DAY 23-APPG FINAL THEORY Test!!BIGGEST cake we’ve ever bought!!

In a blink of an eye, 23 days have passed…How time flies yeah?
Had our final APPG theory test at 3pm today and I’m really missing the times where we stayed back late in class to mug hard for our APPG and asking, helping around with one another’s theory.Hope we’ll still get back to the same old classroom to work on our IS next week!Had one of the most memorable day todayJHope Mr Tan had a great surprise from us!!Special thanks to yiwen’s buddy-Fufeng for helping us somehow with the planning yeahJTook all our videos with our wishes for Mr Tan last night at the lobby but it’s kind of rush plus Mr tan’s family video has yet to be completed…Shall give him the REAL SURPRISE tomorrow!!:)
The little kind acts in our everyday life reflects our true friendships and concern we have for one another.Take what happened earlier on during the Celebration at Buddy’s café just now, when I was running around to avoid those ‘cream attacks’, I knocked my head onto one of the edge of the table and it really hurt. Thanks to Yiwen, Kris and Weilin for bringing me upstairs and even boil me an egg to ease the numb and Chiachun for running all the way to the pharmacy to get the medicine for me. It’s not upon any request but a simple act that reflects a genuine friendship that we builtJ*touched*
That day when Yiwen fell sick, he went to get porridge and medicine specially for her too!!*thumbs up!*

Speaking about the APPG final theory test, I guess I somehow screwed up my last question…every now and then when someone walk out of the classroom and closes the door, the freezing breeze chills right down my spine and got my brain frozen!!Struggled hard to concentrate and I hope I’ll be able to score well for APPG and IS.:)
Went to check out their school event in the evening, something like our Singapore school concert but I find China students are a lot more supportive as compared to Singapore ones. Whenever there’s a school events or concert, majority of the students in Singapore will usually go for the sake of certain benefits or gains and don’t show their fullest support to such grand events. Walking out of the performance venue in the middle of the performance is pretty rude and you will never realize how much effort and time is put in to prepare such an event.That brings me back to NP NRA danzation where we took more than half a year to prepare and rehearse.On the final day, we only performed for last than 10mins on stage. How perfect would it be if the amount of effort put in will get back the same amount of appreciation in returnJ
Now that APPG is 80% cleared, tomorrow when we leave for Beijing, it’s also a good time where our groups can get together and work on our IS project!!
Off to pack my luggage now and get to bed!!Goodnights!!:)

Day 21-APPG Lab retest!

*Eyelids are getting heavy now*
Spent more than half of the day in school today and I’m sure everyone has grown to become more disciplineJWent to Ziyuan Can Ting for dinner as usual and we are such regular customers that all the waitresses and staff there recognize us and even remember what are the usual dishes we order!
I felt that apart from going to the school for classes, it’s important to build some bonding and relationship with the people there around the environment.As compared to Singapore, some of the shop owners don’t even bother to smile while they are serving and if everyone were to make a little effort to be more easy going and cheerful, life’d be a lot more happier, agree?
Miss those stall aunties and uncles back in Ngee Ann though…remember those times where I used to walk past their stalls and we will greet each other and ask about our day despite of not buying anything.Especially the Muachee stall and drink stall auntieJ
People do take these little details in life for granted and it’s something good to reflect on yeahJ
As we were making orders for our dinner, the waitress was unclear about some information and went to ask the seniors around, in the end, she kind of got scolded and was told to be more sensible in everything she does.
From the scenario, I witnessed the power distance in Chinese Country and how the culture and values truly affect the working systems here in Tianjin…Thinking about it, while I was working as a waitress back in Singapore, the managers and seniors in the restaurant were pretty much approachable and instead of scolding us directly, they’ll guide us and teach us ways to improve the way we do thingsJI guess there’s pros and cons to why managers choose to manage their staffs in those particular ways yaJ

