Day 34 - Leaving on a Jetplane

สวัสดีคับ(Thai - hello), PEOPLE!

Today, we bid farewell to WUST, Wuhan, Hubei, and people that we know! ): To celebrate the last night of the trip, I decided to stay up through the night to enjoy the final moments before we head back to Singapore, the place where we belong.

At 8, our bags were packed, and we were all set to proceed. But before that, after getting permission from Mr. Chia, Agnes and I went back to the back alley to meet our friend, Xixi. She is a hair-stylist and she said that she wants us to meet her one last time! She was kind enough to help us make our hair before we went back to Singapore.

THANK YOU, XIXI! WE WILL REMEMBER YOU! (:

With dying seconds we have left, we rush back to the hostel. Seeing that room empty again as we’d seen it when we’d first arrived have let my emotions run wild inside me. It may have been a short five weeks, but the memories made in that room will never be forgotten. With our luggages ready, we are ready to leave!

Just like day one, the guys are in chared of carrying the laggages up onboard the bus! But this time round, the laggages seems to be much heavier!

Some of the local students who came to see us off.

After one hour later..

Location: Wuhan Tianhe International Airport

Flight CZ 3345, 1300 hours

Destination: Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport

The Most heart breaking moment was to bid our final goodbyes to the local students who have spent their time with us! ): THANK YOU PEOPLE SO SO MUCH FOR EVERYTHING!

Looking on the bright side.. WE ARE FINALLY GOING HOME ALREADY! Our final Jumpshot in China! *Salutes*

After a couple of hours later, we arrived at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport. We are taking Flight CZ 352 at 1815 hours (delayed as expected). And we are of course heading back to our home, SINGAPORE! WOHOO!! :D

15 mins passed the beautiful evening of 6 o'clock, and it's time for us to board the plane! Flying really exhausted oneself physically! I totally missed the last moment where the plane lifts its tyres up off the land of China because i was too tired, well indeed, fatigue can never be defeated!

We have beening flying for more than 5hours and i am really anticipating the plane touchdown on Singapore!

Time check: 11:30pm & TOUCH DOWN!

'HOME SWEET HOME!' was the word that first came out when the plane touched down on SINGAPORE! After flying in total of more than 10 hours, we finally reached home! (:

We grabbed all our barang barang, some phoned home, some rushed to the toilet because they holded their pee! :X

YUP, WE ARE HOME PEOPLE!

Before we go.. How about one last group photo? (:

Three Cheers, and three cheers for 5th OVERSEAS IMMERSION PROGRAMME!

HIP YIP, HURRAY!

HIP YIP, HURRAY!!

HIP YIP, HURRAY!!!

WE CONQUERED WUHAN, CHINA! GOOD JOB, PEOPLE!!

Summary Reflection:

After the countless reflections that i have written, now it has come down to the final summary reflection. First of all, I just want to take this opportunity to thank Ngee Ann Polytechnic for organising such a wonderful programme for us! True enough, i never regretted going for this programme. Initially, i thought it will be a boring time for us to head over there in China to study our module when my friends at home are relaxing over the holidays!

And going for this Overseas Immersion Programme has really surprised me because i never expected that i can enjoy in Wuhan as much as i did. And the stay in Wuhan really changed my perspective of studying/experiencing life overseas! Wuhan was really an eye-opener for me!

The experiences on this trip has also left me to appreciate everything in singapore more, from the drinkable tap water to the safety when crossing the roads and to knowing that we're back in our homeland. These five weeks has made me even prouder to be a Singaporean than ever before!

Despite finally being able to return to the home I know and love, I will undoubtedly miss Wuhan, and their way of life. I'd miss their food, the friendliness of the locals, the friends i'd made there, the excitement of trying new things everyday. During the short five weeks that i've been in Wuhan, i've definitely came to love the place. No regrets on going on this trip!

Also want to take this last opportunity to thank everyone especially the lectures, and my friends who have been there for me!

Day 33 - IT'S SHOPPING SPREE!! (:

สวัสดีคับ(Thai - hello), PEOPLE!

IT'S OFFICIALLY THE LAST DAY! THE DAY WHERE WE HAVE TO DO ALL THE FINAL THINGS THAT WE HAVE NOT DONE IN WUHAN!!!

It's Day 33. Having to be in Wuhan for such a long time, i am starting to miss all the little things that we (together with the local students) did together. Memories start to flash back! The time when we first met, all the interaction sessions like the barbecue gathering and the final dinner together.

What is the best way of not reminding yourself about these things is to distract yourself! And the best way to distract myself is to SHOP! I'm not the one shopping, just accompanying! (I'm broke already, so i cannot shop! ): )

Have you ever see bees bustling around their bee hives? That exactly the way that we are behaving. Everyone is busy because all of them will be doing their last minute shopping!

