This is going to be a long post because I'd be compiling the happenings for 3 days here~
Day 5, Saturday, 18th September
We had our first ever Free & Easy day but we didn't sleep in. I badly wanted to catch up on my rest but when I heard that we were going to go shop, I readily brushed my thoughts of sleeping in aside.
All of us boarded bus 588 where we passed the Yangtze river for the first time [I think]. It looked like a concrete jungle clouded heavily with pollution. I'm not entirely sure of the exact duration of the ride but it seemed pretty long.
There were quite a number of shopping malls in the area and when we alighted, the first thing that caught my eye was this little boy busking. He was standing on his head while the bunch of us just stared. It made me think of my brothers and how lucky they are to have their own laptops andPSP each whereas kids here have to busk under the hot sun. [my brothers are 5 and 6].
Anyway, we walked into a shopping mall with its interior looking like Far East Plaza. You know how clothes there are brandless? Well, the clothes here are all imitations. The girls and I [excluding Agnes, Yixuan, Wei Lin and Joanna] went shopping but before that, we had Korean food!
It cost us 48 rmb per person and I believe that is way cheaper than anywhere in Singapore. At Seoul Garden, it would cost twice as much [in Singapore dollars. because 48 is 50 when rounded up. the exchange rate was 5 when my money was changed. so 50 divide by 5 gives you 10].
All of us were really excited to eat [prolly cus we're all hungry] and we took a whole load of food. It wasn't until then that I realised we would be charged for food wastage. Luckily, we managed to stomach all of the food and even went on to take more. What I find weird is that we had a 2 hour time limit to finish eating. I've never had to monitor my stay in a restaurant and it was weird.
We went around to look at some items and I came across this considerably cute/cool biker jacket. It was obvious that it was a fake Moschino 'leather' jacket and I can't believe the fact that the girl actually tried to sell it for 369 rmb. I know, when it's converted to Singapore dollars, it's cheaper. But there's no way in hell that:
1. I will ever wear a fake
2. Let myself be duped by a salesperson
We started our spree at 1 and ended at 5 where I managed to get a denim jacket, a plaid shirt, eyeliner, mascara and 2 different types of face masks.
Because we were separated, we met Zhen Zhao who later brought us to where the rest of the people were.
Being typical tourists, we did as stereotypically expected and took photos everywhere. Also, I think a lot of us ran our mouths without much censorship.
After taking photos at that place [I can't remember what it's called], we headed to the riverbank. Took more photos. Headed towards the Wuhan Yangtze River Boat Harbour to board the ferry back to WUST.
It was a 20 minute ride and we went to eat dinner shortly after. [The Chinese kids. Not Sheila and I though. We just sat there.]. They had dumplings in this little restaurant and every single one of them contained pork. We headed back to the campus after that and it pretty much sums up my 5th day in Wuhan.
Reflection: Because Singapore is more advanced and aren't exactly 'exposed' to poverty, it breaks my heart to see so many people having to beg for money on the streets and kids busking. Children in Singapore are spoilt with their little toys and electronic goods and it has become such a common thing that it seems fine to us all. We give to them [Singaporean kids] these things without bearing in mind the possible effects. It increases their dependency on technology and it doesn't exactly enable people to truly experience what life has to offer. Personally, my toughest day would be having to deal with my insecurities. But for them [beggars, buskers], it's having to worry about their next meal.
Day 6, Sunday 19 September
Waking up at 5.50 am, I wasn't particularly excited for the City Tour. I was feeling rather sluggish and after a while on the bus, I fell asleep. We reached our first stop shortly after.
1st Stop: East Lake
Us girls trying pretending to battle or something of the like.
The scenery at East Lake seemed rather pleasing. It was peaceful and serene; a change from the bustling city streets. See photos here.
2nd Stop: Hubei Museum
I like the way the museum looks. It's grand and important-looking unlike the ones in Singapore.
We had a guided tour around the section for Marquis Yi of Zeng and started walking around by ourselves shortly after. I learnt that he was a minor state subordinate and had 8 concubines on his arm. The ages of his concubines ranged from 13 to 24. In the past, it was a common practise to have relations with a girl as young as 13 but in modern times, it would be seen as pedophilia and laws have been put into place to avoid such things.
The artifacts in their own glass casings seemed interesting to me because they all carry a story. It was a part of history and some of them have really intricate drawings on.
3rd Stop: Lunch
After having stopped at 2 tourist attractions, we headed to a Chinese restaurant to have lunch. I didn't think that the Halal and Non-Halal food would be separated [or that we'd have different dishes] but it tasted okay. I have to say though, the people in China eat really huge portions. I have never been able to finish any food all the while that I've been here. To me, the serving portion is enough to serve roughly 2.5 people.
4th Stop: Yellow Crane Tower
We headed to the Yellow Crane shortly after and had to climb a few flights of stairs leading to 9 story tall tower.
Since I spent most of the time waiting for my friends to get inscriptions in glass bottle gourds, I ended up climbing the tower later than the rest. I made it up only to the 4th story and came across Mr Richard Chia who said to gather downstairs for a group photo.
To conclude, the day was rather interesting despite having to wake up so early.
Reflection: It showed us the side of China that held so much more than what we see here on the surface. Its rich history is amazing and the trip to these places made me see where 1/4 of me came from. Usually, I don't practice any form of culture because we have been so westernized. It's a sad thing to see because the degradation of your culture is like losing a part of yourself. I guess this is where globalization has brought us :/
We had our first ever Free & Easy day but we didn't sleep in. I badly wanted to catch up on my rest but when I heard that we were going to go shop, I readily brushed my thoughts of sleeping in aside.
