OELP Trip Day 1 Reflection

    Day 1: 26 May 2015

    On the 26 of May, my class, consisting of 34 students boarded the aeroplane SQ380 A380 towards Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

                                                                     
                                                                 
 Upon arriving, we travelled to the city of Shanghai and had dinner. After dinner, it was already dark and we made our way to The bund, or also known as 外滩. At The bund, it was a beautiful scenery with the spectacular view of skyscrapers. The place was decorated with colourful light. The bund was a long stretch of board walk along the river. Together with the fascinating skyscrapers and the refreshing cool wind, it was an enjoyable experience. Next, we went to the Huangpu River (黄浦江) and took the cruise. On the cruise trip, we saw many hotels, shopping mall and of course the major tourist attraction, the cruise. There were also many banks such as ISBC, HSBC, DBS etc.


    From this tourists attraction alone, I have gained some knowledge of how China economy function in Shanghai. Firstly, it is able to earn income from tourism. This place is situated with hotels and entertainment for tourists. This will attract tourists to go to that particular place and it provides housing and is convenient to the tourists as they can easily have a day filled with fun without moving to further places.
    Another reason is due to the success in finance in China. China has many banks and it is their primary source of income.
    At the bund, our form teacher, Mr Dela Cruz, taught us new value, situational awareness.
    Since we arrived in Shanghai in the late afternoon, we did not have much time before the sun sets and with this, the first day of our OELP has ended.

Day 2 : 27 May 2015
   
    On the second day, we had to wake up early to leave for Yangzhou. Fortunately, me and my roommate woke up earlier and were the first few to proceed to the dining area to have our breakfast.
Since this was our first breakfast, we had high hopes. To our disappointment, the food was not what we had expected. However, I enjoyed the pork bun and ate 3 of them. Whenever had had their breakfast, we were all ready to leave for our destination, Yangzhou. During the bus ride to Yangzhou, we had observed the change in industrial area. From tall skyscrapers to paddy fields, it was a 180 degree change, be it the way people live or the economy.

My CID group with the tour guide and the bus driver

 

     Upon arriving at Yangzhou, it was soon 12pm. First, we had our lunch before proceeding to Geyuan Garden ( 个园）. As someone who did not know how to appreciate nature. I did not really enjoy the visit. To add on, it was raining and we had to listen to the tour guide at the same time.


  Next, we were supposed to go to the Chinese Paper Cutting museum. However, another class of our batch was in the process of cutting the paper so we had to change our destination to the next attraction, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal.



A picture of Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal


We had a boat ride on the river. Me and my friend, Kieren, were stretching out our hands through the window to take picture of the lake. The lake was a simple one, with a long stretch down. The lake was calm despite the raining weather and many people were feeling sleepy with the slight rocking of the boat. However, me and my friends were using our cameras to take the bridges that we see.

  

 
After the boat ride, we went back to the Chinese paper cutting museum. This time, we were able to carry out the activity of cutting paper. The process was a treacherous one. In order to cut the paper, we needed to be very precise and it takes a lot of time as some of the pictures are very complicated. My tablemate was cutting one of the hardest picture and he was so determined to finish cutting it that he was still sitting there when everyone was done.

My friend working hard to finish the paper cutting activity

 
 Later that night, we went to have our dinner. Then, we walked to the nearby supermarket to compare prices of the food in China and Singapore. Most products were cheaper than Singapore, except the imported goods. They cost higher in China than in Singapore.
    When we reached our hotel, we proceeded to the meeting room to have a debrief by our form teacher. That night, the debrief was about comparing between Shanghai and Yangzhou. Compared to Shanghai, Yangzhou has more greenery and the sight of people riding motorised bicycle is also significantly higher. However, Shanghai was more industrialised and had modernised buildings. From this, we are also able to infer the difference in the pace of life between the 2 states. Yangzhou has a generally slower pace of life compared to Shanghai were the traffic is usually congested and people bustling around.

Day 3 : 28 May 2015

    Today, we were heading towards Shu Ren International School. Upon arrival at Shu Ren International School, we were greeted by the principals of the school and we were invited to take a picture together. After taking picture, we proceeded to observe the way lessons were made in Shu Ren international School. From the way the teacher teaches and students reaction, I can tell that the students rarely talk to each other and always listen to the teacher attentively. Also, whenever they were told to answer question, they were not hesitant at their response but rather confident and just speaks out the answer loudly. This is something that most Rv students are unable to do and I admit that I am one of them. Thus, we should learn from them and try to bring this positive attitude into our classrooms.

