The day we have been waiting for has arrived. The day to go back to Singapore and my home sweet home. The teachers took a digital weighing machine around to weigh our luggage. I was worry that my will exceed the limited weight as the cost for overweight is 20US dollars. Luckily, it was within weight. Tom came to see us off and we gave him the pictures we had developed yesterday. He gave us wolf teeth which had blessing in it. He handed it to Sebastian as he is the one who is more suitable to wear it. Tom mentions that we will also be blessed if he wears it.

We loaded our luggage on a big tour bus that will bring us to the Wuhan Tian He Airport. When we leave, we gave Tom a last goodbye hug and set off to the airport. The airport was quite small as compared to the Guang Zhou airport. We were given some time to room around as we do not have to check in so early. As the things were quite pricey, we decided to have our meals at the Guang Zhou airport. The plane ride was a disaster as there was quite a number of turbulence on the way.

We managed to reach Guang Zhou safely. As there was not much time, we decided to grab a sandwich. During the boarding, we had some miscommunication with the teachers and we were very late for the flight. We managed to get special permission to go through the VIP lane. The official checking there was super strict and rough in handling our things. Satish was quite angry at them for throwing his lap top. When we finally went past, a man with walkie talkie talked to us and asked us to take a small car to the gate 16. The man had no sympathy for us and insists be each give 10 yuan for the ride. We told him several times that we do not have money with us, he does not seem to get it. In the end, we gave him 10 singapore dollars instead. We chiong all the way on the plane and got sited as soon as possible.
The flight back to Singapore was 4 hours and I spend the time sleeping, drinking and eating on the plane. I send an sms to my mom the moment we touchdown and was glad to know that they were already in the airport with sasi’s parents and Satish parents. We bought some alcohol and collect our stuff. Off we go to our family members. When I reach home, we were busy with the unpacking. I bathe and slept. Everything feels so good and comfortable to be at home. The bed that I am always complaining suddenly feels so soft and comfortable.
I came out with a conclusion that nothings beat the things at home and we should learn to cherish it. This trip allows me to know how fortunate I am to be living in Singapore with such a good living environment. If you ask me…I have no regrets for coming for this trip.

I woke up at 9am to finish up some of the work on my laptop. After several black out from my laptop, I managed to get some work done. We waited for the guys to come as they told us the day before that we will be meeting at 9am to have breakfast together. It was at 11am when we decided to call them. We were right about them over slept. After some washing and stuff, we decided to head off towards Lu Xiang Guang Chang to do some last minute shopping.
We took the bus 901 for the last time and head to get our shopping. As it will be the last day shopping, we decided to have a buffet lunch. It was consider as a high class place to have our meal. We went in to take a seat and started to be busy with the food. The food taste good but I love the vegetable and fish the most. As we have to rush back to school to take a group picture, we hurried through our lunch and went to get the things we want to get. When we finish with the shopping, we figure out that we will be late for the photo taking ceremony hence we took a taxi back to school. Surprisingly, we were the first group to reach and we were not in the SOE tee-shirt. We waited for quite some time before the others arrived. We took quite a lot of pictures, formal, informal and candid. After which, we went to the closing ceremony at the foreign language school. Sebastian and I became the MC of the ceremony. We had our last interaction session and had a toasting ceremony.

After the closing ceremony, we had a fireworks night. The guys played some of them and we were stopped by the security guard. After calling the superior and authorized person, we were only allow to play the smalls ones. After some time, they announce that we are allowed to play the big one. Everyone was so happy to hear that. The security people help us light up the fireworks and cameras were up. Something dropped on my hand but it was already cool due to the high height. We went to the KFC to have our last meal with Tom. We talked a little and went back to our service apartment to get a early rest as we will be going home tomorrow.

Finally, the OIP is coming to a end. After being in Wuhan for so long, I am actually adapted to the weather and living style. I am quite worried if I am able to adapt to the weather and lifestyle of Singapore again. Most importantly, I AM GOING BACK TO MY HOME SWEET HOME!!!

guys looking at us unpacked

at the bus station...
very tired

the bus station

We are going back to Wuhan today. Tom’s father went out early in the morning to get gift for us to bring back for our parents. We wanted to give them a $50 for them to keep as souvenirs but they refused to take it as they think it is too much. In the end, we give them a $2 each. We had breakfast together for the last time. His dad bought bread for us in case we are not used to having porridge for breakfast. Everyone packed their bags and we were ready to set off. We took a photo together outside Tom’s house. Looking at the amount of things we have to bring back, I do not even know if we are able to bring it back to school. When the bus came, we hop on the bus and head towards the ferry station. I really do hope that I could stay longer at Tom’s house but we have to go back to school.

