Day 24 - Wu Dang Mountain (part 1)

Today, my alarm rang at 5 30pm. Why? Because, we are going to Wu Dang mountain today!!!! =) Excited, as this will be the first time, I actually climb a mountain!! A real mountain, unlike Bukit Timah HILL. Looked through my bag to see if I have forgotten anything.

Went up the bus and started my 5 hour long journey. I slept throughout the whole journey and was only awaken for lunch. We had lunch at a restaurant / hotel that is near to the bus station of the Wu Dang mountain tourist site. It was a simple lunch with fish, potatoes, soup, vegetables, noodles and; oh ya donkey meat. Yup, donkey meat! My poor poor eeyore =(







After lunch, we headed back to the bus for a short drive to the Wu Dang Mountain tourist bus interchange to begin our expedition! The local tour guide told us that there will be 3 main attractions that we will be visiting.





The first attraction that we went to is called "Tai Zi Po", also known as "Crown Price Slope". There are many halls in the compound, and we were not allowed to take photos in some of the structures. The first building that we went into was the, Hall of the God of Wealth. The inside of the building was rather dimly lighted and much colder then outside of the hall. There was a stairway leading to another level in the building, but we were not allowed up. After visiting the Hall of the God of Wealth, we continued walking to another architecture known as "CangJing Tower". The second floor of the tower is used to store the Daoist Inscriptions, two side rooms on the first floor were storekeeper's rooms and a lounge were built to entertain honored guests. After leaving the tower, to move on to our next building, we saw a tree that had many red banners tied around it. We were very curious about what we saw, so we went to ask the tour guide what the significance behind it was about. The tour guide said that the tourist are trying to ask for good wishes for them or their family, and by tying it on the tree that is in the temple, the wishes will be fulfilled. Next, we visited the "Five clouds building". Over here, they served us tea and taught us about the proper way to fully enjoy Chinese tea. But we were looking around to buy gifts for our family, so we didn't manage to drink the tea. =(









After visiting the "Crown prince slope", we boarded the bus and went off to out next destination, Zi Xiao Gong, also known as "Purple cloud temple". The "Purple cloud temple" was built around the Yuan Dynasty (1271 - 1368AD). The "Purple cloud temple" consist of several halls, Dragon and Tiger Hall, the Purple Sky Hall, the East Hall, the West Hall, the Parent Hall and the Prince Cliff. The Purple Sky Hall is enshrined with statues of Zhen Wu at different stages of his life. Statues of Zhen Wu's parents rest in the Parent Hall. On the left side is the Buddhist deity Guan Yin, and on the right is the Shouzi Mother to whom couples traditionally pray for sons. The hall also houses cultural relics, including the Green Dragon Crescent Blade of Guan Yu some of which date back as far as the 7th century.







After exploring the temple, we headed off to our final destination, the hotel!!! It was a long bus ride, and when we reached the final bus stop, it was already 5pm. We took all of our bags and walked down the slope to our hotel. The hotel was huge!! It was divided into 3 blocks, and we stayed in block B. The room was alot better then our dorm, it had a TV and two huge single beds!! But we decided to bunk in with Eline and Meow Lin (they had a bathtub in their toilet!!) =) After setting our bags down, we went off to explore the nearby mountains with the tour guide. She told us that is was our free time, and we are only expected to meet at the restaurant at 6 30pm for dinner. So, we went to explore the mountain!!! We bought ice cream, saugage and corn as the before dinner snack!! ^^ For dinner, we were ushered into the VIP room (because we ate with the malay guys, and they can't eat some of the food. =p) The food was awesome!!! ^^
















See ya tommorrow, because we are climbing the mountain!!!!

Reflection

China is rich in both culture and the amount of land that they have. Unlike Singapore, where their lake is the size of our sea, they have so much more scenery then Singapore. Wu Dang mountain has spawned so much myths and legends that have attracted tourist from all over the world, it is now a protected area. It is really a wonder to be able to vist this well - known area.

