Day 9 - Steel Factory

Today was the excursion to the Wu Han Steel factory. I had to wake up at 6 15am, just so that I have enough time to prepare. We met the class at 8 10am SHARP!!! So that, we can avoid the penalty system of paying whenever you are late.

From this paragraph onwards, it will be very concentrated on the processes. So please bear with me so that I will be able to get AD for my blog =)

The whole factory that is used to produce the steel that consumers sue in China and all parts of the world is 1.5km long, and it only takes 1 minute to produce a roll of Steel. Amazing yes?? =0 The first process of making steel is using huge metal barrels to pump raw steel into the super hot furnaces to process the raw steel into steel that can be sold to consumers on the market. After a few seconds, a large bar of heated steel will be pushed onto the conveyor belt to be sent to the second process.

At the second process, as the processed bar of steel is still at an extremely high temperature, it will still be very malleable. It will be sent on the conveyor to the 'rolling pin'. At the rolling pin, it will be controlled from a control station where the employees will be able to control the various settings of the 'rolling pin'. For instance, the thickness that they want the bar to be and the length of the steel bar. The factory contains two such rollers, however they are of different quality. For the older version of the 'rolling pin', the pins need to be changed every 24 hours. But for the newer version, the pins needs to be changed every 4 hours. And each time time the pins are changed, it takes them 40 minutes.

At the third process, the steel strip will be sent to the cooler to cool the strip into the size that they want. The conveyor is designed in a way that when the steel strips are traveling on the conveyor, the thin strip of metal will not bend. Otherwise, the steel strip will have to go through the same processes again.

Lastly, the steel strip will be rolled into a 'curler'. A 'curler' is used to roll the strip off the conveyor and roll the strip into a barrel for storage, so that it doesn't take up much space.

After the tour of the steel factory, we went back to the university to have a lunch break before our IS class at 2pm. We decided to wait for the guys, while they went back to the staff office to return the helmets. Meanwhile, we laid on the grass and decided to cam whore!!! =) After lunch, we went to collect laundry (yes. it is our second barrel of laundry. Third batch will be coming soon). We had our IS module which talks about the political and economics of China. We ended earlier by 1 hour and 30 minutes. So the bunch of us headed out with Ji Long to buy our needed necessities.










Reflection

Through visiting different aspects of China, like factories and scenic sites. We will be able to experience different parts of what makes China the new global superpower.

Day 8 - Classes

Today was rather warm. Which means that... Spring is coming!!! WEEEE!!!! I can finally wear my shorts and T - Shirts!!! But I will miss the times where i can wear my skinny jeans and boots, with hair blowing around your face. =(

Class started at 9am today, as usual -.- The major difference is that almost half the class has fallen ill!!! Take care people!!! Drink more water and sleep early~ So Ms Neo has decided to shorten the days lesson to only 3 hours, so that we can rest early and get ready for the weekend outings.

After class ended at about 12 30pm, we went for lunch at the main canteen, also known to Noor as Canteen 1 -.- The canteen was COMPLETELY empty, except for the 7 of us. With the canteen, the size of Ngee Ann's Makan place, echos can be heard if you talk loudly. Today was also the first day when we had to eat very quickly because the staff is chasing us out.

After lunch, we went back to the guys room to watch movies~~~ Ninja assassin and Friday the 13th. It was a gore marathon with blood and internal organs flying everywhere. Absolutely awesome!!! Don't judge me just because I love gore =)

At about 6pm, the local students came to find us, and we went to have our dinner at MacDonald. Guess what!!! China;s MacDonald taste even better then Singapore's MacDonald 0.0 And it cost cheap too~ NOOOO!!! I can not go back to eating Singapore's MacDonald anymore. I wonder if they have special delivery to Singapore =p



Reflection

At today's Project management lesson, we did not learn anything new, as we did our assignment. However during the practical, we learnt more about the different type of views used to help facilitate the management of the job involved.

Loves, Charmaine

Day 7 - Egg NOT rice

Decided to sleep early yesterday since my internet can't connect. Stupid connection..The moisturizer actually did work. Not bad at all~

Had class at 9am today. Finally didn't wake up early today! Studied about resource scheduling. Tough!!! People back in Singapore, prepare to stress hard!!! =) Ms Neo decided to extend lunch break till 12 30am. So we took our time and walked to the main canteen for lunch. The 03s decided to eat claypot rice. This is where my blog tittle comes from!

All of us decided to order an egg to accompany our claypot rice, hence we asked the auntie to 'jia dan', which means add extra egg. But the aunty somehow heard it as 'jia fan', which means add extra rice. So, all of our claypot rice has added rice. isn't it funny?? If it isn't, laugh NOW.

After lunch, we had lessons till 3 15pm. Since class ended early, we decided to wash the dirty laudry for the week.We rested till 7pm and we went our for dinner. While, walking to the China KFC, we saw two groups of aunties dancing. Weird~





Reflection

Communication is an important tool to interact with global countries. Becasue of an communication barrier, important massages will not be conveyed correctly, causing confusion and me not getting my egg. =(

Day 6 - Performance

Today’s the day of the performance for the local students!!! Can’t help but feel a little worried that they may not understand or dislike our performance. Woke up early again due to being a light sleeper. The hunch that waking up extremely early will become a routine -.- Ms Neo has decided to let us off early for rehearsal, so class started at 9am and ended around 11 15am. We had lunch at the main canteen, and I ordered Beef noodle. It was spicy >.<

The performance starts at 7pm, so we still had plenty of time to laze around before the full – dress rehearsal. So Meow lin, Eline, Hazel and I went out to the streets to buy our necessities (moisturizer, mask and lip balm). My face has been cracking every single day. It hurts a lot, so finally got a decent moisturizer.
After resting for 2 hours and rehearsals, it was finally the performance. I had to change into my Indian outfit. It was very contradicting, having a fair person dress as a dark skin person. The performance was awesome! We had so much laughter, my sides hurt >.< After the performance, we played some games. Zhi Long, one of the local students lost and had to dance with another girl, hilarious moments!

