Tuesday, March 29, 2011

day 22

Its been 22 days since i have left Singapore to go to a foreign land with strangers to study a elective module and an IS module. 22 Days have passed and everyone is everyone's friends. Guess that after the 5 weeks our bond with each other would be pretty strong as we depend on each other when we are in this foreign land. As the saying goes, at home you depend on your parents, outside you depend on your friends. It doesnt hurt to make more friends. Almost everyday is a routine for me and today is no exception. Wake up, go classes, listen in class, eat lunch. Afternoon most of us either take an afternoon nap or just go through the report that we have to write on breast cancer, on how TCM can aid in breast cancer patients. So many scientific reports to sift through and yet so little time to be done. Its currently 1.10am now as i am typing my blog, and i am doing this after i wrote a draft of my report which i still need to consult Dr Teoh tomorrow on it. Lets hope he doesn't have much comments on it. Really clueless on how to write one. Some of my friends here are kind of homesick, in my point of view i think that someday you have to leave your parents and why not do it now and try your best not to think of family and just concentrate on studies and have fun with your friends while you can. Not everyday does such a chance will pass us by and since we are at it, just grit your teeth and endure the homesickness for 2 more weeks and it would be back to naggings everyday. Current technologies also allow webcamming and skyping so i reckon the homesickness wont be as bad as those china students that travel from one city to another in pursuit of a better education. We really live in the comfort of our homes and the perfect care provided by our parents. Sometimes we take them for granted and so i would like to thank them~ Thats pretty much i can think of what to reflect/type today. Tomorrow is a free day and i have already planned to go out with my god-sis, hope there won't be anything that pops up suddenly!(fingers crossed)

day 21

The day started off with Dr Teoh's lecture pretty short but lots of things to learn. In the afternoon we watched videos and due to the heavy lunch that we had, almost half the class was asleep while watching an interesting video on TCM. Since it was Mr Imran's last day in China with us, we decided to go to greenery cafe to have our dinner. Everything started off fine till the lights dimmed and the birthday song started playing, and jiann leong realised that we were celebrating his birthday. Bo Kang also celebrated his birthday and for Soon Eng, he will celebrate it nxt week. All the birthday boys had their faces smashed with cakes(including Issac), for Mr Imran, it was just for the sake of smashing him with the cake. We had our fun and laughter and we ended the day with everyone feeling full with food and cake how fun. Went back and did what every singaporean guy would do, we pancaked(tau pok) jiann leong and edmund for the fun of it. Thank goodness my birthday is in the middle of the June holidays. Slowly the din died down and we just went back to our rooms to prepare for the next day.

Monday, March 28, 2011

day 20






Morning call at 6.20, how irritating can that be when you are sleeping on a nice comfy bed in a nice comfy room~ We got up and pack our lugguages as we went for our final trip to wudang mountain, the golden peak, highest peak in the area. As usual we took the shuttle bus, but this time its to a cable car station. Upon arrival we got in to the cabin and my oh my the cable car went higher and higher up and its quite scary but the fact that its not china made, made us feel relieved. So we got to the next station situtated high up in the mountains. We got to the entrance of the golden peak and we gotta queue up for our turn, what made me pissed is that the china people really love to squeeze and push. Is it really taught from young that you must squeeze and push your way through everything, its not like you wont get to the top if you dun squeeze or push. Therefore i got to endure the pushing and shoving during the whole trip, even up there when the scenery is so nice. Everyone just kept pushing each other. The view from the highest point of the mountains is really breath taking and you will never ever see that in singapore(like duh). We didnt stay up there for too long as the crowd was overwhelming, we made our way down slowly just to get pushed even more. There was this guy who pushed his way up and pushed his way down, i gave him a nickname(big red riding hood) he was big sized and was wearing a red jacket. Maybe its the culture in china, cannot really blame them for being loud or pushy. Once we got down there we went to eat our lunch and off we go back to our dorm, sometimes it still really feels good to go back to your second home no matter how bad the conditions are. We studied abit before crashing onto the bed hoping for the best for tomorrow's test.

