Zarek's Daily Reflection

Daily Reflection (CID booklet) ~Jeanette~

Daily reflection -Jeremy koh

BEFORE OELP
It was the most awaited day of the year. The day where I have my first trip overseas with my class. I am always excited for every class gathering and this wasn't an exception.Before the trip I have long to clarify some of my questions I have raised during lessons. I was very interested in topics about china such as culture and lifestyle. I wanted to find out more through this trip

Day 1
We set off from Changi airport to shanghai. Our first stop was the Bund. What i saw at the site were many European structured type of buildings. Which look ancient or traditional. I was amaze by how the Chinese government thought of preserving the old structures by changing the inner setting sof the buildings to modern purposes such as banks. It is not only a creative idea but it is an idea which kills two bird with one stone. Singapore tend to struggle between to preserve culture or modernising. Well Singapore could definitely learn from china by implementing the modern trends into out our culture so people could have both in their life's.
Shanghai and it's contribution to the Chinese Economy and development has prove to be major just by visiting the scenario view of the bund or Huang Pu Jiang everywhere has tall structures offices and big malls. Most importantly Shanghai is the biggest harbour city in China. Majority of the trades through the sea would happen in shanghai. Therefore creating an enormous responsibility of carrying the economy of china. Also the population in shanghai is massive too. Which a lot of manpower. There would be more work hence causing more business opportunities, investments.Therefore Shanghai is a major part if China's economy.
In shanghai I have witnessed the iconic view of shanghai that is always shown on  the media. It was indeed breathtaking and etched deeply in my mind. It is necessary as to advertise brands to people. Normally when people use their sight the most among other senses to make judgement. Therefore by having a iconic view it would help by publicising the brand to everyone hence gaining awareness. Singapore too has iconic buildings such as the Merlion and the Marina View. I think what Singapore could improve too is by adding more creative buildings and displaying advertisements with lasers to make things much more eye catching and appealing to the eye. That why it would further bring raining awareness to another level.

I felt happy and excited on Day 1 it was memorable to see happy faces when the cold wind rush at our faces.Also the beautiful scenes witnessed was astonishing.It was a refreshing memory to be kept in my mind.


Day2
Firstly we went to the French Concession area and Tian Zi Fang both sides show much similarity between the topic if preservation or modernisation. Firstly the French concession area is a place where the Chinese preserved deep history of the French's who ruled shanghai. Tian zi fang on the other hand is an art zone and many shops around just like an old street.But bother areas serve as a business/tourist site for the locals to sell goods to the tourists.I think that it is important to preserve the place as it shows a lot of the history of that particular region. It is impossible to get back what is lost. So if one were to destroy this buildings they wouldn't be physical examples to show to the younger generations what is their country's history.Hopefully no one at that time would answer history are just tall buildings. Singapore has such art zones such as Clarke Quay. What I think Singapore could do to encourage the local arts scene to be more vibrant is to provide more competition to raise awareness after which more people will be interested in doing local art hence it would further improve the local arts scene. The dilemma of cultural heritage conservation and economic development in Shanghai has proven not to be a problem. The exterior looks of many buildings in the streets of shanghai are old and well preserved whereas the interior of the building are equipped with modern facilities. I believed the constraints that not only shanghai but Singapore too face when developing it's city is the lack of land. To overcome this constraint what we could do is not only reclaim land from the seas but too one can consider to upgrade the buildings that is not as much if use to a taller building.
Hai di Lao has provided many services not only good food. From being polite with words to show polishing hai di Lao to me is a very good example of great service. Due to their committed service I believe that is their biggest factor of success. Their service was proactive,serious and positive. The waiters are always around to provide assistance and I feel that this gives customers a warm cozy feeling. This would make customers fall in love with the restaurant and hence patronising more.As a customer of Hai di Lao what I feel customer service would change is that in the future it would develop to be a more strict industry. More things have to looked out for. Most importantly customer service would be more courteous proactive and aims to meet 100%of customer's requirements.
The grand canal at Yangzhou was a slow but meaningful trip. Between the Huang Pu Jiang and the grand canal the Major differences are that the grand canal is much more old cultured the scenery is more ancient. Also the public are filled with elder lies wheras the Huang Pu Jiang's public are filled with many young people.The downfall of Yangzhou is caused by it is lack of catching up to modern times.By not catching with modern times they will soon not to be as efficient as other cities and hence losing business opportunities. Hence causing the downfall, of Yang Zhou.

