Jade's

Day 1
It was 'areoplane all the way' . First flight was from Singapore to beijing. I was sitting with a few of the teachers and did not managed to get to sit with my friends. The flight was a six hours flight,so naturally everybody might have slept,and that of course includes me. The second flight was a domestic flight. It just took about like, 40 minutes. I sat with the same people again. Then after we reached,we were supposed to follow our group teacher incharge and mr Danny made a "great" example of asking us to stick to him. Well,im sure he does not want me to mention it here. haha. Then we took a bus to our hotel and on the way, the guide spoke to us. She sounded friendly. Then we gathered at the hotel lobby for a breifing and went to our rooms. My room mate was Jody. we packed our haversacks ready for the programmes the next day.

Day 2
In the morning,we had our breakfast and i wasn't quite used to the food there though.. But still have to eat what. then the first programme in the morning,we headed down to the Dongfang Billingual Experimental School. They welcomed us with their band playing some songs or something. Then we went into this room and they welcomed us with performances and gifts. Then we had a China teacher come in to talk to us about some lotus stuff. truthfully speaking,it was really boring. After that was some music lessons. It was much better than the lotus one. The China students taught us how to pull the er hu, and we even had out very own CHR er hu perfomance.. ha ha. Yunyi plays er hu in CO i think, so she played some song. Then from the class,we could see the basketballers playing matches,and apparently some people got high and mad. After the school,we went to DaMing Lake. And because this trip,i knew a lor of people,so i kept on going with different groups making more friends and also, take time to so called "bond" with my friends. haha. After visiting the DaMing Lake, taking pictures, looking at scenery? Then we went to FuRong street. It was some Alley with lots of roadside stalls. We walked around, getting to know what they actually sell. After that we went to some bookstore. As my friends and i thought that they only sell chinese books, which apparently isnt. So we did not really look at books. We just walked around chit chatting and playing. Then we had this cross talk. It was definately enjoyable and hilarious. But at the start,i did not really catch what they were saying cause they we speaking really fast, but after that, they crack jokes and that part,i understood. That night was one of the 'best-est' things in China.

Day 3
This day,we went back to the School again. But this time we had real lessons. And once again,it was boring. And why u suppose? Because their accent is really 'non-understandable'. i couldn't understand what they were saying,and hence,it was boring. We had science and math lessons. And their math paper was in chinese. I bet i could just die studying in China. *laughs out loud*
Then after that,we had some break or something. Then we went to climb Qianfo Shan. The basketballers joint us. Then there was this point,i went to the toilet with some other friends,obviously with one of the teachers. And when we came out, they were far gone. So my friend and I, we ran all the way to catch up with them. We did catch up with them,but we had to catch up with something else...our breath.. LOL. okay lame. So we walked and chatted at the same time. And when we reached the top, few of them seemed breathless. haha. Mr Hu said that mount. Taishan was like three to four times more than this. But im prepared (: We went back to the school for more lessons. Then it was home visit. Jasper,Marie,Jody and i were grouped together to go to the same house. They were really friendly and they introduced some of their culture. And they were so friendly till the extend of Jasper being "suffocated" by a gigantic dog. And wait,did i mention it was a gigantic toy dog.. haha. Okay,but seriously they were really great hosts.

Day 4
In the morning,we travelled to Qufu. By the time we reached,it was lunch time. So we ate at Qufu.Then we went to visit the Confucius temple,mansion and forestry. And this trip should have been arranged before my history project, cause it was on Confucius.. haha. Well,all the buildings looked the same and i dont have much interest in such things actually. But it was fun actually because there were fun people.. haha. But overall it was still okay. Some stuff still managed to catch my eye, like that two dustbin together looking like two small huts..alright,joking. Then we travelled to the hotel. Nothing much to elaborate for this day.