Loves, Charmaine

Day 23 - Cherry Blossom

IS class started at 9am today, and it is the last lesson for the whole trip, which means that the trip will be coming to an end. We have all talked about how we felt about coming on this trip before and now, we are almost leaving. =( At the beginning of this trip, it was a very slow journey, as we did not know our way around and it was only the 7 of us. But now, 4 weeks has passed, we made many friends along the way and we know our way around like the back of our hands (not really the back of our hands, but you know what I mean^^). I will seriously miss this place!!! =( =( =(

For the last lesson of the trip, Ms Grace taught us about the philosophy of China. As all of you know that, China is one the largest country in the world, so the lesson of philosophy has to be split into 2 portions to be taught, so it will take up the whole day. But Ms Grace managed to teach the whole lesson in just 3 hours, so we ended class at 12pm, and we are able to go see the Cherry blossom in Wu Han University. Yay Cherry Blossoms!!!! =)

After lessons, we went to have our lunch first. After lunch, we headed back to our room to do a very united 03 girls dress code, colour leggings. Yes, colour leggings. Eline wore blue, Meow lin wore orange, Hazel wore maroon and I wore red. Together, we look like power rangers. So, we decided to “repel” from each other like how opposite magnets do. As the colours of our legs were too striking and standing together will make us look weird. After donning our costumes, we went to the university in a “bread” van.

After arriving at the university, we walked around and took many beautiful photos of the Cherry Blossom. The locals find that the common pink cherry blossoms are too plain, so they find that the white cherry blossom are the most beautiful of all, BUT as a all – time fan of red, the red cherry blossoms are much better than any of them. However, after walking around the whole campus, I still can’t find any red cherry blossoms. So disappointed =( Only after we left the campus and on our way back to school, did we find red cherry blossoms. =) After travelling for an hour plus and stopping to pump fuel, did we reach our school^^ But we were cheated from the “bread” van driver. The story goes like this; in the beginning, he told us that we would only have to pay RMB60 (S$12) for the WHOLE trip. But he charged us for the fuel (RMB50) and the detour to East lake (RMB40). So the whole trip cost RMB150, but if it was converted to Singaopore's currency, it will only cost S$30.











Reflection

After learning about the philosohy of China, i have a deeper understanding of the history of the culture of the ancient land. China has produced many well - known poets and political figures, that till this day remains the hot topic among many

Day 22 - Written test

Today is the day of my written test!!! Oh my god! I’m so anxious for the time of the test to come quickly!!! My motto for the test: Get it over and done with! =) But it doesn’t mean that I will give slipshod work. So please do not misunderstand my motto!!!

On the way to the examination classroom, I saw many of my classmates studying while walking. The road to the examination hall is connected to many roads where cars will drive through, yet they are so engrossed in their final revision that road safety was the least of their concern. The only thing that was passing through my mind was, stop stressing me! >.<

Once we entered the classroom, we were immediately ushered into our seats by Ms Neo and the test commenced! The test was do – able and passing should not be a problem. I hope. >.<

After the test, Ms Neo decided to let us off, as we studied till late for the test. So, it was off to shopping for us!!! We traveled to the shopping mall by an hour’s bus ride, and the ride was so bumpy that we couldn’t stand straight. We saw something interesting on the bus ride. There was a couple that was standing in front of us, waiting for someone to get off, so that they can sit. After waiting for awhile, someone did get off, but there was only 1 seat available, so only 1 of them can get to sit, so the guy sat down. But the girl proceeded to sit on the guys lap, like it was very common in China. The shopping mall is unique in the sense that, there was an indoor and outdoor building, and there are 4 levels for you to shop through and the stuff are relatively cheap. I am partially cured of my shopping addiction by going there! And, we shopped straight for 6 hours! =p We decided to eat at the sushi bar that was located in the indoor building for our dinner, and our dinner only cost RMB100+ (S$20+), which is more economic than Sakae Sushi, but Sakae taste so much better!







Reflection

People in China are very innovative, in the sense that, they are able to think out of the box to make their life more convenient. For instance, this morning on the bus. In order to let them both sit, they do not mind being embarrassed or guilty that they are occupying the available space for people to stand in.

Loves, Charmaine

Day 21 - Stressed!!

Today was the last day of revision before the exams!!! >.<

Class started as per normal today, at 9am. We started on the last assignment for program evaluation and review techniques (PERT). After about an hour, we finished the assignment and we are dismissed for lunch and we are free for the day. As, we have to start our revision for the written test. STRESSED!

