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!:)

Day 16-APPG, How to make Business in China:)

*Working on our IS ppt not for marking, but introducing Singapore to the China students and Teachers during the interaction session tomorrow*

The feeling of different groups of us working on the different parts and coming together to present it tomorrow is AWESOME!:)

Classes as usual this morning and followed by a talk by TianHui, a speaker from the government sector. It's interesting to know more about China through him especially on Business Areas..though I find it quite difficult to make out what he is trying to say at times because of the accent.Like what he say, Asian people coming over to China to do business may look all the same(yellow skin), but the language barrier still exist.He also mention that Business discussions with Taiwanese and Singapore in Particular can be rather difficult because we discuss and expect things to their very last detail!
To make your business a successful one, first, one should have a clear understanding of the country's culture and background before planning a strategic proposal to see the level of success increasing:)Time is MONEY whenever you are talking about BUSINESS issues.
Learnt from him that Singapore Business man will usually discuss alot about benefits and whether everything is all-rounded assured, before they clinch the deal and sign any contract.

The speaker also brought up the different countries as examples and how they usually behave during a business discussion context:Japanese are very particular about revealing much on their companies.If there were to be 3 guests, the secretary will ONLY have 3 namecards with her.NOT MORE, NOT ANY LESSER.

As for Korean Businessman, They will make sure they drink and will only stop when one of the party is drunk.Expecting the other party to finish the drink is one of the culture and they will keep topping up the drink for you:)*Fierce*

Americans are known for being hard-core workaholics and meetings with them could drag till midnight...Whereas, German always have formal meetings and RARELY smile during such serious business context.Long-term plannings are always seen during their discussions.

Initially, I thought doing business with China Businessman would be tough but through the speaker during the IS class today, i realised China Businessman are rather casual and they will even go along with you in your attire(be it formal or casual) and don't really mind the place of meeting.
Learnt that in Business Context, we will need to balance the beneficial and loss factor in order to take everything into consideration.Italy businessman are casual and open-minded as mentioned:)

He also shared about some countries such as Japan and Singapore where the confirmation of decision may take up quite some time.I got to agree on that as Singapore requires everything to be in BLACK AND WHITE and all these little details may take up too much time though they are really necessary:)
Chatted with some of the China Buddies previously and quite a few of them shared that they want to be politicians or work under the government sector.When i heard that, i thought the government sector provides good income but after today's class, i learnt that it's the opposite. Unlike Singapore, the people working under the government sectors do not get much benefits and pay.It can be pretty stable though:)

He was sharing this incident about a group of Japanese meeting a high rank businessman to be on air for their discussions but when the Japanese realised that the high rank businessman was wearing casually, they were made to remove their tie to look more casual in order not to outdress someone of a higher rank whom they need to respect.
Had a simple Lunch and Dinner today because majority of us are ON BUDGET and most importantly, we need to watch out our diet and take care of our health:)Weather's getting cold tomorrow:(
Felt that our behaviour improved during the IS class today and alot of us seemed to be more enthusiastic about asking questions!:)Whenever I see Aliff and Thir taking down notes despite of not understanding Chinese, I feel SUPER PROUD of them:)
That's all for today!!Fingers are freeeeezinggg!!!Back to Powerpoint slides!Goodnights people!!:)

Day 15-APPG Theory test 1;ECO city!

*Hands numbed*

Temperature today is merely 7 degrees as we made our way to school this morning.
Highlight of the way was the trip to the ECO city,a pity we didn't manage to take a closer look at the development area but from the appearance seen, I'm sure this collaboration between TianJin and Singapore will allow alot of room for growth within the two countries, at the same time, affecting positively to the other organisations involved:)
Had APPG theory Test 1 today and Due to the pounding headache, i felt that I'd not do very well for that paper..*disappointed*..felt a little better today despite of the coughing..The encouraging buddy 'system' is getting interesting as we try our ways to confuse our encouragees..haha!
As we were on the bus to ECO city, the 'tourguide' introduced more about the different aspects in Tianjin and from him, I learnt the perspective the locals here carry towards the JAPAN Tsunami incident and how Chinese are generous and Open minded enough to offer their utmost help in rescuing the survivors during the disaster despite of their 'hatred' over what the Japanese had done years ago.
When the bus drove past those flags at the ECO city, watching the Singapore flag flying up high made me feel so proud of Singapore and I'm sure this ECO city project will bring yet another honour to our Country!:)Apart from learning about the ECO city, during the bus ride, we learnt more about one another and I've learnt how important it is to understand more about your friends around and be there for them when they need that listening ear:) Sharing our individual life stories and experiences can be really exciting!!:)
Manage to clear all my inbox and read some important emails:) Just hope that I could make tomorrow another meaningful day!!:)Realised today that I should be more sensitive to the needs of the people around me and let's say any friends or even teachers are not feeling well, look out for them and leave no man behind:)

Threw one whole pack of Eugene's pack away and Just hope that he'll realised how much harm those sticks may bring as written on the cover..I'm sure you can do it bro!JIAYOU!!:)

Time to sleep soon so that i can recover by tomorrow!!:)Goodnights people!!;D

Day 14-APPG, learning Chinese philosophy:)

*Contented*
Weather is cooling today, temperature still staying below 10degrees..APPG class early in the morning as usual followed by a good maggie lunch before we head back to school for IS lesson on Chinese Philosophy with Mr Yang:)

Learnt about all the different philosophies and it reminds me of how my mum used to make me watch those Confucius videos and read those books when I'm young.Realised those philosophies act as good reminders along my way in life..

Speaking about Confucius Philosophies, Mr Yang brought up the example of us being late for class this afternoon and running through the corridoor leading to our class..Sense of urgency were shown and the fact that we apologised reflected our courtesy and sincerity in a way or another:)

Zhuang Zi is another philosopher introduced by Mr Yang during today's class..little short clips were shown to bring up our interest during the lesson but seeing how some of us fell asleep makes the teacher looks kind of disappointed:(

As the video was showing, we learnt different philosophies and values from it..Got those videos and slides from Mr Yang so that i could bring it back to Singapore and spread the values to the younger generations:)

Lesson learnt during the IS class:

We should not compare ourselves with other people as we are all born with our very own unique strength and weaknesses. You life is yours, live it to it's fullest potential!

