Day Forty-One.

All of us were happy that our trip has already ended and finally we were able to go home. On the other hand, I supposed everyone was feeling a bit reluctant to leave the place. We woke up as early at 0500 to prepare. Initially, we wanted to order KFC but we were all too lazy and decided to go to 堕落街- back alley, to have our breakfast for the last time, in Wuhan. 

Our Room; happening room

The entrance of our hostel

 The path in 堕落街-back alley

Our last time having such cheap breakfast at the back alley

After which, we were instructed to carry our luggage plus all our belongings to the bus at 0800. The process was horrendous, luckily with the help of our student leaders, we were then able to clear our stuff. Otherwise, we would take longer time than expected. Before we go up to the bus, my clique were chatting happily and hugging with, our student leaders but the rest, mostly were crying. As our bus drove off, the China students waved and tears starting rolling down from most of the students' faces. The scene was disheartening. It was such a pity that our student leaders cannot send us to the airport because they had lesson at 0800 plus and there were insufficient seats as well. But they still insisted on sending us off at the school gate, missing part of their lesson; despite their lecturer reminding them there wasn’t a need to send us off. 

The back door of our hostel

The process of moving the baggage up the bus and the mixed feelings everyone had

Our last group photo

On the way to the Wuhan airport

At the airport, upon hearing exceeding 1kg is equals to 110RMB, most of us started to re-pack our stuffs because it was individual check-in. Luckily, we did it fast and managed to check-in everything fast because there were a lot of people started to queue by then. We were given free time till boarding the plane at the Wuhan airport as the flight was delayed for almost an hour and we went to eat noodles which is the only shop selling food there.

Checking in

 

 Free time, while waiting for the flight

The only food restaurant we saw

Clique!

After we reached GuangZhou, we were told to increase our pace as the interval time given was short, and at the same time the situation was chaotic. But when we were at the transit, we then heard that our flight was delayed for two hours due to the need of passengers’ had to re-check in their baggage again. However, we touched down to Singapore with other Ngee Ann students from different courses at 2245 instead of our actual arrival timing 2045. Having the feeling of being homed and everyone started to cheer with joy. This really shows that everyone really misses their family and friends and most importantly, our homeland, Singapore. 

At the transit 

Food we had in both of the planes

SINGAPORE: Our homeland, This is where we belong

Throughout these 41 days we had spent in Wuhan, I had really learnt a lot of valuable knowledge, be it able to apply in my daily lives or applicable to my future. Also, this great opportunity allows me to expose more to the world; from strangers to friends, get out of our comfort zone doing things ourselves independently, to control or gauge our money usage, get to know people of different characters/attitudes and most importantly, being able to build intercultural skill from our cross cultural exchange. All these cannot be found in our textbooks, lecture notes or even on the internet. I believed this fruitful experience definitely will follow me for eternal. Memories shall remain. And this unforgettable trip is ONLY a once a lifetime experience for, we must thanked Ngee Ann Polytechnic for giving us such a golden opportunity. Last but not least, I will strongly encourage students who are hesitating to whether to go for those upcoming overseas immersion trips, to just go for it! After you yourself experience it, you will then know.

Day Forty.

It didn’t rain today and my group went to film and takes some pictures in order for us to do our video when we returned to Singapore. It was quite funny during the process as passersby will stop and stare at us. We were done with what we were supposed to do and headed to the back alley to have our lunch. Soon after, it was the critical period. Everyone was waiting for this period to arrive. WEIGHING of LUGGAGE. All of us were busy packing and repacking to ensure that our space is fully utilized and that we will not exceed the weight limit. So, when the time struck one, everyone started to go to the weighing machine to weigh and our class representative were there to take down all the weights. He was very strict about it as he was instructed by Ms Neo, how the importance of this weighing of luggage is or else a lot of administrative stuffs have to be resolved and it will cause a lot of unwanted problems.

After that, we went to SourceMe-发源地 for the last time to get our hair done, hoping to have a more refreshing look when we returned to Singapore.

 Gathering in our hostel

Assistant Manager

 店长

 Number 33, She is cool

Number 1

Number 26, He is only 16

技术总监

Initially we planned to go 建设七路 or 步行街 for the final time but the China students already planned something for us. So, we cancelled our plans, had our dinner at a fast food restaurant and headed back to hostel to meet the China students, our student leaders. Surprisingly, we saw them all arrived at our hostel with cake and snacks. Then, they just told us it’s time to go and said its secret, keeping us in suspense. Upon arriving, we came to find out that, the surprise they arranged for us, was that they actually booked a room at a motel, around 178RMB, for us to gather and had our mini farewell party. Our first impression of a motel was that rundown kind but it turned out to be spacious and has all the facilities which a hotel has. Not forgetting, an automatic mahjong table. OMG. And we really enjoyed ourselves playing, chit-chatting and we can make hell lots of noise without worrying we would disturb others like how we always did in our hostel. 

