My First Trip To China At 14 Years Old

2007 年上海／苏州／杭州文化浸濡团

SHANGHAI/SUZHOU/HANGZHOU CULTURAL IMMERSION TOUR

23-05-2007 TO 31-05-2007

Departure Flight from Singapore to Shanghai: SQ816 (0115 / 0635 hrs)

Arrival Flight from Shanghai to Singapore: SQ805 (1635 / 2150 hrs)

PLEASE ASSEMBLE IN CHANGI AIRPORT TERMINAL 2, ROW 10 6 ON 22/05/2007 (TUE) AT 11PM.

INFORMATION ABOUT TRAVELLING IN CHINA

TIME DIFFERENCE: No time difference between Singapore and China

WEATHER: 19 degree Celcius – 28 degree Celcius

WATER: Tap water is not safe for drinking. Boiled water is provided in  hotel rooms.

ELECTRICITY: The electric current in China is 220 volts. Adaptor will be needed.

CURRENCY: Renminbi (人民币). You are strongly advised to change it in Singapore. 

Currency exchange rate: S$1.00 = 5.00RMB approximately. 

ITINERARY

First day, 23/05, Wednesday

Morning

早餐后游览上海博物馆

Afternoon

午餐 （酒店用）后去竹园中学交流，上课。

Evening

晚餐结束后回酒店休息。

Notes

高桥石化宾馆。早、午、晚餐。

Second day, 24/05, Thursday

Morning

竹园中学课程

Afternoon

竹园中学课程。城隍庙（不吃晚餐，给学生餐费吃小吃）

Evening

东方明珠

Notes

东方明珠。早、午、晚餐。午餐学校用。

Third day, 25/05, Friday
Morning
早餐后，去苏州游览苏州工业园，虎丘。

Afternoon
午餐后，游览寒山寺， 狮子林，七里山塘街。

Evening
晚餐后，逛观前街。

Notes

环龙商务酒店。早、午、晚餐。

Fourth day, 26/05, Saturday

Morning

早餐后丝绸厂，过后前往杭州。

Afternoon
途中游览乌镇，（午餐乌镇用），抵达杭州后，游明清河坊街。

Evening
晚餐后观看西湖之夜。

Notes

百瑞四季酒店。早、午、晚餐。

Fifth day, 27/05, Sunday

Morning
早餐后游西湖（游船）游岳王庙，花港观鱼，曲院风荷。

Afternoon
午餐后参观灵隐寺，龙井问茶，过后前往上海。

Evening
晚餐（酒店用）后回酒店休息。

Notes

高桥石化宾馆。早、午、晚餐。

Sixth day, 28/05, Monday

Morning

竹园中学课程。

Afternoon
竹园中学课程。游外滩，黄埔公园（拍照）

Evening
晚餐后船游黄浦江。

Notes

高桥石化宾馆。早、午、晚餐。午餐学校用。

Seventh day, 29/05, Tuesday

Morning
竹园中学课程。

Afternoon
竹园中学课程。逛上海书城（2小时）。

Evening
晚餐后，南京路步行街。

Notes

高桥石化宾馆。早、午、晚餐。

Eighth day, 30/05, Wednesday

Morning

竹园中学课程。

Afternoon
竹园中学课程。

Evening
学生往宿竹园中学学生家。老师／1家长和女儿住酒店。

Notes

高桥石化宾馆。早、午、晚餐。午餐学校用。

Ninth day, 31/05, Thursday

Morning

鲁迅纪念馆多伦多文化节。

Afternoon
午餐后乘坐上海磁悬浮列车到机场，乘飞机回返新加坡。

Evening
NIL

Notes

早、午餐。（同学在学生家用早餐）。

YEAR TWO

Tomorrow will be the start of my year two in FMS.
Feeling... afraid.

There's a change of class too so it's really a fresh start.

By the way the FBC camp was great... in general.
But I'm having post camp guilts and regrets.
Don't talk about it. Let me reflect upon myself :(

I can't believe my holidays are over,
ojkdjhfgjarutvkggiuyq2o;38475365oiqhuktvajbgaegrLUK093782936387iUHEKJABkfjkdjk009288387dkhdgjnnhc

I bought a rubiks cube recently, and I am having trouble solving it.
someone please help me.

FBC 2012 CAMP

Going for my 4 days 3 nights camp.
Gosh, i'm gonna be tired.

FBC 2012 CAMP starts now!

.Old Airport Road

14th November 2011

Dakota –Old Airport Road

It somewhat felt like a huge disappointment when I heard the hawker centre was closed when we met up at Exit B of Dakota MRT. However the day didn’t turn out wasted.

The tour around Northlight School turned out to be really enriching and provided me with a new insight of how primary school drop outs can choose to get a new leash of life after failing their PSLE examinations.

The school is well set up to cater to the education to the students there, I was really surprised to see rooms resembling hotel rooms and provision shops.

The teaching methods of teachers seem different from secondary schools. Throughout the tour, I feel that the tour guide was right about allowing the children to feel the love instead of treating them harshly. They were allowing the students to learn in an environment where they won’t be looked down on, where their achievements and good behaviour are recognised.