day 19





And so it begins our trip to wudang mountain to attain immortality. We got up pretty early in the morning around 6am to get ourselves prepared. We left at 7 and took a 5 hour bus trip to the mountains. On our way, there are nice sceneries to see, all the plant cultivations and houses. Got me thinking that these farmers are really at the mercy of the weather, any sudden changes and their crops for the year might be gone and they will suffer famine. How sad. I got in and out of consciousness during the whole trip(sleep to be exact). When we reached there we got up into the mountains using their shuttle bus and i must say that their drivers are really professional. They just navigate through the hairpins with ease using a bus. Really give it up to them, its their livelihood anyway. All i can say for the scenic spots are that you gotta climb up and up and up and you will get rewarded with the nice scenes on top of the mountain. Lots of sightseeing were being done and the most common thing on the mountain was temples. Temples after temples were being spotted on the mountains. Does taoism really emphasize on temples being built so that the gods can be worshipped or just that as long as you have god in your heart and thats all that matters. During in the evening we went to this hotel that doesnt look like one from the outside, but once u step into the room, you will be blown away totally by the tv, beds, nice toilet etc ( every student's dream). Too bad we only get to enjoy life for a day. Oh and the tv had lots of channels so my friends and i watched the shows till around 1+ before we went to sleep. That's how the day went

Friday, March 25, 2011

day 18





Aujourd'hui est un jour tres bien! In the morning we went through our final final final PBL presentation for CAM and everything went very well! Even though we did our preparations so last minute. After that i went to eat macdonals, ooh lala. Then we went to see the cherry blossom bloom. Well~~~ i thought it would be like japan, but at least i saw them bloom in china and thats one of the milestones i've achieved. Please do correct my english if you spot any mistakes in them. So moving on, at the end of the tour, i followed meiling, qiu yan and yvette to get the medicine from the pharmacy and after that we went to the backalley to have our dinner and the girls also bought shoes from a small shop at the back alley. Girls are always happy after a shopping trip. Actually there are more things that happened but just that i cannot remember the bits and pieces that happened during the day so i just condense everything and write down what i can actually remember. My day ended on a high note and i really look forward to tomorrow's wudang mountain trip.

day 17





To-day was an interesting one. We went around to find a pharmacy to get interviews and in the end we found a clinic cum pharmacy after much turmoil. We walked a sizable amount of distance before we found that place thanks to another pharmacist who told us to go to there. We think that that was by far the biggest pharmacy+clinic we have ever seen so far. We had a very friendly doctor and pharmacist who allowed us to interview and film them and we got alot of valuable stuff for our presentation tommorrow. After that interview we decided to go out with Mr Imran to go shop at the hu bu xiang. There was my favourite smelly tofu there and of course i went to buy the one that is the smelliest. The girls got themselves food and and a watch(oh and it was my first time taking the bus, what a fun ride) When we went back to the dorm, it was around 8.30 and we started to do the project. In the end we completed it at around 3am and we were all half dead and well we went to sleep to wake up 8 in the morning to go for classes at 9 to have our presentation done. So that sums our day 17 and overall i think that in china we would have to dare to ask the locals in order to gather information. Just open your mouth and ask, you wont get killed

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

day 16





phrase of the day(open eyes when studying). Costed me quite alot of marks for the test cause did'nt read properly. Shall wise up and memorize the correct things with HEADINGS. In the morning we went to coke factory and we got free coke to drink in a glass bottle and soon eng got so fascinated that he "stole" the glass bottle for memorabilia. We had a tour around the plant but to our dismay, the machinery broke down and therefore there was no production for the day :/ Its still a pretty short trip, but abit longer than the steel factory. In the afternoon had our first test of the trip, easy but taken it for granted(thats my reflection for the day, i guess?). After the test nothing much happened, just went to buy street food and talk to my god-sis and the last thing i did was to watch adjustment bureau, jiann leong thought it was i want a balloon,goodness. Anyway its about humans wearing hats and use doors as portals to do their jobs. Interesting but not up to expectations, inception's still nicer. So, a day just ended on a normal note with nothing spectacular event happening. Hope for the best tomorrow!(OIE presentation, i highly doubt so)(fingers highly crossed)

day 15





In the morning. We went to wugang steel factory to see how steel was made. Pharmers just walked through the whole factory at a safe distance and it was pretty interesting to see how steel came out from the furnace and the cooling down process. It was a pretty short trip, around an hour or so. When we went back my project group got together to do some last minute rehearsals. At around 2 we had a presentation and my group did on chronic fatigue syndrome. Our slides were so many that it bored out some of the people. Note to self(condense everything so that it wont be so long). After presentation, had a badminton game with some of the classmates. I decided to take all the smash shots of the people playing in the game. After that, almost everyone in pharm went to eat in greenery and there goes my money again. Reflection of the day, resist to temptations and go for cheaper food instead D:

day 14

Monday blues. True to that phrase, i had a pretty boring day. Took no pictures. Just doing project all the way. nothing much to reflect on therefore just posting this to keep the blog updated

Monday, March 21, 2011

day 11, 12, 13 (3 gorges dam tour!)






