Day 17

Tomorrow will be our APPG lab test, we had a trial lab test just before the end of the morning class. SIGH~~ Did not finish my lab test in the given time. T.T I rushed through the test without reading through the test paper first. Regret it a lot~~ Did not see the different controls on the paper, so I used the wrong controls in my program. It was lucky that there was a trial lab test, I am able to learn from this lesson that when having a test, understanding the questions of the paper is the first priority. 

Afternoon, there is an interaction lesson with the local students. Some of the local students are the buddies of my friends, while others are called over by the local teacher. We had a brief introduction of ourselves from both groups. We introduced ourselves by only telling them our names, but the china group introduced themselves with a detailed explanation of themselves and the place they are from. It gave me a better understanding and better impression of them. I was quite regretting that I did not give a more thorough introduction. Learnt that by giving a good introduction, a better impression will be given to the person. 

There is a series of programs awaiting them. Starting from presentation of Singapore cultures, food and attractions places. I feel that the Malay cultures presented by Thir gave me the most impression. (Translated by Yi Wen) He shown us a clip of his ‘silat’ (a kind of martial art) teacher performing and also shown us some moves learnt from ‘silat’. I also presented a little. I was really nervous when I was going to present. But even though while I was presenting, I said some wrong words and stutter sometimes, I still feel that I had done my best.. :D

After the presentation, there was a amazing magic show performed by our (Singapore Liu Qian) Mr tan. I was totally dumbfounded and impressed when all his predictions came TRUE!! All the magic had also shocked the china students, leaving me and the china students thinking how did he done all this tricks. Next up, is the dance from Lee Min and Felicia. The day before, Saw Lee Min was always practicing her dance moves whenever she was able to find free time. The results, it was really splendid. It is really impressive seeing how the two of them were able to be in sync with each other and to be able to dance this well in such a short notice.  So to have great results, there is no other way other than being hardworking.

It is the free interaction time after all this programs. One of the magic tricks performed by Mr Tan was taught to us by him. So we were able to teach the china students the straw trick.

I felt that the china students were very friendly. There were two students interacting with Alif and even though they were not able to speak English well, they still do their best to interact with Alif and let him understand what they were saying.

This interaction with the china students, let me felt the friendliness from the china students. I was able to learn even more about my own country culture from the presentation by my friends.   

Day 10


 The whole day of today were APPG lessons. The lessons had started to really rush for our APPG lessons, time is pressing. There is only 1 more week to first theory test and 2 more weeks before it is our final test. We had to finish all the chapters and have enough time to prepare for our test. It concerns our grades for the next semester.

The weather is very cold when i was walking from the hotel to the school, but it became warm when our lesson ended. When our lessons ended for the morning and afternoon, Thir, Alif and me went to buy ice-creams to eat while walking back to hotel. This is the first time i had eaten a ice-cream since i come to TianJin. The brand i eat is advertised by Show Luo, this show that Show Luo is famous even in China. While eating, I realized that ice-cream melt very slowly compared to when i am in Singapore. It is good because i am able to slowly savour the taste of my ice-cream. :D It was a new feel to eat ice-cream during such a cold weather. But to my surprise, i don't feel colder than i am already.

Day 9


Today was almost a totally free day, there is only a APPG lesson in the morning and we were free the whole day. Went to 宾江道 after APPG lesson. This is the second time that i went to 宾江道, this place is like orchard in Singapore. Where i always go to shop whenever i have the time. I am quite a shopaholic since when i am in secondary school. I loves to shop for clothes and stuffs, so i spent a lot of money buying things. Resulting in the amount of money left is shocking for me. This is only the second week, i am starting to wonder if i have enough money to spend for the next 3 weeks. This allows me to realize it, i should start to control my spending, before it is too late.

We went to a 清蒸 restaurant to have our dinner after we came back from 宾江道. This is the second time i came to this restaurant to have my dinner. The food in this restaurant is very delicious~~ Compared to other restaurant i eat, the ratio of meat to vegetables is a lot higher. Gary went to order food at the counter, he only asked about the pricing of a fish but the person at the counter take the fish and kill it straight away. He tried to cancel the order but it was too late as the person had already killed the fish, which is very expensive. This teach us to be careful on what we ask, as it will be too late if the person misunderstood.

Day 8

Had to struggle to wake up today also, wanted to eat breakfast with Alif and Thir at their hotel room.. But because of overslept, there was no time to eat breakfast. L Went straight to school after washing up..  Had a quiz after we reach school.. Felt that I did not perform well for the test, hope that i can prepare better for the quiz in future..  When in the class, heard from the teacher that the other group of np students that had also come to TianJin already learned chapter 4 while we were still at chapter 3. But the whole class thinks that fast is not necessary good. Like the story “Race of the turtle and rabbit”, studing slow but steady allows us to understand even more rather than rushing through the chapters.