The examples of the hu lu taught me that i should be flexible when doing anything and think out of the box when the original plan isn't working out well.

Your friends around you may be different but they are special in their own ways.Don't condemn them or look at them in a different point of view just because they are unlike you.

As from the Zenn Buddhism, I learnt that Human may be born selfish and we tend to compare. Without the existence of comparison, We should be alot happier!

Also, I realised from the example of 'cup filled with water to the brim' that if one is persistent about your own opinions, you are obstructing others' advice and views that may be of help to you. Like the cup full of water, no one will be able to pour new hot tea into it to enlighten you.

Apart from that, another philosophy would be that when you are stating the faults of others, first, reflect upon yourself, your personal beliefs may be wrong in the first place.

On traditional Customs, we are taught the mentally and physically effects that our actions can result on. From the moment we meet someone, the way we walk, the way we get into a seat, eating etiquettes to tradition cultures. Those customs are somehow similar to that of Singapore'

s:)

The major two points that impacted me the most today was the quote during the video:
"Forget about the past, Don't worry too much about tomorrow, most importantly, treasure what you have today and you'll be happy!"--something like.."dont't worry, be happy!"
The second one was about the sun and the moon, when the farmer was asked why was he working so diligently when the weather is so warm? He answered, pointing to the sun.."Look, the sun has been working all day long, I should do my job without any complaints"..If the mother of nature could be contributing to your daily lives without even a single complaint, why are we humans complaining so much over every little tasks given and do them so reluctantly?IT's the attitude that matters. We shouldn't always expect something in return to be given for our effort put in but should learn to be more appreciative, agree?I do:)
Your own perspective is the one that decide your joy and sorrow:)

All the above values and philosophies may be seen as a religious beliefs but in fact, they are our every day reminders to colour up your life and make it more meaningful:)

Find today's IS class really interesting and I've not just learnt about those values physically but had a clearer picture of how to apply them in my daily lives:) Time to get down to the lobby for APPG revision!!JIAYOU people!!!:D

Day 13-APPG, streetstall dinner is LOVED!

*Bloated*

Went to have our dinner at the roadside stall again and the uncle's really nice!~!:DWas given a 80percent discount!How nice:)$2RMB for a bowl of SUPER NICE mee xian!!:DWhen i get back to singapore, it'll be something that i'm going to miss the most:(Woke up at 9am+ this morning after a good night rest at yiwen's and rachael's room:)Laughed like OMG when we're watching this horror movie!!HAHAHA!Witnessed a wedding ceremony held at our hotel and fire crackers too~!!While we're walking back after getting our groceries, we saw fireworks!!Though it's not really grand ones, but it's nice!!Was watching the news earlier on and heard that there's conflict between libia and france or something..gosh, after Tsunami, EarthQuake, and now War..can't Humans learn their lesson and maintain peace and harmony among themselves?Sighs, just hope those innocents won't sacrifice their life for nothing..Weather today is FREAKING COLD!!just merely 3 degrees now and my hands are all numbed!Despite of the cold weather, the group of us enjoyed our pipping hot dinner by the road side and 'smoking' while we were speaking!HAHAHAH!That's about it for today!Off to bath and read up on APPG!!!:D:DNights people!!:D

Day 12- 洋货市场 and dong fang zi zhu K-time!!:)

*Waiting for the heater to heat up the water before i can enjoy my warm bath*
Weather today is something like Singapore's December windy day and it makes it a really awesome day for us:)Woke up early in the morning and met Luyang, Belle and Jenny, together with LiuLi, Angel and some other buddies!:)It's really nice of them to take their day off and bring us around to explore yeah!:)On the bus, I experienced how friendly can Tianjin's local get when the two young lady sitting in front of me turned to ask me where the group of us are from.The feeling is pretty cool when you realised people around seemed to be really curious about you:)

Almost experienced a molest case with a weird uncle sitting behind me, luckily i kept leaning forward, could have turned behind and asked him to shift his hands!

The BEST part of the day wasn't just the fact that we travelled by their gao铁, but is the part where we went to a pretty well-known KTV nearby to sing our hearts out!!Those china buddies are truly GOOD SINGERS!:)Speaking about our experience on the 'TIANJIN MRT', we found out something really interesting!Instead of our Singapore Ez-link cards, they used a little coins which have integrated chip in it to travel from point to point. Find it that this system is not really convenient as people tend to lose the coins without realising it..However, in the train, i observed that the people are really quiet and we seemed to be the only group laughing out loud and chatting away..some form of courtesy to look out for yeah:)

As compared to Singapore, the land here is rather empty and most of them are covered with fields of muddy tracks.If it's possible, we could use our skills and develop the lands available here!hahaha!While we're on our way to the train station, Me and Liuli was browsing the newspaper today and when we read through the captions shown below the pictures of survivors and rescuer teams sent over to Japan, tears fell from Liuli's eyes and I was feeling a little ache for the innocent people who suffered due to the natural disasters..like what one of the captions said:"When disaster hits, we're all known as HUMANS, Let's hope kids in Yunnan and Japan could hold hands together and get over this tough period".
It's really lucky for us to meet a guy who stays around the destination that we were heading to.He even warned us and tell us what to look out for during our shopping duration there..How nice of him!:)If any one of them were to come over to Singapore,I'll make sure they will get such nice treatment from us too!:)

The yang huo shi chang is not as expected..after walking around and browsing through the flea markets, the MOST things seen around was openly displayed weapons on sales and it looks pretty scary!Coolest thing found there was the Chinese Medicine Electronics Cigerettes..wanted to get one for Eugene because the Store owner said it's a healthy puff.In fact, if one were to be determined to quit the bad habit away, he will make the effort and make things happen too yeah(:*hint*

