OELP Daily Reflection- Swee Leng

Day 1- We arrived at the Changi airport to depart for Shanghai. While waiting for the appropriate time to enter the departure gate, we played with each other. Soon, we were in the plane. We were told that we could not change our allocated seats in the airplane, and luckily for me, I was seated with my good friends. We had our lunch inside the airplane. We then arrived at the Shanghai Pudong airport after 5 hours. The first thing we did after leaving the airport was to eat our long-awaited dinner. It was our first meal in Shanghai. As we were seemingly the last few customers of the restaurant before it closes, we were able to laugh and talk without taking the other patrons into consideration, since there were almost none. "大家吃！" The rice in Shanghai was stickier than the rice in Singapore, but the dishes were almost the same. After dinner, we went to the hotel. On the way to the hotel, we saw some of the beautiful night scenery in Shanghai and many of us quickly took our cameras out to snap a photo. In the hotel, we had a short debrief and were sent to our allocated hotel rooms to spend the night.

Day 2- 城隍庙街 was our first stop. We visited the temple of 城隍 and were told the story of his achievements by our tour guide. I learnt about rules in places of worship, for example, when we enter them, we are supposed to enter by the side doors instead of the main one, and we have to go over the step in the entrance instead of stepping on it. We then went to shop on the street behind the temple, and were given free time to do so. The rule was that we were supposed to go in groups. I had fun shopping on the streets as we bargained for a drop in the prices with the street vendors. I had learnt the key to bargaining is to tell the vendor that you would not buy their goods after they reject the prices you offered. The vendors would then give in to you as they would not want to lose customers. We then went to the bund to look at Lujiazui. It was a magnificent sight with the Oriental Pearl Tower and lots of other unique architects. We took many shots there too.  Next, we went to 上海书城. It was a huge buildings that sells all sorts of different variety of books. There are 7 huge floors, which made it impossible to finish looking at all the books and consider what to buy. I managed to buy a book. We went to the Starbucks located at the 2nd floor after we finished scanning through the books. We then went to Nanjing Road to shop again, but since the things there are expensive, we did not buy a lot of things. This reflects Shanghai's high cost of living.

Day 3- Our first visit to Shanghai Nanyang High. We were warmly greeted by the principal and a teacher. We then met our buddies and interacted with them. However, the moment was short-lived  and our buddies had to go back to their classes. The teacher in charge then took over. Our minds were injected with new knowledges about the traditional school with rich history. The teacher also introduced Shanghai to us. Next, we attended a lesson on how to make the tallest paper towers. It was fun and enriching. As 端午节 is approaching soon, we were shown on how to make 香包 and 粽子. The students demonstrated the steps to make them for us. Our visit soon came to an end. Next, we went to 海底捞 hotpot to settle our lunch. The service there was very good, and we had a whale of a time there as a chef came to perform for us on the slimming of noodles. 海底捞 indeed live up to their reputation. 文庙街 was our next stop. We were not allowed free time as the old street was deserted since it was not a weekend. The people there worship 孔子 and follow 儒家思想. Finally, we went to the Urban Planning exhibition hall. Seeing most of Shanghai laid out in 3D models in front of me had left me amazed. With the lighting in the models, the sight was spectacular. 

Day 4- Our second and last visit to Shanghai Nanyang High. We were led to see the whole student body do radio morning exercise. They were very orderly. When the teachers urged us to join in to do the exercise too, our class lined up in a mess and I stood there under the scorching sun, dumbfounded. The exercise routine was new to me, and the speed of the transition had me crazy. We completed the exercise awkwardly. After the student body leave the field, we pulled our buddies out to sing 立化情 to them as a token of appreciation for their kind attention to us in the 2 days. We attended lessons with our buddies next. It was a fun experience. We then went to the oriental dreamworks studio with the teacher in charge as a field trip, thus greeting farewell to the school. The oriental dreamworks studio was a lot of fun as we walked around to see the production process of the cartoon. We then ended our immersion with our partner school. Our next destination was Fudan University, where we would have our own RV senior take us around the university. We were introduced to places in the school, and I thought that the difference between a university and a school was really great. The senior also have us tips on studying in RV which were really useful.

Day 5- We went to HangZhou by bus. Upon reaching HangZhou,we went to Zhejiang University. Zhejiang university was very modernized and huge. We went to the design and technology studio, and were given a talk on the topic. We then took the bus and was shown all around the school. After that, we went to Qinghefang to shop. We did not buy many things as there were little that caught our eye.

Day 6- We went to 岳飞庙 to take a look. The place is special as Yue Fei was buried there, along with his son. I learnt that Yue Fei had two loyal follower that stood beside him in battlefields. Yue Fei's back is carved with the words 精忠报国 by his mother. His great contributions are still remembered until now. Then, we went onto a boat to explore 西湖. The West Lake is really beautiful and calm. From there we could see the Leifeng Pagoda hidden in the midst of vegetations. Next, we went to the Lei Feng Pagoda. It was very tall, and the view from the top of it was spectacular. We could see the West Lake and houses from there. The temperature there was also very cooling. After that, we went to Qinghefang again as we couldn't finish walking it yesterday. The Qinghefang street was very long. At night, we went to watch a show named 西湖之夜. The show was great and exciting. 

Day 7- We went back to Shanghai early in the morning. On the way back there, we visited 七宝老街. It was very crowded and we were unable to walk by ourselves in small groups. The street was bursting with life as it was a weekend. Next, we went to 田子访 to shop. The design was quite ancient. We were unable to buy many souvenirs as most of us were already broke by the last day of the trip. Then we went to the airport and greeted our tour guide farewell. The whole trip was fruitful and fun.