Xuan Zheng's (35)

Lesson 1: POVERTY IN SINGAPORE(26/1/15)
In today's lesson, I learnt not to judge a book by its cover in the way that we should not believe in everything we see without knowing the insight story.

When the teacher first show me two pictures, a man with able-bodied and a woman carrying a baby, both on the street begging for money. He asked us who we would donate the money to. I personally feel that I would donate to the woman with the baby as I felt that they would need more support as compared to the man who could have found a job instead of begging. When the teacher told me the background of the two beggars, I was in shock. The man had lost his home in a war and the woman was from a beggar syndicate. At first, I regretted choosing to donate to the woman as I felt that she was simply conning our money. After further thinking, I realized that the woman also had no choice as she might be forced into the syndicate. Thus, when we donate the money to her, we are helping the mastermind behind the syndicate and also the woman. In the end, I choose to donate to both of them as they have specific reasons leading to their poverty and I take no side.

In conclusion, I realise that we should always look at the full picture before jumping into conclusions

.                                                 A homeless and poor old man in Singapore

Lesson 2: GLOBALISATION (2/2/15)
Globalization, as of the Wikipedia definition, is the process of international integration arising from the interchange of world views, products, ideas and other aspects of culture. Advances in transportation and telecommunications infrastructure, including the rise of the telegraph and its posterity the Internet, are major factors in globalization, generating further interdependence of economic and cultural activities.

MODERNIZATION VS WESTERNIZATION
Modernization is different from westernization in the way that modernization is keeping up with the times but not necessarily in terms of culture and thinking. Westernization is to inculcate Western ideals and culture into everyday life. One very good example would be Saudi Arabia. They are modernized country as they have the latest technology applied almost everywhere but they are not westernized as their cultural values are still strictly Islamic.

                                                                     Modernization

           
            Westernization   
                                     




A 7-eleven in Taiwan

 Lesson 3: ECONOMY IN THE WORLD(9/2/15)

Over time, the growth in GDP causes inflation, and inflation begets hyperinflation. Once this process is in place, it can quickly become a self-reinforcing feedback loop. This is because in a world where 
inflation is increasing, people will spend more money because they know that it will be less valuable
 in the future. This causes further increases in GDP in the short term, bringing about further price increases. Also, the effects of inflation are not linear; 10% inflation is much more than twice as harmful as 5% inflation. These are lessons that most advanced economies have learned through experience; in the U.S., you only need to go back about 30 years to find a prolonged period of high inflation, which was only remedied by going through a painful period of high unemployment and lost production as potential capacity sat idle.Inflation

Inflation can mean either an increase in the money supply or an increase in price levels. Generally, when we hear about inflation, we are hearing about a rise in prices compared to some benchmark. If the money supply has been increased, this will usually manifest itself in higher price levels - it is simply a matter of time. For the sake of this discussion, we will consider inflation as measured by the core Consumer Price Index (CPI), which is the standard measurement of inflation used in the U.S. financial markets. Core CPI excludes food and energy from its formulas because these goods show more price volatility than the remainder of the CPI.

Over time, the growth in GDP causes inflation, and inflation begets hyperinflation. Once this process
is in place, it can quickly become a self-reinforcing feedback loop. This is because in a world where
inflation is increasing, people will spend more money because they know that it will be less valuable in the future. This causes further increases in GDP in the short term, bringing about further price increases. Also, the effects of inflation are not linear; 10% inflation is much more than twice as harmful as 5% inflation. These are lessons that most advanced economies have learned through experience; in the U.S., you only need to go back about 30 years to find a prolonged period of high inflation, which was only remedied by going through a painful period of high unemployment and lost production as potential capacity sat idle.

Own Reflections :GDP inflation will cause the price of our normal products to rise. This would also cause us to have a higher expense and people would need to work even harder in order to keep up with the high standard of living. This would cause more stress in people nowadays, leading to the unhappiness which now, our Singaporeans face. Higher GDP actually meant a good thing for the
country as it meant that the country economy is rising and is able to afford a better way of life.

