road, there was a beggar asking us for money, even if it's just a little, and that immediately changed my impression. There is also the cost of living to consider, and I would use information gathered at the supermarket Carrefour for this, as well as the two popular shopping destinations mentioned earlier. In Carrefour, my group found out that one bottle of coke (500ml) costs only SGD$0.50 (converted) while in Singapore it costs $1.20. Many other items are also much cheaper in Shanghai than in Singapore, and the possible reason could be that local products are cheaper than imported ones. Singapore imports most of its products, thus it could be more expensive due to tax, but it could also be the quality of the items, because China's coke tastes diluted. Overall, I think that the cost of living in Shanghai is lower than in Singapore. Things in China are much cheaper, but that could just be my opinion. Most shoppers I've seen in Nanjing Road are foreigners, so perhaps locals don't spend much money there. Also, there is the beggar. From their points of view, things in Shanghai may not be cheap as we think it is. Nonetheless, the economy is good.
Thirdly, we learnt about the urbanization and development of Shanghai. We visited the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre, where there is a mini version of the whole Shanghai. It shows how the whole of Shanghai is planned and exactly where significant buildings are. This would help in the urbanisation of Shanghai, as planning will be easier with a model of the whole place. The Shanghai World Financial Centre would also play a part in this, as it is the tallest structure in Mainland China and thus allows us to see very far parts of Shanghai, and with observation decks, it lets people see which parts of Shanghai requires development and thus makes urbanisation easier. It also contributes to the economy as there are souvenir shops around, and many tourists will buy them to prove that they have been here.
Fourthly, we gathered information about the education in Shanghai. During our 2 days of school immersion, we have met our buddies and asked them about their school life. As provided by my buddy, they usually have to do 2-3 hours of homework, get 6-8 hours of sleep depending on work load, many of them have tuition, students staying in hostel have self study from 6.30 pm to 9 pm, and school fees are quite expensive. Their school life is quite stressful, in my opinion, and from what I heard from some of my friends, they say that their buddies are envious of us. I never knew how competitive they were, until I saw the scoreboard outside a classroom when I was going to the toilet. The lowest score was still above 90. Their life must indeed be stressful, and I thought of how we were all complaining about too much holiday homework. From their point of view, our work load is probably much lesser. In my opinion, the Chinese probably value education very much, and the students also understand the importance of it as they work hard and are competitive. It could be because that the population in China is very large, and there will be competition over good jobs in the future. However, my buddy did mention that many of them were so caught up in studying that they have no idea about what they would want as their future career, which I think is a bad thing as they do not have a goal.
Lastly, I would reflect on national icons. Before the trip, we studied Merlion as a possible national icon for Singapore. A national icon is a representation, an identity. It is something that a person would first think of when you mention a particular place, it is a must-see for tourists and leaves the deepest impression on you. For Shanghai, I think that the most possible answer would be the Pearl Tower. It is the main tourist attraction in Shanghai, and the most crowded place out of all the attractions we visited. Tourist would buy souvenirs even if it is expensive, and they would take many pictures. In fact, we all took many pictures there, probably the most. The Bund is another option, as it is also a tourist attraction, and is even better, because you can also see the Pearl Tower from there, and the Shanghai World Financial Tower as well. Most of the souvenir shops sold little souvenirs with the Bund on it, and thus, in my opinion, it would be good for a national icon.
Overall, Shanghai, China is a place with deep heritage, booming economy, fast development and heavy emphasis on education. This concludes my trip to Shanghai. ^~^
I guess that's all haha xD Not all the places were mentioned, but I picked the more popular/significant places :p I hope I got all the main points :)
Till the next post~
#10 OELP Daily Reflections
OELP Day 1
It's the first day of the long-awaited OELP, yay! Of course, we were all really excited! Well at least I was. I couldn't even sleep the previous night because of anticipation, so in the end I only slept about 2 hours, which I suppose is a bad thing, because I think we should "recharge" our energy and prepare for a week full of activities. xD Honestly, it felt unreal thinking that OELP would be starting in a few hours that night, and I wondered if I would miss home (obviously not, duh). Anyway, despite the lack of sleep, I was still pretty awake as my parents drove me to the airport, probably because I couldn't suppress my excitement. When we reached the airport, I easily spotted my classmates because we were all wearing black (our year1 class tee for easy identification), and we soon started to chatter amongst ourselves (totally ignoring parents) about how OELP would go. I guess we were all pretty excited, no doubt~ :p
Before we boarded the plane, we had to go through all sorts of safety checks. I guess that's why Singapore is such a safe place, we aren't allowed to bring any dangerous items around to airplanes. We were given a short amount of time to go walk around, but I didn't. I stayed with my group of friends and I started eating some of the food I brought with me, as I was getting hungry. Of course, I shared some with my friends, but we didn't really eat much, I guess it was still really early for us to have much of an appetite yet XD. After boarding the plane, I began fumbling around with the screen in front of me. Apparently, this was my first time sitting on a plane with a television in front of every seat, and I felt kind of stupid as I struggled around with the control. (I didn't even realize that I can take out the handset, facepalm) Well, after quite a while, I managed to find a whole list of movies, and I decided to watch Hunger Games xD. The plane ride was quite comfortable, but nonetheless, I still felt a little nauseous, but sometimes I didn't, so it was a little weird. I couldn't eat the airplane food, because it just makes me even more nauseous. (I guess I'm just not used to it.) It wasn't really easy getting through the 5-hour ride while feeling nauseous half the time, but I slept through most of it anyway, after all I didn't get much sleep last night xD. When I woke up and felt no signs of nausea, I would continue watching the movie from where I last left off. The plane ride ended sooner than I expected, but I was quite glad, I didn't want my nausea to come back. When we got on the bus, the tour guide gave us a short introduction to Shanghai, which I was glad didn't last long, because everyone was a little restless and started taking a lot of photos. My roommate (for OELP) and I sat together, and since we were hungry, we ate some of my food xD. We had a long ride, and since it was the first day, we didn't do much, but we did visit the supermarket! It's really popular in China, although maybe not so in Singapore.
CARREFOUR
So, we went to Carrefour! :D It was huge, and we went in CID groups to gather some prices of items. From this, I found out that Shanghai's things were a lot cheaper. A bottle of coke (500ml) costs only about SGD$0.50 in Shanghai, while in Singapore it costs SGD$1.20. The cheapest packet of 10kg rice only costed about SGD$9.75 (RMB$48.80), while in Singapore, it costs SGD$28 (according to my mom). This might be because Shanghai's products are local products, while Singapore imports all of the products, and imported products are more expensive as there are taxes. The other possible reason is perhaps the quality of the items. China's coke taste horrible (no offense to anyone), as though it's been diluted with water, and after all we took the price of the cheapest 10kg rice in Carrefour, while my mom definitely doesn't buy the cheapest from NTUC in Singapore. But nonetheless, Shanghai's items are definitely cheaper. The other thing is that China doesn't provide free plastic bags. People had to bring their own, which I think is pretty environmental-friendly, and a good practice. After we were done with our small "research", we were allowed to shop around. I went along with a group mate of mine, and after a while, we both didn't find anything we particularly wanted. (For me it's probably because I brought so much food, one box of pineapples tarts, one box of cupcakes and 5 packets of instant noodles.) In the end, we both bought one cup noodle each, just to try it out xD. When I saw the whole ton of food my other classmates bought, I couldn't help but stare at it in disbelief. (Hell, they're probably planning a midnight feast or something.) We took a few photos, and then set off for dinner. I'm pretty sure everyone was dying to eat, so perhaps that explains the gigantic bags some of my classmates are carrying.