After lunch, we stayed in our room and studied all the way. So, we don't have anything to blog about. Wish me luck for my test!!! ^^

Loves, Charmaine

Day 20 - Raining!!

My alarm rang at 7 30am this morning, bummer. Got up and saw dark clouds in the sky. Which means it will probably rain, no fun.

We left the dorm at 8 30am, but we saw heavy pouring rain and I was too lazy to walk back to the dorm and get my umbrella. So, I had to share the umbrella with Fathullah. Walking with him will kill my feet! He was speed – walking under the rain, trying to catch up to him requires running!
When we reached class, it was like an umbrella party. All the umbrellas were open and drying off. Trying to walk to my seat needs at least 5 minutes. Today in project management class, we started on a new chapter, Program evaluation and review technique (PERT).

A brief introduction on program evaluation and review technique (PERT), it is used when we cannot be certain that about the activity duration or when we cannot work out an exact project duration. After Ms Neo taught us about the techniques used in program evaluation and review technique (PERT), we did 2 assignment pertaining to this chapter. After a while, Ms Neo said that it will be too tiring to continue on the next assignment. So, we went for lunch and came back to do practical. And so, we managed to finish the entire practical by 1 day! Ms Neo then said that, we are able to have more time to revise on our practical test that will be conducted on the following week. =( Stress!

After lessons, we went back to our room to start revision for the written test. We did not know what to study on, so we just started to re – do the assignments, hoping it will be of use. While studying, we used a lot of brain cells and energy trying to remember, so we got hungry^^. We were too lazy to walk out to buy food, so we decided to call and order food. It was a tough call between KFC, MacDonald and CNCLS (the local KFC). The guys (mainly Noor) wanted to have KFC, as the portion of food is bigger. But we wanted Macdonald instead, so the “battle of dinner” commenced for an hour, till we can’t take it anymore and decided on KFC. It was so cumbersome trying to order for 7 people in Chinese. However, the delivery time here is very efficient, delivering out food in less than 45 minutes. But when the food arrived, we realized that there was a set meal missing, so we called back to KFC to have them re – send our order.

When Eline and Meow lin went to collect the meal, they told us that the delivery man was very sorry for the order and begged us to cancel the complaint as it was his first day, and he ordered a free box of chicken pieces as compensation. It was a shock to us, as we didn’t complain to the woman in charge of the orders and we did not want it to be an inconvenience to the delivery man.




Reflection

By learning about program evaluation and review technique (PERT), we will be able to measure out a safe estimation of the project and activity duration, therefore not having to incur extra costs. Also, the locals take each customer and their requests as the utmost importance. We were just calling to get back the missing set meal, we did not expect to get an innocent delivery man into trouble. The Chinese expects top servies for their customers, just like they want the best for their guest, even if the guest is not distinguished. This is similar to Singapore’s GEMS award, rewarding service staff with an honour, hoping that they will kepp up the good work. =)

Loves, Charmaine

Day 19 - IS module

IS class will start at 1pm today, so I have decided to wake up at 10am. Today, everyone has decided to wake up earlier then me, so I have become the laziest person. =)

After waking up, I prepared myself then went out to buy lunch. The local students have told us that they went to see the cherry blossoms at Wu Han university. To clear the air, I’m studying in Wu Han SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY university. I want to see cherry blossoms too =(

At 1pm, our IS lesson started with the reasons of why businessmen would want to choose China as the location of breaking into the foreign market. After about 2 hours of lecture, the Deputy Director of Ngee Ann polytechnic, Mr Foo. It was nice seeing someone care about how we are getting along in Wu Han. =) He asked about how we are doing and whether we have any complains. Our lessons ended about 4pm, and we headed back to our dorm to do blogging while we had no internet connection on the cruise.





After 2 hour and 30 minutes, we went to eat with the local students, Si Hao’s treat. Now, I can’t use VPN again. So I am just typing it in Microsoft word =)







Reflection

Through today’s IS class, I am able to learn more about the working relations between the different departments of a company. Thus helping me accomplish one of the inquiries that I have stated in my learning plan. By learning about the correct way on building office relations, I will be able to handle my taks efficiently wthout offending anyone. Now, i also know about the differnt procedures used to begin a business in China. Which can help if i want to start a international business or if I am working for a firm that wants to venture into a international market.

Loves, Charmaine