Day 2 has been an fun trip walking around with friends and shopping for souvenirs. Hai di Lao has not only filled me up but also brainwashed me in the definition of good customer service. The trip to Yangzhou was fun on the bus. As we had a fun time bonding as a class.


Day 3
3things I have observed at day 3 at the lakes and shows are
-many are smoking
-many people are J walking
-people tend to exaggerate to gain favour of the emperors

What I have learn
-do not smoke not aware of consequences
-not aware of the danger of roads
-people who have more power are treated better. Causing Inferiority

How I can apply
-smoke at appropriate places don't affect the environment. Cut down on smoking
-more aware of dangers around us. Cherish your life
-strive for excellence in what you do not by exaggerating 拍马屁. To also learn to be sociable

三把刀 the three blades
-nail （指甲刀）
-hair （发刀）
-vegetable (菜刀）
It is a diminishing trade on the curtail street. The stall owners explained the reason for the diminishing. They said that this trade does not bring in wealth hence it doesn't attract any youngsters to do the job. Slowly when they are lesser people who are in the trade. The trades are slowly disappearing.This Is a big problem as it is part of their culture if there aren't anyone who are going to carry on the culture the future wouldn't know anything about their culture.
Singapore too has examples of diminishing trades such as street clobbers,street stall Owners. It is even sad to know that popular trends in the past aren't welcomed in the society such as Night markets. The stall owners of the diminishing trades in Yang Zhou also displayed entrepreneurship and creativity by selling their products and also doing free demonstrations to attract customers. Great effort.
跟潮流进步但还是要记得自己的原来。

Day 3 was a inspiring day for me as the words of the stall owners inspired me to understand the importance of preservation even further and make me more proud of my culture my roots.


Day4
The first day in the school of 扬大附中东剖分校初中学部.After experiencing a day in school with the china students I would have appreciate the schooling in ask galore even better. Things like CCA,shorter school hours and more time for outdoor activities are things that the china education do not provide. Hence making me feel more appreciative or what I have.
The students in china are perfect examples of hard work. During lessons they always maintain a straight posture during lesson which make them more look more attentive. They are too very proactive in answering answers during class. Such good elements if learning sparked me. The passion to study there is so intense unlike Singapore. Where we complained about just doing a question of math. I felt ashamed and I believe I have to change.
Singapore could learn from China's education system by letting students taking more ownership in their surroundings. The china education system makes the students wash their school themselves this causes them to be more aware of their school cleanliness. I think it is a great way to train independence too. By taking ownership in your work this would allow students to feel a sense of pride in whatever they do and hence motivating them to achiever better things in life.
We too also went to the Lushi mansion. Is was a very unique place. It is a combination of a museum and a restaurant. It provided an ambience of royalty among us as the mansion was decorated to fit where a rich merchant would live in the past.Singapore do have restaurants with themes. I think the purpose of such themed restaurants is to provide a better environment for the customers to enjoy what the theme of the food is.
For Singapore to merge culture and business together we could adopt combining shophouses with restaurants. This not only shows culture of the old days where people come around squeezed up to have their meals but also a great opportunity to earn money.

Day 4 was an interesting day interacting with my first overseas buddy. Thought it would be awkward but thanks to my buddy he broke the ice and we are pretty good friends now.

