Ya Lun is an noob: Journal on OIP in China

Day 3 March 6
This morning as usual, woke up to do some wash-up and get ready to go for breakfast at canteen 2, followed by our first lesson at 9am. I was so happy and excited to learn new programming module, APPG (Application Programming). The module was similar to what I had learnt during in ITE. The program that I learnt was Visual Basic but happened to be my favourite other than C programming. So while I was waiting for my roommates, together we went down and headed to canteen 2. When the moment we reached, we bought some foods such as hot soya bean milk, buns and etc. I bought for my breakfast with the cost of $2.50 plus RMB, which consists of 1 cup of fried noodle, 1 cup of hot soya bean milk and 2 buns. It was really that cheap as compared in Singapore. I never expected that so cheap in the beginning. So most of us after having our breakfast, we walked to our first classroom where located at the School of Foreign Language, Canteen 1 nearby. However the use of classroom was just for temporary use according to Miss Lisa’s conversation yesterday. At about 9am, I had started to do my first assignment which assigned by our lecturers and followed by doing some presentations on Singapore History from the first two groups. However, one of the members from the second group happened to be his birthday, so all of us sung a birthday song for him and wished him. Later about to 12pm, my roommate and I went down and decided to cross the opposite building, School of the Arts while before having our lunch. So we went inside and walked around to explore their artworks. The pieces of artwork were really superior and really a masterpiece. Even if according to my capability, I couldn’t draw so well, it would take me probably 6-10 years to have the same technique of drawing as theirs. After exploring the building, we went back to our hostel, put down our bag. Together with my roommates went down and headed towards to canteen 2 for our lunch. At the canteen 2 stalls, we tried out the fried rice dishes, it was pretty nice to eat and much delicious than in Singapore. The skill that cooked this dish really needs a lot of time and practice to have a nice outcome. Unlike in Singapore, the cooking skill isn’t good enough as the taste of food is not really that tasty when we eat. After having our lunch, together with my roommates, 4 of us went to nearby grocery shop and bought some necessary utensils such as hair shampoo, mineral water and etc. And we headed back to our hostel placed our stuffs. Then at about 1.45pm, we went down and walked back to our classroom, waited for our lecturers to do our first IS lesson. But today’s IS lesson was a quick briefing as all of us did our research for the topic assigned by our lecturer, Mr Chua. After 5pm, the lesson ended, my roommates and I went to the other canteen, canteen 3 to try out the new dishes there instead of canteen 2. So we tried out the dish called “Zha Jiang Mian”, it turned out to be much nicer than sells in canteen 2. The sauce that added in this dish was marvellous too. A good and worth dish to be tried in WUST. After that, as usual, we went back to our hostel did our reflection. Finally tomorrow is a day for going a tour to see the famous spot, Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan. As for today, I had managed to taste their local dishes here. Although I had never been tried any dish before, it’s better to have them during the trip. I also found that every morning, there have many choices of food available that I could choose. Unlike in Singapore, the choice of the breakfast was much lesser than here.

Clock at the top of Administration building

Library

Chinese letter "tian" printed on the ground

Canteen 3

Fish pond

Flowers

Fishes inside the pond

Library outside

School of Information Engineering building

Fen Da brand, seems to be familiar in Singapore

Fried Rice

Gentroom

Our lecturers, Mr Chua and Mr Ma.

$3 RMB for this!!! CHICKEN DRUMSTICK but not really a drumstick, yet it taste good

Steamed crystal dumpling (blur cause of my camera)

Basketball field and Canteen 3

School of Arts building

Physical training area

Library outside

No horning signboard, is it real?

