Day 8
It was a same usual morning from the rest of the other days. Classes starts at 10 and ended at 12.
We were all busy washing our clothing in the afternoon as the weather forecast reported that there will be rain in the next 2 days.
As we were done washing and hanging our clothes out to dry, we thought of making our own dinner. After thinking a little while more, we decided that today we will eat out and buy groceries for the next day to do our cooking.
We went to Carrefour, the usual place for good & fresh groceries, and bought ingredients for our spaghetti. The most unusual thing was, when we wanted to buy eggs, we have to queue up for it and each person is only entitled to roughly 30 eggs each. Weird?
After an entire evening of shopping, we were all hungry and settled for Ajisen for our dinner.
Today hasn’t been much of a good day as all of us were tired.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Day 7 First lesson in Wuhan
Day 7
Today is the first day where lesson starts. All of us are ‘excited’ about it.
We made our way to the food market where we had our breakfast.
Reaching the school, we look for the flight of stairs which Ms Wang brought us the other time. While Mr Wee went to collect the keys for the class, we climbed the stairs.
It was a tiring climb as the height of each level, are much higher than those in Singapore. We manage to reach the 7th floor when we realise the gate was locked. Feeling exhausted due to walking from the hostel to the school and up the stairs. All of us were lamenting.
The school keeper told Mr Wee that there is another entrance up. This means we have to walk down this stairs and climb up another stairs to the 7th floor.
Finally, we reached the classroom. The room was nicely furnished and it felt not like a classroom but rather, a restaurant. It is a nice place though, we will be spending our next 5 weeks over at that classroom. What was most surprising about the school, was the toilet.
In the toilet, each cubicle has walls. However, each side of the wall is about 1 metre high. That means, if you’re doing your business, it will be seen by anyone using the toilet with you. The cubicle has no doors too. The water-closet is a tiled-made trench stretch along 4 cubicles. In other words, if 4 people want to defecate at the same time, they will be using the same trench. And if one person flushes, the entire trench will be filled with water which brings the first cubicle faeces to the other cubicle. Yucks!
The class lasted until about 4 pm with a 2 hours break in between. After class, we had a suggestion of going to golden hans a buffet restaurant which is located near Carrefour.
We had our dinner there. The food there was good, filling & most of all CHEAP!
We were acting like big bosses, as the restaurant was food were cheap. People who were eating there wore nice clothing considering that the restaurant is quite posh. But to us, the restaurant was just like any coffee shop in Singapore in regards to the price.
We paid the bill which only adds up to like S$9 each.
Today is the first day where lesson starts. All of us are ‘excited’ about it.
We made our way to the food market where we had our breakfast.
Reaching the school, we look for the flight of stairs which Ms Wang brought us the other time. While Mr Wee went to collect the keys for the class, we climbed the stairs.
It was a tiring climb as the height of each level, are much higher than those in Singapore. We manage to reach the 7th floor when we realise the gate was locked. Feeling exhausted due to walking from the hostel to the school and up the stairs. All of us were lamenting.
The school keeper told Mr Wee that there is another entrance up. This means we have to walk down this stairs and climb up another stairs to the 7th floor.
Finally, we reached the classroom. The room was nicely furnished and it felt not like a classroom but rather, a restaurant. It is a nice place though, we will be spending our next 5 weeks over at that classroom. What was most surprising about the school, was the toilet.
In the toilet, each cubicle has walls. However, each side of the wall is about 1 metre high. That means, if you’re doing your business, it will be seen by anyone using the toilet with you. The cubicle has no doors too. The water-closet is a tiled-made trench stretch along 4 cubicles. In other words, if 4 people want to defecate at the same time, they will be using the same trench. And if one person flushes, the entire trench will be filled with water which brings the first cubicle faeces to the other cubicle. Yucks!
The class lasted until about 4 pm with a 2 hours break in between. After class, we had a suggestion of going to golden hans a buffet restaurant which is located near Carrefour.
We had our dinner there. The food there was good, filling & most of all CHEAP!
We were acting like big bosses, as the restaurant was food were cheap. People who were eating there wore nice clothing considering that the restaurant is quite posh. But to us, the restaurant was just like any coffee shop in Singapore in regards to the price.
We paid the bill which only adds up to like S$9 each.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Day 6 (9th March)
Day 6
Today, there are no lessons. As we had lots of travelling the day before and we need to catch up on our journal for 3 days as we did not bring our laptops to Yangtze.
However, we went out to have our food and do some sight-seeing in Wuhan to find out more about the place.
We took a bus down to Yang Mao Guang chang. The bus driver is super impatient. One of our friend, Alicia, as she board the bus, the bus driver step on the accelerator almost leaving her leg severed. Mr Wee too, was a victim. He dropped his coin on the bus. As soon as the bus door close, the bus driver press the accelerator almost to the maximum causing him to fall.
Yang Mao was boring for me, as there was no food. Mr Wee, Han Soo, Chong Rui, Jackboon & Me then decided to walk out of Yang Mao in search of foot reflexology. But to no avail, we didn’t manage to find one.
We then took a taxi back to the hostel being afraid that we may meet another terrible bus driver.
In the taxi, we started a conversation with the taxi driver. As we started to gain his trust, he talked to us about the people in China and told us why the bus driver was so reckless and impatient. He told us that it was the character of Wuhan people. He said that when they are born they are already like that. If they are not fierce, they will be bullied by others.
Adding on, he told us where we should visit in Wuhan for example Han Kou. Which is, the ‘city’ of Wuhan. He told us that Han Kou is a place where is filled with business, fun, games, shopping & food. It sounded like orchard road in Singapore.