First stop, it's Walking Street (步行街) again. And what we are anticipating is the night market! But before that, we went to have our 香辣花甲 and other miscellaneous food again!

To be honest, i think we should have spend our final moments not only at the night market, we should head back to everywhere where we came across and let the flashbacks to do the job. It was 10 pm and it's time to head back to our hostel! (Not to break curfew!)

Something to do: PACK, PACK, And MORE PACKING!

It's very hard for me to pack with a heavy, sunken heart. ): But we were left with no choice but to pack. Besides fighting against our emotions, we have another problem. We realised that we have bought a lot of stuffs here and it makes all the packing seems so difficult! And fearing that we might exceed the weight limit of 30 kilogram!

And to remember the day, most of us stayed up till the next morning! Spend our final moments...

REFLECTION:It is always hard to leave somewhere where you have stayed in. Although it may be temporary, the feeling developed here can always be permanent. Yes, we are going home tomorrow but the reluctance level to leave this place is so strong. Nevertheless, i learnt a lot of valuable life lesson here and i appreciate for all the things that i am to do and contribute here. This trip had left me a wonderful memory of everything about Wuhan. It's always hard to say good bye, but tomorrow is the day we bid farewell to Wuhan, our temporary home! TAKE CARE, WUHAN! WE WILL MISS YOU!

Day 32 - Basketball match, and Farewell Dinner!

สวัสดีคับ(Thai - hello), PEOPLE!

Today is the day where we are officially 48 hours away from the date where we depart from our temporary home. Have to think about it, i felt that it's time to cherish the moment i have here. Before that,

It's the clash of the titans:

SINGAPORE VS CHINA

Having to see the local students play basketball everyday, we sensed fear within us. And of course they will have a better advantage than us because it's at their home ground and the condition there is very different from Singapore. Cold air can reduce the air capacity that your lungs can hold. So that is our main concern, whether can we last through the game.

Before we get into the game, i give you TEAM SINGAPORE.

Let the game begins! *加油，加油，加油*

In the first half, we managed to lead ahead in front of the Giants by 4 comfortable points. And after the first half, we are running out of steam already and we have no choice to play with only 5 men. Talking about limit players, we have to plan out a strategy!

SECOND HALF BEGINS!

YUP, i was right. We totally ran out of steam. Initially, we were leading but now we were trailing behind by a couple of points. And the cold air was hitting hard on us, most of our men are seriously panting for their lives. Hanging on, we managed to end the game with a draw! GOOD JOB, GUYS!

YOU DID OUR NATION PROUD!

After the game, how about a group photo?

Our 2^nd highlight of the day was the FAREWELL international buffet dinner!

The farewell dinner marks our soon-to-end trip here at Wuhan. Mixed feeling seems to have struck most of our students on this day. Last chance to mingle around! Really going to miss the people there!

Enough of the sad moments, picture paints a thousand words! So, enjoy!

It's time we show our gratitude to the local students.

REFLECTION:

The time that we spend here is limited and we are left with two more days. There are a lot of thing i will miss. But before that, i just want to delicate this post to the local students who have been taking care of us for the past 5 weeks. We want to thank you for the extreme gratitude and the never dying patience that you all have displayed. We thank you for bringing to discover new things and trying the food that we have never tried before. And lastly, we want to thank you all for the hard work and the effort that you all have put in and we really appreciate the things that you all have done for us! THANK YOU ALL SO SO MUCH!

 

Day 31 - FOOD, FOOD, AND MORE FOOD!

สวัสดีคับ(Thai - hello), PEOPLE!

SCHOOL'S OUT, FOOD'S IN!

I have been waiting patiently for this day to come! Remember that, i told you about this restaurant that serves fantastic food? But the location is very far from our hostel?
If you are guessing 楚留香饺子馆, 中南路, YOU ARE RIGHT! (:
There will be no regrets when i go to that restaurant! You want to know why? Just look at the pictures!

We spent almost two hours there because we just feel that it's the last time that we come here and eat, so we must cherish the moment here!
With some spare time to kill, we head down to HanKou,Walking Street (汉口，步行街) to do some final shopping! And the night market is always the spotlight of the whole entire walking street! Bought some random stuffs back with us!
Some interesting facts about night market:

• The night market is not always crowded, crowd are much worse when it's on weekends only.
• Try to go to the night market early, so that you have enough spare time to look at the things that you like!
• For girls, try to get a guy with you. And ask the guy to walk in front of you to clear the way. (just kidding)

TOMORROW IS A BIG DAY FOR THE GUYS! It's regarding our glory and pride! It's SINGAPORE VERSUS CHINA!

ANTICIPATE FOR MY POST TOMORROW!