We rushed to the ferry station to get the tickets. After getting the tickets, we rushed towards the ferry as if we missed this ferry; we will have to wait for another one for 30 minutes. Luckily, we managed to get on the ferry and cross Yang Tze River. We took a taxi to the bus station and buy our tickets. The tickets we bought from Anhui to Wuhan are more expensive than the ticket we bought to Anhui. We bought the earliest ticket but we still have to wait for one hour before boarding the bus. Leaving us with no choice, we sat on the chairs in the bus station and waited. There was a small girl that approaches me with a bowl asking for money. Thinking this girl is very pitiful, I gave her one dollar. Following her, more and more beggars came forward to us to ask for money. We refused all of them. More and more people came forward to us to ask if we want to polish our shoes and if we want to buy newspaper. It was really very irritating and pestering.

Finally, we could board the bus and set off to school. It was another long journey and on the way, our boxes of souvenir drop from the top of our seats. We slept and eat on the bus. Half way through the ride, Tom asked the driver to stop and let us alight. From there, we took ride from two strangers to get back to school. According to Tom, this will reach school faster instead of going to the main bus station than going back to school again.

Upon reaching school, we went up to the service apartment to put down our belonging and knocked on the door of Mr. Ma’s service apartment to inform him that we have arrived back to school safety. After that, we distribute our belongings and went back to the service apartment to rest. During the debrief at night, everyone was surprise to see our new hairstyle. The teachers gave some briefing on the packing of our luggage. We went back to our service apartment to start packing.

Today, I learn that people living in China it not easy in traveling from one place to another. For some place, they might even need to take those buses that have bed on board. We are lucky that Singapore is small and the time taken to travel from one end to another will not take up to more than a day.

Rebonding in process...

Dinner...

breakfast...

baby chicken

hehe

Tom...

painting in progresss...

The tower

Satish!!!

sasi is taking picture with the dusbin

Satish...you again!!!

lunch time

gife from the Song emperor

pillar at the 6th storey of the temple

side of the tower

Sasi and Khoon Feng

pine tree

game

duckling for sales...

1.50 Yuan for one

anyone wants to eat???

the headless and skinless frong says...Hi

The park

Monkeys

grooming in progress...

Hey you!!!

want a ride?

wahahah...I am so tall

We are in pairs

Noooooooo....

where is my partner??

hmm...you wanna partner me??

Bring me home...

look at my butt

I want to go out....

i love pepsi cup

can i help you?

I am soooo fat...

saw my partner???

yeah...you are back...

lets eat together...

can't you see I am eating??!!!

Oh...Hi

I want food!!!

No food No pictures

rolling

Am a cat...miao...

what are you looking at???

ROAR!!!

I think i am the ugly duckling...

baaaaa....

you come near me and i will pock you

i got a red face...

seperated we fall

Oh no...i am going to be eaten

I am the king...wahahah

look at my head...hehe

I am biggggg

and fat...

enterance of the park

cleaning of shoes

selling newspaper...

Satish and Tom...

Oh No!!!

caught in action...