Something terrible to blog about today..After 11 days here, i thought it's quite safe but today's incident proved me wrong.Jiawei lose his wallet(with nric, student pass and hotel room card) and Jonathan nearly got pick-pocketed.Can't those people have some guilty conscious?!If they were to just go after the money and find ways to return those important documents back, at least it reflects their morale.Since they're already 'working' as 'pick-pockets', i think it's pretty obvious that their integrity is already gone..*disappointing*

The AWESOME part came..$138+$130/hr for a 6-9pm Karaoke was quite a nice way to spend tonight away!:DSang till our hearts' content and it's something like some PARTY TIME!!HAha!Too bad Mr Chua didn't make it to join us in time, we shall visit that place again soon!!Time to mug hard tomorrow!!:D

Learnt today that the students here will always do their own laundry and will can only eat out as there's no stove in the hostel. There's even hand signs for the locals to communicate about the different numberings:)How cool is that yeah!:D

Dropped by the night market once again but i manage to control my spendings!!:D

Room Warmer is swtiched off today and let's hope the temperature won't get too low at night!!:D

Off to the bathroom to wash up!!Goodnights people!!

Day 11- Tea Culture, SHOPPING!

*Watching CCTV news*
Looks like salt is of the hotest sales ever within these few days.As shown from the news, it is stated that everywhere in China and Japan are having the problem with lacking of salt.This morning while me, Yiwen, kris and Rachael went to buy our breakfast, i told the shop owner that i want my breakfast to be less salty and the uncle showed his concern to our country's salt content when he know where we're from.

It's always when you're near to losing something that you learn to treasure it.Let's just hope the salt will be enough for everyone then:)

As for today, it's a pretty enriching day and not only have we learnt how to brew a pot of proper traditional tea, we also realised how we'd feel to meet someone from our hometown at this plot of land a thousand miles away from Singapore.The moment we got out of the Tea house（紫砂会馆）, we met a few students and within them was a malay girl, coincidentally,they are a group of students coming over for their OIP from SP!!All of us were overjoyed!Just by taking a step back and observing the smiles on everyone's faces, i felt the sense of belonging as if we're back to our 'family'..:)How nice is that yeah:)That made our day for sure!:DI understood then of why the Indians and Chinese coming all the way to Singapore to earn themselves a living usually clique together but that may not be a good sign as if the situation continues, problems may arise.

Apart from that, Mr Chua also brought up a point that We've somehow left out our China Buddies and while we're so engrossed within our conversation, we should take the initiative to bring up common topics to them:)*guilty*I was at the back of the bus and didn't realise they were standing there among themselves quietly:(That's something I could improve on tomorrow.And like what i mention in my Individual learning point, I should make an effort to understand more of their students' lifestyle:)

During the tea culture session, we tasted one of the best tea ever and it's really sweet and light!!Bought some tea and a teapot for mummy!:)Of cos' and some tealeaves back for Ahgong too!Learnt how the procedure is in making good tea and the first 5 rounds of brews, it's better to keep the brews within 30 seconds and the first brew is used to wash the cups:)Was introduced the different locations the tealeaves were originated from and the pure 紫砂茶壶。。

Went on then to Bing jiang dao AGAIN(Yeah, you'll never get tired of shopping there..)*Came back with burnt pockets:(*Bought a VANS shoe and some gifts back for friends:)Ever since i came on this OIP trip, not only did i learn to be more independent, i think i've definitely got better with my finance management:)

Find the locals in Tianjin really approachable and the stall owner even gave a free shoelace when we buy the shoes!As we made our way to the shopping street, there's this group of middleage women sitting before us and they casually started a conversation and we ended up sharing stories about Singapore:)Hope when we get back to Singapore, we'll feel proud of the locals too for I'm sure we can be that friendly too!

Dean's buddy-Liu Li came along with us to shop and from her, I've realised how we should be more easily contented with life and be happy about it:)Just being able to taste all the tea, spending her afternoon and evening with the group of us and laughing over small little stupid acts within the day made her smile hanged on her face the whole day..(:Having a simple roadstall dinner could make her jump like a happy kid and skipping her way to the stall made me smile stupidly to myself, telling how much i should really learn from her, the attitude she carry towards a usual typical busy student life that i have to face too:)

That's about the day and I'm sure the whole group of us got really happy with what we've bought and of course enjoying the freshly brewed tea as I'm blogging about today right now:)

Time to go and have a warm bath and sleep early for tomorrow!!SOOOO EXCITED:D:D
I'm loving my days here more and MORE!As shared by Fufeng, there was an event at the Buddy Cafe this evening and after the Row call, we made our way down to get some eye-opener:)The ciggerette smell was so strong that the moment we got out of the lift, we decided to take a turn back to our hotel room:)
Mr Tan's still at Beijing and hope everything's going fine for him!:)Weather today's not as cold^^

Day 10-APPG Quiz 3.

*Wet hair!:(*

Woke up at 7am+ as usual..the weather's just nice today!!Just wearing a wind breaker and normal T-shirt.Gosh, After a good long day, My brain's blocked now!Had our APPG quiz 3 this morning and it's nice to know that i was able to do the statement questions!!:)Went to buy 60 Dumplings just for $3 SING for Lunch!!Woooh!!~Learnt how much we should really appreciate Mr chua's teaching and of course do our part in working hard by doing revision for thefinal results!To Mr Tan and Mr Chua, the group of us won't disappoint you!!:)Had a feast for dinner with Mr Chua and drank abit of their QingDao beer...quite light yeah:)1/6 of alcohol plus 5/6 of sprite, how nice huh?HAHAHA!!That's about it for today, gonna rest well tonight for another GOOD day ahead!:)
To Tresca:Apply more moisturiser!!later your hand really crack uh!
To Zhiting:Rest well okays!!We won't want to see you feeling sick:(DRINK MORE WATER!:D

Day 9- APPG chapter 3 and shopping SPREE!!:)