On friday, we set off for yi chang city to go onboard our cruise to tour around the 3 gorges dam. We deicded to be fully prepared as our seniors told us that the living conditions in the cruise was very bad and therefore we should bring water, sleeping bag and food. They even said they saw dead grey critters(rats). Gosh! The tour guide and our seniors told us that the water is brown in colour and the food might not suit our taste. They were only half right. As soon as we boarded the cruise, we expected the worst living conditions in the cruise, but to our surprise, what greeted us was far more better than what we expected. The bed was white in colour, WOW, the food was acceptable but well, the water's brown in colour :/ Its still much much better than what we expected. In the end, the things we brought seemed redundant. In the night, we went to the roof to see the ship passing through the ship lock, its a new sight for me and it kind of fascinates me. After that we just went for a few rounds of monopoly deal and went to bed. While we were asleep, the ship went through another 3 locks and well, i did not manage to wake up to watch it pass through.

On Saturday, i woke up at 6.30 on the first ring of my alarm. I found out that my room-mate issac was still fast asleep. So i just went up to the roof and see what was happening. It turns out that the cruise was going through the 2nd last lock and i watched it pass though 2 locks before going to eat my breakfast. Apparently our class of pharmacists are not early birds and so i did not see anyone on the deck till its time for breakfast. Around 11, we went offshore to visit the shen nong xi river and as always, the scenery took my breath away as singapore its a concrete jungle instead of a natural one. The rest of the day was just playing games till 1.30am.

And so on sunday, most of us got a rude awakening by the loud music being played in our roooms. At first i thought why was there music in my dreams till i woke up and realise that its the music from the loudspeaker. :@ The breakfast was set to be at 7.30 am but we had it at 6.50 instead. After that we went down to visit the 3 gorges dam and it was a magnificent structure built by the Chinese. If you thought that hu bei is a very ulu country, think again. At the end of the tour, we went to eat at a restaurant and guess what, there's another wedding. It seems like we always gatecrash a wedding. After done with lunch, we were on our way back to our dorm and when we got back, it was raining and freezing cold. But it was nice that we got back to our dorm where there is heater.


That is pretty much what happened during the whole trip and this saturday we are going on a trip to wudang mountain!(btw check my facebook to see more pictures)

Thursday, March 17, 2011

day 10


Lesson learnt today. Girls need some encouragement to buy the clothes they want. Today morning had PBL presentation and it was really nice to see how my seniors present their presentation in a different way from us. Slept through the whole afternoon and in the evening went out with some of my classmates to pedestrian street to shop. In the end some of us just went back empty handed as we did not know what to buy. Soon Eng, Edmund and the girls bought alot of clothes and they seem very happy at the fact that they have new clothes and tomorrow is going to be our trip to the 3 gorges dam! So excited for it~

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

day 9






Today was quite a good day indeed, but i feel alot poorer.. Must save up!! So today Mr Imran went through a day's worth of lessons in a day, that's so much better compared to morning and afternoon having lessons. So i spent the afternoon playing badminton with the girls(my arm's going to ache soon) therefore did not go for run today. Tomorrow back to the same old running regime. After badminton, i went shopping with the girls and got china and wuhan tumbler from starbucks! I also got a present for my sister, hope she likes it and these 3 things cost me alot of money. Gosh!! Around in the evening, met up with the rest of the pharm gang and went to this german restaurant to eat their buffet, honestly speaking, only their meat was worth the money. The rest of the food was just ordinary. They also had this dispenser full of beer and some of the girls tried the beer and i think only 1 or 2 guys drank the beer. When did girls get more adventurous? The meal costed us 42 yuan. My wallet burn super big hole already, better save up for the rest of the trip. Oh and the last point, girls being girls, they can really shop for long hours without even resting, really give it up to them.*claps*. Well that's what happened today and tomorrow's going to be our first presentation. Hope it goes all well.

PS China taxi drivers have reached driving nirvana

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

day 8

Boring day due to full of chinese lectures in english. Fun day cause i went for a run and played badmintion with some of my classmates. Didn't know that Gwen was such a stamina runner. After running for 3 rounds, I'm kind of tired already. 5 rounds from that lady, wow.. Anyway today went to eat at greenery cafe again, and well the food was kind of expensieve(must save money!). Lunch at greenery and Dinner at school canteen, what a big contrast in terms of pricing of food. Nevertheless, i still had a nice meal. In the end, i just went to do projects with my classmates and that's pretty much what happened today.