We went to a restaurant to eat :D Although the food might not have been particularly nice, we were all too hungry to care. Since it was the first day, the teachers allowed Coke and Sprite. I took Sprite, because I'm not into fizzy drinks, and Coke is worse than Sprite. (I didn't finish my cup in the end, anyway.) So, more than half the table chose Coke instead, and after that they totally regretted it. Apparently it tasted really bad and diluted. (This is where my point about the difference in the quality of the Coke comes in.) I think I should count myself lucky that I picked the Sprite, because it tastes much more legit. After a while, we stopped eating, but there was a lot of food left. (I have a feeling that most of us didn't really like much of the food, because we were all planning to cook instant noodles back in the hotel that night, which totally includes me xD.) So, in order not to waste food, we came up with a number game to help us finish more of it. Someone would think of a number from 1-100, and every time someone guesses, the range of numbers is reduced, until someone guesses the number and whoever guesses it has to eat. :p It was really fun, and we livened up the dinner. (I think my table was the noisiest HAHAHA)
By the time we reached the hotel, called Holiday Inn Express, most of my classmates were already asleep, but of course (as of expected) I wasn't. I stare at the scenery as I listen to music through my earpiece, and before I knew it we were there. Though I wasn't sleepy, I was definitely tired. We all rushed up to our rooms when we got our room cards, and my room was quite convenient, literally just a few steps away from the lift. As we entered, my roommate Jinhua and I immediately lay on the beds. (soft >:D) Unfortunately we had to go downstairs for debrief (LOL). Anyway, since it was the first night, our debrief was short and mostly about dos and don'ts. We talked a little about Singapore passport, and how it was convenient as VISA isn't required. Also about the dangerous roads. I'm pretty sure we all felt like we might die crossing the road anytime. After that, we were given time to shower and settle down (unpack etc.) before lights out. The hotel was really comfortable. After ditching our luggage, JH (Jinhua) and I took turns in the shower. One disturbing thing is that the shower room wall was translucent, but I got over it after awhile because all you can see is the other person's shadow. Of course, we ended up cooking instant noodles (AS EXPECTED, but I'm sure we weren't the only ones). After spot check, we quickly finished up and slept after contacting our parents. Well, it was quite a tiring day, and I slept like a pig xD. Quite sure we all slept really soundly :) And of course, we were looking forward to day 2! (Excluding waking up early HAHAHA)
OELP Day 2
It's the second day! We woke up early at about 7am, and got ready for breakfast. (Geez we were almost late.) well when I woke up, I thought it was already 12pm or something, because WOW, it's really bright for 7am in the morning. I panicked and then realised no, I wasn't late. Scary. After washing up, we quickly went downstairs for breakfast. You could say, the curiosity is real. We took so much food, many different kinds, like toast, hotdog, some rice with tomato stuff, fruit punch etc.. In the end, we totally couldn't finish all of it. We didn't really like some, but honestly, it was pretty good for a hotel breakfast xD. So let me start talking about our trips today~
FIRST STATION: The Bund
First, we went to the Bund :D. It's a tourist attraction, and you could see the Pearl Tower from there, the scenery is totally awesome! We took quite a few photos there, as well as a class photo! :3
SECOND STATION: Nanjing Road
Nanjing Road is a popular shopping street, so of course, we get to shop. :p While the tour guide was sharing with us a bit of the background of Nanjing Road, a beggar approached us and asked us for money, even if it's just a little. We were at a loss of what to do, but we all clearly knew that we shouldn't give any money, so we just kept quiet and tried to ignore him. Eventually after a while, he gave up. I honestly pity him, but was too scared so I tried to move away nearer the tour guide and teachers xD. Well, no doubt some of us would get freaked out, because we don't see this in Singapore. There may be beggars, but they still look much tidier. Beggars here must live in poverty much worse than in Singapore. At first, I thought that he shouldn't beg others, as he could clearly work and earn money. But I remembered that it was probably really hard to find a job in China, let alone a good one. The population was huge, and competition for good jobs must be fierce. Inevitably, there will be people who are unable to get jobs and have to live in poverty.
After the short introduction to Nanjing Road, we were given and hour to shop. JH and I immediately went to shops such as H&M and Uniqlo, searching for some good stuff. In the end, I bought a hoodie and a shirt from Uniqlo, while JH bought a shirt from Uniqlo and a pair of shades from H&M xD. You could say we splurged quite an amount. I kind of wondered how I was going to survive till day 8 when its only the second day and I've already spent so much. Also, as we shopped, we observed that most customers were foreigners. Perhaps locals don't like spending too much money here, but it was popular with foreigners. After all, we all shop more when we go to somewhere new (#itzliddat). Anyway, I was pretty satisfied, because clothes here are somewhat cheaper as compared to the outlets in Singapore. Then again, it's probably because there are local products here while Singapore's are all imported. I was kind of reluctant to leave, because shopping there was fun :p
THIRD STATION: Confucius Temple
Well, we went there after going to Nanjing Road, and it was REALLY quiet there. After some explanation from the tour guide, we knew that this place used to be a place where scholars study for and take their exams, and some locals still come to pray for good grades. Few foreigners were seen, and there were hardly any shops. We weren't allowed to stop by anyway.
As we were walking around the temple, there were many weird-looking stones, and the tour guide gave us a lengthy explanation on it. It was really deep stuff, so most of us didn't really get it, but there was one part that I think we all understood about letting things go because what is yours will always be yours and what isn't will never be (sometimes). To me, it looks like the Chinese really values spiritual health xD.
FOURTH STATION: Cheng Huang Miao
This was the last place we went to before dinner :D. It was really crowded there, with a ton of shops, unlike the Confucius Temple. Things there were cheaper, and furthermore, we could bargain. Apparently, items that used to sell at $75 RMB was even reduced to $35 RMB. They probably set the price higher just so that they could still earn profit even if there is negotiation. Well, we were given 2 hours to shop there, and I ended up buying a snapback and Starbucks there with JH xD. We kind of got lost searching around, but we eventually found our way and familiarized with the place. :p I thought it was going to look old, because it was a heritage site, but I guess it was really urbanized.
After we had dinner, we went back to the hotel xD. Dinner was really fun, so was lunch actually, because we entertained ourselves and saved food by playing the game hehe. Our table felt so lively, just like yesterday haha. After we reached the hotel, we were all tired (obviously), and were glad that debrief wasn't too long. After showering, JH and I cooked instant noodles again :p. Well, it was actually a pretty chaotic night, (ahem ahem) but I shall cut it short and skip it. (Maybe I'll make a post for the crazy things that happened in OELP sometime!) So we slept really soundly, since we were drained. Looking forward to day 3~
OELP Day 3
We had to wake up even earlier today, because we had a few places to go to. Learning from our lesson from yesterday, we took only food that tasted legit for breakfast (at least we didn't waste). JH said she had signs of sore throat, and to be honest so did I. (Crap, we ate too much instant noodles.) But thankfully, it was just for a short while in the morning. After breakfast, my throat felt normal again (phew). As we rode on the bus, I couldn't help but fall asleep.
FIRST STATION: Science and Technology Museum
So first, we went to the Science and Technology Museum! :D We were pretty tired and reluctant to wake up when the bus ride ended >.> After passing the check (wow strict on safety, as expected of a museum I guess), the tour guide gave us a short explanation and time to walk around and explore on our own. The only restriction was that we had to go in our CID groups (facepalm) and so we did.
We went to many interesting sections,the first one being the animals one, and we took a lot of pictures and we learnt many new things from the museum. The place was designed very realistically, making me feel as though I were really in a jungle or forest. Even the paths were rocky, so I had to constantly watch my step and stay careful, in case I trip and fall. I mean, it would be kind of disastrous if I fell and injured myself. It would only cause inconvenience for myself and everyone else. Afterwards, we went to explore many others. There were even hands on activities, where you could actually try things out for yourself. This was a very different experience as compared to trips to the Singapore Science Centre. There were basically no hands on activities, just boards with chunks of information which you would have to read to figure things out, and to be honest, I'm not that much of a patient person who would read all of it. I'm more interested in things when there are hands-on activities, and perhaps Singapore could learn from Shanghai and implement some. On the other hand, few of my classmates pointed out that the information that the Science and Technology Museum in Shanghai provided were not as abundant as in Singapore's Science Centre, and that it was rather disappointing after having high expectations for the museum. That perhaps, could be an area of improvement for Shanghai's a Science and Technology Museum. If Singapore and Shanghai both learned from each other, maybe a balance between hands on activities and straightforward information could be achieved, making trips more enjoyable for people. Last but not least, we went to watch a 4D movie, about taking antibiotics when you are sick and how it actually affects your immune system and health. I acquired some knowledge after watching it, learning that over reliance on antibiotics isn't the long term solution to eliminating germs and fighting diseases, because it will eventually lose its effectiveness. The tickets costed 30 RMB per person, so it's about SGD$6, which is quite cheap because the movie lasted a good 10 to 20 minutes. On the overall, we all had a lot of fun, as well as learnt quite a lot of new things from this trip to the Science and Technology Museum! But still, we were much more eager for lunch (haha) :p
We had our lunch at quite an old place today, and even though (to be honest) the utensils weren't all as clean as the previous restaurants' and the environment wasn't as good, we still enjoyed it. The food still tasted pretty good, and with our number game, our table couldn't have been livelier! After finishing our food, we were stuffed and all ready to set off to our next destination~
SECOND STATION: Zhu Jia Jiao
Zhu Jia Jiao is a really old place. It's culture there is definitely preserved, with ancient looking bridges over the river and unfaded carvings on it, even with wooden boats which makes the place genuinely feel like the ancient China. It was a contradicting when we'd just visited a museum which is high-tech and completely clean, while here it was old and rather dirty, from all the litter on the floor and the greenish river water. After walking around with the tour guide and listening to various explanations to why some things were designed the way it were, we were given a short amount of time, about 30 minutes, to shop. I also noticed that there were hardly any dustbins, so perhaps that'd explain why there's so much trash on the ground. Surely after holding on to our tissue papers or any other rubbish for a long time, we'd be tempted to just throw it on the ground and end up littering because we can't find any bins. We were supposed to be in CID groups, but somehow we still ended splitting up (oops, on accident) so I ended up with JH. I didn't mind, she was a close friend. (: In the end, we decided to just grab a drink in a legit-looking shop. After going in the shop, I would say, Zhu Jia Jiao is a rather contradictory place. It looks old and traditional on the outside, but it was actually pretty modern inside the shop. There was air-con, and even a second floor. We settled down on seats in the balcony and we took quite a while to decide on our order. In the end, we decided on a chocolate smoothie. It was more expensive than what we'd expected, as it was rather 'dilapidated' on the outside. A small cup of it costed 38 RMB, which is about SGD$7+, and it is actually quite costly for a normal chocolate smoothie. Yesterday's Starbucks was much more worth it. Other than that, I would say I'm quite happy with the trip to Zhu Jia Jiao :).