*Aching legs*
A LONGGGG day spent shopping around and revising on my APPG~helped Eugene with his APPG and hope he understood better about the chapter:)At the same time, i get to revise on my lab too:)
Woke up early in the morning and went to get breakfast for the 3 princes this morning before heading back to class..Right after school, we went on to take 643 to Bing jiang Dao and at a steamboat for lunch.Instead of putting the food inside individually, we chunk the whole plates of food into the soup and started digging in!!:DThe BEST way to eat steamboat especially during such cold weather!:)Continue with our shopping spree and yeahh, i got hooked onto another highcut and failed to go against my temptation!--Bought it:X*Got to really control my finance!!*
Realised we should understand better of the Tianjin's culture after our lesson learnt during our dinner time!Ate at this restaurant and while Gary and Kris went to order the fish, the shop owner of the shop didn't even confirm their order and immediately killed the fish right in front of them. Perhaps, this is their way of doing business yeah:)
Apart from the dinner incident, we had a good time going around the mall bargaining and taking the TRAM right through the Bing jiang Dao and walked backwards..Mr Tan and Mr Chua seemed to be having an enjoyable time shopping too!!:)
Aim to understand their culture more in the means of business operation and how is it easier to BARGAIN!!!HAHAHAHA!Had a good time laughing during our Row call just now thanks to Mr Tan, Thir and Yiwen.LOL!Seeing how the group is bonding now makes our days really interesting ahead..Can't wait for tomorrow!!Cos' it's gonna be BETTER!:DHave a good rest people!!goodnightS!

DAY 8- Usual Tuesday with GOOD street Stall dinner:)

Another MUNDANE Tuesday morning but at least majority of us make it to class in time!!:)The wind was FREAKING COLD!!Was told that it's only 3degrees!*faints*Manage to get breakfast and soyabean milk in the morning:)Something to warm up our tummy!:)Not only that, the dinner by the roadside stalls, something like our singapore satay's AWESOME!+ a bowl of spicy glass noodle(Tianjin style)..Glad that i manage to webcam last night with Alfred and Jeremy!!!:)Comparing the living environment that we have with theirs, i think we're lucky enough:)Mr Lung came by to send his regards to us and it's nice to know that he's doing fine too!!:D:DAPPG class was entertaining and our class never fails to be filled with laughter:)Ohyeah, the problem with the uploading of photos can only be solved by deleting some of my older posts:(Sighs, for my IS and my memories of my days in Tianjin, i guess that's the only way:)Class ended a little early at 11am and we called Mac delivery!!Finish watching another part of DU LALA and i really LOVE the bonding session within the room:)The kind of atmosphere where one whole group of friends squeeze into one room and have fun watching the show and laughing..gonna really miss those days when i get back to Singapore:(Went to check out the SUPER HUGE VANGUARD Supermart nearby our hotel and it's like our singapore Carrefour:)Realised all their system in Shopping marts and any other operating stalls are the same..they'd give you a receipt and will only hand over the goods to you after you've make your payment:)That shows how much trust is built within their own locals and even with foreigners like us. Went on to the street stalls for dinner and the food taste alot better than those found in the restaurants..HAHAHA!Perhaps, we're more used to road side stalls:)
Lesson learnt today: To be more independent, manage your own lifestyle and take risks when required to explore new places so as to improve your daily routines and learn something new:)Singapore youths are very much pampered in some way and coming on this OIP trip, i was made to wash and clean all my stuffs, making sure the hygiene level is there to prevent us from falling sick, taking care of friends around and being responsible for everything that you do:)

As I'm blogging now, the news was showing the situation over in JAPAN about the leakage of Nuclear radiation, it got us really worried of whether we'll be affected and are all our families back in Singapore alright..Realised how much we should always reflect and appreciate what we have at this very moment and stop complaining.
It's getting late now, I'd better end my blog here and get to sleep soon, nights people!!!:D:DThanks much to my Encourager for the note!:)

DAY 7-BACK TO CLASS!:)

*Brrrr~*
Temperature today was ranged between around 6-8degrees..hands and feet numbed as we walk along the streets eating those sticks of BBQ which cost only 1RMB!=20cents!It's something like our local SATAY:)Was enjoying our good sleep till me and kris ended up being a little late for class=XSorry Mr Chua:(Dragged our feet to the class as the frrezing breeze brush pass our faces and numb it..ahaha!Had our Usual APPG class and i guess everyone was too tired from the long and awesome shopping yesterday yeahh?Could clearly read the Z-monster attack from their faces..Quite a few within the group experience nose bleeding and hope they'll recover soon and remember to eat more fruits and keep yourself well moisturise!:)*IMPORTANT:HYDRATE YOURSELF!!*After APPG class, Kris, Yiwen and me went on to the canteen nearby and randomly ordered some dishes.Then it came by with 4 dishes and 1 soup.Our JAW DROPPED when we saw those dishes being served mann!Tried out best to eat it and luckily Teckkwang, Jon, Tresca, Tienying, Jiawei, Chiachun and Mr chua came by to help us with the food!!*love you guys!!*
After a good walk around, we had our chinese language class starting at 1.30PM. Yang Lao shi taught us some interesting background of Chinese characters and seeing how enthusiastic Aliff and Thir were to learn those words and even practice writing it, i feel so proud of them!As a chinese, i think we should be well aware of all this history or rather how the characters we are writing came about and not take things for granted, some of us were even falling asleep..*aiyoyo~*Continued with the DU LALA~ show and we learnt the hierarchy in BIG companies like the one shown in the movie and ways to handle some situations that we might face in real life.Next came in a speaker from Tianjin BingHai New area and he even introduce to us some of the case studies that he tackled with and the ECO city that's building up:)
Some observations: Some of us walked out of class while he is speaking for they had to excuse themselves to the washroom and he looked kind of disturbed and irritated as one leave the class after another.Felt that we should raise up our hands or at least inform for being excused no matter of what reasons.Giving him such respect is getting respect for ourselves too yeah:) Another observation was whenever someone speaks, be it discussing about the topics or randomly chatting away, he would stop his presentation and ask if there's any question. All these little acts reflects some of our Singapore students culture and character..thus, i think we should be mindful of our words and actions as it may eventually affect of how you may be treated even as a guest.Time to get down to the lobby for APPG lesson, Nights!!:)