When we went on to visit the garden the school has at the back, in addition the tour guide explained that the garden is there for students skipping physical education when they are sick.  It’s true that there’s no reason for a student to not do some gardening even if he or she is sick. This reminds me of my secondary school classmates skipping physical education because they were too lazy to work out, wasting their time slacking around. However in Northlight School students will not only be able to learn a new skill but also educated about those plants they are gardening. These can’t be learnt in the usual secondary schools or even primary schools. In the usual schools students are often spoon fed but the teachers, there are many a times when schools try to hold reward sessions to spark students to be more initiative and helpful however it’s difficult when students already take things for granted. This is not the case in Northlight school where most of the areas in their education system they are encouraged to be independent. These students may turn out to be outstanding in the future industry as compared to spoon fed students.

When we left Northlight school and headed for the old provision shop with 50 years of history; we passed by many of the the neighbourhood estates and I was fascinated by some of it’s interesting structure and local lifestyle. A block of flats that we passed by had many households hanging their clothes outside along the corridor; of course this is not uncommon in Singapore however what I’m fascinated by the fact that they had their linen hung on what seemingly looked like ropes and also thin sticks. I wonder why don’t they use bamboo poles that are more sturdy.

Another block of flats we passed by has only 7 storeys, and the lifts were located at the first, third and sixth level. This block of flats is one of the three that are located along the circumference of an “imaginary circle”. What I mean is if one is to stand right smack in the middle of this “imaginary circle” he or she will be able to see a block of flats on his or her right, left and back. It was interesting to imagine the possibility of good friends living in each of the flats, and they can all meet up in the middle to hang out when they have ended school or have finished their homework.

The provision shop was located under a block of flats –yet another charming block of flats. The blue signboard states Tian Kee & Co, which is unusual for a provision shop to be called as, different from the modern provision shops and econ-minimarts. I guess owning a provision shop back then was a really honourable thing and only richer people could afford to do so. Tian Kee & Co makes it sound like a company itself. The biscuits they sell bring back memories, the messy layout of the small shop’s interior makes me feel like I just walked into an antique shop. A bag of biscuits with icing sugar weighing 100 grams only cost me $0.80, a price hard to find. I gladly shared my biscuits with friends who didn’t want to take a squeeze in the small shop but in the end they were influenced to get some themselves.

Modest as they can be, the old couple declined to be taken photographs of and were kind to direct us to the nearest MRT station.

I hope I can find the chance to go back to Dakota, Old Airport Road to have a taste of the good food and walk around the neighbourhood of Dakota with a good camera in hand.

Social Media and Revolution

Social Media and Revolution to me is both interesting and scary.

It is scary to know that the younger generation are so technological savvy, they are becoming more adult-like. There seem to be catching up with society as fast as technology is catching up with them.

For me, it's no longer an uncommon sight to see little kids as young as 2 years old fiddling and playing with their parents's Iphone. I have seen toddlers bawling and requesting their parents to hand them the Iphone to play. Whatever happened to traditional toys?! I'm not even talking about paper dolls here, the simplest joy we used to have: stuffed toys, lego, robots. They seem to have extinct from the world's surface as more kids are seen engrossed with Iphones while sitting comfortably in their stroller.

But on the other hand it's fascinating to know that a human's brain can be so accustomed to new things. Toddlers have been in this world for no longer than half a decade but yet they can navigate through the Iphone like any tech-savvy adult. Even some adults have trouble with these new technology.

I have always wondered if these technology will render a child's intelligence and imagination or will it boost it instead. This is because I have always heard that gluing ones eyes to a computer or television programme will dull one's mind and slow down our thinking.

It no longer gets me excited when I hear about new technology, about robots and touch screens because it has been so evident in my life right now. But I do remember years ago when I chose cell phones with buttons easier to press and was really fascinated with slim laptops. I recently watched a news feature about Samsui women in Singapore, they have lived for close to a century! I wonder how do they feel about the tremendous changes that happened around them, for they had witnessed a century of events and revolution, from the invention of cars to cell phones, computers, smaller cell phones and computers etc.. If I was them, I would feel like an alien in today's world. Nothing will feel familiar and nostalgic anymore; everything has changed since then, devices, buildings and even human behaviour.

.Day 2 Filming

Gwen and her new tattoos :)
http://campl.us/cVEd

Had Day 2 of filming today, spent the whole day at the restaurant.
Really thought it's gonna be screwed up again because the alarm at the restaurant rang when crystal tried to open it. It was apparently the wrong keys given, that's why.

But once it was settled and we arranged the shooting, everything else went pretty smooth :D
Had Gabby as the disgusting girl
Gwen as the rocker girl and beloved jun le as the transgender.

Today's filming was so much more enjoyable than yesterday's and it really felt like we had progress :)

AWESOME IF YOU BELIEVED THE TATTOOS WERE REAL!!
It was ME who found it on Youtube, gotta thank the youtube uploader :)
rocks.

.My Worse Saturday

It's a really screwed up Saturday today and it's not getting any better.
Why commit yourself to acting when you can't?
Not like we didn't tell you to keep weekends free.
If the supporting cast makes it and the lead doesn't.
What is the point.
Why do this to us.

I'm so frustrated.
It's so not working out.

I know we were unprepared and stuff but seriously, you have a part to add on to this mess too.