This was the last place we visited for the day. As obvious as its name, M50 Art Gallery is a place set aside for the display of works of art. All of them were beautiful and unique in their own way, they all had a hidden message behind them. No doubt that the artists are trying to express themselves through their art, some were very strange but there's always a meaning behind each and every piece of work. It was honestly fascinating. Also, the fact that The government set aside such a large area for the art gallery proves that China is also developing in other aspects as such. Since I myself am quite interested in art, I definitely enjoyed browsing through all the amazing artworks and this trip here was, of course, worth the time! :)
Dinner was great :D (well food is always the best). After that, we went back to our hotels to get ready for debrief. Today's debrief was a rather long one. We discussed a lot of things though, which came in useful, no doubt. (But I don't think that's the reason why it took so long, but anyways, I'll be making a special post soon sometime which would most probably explain all the flaws and holes in the story :p *cough*) Anyway, after a long debrief, we finally got time to rest and wash up. We had to write reflections and surrender all our snacks though, which was kind of... asdfghjkl WHYYYY (my reaction LOL). So, after JH and I both settled down, we turned on the television for a while, and when we couldn't open our eyes any longer we decided to sleep. Today was tiring, but definitely fun! Looking forward to Day 4~
OELP Day 4
As usual, we have to wake up early in the morning. By now, the brightness outside at such an early hour is no longer a surprise to me, I've gotten used to that (thank god I did, otherwise I'll be having mini-heart attacks every morning xD). Today, JH was feeling worse, so she decided to get cereal. Honestly, I haven't noticed it before, and I was immediately attracted to it, so I thought that it wouldn't do any harm to try it. I filled my bowl with cereal (I'm so greedy lol but I'm hungry yes) and then went to get milk, and to my surprise, it actually tasted pretty good! After finishing it, I went for seconds (HAHAHAHA yes I'm that hungry) but JH decided to try the porridge instead, and I agreed, because that might help her sore throat. I was pretty sure I'd get it soon too, because my throat didn't feel so great when I woke up but it's gotten better. (*cough* an explanation to this will be provided in the special post, but I think you could guess what happened.) Anyway, after a good breakfast, we set off!~.
FIRST STATION: Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre
We were given a short description and explanation about Shanghai's past, and I learnt that, just like Singapore, Shanghai started out as a fishing village. We were then shown a huge mini model of the whole of Shanghai. It was so big, and everything was exactly according to the actual Shanghai. I didn't think that was actually possible. But with this model, it makes urbanisation and planning easier. It tells where the important buildings are, which places needs to be upgraded. It helps Shanghai to develop faster. And the best part was when we got on their circular platform thing and the room which was also circular, was covered with a screen which spreads around the whole room. A film started playing on the screen and we had a realistic virtual tour around important parts of Shanghai, and it was absolutely awesome! I loved this kind of thing xD. I didn't feel dizzy, like some of my classmates did, though. It was really cool. Shanghai has definitely developed a lot over the years, and is now a bustling city. I'm sure Shanghai will continue to flourish and reach greater heights if they could keep up the urbanisation and development.
SECOND STATION: Shanghai Museum
Again, we had to pass the checks before we could enter. I guess the same goes to every important place we visit, in case we bring any sharp items which could destroy the artefacts. We were given time to roam around and look at different artefacts from the past. They were all very interesting, and some had deep meanings behind it. Then again, it reminds me of the deep culture that China possesses. I guess it's not something you could understand in a day or two, it takes a long time. I remembered watching how coins were formed in the old days, and it was much more tedious than it is now, because they didn't have such advanced technology in the past. Then again, it proves how much the country has developed. Honestly, it was no easy feat, with all the complicated procedures. People must've spent a long time figuring it out. Also, since we didn't have all the time in the world, we had limited time, so at the end we only hastily glanced through some of the artefacts and grabbed a handful of brochures and papers which explained to us about the different artefacts, divided into sections such as ceramics, calligraphy etc.. On our way back, we saw quite a number of souvenir shops so we decided to take a look at one or two. God...they were expensive, very expensive. But I guess it's expected from places as important as this. Tourists and foreigners may actually purchase them for the sake of remembering their trip here, and it boosts the economy of Shanghai. Anyway, we had a pretty good time (blasts the song by Carly Rae Jepsen) and it's time for... *drum roll* LUNCH! (Yeah typical me.)
Lunch was as good as it always was, because after hours of traveling and walking, no one can reject food. Moreover, our table was lively (it got autocorrected to lovely LOL) as ever :p. After our stomachs were satisfied, we set off, again~
THIRD STATION: Shi Ku Men & Xin Tian Di
Shi Ku Men is another old place, and from what our tour guide explained, I learnt that people in the past lived in such places, and they kept the doors open all the time. They even cook and share whatever they have with each other. If someone was in trouble, everyone will do their best to help. I think this is a truly close relationship that they develop with each other as neighbors, which can hardly be seen anymore nowadays, if not at all. People back then may not have led luxurious lives as we do now, they may not have all the electronic devices with them and they may not secure 3 full meals everyday, but they certainly lived their lives to the fullest. Now that we have the luxury, shouldn't we take a page out of their book and learn? This place is definitely a meaningful one, and preserving it would be to preserve the cultures and the past.
Next, we went to Xin Tian Di, which was literally right next to Shi Ku Men. It was another popular shopping area, just like Nanjing Road, except that the things there were so much more expensive. When we were given time to explore, I was completely stunned when I saw the prices of clothes in the shops. I practically dashed out of it (not that rich yo). We went to a mall there, but we didn't really see anything attractive. They were all clothes shops with really very expensive things. As we walked out, I suddenly noticed Din Tai Fung's name on the outside of the mall. It was probably on the second or third floor. I wanted to go eat the xiao long bao there, because I was a great fan of it. Sadly, there wasn't enough time for me to do so, so I could only walk away on disappointment. However, though, we still had quite a long time left and JH and I were at a loss of what to do. It was drizzling and it was gradually getting heavier, and we were tired of standing too, because we've literally been walking the whole day. So we settled down in the ice cream shop Haagen Dazs, and we flipped through the menu, trying to decide on something. In the end, we decided on a chocolate mousse cake, and we shared the cost. It actually tasted pretty good. We spent our time there till it was time to meet up and go for dinner. Well, my experience there was not bad! There were quite a lot of people, probably because Xin Tian Di is so popular in Shanghai, just like how Orchard Road is so popular in Singapore. A tourist attraction, as expected. This definitely boosts Shanghai's economy by a lot, with all the expensive shops but a large number of shoppers. Much profit would be earned and contributes to the economy. Of course, I definitely enjoyed my time there indulging in chocolate mousse cake and getting half-drenched from the drizzle-turned-heavy rain :p.