HAVE A NICE DAY, EVERYONE!

Day 30 - TIME TO PAMPER MYSELF!

สวัสดีคับ(Thai - hello), PEOPLE!

LAST PROJECT MANAGEMENT CLASS! 

Gonna miss that classroom and the water dispenser over there! ):
I remember i slept there for one of Miss Hock's lesson. :X
So long.. CLASSROOM!

Let put aside all the sad moments! LOOKING ON THE BRIGHT SIDE,

IT TIME TO PAMPER OURSELVES!

HAIR SALON, HERE WE COME!!! (:

We went to this SOURCE(发源地)Salon to have our EXTREME MAKE OVER! The salon is known not only in Wuhan, it is well-known in all parts of China! I have heard that the hair stylist/designer from SOURCE must be either trained professionally or must have countless years of experiences in the hair beauty industry! 

With the solid background information, i entrusted my hair to the hair stylist/designer over there to give me a complete new look! The plan was to have my hair dyed. From Black to Chestnut Red!

The Hair Stylist/Designer suggested that i should not dye a colour that is too bright because it will affect the way i look and the feeling i possessed to people around me.

Colour Check, Heart Check! TIME TO GO!

 MAKE IT OR BREAK IT!

I was thankful that i am not the only one who is doing my hair. I brought along some beauty-wannabes to pamper themselves too!

After two hours later.. There you have it, a NEW Edward! HAH!

HOW DO YOU PAMPER YOURSELF WITHOUT FOOD?

We head down to Greenery Cafe for the last time! And yup, indeed! We went there just for the steak! STEAK, STEAK, AND MORE STEAK! :D :D

After eating, we managed to take a slow walk back to our hostel. Upon walking, there are many things on my mind. Firstly, it was the remaining days that we have in Wuhan. How are we going to spend the remaining days here? With the date getting closer to the date when we depart from this temporary home, the saddness inside me is mounting up.
Secondly, it is always hard to say goodbye to the people that have been around you for quite awhile. I just dont want the day to come!
Anyways, Diarrhea acting up again! *ZOOM to the toilet*
HAVE A NICE DAY! (:

Day 29 - PERFORMANCE NIGHT! (:

สวัสดีคับ(Thai - hello), PEOPLE!

*OUCH* THIGHS SERIOUSLY ACHING BAD! ):

Beside the main highlights of today's blog, all group went through the final presentation of our Project Management Module and a draft video of each respective groups to Mr. Chia. I think Mr. Chia is fine with our progress and we hope that we don't disappoint him! *Fingers Crossed*

After the presentation, most of us went back to our respective hostel rooms to get ready for the cultural exchange programme which is going to be held later in the evening! Some of them are running here and there, spreading messages around, rushing for final rehearsal so that we won't not screwed up later! (: I can see that all of them want to make Ngee Ann proud! HAH! (:

THE CLOCK STRIKES 7 and it's PERFORMANCE TIME!

Everything was well-prepared! There are tidbits and sweets on the table for us just in case we want to have some to munch when we are watching the performance. The ambience was great! I think there were around 100 students present. When the moment i walked in, i thought it was my mini concert! *just joking* :X

For our MDE side, we had a total of 7 items which includes individual groups’ performance, Girls’ performance and Guys’ performance. All groups’ performance were based on our country’s culture! (:

MAY THE SHOW COMMENCE!

The local students welcome us with a dazzling fan dance! (: 

Our girls SPICE things up with Wonder Girls' 'Nobody' Dance!

Guys singing their hearts out!

I think that one of the most touching performing will be our group performance because we sang a national day celebration song. It's called 'Home' by Kit Chan. Having to stay here for so long, i bet some of them missed home very much. And i heard that some of the LSCT students let the emotions loose when we are singing the song as one MDE! (:

This is the moment! (:

After the programme, i went back early because i was not feeling well! ): Was still feverish and i was suffering from minor diarrhea. Really have to take care of myself! ): I just hate it when it's coming to an end already, and i'm still down with sickness! URGH! :\

Sorry, PEOPLE! I want to apologise for the short post today! Really not feeling well. ):

REFLECTION:

I feel that it's important for us to learn about eachother's culture! And today, i am very thankful that Ngee Ann and WUST have arranged this cultural exchange for us. And we really appreciate what the local students have done for us, the performance and stuffs. And i learnt something from them, no matter who you are, what your nationality is, you must be proud of where you come from and where you lived in. Just like one of our NE messages:

Singapore is our homeland; this is where we belong.We treasure our heritage and take pride in shaping our own unique way of life.

Today, i also learnt that you do not have to care about how people look at you, because once you have put in your best, others don't really matters! (:

HAVE A NICE DAY, EVERYONE! (: