Day 17 – Trying of new food

I had my first try of the local fast food restaurant today for our lunch. We went to Duo Luo Jie for our lunch again, but this time we decided to try something new and so we went to Pai Le Han Bao where they sell burgers, drumsticks and drinks. The concept was somehow similar to the KFC we had in Singapore. Over here they also sell their food in meals, they had a total of 6 different types of meals and amazingly they have popcorn chicken too. The only difference as compared to KFC is that the drink that came with the meal was hot milk tea instead of coke and the bread which was used to make their burger smells really nice; it has this butter smell in it, which makes the whole burger taste even tastier. The food there was also pretty cheap, it only cost us 11rmb($2 plus) for our meals which comes with popcorn chicken, a burger plus a drink. Also, I found out that this restaurant was pretty thoughtful as they even prepared gloves for us so that we could eat our chicken without dirtying our hands! While maybe because over here, water is very precious and expensive to them and so, in order to save the amount paid for electricity bills, they would rather just spend on the plastic gloves.
Pai le Han Bao

Their Counter

Our Meals


As for dinner, we went to the same restaurant which we went previously during Mid Autumn festival, we went to have the Mian Sian but this time we manage to finish the while pot! We had five person sharing it and so, each of us only have to pay 5rmb($1) for our meals! After our meals, the guys decided to try some of the street food, and so they brought this pancake alike thingy and tried it. I took a bite of it and it taste pretty nice. It taste like the waffle we have in Singapore just that it is softer here and that it smells really nice especially in the cold weather now.
The pancake alike food


After so, we headed to another food cart which sells satay. We were pretty shock by the seller as he looks totally like a Caucasian. After trying really hard to communicate with him, we found out that he was from Xin Jiang, and he was selling Xin Jiang satay sticks.
The guy which looks like a caucasian

Edward taking over his place

A picture of them

The food is ready now ^^


Reflections:
Today we were offered a dinner treat by the vegetarian restaurant owner as he said that he is very thankful to the guys as they kept ordering their lunch from him, which have help him to increase his sales pretty much. And so the boss of the shop actually closes his shop today and gave everyone of us a treat at his restaurant. He was really nice, he prepared 2 steamboats for all of us who went, and he prepared a full table of food for us. When I saw it I was pretty touched, and I felt that they were hospitable. Perhaps, this seldom happens in Singapore or maybe they do, just that I do not know of. But somehow, I felt that the people in Wuhan city are easily contented, they are really thankful for what they have. But instead in Singapore we are always grumbling on things which we do not have. I guess it is time for us to learn such attitude from the people in Wuhan, to be thankful and appreciate what we have. Don’t you agree?


We try, we experience, we learn

Day 16 – COCA- COLA ^^

Our day started off with a pretty interesting industrial visit at the coca-cola factory. We were all gathered at around 8.30 before we set off to the factory. It took us around 1 hour of travelling time before we could reach the Coca-Cola factory.
Coca-Cola factory

Their Vision,Value, Purpose

Group E ^^


We were first brought to a function room whereby a video was showed to us, the content was about the the history of the factory in Hubei. It seems that over here in China, they would have to produce an average 1.5 million of Coca-Cola products everyday! I wonder how much they earned. Anyway the people there were really nice, the actually gave us a bottle of Coke each to drink after the video have ended.
The coke which they gave

Me and Michelle

Me


After so, we were brought to the manufacturing area, where we could see many empty bottles waiting to be filled up. The drinks would then be transferred to another station in a conveyor belt where they would go through other processes before being packed and stored into the warehouse.
Some of the manufacturing processes


Me

Me and Jiali

Dyana Me Jo

HanHui ZhenZhao Jiali Me

Houng Sheng

It looks real right?

Group E



After which, we moved on to the display area, where we could see many different types of Coca-Cola related products which are on display.
The related products



Group E again ((:




Reflections:
Everytime when you opened up a bottle of coke, have u ever wonder how much effort and manpower is needed to manufacturer that bottle which is held in your hands? Well to be honest, such thought have never crossed my mind. But after the visit today, I realized that for every bottle of Coca-Cola, it has to go through a tedious process before it would be ready for purchased in the supermarket.

Even though most of the processes where done by machines, I realized that it still requires a person to be there to supervise whether the machines are working properly and whether if there is any bottleneck somewhere. To some they might think that it is a easy job, but think again would you be able to do such a job every day? Facing the same old routine of checking and staring at the bottles. So why do people still takes up such jobs, well the only reason which I could think of is that they would need to have a job so as to feed their families. If it were you, I am sure you would do the same right?

