Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Well, I am officially back from SRGCE SHANGHAI 2009 ;)
The trip was trully an eye-opener which allowed me to gain experience and learned about China's culture.
DAY 1
I woke up at 3.45am and arrived at the airport at around 4.55am. Next we waited for everyone to arrive before we check in. This is my second time taking a plane after so many years. I was nervous but at the same time filled with excitment. SO 30 hunks and babes, together with literally 6 teachers ( 1 from Xinmin Secondary VP and 1 teacher from North Vista Primary school joined us for this trip ).
First thing I was greeted with was a strong smell coming from people smoking right in the airport. This was something that you couldn't find in Singapore Changi Airport. Well, this is just the start of the 8 days journey surrounding the 'Smoking culture of China' (Barry's theory ).
We were greeted by our tour guide for the next 8 days. She was really a nice peron and is from Hangzhou. She bought us to put our luggage in the bus as we proceed to the airport for our lunch. The weather in Shanghai when we touch down was cold for me. Lunch was great and cheap ;). We proceed on to take the Maglev Train which was pushed forward from the last day to the first day.
Maglev train was super fast, able to travel up to 430km. It was a good experience for all of us as we would never be able to find it in singapore due to limited land capacity.
(taken from yahoo. Pictures taken by me to be uploaded on facebook)
NExt we arrived at XIN TIAN DI. A palce which was home to poor people, renovated in the 1920s ( If don't remember wrongly)and turned into houses known as SHIKUMEN with the merger of western and eastern culture. We tour around the place and learned from our tour guide that XIN TIAN DI was a place where westerners living in Shanghai like to come at night to have a drink at the bar. Locals do not usually visit XIN TIAN DI. The weather was then Super cold and night falls in at 4.30pm.
( taken from yahoo)
Dinner that night was horrible as team publicity found out food filled with some strains of hair and the food did not taste good. We headed to our hotel ( EXPRESS BY HOILDAY INN ) at PuXi ( Old shanghai), greeted by a heavy traffic jam. Many fall asleep, while i look out of the window. Roads in shanghai were now undergoing renovation, preparing for EXPO 2010. Every corner in Shanghai was taken over by the EXPO 2010 mascot ' Haibao' as well as the banners telling people to be gracious and the theme for EXPO 2010 : Better City Better Life.
Learning point: Singapore Youth Olympic Ganes is going to be held next year but yet we seldom see any banners nor advertisements showing the spirit of YOG 2010. The atmposphere in Singapore shown nothing of passion and excitment for YOG 2010. Unlike Shanghai, you would find shops selling sourveniers for EXPO 2010 and signs of EXPO 2010 was seen everyone. I find that Singapore could actually learned from the Shnaghainese,to shown more passion and excitement for YOG 2010. It was not easy for Singapore, a small country with no natural resources and limited land capacity, to be able to win the bid. So I urge all SIngaporeans to shown concern and to be proud of Singapore. The Chinese authorities are trying their best to change the bad habits of the people by putting banners everyone telling people to be more gracios. This coincide with the goal : BEtter City Better life.
Dreams ended @ --*11:00 AM*--