Dinner was awesome, as expected. The seaweed soup was good, except for the fact that it tasted like a ton of MSG. Then again, I question myself whether if the quality of China's food could be trusted... I still drank quite a lot anyway, I liked soup. This time, we tried another game, which was sort of like odd one out. Cassandra would pour drinks in our cup, everyone would have green tea except for one person who would have water. We had to try to guess who has the water. (Since the number game was getting kind of old.) It was funnier than I would've expected, judging everyone's reactions. Since I hated tea, my reaction was quite bad, and some thought I was acting but I actually did have green tea xD. As we left and headed back for the hotel, it was raining heavily outside and few of us had umbrellas with us. So, we had to wait and take turns to go. Meanwhile when I was waiting with JH, I caught snippets of conversation about the number 450. When we all finally got on the bus, we were drenched, and we all began discussing about the 450 topic. From what I caught, it seems to be some horror story of our class. Apparently, a classmate, let me just call her A, had seen the number 450 on the bathroom glass door when showering after it misted up. A's roommate hasn't noticed until A pointed it out. We immediately burst into a heated conversation, about the room number 450, 4.50am when you go to the toilet and weird guesses and stuff. Another 2 people, let's call them B and C, said that they both heard knocking on the walls in their room. And another classmate, D's room, was in between both of them's, so it means the knocking must've come from D's room, which got everyone creeped out too. And the creaking windows. Basically, it was ghost story night, and I inevitably got freaked out as well, so JH had to put up with me scream-singing (like LALALALA except it's more like horrendous shrieking and terrible voice breaking and bursting out into laughter in between a few times) throughout my whole time in the bathroom. It somewhat made me feel safer, though I know it's just dumb (yes totally makes no sense). Anyway, it was a rather interesting night, and it was a fun-filled day, including lots of learning. Anyway, even though we were rather hitched off by the 'horror stories', we were quite tired so we slept after some snacks (aha just a sneak on my special post). Looking forward to Day 5!~
OELP Day 5
Darn... This morning we had to wake up earlier than usual because we had to get ready to go Nanyang Model High School for our school immersion. JH and I groggily washed up, changed into our pinafore and went for breakfast, me sticking to cereal, as expected. JH pretty much recovered from her near-but-not-quite-fever, after drinking half a dozen bottles of water and breaking toilet records. After our breakfast, we set off. Most of us dozed on the bus ride, because we were way too tired and the bus ride was pretty long. At first, I didn't and the tour guide came round and tried to teach us how to mouth to each other, meaning only moving our lips but not actually saying anything, and still be able to understand each other. It was rather entertaining, but after a while, I couldn't take it, so I fell asleep.
NANYANG MODEL HIGH SCHOOL
When we reached, I reluctantly got off the bus. I had a good nap, but I obviously wanted and needed more. Nonetheless, along with everyone else, I forced myself to wake up and head down the bus into the school. We were warmly welcomed by the principal and we took a class photo.
We had a walk around the school with our buddies, and we found many things interesting about the school. There was this thing which would topple over to the other side when you clap loud enough, and many other pretty places in the school. It was really big, just like RV. I had a feeling I'd get lost here easily xD. They had a track and field almost as big as ours. When I first saw the school, I thought it looked old. I was a little disappointed, but I was completely proven wrong after actually stepping into the school. That's probably why we shouldn't judge a book by its cover.
I also asked my buddy a few questions, and I found out more about her school life. They had approximately 6-8 hours of sleep everyday, varying and depending on the amount of homework they have, 2-3 hours spent on homework, school all the way until 4pm, and self-study for hostel students (which is most of the students) from 6.30-9pm. They hardly have any projects, and they literally have no CCA (co-curriculum activities). Their lives pretty much revolves around studying, and that's it. Honestly, I think their school life is really stressful, much more than ours. We could definitely have guaranteed 8 hours of sleep everyday, and at most spend 1-2 hours on homework. It's all about time management, and it's usually because we get distracted and procrastinate that we take ages to complete our homework and we end up sleeping late, feeling horrible the next day and then we complain about it. Now that I think about this, I felt rather ashamed. To the students in Shanghai, our lives must be so much easier, yet we still lament about it. We would probably never survive school life in Shanghai. We didn't have much time to explore though, because we had to go for 'class'. I was quite excited, but a little nervous at the same time. What could possibly be taught in class? Using Chinese throughout a class... I wondered if I could possibly survive that.
The first lesson turned out to be a physics lesson. We were supposed to work in pairs and craft a tower as tall as possible which could stand still and hold a ping pong ball on the tip for 4 seconds, using only one piece of A4 paper. JH and I paired up, and we tried hard to make a tower tall and could stand. It was difficult, really difficult, and in the end, we kind of failed because the tower didn't withstand for 4 seconds before the ball dropped xD. But anyway, it was still fun, and honestly I was shocked to hear the height of the tallest tower that was crafted. Was it 3 metres or something? I couldn't remember, I just know that it's taller than I could've imagined. It was fun and interesting, and at the same time tests us on our physics about how to build towers and stuff (which I apparently failed in), because apparently many tourist attractions involved towers. Like Pearl Tower. Or the Eiffel Tower in Paris. I enjoyed the lesson, and I'm sure everyone did. :)
The next lesson, also the last, was a music lesson. It was as typical as any lesson could be, power point slides, videos, questions asked, questions answered. It was about symphonies, and in my opinion, it could've been much more interesting. In our music lessons, our music teacher would be joking which makes the lesson livelier, and definitely funnier and includes more laughter. We also get to work in groups, which makes things much less duller. I think that this was something that perhaps, Shanghai could learn from Singapore, to have more group work. As said earlier by my buddy, they hardly have any projects, and I think China could start providing more chances for students to interact with each other and build up communication skills. Anyway, even though the lesson wasn't the most interesting, it was still good. The teacher also talked about etiquette, when you are watching a performance. That's a good point, because we should all be a good audience, pay attention and respect the performers. Dozing off during the performance simply delivers the message that the efforts that the performers have put in is unappreciated, and that isn't very nice or polite. Being loud or having pockets of conversations among ourselves during a performance isn't showing respect to the performers either, you aren't paying attention and it just tells them you're uninterested, and your movements or noise could distract them causing them to lose focus. Also, they did involve us in the class, and a few of my classmates had to answer questions in Chinese, and it was kind of funny as I watched them struggle but if I were to be called I'd be no better, so I just prayed hard. At least I didn't. Halfway through the lesson, the bell rang, and it was a familiar piano piece. (I learn the piano, you see.) Th teacher kind of explained the reason for selecting such music for the bell, and apparently it's supposed to help students relax after each lesson. They had 10 minute breaks between each lesson, and I thought that was pretty good. They could relax, consolidate what they have learnt, rest and catch a breath (cue the song by Kelly Clarkson) and prepare for their next lesson. Even though we do have a 5 minutes break, it's hardly enough because most of the time the teachers eat up the whole of the 5 minutes or most of it, so there's essentially no time left for us to relax. Our school, perhaps, could learn from this. Despite the fact that the lessons weren't exactly planned very interestingly, it's definitely enriching and was fun!
As expected, we'd be dying for lunch. So we ate :p As always, it was good!
NEXT: Former Residence of Lu Xun
After our lunch, we went to the Former Residence of Lu Xun. Apparently, it has been preserved until now, and because of the lack of space, we were only allowed to go in 10 by 10, while we were waiting, I grabbed a handful of pamphlets. (I'm gonna have a lot of things to sort out, crap.) All the tables and chairs were old and ancient, probably left untouched, and it felt kind of weird to be walking around the house like that. As I walked past the toilet, I could see the taps were all rusted and the toilet looked like no one's touched it for a million years. There were people to explain to use the history of Lu Xun. Photography was prohibited, so I don't have any pictures. So after this short visit, we went back to the hotel.
HANDICRAFTS
After we reached the hotels, we were given time to rest before we went downstairs for a handicraft lesson of sorts. We learnt 3 new things, how to tie the 中国结, make a parrot from dough and cutting paper. My group started with the 中国结 and honestly, it wasn't easy, but I did get the hang of it after a while.
Next, we made parrots with dough, and I was amazed when the teacher made all kinds of beautiful patterns on the tail, and even though I wasn't exactly very good at it, I did make something sort of legit. Only for it to be stolen later though, because after putting it on the table to dry it went missing. Never mind.
Lastly, we went to paper cutting, which was simple but required lots of care. I drew some weird looking patterns, and cut carefully, and it was surprising how symmetry could make something so random look so... nice, or legit you could say. Handicraft lesson was relaxing and at the same time, teaches us a little about China's culture and the people's habits and traditions. I enjoyed it very much, but of course I was looking forward to dinner.
Dinner was good, and after that we had debrief. Nothing really crazy happened today, just that we found out the 450 thing was just a fluke, it was essentially just a price tag marking or something, A's room just happened to get the one that was marked. So, after snacking and settling down, we went to sleep. Too tired, probably. Still looking forward to Day 6 though, HAHAHAHA! (Doesn't sound tired at all, but like a bundle of unused energy.)