      Next, we proceeded to the hall to have a lesson on Wushu. The moves seemed easy but was complicated to do. However, in no time, we had gotten the grasp of it and was able to carry out the moves swiftly. We also decided to  show our own school's Wushu moves, 立化拳.
      After lunch,  we watched both schools present their performances and presentations. Students from Shu Ren international School were really talented and they were able to perform their pieces with their best effort. Even despite that there were some errors, they did not give up but persevered till the end. This is really amazing as this is opposite of RV's culture where students will have a setback when they meet with a problem
    Following that, we went to Shu Ren International School's garden. It was like a small park but was very big compared to our garden. They were many plants and the teachers explained that most of the plants are planted and taken care by students from Shu Ren Intenational School.

    After that, we had a friendly competition of basketball with Shu Ren International School. Despite the fact that we were losing, Rvians continued to cheer for our fellow friends. In the end, we were defeated but it was a game that had closed relationships between students.
     After that, we left the school all tired but I believed that is a fun-filled game and all my fellow classmates had enjoyed it.

Day 4 : 29 May 2015
  
     Today, we had another visit to Shu Ren School, but it was the old campus. However, the hospitality towards us was the same as the more modernised school. Firstly, when we reached there, we exchanged gifts with our buddies over there. Through conversations, I found out that some of them plays the same game as me! But it was rather hard to converse as my Chinese was weaker and I could not rly understand their language. We exchange gifts and that was the end of the activity. At the old campus, we also learnt how to make our own wristband. Students from Shu Ren School gave a fantabulous skit and they did not show any slight mistakes. The students also gave an introduction about the salty egg. I tried it during lunch and it was so salty. My friend ate the egg without rice and to him, it was not salty at all. All of us were so amazed at him that we found it unbelievable. Next, both schools presented their performances to each other and it was a fun-filled one. We were all so nervous about the performance but it ended smoothly. We believe that both schools enjoyed each other performances. Lastly, we went for 书法课. The students were very patient at guiding us on how to write the Chinese words and they repeated the instructions countless times despite that I could not catch up with them. Their patience is really commendable and this is one thing that I can learn from them. With that, we bid farewell to the students and the principals that have been good hosts.


      Our next destination was to go to Xinhua Book Store. The Book Store was very big, it was 6 stories tall with different books on different levels. However, according to my teacher, there were not any books on Sun Yat Sen and he asked me why? I believe that China was communist country in the past and it was Sun Yat Sen who had made it democratic, that was why there was not any books about Sun Yat Sen. I still remember that my friend bought a Chinese book and told Mdm Lim to send the our Chinese teacher, in the end he was told that we needed to write a review about the book. It was so funny!

Day 5 : 30 May 2015

    Our first destination was the visit to local market. The local market was more of buying pets, jade, pottery etc. This were the main things that I observed in the local market. The market had many mini shops selling all the jades and ancient products. The place is more for the older generation compared to the younger ones.

      Today, we visited the former residence of Zhu Ziqing. Zhu Ziqing is the author of a story called "背影“ . His former residence is in a housing estate where there are many one storey houses. The tour guide says that Zhu Ziqing is a respectable man who had done countless contribution to China. There is a picture in the resides of Zhu Ziqing where one of the high ranking official came to visit Zhu Ziqing former resides. This shows how much respect is given to Zhu Ziqing.
     The Dongguan street was the time where most people began to spend money. Dongguan street is a street that is straight alley. Dongguan street has many shops for souvenirs and also many shops that sells handicrafts. There is also a structure at the entrance of the street which is similar to a castle. The view that one can see at the top of the structure is really amazing and breath taking as it is possible to see the long stretch of shops.

                                                      Picture take at the top of the building
                 
     Next, we went to see the famous 瘦西湖. The way that the river blends in with the river is just amazing. Even though the walk at the lake was very long, it was a once in a life time opportunity that I get to see the nature blending in with the lake.

    

Day 6 : 1 June 2015

      Today is the second last day and also the day where we travelled back to Shanghai. Having breakfast in the bus, most of us went to sleep as we all did not have enough sleep. Upon reaching Chenghuang Miao, we were dispatched and were told to go and walk around in our CID groups.Chenghuang Miao is very different from Dongguan street. Chenghuang Miao looks more modern than Dongguan street and the shops are also air-conditioned whereas Dongguan street is more ancient looking.

