11 & 12April 2012 (Last Day)

11 & 12April 2012

Wednesday, our last day in Chengdu. Everyone packed their bags and I went down to meet Feng Li and Meng Ling for the last time to sign my certificate, I signed their textbooks and they in return gave me a hand crafted apple beats, very detailed and pretty. We then took a group photo before they went off for lessons at 10am. 

I went upstairs continuing to pack my luggage and Xiao Jie and friends went to our dorm to spend our last moments together. We took lunch outside school and then exchange QQ numbers to contact them when we are in Singapore.

 We left at 2pm with our luggage and hand carry bags, I had 3 which was rather bulky and difficult to move around.

 We stored our luggage bags on a bus and took another bus to go Chengdu Airport. We waved goodbye to our friends and a few could not bear us leaving and hid their face. 

I will miss them so, all the good times we had and now we came to an end. Our school reopens next week and we have to be back in Singapore soon. 

We reached the airport at 4pm and have to wait for the ticket booth to open at 6.30pm, I used the time to practice dancing with Hakim to kill the time. 

At 8pm, all of us were in the airplane and ready to say goodbye to China and hello Singapore!

 It’s a 4hour 30minutes ride back to Singapore and reached at 1am.

My parents were waiting for me outside Belt 23 when I was exiting the gate with my luggage and was happy to see them welcoming me home.

 I missed Singapore so much but I would not forget about China, the places, people and food. These are what I treasure and keep it with me, I am willing to return back to China for more!!!!

10 April 2012

Shopping yay!!! Finally got something that relief our stress from our work. Early in the morning at 7.45am, we assembled downstairs to wait for the school bus, this shopping area where are going is the outskirt of Chengdu. However, we were warned from our teachers that the products that were on sale could possibly be fake.

 We arrived at the place at 9am and must be back on the exact same spot at 3pm sharp if not the bus would leave without you and must take a taxi to get back to school. 

I stick with Mr. Nick, Mr. Lim and gang to a building filled with books and man!! 

Every floor was all books but some corners sold manga and comics merchandise like key chains and toy weapons. 

Still I have not find a CD and I found out that Mr. Nick too was also searching for music CDs.

It was just so difficult to find a music CD in Chengdu and Guang Han. While walking, my bladder was full and I rushed to the toilet with Yat Ming but when we got out, we could not find them.

 We went round the building but could find any of them, we were happy when we caught up with Praashant and CK Teo who happened to exit the building, we 4 stick together and never to lose each other. 

We along the busy streets and I was scared to buy any item because not only they were cheap but very fake!!

 Not even one of us bought anything, all of us were afraid to buy something except Praashant who wanted to buy sandals for his father.

 We walked and walked till we were near Chengdu Train Station, CK Teo received a call from his friend who spotted the 4 of us from above at Dico’s fast food restaurant. 

We entered the restaurant and climbed upstairs to meet our other 3 friends Kian Beng, Jian Xiang and Jun Kiat. 

We ordered our meals and I ordered something I missed in Singapore which was curry chicken rice!!!

 Curry makes my appetite bigger and the aroma was good enough to lick the entire disposable plate and not to leave a drop of curry sauce.

 After our breakfast, we headed out back to the streets and we found a poor girl with no money to go home. She wrote in chalk to help her pay 6 Yuan for a bus ride to her home, we kindly ignored her. Jian Xiang asked a good question,” If she needs money to get up the bus, how did she come up with the money to buy chalk?” 

We thought for a second and rather true, luckily we did not fall for her con act. 

We eventually found a shop selling real stuff ad that happened to be an audio shop, some remembered that their earpiece spoiled and asked me for advice because I am an audiophile person. Jun Kiat wanted bass and Yat Ming wanted something good that works but must be inexpensive.

 I recommended low frequency earpiece to Jun Kiat and Sennheiser to Yat Ming. 

At first, Yat Ming find it expensive which costs him S$40 for an earpiece, it would make his parents rather cross if they find out.

 I told him that it would be worth his money, he heed my advice, bought and tested it in the shop. 

He was happy how good it was, lucky he made the right choice and Jun Kiat bought his earpiece. 

We spent 30 minutes in the shop playing the iPads on the demo tables.

For lunch, we had KFC, I ordered Ice Cream because I was still full from lunch and later listen to my music and slept away while the others were playing cards. 

Next, we met our teachers and the other groups and got up the school bus and went back to Guang Han for dinner. 