School of Information Engineering

Day 4 March 7
Today, as usual in the morning, I woke up and did wash up but this time I got to gather very early instead of normal timing. My roommates and I had to gather the main entrance by 7.45am, so along the way we were walking, I ate some biscuits to fill in my empty stomach at the same time. Once all of us had got in the shuttle bus, we were ready to set off to our first destination. Our first destination is the well-known spot in Wuhan, the East Lake. The East Lake is also one of the famous tourism spots to be visited. So when the moment we reached the place, the tourist agency said it is better to take a mini transport instead of walking around the garden for photo shooting. Then, all of us got into the transport and each of us paid 20 RMB to the driver for touring us around. While the driver was driving, I managed to take most of the photos until my camera memory to be full. At about 1 hour later, while we were waiting for the shuttle bus to take us our next destination, my roommate, Shaoming and I went to see the china newlywed as they were having their photo shoot at the main entrance of East Lake coincidently. So the two of us found amazed and looked for them to take a picture with them and myself after they agreed. It was a fortunate experience I ever had. At the beginning, I was so shy to ask them for having picture with them but thank goodness that they agreed instead of rejected. After taking, I even wished the newlywed a happy wedding, and then the two of us went back to the shuttle bus. Later, we were along the way to our second destination, Hubei Province Museum. This place is also famous spot in Wuhan according to the tourist agency’s explanation and our research too. It consists of the Wuhan’s history matters, the King’s tomb and so on. When we reached there, we were queued up for security check before we allowed to be entered. So after we went in, I felt that the place was like the emperor’s place during the Qing Dynasty period. Next, we went in to explore the history items and the utensils that be used by people in the past. After explored most of the exhibitions with our tour agency, that was something that caught my surprise and found very amazed, that was the jade comb. Its craftsmanship was very unique and a great masterpiece. It was crafted with dragons, phoenix and etc while its size was very small. What I could say is that it will probably take years to complete the process. About 11.15am while all of us had finished seeing the exhibition, my group and I were decided to go around the place for some photo shoot. Until around 11.50am, we went back to the meeting point and boarded the bus to go for our lunch. According to today’s schedule, there’s a place where we had our lunch called “Shou Yi Yuan”, a small town where the stalls sell famous dishes such as Dry noodles, Spicy Prawns, Smelly beancurd and etc. At about 12.30pm, we had reached the place and went into the town area. So before we could buy the food there, firstly was to buy a cashcard with a value of $50 RMB includes $5 RMB for deposit. Then, my group and I walked around to search for one of the famous dishes in Wuhan, called “Dry Noodles”. We found the stall and bought one cup of it to give it a try. It was really that delicious according to the reviews given from our research and the tour agency. The price of it was about $2 plus SGD. Unfortunately was that it was served with small amount otherwise I would fill it all into my empty stomach. After that, we also tried the dumplings too. Not bad when we ate but it was not really that hot. After had finished our lunch, all of us as a tour, we headed to the meeting point where the famous spot in Wuhan, Yellow Crane Tower located just behind a building. So we walked all the way towards the Yellow Crane Tower after had everyone present. By the time we reached the tower nearby, it has the atmosphere that brings us back to the past. I believed that it was not easy to maintain the building and its structure from half of century ago. Later, we got our tickets and entered into the area from the north entrance. And we walked while listened to our tour agency about its history and its foundation. I found that it was pretty interesting as one of the histories was happened during the Three Kingdom period. The tower was used by Sun Quan for his military watchtower to defeat the enemy troops. It was believed to be a war strategic according to what our tour agency mentioned. Later to 3.30pm, we begun to walk down from the top level of the tower, we were passed by the shops while we were walking back to the meeting point. As we walked, my group and I bought some souvenirs home while I bought some for my mother and my sister. According to the staff there, she told me that the next day is a women’s festival which known as the “Sam Ba Fu Nu Jie”. Since she told me that I would be given discount since I came from Singapore, so she charged me about 70 RMB for three items. I found that it worth enough since they couldn’t be found in Singapore too. So after had our things bought, we were back to the meeting point and took the shuttle bus back to our campus. Therefore as a today’s journey was a wonderful and memorable journey. There would always something that I could learn during the trip such as today’s trip at museum. I had learnt their culture and history about their Kingdom from the past. When I was visiting the Yellow Crane Tower, I also found that the structure of it was not easily to be built during the ancient time. As for tomorrow is a free day for us, my group and I were decided to go out for photo shoot and do the part of our IS assignment.