DAY 6-Shopping spree at 冰江道:)

Wooohooo!!It's SUNDAYY!!I'm sad for time seem to be flying while we enjoy our time here and i hope we'll really enjoy the time spent together and treasure every minute of it:)However, I'm glad that it's a day for shopping spree again!!!:)Went to bing jiang dao, a Tianjin Bugis street:)
Shop till we drop and i manage to get some souvenirs and even find my NIKE highcut!OMG,it's like only $20 SING DOLLARS!!Was feeling super AWESOME when i manage to find a shoe of my shoe size and the desire design that i was looking around for:)Wanted to buy more but I'm worried my luggage will weigh too much when i get back to S'pore.HAHAHA!The shoes are FREAKING NICE AND CHEAPPP!!HAHAHA, Buy and export over to Singapore hurr?*sound like a plan*
The shopping streets are a little more comfortable and nice as compared to singapore's bugis street.*more classy*hahah!Had a good chat with Fufeng..Luyang, Jenny, Belle and Jiawei's buddy came along too!:)Special thanks to them for bringing us around!!Sighs, the problem with the uploading of photos have yet to be solved..took cab back to the hotel and it's only $3 SING!The radio broadcast in the cab reported that there may be strong wind that cause the temperature to drop..the wind brings along dust and sand bits:(Worked on APPG this evening and manage to understand the application better:)*Brrrr*Time to hide under my blanket & sleeping bag with KAPO and have a good night sleep!:)Rest well people!!WEAR MORE!!

Day 5-南市食品街 & 古文化街 with杨芮:)

*Finally finish washing all my laundry!*
Felt that I've somehow grow to be more independent through this OIP trip after a good 5 days in Tianjin here:)Woke up early in the morning after the whole night of APPG revision with Yiwen, Kris and Rachael.They stayed over at our room and I'm sure they found out how 'PIG' i could be=XWas kind of bored and instead of giving a formal morning call, we decided to do a prank morning call!!HAHAHA!Called quite a few rooms and see whether they were awake already.Told them that there's a girl waiting for them outside their room and some of them really went and open the door to check out!!*JOKE of the day*Laughing hard early in the morning really gives the Abs a good exercise yeahh:)
Went on to buy a map and took 829 to 南市食品街 which is around 14 stops away.Was able to find out way there and meet Weehong's buddy Yang Rui who really do us a really huge favour by bringing us around and even gives good advice on which stuff to buy and whether there's a better Bargain else where.Felt a little guilty as i felt that somehow we've left her out sometimes when we got too engrossed with our shopping, however, I've made the effort to try chatting to her and at the some time got to know a little more about their students lifestyle here in Tianjin:)She works as a Part time tourguide in Beijing and studies Business with Community Services!Something that NP also offers too:)
The amount of interesting local delicacies found at the food street is really tempting and we ended up getting out of the street with handful of FOOD!!Tried the cold noodle, Local well known MA HUA and beefball bun:)There were quite a few old man begging us for money as we walk along the streets and i learn from yang rui that they usually approach the tourists for their income. Find really interesting building structures and signboards along our way to 古文化街 and find that the Singapore could have such interesting and cute signboards too!:)
Learn the skills of bargaining yeahh!From $180 RMB, we bargain and ended up paying ONLY 90RMB for a really nice WATCH!!Imitation brand though:X

Really got to thank Yang rui for helping us so much and even went and help us bargain for some of the things we bought:)You made our day yeah!:)
A group of them also went to have their portrait drawn by this master just for $2 sing!*Jaw dropped*Find it really amazing at how these chinese people are so skillful and they made full use of skills to earn themselves a living:)
Lesson learnt today:Learn to obeerve and weigh the risk at every situation and being in the foreign land, all the more should we be careful with our words and actions before we invite any unwanted troubles.Had pizza hut for dinner and tried some of their local pizza flavours which are not found in Singapore.While shopping for our daily neccessities at Carrefour, i realised they practice the same system as our Singapore Mustafa!We had to make use of this free lockers found in the mall and lock up our belongings before we get into the supermarket to shop.besides that, most of the locals bring along recycle bags with them while shopping and from there, i could see that Singaporeans should learn from them and be more environmental friendly:)
Took bus 12 back to our hotel after the whole long day of eye opening, sight seeing aand shopping spreee!!Time to work on APPG, Goodnights People!!!:D:D
P.S Some problems with uploading, will try to fix it tomorrow!:)

Day 4-Learning paper cutting/APPG pop quiz:)

*Wooohoo!!*Feeling super AWESOME and realised the group of us work better and learn better at night!Had a good bath and went back to school for APPG and IS class with Mr Chua and Mr Tan.Pulled myself out of my lovely bed early in the morning and went for APPG class.Had a pop quiz for APPG and kind of caught us off guard.After Mr Chua went through the questions again, i guess we more of less understood better:)

The most memorable part of the day was the Chinese language class which reminds me of Mrs wee(secondary school chinese teacher that i very much admire:))Those interesting Chinese lessons back in those days where Mrs Wee taught us through songs and movies, not too bad!Miss her:(

Got lazy of getting back to school for our lunch and instead, called mac for our lunch!IT's kind of funny when we tried making our orders.Hearing how much we need to improve on our mandarin..^^Wanted to order Pizza hut but was told that Pizza hut in China don't have delivery services~