No one owes Singapore a living.
We find our own way to survive and prosper, turning challenge into opportunity.

Day 15 – An unexpected encounter

We had an industrial visit to WISCO (Wuhan Iron and Steel Company) this morning. Before heading to WISCO, all of the students were asked to assemble at our study block to collect our helmets. Thankfully the trip to WISCO was a short one so most of us chatted till we reached our destinations.
WISCO


When we arrived at WISCO, we were told to put on our helmets before entering the factory. In the factory itself, it was rather warm as high temperature of about a hundred was used to melt the iron. We were guided by two stuff to walk along a pathway which was built using iron. From that height we were able to view the whole manufacturing process of melting the iron and making it form into a roll.
Iron undergoing high temperature

the iron would be cooled here


It was pretty interesting to watch the iron under goes the high temperature turning really hot, after so being rolled into the a machine which is used to cool the steel, and these process repeats for at least twice before it is send into a machine where they are being compressed into iron sheet and rolled into rolls.
Undergoing the 7 processes

The machines which roll the iron

Saw the iron roll?

It is now being send into the warehouse



Reflection:
As from my title I wrote there an unexpected encounter. So here it goes.
Apparently, I was using the internet when shilling came into my room and asked if our taps were working, and to our surprise, when we turned on the tap, there wasn’t any water flowing out from it. And so without thinking that much I continued to use my internet at nic’s room and it was then when I found out that even the guys taps wasn’t working. We tried telling the lady at the lobby but there wasn’t anything she could do, and so since most of us have not bathe yet, we had to use buckets to get the water from the girls common toilet at level 4 of our hostel. The guys had to wait at the steps since it wasn’t possible for them to go to the 4th level. Some even went to the guys common bathing area which was in the other blocks to get the water. The ironic thing is, we had to run in the rain to fetch the water from the other building and yet we had no water at all in our bath room.

Well, this was my first time that I encounter such scenario. Maybe because in Singapore we tend to take it for granted that whenever we on our tap, we would have water flowing out from it. The reason why we are so pampered might be because ever since we were born into our family, we were always given the best of everything and so as time passed we forgot that we are ought to be thankful for everything we receive in Singapore. Oh well, I am glad that I am born in a developing country like Singapore.

Singapore is our homeland; this is where we belong.
We treasure our heritage and take pride in shaping our own unique way of life.

Day 14 – Happy Birthday

Today we had our OIE module in the morning with Ms Grace. The lesson was about the Chinese Philosophy, it covers Confucianism, Taoism, Moism and Buddhism. The topic which left a deep impression in me was the in Humanity under Confucianism. It talks about the virtues that a human should have, examples like loyalty, filial piety, courage and wisdom. During class, Ms Grace showed us a video which tells us that one should remain humble, only a fool would act like he knows everything, but real wise men would pretend that he doesn’t know anything. Well it did seem contradicting to me at first, but to think of it’s true. And there was another saying which was mention in class and that is the strong might not always be strong while the weak might not always be weak, take for example during heavy thunderstorms, it is always the trees that would topple, and the grass that remains on the ground. Sound true doesn’t it? These are just some of the saying which was mention by Kong Zi. If you guys are interested, you can get a book called Lun Yu from a book store, inside the book they have more of such meaningful sayings.

After OIE, we headed for lunch and again we went to the soup restaurant as the weather was kind of cold today so most of us decided to have a warm bowl of soup to fill up our stomach (: It was around 1.30pm when we headed for our second lesson of the day PM practical, we did 2 practical which was kind of manageable for me so far, hopefully I would be able to do the project when the time comes.

It was 5.15pm when most of us left our rooms and headed to a restaurant nearby our hostel to celebrate Zhen Zhao birthday together with some other china students. The food at the restaurant was good, they came in big portions and that their Lover Set Meal was really worth it. It cost 74rmb per person (around $15) for like so many dishes like soup, salad, steak, dessert, cake and drink.

Lover's Set Meal







Its NOT his birthday


Its his birthday ^^


My group with the birthday boy, Zhen Zhao



It’s a contradicting feeling.