                                                                       WORLD GDP

Average income of countries

-Singapore*: $78763

-Germany: $44469

-Japan: $36449

-South Korea: $33140

-Thailand: $14394

-China: $11907

-Indonesia: $9561

-USA: $53042

-Malaysia: $23338

*showing that Singapore's economy and income is far off better than other poorer countries like Indonesia

price inflation in Singapore

 Lesson 4: Reflection of my classmate's presentation(2/3/15 and 9/3/15)

I felt that my classmates' presentation is relatively well done, in the sense that most of them are prepared for the speech. However, there a few pointers which I felt that is not so well done. Most of my classmates are just standing there and staring at the screen while talking, with less or no
interaction with the audience. I felt that they could have more body language or engage the audience into their speech. They could have also spoken in a more interesting manner and not using a
monotonous voice, as this would make the audience sleepy and not interested in listening to your speech anymore.

The conclusion of the speech can also not be so abrupt and should sum up the main idea of the speech in order to let the audience have a clear and big picture of your speech. All in all, delivery of the speech is equally important to the content of your speech and one should definitely not neglect it.

                                      how a good speaker should look like

Lesson 5: Favourite quote of Lee Kuan Yew

My personal favourite quote of Lee Kuan Yew is "Even from my sick bed, if you are going to lower me into the grave and I feel something is going wrong, I will get up." From this statement, I can see the determination of him and how much he wanted to protect Singapore. He is even willing to sacrifice his life for Singapore and thus, I feel very touched and want to thank him greatly.

Lesson 6: Icons which best represent Singapore
Singapore indeed has a lot of different iconic buildings but then the one I find can represent Singapore the best, is notably the Changi Airport. Changi Airport is voted as one of the best airport around the world, with five star services and also facilities. In Changi Airport, you will never once feel boring as there are simply so much entertainment in there. It can make a tourist to Singapore feel
welcomed with a good first impression and also our own Singaporeans feel comfortable and at home when they arrived in the airport. However, one downside of this Changi Airport is that every improvement of it would mean that it would take up more space in Singapore, causing more land to be reclaimed due to rising population. Thus, I felt that it should have been better if Changi Airport could be built smaller with lesser terminals.

Lesson 7

                                          Can we use the Merlion as our national icon?

I felt that there is a need to have a national icon as it would represent Singapore as a whole, including its common goals and prosperity. The purpose of making Merlion our icon is so that we can preserve our own Singapore legend and history, also for the descendants to remember the past. Merlion is a combination of a fish body and a lion head. The fish body signifies the origin of Singapore as a fishing village. The lion head was from a myth of Sang Nila Utama. He first arrived at the island of Temasek  and went to hunt for animals, when he saw a strange animal with an orange body, black head and a white neck breast moving with great speed. His minister just by his side told him that the animal is a lion and thus he decided to build his city in Temasek and named it the lion city. Merlion is indeed rich in culture and of great historical value of Singapore, so it also became a popular tourist attraction in Singapore and also a MUST-SEE icon when tourists visit Singapore. Merlion is also only found in this particular country and no any other countries have this, thus it is a very special identity to us Singaporeans and is something we can be proud of. This special identity made us feel at home in Singapore and provide us with a sense of belonging and security. However, we should also not just treat Merlion as a popular tourist attraction and forgot all about its story behind why it was built. We should also passed it down to the other generations, so that its story will continue down and then the intended purpose of the Merlion would also be brought out fully and efficiently. Although Merlion may be a good national icon, but then I felt that Changi Airport is a better icon, as it totally represented Singapore's cleanliness and also the great services provided. It truly represent Singapore as a whole from the friendliness of the staff there to the great facilities one can find in the airport. Futhermore,if we were to just select Merlion as the icon, other foreigners may think that we Singaporeans only focus on the old past and do not know how to progress forward. I do not want foreigners to have the wrong perception. A national icon should give its people a sense of home when they just came back from other countries, and thus Changi Airport would fit greatly as Singapore's icon as that is the place where most of the Singaporeans would be arriving at. All in all, I felt that Merlion should not be used as Singapore's national icon.