   Next, we went to the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, we proceeded to the exhibition hall for animals. The exhibition there was really amazing, the animals looked as if it was real and we were given time to explore the exhibition in our groups. Following that, we proceeded to watch a 4D movie and it was really exciting as the seats were moving up and down expectantly, it was a really thrilling experience.

 

   
   Next, we went to the Oriental Pearl Tower, it was what I was most looking forward to. Taking the elevator up, I could feel my ear get blocked as the pressure slowly rises. When I reach the top, the view was breath-taking. The city, Shanghai could be seen from all directions. The ground was also made of glass and was transparent. This enabled us to see the bottom of the Oriental Pearl Tower and it was pretty scary. The air was really chilling and it was an unforgettable experience.
 

   After taking countless pictures on the Oriental Pearl Tower, we went to the French Concession. It is said that that was the base of the French when it was taking control of Shanghai. We walked around the area and I found that everything in the area was very westernised, including the shops, the house and even the tilling of the floor had the western feeling. The picture below shows the mixture of a Chinese and a Westerner house.

                                                      On the way to Tian Zi Fang

  
   Our next stop was Tian Zi Fang, Tian Zi Fang is a beautiful narrow alley that has many shops by the side. To me, it was not a shopping place but a place for us to see the way that Tian Zi Fang was built, it  also looked western as it was in the Old French Quarter.

Day 7 : 2 June 2015
    
    It was the last day of our trip. Our first destination was the Qibao Ancient Town. The Qibao Ancient Town lived up to its name. The walls were really old and had the ancient feeling. The Qibao Ancient Town was also the town where most of the CID groups bought their group identity.

     Next, we went to the Shanghai Museum. The Shanghai Museum consisted of items that are from the Ming and Tang dynasty. There are many ancient stuff, like the currency that was used in the past, the clothing and even the furniture. There is difference in the items based on the dynasty.

     After viewing all the exhibitions, we left the museum and headed towards our last stop, Shanghai Urban Planning Centre. However, it was closed as we had swapped our schedule. But is was alright as humans do make error. Hence, we spent about an hour hearing Mr Dela Cruz's jokes and riddles.
    

Finally, it was time to heard to the airport, to me, time flew very quickly. It is as if the start of OELP was only yesterday and the 7 days had actually ended. With saddened hearts that we were going to leave China, we boarded the plane... Goodbye China...

    

Shang Hai n Yang Zhou food

Yang Zhou
1. Steamed chicken over bamboo leaves

Steamed Chicken over Bamboo leaves is a representative dish of Yangzhou Cuisine, which enjoys great reputation both home and abroad. Stamped with brilliant outlook, amazing bamboo aroma and wonderful taste, it has become a must-order dish when dining in Yangzhou.

Usually chefs in Yangzhou restaurants will wrap chicken nuggets and some dried mushrooms with bamboo leaves then steam them together. When put them into the plate, cooks will also add some cherries to beautify the dish. By now an exquisite plate of steamed chicken over bamboo leaves has finished.

2. Steamed Pig's Head

Steamed Pig's Head, however, was not allowed to eat in ancient times, as it was served as a sacrifice in the worship of ancestors. Later, it gradually became a major course mainly served in banquets. Steamed Pig's Head is ranked among the top "three heads" in Jiangsu Cuisine with the other two to be Braised Silver Carp Head and Shi Zi Tou(minced pork ball).

So as to make the heads clean enough, cooks usually spend a long time to remove all the hair and other dirties. Therefore, you need not worry about the sanitary problem. It is reputable for the best characteristics of glamor appearance, fat but not greasy, tender and sweet along with the pleasant aroma, making you love it as soon as you see it.

Sichuan, Shandong and Cantonese Cuisine. It is featured with light, tasty as well as aromatic.

3. Yang Zhou Fried Rice

Yangzhou, or "Yeung Chow" egg-fried rice is said to be originated from the "broken gold rice" favoured by Yang Su, Duke of the Yue in the Sui Dynasty. When Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty visited Jiangdu (now Yangzhou), he introduced egg-fried rice to Yangzhou. After innovations of chefs of various dynasties, the food has been developed into one of the famous foods with Huaiyang flavour featuring the characteristics of Huaiyang cuisine of careful material selection, precise cooking, stressing the importance of colour and authentic taste. Today, Yangzhou egg-fried rice is a household name in many countries worldwide. According to some foreign friends, many foreigners like eating egg-fried rice; but they have no idea about what Yangzhou is. In their minds, Yangzhou is not a name of a city, but the way of cooking rice.