At the lobby

Our room

Such high-tech entertainment can be found in this motel

Yes, we are friends forever, 2010

Making a wish hoping that our friendship will remain now and forever

Great times really passed in a blinking of an eye. We did not need to count down the remaining days anymore because we only left with one night and that, we were really touched by the plans our student leaders had arranged for us. We did a lot of shopping for many days already hence missing out our last shopping spree is definitely worth it because nothing is more important to the bond we had with them. The cost of the luxurious room which they had paid including those expenses surely cost a bomb to them. But they still fork the amount out willingly just to hold this farewell celebration, just for us. This is really a unique celebration because most people will only go out and has a dinner at a restaurant or something. And so, I really want to express my gratitude to our student leaders for their assistance and appreciate those valuables knowledge they taught us be it in a directly or indirectly way. All these unforgettable memories will definitely remain deep down in our hearts and lastly, really hope we all will still keep in contact.

Day Thirty-Nine.

I woke up at around 1000 plus and had our discussion for IS video project at around 1200. We spent quite some time brainstorming, thinking of our plot. Everything went through smoothly but the weather was not good, it was raining heavily. And so, at first we thought of starting to film due to the weather, which we cannot do so. But we continued our indoor scenes. After that, I accompanied the China students and some of our friends to 堕落街 to have dinner which was similar to the economical rice we had in Singapore. And the interesting part was, they charged the food by weighing it. Besides that, the shop offers free flow of rice and soup. At a later time, together with WeiQin and Janice, we headed to Shopping Mall for KFC, to try the 老北京畿肉卷餐 as we cannot find it in Singapore and friends who had tried it before comment that it was nice. Then, we got back to hostel and started to pack our things. Unluckily, there was something bad happened today. Cynthia’s wallet was picking pocketed but she was alerted as she felt something was not right when her bag was keep knocking onto the table suddenly. This was when she found out that her bag was cut and her wallet was missing. Then, she was braved enough to snatch back after chasing the thief. I felt that we should be wary of people around us and be more vigilant when we are outside especially when we are overseas. “前面是你的,后面是别人的” This was what our lecturer kept on emphasized during our pre-trip briefing. This phrase is really important to urge all of us to be careful so that we can avoid such things to happen. Most importantly, no one get hurt. From this incident, I also realized which type of people are worth considered as “friends.” 

Customers choosing what they want to eat 

Free flow of porridge, rice and soup

Bag being cut

Day Thirty-Eight.

The local students came to our room at 1000 but we delayed a little. Then we headed to 堕落街 to grab a bite as the bus ride to SiMenKou-司门口 was 40min. After everyone was ready, we board a double-deck bus which cost 1.50RMB which is 0.50RMB cheaper than the single deck one. This was the first time all of us took a double deck bus. The china students brought us to the food street and the place is really food paradise. We bought a little here and there and tried. And we had a great time trying them because they were really delicious. Also, the food street looks like Taiwan 小吃.

Then, we waited for a friend at a local fast food, 华莱士 before we took the speed boat across the river to 江汉路, at the port which is located at 长江大桥. The ticket for the boat cost only 5RMB. It was definitely much faster compared to taking public bus. Plus, it was really another new experience we had because in Singapore it is not possible for us to reach a place through sea transportation. If you had realized, my cliques have been taking different transportations in China. This is because in China, as long as the transport has wheels on it, able to move, this can be considered as transport.

We then went to happy 站台 for a while, to wait for Cynthia to collect her photos and took Bus 588 to 徐东路 at a restaurant, Golden Hans, for our dinner, barbeque buffet. The food is indeed awesome; it is much nicer than the previous we went and it cost 38RMB and 30RMB if you flashed a student card to them. The nine of us were greatly appreciated for what our five student leaders had done for us and we decided to treat them. The customer service in the restaurant is also good as they will go around, to all the tables with grilled food or fruits and served the customers. There is also a mini stage. Probably they will sing and customers can enjoy while eating. But on that day, half way through we were eating, amazingly there is a beer competition. It’s probably a form of entertainment for customers. After all, the ambience of the restaurant is “two thumbs up” and we must really thank the China students for they sacrificed their time to accompany us to many places which we would not be able to know.

 Yummy

 Crackers made manually

Dumplings

It cost 4 for 10RMB

Pancakes which cost 3 for 5 RMB

 Jelly similar to Hong Kong's, with a lot of flavors

Fried ice-cream

Making candy creatively

On the way to take the speed boat

Writing Chinese characters using water

Dinner Time

Plates cleared

Our way back to campus