After a good lunch and nap, we went back to school for our chinese language classes.Goshh, the way we're eating and sleeping, without working out, I'm sure all of us gonna turn into some cute piggy when we get back to Singapore!=X*nightmareee*Before we enter the class, everyone was kind of dragging their way to the school, expecting another dry lesson taught in mandarin.Who knows, the lesson was really interesting and fun!!Was in the same group as Yiwen and Kris.The 3 of us being in the same class during our secondary school days, we were pretty excited for the class!:)When we were told that we will be shown a movie called 杜拉拉-升职记,IT's about this girl called LALA going around in search for a job and ended up working as an ordinary secretary.Lesson learnt:Even when you are doing the simplest job of low significant, put in the utmost effort and do your best in every task given to you.In fact, do it with love and passion and only in that way will you enjoy yourself in whatever you do:)Despite of all the obstacles met during her journey to promotion, she carry a positive attitude and do everything without much complaints, being contented with whatever she have:)I should learn from her yeah:)Glad that no one fell asleep during the class and even Aliff and Thir participanted in sharing their thoughts about the show!!:D:D
Later on after the Chinese class, one of the Well known paper art cutting master came in with two of his students who are from the deaf school.Really got to SALUTE to them as they show off their skills such as character paintings and paper cuttings!They may be physically handicapped in some ways but despite of their disabilities in hearing, they were able to master such awesome skills and we should learn such attitude from them:)Seeing the strong culture they have in China, i think we should also encourage Singaporeans to remember where their roots are and practice their traditional cultures.

One of their students:)

The marching of the police officer every morning at 8am SHARP will always wake us up with their powerful and loud commands.Find that it's a good practice and shows that they take pride in their job:)Will i get to see Singapore Police officer doing something like this?*food for thought*

P.S Watching the news with Yiwen, Rachael and Kristabel in the room now.Tsunami has hit Japan and some other areas around there.Even the Airport in Japan is flooded.Witnessing the scenes from the news, my heart ached and thoughts hit me while i watch the gushing waters bring the houses and everything along with it without mercy..We should really appreciate what we have now and not complain anything.It brought me back to the time where food was served to our table and some of us gave passing remarks about how 'horrible' the food was and all.Everyone, let's just be happy about all that we have and comparing ourselves to those victims who're suffering from the tsunami, our life here is a THOUSAND times better no matter what.

Can't wait to explore around tomorrow!:D:D

DAY 3-First APPG class and IS!!

*Eyelids're getting heavier~~*
After a long day of classes and fun, I'm back to my blogging:)
Trying hard to adapt to the weather and I'm still freezing this morning.Tried their 煎饼果子(Was too hungry and forgot to take photo of it!!D:)IT's something like our Singapore style Thosai wrapped with you tiao and some sauces...still can't take the saltiness and was kind of complaining..Realise how much kids like us from Singapore got so pampered and didn't know how to appreciate what was given to us.However, the hunger overpowered my fussiness and I finish it:)The very first APPG lesson with Mr Chua's pretty interesting:)Seeing how we helped one another and got so focus while doing the lab:)*not bad~*
Classes ended at around 11.30AM and we went back to the hotel before heading back to school for lunch:)Mr Chua had slight headache and wasn't feeling well:(Hope he will be feeling better tomorrow after a goodnight rest:)Learnt the importance for us to look out and take care for one another when we're overseas and the kind of sefllessness seen within the group is really something that I'd put a thumbs up on:)
Was kind of rushing to our IS class and did not have enough time to wait for some of the food to be served. Because of that, Jonathan had to tell the waitress to cancel the order but we'll still pay for all the food ordered.Felt really bad for we've somehow causes some inconvenience and it's us to be blame in some way.Could have estimated the time and order the food earlier.Lesson learnt:Time management.Here in China, it's unlike Singapore and Time is a major factor.In such situation happened during the lunch, our table could have shared the food and make sure everyone had a proper lunch before we proceed to the class.Sighs, our hunger can really overpower anything else.WE SHOULD LEARN TO BE MORE CONSIDERATE AND UNDERSTANDING!
As for the IS class, i find it really interesting to learn more about Tianjin and China's culture and delicacy as that's what we want to find out on this OIP trip too!Felt pretty embarrassed when we went dumbfounded when she asked about the culture in Singapore.Thinking about it, it's a sad thing to know that Singapore's chinese has lost quite some bit of our traditional culture practices as compared to the other races. Like how Aliff and Thir shared about their Malay culture and i could tell that Ms Wang find it pretty interesting:)
Went around and explore the nearby places around our hotel and there's a nightmarket!!OMG!Shopping spree for the girls yeahh!!Bought a blouse as a group and manage to BARGAIN!!The uncle was kind of cursing and swearing for he's earning lesser after giving us the discount=xWent on to the little alley and found all the roadside stalls selling fruits and 'BBQ sticks', we were planning to get there for dinner tomorrow:)Bought 1kg of strawberries for just $3 RMB!*JAW-Dropped*..took a photo with the stall owner and he thought we were from Korea..LOL!Expenditure these few days on food is considered SUPER CHEAP.A table of FEAST for 10+ of us only cost around $160 RMB which is only $30+ SING DOLLAR!!Come across a weighing machine in the pharmacy and out of curiosity, we went to check out our weight..Oh gosh..nearly FAINTED.HAHAHA!*inside joke*
our lunch only cost us $50+ RMB!!
Simply love the warm sun during the noon!!:D
Here goes out time table!!:D
Everyone seriously working on their APPG lab:)

P.S Went and check out the wash room in school and frankly speaking, i was holding my breath inside.If my bladder wasn't 'bursting'...i'd hold it and rush back to the hotel.I miss Singapore's public toilet:(

DAY 2-Exploring Tianjin 理工大学& making new friends:)