Class ended and went for lunch, went to eat Qing Zhen in school. Thir and Alif ordered beef noodle, which is Thir’s favourite food in the shop. After eating, we planned to walk back to the hotel to have some rest, but on the way, we saw Belle, Jenny and Lu Yang. Lee Min and the girls went to have a look at the dorms. While waiting for them, the boys and i noticed the graffit at the border walls. 

 

Looking at these graffiti, it looks like the scenes from the New York movies. It let me feel like i am in the scenes in the movies. To me, graffiti is a kind of art. In Singapore, i rarely am able to see this kind of art, it is against the law to just spray graffiti as you like. So Singaporean is restricted, not being able to show their art. But because of the restriction, Singapore is able to be more rubbish-free compared to China. At the side of the wall, there are a lots of rubbish lying around. So sometimes, restriction may not necessary be for the bad.

Day 7

   The weekend i spent was a lot of fun and had a lot learning experience. After the weekend, it had been a week since i am in China. Today is the start of a new week, also means four weeks is left. In the morning had APPG class as usual. In the lesson, i had quite a few time when i almost fell asleep. I had to struggle just to maintain my consciousness.I being half-awake in class, caused me to not fully understand the things teacher had taught..  It was because of the lack of sleep caused by few nights of sleeping at around 3.. I had to stay up so late is to do the work that is due.. I did not plan out my time for doing my homework and activities, so i had to do my work at the middle of the night. This is all due to  my poor management of time. Now i find that planning for the time is very important. It can let me efficiently use my time and i can have more concentration the next day..

The weather was very cold, ranging  from -1 to 8 degrees and having strong wind that blows EXTREMELY cold wind at us. But despite the cold weather, Teckkwang, Jon, Tresca, Tienying, Chiachun, Mr chua and me went to play basketball. Having not playing basketball for a long period of time, i hardly score any goals. Playing halfway through the game, YiWen walked over calling us to help them to finish their food, As they ordered to many dishes of food. We stopped our game and went over to ZhiYuanChangTing to eat lunch before heading over to lesson at 1.30. Tried Harbing beer that Mr Chua had bought, it taste is considered good. it is a good choice when u feel too cold.

1.30 lesson was Chinese teaching lesson.. taught by Yang lao Shi. He taught us the interesting facts of chinese letters, which even i don/t know continued and let us watch finish the ending of DuLALA. The next lesson was taught by a professional that came from the TBNC. We learned about the polices of why singapore chosen TianJin demonstration area. Also learned about the structure of IR.

It is already late in the night.. It is time to go sleep like what i had said in my blog.. :D

LOTS OF FIRST TIME!!

First Saturday in China!! Also the first shopping trip since I reach TianJin. :D First time taking the public bus to 食品街 also. Plan to eat breakfast in a restaurant. But, while walking on the street, there were lots of food that I see only for the first time. Tried almost everything that looks edible, was so full that there was no need to eat breakfast. We were lucky that there were a few china buddies that accompanied us, so we were able to know the route and walk from食品街 to 古文化街. 

First time reaching古文化街, felt that the building at the area looks old, but it all has a feel of the olden past. There are a lot of street stalls in the area. Had lots of fun shopping at these places. For the first time, I tried to bargain for the price with the owner, had a lot of fun too..  :D  

Learned that the price of the things the locals sell is high, so it is okay to bargain from them.

March 11

Fourth day 

Having quiz after only a 30 minutes preparation... Got quite a few blanks on my answer sheets. Mr Chua say only a few people had passed the quiz.. Worried over it. Need to study more of APPG!!

 Knew that we will be having Mandarin class beforehand. Was thinking that it will be a very boring lesson. As in the past, all Mandarin lesson was just keep on doing composition and comprehension, which were very troublesome and boring. But this mandarin teacher is very good!! He totally changed my perspective of  Mandarin classes. He start with the lesson by seperating us into groups of three or four. After that, he let us watch a movie called "杜拉拉升职记" and giving each group a list of question that will be needed to answer after watching the part that the question asked. Every time when there is a answer needed or a part that is able to let you ponder about the meanings behind it, he will pause the show, explain to us about the meanings and giving us time to discuss in our group before answering his question. He is a very caring teacher, as he fear that we will not understand the things he saying, he requested for a few university students to help us with our languages. Hope that Singapore will have more Mandarin teachers like him, to be more caring and good at teaching.  Looking forward to his next lesson.

Completed artworks of us and the teachers

After the Mandarin lesson, we had a lesson with a famous paper cutting master which can be said to be china's NATIONAL TREASURE and also two of his students.  We were able to admire them doing their mastered skills like paper cutting, knot tying and Mandarin character drawing. It was totally amazing that the two students will able to not be affected by their disabilities and master the skills of their arts. This let me learn that with hardwork and determination, we will be able to excel no matter the hurdle.

Me falling asleep

 At night, i was going to do my blogging and stuffs. But fell asleep almost immediately after starting to do my work. I should have done all these works earlier in the day.