Yangzhou fried rice boasts abundant varieties such as "gold wrapping silver," and fried rice with meat and vegetables.

"Gold wrapping silver" means that the rice is covered by golden egg. To make "gold wrapping silver" rice, first fry the rice in the pot and then cover the rice with egg. After cooked, the exterior is golden while the rice inside is white.

Fried rice with meat and vegetables is the most typical variety of Yangzhou fried rice. It consists of a lot of supporting materials such as eggs, sea cucumbers, ham, string beans, prawn flesh, pork fillet, fragrance mushroom, bamboo shoots and chopped shallot. Eggs are fried first and then other ingredients are cooked with clear sauce and salt. The rice should be fried evenly without burning spots. After that, a half of the cooked egg and other ingredients are mixed with the rice. Then, two-thirds of the mixed ingredients should be placed on a plate, while the rest should be mixed with the rice, which is served over the mixed plate. It is a feast for the palate and the eyes.

Shanghai

Xiaolongbao 小笼包, the soup-filled dumplings Shanghai is famous for, are a miracle of creation and construction - seemingly delicate, semi-transparent dumpling skins are wrapped and neatly pleated around an aromatic filling of pork and a mouthful of hot savory broth. 

The pork filling, seasoned with a little ginger and shaoxing wine, is mixed with gelatinized pork stock that melts on cooking, transforming into a delicious soup. The addition of crab meat and crab roe from the famous Shanghai hairy crab makes for a rich but equally traditional xiaolongbao.

Many wonder how liquid soup manages to get inside a hand-wrapped dumpling. Is it somehow scooped inside as the dumpling is wrapped? Or is it injected using a syringe? The secret, of course, is that the soup is actually a solid at room temperature, melting into a liquid only when the dumplings are steamed at high heat. The soup is essentially a flavoured pork stock or aspic, made with pork skin, chicken bones, ginger, scallions and shaoxing wine, simmered for hours and hours then cooled at room temperature until it sets. Every kitchen has their own secret recipe because the quality of the soup is paramount in a good xiaolongbao.

The word xiăolóngbāo 小笼包 literally means 'small steamer basket buns' and is the most commonly used name for these dumplings. More traditional restaurants may also use the term tāngbāo 汤包, meaning soup dumpling. The only accompaniment needed for xiaolongbao is dark Zhejiang vinegar, although a bowl of clear soup is often eaten alongside.

When you taste a xiaolongbao, the skin or wrapper should be fine and translucent yet strong enough not to break when lifted out of the basket. The meat should be fresh tasting, smooth and savory. Lastly, the all-important soup should be hot, clear, and fragrant of pork. Enjoy!

Shu Hong's Reflection

I feel that Merlion is not a good icon for Singapore as there are many other factors that can represent Singapore too.
For example, the Marina Bay Sands. The Marina Bay Sands is a huge building that looks like a ship. This architecture has a lot of designs and looks fanciful, for example, the way the hotel rooms are built in 3 different buildings and then it being connected by a long structure that looks like a ship.
Yes, many say:" so what?" its just a building in the end. However, that is not all is to it. This building has many special facilities. The rooftop, which is also the ship-like structure, has a garden. Based on tourists comments through the web page, tripadvisor, the comments had included that it was a 57 story high platform that enables you to see the entire city.
Now, here is another point, by seeing the entire city, you will be able to see tall infrastructures. symbolises the development that Singapore had went through since the day we gained independence till today. Thus, I believe that the Marina Bay Sands has more meaning to Singapore and is more suitable to be Singapore icon.
There are also many other icon for Singapore, one of them can be the chilli crab. From tripadvisor, people recommend going to this restaurant called "Jumbo" where it is known for its chilli and pepper crabs, tourists reviews of the chilli crab and pepper crab in Jumbo have been very positive and everyone was complimenting on how soft and tasty the crabs taste like, many also claimed that the service at the restaurants were up to standards. Thus, I feel that the chilli crab is suitable to be the icon of Singapore as it will leave deep impressions on tourists/foreigners who come to Singapore to taste our local crabs. Even as a Singaporean I deeply enjoy the taste of the chilli crab and to me, eating a chilli crab is a blessing as I rarely get to eat it due to the price.