We ate at a fancy restaurant and one dish scared most of us was the turtle meat with its head!!  

The meal was delicious and we thank Lin Lao Shi by crowding round and said thank you in Chinese followed by her gift that was bought in Chengdu city area not long ago.

 She was very touched by our actions and cried out tears of joy to express her feelings towards us, this was a very touching moment for us all.

At night, outside school near the river bank, we played with fireworks and crackers and I called Liu Jiao down to play with us. Everyone had a good time, lighting up the sticks and fireworks to light up the night sky. 

 

After the display, we went back to our dorms with our China friends to sign each other’s shirts, guitar, basketball and I allowed them to sign my certificate with well wishes to remember them in my heart. I also helped Liu Jiao transfer all our photos from my computer to her computer and create a QQ account to talk with my China friends to keep in touch. Best night ever!!!

9 April 2012 (IS Presentation Day)

9 April 2012

Early in the morning before our morning welcoming ceremony, we practiced acting in our dorm to perfect it and I was the narrator for Scene 4 with Saab, GM and Spyker and must coordinate the act with my PowerPoint slides to flow smoothly.

At 10am, ceremony started and all of us wore the Ngee Ann red shirt.

 The Principal gave a speech followed by our teachers, they also issued our certificates for the OIP trip and a booklet with pictures of us during our visit and the 5 batched of students, those who went for OIP, past and present.

 The finale was a video done by Eudy of our funny doings of every tour and tourist attractions and I admit that it was a job well done!

At 11am, we went to the classroom to start our presentation. We were the first group presenting because Hakim was the first on the list (Abdul Hakim), we did the first act with the 3 scenes about history, I acted quite alright then later we used the computer and explained a little of our research then on to the last act which I was the narrator for this act.

 The class’ attention was somehow acceptable and teacher enjoyed our act and we used 30 mins for our presentation. Finally the worst was all over and we rested in class while the other groups went on. 

We ate our lunch in class to watch the other groups present other China stuff and the whole thing ended at 4pm, we stretched our legs after sitting down for many hours and went back to our dorms to let Mr. Nick mark our performance and presentation skills but Chee Seng called us to my room for a debrief.

During our debrief, all pointed out my mistakes as well the others in our group then we moved on to the feedback given by other groups. After this talk with my group, I rank my presentation B as we did rather normal with mistakes here and there.

 In the end, a lesson learnt and I learned that nobody is perfect, humans make mistakes and that’s what we are. I from this point on will learn my mistakes and improve my presentation skills and others which I am weak in.

Before dusk, I went dinner with Feng Li and Meng Ling at their kitchen area for our last dinner together. 

We have their friends joining us for dinner and talked about our past hangouts and the fun we had and happiness we shared.

At 7pm, the 2 girls went for class while I stayed in the kitchen to clear the plates together with their friends (2 guys). I guess that I have to help them because the 2 girls cooked for us, this was to show appreciation.

8 April 2012

Its Sunday and we were creating our script, consists of 2 acts with a total of 4 scenes. We first compiled everything together and wrote the script, while typing the script out, some of us got bored like Chee Seng and Hakim until they disturbed each other and started tickling each other. I was taking videos of them and it was so funny, it never gets old!!

At 3pm, Chee Seng told us that Yat Ming and I can have a break and go to Guang Han to shop with Liu Jiao and Lu Lu.

When we 2 were downstairs, Liu Jiao came and Lu Lu just called me saying he has something to do at the last minute. 

Therefore I called Quan Yong and he was very free and came to meet us in a matter of minutes. We took a bus to Guang Han to shop for video games that Yat Ming so wanted but could not find any. We walked and searched every electronic stall but not a single CD, while walking we entered a clothing shop and Yat Ming bought 2 T-shirts and we gave up the search because we were at the outskirts of the shopping area. 

We turned around and walked back to the bus station and went back to school.

At 6pm, we arrived back to school and Yat Ming went back to dorm to rest while I hung out with Quang Yong and Liu Jiao. We 3 went to the track and field where Liu Jiao joined her class who were cheerleading, only left Quan Yong and I, we sat on the soccer field to rest and a pep talk.

Dusk, the sky darkens and I went back dorm to join Chee Seng and the others for dinner and they completed the scripts for Monday. However, I still need to complete my personal script for my act on stage and I did on my computer until midnight and slept with my computer left turned on for Chee Seng to do the conclusion and the power point.