Special thanks to Jonathan and Dean for helping me with my APPG!!After almost 3 weeks or so spent with you guys, not only did we build stronger friendships but sharing memorable moments as and when with random jokes, I think all of us will never regret coming on this OIP TripJWhenever I see friends around teaching and explaining certain theories to one another and making sure those who need help will be able to clear their doubts and understand better, it’s really a heart-warming scene and it makes me realize how important to have friends around and most importantly, treasure what your friends have done for youJ

Felt that no one is perfect and one may think that your friends have flaws that you may not be able to accommodate but to be able to understand what’s true friends are about, FIRST, embrace what’s done to you, even small little caring acts in our daily life and I’m sure you’ll want to be treated like how you treat your friends too!:)

Having APPG quiz tomorrow, time to MUG and read up before I get to my dreamland yeah…Goodnightss..and GOODLUCK to everyone for tmr’s paper!!:)

DAY 22-APPG and life lessons:)

*Whole group of us studying at the lobby for Tmr’s paper*
Today’s a day where quite a few of us felt that we got enlightened by the words of Mr Tan and Mr Chua.Apart from coming to Tianjin for this OIP trip, I think we should also reflect on our character and in particular where we should improve on. If one were to assume that we are always right and obstruct those good advices that are coming in, when you look back in your life, u’ll see all the black spots seen along the way.
Taking a first step for a change in life may be tough but after falling a few times and picking yourself up, you’ll realize those falls are the ones that make you a stronger person.
When I reflect what we have done for the day, I think we should have been more responsible for our own acts and behaviours. The differences within our individual characters are the factor that made us learn from one anotherJ
Saw the waitress from Ziyuan can ting running out of the restaurant and even dropped some of her pens along the way. Picking her stuff up immediately and running to the car ahead. I then realize she ran all the way to just return a spectacles to one of the customer who was about to drive off. She could have just leave the spectacles at the counter and wait for the customer to walk back, but instead, she made the effort to run out of the restaurant all the way to return the spectacles back to the owner.

The scene made me change my perspective towards the workers in China and the sincerity they show towards their customers.Went to check out the Student hostel supermart and learnt more about their local student life!

That’s all for today and I’d better finish up my final lap of revision!!Jiayou AJ!!!:)

Day 20-IS Wine trip video:)

*Teckkwang bought beijing kao ya!!*
Spent the whole day doing our wine factory video.Special thanks to Jonathan, Kristabel and Teckkwang yeahh!!A good team bonding session at 602:)
The laughter along the corridoor's super loud!hahah!I don't feel like going back to Singapore!Days in Tianjin here is just like a sweet dream:)Spending everyday without much worries and having fun with the AWESOME group of friends!Went to buy lunch for 10 people and me and Yiwen ended up carrying handful of BAGS back to the hotel...learnt something..being helpful may be a good thing but we also need to know our limits, nearly drop one pack of the lunch!
Bought something like popiah by the road stall and mistook 5yuan as 50cents...not only did the owner realised it, he stop me and ask me to take back the note!hahaha!Love the people here in Tianjin for their friendliness and honesty!!:)
That's about it for now!Off to pack my bag and SLEEEEEP!!Sweetdreams people!!:D

Day 19-Hair Perm-ed!MUG ON APPG!

*Feeling super awkward with my Maggie mee hair now*
Special thanks to Yiwen and Weehong’s Bday gift to me yeahh..hahaha!Made me perm my hair and I guess it’s a good change after these years of the same hairstyle yeahJ
Watched this particular show on shenxun wei shi, the first time I laughed while watching an entertainment show in TianjinJIt’s about this 4 kids who are made to travel from a destination to another where all their mothers are waiting.A special programme for Earth hour tonight which encourage more people to travel around by bike.IT’s like killing two birds with one stone yeah!First:They advocates going green by transport and Second:Shows how independent and smart kids nowadays can beJ
Singapore should have such variety shows and I’m sure kids in Singapore could be equally smart and independent in travelling around too!
Not just about the independent factor, when one group of the kids happened to meet with a problem caused by their bike, the pair of them reflected the innocence that kids have and how they truly care and guide one another along the way despite of the burden(in this case,the spoilt bike) that they have.That’s how we should look out for one another despite of our age and allJ