Had a good 8 hours plus of rest and went to the nearby Mac for our breakfast. Hotcakes.Not too bad and it suit very much to our Singaporeans' diet.Duhh~Followed by a Short briefing by Ms Wang at the lobby before she brought us over to the University just across the hotel.How i wish NP is just across my home yeahh.*in my dreams*
Realised today that people in Tianjin isn't as bad as what we were expecting.In fact, they are really friendly and nice!:)Before we came for this OIP trip, not only through the briefings by teachers, i was told by friends around me how bad can situations be in Tianjin and ask me to be more cautious whenever i go. Impression was the total opposite.Witnessing how sincere the people here is and all i would say is that Singaporeans have our part to learn and improve too:)
The morning sun was gentle but yet, the cooling breeze couldn't stop us from keeping our gloves and thick 'winter' wear on..Met our buddy and mine was 黄浩.Was actually expecting a female buddy so i could communicate easier but i guess it's a different experience all together and in the end, we will interact with almost all of the students there somehow:)Chatted with Dean and yiwen's buddy and they are really friendly!Not only did they introduced their respective areas in the campus to us, we also found out the different shopping paradise around the district we are in!:)Especially Yiwen's buddy, she's like a BIG sister to us and kept saying "no no no.." like some teacher to correct us when we make the wrong assumptions.haha!Tried their 冰tang hu lu , not the traditional one but the strawberry one!Fresh juicy strawberry(AWESOME during this cold season) coated with sweet and crispy sugared layer..OMG, didnt know such heavenly thing existed!Me and Dean got hooked on it:)Had lunch in one of the Halal Food canteen and our buddies helped to order the food.Goshh, the lunch was the BEST meal of the day yeahh, wa wa cai, something like fried lettuce with all the side dishes tasted very much like our singapore home-cooked food.Within 5 mins upon the dishes were served, the food was all cleared!That shows how hungry we were but at the same time, i felt that we were kind of rude for failing to control our hunger.We didn't spare a thought for them and despite of them helping us to order and serving us the food, we took it for granted and thought we were the guests and should be alright to be treated that way.*shake head*If we were to be given another time to have a meal with them, i guess we should take the initiative and serve them instead of them doing the job:)
Went and explore their work out areas and saw the running track.A group of us got so tempted and decided to run one round around the track!*Brrrr*Was SUPER cold and was literally gasping for air!Realise the students were playing sports in their jeans and attire looks rather different as compared to Singapore.Running and playing sports in Singapore seemed much more carefree and comfortable.Imagine running 2.4Km in jeans?You gotta be kidding~~
That was the stick of strawberry i was mentioning earlier on..but I'm sure if we were to get addicted and eat this everyday, we are all going to get diabetes..=XTried something similar in Singapore but i felt that the traditional one found locally here in Beijing is A THOUSAND TIMES nicer:)
Got into their classrooms and the teachers gave a simple and sweet introduction to start off our day for our orientation..they were speaking chinese and thus, Aliff and Thir were sitting beside me and yiwen so that we can help with the translation..felt that it's a good exposure for them to come for this OIP trip because not only will they learn a new language and culture, they also taught me alot of values that i could learn and improve for myself. The kind of hunger for knowledge and willingness to take up challenges despite of the language barrier..*SALUTE TO YOU GUYS YEAH!*No matter how tired i may be in the coming days, i guess seeing their spirit for learning will make me really carry out the 'never-say-die' attitude and continue absorbing the new knowledge:)*Thumbs up!*
The Hotcakes!:)finally, we got CHILLI SAUCE!!
A snapshot with Ronald MacDonald in TIANJIN!:)

Went to the pharmacy to get some heatpacks and the nurses there are really approachable and friendly!Just within a day, I was mistook as a Hongkonger and Korean, Does Singaporeans' have a look or identity?HAHAHA!instead of taking what you buy and paying straight at the cashier, here in Tianjin, their practices are rather different. We will be given a receipt for us to make payment before we collect our stuff. the staff there even thought us how to recognise the different note values and coins!Thinking back, i don't think all Singapore stores will have such helpful and friendly staff yeah?Something to bring it back and improve on:)
Had a row-call and exchanged our thoughts and lessons learnt for the day.Heard from Mr Chua about the toilets in the school and shall check them out tomorrow!Going past midnight we got to wake up early in the morning tomorrow for class..Goodnights people!!

DAY 1:Checking into 'Tianjin Fortune land be-yours Hotel'

*Ahhhhh-CHOO!!*Caught a flu already..finally, I'm blogging in CHINA-TIANJIN!!How cool is that!Thanks muchh to DEAN KO yeahh!!Most of us had access to FB and blogspot:)The whole journey to Tianjin's not only long but EXCITING!!I guess not much people will ever experience such an EPIC journey yeahh.RUNNING THROUGH GUANGZHOU AIRPORT just because we got to the wrong waiting area and nearly miss our flight!!Lesson learnt:Not to make assumptions and no matter how sure you are about the situations, double check, TRIPLE check.Especially during such serious circumstances, we should have ASSUME that everything's alright and just sat there waiting..but Gary went to ask the staff around and realise we were at the wrong place!Lucky us~~will never forget that run yeahh:)

Weeheee!!:)Reach Guangzhou already!:)
Went on then to 红蜡烛 restaurant and tried their Pancakes and dumplings!Not too bad but realised that people in Tianjin have pretty saltish and oily diet..tried their tea too!!:D
Our lovely teachers who're always with us!!:)Mr. Tan and Mr Chua:DI'm sure all of us will agree that we're SUPER lucky to have them with us!:)
On our flight~
Gave all the little cards and personalise pens out:)Hope you guys like it:D

There goes my first day of the OIP trip..tasted the food in the airport at Guangzhou and I'd say that the food in Tianjin is a lot better!:)I guess we may need some time to adapt and get used to their diet here.Not only the part on their diet but also the weather!!The moment we got out of Tianjin Airport, the weather's freezing cold!!Took a bus all the way and thankfully, the Hotel we're staying is AWESOME!Nice facilities and environment:)Another Shock i got on this very first day was my first BATH right here in Tianjin.Initially, i was overjoyed when i got into the room with Kristabel and was thinking that i could finally have a proper wash up..in the end, in the mid of washing up, the warm water turned to icy cold water!!the freezing water stung right into my bone and i ended up cleaning myself up with towel..*nearly fainted*
Lesson learnt:To be well prepared and flexible even at such unexpected situations:)I should have noticed the note on the wall stating that there's only 40L of hot water supply and it was then that i realised how lucky i was to have such comfortable life back in Singapore:)
I'd better get a good rest and charge myself up for the exciting time tomorrow!:)Nights people!
To my fellow OIP mates and teachers, Remember to drink lots of water and REST!!:D

2 DAYS MOREE!!!:D

*POOF!*In a blink of an eye...two days' gonna' be over and we'll all be on the flight already!!