OELP Day 6
Today was another half day school immersion trip. Which means we have to wake up that early. Again. Unwillingly, we got up from bed and went down for breakfast. This time, we changed into our PE shirts and jeans because we would most likely be having a PE class today. I groaned, not knowing if that was good or not. Sure, another reason for me to eat more breakfast (I link everything to food). On our way there, since I know it was such a long bus ride from yesterday, I immediately decided to sleep.
FIRST STATION: Nanyang Model High School
Initially, it was planned for us to join in the mass morning exercise in the school, but because of weather it was cancelled that morning. Though I didn't get to see it, I think that morning exercises are a good idea which Singapore can learn, because it does help students to wake up and regular exercise keeps them healthy. Since there was no mass exercise, we followed the back up plan and we spent time in our groups with our buddies again. We took a tour around the school, to the canteen, basketball and badminton courts and other places. This made we realize how truly big the school was, probably bigger than RV by a lot. That reflects the fact that China has much more land than Singapore and can afford to spare more space for development of schools and perhaps other infrastructures as well. After our short tour, my group (CID groups 1, 2 and 3) headed towards the field for our PE lesson.
PE LESSON
It was a little awkward at first, definitely, with so many eyes on us as we stood in front of the class and the teacher introduced us. We started with a game pretty much the Chinese version of H-two-O, and soon we all started getting into the game, picking purposely to stand at certain places so we could "sabo" each other. I guess we never lose our mischief, it's already a habit. After a good game of that, we started another, where the teacher will start by trying to catch someone. When someone is caught, they have to hold hands with the teacher and they're part of the 'fish net' and now they have to catch other people together. It was a long long game which completely tried me out but was quite fun! It was essentially training you to run in the format of a game. (Man we should've all walked or something LOL just kidding.) I swear, any more running and my legs would just collapse. I had a feeling they would hurt for a few days (such unfitness). I was glad when we made our way back up for an English lesson (excluding climbing the staircase) since there won't be physically strenuous activities and English here would probably be a piece of cake to us.
ENGLISH LESSON
As I'd expected, English lesson here was a breeze. As they were doing comprehension, I tried to read the passage as well, and thankfully someone on my right pushed the worksheet a little more towards me so I could see it because I didn't have one of my own. When the teacher gave us time to read it, I had finished reading not only the passage but the questions and already mentally figured out pretty much all the answers. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who did that. Many students whom were called to answer the questions answered it confidently. They are probably not afraid of making mistakes. You could see the difference in it because when a few of my classmates were called they hesitated, even though we all knew our English was better. I mean, 'scary' was under new vocabulary on their worksheet, so... I don't mean to laugh or anything but yeah. It just shows that Singapore's students need to learn from China's and be more confident of themselves. Perhaps it was because we were in a foreign environment, but we were still the ones whom has learnt English much longer and use it everyday. The answers to the questions are relatively very straightforward, it's all in the passage and you just copy-and-paste, no need for you to write in your own words or interpret certain meanings of words and phrases. Also, during the sharing about places where you have travelled to, a student attempted at it and even though the English spoken wasn't fluent throughout and she sometimes needed help from the teacher, it was quite a good one and I found it very brave of her to volunteer and share with all of us who might most probably be judging her English. (They were probably judging our Chinese anyway so we're even.) Through this lesson, I have also seen the active participation of the students in Shanghai, which I think is something Singapore students could learn from. Usually in class, when the teacher asks questions, there won't be much response, and I think we should take the Shanghai students as a good example and follow in their footsteps. I also noticed that their worksheets and handouts were made of recycled paper, and I think Singapore can also learn from that. It is environmental friendly, and helps reducing the cutting down of trees, aka deforestation and global warming. Overall, this lesson has been a fun but relaxing one, perfect after a tiring PE lesson. Afterwards, we walked even more around the school, and there were many many rooms set aside for things like counseling and stuff. We took another photo at the track place, before we left the school. I was actually kind of sad, because we probably won't be back again. :( The good thing is that we're leaving for lunch LOL.
SECOND STATION: China Art Museum
We came here after lunch, and this is quite an interesting place, where the structure is actually designed squarely where the top is the biggest and then goes narrowing down, and it's some sort of rice thingy. There were tons of artworks and beautiful things inside, varying from sculptures, to paintings, mostly paintings. It shows how much China actually values and has developed in the art aspect. There were a few paintings I liked and it was quite enjoyable just browsing through all the different works of art, just like in the M50 Art Gallery.
THIRD STATION: Shiboyuan
Shiboyuan is a garden like place with a large area of empty space and shopping malls. It was a 3 minute bus ride away from the China Art Museum, literally. It was really fun there, as we took many pictures, jumpshots even, enjoyed the scenery and went shopping. Actually, me and JH didn't go shopping, we just sat at the fountain and on the floor in the empty space and did stuff (will be specified in my special post). We didn't expect there to much to shop anyway, probably just expensive stuff again. So we would rather sit down, enjoy the scenery and the breeze and relax. Honestly, it was one of my favourite places, I didn't want to leave.
We went back to the hotel for a break before we set off for dinner, and I think we were all hungry (I always am). Of course dinner was good, and after debrief, we washed up and could finally relax. After the spot check, we settled down and eventually drifted off. It's been tiring, but I'm still looking forward to tomorrow (aka Day 7)! We'll be spending time with our buddies :)
OELP Day 7
As I said, today will be a day we spend with our buddies, and I'm excited! Even though we had to wake up early and go to Nanyang Model High School again to fetch them, I didn't mind because I'd want a last look at the school anyway, and I get to sleep on the bus ride. We were brought to places nearby their school.
FIRST STATION: someplace near a river
We were brought to a place beside a river, and we were given time to wander around with our group mates and buddies. We were immediately attracted to the railway tracks, and we walked along it. We later found out that trains used to work here, but now they don't anymore, for some reasons. After walking the railway, we took some photos at the river and walked quite a long way along it. Our buddies were friendly and talked to us, trying their best to understand our Chinese (cmi) and answer all our questions. We had fun together there.
NEXT STATION: a garden place with shopping malls nearby
So the next place we went to was a beautiful garden with shopping centers nearby, which apparently our buddies knew well. We were expected to eat our lunch by the time we assemble again, which means we get to choose what to eat, yay! After strolling through the garden and snapping a few photos of swans, we headed towards the shopping malls. We took a long time to decide and we eventually decided on a ramen shop of sorts. It was pretty expensive, but it was actually quite nice. I liked it. (ALL FOOD IS NICE.)
THIRD STATION: Tianzifang
There were honestly a ton of people here. Again, we were given time to spend here freely. Our buddies seemed to know this place quite well too (well duh this was near their school) so they brought us around. We were careful to stick together in case we got lost. We went into a shop selling souvenirs and postcards, and all of us bought a few. We even wrote wishes on post it notes and pasted them there on the wall. I hope they don't take it down. If someday I could come back again, I'd be searching for memories here xD. We also went to a yoghurt shop, where there were swings as chairs, which was fun and really creative. I liked it. We bought some yogurt, and it tastes like Sogurt in Singapore. We even took a Polaroid photo and clipped it on the wall. Wow... If I ever come to Shanghai again, I'd most definitely revisit this place, it holds so many memories. I even kept the spoons from the yogurt shop as souvenirs haha. After that, sadly, we had to say goodbye to our buddies. I would miss them :(. They've spent so much time with us bringing us around and making us feel comfortable in a foreign environment. We gave them our prepared gifts, and exchanged numbers to keep in touch.
As we waved our last goodbyes, I realised that today was our last day in the hotel. Time flies, way too fast. I suddenly didn't want to leave.
Because it was the last day, we were brought to a street full of stalls and we were allowed to choose one ourselves to eat :D. Today is awesome, we get to choose all the food. JH and I picked a random store and we ordered fried rice, since we were instructed to eat healthy, less salt less MSG. It was really cheap, only 8 RMB and it was for a really really really really really REALLY big plate. We kind of regretted ordering a plate each, we could literally have shared and we might still have leftovers.