All of us boarded bus 588 where we passed the Yangtze river for the first time [I think]. It looked like a concrete jungle clouded heavily with pollution. I'm not entirely sure of the exact duration of the ride but it seemed pretty long.
There were quite a number of shopping malls in the area and when we alighted, the first thing that caught my eye was this little boy busking. He was standing on his head while the bunch of us just stared. It made me think of my brothers and how lucky they are to have their own laptops and
Anyway, we walked into a shopping mall with its interior looking like Far East Plaza. You know how clothes there are brandless? Well, the clothes here are all imitations. The girls and I [excluding Agnes, Yixuan, Wei Lin and Joanna] went shopping but before that, we had Korean food!
It cost us 48 rmb per person and I believe that is way cheaper than anywhere in Singapore. At Seoul Garden, it would cost twice as much [in Singapore dollars. because 48 is 50 when rounded up. the exchange rate was 5 when my money was changed. so 50 divide by 5 gives you 10].
All of us were really excited to eat [prolly cus we're all hungry] and we took a whole load of food. It wasn't until then that I realised we would be charged for food wastage. Luckily, we managed to stomach all of the food and even went on to take more. What I find weird is that we had a 2 hour time limit to finish eating. I've never had to monitor my stay in a restaurant and it was weird.
We went around to look at some items and I came across this considerably cute/cool biker jacket. It was obvious that it was a fake Moschino 'leather' jacket and I can't believe the fact that the girl actually tried to sell it for 369 rmb. I know, when it's converted to Singapore dollars, it's cheaper. But there's no way in hell that:
1. I will ever wear a fake
2. Let myself be duped by a salesperson
We started our spree at 1 and ended at 5 where I managed to get a denim jacket, a plaid shirt, eyeliner, mascara and 2 different types of face masks.
Because we were separated, we met Zhen Zhao who later brought us to where the rest of the people were.
Being typical tourists, we did as stereotypically expected and took photos everywhere. Also, I think a lot of us ran our mouths without much censorship.
After taking photos at that place [I can't remember what it's called], we headed to the riverbank. Took more photos. Headed towards the Wuhan Yangtze River Boat Harbour to board the ferry back to WUST.
It was a 20 minute ride and we went to eat dinner shortly after. [The Chinese kids. Not Sheila and I though. We just sat there.]. They had dumplings in this little restaurant and every single one of them contained pork. We headed back to the campus after that and it pretty much sums up my 5th day in Wuhan.
Reflection: Because Singapore is more advanced and aren't exactly 'exposed' to poverty, it breaks my heart to see so many people having to beg for money on the streets and kids busking. Children in Singapore are spoilt with their little toys and electronic goods and it has become such a common thing that it seems fine to us all. We give to them [Singaporean kids] these things without bearing in mind the possible effects. It increases their dependency on technology and it doesn't exactly enable people to truly experience what life has to offer. Personally, my toughest day would be having to deal with my insecurities. But for them [beggars, buskers], it's having to worry about their next meal.
Day 6, Sunday 19 September
Waking up at 5.50 am, I wasn't particularly excited for the City Tour. I was feeling rather sluggish and after a while on the bus, I fell asleep. We reached our first stop shortly after.
1st Stop: East Lake
Us girls trying pretending to battle or something of the like.The scenery at East Lake seemed rather pleasing. It was peaceful and serene; a change from the bustling city streets. See photos here.
2nd Stop: Hubei Museum
I like the way the museum looks. It's grand and important-looking unlike the ones in Singapore.
We had a guided tour around the section for Marquis Yi of Zeng and started walking around by ourselves shortly after. I learnt that he was a minor state subordinate and had 8 concubines on his arm. The ages of his concubines ranged from 13 to 24. In the past, it was a common practise to have relations with a girl as young as 13 but in modern times, it would be seen as pedophilia and laws have been put into place to avoid such things.
The artifacts in their own glass casings seemed interesting to me because they all carry a story. It was a part of history and some of them have really intricate drawings on.
3rd Stop: Lunch
After having stopped at 2 tourist attractions, we headed to a Chinese restaurant to have lunch. I didn't think that the Halal and Non-Halal food would be separated [or that we'd have different dishes] but it tasted okay. I have to say though, the people in China eat really huge portions. I have never been able to finish any food all the while that I've been here. To me, the serving portion is enough to serve roughly 2.5 people.
4th Stop: Yellow Crane Tower
We headed to the Yellow Crane shortly after and had to climb a few flights of stairs leading to 9 story tall tower.
Since I spent most of the time waiting for my friends to get inscriptions in glass bottle gourds, I ended up climbing the tower later than the rest. I made it up only to the 4th story and came across Mr Richard Chia who said to gather downstairs for a group photo.
To conclude, the day was rather interesting despite having to wake up so early.
Reflection: It showed us the side of China that held so much more than what we see here on the surface. Its rich history is amazing and the trip to these places made me see where 1/4 of me came from. Usually, I don't practice any form of culture because we have been so westernized. It's a sad thing to see because the degradation of your culture is like losing a part of yourself. I guess this is where globalization has brought us :/
Good reflection about the beggars. Happy belated birthday!
ReplyDeleteThank you! :D
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