Day5
I used to think that Singapore's education system was the most stressful among all the countries. Has the most homework most tests and the most tiring education journey.
But now I think Singapore's education system are that we are not the only ones.On addition the students in Singapore aren't the top in terms of values and well cultured. Proactiveness towards studies and stress on lessons.
After experiencing the small museum of the 朱自清 residence. I used a book the colour black and patriotism to represent my experience.
朱自清wrote a lot of good compositions since young, his residence was dark and he loved his country a lot especially his own state YangZhou. From here I am inspired by his love for his country.I too love my country but I wasn't too sure how to contribute towards society. After walking around the residence I found out that contributing the country could just be as simple as writing compositions and help a political party to gain awareness. I am inspired.

Day 5 was the last day I had a chance to interact with my china buddy it was an emotional day as I have to part with a friend...

Day6
It was a trip to gardens if Yangzhou Ge Yuan Garden.here are some of my observations
Aesthetic ideal-Rockery Huang Shan
                       -Rock Pavement
                       - Bamboo
Special landscapes -the four seasons
Major religion influencing -Confucianism
The garden was an eye opener and showed the beauties of Yangzhou. Singapore"/ gardens by the bay could adopt the idea if adding our country's plant. To show more uniqueness of our own country. The Daming temple too was breathtaking. The pagoda and the temple god's structure where massive and impressive. This showed me that the Chinese are appreciative of their culture and take pride in their beliefs and culture.
The Volkswagen industrial visits taught me to be more patient,persevering and neater. There were many banners around the factory which shows constant reminders on their vision of work. This is something I picked up from the trip. I need such reminders too. It causes one to be more motivated and committed in their work. Overall to be efficient lies in the passion and motivation of one.

Day 6 had opened my eyes bigger seeing how pretty and efficient other countries are I believe Singapore have to step up or else people might invest in other countries. Singapore May never be the best hence he have to maintain it by showing our own uniqueness. We could further improve points we are good IPAD such as security. This would then attract more foreign talents/ investors to further improve our country.

Day 7
We are back to shanghai on the fastest transportation on earth the bullet train. I observed that locals waited for passengers to alight first before boarding the train this is so much ethical unlike Singapore MRTs where people are pushing each other to board the train while others are trying to alight the train. Some things baffled me when I see such things. Why those Singaporeans always tend to be so unethical, actions like pushing not giving up seats blocking people shows how much we are educated morally. Through this discussion I would like to explore on questions such as does different races behave differently on public?

It is the last day of the trip. It was a fast but memorable one. I have learn many things and I am ready to apply them in life.

Zhang Yue's Daily Reflection of OELP trip :D

在第一天，我们来到了中国港口最大、经济最发达也是最西化的城市—上海。上海和新加坡很相似，都有着许多高楼大厦，忙绿的马路和有着紧凑生活节奏的城市人。

我们先去了上海的外滩来说，在那里，我们看到了很多幢各国风格迥异的建筑物，它们各自有着来自不同国家的风格，如维多利亚哥特式、古希腊式、中西合璧式等等，因而也被称为万国建筑博览群。我认为最吸引人的是这些建筑物展现了不同国家的独有文化和建筑风格，并反映了上海以前被其他国家殖民时的模样，因此富有着历史价值和文化气息。我们也从这些不同国家风格的建筑物看出了上海的自由文化，在大街上偶尔会看到一些外国人，看得出上海人并不介意引入外国文化和时尚。
导游告诉我们，外滩也被称为“东方华尔街”，而那里还造了一个“上海金融牛”，象征着上海的繁华。

从在万国建筑群看到的完好保留下来的建筑物，我们也看到了上海对于保留历史与文化所作出的努力和贡献，但他们不忘记与时并进，一幢幢古典的大楼内被设计装潢得摩登而前卫。在晚上夜游黄浦江时，我们可以看到建筑物上美丽的霓虹灯。
我认为他们把传统风格的建筑物与现代的高科技融合在一起，取得了一个平衡，因此才能在保留历史的同时，不被现代化迅速的发展趋势而淘汰掉。

其次，我觉得上海人很聪明，他们把这片区域发展成上海的观光景点和风景线，吸引更多旅客来，让这些历史性建筑物发挥最大的潜质和存在价值，成为当地的地标，代表他们的文化和历史，并确保这些文化遗产不会因为失去价值而被拆除。
我觉得新加坡可以向上海学习，把更多富有华族文化和历史意义的元素融入观光景点和建筑风格内，再和现代科技融合，以此把华族文化发扬光大。