OELP TRIP DAY 1:)

-bullet train 

-Yue Fei Mausoleum

-West Lake Cruise

-Dragon Well Tea Plantation

It was the start of our OELP trip to Hangzhou and Yangzhou, and one day in Shanghai. We took a midnight flight on 24/5 to Shanghai and after 6 long hours, we finally touched down on Shanghai Pudong International. We met out tour guide for this trip, Sun Jie and my first impression of Shanghai was not too bad. The streets were kept relatively clean and their weather was much cooler than Singapore, at 22 degree highest.

We were boarding the bus when I notice the first difference. I realize that their driver seat was at the left side which is opposite of Singapore. I was very puzzled at first however our tour guide later explained that some of the things in China are done at the left side; for example the escalator. In China we need to stand at the right side of the escalator if we are not walking up, which is also one big difference.

First stop: Bullet train to Hangzhou

The bus trip to the bullet train station was quite long and tedious, as we encounter several jams on the roads, in the end taking us nearly 1.5hrs to reach there.

We reached the bullet train station, aka Shanghai Hongqiao Railway Station. It was my first time taking the bullet train so I felt very excited, hearing several rumours that it can travel at 300km/h. I realize that the bullet train was also very safe when I saw this...

There was inspection being carried out before one can enter the station to prevent terrorism I guess...

The interior of the bullet train was quite clean and there was even people selling food inside. I am very amazed by how they even manage to keep the train clean when food can be consumed inside. This shows that the commuters in Shanghai is very considerable and is willing to put in effort for the cleanliness. As compared to Singapore, even though food is not allowed in MRT, I could still see some wrappers on the floor, reflecting on the behaviour of Singaporeans. I also realize that the food they sell on the train is 2-3 times more expensive as compared to market price, which also explains why the trolley of food is still there after going a few rounds. After about 1hrs, we reached Hangzhou...

Second stop: Yue Fei Mausoleum

It was a temple built by the Chinese people to commemorate the national hero, Yue Fei. I was told by Sun Jie that the Chinese greatly respected him, which was shown by the sophisticated design of the temple.

He is also a representative of four words"精忠报国” due to him as a famous character which symbolizes loyalty and patriotism to the country.

Below which is a picture of the traitors

These two traitors killed Yue Fei by telling the emperor that Yue Fei holds a huge army and planned to rebel against him, which is obviously not true. He is so loyal yet was framed for something undone, that is also why the people in China respected him so much.

Third stop : Cruise at West Lake

From the Yue Fei mausoleum, we took a ten minutes walk to a nearby scenic lake, also known as a popular tourist attraction, West Lake. I was stunned by the first sight of the lake, which also explains why so many famous poets got their ideas while cruising in this lake. The view was simply stunning!!! Bridges and many small islands around it is one of the main attraction of the lake.

Fourth stop: Dragon Well Tea Plantation

The moment I stepped out of the coach, I can smell the fragrance smell of the tea leaves. It was so refreshing that the tired body of me suddenly boosted with energy.

We were brought into a room before an employee explained to us about the benefits of Long Jing Tea for a full 30 minutes. From this talk, I realise that the drinking of this tea in Hangzhou is no longer a culture, but is also with health benefits. Nowadays the society is so fast paced and I felt that nobody ever bothered about the culture of tea anymore, but are more concentrated on its health benefits such as the ability to increase the immune system of our body and also burn the fats of our body. The lady also teach us the important steps to get the maximum taste from the tea.

The view here was also so beautiful that our group took a jump shot...