Anyways I had a fantastic meal, and after we went back to the hotel and had our debrief, we went to our rooms and it was time to start packing. I was honestly really sad. It was our last night in this hotel, and even though I might be creeped out by the creaking windows, i didn't want to leave. So, after packing, JH and I decided to do some crazy stuff since it was our last night anyway HAHA (will be specified in my special post) and it was rather crazy. It took a long time for us to settle down, and when I finally drifted off, I decided to sleep as soundly as I could for my last night here. I was going to miss this place. Not looking forward to Day 8, because we'll be checking out and it's our last day before we leave Shanghai... :(
OELP Day 8
We woke up slightly later, because we no longer had to go to the school. We finished our final packing and took our luggage down after breakfast. I was determined to get a ton of food since it was our last breakfast here (typical). After that, we checked out, and it was time to say goodbye to the hotel... sayonara :(. We loaded our luggage on the bus, even the bus was different today because our previous bus driver had to go elsewhere. It was saddening, but I reminded myself that today we'd be visiting the most important attractions and it cheered me up a little.
FIRST STATION: Oriental Pearl Tower
This was probably the most popular tourist attraction in the whole of Shanghai. There were so many people around, it took ages before we finally entered. No doubt there will be many foreigners and perhaps even locals visiting it everyday, and it would definitely contribute a lot to the economy. When we were heading towards the lift, I noticed a timeline made for the tower, and indeed, it has developed over the years. It signifies Shanghai's progress and success. From the top, we should be able to the entire Shanghai. There was even a level where you could step on glass and as I did, I no doubt felt a little scared. (ITS FREAKING TALL)
Also, we were given time to roam around the top. It was a circle, where you could see every angle of Shanghai, and it was quite amazing. If only it wasn't so foggy, the view would've been better. There were also lots of souvenirs sold there, which were very expensive but no doubt that foreigners would buy them because this was the main tourist attraction of Shanghai. It could also contribute a lot to the economy this way. It was pretty much the national icon of Shanghai already, and I think it does fulfill the criteria. It's the first thing one thinks of when you mention Shanghai, and when you see it, you immediately know it's Shanghai. It proves Shanghai's development and success. There are also other places which could be possible icons, such as the Bund, but mainly because you can still see the Pearl a Tower from there. Most of the souvenirs sold had the Pearl Tower on it. Thus, Pearl Tower or the Bund would most likely be the most suitable as Shanghai's national icon.
SECOND STATION: Financial Tower
It was another tall, VERY TALL building. It's taller than the Pearl Tower. Our ears already suffered from going up the Pearl Tower, and time for Round #2. Mine wasn't really bad, but some of my classmates' were. We should also be able to see the entire Shanghai at the top, but we couldn't because it was too foggy. We eventually started to stay away from one another after we started electric shocking each other on accident. It was quite fun, enjoying the scenery, walking on the small narrow lane where it's glass and freaking out when you get shocked. The only bad thing was that our ears pretty much died after taking the lift down again, but the lift design is pretty cool. I swear they're probably trying to prepare us for the plane ride. XD
We had the best lunch today, since it was our last. We ate on some floating thingy in the water, and we get to drink fizzy drinks. Everyone picked Sprite this time xD. We filled our stomachs then set off.
THIRD STATION: a shopping mall
Our last visit was to a mall, where we get to spend free time there. JH and I snagged a spot in KFC and we bought ice cream. After that, we went to an empty part of the mall and played some games together while listening to music, since we were kind of at a loss of what to do. Afterwards, when I saw my classmates holding on to books that they bought, I kind of wished I knew there was a bookstore because I like reading and I was hoping to get some books. Oh well, nevermind.
After that, we went to have dinner, and it's the about the same as usual. Good. After that, we set off for Pudong Airport, and sadness struck me again. I didn't want to leave. For most of the bus ride, I kept awake and stared at the scenery outside. I wanted to have a good look at Shanghai one last time (cue the Ariana Grande song) before I left. We reached earlier than the workers, which means we had to wait before we could go in, typical kiasu Singaporeans. Then, we had to bid farewell to our tour guide, and we gave him the cards consisting of all of our thanks. We were given time to shop around, but we didn't really find anything attractive, so JH mostly listened to music and gamed again (LOL). After going in and waiting for the plane doors to open I snacked on my food, which was fine since they gave us back the confiscated snacks anyway. At least this time, when I went on to the plane, I didn't feel like puking. Life is easier, much easier without nausea.
When I was on the plane, I almost fell asleep immediately. You could see how tired I am. I woke up when the I was asked what I wanted, and I didn't ask for any food, just hot water to cook my instant noodles. Instead, they took my cup and noodles and after a short while, brought it back cooked. I was surprised, they saved me the trouble of doing it myself. I'd probably have made a mess if I did it myself. Anyway, I went ahead and enjoyed my noodles, and I was suddenly glad they confiscated snacks (to be explained in the special post). I was willing to go to such extents because I honestly hated airplane food and I just can't take it. It made me more nauseous than I already was during my plane ride to Shanghai. After finishing my noodles, I was satisfied and I fell back asleep again.
I woke up to get ready for the landing. I slept almost throughout the whole plane ride, but that was inevitable, even though I said I wanted to stay awake. I was really tired. After stepping into Changi Airport, I know my OELP trip to Shanghai is officially over. It was 6am early in the morning, and we all looked sleepy and tired. I felt sad, because there will probably never be another trip as such when you get to go overseas as a whole class again. On the other hand, I was glad to be back in Singapore, because no matter what, at the end of the day, Singapore is still my home and I would have to return. Despite the fact that it all felt so surreal that OELP just came and passed and that I was really sad, I couldn't wait to tell my parents all about my trip!
I had a wonderful trip to Shanghai, China, and I hope to visit again if I have the chance. This post contains of all my memories and times spent while I was in Shanghai along with my daily reflections, thanks for reading :D (oh and do look out for the special one haha that one is gonna be the real crazy one :p)
Till the next post!~
Yan Yang x
#9 Singapore, the world's most expensive city
In this lesson, we have learnt about Singapore being the most expensive country in the world as shown by EIU rankings through a video (Link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=mr5IDQZw1as). After watching this video, I have learnt more about the EIU (Economist Intelligence Unit) rankings and where Singapore places.
The purpose of these EIU rankings is to give an indication of the relative differences in the cost of living in global cities for expatriates or business travelers, and is needed so as to reflect the lifestyle of these expatriates. It aims to help companies and HR managers calculate allowances for executives or expatriates being sent overseas. The data included in the rankings are international school fees, the best seats at the theatre, fine dining at top restaurants and luxury items. Public housing and transport, on the other hand, is not taken into account. According to this, Singapore has jumped 6 spots to take the top of the list, overtaking Tokyo, Paris and some other countries. This is largely because of Singapore's strong currency and rising price inflation. This resulted in Singapore being the most expensive city to own a car, third most expensive city for utility costs and the priciest place to buy clothes. However, can Singapore really be concluded as the most expensive city in the world?
I do not think so. In the news, it is stated that the overall transport costs in Singapore is 3 times higher than that in New York, but public transport, which is what's most commonly used by Singaporeans, is not included in the survey. This means their data is not accurate, as majority of Singaporeans take public transport most of the time, but only transport costs of cars are included and the majority is not. Also, utility costs are high due to the lack of natural resources and energy supplies in Singapore. We may have been at the top of the list on the overall, but not for all the data used (e.g. we are not the most expensive country for utility costs, only the third), and the data may not be entirely accurate.
That's all for this lesson, I guess. This one's actually quite short, hope I didn't miss out anything xD. (This was kind of rushed, it's quite late now. Still can't believe I actually finished all the posts in time :p finally, yay!)
Till the next post!~
~~Yan Yang
#8 Merlion as Singapore's national icon
In this lesson, we have discussed whether or not if the Merlion is suitable as Singapore's national icon. To start, what is a national icon, even? In my opinion, a national icon is a unique symbol, a representation of a country or nation in the world which holds meaning for the people in the country, and I think that it is necessary to have a national icon because it provides us an identity as a nation which is recognized by people all over the world. When they see the icon they think of Singapore, and when they mention Singapore, they think of the icon, it is what identifies Singapore and makes us stand out from the others. And so, what is it that makes the Merlion our national icon? How does it fulfill the criteria?
The Merlion came from a legend, and not just one. There are many different stories about the Merlion. Its name combines "mer" meaning the sea and "lion". The fish body represents Singapore's origin as a fishing village when it was called Temasek, which means "sea town" in Javanese. The lion head represents Singapore's original name—Singapura—meaning "lion city". According to an ancient legend, a sea monster appeared in the eighteenth century. It was half-fish and half-lion and left such a deep impression on the Malay prince, Sang Nila Utama, that he renamed the city to Singapura, meaning "Lion City". (This is just one of the legends.) Because of this, the Merlion is related to our history, and how the name of our country came about. It also represented Singapore's start as a fishing village, and is meaningful to us Singaporeans. At the same time, it is a mythical creature, mysterious and interesting, which makes others want to find out more. It is also unique as a national identity. After all, we haven't ever seen any other country using any similar logo, haven't we?