来到上海，我们不可忽略的是它经济上的成就，上海是中国经济最发达的城市，而又是什么铸就了它今日的繁荣呢？我们在游览各个景点以及了解他们的历史时似乎找到了答案。

上海的母亲河—黄浦江，可以说在推动上海的经济发展上功不可没。黄浦江两岸的综合开发使它成为了城市旅游风景线的杰作，而通过建立政府宏观引导和市场化运作相结合的综合开发机制，吸引国内外多元投资，并吸引着无数旅客前来观光。我们在船游黄浦江时，西岸的万国建筑群与浦东新区的现代建筑如新地标—东方铁塔，从船上看去一目了然，景色十分美丽。
导游也在一旁解释着黄浦江如何推动上海的观光业，单单我们所乘坐的船，一天就可以赚上不少钱。在两岸也可以看到许多国际品牌的商店标志以及一些高档酒店，如香格里拉酒店等，足以展现上海经济的繁荣。

上海的外滩和法租界也是吸引着旅客的景点之一，而外滩自上海开埠后就开始成为了上海乃至中国的金融及贸易中心，也被称为“东方华尔街”。这里建立了许多外资银行，成为了鼓励财政投资的场所。

第二天，我们去了田子坊和法租界，我们从上海的田子坊看到了旧上海的模样，也在上海的法租界和外滩看到了一些从上海以前被殖民后留下的建筑物，以及他们如何保留自己的文化遗产。

我们还来到了上海城市规划馆。在这里，我们看到了他们关于过去旧上海的展览、现在城市的模型以及对未来的蓝图，这确保他们能够更好地规划上海，让它在进步的同时，不会遗忘它的历史和过去拼搏时的辛酸。
看到那些仔细的蓝图规划，我不得不感叹上海能有今日的繁荣很不容易。

而到了中午，我们去“海底捞”火锅店吃午餐。在这里，我们发掘了这家店之所以办得这么成功的原因。进入饭店内，服务员热情地招呼我们，一路上不仅有人为我们指引方向，每一位服务员也会向我们打招呼，并没有把我们当做是小孩子，而是令人尊敬的顾客。用餐时，他们细心地为我们准备了擦眼镜用的毛巾、扎头发用的牛皮筋和为了不弄脏衣服用的围裙，并一直留意着我们需不需要添加饮料，体贴入微。
在为我们往火锅里加入食材时，他们也会耐心地介绍这是什么食材、怎么样比较好吃等等。我们完全不需要去要求他们为我们服务或是帮忙做什么，他们会很主动、很周到地为我们服务。
我很享受用餐的过程，并且很敬佩他们的敬业精神。我切身体验到了他们“以人为本”的优质服务态度。导游说明了这几火锅店里的店员都持有着饭店的股份，因此自然而然地会更努力、用心地工作，给饭店带来更大的盈利。正是因为这种独特的经营模式和员工管理，使海底捞火锅在企业界里取得了巨大的成功。

接下来，在第三天，我们乘坐长途巴士来到了中国24座历史文化名城之一—扬州。在治春茶社吃完早餐后，我发现原来扬州人的早餐分量比较大，因为他们一天只吃两餐，而且他们的早餐里面粉类比较多，像三丁包、肉包、菜包、水饺等。我不太习惯他们的生活方式和饮食文化，很多人都无法把早餐全部吃完，但我学会去接受不同地方的生活习惯，以及去理解他们的做法。