Shu Hong's Reflection


'Golden Age of Singapore'

     The Golden Age is a period where a country is prosperous. peaceful and filled with happiness.
     Singapore did experience this before, and it was lead under our late founding father, Mr Lee Kuan Yew. Mr Lee turned Singapore from a third world country to a first world country. He was able to turn a country that was kicked out of Malaysia, into an self-dependent country. A little red dot to one of the top few countries in the world. Mr Lee had created Singapore's Golden Age.
     However. in order to create Singapore's Golden Age, there were steps that had to be made. When Singapore first gain independence in 1965, Mr Lee became the Prime Minister. To ensure the security of the country, he implemented a new system, 'National Service' a.k.a NS. This system is one that ensures all men at the age of 18 that they will undergo training as a soldier, learning how to fight in the situation of a war. Indeed, many of us are unsatisfied with the NS programme. But have you ever wondered, if Mr Lee had not implemented this NS programme, Singapore will be defenceless and people will be unable to live in peace, everyday having to fear of being conquered by other countries.
     Mr Lee had made Singapore prosperous by stretching out to investors from overseas to invest in Singapore. Mr Lee showed no biasness towards any religion and all races were given fair opportunities. The citizens of Singapore was very contented with the way Mr Lee worked. Thus, Mr Lee was the one who had created the 'Golden Age of Singapore'.

Tang Dynasty Golden Age

      The Golden Age of Tang Dynasty was due to the the arts flourishing during the Tang Dynasty. It was during this time that poetry became an integral part of the Chinese culture. Poetry was a required study for those who wished to pass the civil service exams. Talented poets were well-respected and often recited their poetry as entertainment at parties.
        While the Tang Dynasty is most famous for its poetry, other arts also became popular during this time. Many forms of literature were written including short stories, encyclopedias, and histories. Also painting was very popular and the era produced famous painters such as Wu Daozi, Wang Wei (also a famous poet), and Zhou Fang.

         China has made successful joint ventures in China such as Suzhou industrial park, Sino- Singapore Tian Jin Eco-City and capital land malls. This marks how fast China is as a developing country. China has became a country that has powers and ranks 2nd in terms of GDP. By opening up their country for trade, it allows them to trade with other countries goods that they make. It also allows more foreign investors to enter the country freely. This allowed China to earn profit and this is the point of time where China was getting stronger and stronger. However, China had a population of 1.4 billion people, thus despite being a strong and independent country, the China citizen have very low pays due to the over population in China. Due to this factor, the income gap between the rich and poor is widening and this causes unequal opportunities among the peoples starting from young. For example, a child in a rich family can get all the schooling that he or she needs. However, a child in the poor family will be struggling to pay school fees or even trying to earn money to help the family. Overall, China had become one of the top few countries and it may pose threat to Singapore.
        Local talents in Singapore might go to China as their companies have asked if they wanted to go to China for business talks. Obviously, as the pay we receive will increase, people will be going to China as the products there are also affordable to us. Singapore will be losing local talents have all immigrated to China, thus, this might be a possible threat to Singapore.

Shu Hong's Reflection ( 2 )

  SHU HONG'S  ( ONE CHILD POLICY)

Firstly, let me tell you roughly where the one child policy first started. There was a period of time, where the birth rate in China was increasing rapidly. The growing population had caused the shortage of food as there was more mouths to feed.

Now, let us move on to talk about the food supply of Singapore. In Singapore, do we face food shortages? Despite the fact that we have a large population, there isn't really any food shortage as we can import goods. Thus, we can prevent food shortage. However, we must still be aware that the fact that we are importing goods from other countries, once they decided to break the contract, we will be unable to have a supply of food. This will cause us to lose our source of food.

In Singapore, the government encourages more people to give birth rather than having the one child policy. This is because Singapore is a small country and the government wants to make the small country to be full of youths. Thus, Singapore population is rising.

Singapore might suffer will sometimes suffer from the 'drought' that occurs occasionally and water-rationing exercises have been implemented to solve this crisis.

As I have mentioned above, another problem is that other countries may refuse to sell us products or our daily necessities. Thus, Singapore government have been trying to keep good relationship with other countries to ensure that we continue to trade with each other.

Shu Hong's Reflection ( 1 )

Shu Hong's 

CID Reflection ( 1 ) 

During this CID lesson, i learnt that it is important that we cannot judge a book by its cover. Furthermore, before we express our opinions, we should always see a bigger picture.