School

We were waked up by the guys knocking on the room door of the room. They woke up early as they could not sleep due to the barking of the dogs near the motel. We took all the necessary items for bathing and went over to Tom’s aunt house to take a bath. His aunt sells hot water to the people living around there and also provides her bathroom for people to take hot water bath. As there are three taps, Sasi, Khoon Feng and I bathe together. The bathroom was very big and we had a very good bath there. We realized that the toilet of the people living in AnHui is always the best renovated place in their house. After us, the guys took turns to take their bath. Tom told us that while we were bathing, the people that came to buy hot water said that Satish come from Africa. When every one of us had bathe, we had breakfast together with his parents. They cooked porridge mixed with green beans and peanuts; this will not required anymore flavorings to be put into the porridge. Together with porridge, we had eggs and other dishes to be mixed and eaten with the porridge. Breakfast was very filling for many of us. Tom’s parents called for a van to bring us to the city, this time we can go onto the bridge across Yang Tze River. I guess it was not right for the guest to wait; tom’s dad seems stress when the van was late. Finally, we are all ready to set off for the one day tour.
Our first stop was a temple with a high tower in it. We were reminded to take extra care to our wallets or important things as there are kids from Xing Jiang that will snatch your things and run. After Tom pay for the ticket, we went in to visit and take a look at all the Buddha they have inside. At the hall with goddess of Mercy, we pick lot. We were supposed to think of a area to ask for lot then pick one up. The person there will throw something to see if the goddess agrees to that lot. We will then be given a piece of paper and it is given according to the number of the lot we pick. I manage to get a good lot that says that my family will be smooth and have wealth. We bought tickets to climb the tower inside the temple after going one round to tour the temple. The tower we are climbing is build by a Ming dynasty official and it is build according to the design of Zhu Ge Liang’s “八阵图”. The stairs are very steep and narrow; we took great effort to be able to climb up the tower. It was tiring and confusing as the stairs of the tower is located at different area of the tower, we had to search for it to climb up. We enjoy the scenery at the sixth floor of the tower before heading towards the foot of the tower. The steps are very steep and the guys are not able to stand up straight as they might hit their head. The tour in the temple ended when we come down from the tower. We took a taxi to move on to our next destination; the food street. According to Tom, there are many different snacks being sold there. The taxis in AnQing are very cheap and it usually cost only four Yuan to travel from place to place. Upon reaching, we saw a combination of Lu Xiang Guang Chang and Hu Quan Ye Shi. Tom bought us to this shop to get their local delicacies. We bought some of everything in the shop to have a taste of it so that we will know which of those to buy. After getting the things we want, we move on to the next shop that sells sauce. There is a large variety of sauce being sold there. We did not buy any of it as we figure that it is difficult for us to bring it back to Singapore in fear that it might break. Next, we went into a shopping mall. It is a high class shopping mall where one simple piece of clothes can fetch up to three hundred Yuan. As it was going to be evening, Tom decided to bring us to the zoo but we have so many shopping on our hands. Tom inform his forth aunt that we will be putting our things in her house before going to the zoo near her house.
Once again, we took a taxi to his aunt’s house. We left our things there and his aunt led the way towards the zoo. On the way to zoo, we saw lots of people doing all sorts of sports. According to Tom, this park is originally a pay park in which you have to pay to enter the park. However, it is now free and open to all. It took us around ten minutes to walk to the zoo which is located inside that park. Tom paid for the ticket and we went into the zoo. We saw animals like monkeys, lion, tiger, horse, bears, hippo and more. The zoo is so much different from Singapore as we could look at the animals at a close range even for animals like the lion. Nevertheless, we realized that the animals do not look really happy. Maybe they were feeling really hungry. When we were looking at the lions, it suddenly roars for around one minute. Being so close to it, the roar actually sent a shiver down my spine. We took our time slowly to look at the animals till the person in-charge told us to double up as they are closing the place already. We managed to finish viewing every animal before the sky turns dark. We went to Tom’s aunt house to take a rest before going to the water movie. His aunt led the way again. When we reached there, the music fountain had already started. In order to get a better view of it, we took a taxi to the front of the fountain. The water fountain together with the laser lights forms a perfect match. It was a very magnificence view against the dark sky. However, we did not manage to see the movie as today was only music being played. We went back to his aunt house and rest till the cars fetch us up again. This time, it was no longer a minivan but two government cars. The van had something on hence the two car replace it instead. As Tom have relative working for the government, he could easily get two government cars to pick us up.
When we reach his house, his parents were busy cooking. Hence, we went to the cotton factory to see his brother. After that, we went back to his house to have dinner with his parents. They bought pepsi especially for us and a toasting ceremony begins again. The dishes for dinner were mostly planted by themselves and the eggs were produce by their own rear chickens. After dinner, we were told that his parents will sleep in the cotton factory together with his brother while the guys will sleep in Tom’s room. We went next door to get a haircut and all of us change our hairstyle. There is only one person in the shop and she could multi task all our hair. It took her till two in the morning to finish everyone’s hair. It was only two hundred and fifty Yuan for all of us. As it was already very late, we went to sleep straight away.
Today, I learnt that the people in AnHui are actually a group of responsible people. The hairdresser had to stay back for us till so late to finish our hair but she did every single detail carefully instead of rushing through it to be able to go home. I also learnt that although the people in China need to work, they will still spend time relaxing. The government of AnQing is also very good to their people by building something so big for the people to relax themselves for free. They are able to afford for the things for the people. The population in AnQing is much small than of Wuhan. I also learnt that not all food in China is salty and oily. It actually varies from place to place hence we should not over generalize them.