We went for dinner after the photo session at the nearby porridge store. Ordered wrong food. Again. -.-

Reflection

For Project management, I have learnt how to do a proper GANTT chart. By using a GANTT chart, we will be able to fully maximise the time spent on the project, to minimize cost and reduce the amount of time spent. I have able learnt about the way to draw an AOA diagram. During the performance, I can see that the local students are genuinely interested in learning about the Singapore’s culture. They are also very enthusiastic about participating in the games, unlike some Singapore students.

Loves, Charmaine

Day 5 - Snowing

Had to wake up at 7 30am for the first lesson of the whole trip. However I woke up due to the extreme cold again. I'm praying this does not become a habit. Took my time as usual =p and we left the dorms at 8 30am. Saw Ms Neo on the way, and so we didn't become late!!!

We had a project management lesson marathon!!! From 9 - 4pm!!! Say tired!! Guess what!!!?? It finally snowed today!!!! A full - on heavy snow night!!! After waiting for 4 days, snow has finally decided to grace us its presence. Now the bad news =( The deputy director of the department told us that today will be the coldest day of the entire trip (hence the snow), BUT after today, the temperature will slowly increase. So that means that today is the first and last day, that we can see snow =(

We decided to have a rush dinner at the nearby fast food restaurant, very similar to KFC. The only difference is that it only cost RMB12(s$2+).

Reflection

As this is the first time I have seen such a heavy snow storm, the bunch of us were naturally very excited and started to take pictures and videos. However, this is very common for the locals, as they have 4 seasons a year. The locals' reaction to us were a face that said 'Haven't you seen snow before? Is it that big of a deal?? 0.o' That is another difference between Singaporeans and the Chinese.It has become such a common affair for them that they hate it and find us weird. But to a country with only one weather, it is a fascination.

Loves, Charmaine

Day 4 - Theme park!

Dragged myself out of bed this morning at 7 50am, you may ask why such a weird timing. Because... I WOKE UP DUE TO THE EXTREME COLD!!! -.- Went with the Eline, Meow Lin and Hazel to wash our clothes!!! Those who know me extremely well, will know that I NEVER do housework =p So you people surprised?? Ahem ahem, hehehe=p We just went to the nearby laundry shop to let the auntie wash it for us. Desperately cheap, RMB4(S$0.80) only!!! Inclusive of helping you dry the clothes too!!! Jealous much??





After sending our clothes for washing, we met the guys for breakfast at the nearby food street. Saw Ms Neo coming out from her room for breakfast too, so we ate together^^ After viewing all the choices that we have, we decided on wanton soup, glutinous rice that looks like carrot cake and xiao long baos (chicken and vegetables). Yumz.. =)

Having our breakfast took us 1 hour, which still leaves us with 1 hour before meeting the local students to play for the day.. It rhymes! Decided to sleep for a while, tooo tired. Scheduke for fun today shall be theme parks!!! It is also a good choice to see the difference between Singapore and China, in terms of fun ;D






Before reaching the theme park, there is still some distance to travel and on the way, there is street food!! We bought candid fruit and a type of sweet bread (can't resist!! >.<) In the theme park, we tried many exciting rides that will make most puke (for instance; roller coaster, inverter, swings and pirate ship). During the time that we were in the theme park, we saw many old ladys that are trying to beg for money. My heart goes out to them, however both the local students and Hazel said that when you decided to donate to one old lady, the rest will swarm to you. So it is best that you hardern your heart and ignore them. =( Back to the happy time, we found a brand of hot dogs that uses only the fatty part of the pig to make the hot dogs. Absolutely awesome, had two of it!!! One interesting fact about ancient theme parks, the female toilet does not have doors to their cubicles. Don't believe me??? Look Below =) Find the door missing yet??





Once the awesome fun ended at the theme park, we went for dinner at the Kai Wei Buffet house. It only cost RMB48 (about S$10), which is relatively cheap. Took lots of beef,but the crazy guys took alot more then us, about 10 plates in total!!!! Crazy much??

Since we were too tired, we decided to head back to rest for the upcoming day ahead!! 6 hours of lessons!!! 0.0

Reflection

Today was the same as yesterday, it was the weekends, so we did not have to study. Just from the theme park, you can instantly see a huge difference in the way the Chinese and Singaporeans have fun. Singaporeans always get the latest and most expensive toys that they can play with(example; PSP, XBOX and Wii) ad still get bored from all of these after a period of time. But the Chinese are able to keep entertaining the weekends with a very old amusement park. I can also tell that the chinese are very generous to their guests. For these past few days, the local students have been agreeing to our every little whim and demand. While, we have not considered that they may have to handle their personal lifes as well. Even though, like us, they have lessons starting at 9am tomorrow, they still asked whether we want to see the scenic sights late into the night.

Loves, Charmaine