Can't wait and the excitement within is really GROWING!!!Tried my very best to squeeze everything into the luggage after a shopping trip with daddy to buy all the stuff.Wonder what's wrong with the blogger last night and the posting up of my individual learning plan seemed to be corrupted with the fonts and all..hope i won't regret choosing blogspot to 'pen' down my every day thoughts during this 5 weeks in Tianjin!!:)Gonna' miss my dearest family and friends back in Singapore, no worries people, i will take care of myself when I'm in Tianjin:)Learning to be more independent, remember?HAHAHA!

*LUGGAGE EXPLODING!!!*

A little something(:

KAPO and the BIG BIG BIRTHDAY BALLOON:)

Gonna miss my days back in Singapore 'arguing' with her over every small little things.haah!!*TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF OKAYYS!*

INDIVIDUAL LEARNING PLAN

LEARNING OBJECTIVE
Being on my first trip to China, there seemed to be a lot to expect for the trip but at the same time, knowing near to nothing about the country and making the decision upon going for this OIP trip makes one hungry for knowledge about the country we’re about to explore. I aim to learn about the different culture in a masculinity society like China and observe the differences in their behavior and lifestyle. Besides that, knowing the fact that China is somehow leading the World’s economy, I hope to learn how the respective systems in China (Education, Transport) are being managed such that the Country is pretty well developed. As a student going over to Tianjin for cross-culture interactions, not only should we gain new skills and knowledge, I think we should also find out how the students in Tianjin spend their daily leisure and Curriculum time. And whether is it similar to the life of a Singaporean student. From seasons, eating habits, power distance or even the simplest facts about Tianjin seemed so vague and unknown at the moment but at the end of the trip, I am sure all the doubts will be cleared. What motivates me to learn is not only the fact that in the near future, we might be working with a Chinese partner and such invaluable experience during the trip may be applicable when the time comes, but with the growing excitement within to learn new skills and gain new knowledge act as the driving engine to make me hungry for the upcoming learning experiences ahead. Not only can we use the skills and knowledge learnt from the trip to share my experiences with my fellow school mates, the process of learning will allow me to learn more effectively and explore new ways to improve my way of learning. Also, going onto such OIP trip allows me to be more independent and improve on my sense of responsibility. I hope to learn to prioritize my own tasks and manage my time in order to make the fullest use of my 5 weeks in china and make this trip a fulfilling and enriching one.
FOCUS OF INQUIRY

5 weeks in Tianjin may be too short to find out everything that I’m interested in. Thus, choosing particular areas to explore on would be a good and effective way to inquire about my area of interest. To be more precise, Culture of Tianjin, Tianjin’s students’ lifestyle, Transportation/Education systems would be the main area of exploration in these short 5 weeks of my OIP trip.
QUESTIONS FOR INVESTIGATE
What are the main mode(s) of transport in Tianjin?

- Singapore have our main education system like Primary, secondary, poly or tertiary education.What about tianjin?(Is it very competitive to study in China since the population is so huge?

-Do students in China have CCA like us?How many hours of commitments do they have to commit.

-What are some of the unacceptable behaviours in their Country?(culture& behaviour)

- Does parents have high expectations of their children since young?What kind of expectations does they set on them?

- Is there any ways they think that are not yet ideal about their managing systems in Tianjin?(E.g Transportation system not efficient enough?)

-Do they usually eat their dinner as a family(Since Chinese is very particular about values such as elderly respect and family bonding) or it’s alright for them to eat individually?

By getting the answers to the above questions, I will be able to extend my knowledge on Tianjin and will be able to work better in the future if I were to come into business contact with a Chinese Business man or even going over for any interactive trips. Understanding the culture and industrial operations of a foreign country will make work much easier.

DEVELOPMENT OF GLOBAL SKILLS

As for the global skills, I think being more open-minded, building up inter-personal skills and comfort level with strangers is the major areas to improve and acquire on. As one steps into the working society, or even at the current level where we will need to work together with different people all over the world to complete certain task, such global skills are essential. Being more open-minded will aid in you working in this modern society. Reason being, when you are partnering with a group of people, one should be more open to other’s views and suggestions on certain topics so as to not limit yourself to your own opinions. In this way, you’ll be able to explore and realize other innovative ways in getting a different result. Inter-personal skills play a major role in the working environment. The levels of success rely pretty heavily on that and thus, I find it really important for an individual to improve on one’s inter-personal skills so as to work better with my working partners. Lastly, comfort level with strangers have to be greatly improved on as we have to constantly step out of our comfort level and work with different groups of people. If one were to be comfortable working with anyone, this factor will works hand in hand with inter-personal skill and make it a more smooth-sailing journey when I step into the working industry. Being able to communicate well and building a good relationship within your working environment will definitely play a minor role in my day-to-day happiness in the future.

LEARNING STRATEGIES

There are lots of ways to learn but the most effective way is not only to learn hard, but to learn SMART. Prior to the trip, I went to research and discover a book about Tianjin’s history and local places of attractions. Despite of struggling a little while reading the book which is written in Chinese characters, the contexts in it allows me to have a brief idea of what to expect for the trip. Reading books is a way, but it can be really dry and boring at times. Different people learn differently and for me, I learn best when I get to hear, watch and do. Thus, watching videos of Tianjin from online websites and of course experiencing new things personally will allow me to learn more effectively. Picking myself up along the way will not only make me realize the right things to take note of but at the same time, allow me to learn more.

All in all, I am sure the whole Tianjin OIP trip experience will speak for itself and having the above learning plan will facilitate in my learning and constantly act as a reminder for me so that I won’t go off track of my learning objective.