However, not all would agree. Some people may think that the Merlion is unrealistic for a national icon as it is, after all, from a myth. It makes some think that it is just a dream. These are some different perspectives towards the Merlion. Alternatively, there can be many other things which can be put into consideration as a national icon for Singapore, for example, Singlish, Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay, the Singapore Flyer and Vanda Miss Joaqium. Which is the best? Singlish, firstly, is Singaporean slang which is English mixed with different languages and dialects such as Chinese and Malay, and definitely is uniquely Singapore. However, it is seen as of "low standard", and foreigners can't really understand it. It is, for sure, our own language of intimacy, but is unsuitable as a national icon exposed worldwide. Others, such as Marina Bay Sands, Gardens by the Bay and the Singapore Flyer are just attractions built for tourism and a holiday, without much actual historical meaning, nothing that contains our past, our journey as a nation throughout the tough times starting from scratch. Vanda Miss Joaqium, on the other hand, could be a good representation, but it is already the national flower, and besides, I don't think a single flower is very appropriate as an identity of the nation, it should be something more special, uncommon that is easily identifiable and stands out.
After looking at the positive and negative points of both the Merlion and the alternatives, I think that Merlion is still the best national icon for Singapore. Despite the cons and the fact that it is a mythical creature, it carries the most meaning to us and significance to Singapore as compared to the others, and at the same time, is easily identifiable, even with foreigners.
That concludes my post about Merlion! :) Till the next post~ (which is coming up real soon because I gotta finish it by today ><)
~~Yan Yang
#7 Remembering Lee Kuan Yew
This CID lesson, we learnt about the Golden Age of China, the Tang Dynasty. As you could see from the name, 'golden age' is the period of time when a country is at its peak in terms of prosperity. During the Tang Dynsaty, economic growth was stimulated by the unification of the country, opening of the Grand Canal linking North and South, creation of 21 huge capitals and the expansion of interregional and international trade. The Tang capital, Chang'an, grew to be the largest city in the world, housing perhaps a million people, attracting traders, students and pilgrims from all over Asia. It was also the golden age of literature and art, which includes painting, poetry and pottery.
Our found Prime Minister, Mr Lee Kuan Yew, passed away on 23 March. It was a school day, and I woke up early as usual. To my surprise, my parents were already up, and thy were watching the television. I've never seen them do that, so out of curiosity, I looked at what they were watching. From the looks of it, I could tell the things on the television were clips, and in it were scenes unfamiliar to me. But, there was one person I recognized, Mr Lee. I knew how he looked like from my history textbooks in primary school, and i also remembered seeing him on the television a few times. I asked my parents why they were watching those. They told me that every channel was playing these clips, and said that Mr Lee was announced to have passed away in the middle of the night. I knew that Mr Lee's health had been deteriorating recently, but I didn't expect the news. I was definitely shocked, but seriously, I couldn't say I was sad. I never knew much about Mr Lee, except that he was the first Prime Minister. I just thought of him as a great man who contributed much to Singapore, without knowing what and how much he had done.
However, in the one week of mourning, I have found out so much, much more than I ever have in all the history lessons I'd had. Clips and videos of his speeches in the past were played not only on the television, but also in school. Lessons were conducted for us to find out exactly what changes he had made for Singapore, how he had overcome even the most difficult obstacles to make Singapore the successful nation she is today. Mr Lee was the one who introduced the home-owning system, so we could all have our own homes, thus our comfortable houses today. He promised Singapore a clean and green environment, thus our garden city today. He has spent his whole life building up Singapore, thus our success today. We could never have gotten so far without Mr Lee and his great contributions. His speeches, as seen in the videos, were inspiring. It showed his determination, the fire in his heart to ensure Singapore's survival, despite our toughest times, especially the separation from Malaysia, and the anguish. His actions reflected his words. He never gave up, and just as he said, just as he promised, Singapore is now more prosperous than ever. These were things I never knew until his death, and I'm sure not many other than the pioneer generation, who went through the tough times with him, knew either, but now we all do. Suddenly, after learning all of it, after seeing his contributions, after listening to his motivational speeches, I felt saddened, saddened that we have lost such a great, capable and visionary leader who, spent his whole life, without regrets, building Singapore. I'm sure many others feel that way as well, especially the elderly, pioneer generation. Singapore's gratitude towards Mr Lee is shown and confirmed when people had to queue for hours at the Parliament House to pay their tributes and when the whole of the street from the Parliament House to the NUS UCC were filled with crowds of people who wished to pay their last respects to Mr Lee. I am sure that Mr Lee would have been very happy to know that Singapore appreciates his efforts and contributions, that we all supported him.
With all that Mr Lee has done, Singapore seems to be at her 'golden age', which is the period of time when a country is most prosperous. Our economy is booming, we have a clean and green environment, most of us have a home, our military is strong and there are hardly any crimes and safety is assured even when we go out alone late at night.
He has set a wonderful foundation for Singapore, and it is now up to the next generation to carry on Mr Lee's legacy and bring Singapore forward. His legacy will live on, he will be remembered. Mr Lee has done much for Singapore, and now, may he rest in peace.
That was a long post...but it really is how I feel. Thank you Mr Lee :)
Till the next post~
~~Yan Yang
#6 Reflection on CID Speech
Topic: A picture that best represents Singapore
For the presentation, this is the picture which I chose to represent Singapore.
As for my strengths in this presentation, I think that I have made my points clear and relevant, and I have been able to link it to the picture. My weaknesses were that my topic wasn't exactly the most interesting, neither was my picture, because many of my classmates chose to talk about multi-racialism as well. Also, I may have been a little soft, and I think I referred too much to my script, though it was just a short 2 minutes speech.
Generally for the class, we were able to pick appropriate pictures and elaborate on our points and eventually link it to the conclusion. Most of the speeches were on multi-racialism, but there were a few very interesting pictures that stood out from the others, such as the one about the hawker centre and HDB flat. They were able to link it better than most others as their pictures were very relevant. Some of us may have made some mistakes, such as choosing a picture that cannot be referred to when linking the points to the conclusion, thus rendering the picture 'useless', because the speech can be made even without the picture itself therefore there was no point in showing the picture. Nonetheless, I still think that the whole class has put in a lot of effort and done their best for this presentation. I hope that after the presentations and the feedback, we can improve our presentation skills together as a class. :)
That's it for my reflection, I guess. Till the next post~ (which will be coming up real soon, it's long overdue xD)
~~Yan Yang
#5 Lifestyle in Singapore and its Impact
In this CID lesson, each of the groups brought 2 receipts from supermarkets or malls to calculate the average living cost per person, and so did our group (obviously). After calculating, we reached the answer of about $10 per day (mostly below $10, actually) which I think is a little high. The $10 includes daily necessities, such as food, groceries etc., transportation, as well as electricity and water bills (and all other bills of all sorts). Occasionally, my family might spend more on luxury, things that we want but do not need, such as accessories or new clothes (mostly the work of my sister and sometimes my mom) which causes the expenditure to increase above $10. As compared to the past, when my older sister spent much lesser everyday, prices of the items in Singapore have increased (I still remember when I was in primary 3 or 4, the Oreo McFlurry in Macdonalds was only $2, now it's $2.50). This is probably the result of Singapore's growing economy.
As for my personal expenditure, I would spend about $5-6 on food everyday (because I always buy drinks xD), and about $0.50 on transport. Not forgetting about the electricity bills and all, plus luxury such as notebooks and excessive stationery (that's probably why I have so much trouble closing up my pencil case and my bag looks so fat all the time), it would add up to a total of about $10.
This really shows that living expenses in Singapore is high. At this rate, with prices increasing, more people will start to cut down on their daily expenses and work harder to earn more money to provide for themselves, support their families (if they're parents, or have elderly in the family or both) and in order to lead a better life.
Well, that's pretty much it for the lifestyle in Singapore, I look forward to the trip to Shanghai and to find out about the lifestyle there and the differences of it compared to Singapore's! :)
Till the next post, readers!~ (it's my second post today, so I'll stop here, haha, it's already 11pm ><. Need to continue 'chionging' xD. Expect more tomorrow (:<)
~~Yan Yang
#4 China's Economy
So today in class, we learnt about China's economy (which I have no idea about, I don't exactly read Singapore news, let alone about China xD). China joined the WTO (World Trade Organisation) in 11 December 2001. Ever since China opened up to international trade and welcomed foreign investors to invest in the country, China's economy has grown rapidly. After some research, I found out that China's population size is about 1.4 billion (huge...), and I think this has affected the decision to open up to international trade. With a large population size of citizens that is constantly increasing, it is very important that China continues to grow economically to create more jobs. Also, with a large population size, there will be a big number of people in the workforce, which ensures economic growth as there is larger manpower. More companies can also be established as it is assured that there will be people to employ due to the large population, thus foreign companies would want to come to China, and with more companies, China will attain economic growth.