Monday, March 14, 2011

day 7







Today was a day of mixed feelings, to be sad or not to be. We went to huang jia hu campus in the morning to visit their university. Some of us slept on the bus(as usual) due to the long hours of travelling. Anyway, when we reached the campus, we were greeted by this massive group of china kids and when we went off the bus, they swarmed towards us and each of us had a china partner(we found out in the end that they were our guides for the day). The first thing my partner asked me was, do you speak chinese? When i said i did, she had a sigh of relief. The guides are acutally all majoring in english, so why not speak english to them. Hmm..well some of the other guides had to speak english to my malay teacher and indian friends. How unlucky hahahahha. We had lunch and some presentation together and split up after that. My group of friends went to visit the library to find ben cao gang mu for calvin's grandpa and after that we went to the sports hall to have a game of tennis, my skills are rusty beyond any help. Goodness. At 2pm all of us met up again and went to this eerie place that is full of dead human parts specimen. I was kind of grossed out and some of the girls were like screaming away. After that it was time to say goodbye to our china guides for the day. To be sad or not to be, alot of us tried to stay happy. As our bus left the campus, one of the china kids was holding back her tears. Aww ): At around 5 some of us went for our daily run around the campus. To our horror, the wind was so strong and even as we were running, we felt the chill! For our dinner, some of us went to eat at a small stall owned by china muslims, kinda cool. They make ramen on the spot and its very yummy indeed. The last stupid thing i did for the day was that i went to drink grape ice blended and although it tasted very nice, my mouth was freezing..Brrrr...that pretty much sums up my day and tomorrow will be a day of lectures!(and the picture of my dormitory is finally up!)

Sunday, March 13, 2011

day 6

Free and easy. How do you define that? Well from what happened today, free and easy has a brand new meaning. Its all about doing projects and running with some of my friends. First time going into a girl's room: SO MANY CLOTHES but its better than my room, its very messy in my room D: they have a balcony which is so cool! We guys have to hang all of our clothes in our rooms. Will let you guys see the picture of our room soon. After doing all the proejcts i went for a run with calvin, issac and she hui. As expected she hui didn't last for very long and i had to pace with her. Oh well, by having that pace, i managed to run for 40+ minutes. After everything we went to eat at the same old place cause the inital restaurant was too small to accommodate all of us. We never fail to order the same old dishes that will get kind of boring soon enough. There is this china guy whose tongue cannot curl enough, so all his letter L will become letter N and its very hilarious when he speaks. Its also mainly due to his hokkien language in his country. Oh and the laundry services in this country are so cheap!!!!it costs 4 RMB for a bucket full of clothes. At the end of the day, we just went back to our rooms and have a good rest after a day of boredom and that's all folks!(no picture today, due to no happening activities)

Saturday, March 12, 2011

day 5







What happened during day 5. Today went to east lake and its a very scenic spot! saw some fishermen using rods that we have never seen in our lives. ITS SO BIG!! Anyway, we took quite some photos at the lake. Issac did some wushu thing on the post and its quite awesome. After that went to the museum and listen to some history of the marquis qi, and how he led his life. Saw some pretty interesting exhibitions. After that we went to eat in a restaurant and we witnessed a wedding ceremony. The emcee talked so long that i thought that it would never end,(he must have gotten alot of pay for that lengthy talk he had). The food is nice(shall not repeat anymore). We slept our way through all the bus journies because somehow we were so tired and after the lunch we went to Yellow Crane Tower and its a nice and magnificent building. Climbing up the stairs is really very tiring, maybe due to the coldness. After viewing the place we went to the pedestrian street to shop for things, its like orchard road with all the different type of buidlings from the different times that wuhan was being colonized. 1 hour was seriously not enough to shop. So i just followed Issac around to shop and he gotten himself 2 shirts at around 30 SGD, what a cheap buy! Alot of people didnt managed to buy anything. At the end of the city tour, we went back to our hostel and had a small game of badmintion, it was really fun to play badmintion in a cold country, after that we went to eat at a small restaurant and the thing that i cannot stand is that people are smoking everwhere and even indoors! We even have a rumour among ourselves that someone is intersted in someone :) shall not let the cat out of the bag, and thats pretty much what happened today. Stay tuned

day 4




Today was a sleepy sleepy day. Alot of people fell asleep while listening to the china lady speaking about the culture of China. It was quite a drag but boring as it seems, some parts of the presentation was quite fun! After that we had lessons for an hour, as expected haha. During dinner, we had a nice meal as always and we went to explore around the city with christina(our china guide) she has a nice personality and loves to laugh alot with the girls. Some of the guys went around to bookshops looking for medical books but to no avail. In the end we went back to the dormitory to finish our learning plan and thats the end of day 4!