Find this group of OIP mates really interesting..Looking at the different dynamics base on our character context and how we react to different situation.Like what happened this morning, I called individual rooms last night and told them to meet at 9.30am at the lobby to revise on APPG and some of them decided to work in their room for they prefer having personal space.Despite of that, we will eventually bond during lunch and suchJamazing yeahJI’m sure the differences we have within the group will make this OIP trip a memorable and near-to-perfect oneJ

Went to explore LiuLi’s hostel and find the environment in the hostel isn’t as conducive as I thought and 4 students have to squeeze in a usual HDB size room to share their study space.However, it’s a good place to bond and build interesting friendships thoughJShe even brought us to their canteen in the hostel and we find out AWESOME food!!HAHAH!Bought a little of each and got SUPER FULL as usualJI guess I’m gonna’ complain about the blandness when I get back to Singapore after eating all the food here in Tianjin.HAHAH!

Felt kind of disappointed for we spent our EARTH hour in the hair salon!!Didn’t do our part in the contribution.Signed on this banner when I get to school when they have this EARTH HOUR event by their local studentsJ Could have do something memorable to remember our EARTH HOUR in Tianjin!Is changing our image included?HAHAH!Rachael, Weilin, Yiwen, Eugene and me decided to check out the hair salon and later on, Teckkwang and clique came by!Kind of flooded the salon but find the services pretty nice thereJ300RMB for a hair perm, hair wash and trimming, not too bad!:)
So that’s about it for the day yeahh!Off to bed with my Maggie hair!!Goodnight!!:D

Day 18-APPG Lab TEST, Wine Tasting, RESULTS OUT!

*Woooo~SHIOK...Feeling alot better after a warm bath:)*
Had our very first APPG practical Test on Chapter 1-4 and find it pretty manageable:)The flu early in the morning gave me giddy spells and i sort of misunderstood some of the instructions given:x
The moment i got myself out of bed, the first thing wasn't the thought to BRUSH, but to log onto NPAL and check my results!!
One B+ for my COMISS, AD for DEL and EG2(Wasn't really expected) and A+ for the rest!!Could have did better for COMISS!!:(There goes my 4.0GPA:(Told myself I'm gonna' work hard for year 2 once again and hopefully be awarded another 4.0!:)
Had dumplings and DAN DAN MIAN for lunch before leaving to the Wine Factory.40Mins of bus ride and at least i made full use of my time and read up abit on APPG apart from sleeping for 40mins:)I was kind of half asleep due to the wordy texts somehow though.Tried hard to focus on the main parts which i highlighted during class:)
Tasted High quality Redwine and XO from the well-known Wine factory-Dynasty:)Learnt the ways to identify quality wine and how wine are being made.Before this trip to the wine factory, to me, wine is just another kind of alcohol that people consume during special occasions or probably a daily liquid that they have to consume but after today's trip, not only did i learnt the benefits that drinking wine may bring but also learnt about the steps and procedures that one have to take note when they are enjoying their wine:)

There are also statues of the god of wine seen around the factory and as introduced by the speaker from the factory, there are also traditions to take note of when they are manufacturing the wine:)How cool is that yeah:D