Reflections:

After the birthday celebration, some of us went around the street for shopping. What I notice was that the dogs over here in China are actually free to roam around without a leash, you can’t really see that in Singapore. If there is anyone who does that in Singapore, most probably you would receive a fine or maybe some warnings. Over in Singapore, most of the time you would see a sign that says no pets allow, but over here in Wuhan, you could see the owners bringing their pets into the restaurant, some of the restaurant even have their own pets in the shop! I find that this is really interesting and it benefits the pet as well as the owners. In Singapore if you were to own a pet, most of the time you would have to leave them at home when you are out shopping because pets are not allowed. But over here I have notice that the dogs are really well trained by their owners, they would stick really close to their owners even without a leash, and maybe that is one of the reason why pets are allowed in most places. Maybe because I am a pet lover, but wouldn’t it be good if pets are allowed to be brought into shopping centre in Singapore?

Day 11,12,13 – Cruise Trip

First day of our trip: Eye opener
We woke up at 10 am in the morning just so that we would be able to have our breakfast before heading for the cruise trip. Before having our breakfast at MacDonald, we went to a bread shop to get some food stock up into our bags because we heard that in the cruise they would only provide the 3 basic meals and if you are hungry, you would have to purchase your own food.It was around 12.30pm when all of us set off for our cruise trip. It took us around 4 to 5 hours before we reached Yi Chang and have our dinner.
Our Dinner

Before boarding the Cruise

After dinner, we finally headed to the pier to enjoy our cruise trip. We were given some time to settle ourselves before heading to the deck. At the deck, most of us camwhored and waited for the lock. Due to some delay we only manage to capture the first lock at around 10 plus. Most of us were pretty excited about it and so we decided to capture the 2nd lock which we would reach at 1 plus 2 am, it was said that the 2nd lock would be of 5 storey high. And so since there was pretty much time left, most of us return to the deck just to check out the night scenary. However it was pretty dark out there and so most of the time we were only looking out for houses and the weather was really COLD.
On the deck (PS:Camwhore time ^^)

Houng Sheng, Me ,Liang Xun

Michelle, Me

WeiLin, Me

Me, YuChuan

The Girls ^^

Momo, Michelle, Me, HoungSheng

Me, Zhen Zhao

Finally, we heard the announcement of the 2nd lock and so we headed to the 2nd storey of the cruise to capture the 2nd lock. It was already 2 plus when we have cross the first storey of the 2nd lock and so most of us decided to return back to our rooms to get some rest as we would have to be awake before 7am for our breakfast.
The Locks



Second day of our trip: A fruitful day
During the noon we were told to report at the deck of the cruise to have a view of Shen Nu Xi. After so, we were told to transfer to a smaller boats where we would get a better view of the Gorges.
Shen Nu Xi



We were told to get off at a spot where we were given a chance to take a step nearer to nature. We were asked to climb to the top of the hill, which would take us roughly 10 to 15 minutes. When we were at the top, the view was really nice and the air over there was also pretty fresh.
The view while climbing up the hill





At the top of the Hill





It took us around 2 hours before we headed back to the cruise to have our lunch. We manage to have a short break of an hour after our lunch before going to out next destination, Bai Di Miao( A place where Liu Bei was in). Over there, we had to climb around 400 steps of stairs before we were able to reach our final destination. Thankfully the weather was really cooling, and so that makes the climbing of steps much more easier for us.
Bai Di Miao


These are all found inside Bai Di Miao
Tuo Gu Tang



Dong Bei Lin ( A place where they kept all of their crafting)

They said that by touching this, it would help us gain wealth

Yu Biao Shen Feng





After the tour, we headed back to the cruise and had our dinner. After dinner, it was our free time so most of us spend our time watching movie, playing cards and mahjong together. It was around 2am when all of us got to bed.

Third day of our trip: Returning back to our hostel
Before heading back to our hostel, we had an early tour around San Xia. We were brought to 3 different areas where we were being introduced to the beauty of San Xia.
While waiting for the bus



A Model of San Xia

This is a really HUGE truck

Group photos ^^







Reflections:
After the cruise trip, I have finally seen with my own eyes how the 3 Gorges Dam look like. During my secondary school days, my Geography teacher use to tell me how beautiful the 3 Gorges Dam was, how magnificent the view was from the top of the hills, how fresh the air was, but all I got to see was pictures after pictures. But true enough, after witnessing the beauty of the place with my own eyes, it is proven that what my teacher had taught me in the past was true.

Also, I have learnt a something new from this cruise trip. I was pretty amazed by how the dam works, when I saw the locks, I was impressed by how it manages to “control” the water just by opening and closing the gates. And that how it manages to “lift” the ships with a simple theory which we might have all learn in our primary school.

Even though this trip was a little tiring, but I think it is really worthwhile. At least I have manage to gain more knowledge right?