After this, we were so tired that we slept our whole way to the hotel, which took us like 3 hrs to reach. The second day is even better:)

OELP Trip Day 2

-Southern Song Dynasty Guan Kiln Museum

-China National Silk Museum

-Chenghuang Pagoda

-Song Dynasty City and performance

First stop:Southern Song Dynasty Guan Kiln Museum

From here, we learnt about the history of ceramics and clay through hands on experience. We needed to design our own pattern using some colored clay given to us on a tile, before the tiles are baked in a high temperature oven. This proves to be a challenge for me as I am not an artistic child since young. However, I still manage to pull off with a random design HAHA :))) After this, we went on a tour around the museum discovering different burial grounds of these kiln and also the past old methods of how clay is baked through a tedious underground funnel.

From here I felt that the technology in China has since improved by a lot as the newer version needed lesser manpower and resources. This lead me to what question, what causes the advancement of technology??? Is it the desperate need to get out of the hardships people are facing last time or what?

Second stop: China National Silk Museum

China National Silk Museum is located in the city area and has several floors, talking about the history of silk such as the machineries used to thread silk.

As u can see in the photo, there is actually a lady at the top of the machine to aid in the process, while there is another one at the bottom doing all the sewing. This shows how tedious threading silk can be and also explains why silk product is so expensive...

We were also shown the process where silk is being extracted from silk worm. If I had never gone for this trip, I would never have known gone to the extent of researching the anatomy of the silkworm. This trip to the museum is indeed an insightful and knowledgeable one.

Third stop: Chenghuang Pagoda

We went straight to the top of pagoda to enjoy their renowned dessert, the Lotus Root  Powder. When I first tried the desert, it was very gluey and thick. It had no apparent sweetness but a light fragrant of green tea in it. I feel disgusted by it when I first taste it, but I have been thought to be respectful and I felt that by leaving a full bowl of food behind does seem to be rude, especially when the restaurant is the host and we are the guest. I finished it nevertheless!

After that, we enjoyed the beautiful scenery outside and it provided us with a bird's eye view of Hangzhou. It was indeed a splendid view!!!

Our teacher posing for a photo

Fourth stop: Song Dynasty Performance

It was about evening when we go to this amusement park known as the Song Dynasty City. There, we were given tickets to enter "ONE OF THE FOUR LEGENDARY PERFORMANCES IN THE WORLD"

At first, I thought that the performances will be very boring however, I realize that I was VERY wrong indeed. The show was split into 4 episodes, each following the history timeline of the Song Dyansty. The performances were large scale that I think it involves more than 400 people. The lighting was also awesome with a multi purpose stage which can even fill water in it.

As a PA member of RVHS, I understand that the lighting for a performance can affect the mood of a performance, however what amazes me the most is the ability for them to control so many lightings at one time. How I hope RVHS could also have such advanced lighting too...

In all, I felt that the performance let us understand more about the history and culture of Hangzhou and it is indeed a great way to portrait such long history through an entertaining performances. This was one of the most memorable moment in my life. After that we proceeded back to the hotel, ready for an early start in the morning as we are changing locations,from Hangzhou to Yangzhou.

OELP Trip day 3

- Chinese Paper Cutting museum

-Geyuan Garden 

-Dongguan Street

First stop: Chinese paper cutting museum

After four hours of long journey on the highway, we finally reached Yangzhou and the first place we went is the Chinese paper cutting museum. It is situated in a secluded alley where few people walk past.

There we get to have hands-on experience on the traditional paper cutting. We were provided with a red piece of paper and a few templates on what we can cut. I chose the easiest design but to my dismay, even the simplest design of all requires skill and precision. It was not just physically torturing, but also mentally torturing for us as it requires great concentration and also perseverance. While cutting, I encountered several times when I feel like giving up as it is physically too tiring for me. However, what encouraged me the most is the picture below.

Yes, it is the intricate and beauty of the paper cutting design I saw there that encouraged me to work harder to reach this standard. Although, my end product is not that beautiful, I felt a sense of accomplishment as I knew that I had tried my best. That was the best feeling ever!

Second stop: Geyuan Garden

We took a fifteen minutes walk from the museum to this garden, one of the four famous private gardens in China, the 个园.