During the 1 hour lesson, our teacher showed us two picture, one of a guy sitting on the street holding a sign : please give me money, i just need to make a phone call. And other picture of a man and a woman holding a baby. The woman is looking at the man's map.

At first, i thought that the woman in the second picture was related to the man, thus, when i was given a choice on who to help, i picked the picture with the man and woman. If you looked at how i looked at it, it is actually rightful to help the "family of three" rather than the one guy. In addition, there is a child so it is hard for the mother to work, thus i would rather give the $1 coin to that mother.

However, after the teacher revealed that the woman in the picture was part of a syndicate and are known for using babies to deceive the unsuspicious locals and tourists to beg money from them.

After hearing that, i was shocked and felt cheated. Hence, when we were given another chance to choose who i will give the coin to, i changed sides as the guy  just needed to call to help him back on his feet.

From this exercise, i can conclude that we should always look beyond what we see before analysing the situation. Therefore, we will never know the truth, till we find the truth beyond what we see.


In Singapore, it is a developed country. Most people thinks that there is no poverty occurring in Singapore. And that includes me. However, after researching, I realised that Singapore is still suffering from poverty.

  





















Lets use this picture as an example. In Singapore, people who suffer from poverty leads a very tough life. They do not have a house to stay in, much to say their family warmth. Sometimes, the situation becomes so bad that they have to look through rubbish bins to find food or anything that can be recycled for money. Hence, we should not be take what we have for granted as we were lucky to have what we have. Cherish our friends. Cherish our family. Cherish your house and keep it clean. Cherish......there are many more things that we can cherish but we all did not see the value in them, thinking that we can always find them...

Shu Hong's Holiday

December Holidays

        During the December holidays, me n my family went overseas. We went to Hong Kong, Macau and lastly Taiwan for a 14 day trip.

Hong Kong

 When we reached Hong Kong, it was already at night thus, the only transport was to take bus to the rental apartment. I remember that my dinner for that night was a delicious bowl of steaming hot fish ball noodles. After that, we returned to the apartment. The apartment was pretty small but was still liveable. At least it had a television and also free Wi-Fi!
        The next day, we went to a theme park, Ocean Park. However, as it was a weekend, there were a lot of people and all the rides were crowded. But, the theme park was not only meant for rides. There were animal shows and also and aquarium. In the aquarium, we saw a huge stingray, almost the length of a shark. Next, we went to see the sea animal show. At the animal show, dolphins were doing fabulous tricks, diving in and out of the water with synchronisation. The seals were waving at us with their tails and flippers, they were so adorable. After the show, we had to take the cable car back to the entrance and the queue was longer than you can imagine. The wait was about 30 minutes I guess?
        That was not the end, when we took the bus to the MRT station, it was the peek period. Traffic was heavy and it was another hour before we were able to alight at the bus-stop.
          The following day, we decided to go to Mongkok, one of the tourist attraction. There were many items sold there ranging from USB thumb drive to belts. It was our last night in Hong Kong so we decided to have a 'higher-class' dinner. We found a dim sum shop and ordered to our fill, it was really delicious! The buns were decorated like a pig and it was a very cute!

Macau

        Goodbye Hong Kong! And Hello Macau! We set off for Macau on a boat ride that was estimated to arrive at Macau in an hour time. When we have settled down, we decided to go a nearby 'market' to have dinner. We explored the place and discovered a bubble tea shop, the green tea latte was really good! In addition, we found a food that is only found there, curry Yong Tau Foo. Due to the travel time, we called it a day was we were all exhausted and returned to our hotel room.
        The next day, we went back to the place and decided to try the Portuguese egg tarts as Macau was famous for it. It was so delicious, the is a sensation of crisp when you put it into your mouth and it feels as if it is melting in your mouth. After that, we walked to the tourist attraction, Senator Ruins. The attraction is a front view of a castle that is suppose to have been preserved for a few 100 years. After taking many photos with it, we decided to proceed to have our dinner. In a small alley, we found a shop named "House of Tomato". To me it wasn't really what I expected but what can I say...
        2 days past in Macau and it was time to travel to another country, Taiwan! The following day, we had to catch a boat to go to Hong Kong airport and then transit on the plane to Taiwan. However, the transit time was approximately 3 hours. Thankfully we were applicable to a lounge and had a comfortable place to eat and relax.