Day 5
We went to Qufu Experimental school. And that place was like really cold,and they make us stand there and take photos.. great.. haha. alright,then we went to this room, i dont really know if its a class room. Then had some breifing and we had lessons with the students. Our first lesson was P.E. We did track and field. Had some mini races, like baton passing those type. Then next it was english lessons. So the group that went to the same class room as me were all very excited. Finally some lessons that might interest us. But we all ended up feeling very bored. Im being very frank here. haha. Not trying to criticise them, but it was kind of boring because they learn simple english. Well,of course, their man language is chinese.. haha.Then we went back to the room we first arrived and everybody gathered. The china people showed 'tom and jerry' . Well,cant deny that you'll not feel lame watching it right. Then Rachel and Jerome played the piano, it was really nice. After that,we went to support the basketballers in their match against Qufu. And CHR wont. *clap claps.. Then we travelled to taian.

Day 6
This day was one of the main reasons why i wanted to come to this trip. Challenge myself with the mount. Taishan climb.. haha. So we started climbing.. Climbed a very long way already. Then only we saw this sign board saying "climbing starts here". And we all like 'sian diao'. And because of some previous illnesses, i wasn't in my best health. I felt breathless all of a sudden, and it was really our og the blue i jus felt breathless. No warnings no nothing. haha. Then i jus slowlyslowly made my way up. Then at the Nan Tian Men (or something) we had our lunch. Then we continued our climb to the summit. And it wasnt some short climb like (i forgot who) has said. And RachaelQuek climbed with me. Then the joy of reaching the summit was really great. To touch that board that says the height of mount. taishan and everything, to complete a climb was really a nice feeling. Then we walked another route back down to the Nan Tian Men and took a cable car down.. Then we went for lunch and i kind of forgetten what happened next.

Day 7
We woke up earlier than usual,because we had to board the aeroplane and fly to beijing again. And this time,i was really happy with the seats. Its those type of small jet planes with only one aisle. Here's our sitting arrangement :
18A : RachaelQuek , 18B : me , 18C : Jody
(aisle)
18D : Orathai , 18E : Jeremy , 18F : Harrison.
Its like we all were sitting together. Then for the whole flight,i was talking to RachaelQuek, while the others slept. Fun time chatting with her. After our arrival at Beijing, we went to TianAnMen guangchang. Then there's this MaoZheTong there on the building, SUPER big..haha. Then inside is the Forbidden City. At first i was excited. Because my formteacher showed us some pictures which made the Forbidden City look so interesting. Then when i went there, after walking about ten to fifteen minutes, i thought that it wasn't as nice as in the photos. Quite disappointed actually. Then we went to some sucky restaurant for dinner. Yunyi,RachelThng and i were not feeling well, cos the place was filled with smokers,and the air was filled with smoke. And i hate being a passive smoker,let alone being a smoker. Its worst. Then we all were not feeling well. So Ms Tay suggested we go to the second floor and join the basketballers.Which actually makes not much difference. And when we met all our friends. They told us there was some great show going on. After dinner,we went to look at the Olympic sites/venues. Like the Bird nest stadium or something. And the Water cube. then we took group photos and went back to the hotel and had KFC for supper..haha.

Day 8
We went to great wall of China. So we took this some sort of "car" or sth,its some what like a rollercoaster but it isnt very fast. Just some thing you sit on and some metal gears and chains move it. Well,the great wall of China wasnt anything much either. We went on a sunday and obviously it would be swarming with people. We couldnt get any further and just stopped and took photos..And i was like gaping at how "great" the toilet was for a sight seeing place. Wonderful man... -.- so 'clean' . But seriously,its a sight seeing place and they should make effort to keep it clean. If its some funny alley of course nevermind.. Then after that,we went to this like sea or something. And we had trishaw rides. The Trishaw rider said that place was 'shi sha hai'. Then the wind was nice and cooling. After that,we went to this shopping centre to have our dinner on our own and we could go and shop. The place really looked like bugis street. But that place got nothing much to be bought as souveniers actually. So just walked around looking at what i can actually buy. Then i managed to get this white colur headphoes. Its really very cool, nice too. And i bought it for only SGD$19 around there. And Daniel says in Singapore,it sells around SGD$33. He said "i've earned it" haha. Then we proceeded to the airport and OFF,we were back in Singapore the next morning.