It is also known as the four season garden due to the fact that it has different scenery in different seasons. This garden was the private garden of a rich merchant in Yangzhou and was left behind since he died. Since then it has became a popular tourist attraction and the government has spent thousands of dollars in the upkeep of this garden in order to preserve its historical values. This garden also signify that time passes and will never return so we should treasure our loved ones now.

Rocks of different sizes and shapes triggered my imagination

A beautiful bonsai (was considered a very expensive plant last time)

A small pond with a pavilion 

These few pictures show how rich the people are and how much the government spent on preserving these cultures. There is no such private garden in Singapore and I really hope that some Good Samaritan could also build a garden like this. It can serve two purposes in Singapore, earn profit as a tourist destination and also to show the wide range of flowers in Singapore. Next, we took a ten minutes walk to a must-go place in Yangzhou, the Dongguan street.

Third stop: Dongguan street

Dongguan street is a famous shopping location in Yangzhou. There are two rows of shophouses there selling a variety of things from fan to key chains to local food and drink. We were given one hour of free time to buy our own souvenirs back to Singapore.

Group photo:)))

I realise that the things there was a lot cheaper than Singapore, one example would be the soft toy. A soft toy in Singapore would simply cost 30++ dollars. However here, it only cost 65 RMB(14dollars). I also found out that their prices of souvenirs are almost the same, like the fan cost 10RMB in nearly all stores. I think they standardize the price in order to prevent one store from getting more profits then the other stores, which is a great way to maintain the business there. We went back to our hotel early that day as we have a busy busy day tomorrow!

OELP Trip Day 4:

-Zhi Chun Teahouse

-Shouxi lake

-China Block Printing Museum

-Shanghai Volkswagen Yizheng Branch

-Xinhua Bookstore

-Lushi old Mansion

-Qian Qiu Fen Dai performance(千秋粉黛）

1st stop: Zhi Chun Teahouse

This is a dim sum restaurant and we came here for our breakfast. Well this was the place which surprised me the most. There was no plain water served here, only tea. I guess it was the culture of Yangzhou to enjoy the Chinese tea every morning. At first, we were served about 10 plates of small dishes.

I looked at the dishes and thought that they were our breakfast, thus I gobbled them down without much hesitation, just to realize that I am very wrong. To my delight, they were only the appetizers and the main course was behind.

The 'baos' were actually the main dish of this whole breakfast. Their buns are made with a lot of fillings and thin skin, which made them so good that I ate 8 of them straight away. Among those, what I like best is still“小笼包”, as the juice is so sweet! Feeling full, we went on to our destination, the Shouxi Lake.

Second stop: Shouxi Lake

Shouxi lake is a man-made lake in Yangzhou and is also known as the slender west lake. It's main difference with the west lake in Hangzhou is that it is more slender, like a river stream.

The entrance of the lake

The Shouxi lake is filled with different varieties of flora and fauna, in different colors and shapes.

This park also promotes the beauty of Yangzhou through the different bridges and pavilion there

All in all, this park is a beauty and teaches us the importance to keep our environment clean. I also caught a beautiful of a couple duck there.

After all the beautiful scenery, it's time for us to learn some history...

Third stop: China Block Printing Museum

We were given a short tour around the museum upon reaching it before we were given free time to explore the museum on our own.

 I realise that the government actually spent a lot of money in preserving and protecting these history from harm. One of the most valuable artifacts and also most protected one should be this

There is a total of three of them, one in Paris, another in Beijing. Flash was also not allowed in this exhibition. This shows how highly protected the vase is.

Fourth stop: Shanghai Volkswagen Yizheng Branch

After our lunch, we travelled about 2hours before reaching this car manufacturing company.