Felt that the technology used within the factory are really high and the machines used are mostly imported from Italy:)Nice yeah:)Went on for K-time at Dong Fang Zi Zhu...singing to our heart's content for merely $0.90/hr, it's SUPER CHEAP!!A good supper with Liu li at the roadside stall before we came back for a good rest:)That's about all for today!
Lesson learnt today: Types of wine, procedures to take note, making full use of my time and not having any regrets for the effort I've put in for whatever i do.Thinking over it, I think the amount of effort you put in will reflect on your results and if one were to feel disappointed with yourself, AVOID sleeping and having distractions(e.g Ipod, Iphone, Laptop) in class, that way, you'll realised the change in your learning attitude:)
Watching the news now and seeing the War in Libia makes me feel for the people who're suffering there:(Within this one week, natural disasters, human chaos, all coming at once...it brings me to think about the uncertainty in life and all i would say is if you were to have goal and dreams for something, work hard and strive for it before it's too late.I hope i could do something to help those who are in need:(
Tomorrow'd be EARTH hour...as we're saving electricity and doing our part for our mother Earth, i hope everyone will do their part in reflecting those little things in life that they need to learn to appreciate and for those whom feels that life is tough, think about those people in JAPAN, YunNan and Libia...gives one another a pat and says:"Be happy for what you have today and it's a day that we should treasure:)"

"The essential challenge involves the physical resources only indirectly; the real battleground is in the realm of the spirit."

-Dr Stewart Macintosh

A good quote that inspired me before i get to bed!Goodnight people!!Tmr'll be another AWESOME DAY!:)

Day 17-APPG& Interaction session!:)

*Cough and flu:(*
Hate it when i got no choice but to gulp down all those bitter herbal tea and medicines:(俗话说：“良药苦口)Just be a obedient girl and avoid those unhealthy food for a moment:)

Went for roll call a moment ago at Mr Tan(702) room, apart from debriefing and discussing about today's events, we got back our first APPG theory test results!!Grats and good job done for those who'd scored well and as for me, i was really disappointed.72 and if i was in good health condition that day, not making those careless mistakes, i would have gotten 90...Learnt the importance of taking good care of myself and be responsible for the consequences that i have to face.
Highlight for today was not just the APPG lab trial test but also the interactive session with the China students!:)
Speaking about the interactive session, despite of the pretty last minute planning for our presentation, i really got to say a BIG THANK YOU to Dean, Thir, Yiwen, Kris, Rachael and many more who worked together and come up with those awesome powerpoint slides WITHIN A DAY!!*THUMBS UP!!*

I bet Mr Tan didn't expect us to come up with those different aspects of Singapore too!Introduced about the basic background of Singapore, Food(And made all of us miss our home badly:(), Culture(Thir demostrated Silat!) and places of interest!!Feel kind of funny while we struggled a little here and there to translate and present everything in MANDARIN,HAHA!That shows how much Singaporean got to brush up on our chinese language proficiency and not disgrace ourselves in front of the audience!Had a simple introduction between the China Students and us, all we did was.."Hi, my name is...", whereas for them, they went to the extent of introducing where they are from, what local delicacies their country have, what does their name means and even welcoming us to their country. Upon witnessing their introduction, i got kind of guilty for we totally reflected our culture in Singapore and we could have go more in depth for our introduction!In the future, if we were to be given another chance to introduce ourselves, I'd introduce how my parents gave me my name and a little bit more about Singapore and the local WOW aspects to trigger their interest in coming over to Singapore to tour around!
IF there were to be more time or rather, we were to be informed MORE IN ADVANCE, i could have prepared local delicacies, brought over little souvenirs and perhaps, taking singapore night scene and daily lives photos to make the whole interactive session a more Enjoyable and interesting one...that's something to improve on and take back with us:)
Leemin and I also managed to do some last minute re-cap of our dance choreo and gave a short dance performance..HAHAH!*awkward*but at least we tried!:D:D

Interacted with Yiwen's twin(with same name) and learnt that their business with social enterprise industries here are not really popular among the local students as the career prospect is pretty limited. Had an AWESOME time watching Mr Tan's Magic tricks and chatting around with friends and the China students!!:DSeeing the little red dot on the HUGE map, i'm kind of missing home...especially Mummy's cooking!!!:(

My flu's giving me dizzy spells:(Better go and read up abit on APPG and get into my dreamland soon!!:D
Weather's getting a little cold, wear more clothes people and MOST IMPORTANTLY, WATCH YOUR DIET AND TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF!!!!Goodnights!:)