Taiwan

        Upon reaching Taiwan, the sky had darken, we had to buy tickets for a bus transport that brings us to a city. The bus ride is about 1 hour. In the end, when we reached there we had to take a cab to the hotel as it is not within walking distance. We had to take in separate cabs as one cab was unable to fit my family of 5. After settling down, we decided to go the night market to have our dinner. The fried mushrooms were really nice! I even bought a shoe for school!

       Rise and shine, we had to wake up early as we had hired a chauffeur that will fetch us to a place called Alishan and bring us around the place. Even though the vehicle was not what we had expected, the ride was still comfortable. As we had stopped along the way, by the time we started ascending the mountain it was almost dark. To make the situation worse, there is no streetlights on the roads. Isn't it dangerous? Alishan is on a mountain and it is very cold there, fortunately, for the 民俗, there are heated blankets that are able to keep us warm.

       Having a wonderful sleep, I woke up all fully energised and was prepared to have a full day ahead. The same driver picked us up and brought us to a higher point where there are many tourists bus there. Its was like a garden just a bigger one such that there are huge trees planted. Something like Bukit Timah Reserve. It was very crowded. Our driver says that in the time when the flowers blooms, the number of people over there will be 5 times more than during the winter season.  After the tiring walk, the driver recommended a shop to us, it is a hotpot shop and the ingredients served there were really big!. After the meal, we went down the mountain and proceeded to Chiayi. By the time we reached Chiayi, it was already dark and our driver will be leaving us.

        Waking up early in the morning again, we had to catch an early train. The train ride was about 5h long to Guan Shan. However, we had to transit. During the 5h train ride, I was looking at my brother's phone as he was playing a game. After awhile, I began to feel dizzy and did not really feel well. Fortunately, I recovered over a period of time and we had arrived at the hotel. The hotel provided bicycles and we could use them to cycle on the bicycle path. Guan Shan is a place meant for cyclist to cycle. The path was up slope and it was quite a tedious one. After the ride, I was so exhausted that I could barely walk. Later on that night, I began to feel feverish. This was when the nightmare began.

        The following day, we had to catch another train to Tai Tung. Finally we could wake up later as the train was bound to leave at 12.30pm, thus, there was no need for rushing. Arriving at Tai Tung, we had to wait for an hour for the driver to pick us up as they forgot the appointment. Yet, the driver was still friendly with us and showed us some of the famous food stalls that we should try. The bungalow looked very grand and luxurious. We went to a nearby park and walked for awhile. That was when I started to feel dizzy. I was running a fever. We went back to the hotel and I was told to rest while my family go to the Night Market to buy some food back.

           After several train rides, it was time to move in a car! We had hired a cabby that was also a tour guide. The driver brought us to many places. One of the special places is the place where the river flows upwards instead of downwards. Amazing isn't it? However, during the ride, I was feeling more and more dizzy. I could not really remember much about the trip as I was in the car for most of the time. When I woke up, it was already 5-6 pm. Taiwan gets dark earlier than Singapore. The driver recommended some food to us and my father and mother went down to buy the pack food. Upon arriving at the hotel, we were greeted by the owner. The owner showed us our room and we realised that the room is so huge.  There was even a coffee table where we ate our food there. As I was sick, I did not really have the appetite to eat so I could only drink some of the beef soup and eat some noodles. Then, I took a shower and prepared to have a night's rest. The following day, I was feeling energetic. I was not sick anymore and even decided to go down to the breakfast area to eat with my family. However, my brother was the one who is sick. Looks like I had transferred my virus to him.

        The place we stayed was near the pebble bay. In fact, it was right beside it. However, it looked different from the previous time when I went there. which was probably 4-5 years ago. We were given free rental bicycle coupons that came with the hotel room and rented bicycles to cycle the path provided. It was really refreshing as the wind would be blowing in your face when we cycle. In the end, as the area was quite remote, there wasn't any restaurant or night market, hence, all we could do is to go to the nearest convenient store and buy the pre-made noodles. I enjoyed it as I liked eating maggi mee!

       Our days at Hua Lian had ended and the owner kindly called a cab to pick us up. Upon arriving at the train station, we had to take another train ride that was about 3 hours. Arriving at Taipei, there were many exits and we were unsure which was the right one. Fortunately, there was a kind lady who offered to show us the way to the hotel.  During the 3 days spent in Taipei, we had shopped for countless hours and visit many shops. It is the last day of the trip and I was glad yet disappointed that we had to go back home.

       This concludes my overseas trip and I hope that I will return to these countries soon! :D