 Upon reaching there, we were asked to distribute ourself and sit on five golf cars, which brought us on a guided tour to how the cars are being manufactured. We were also provided with a mp3 and a goggle to facilitate with our tour and also to keep us safe from the sparks. As a car enthusiast, I have already more or less know the different parts in a car but then I have never seen how a car is being assembled from scratch before. Thus I felt really excited and was ready to film down the whole process, only to know that no photography is allowed inside :( I assumed that it was a commercial secret and thus, nothing should be leaked. At first before going in, I thought that there would be thousands of workers working in there as labours in China is really cheap however, it came to my realization that nearly the whole assembling process was computerized. Few man or labours are needed and that is also their secret to fast manufacturing. These tour is indeed an eye-opener for me and is definitely a memorable one.

Fifth stop: Xinhua Bookstore

This bookstore was huge and was six storeys high, selling different varieties of book. However, I do realise that their books are found mostly in Chinese and not other languages. This was very different from the bookstore in Singapore as Singapore education system promotes bicultural study, thus books were sold in English and Chinese. I did not buy any books there as the standard of Chinese they used was too profound for me, but I bought a lot of cheap stationeries there.

Sixth stop: Lushi Old Mansion

Lushi old mansion was previously a private house and was converted into a restaurant after he died. This restaurant serve local and traditional dishes in Yangzhou and at the same time, promotes the culture of Yangzhou through the setting of the table and place.

The food served here was strange according to my taste and one of the food that freak me out was this

Yup, you never see it wrongly. It is drunken RAW prawn. This prawn was 100% raw and tasted slimy when u put it into your mouth. I feel disgusted after eating the whole prawn. However, it was also through this strange experience that I fully understand the food culture of Yangzhou.

Last stop: Qian Qiu Fen Dai performance

After dinner, we went back to the Dongguan street to watch a performance there.

Overall the performance reflected the history and different timelines of the history of Yangzhou. However, for most of the performance, I find it boring as I do not understand most of the words they are speaking due to the fact that they added the Yangzhou dialect in it.

After this, we went back to our hotel and reach at about 11pm, preparing for the next big day, school immersion.

OELP Trip Day 5

-school immersion 

-visit supermarket

Stop 1:杨大附中

We woke up early in the morning, rushing for their school's morning assembly. However, we were late somehow and missed it. Nevertheless, they still invited us warmingly and the principal even went to the extent of standing near the school gate to invite us.

We were led to a conference room where the principal of 杨大附中 gave a short speech, follow by our school representative, 徐老师. Soon after, our buddies performed for us and it was finally our turn to perform for them. Feeling anxious, we went up on stage and realize that the stage was smaller than what we had expected. We start to panic but in order to not embarrass ourself in front of local students, we made do with it. Although the performance was not quite a success, but then we tried our best and had no regrets. After that, we were introduced to our buddies and mine was about half a head taller than me. We had a small chat and from there I spot a lot of difference between the education system here and the education in Singapore. Firstly it is their school hours. Our school hour is from 7.30am to 2.30pm about 7 hours. However, theirs is from 6.30am to 6.30pm, a whooping 12 hours. Thus, they have literally no free time after school, which make me feel that I am very lucky studying in Singapore. Secondly, let's talk about their homework load. I have seen their homework diaries, and realize that they have about 7-8 pieces of homework per day, which is double-thrice of ours. Furthermore, most of them have no external tuition, which leads me to the next question. How did they manage to be so independent and have so much self-control in their own study. As compared to me, I am someone who keeps procrastinating and need some pressure from my tuition teacher in order to study. I would definitely not be able to survive in their school. Thirdly, let's talk about the CCA. My buddy told me that their CCA was just 45minutes per week. Furthermore, their CCA doesn't necessarily be aesthetic or sports CCA, it can be study CCA too. Like my buddy, his CCA was actually Math Olympiad.  From this I can infer that their school do not provide a holistic education and their main focus is on the exam results. To them, getting good grades and finding a high-paid job is their main aim and they do not care about improving their interests. RVHS has provided us with a lot of choices and opportunities to train our leadership skills and also work us towards our interest, making Singapore's education system so attractive. Talking about choices, the students in the school were also not given a choice to select what they want to eat for lunch. Whatever food they are provided with, they would have to eat. I felt that the students are being oppressed by both the school and parents and that they had no rights at all. Luckily, Singapore schools have provided us with so much freedom and trust, in the sense that at least we were allowed to bring our phones in RV and their school ban it at once, thinking that phones may be a distraction to them in study. However, I feel that this kind of mindset is wrong as the technology is progressing and one should include electronic devices to make study life not as boring. After this little chat, we proceeded on the activities the school planned for us. The activities held include Chinese painting, hands-on experience of Chinese lock, introduction to Chinese instruments, wushu and also hands-on experience on making Chinese dumpling. All of these activities put a lot of emphasis on Chinese culture. Among these activities, what I feel most memorable was the making of Chinese dumpling. I was very clumsy and after several tries, my banana leaves were all torn and what was left in my dumpling was just a few grains of glutinous rice. This teaches me to not take things for granted and even simple things like the making of dumplings require great skills and effort. From 5-5.30, we were given free time to explore the school with our buddy. I realize that the facilities in their school was quite up to date, with projectors and screens in the classroom and even a mini mart in the school. After a long and tiring day in the school, we bid farewell to our buddies, and hope to see them again tomorrow for the home visit.

