Day 16 - Adventure To The Three Gorges [Part 1] Posted by SuperJuniorF , Monday, March 22, 2010 at 9:38 PM, in

It was 8am in the morning when I woke up and went for breakfast with my group of friends from both Singapore and China. Total there were about 13 people eating breakfast together. It was actually organised by Si Hao who wanted to have a final meal before we head for the Three Gorges. It was a special day for the Ngee Ann Students because today because today, we are getting our results for the previous semester! During breakfast, I was getting nervous as some of my classmates got their results via their phones. I was not able to get my results through my phone because my phone had no auto-roam, so I had to wait until I get back to my dormitory to check my results on the internet. So after breakfast, I went back to my dormitory and checked my results. I was hoping for a GPA of more than 3 and I got 3.1! I was so hppy because I improved from my previous GPA of 2.6. Here are my grades!
Business Finance: AD
Business Computing Applications: A
Creative and Applied Thinking Skills: A
International to Freight Forwarding: B+
Business Statistics: C+
Introduction to Logistics: C+
Electronic Commerce: C+

So after resting and doing my last minute packing, finally at about 1pm, we were off to the cruise that will take to the Three Gorges! In the bus, everyone was seemed exhausted especially my friends who stayed up all night with me. Despite everyone looking tired, I know deep inside everyone is excited about the trip. I came to this conclusion by looking at the amount of foodstuff most of the students brought. The amount of food they brought for the 3 days two nights cruise was enough to last them for one whole week! This is how "kiasu" Singaporeans are. They are always ready beforehand. ^_^

As everyone was asleep on the bus, I was busy looking at the scenery. It was beautiful. I saw plantations on muddy fields and also many yellow flowers growing on the field. I can never see such sceneries in Singapore. Even if Singapore were to grow such yellow flowers in the Botanic Gardens, they will not be able to grow it for kilometres and kilometres like the ones in China. Looking and the flowers got me thinking, "How is it that the Chinese locals are able to grow the flowers in such patterns for over many kilometres?" I thinking about it, it is surely much easier than building the Great Wall of China. ^_^

Plantations on Muddy Fields

Yellow Flowers

As the bus entered Yichang, I something really amazing. I saw a railway station at the top of many flight of stairs! From the looks of it, it seems like a few hundred steps! It was really something that you can never see in Singapore. Just imagine if there is one MRT station that required the people in Singapore to climb a many flights of steps before being able to take the MRT. I am more than sure that the regular climbers will stay fit and healthy. ^_^

After about 4 hours in the bus, we finally stopped for a moment to have our dinner at a high-class restaurant! Up until now, I am really amazed at how cheap the food in China is. Each time I have a meal in a high-class restaurant, the table is always full of dishes! I always say to myself,"If I were to have a meal like this in Singapore, it will definitely cost me my one month of school pocket money." Each time I said that, it actually reminds me of how difficult it is for the people in the third world country like africa to find food. So subconsciously, it allows me to appreciate the food that is given to me and not take the food for granted.

After dinner, we continued the bus ride to the cruise for another few hours and finally, we arrived at our destination. The cruise was already waiting for us at the port. At the gate where every passenger has to go through before going onboard the cruise, some of us were being held back because there was a mix-up between our group and another group. There was a small commotion between the tour guide and the person gaurding the gate but I think in a way, it was the gaurd's fault for not checking the group properly before letting anyone in. I do not think anything like this will happen in Singapore because the security in Singapore is very tight especially after the Mas Selamat incident. However after some time, we were allowed in and I was glad that I finally made in onboard the cruise.

As I went onboard the cruise, I was a little suprise by the condition of the cruise. It was better than I expected! Somehow it looked like a hotel. Even by going onboard a low-class cruise, I am already amazed. I wonder what my reaction would be if I were to go onboard Titatic. ^_^

The corridor of the cruise

Reflection

Although sitting on the bus for many hours was boring, there are still many things to see if I open up my eyes and look out the window rather than just sleeping or watching the television on the bus. In China, the scenery is very different from Singapore. There are hills, mountains, plantations, simple brick houses and even cows. Its not comparable how much land China has compared to Singapore. Singapore has so little land that it has to buy land from other countries. In my opinion, I think China is similar to Malaysia. The plantations I saw when I was on the bus reminded me of the plantations I saw when I was in Malaysia. However the difference between the two countries are the four seasons. I think that because of the four seasons, China is able to grow beautiful flowers that Malaysia is unable to do. However in Malaysia, they are able to grow oil palm trees which China is unable to do. Coming back to the many things that I saw in China, I think that China is a beautiful country despite the condition of the country. The sceneries that it offers is just magnificent. I am so excited to see more of the sceneries as the cruise ship sails along the Yangtze river towards the Three Gorges. ^_^