He also mention about Lee Kuan Yew. To my surprise, Lee Kuan Yew is so famous that even a taxi driver knows him. He praised Lee Kuan Yew, as he made an impression on the taxi driver that Singapore is a clean and green and a safe country to be in.
Today, there are no lessons. As we had lots of travelling the day before and we need to catch up on our journal for 3 days as we did not bring our laptops to Yangtze.
However, we went out to have our food and do some sight-seeing in Wuhan to find out more about the place.
We took a bus down to Yang Mao Guang chang. The bus driver is super impatient. One of our friend, Alicia, as she board the bus, the bus driver step on the accelerator almost leaving her leg severed. Mr Wee too, was a victim. He dropped his coin on the bus. As soon as the bus door close, the bus driver press the accelerator almost to the maximum causing him to fall.
Yang Mao was boring for me, as there was no food. Mr Wee, Han Soo, Chong Rui, Jackboon & Me then decided to walk out of Yang Mao in search of foot reflexology. But to no avail, we didn’t manage to find one.
We then took a taxi back to the hostel being afraid that we may meet another terrible bus driver.
In the taxi, we started a conversation with the taxi driver. As we started to gain his trust, he talked to us about the people in China and told us why the bus driver was so reckless and impatient. He told us that it was the character of Wuhan people. He said that when they are born they are already like that. If they are not fierce, they will be bullied by others.
Adding on, he told us where we should visit in Wuhan for example Han Kou. Which is, the ‘city’ of Wuhan. He told us that Han Kou is a place where is filled with business, fun, games, shopping & food. It sounded like orchard road in Singapore.
He also mention about Lee Kuan Yew. To my surprise, Lee Kuan Yew is so famous that even a taxi driver knows him. He praised Lee Kuan Yew, as he made an impression on the taxi driver that Singapore is a clean and green and a safe country to be in.
Day 5, Travel Travel Travel
Day 5
We reach Yi Chang at Noon and had lunch over there. Afterwhich, it was travelling and travelling all the way back to Wuhan.
We reach Yi Chang at Noon and had lunch over there. Afterwhich, it was travelling and travelling all the way back to Wuhan.
Day 4, YangTze ( 7th March )
Day 4
Breakfast would be served at 0630hrs. We woke up at 0530hrs at a estimate 4 degrees. It was super cold.
For breakfast, porridge, peanuts, Chinese salad, Man Tou(Chinese buns) & Nian Gao(those we eat during Chinese new year) & boiled eggs. It was a light breakfast, which was healthy and filling. Not like those in Singapore which are so heavy and oily.
I went to the back roof to get some fresh air. As there was a good amount of sunlight, I was greeted with the majestic view of the Yangtze River. The sight was simply picturesque.
The air was fresh and the wind was cooling. Words are not able to describe the amount peacefulness and comfort just being there to enjoy the scenery.
We changed our ship to a smaller one so that it can make access to Shen Long Jiang. When we were at the back of the ship, we cooked up a conversation with a local. He was selling antiques on the ship. He was telling us about the bad memories they have of the Japanese. That he would rather sell a particular item to an American for 200 RMB than to a Japanese for 250 RMB. He was also making enquires about Singapore as he have an impression of the high cost of living here. It was rather a fruitful talk with him as we get to know more about the people here in China.
We then made our way to Shen Long Jiang. Where it is famous for men, naked, paddling and pulling the boats.
The main reason for the men to be naked is because that, these men are poor. With clothing on, through wear and tear doing all these hard work would damage their clothing which means they have to purchase their new set of clothes which cost money. As so, they decided that being naked would save them the necessary trouble and money. And furthermore, they only earn 25 RMB a day.
However, as the government decided the flood the YangTze river, the River became a popular place for tourist to come. Therefore, the men are forced to be dressed when doing their routine work.
We then went back to our cruise where they will bring us to Bai Di Cheng, a famous Romance of the Three Kingdom place which Liu Bei, the leader of the Liu Army died.
The trip will take roughly 2 hours. Along the way, it was mountains and more mountains. But, being smart tour guides, using imaginations, they carved our images of lions, dragons & eagle. I.e A dragon climbing up the mountain can be seen in certain angle.
My friends and I felt tired at that point as it was boring on the ship, just sceneries & beds. So we decide to bring a few chairs to the roof to play poker. I bet it will be the envy of many to be able to play poker in such a beautiful scenery and weather.
Before we knew it, we reached Bai Di Cheng. We walked up 300 stairs to Bai Di Miao ( Bai Di Temple). There, we saw the scene of a dying Liu Bei surrounded by his many subordinates. The scene was shown in statues with the tour guide explaining what was happening at that point.
The worship statues of Liu Bei and some other famous characters in San Guo Yan Yi i.e Zhu Ge Liang have a history of 400 years which heads were chopped off during a war in China. The heads we then placed back some 80 years ago. Also, in the temple, there were skeletons of the earliest people on earth. There was one body, which uses the trunk of the tree. The inside of the trunk was dug out and the body was placed inside. The trunk acted as the coffin. That particular body was certified the first of its kind to die and be buried. These people we called the Tu zhu. The earliest tribe in China.
The most famous thing there is huang yang mu shu. Every where you go, there are combs and more combs. However, there are real and fake ones. The real ones can cost up to 50 RMB for one while the fake ones can cost 8 for 10 RMB.
We went back to the ship where we turn in for an early night as all of us were exhausted.
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