Stop 2: local supermarket

After dinner, we went to a supermarket nearby our hotel call "Tesco". We compared the prices between the products in Yangzhou and the products in Singapore. We realize that the products here were a lot cheaper then Singapore. A 1litre of cooking oil in Singapore could cost 4-5dollars while in Yangzhou it only cost 9RMB( 2dollars). There may be a few reasons concerning to this; such as the cheap labour in China and the mass production in China.

A group photo taken outside supermarket

OELP Trip Day 6:

-buddy's home visit

-Shanghai Bund

-Nanjing Road

Stop 1: Today we visited the buddy's house. My first thought of his house is that it is a landed property in the middle of some farm but I was wrong AGAIN. They live in HDBs like Singapore and the house was new and fully furnished, completely opposite of what I was thinking about.

The family was very hospitable in treating guests like us and taking care of our comfort ability. The father of my buddy brought us to the nearby Dongguan street again as I requested to take a closer look at the stone wall again.Unfortunately, the entrance to the top was locked that day which was very regrettable.

When we reach back home, it was already lunch time. The mother of my buddy has already cooked sumptuous local dishes. We asked if the parents would like to join me and buddy for lunch. However, they said that they are busy and wanted us to eat first. I thought so at first, but to my realization, they were trying to be polite and let the guest eat first, while they ate what is left behind for them. Upon realizing this, I pretended that I was full and left the table early, leaving a great portion of food behind, in order to not let them feel that they are eating what is left behind, which is not a very polite thing to do. I was really touched by how they treated their guest and from this, I can tell that they respected Chinese culture and I am really GRATEFUL to be with this family.

A picture of me and my buddy

Stop 2: Shanghai Bund

At about 1.30pm, we bid farewell with our buddies and left for Shanghai. After 4 hours of long bus ride, we finally arrived at the Bund. After dinner, we proceeded to the famous Bund to look at the night view of Shanghai. There is no words which I can describe the beauty except STUNNING!!! The lighting of the building was very colorful and the whole night sky was lighted by it.

My CID group:)))

Third stop: Nanjing Road

Nanjing Road is a famous shopping street for tourists like us. However, our tour guide explained that it is located in a big city like Shanghai, so do not expect a lot of cheap things here. After walking to a few shops, I finally understand what she was talking about and for the whole street, I kept my wallet tight.

OELP Trip Day 7:((

-Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition

-Homehome

First stop: Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition

We were brought on a guided tour to understand the urban planning of Shanghai in a more detailed manner.

 From here I understand that a great city requires great and extensive planning and also a variety of architecture design.

A detailed miniature of Shanghai city

Second stop: Changi Airport(last stop)

It was the end of our memorable OELP trip and I would like to take this chance to thank Mr Tan, Miss Swee, Mrs Lee Teo for their guidance and care.THANK YOU!!!

Haha lastly a packet of chips on SQ which inflated due to pressure:)