China is ranked 2nd in the whole world in terms of total GDP (Gross Domestic Product). This shows that China's GDP is very high, and that her economy is in good progress. Also, China's corporate tax rate is about 25%, which is quite acceptable, and is considered low as compared to countries such as the United States with a corporate tax rate of about 39.1%. Not to mention, China has a (horrendously) large land mass of about 9.7 million km2 (km square). This means that China's has a large land area and a lot of space for development and establishment of more companies, which would encourage companies from other countries to establish in China, and in turn lead to more profit and economic growth. Large land also allows mass production, thus products will be cheaper and more affordable, so more people can/will buy it and therefore more profit will be earned.
During the lesson, we also discussed about China keeping the Chinese Yuan undervalued. I think that China wants to keep the Chinese Yuan undervalued so that the China's products will remain cheap and so more people, especially foreigners, would want to buy China's products and trade with China, thus earning more profit and resulting in economic growth. This is all possible because China opened up to international trade, giving foreigners the chance to invest.
Lastly, there are also implications of China's rapid economic growth on Singapore. With China keeping their products cheap, it would also be cheap for Singapore to import goods from China, which allows more profit. Maintaining a good relationship with China has also brought many benefits for Singapore. On the other hand, people may choose to buy China's products instead of Singapore's, as China's is much cheaper.
Well that's it I guess! :) This took quite long (XD) and well this is long overdue, haha. I'll have to start rushing my posts, it's almost time for grading >.< Till the next post!~
~~Yan Yang
#3 A picture paints a thousand words PART 2!
During the lesson, we played a game called Broken Telephone. We had to pass the picture around and each person gets to observe the drawing for one minute and memorise as much of it as possible. After everyone observed it, we would try to work together and draw out the picture and make it look like the original drawing as much as possible.
Since there were 6 people in the group and the picture was a triangle split into 3 levels, we decided that 2 people would look at each level. In the end, our picture did not really look like the original picture, but we drew out most of the important details. Some parts of the picture probably just looked bad because we were short of time and we had to rush it (I think all of us were pretty hasty in drawing due to time limit). Though this is just a simple game, it has taught me the importance of efficient communication and observation skills. In order to catch the important details, we need good observation skills, and to be able to draw out the picture as well as possible, we have to communicate efficiently and divide between ourselves and take turns to draw within the time limit. I think that we could improve on communication, because we had some trouble crowding around and trying to draw, but it was pretty good for a first try. :> With better observation skills and more efficient communication, I'm sure that we can learn much more during the trip to Shanghai. c:
Also, from the picture, I could see that the number of elderly people on the top level was more than the number of economically active (wow I'm actually using geography terms haha xD) people on the second level, and there was just one baby on the last level. The economically active people were already struggling to support the elderly, and the next generation will probably have an even harder time doing so. This can be linked to the prediction of Singapore's dwindling population. With lesser working people in the future generations due to dwindling population, they will have a hard time earning enough to support the big number of elderly in their family. They would have more things to worry about, have to do more work to earn more money, thus causing more burden and stress as the whole family is counting on them for financial support. This could lead to unhappiness and health problems. This is probably what could happen if due to the dwindling population. To prevent and prepare for such situations, perhaps the government could encourage the people to give birth to more children so that there will be more people to support the family later on, or could provide more healthcare subsidies for the elderly (since people tend to get sick easily when they're old) to lessen the burden of the future generation.
*ahem ahem* well this is really quite a late post (coughs), but at least it's pretty long? I think I covered most of it already, so I'll stop here. :)
Till the next post, readers~
~~Yan Yang
#2 Poverty: A picture paints a thousand words
Last week, we had a lesson on poverty. I always thought that poverty means being poor (because that's common sense =.=), but there are actually two different kinds of poverty, absolute and relative. Absolute poverty is when someone is poor to the extent that they cannot even fulfil their basic needs, while relative poverty is the inability to meet the average income, but essential items for living are still present.
Personally, I have never experienced poverty, so I don't know what it is like (so lucky :p), since I was born after my parents have settled down on steady income. I can't say the same for my sister, who is 10 years older than me (yes, legit 10 years older). Back then, my parents worked extremely long hours and were not paid very well, so life was hectic and my parents led a tough life. My sister hardly got much attention from my parents as they are usually busy with work, most of the time she can't get the things she wants and since young she had to struggle and do many things by herself (it kind of helped her become independent). But for me, I've always had more than what is needed. After I was born, my father secured a steady job as a manager and received income that could definitely support the family with excess to come. And because of that, my mother became a housewife and no longer worked, so she spent all her time keeping household and taking care of me. My sister never got such attention, or an easy life like mine. I've probably taken all of these things for granted. And as for poverty in Singapore... yes, there has to be some poor families in Singapore. However, after I'd seen the kind of poverty in Africa, I can't exactly say that the assumingly 'poor' families in Singapore and actually 'poor'.
This was the picture that was shown during the lesson. The child does not even have the basic needs essential for survival, and even a vulture is waiting for her (yep it's a girl) to die so it can feed on her carcass. Ever seen anyone in Singapore living in such extreme poverty? No, never. I have not seen anyone in Singapore who is unable to even stand due to lack of food. These people in Africa suffer from absolute poverty, while poor families in Singapore are experiencing relative poverty, which cannot be compared to the poor African families.
I feel sorry for the child in the picture (and I mean it, okay.) and it makes me guilty for throwing food away and wasting it just because I don't like how it tastes, taking these little things in life for granted while she desperately needed it to stay alive. This made me realize that I should treasure even the littlest things in life and not take them for granted.
Soooo... that's it for my reflection, sorry if it was boring haha. Anyways, it's getting late and I should go get some sleep, good night readers! (aaand I know some of you are stalkers HAHA JKJK BYE)
~Yan Yang
29/1/15
#1 My holidays~
During the November and December holidays last year, I did not really do much. For the whole of November, I had to go back to school to attend CCA sessions along with my other CCA mates, and even though it was tiring, I was happy that could meet up with my friends during CCA and catch up on the things that have happened. :p
Also, the homework that was distributed had kept me on my feet as I did a little by little everyday and eventually finished it (took really long). Although we all don't like homework (obviously =-=), I think that it provides the constant practice that we need in the holidays so that we would not have forgotten everything we learnt by the time school starts, and we would not have as much difficulty catching up on the new topics.
Of course, there has to be some fun in the holidays (xD). Although I did not go overseas or travel, I still had a lot of fun visiting the attractions in Singapore. In November, I went to the Madam Tussauds Museum, SEA Aquarium and Trick eye Museum in Resorts World Sentosa with my friend. We took pictures with many different 'celebrities' and 'famous people' (fake of course :p) and made some weird and funny poses, which made us laugh really hard (yeah and by that I mean SERIOUSLY hard). We also had to pose for the pictures in the trick eye museum for the '3-D effects' on the photos, and many of the poses were tiring and difficult to maintain. Despite that, we were pleased as the effects were good on the pictures. And although I have visited the SEA Aquarium several times, I am still fascinated by the unique features and characteristics of the different aquatic animals and plants.
Well, who doesn't await the new year? On the last day of 2014, 31st December, my friend and I met up in the morning and went to Universal Studios Singapore (USS). We sat on many rides, which includes the roller coasters (duh!). We were excited, but overcome by nerves and fear at the same time (still, we were obviously not going to back out xD). Whenever the roller coaster accelerated up and escalated downwards at top speed, we would throw our hands up scream at the top of our lungs
along with the other people on the ride. It was exhilarating. We stayed at USS all the way till midnight for the countdown party (crazy I know xp). During the countdown, everyone was in high spirits, and we would all jump, wave our glow sticks in the air, scream and cheer along to the performance put up as the fireworks shoot across the sky and the new year nears with every second that ticks by. Though by the time we both got back home, it was 2am in the morning and our feet were sore and painful. We were tired, but we were definitely still in high spirits and after we washed up, we texted each other even at 4am. (we pretty much didn't sleep and met up again hours later but I'll just stop here otherwise it'll never end XD) It was a fantastic way to spend the last day of 2014, we had so much fun (and literally went insane), I loved it! x') Yup that's my holiday. (fingers about to break now because the page refreshed and I forgot to save it and had to re type everything ;-;)
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