后来我们去了瘦西湖，并船游了二十四桥。一路上，导游向我们介绍了许多关于扬州和这些风景胜地的历史与文化，例如瘦西湖和二十四桥的由来、赞美扬州风景的诗句等等。这些历史令我们更加了解扬州今日的模样以及当地的一些文化和特色。李白的诗句：“故人西辞黄鹤楼，烟花三月下扬州。”就是形容扬州的市树—杨柳如烟一般的柳絮，以及而扬州的市花—琼花，在春天三月绽放的美景。我们还看到了曾经被雷劈开但“枯木逢生”的银杏树以及紫薇树，也称为“痒痒树”。在这里，我看到了很多在新加坡看不到的美丽景色，也感叹着扬州曾经的辉煌，并进一步体会到了他们悠久的历史与文化。

然后，我们欣赏了谢馥春的千秋粉黛表演，其中有一些传统乐器的表演、舞蹈还有木偶戏，表演者在谢幕时装扮成扬州历代有名的美女。我沉浸在浓厚的历史气息中，虽然我对这些不太熟悉，但她们的表演让我大开眼界，并让我对扬州的历史和文化有了更深的了解。

接下来我们去了中国雕刻印刷博物馆，以前的人们刚刚发明雕刻印刷术，要印刷东西很费劲，不像我们现在有打印机这么方便。我们参观完展览，便去看那里的专业人员如何雕刻和印刷，其中需要耗费很多精力，也需要很大的耐心和意志力，让我很佩服他们。在拥有方便的打印机时，我们不能忘记先祖为人类文明作出的贡献。这些重要的历史和文化激励着我们，并提醒我们不能把我们现在所拥有的当做理所当然。

然后，我们在游览东关门历史文化街时，看到了许多有关于“扬州三把刀”的售品，以及一些传统的玩具、用品、还有老一辈很爱吃的麦芽糖。这些都体现了扬州或中国特有的传统文化。一路上我也看到了很多仿古的建筑物，很多家店的设计也模仿了过去的建筑物，如他们的店牌会用木质书法牌匾，体现了扬州建筑物古色古香的历史风貌特点。然后我们去了东圈门历史街，导游说可以用 “唐宋元明清，从古看到今” 来形容扬州的古街，因为这里文化历史悠久，所以可以从这些建筑物看到各个朝代的踪迹。东圈门历史街是文化保护区，我们在这里看到了很多清朝盐商的私家别院，还有江泽民的故居。穿过一条条小巷，我们感受到了这里人们淳朴的性格，很多人拿着一个小板凳就坐在家门口和邻居一起吃饭，简单的粗茶淡饭依然吃得津津有味。这些民间风情在新加坡却比较难看到，因为大家都生活在“钢骨森林”里，一栋栋组屋和公寓把人们隔离开来，我们平常也不和邻居交往，少了以前那种甘榜的人情味。

第四天，我们来到了扬大附中东部分校，和那里的学生进行交流，发现了一些我们和他们不一样的地方。

首先，我们应该向他们学习的是他们的学习态度以及对老师的尊敬。例如，在向老师行礼时，他们因为参加过军训，所以动作十分一致，而且干净利落，不像我们在新加坡上课时，向老师敬礼都是慢吞吞地站起来，再散散落落地说“老师好”。和他们一起上课时，我也发现他们都非常专心，一点小动作也没有，不会因为任何事情被转移了注意力，也不会和同桌偷偷聊天，而我们上课时常常会在老师讲课的时候和周围的同学说话，或是因为平板电脑而被转移了注意力。
他们上课时的坐姿也十分端正，腰部挺直，双手都放在桌上，反观我们上课时常常会看到有些同学趴在书桌上，或是东倒西歪地用手肘撑着头。当老师提问时，中国的同学会很积极地举手回答，给出相关的答案，而在我们上课时如果老师提问，明明有人知道答案却不愿回答，也有同学不举手就随便喊出答案，还常常有同学会开玩笑，给一些风马牛不相及的搞笑答案。我也认为学校可以考虑像他们的学校一样，让学生有午休的时间，或可以试试做眼保健操，让我们休息一下，放松放松。

不过经过这次交流，我为自己是新加坡人而感到骄傲，也更加珍惜就读于新加坡学校的一些好处。例如，我们上课时没有那么正式，会轻松有趣很多，而且我们在学校上课的时间也比他们短。听中国学生说，他们每个星期的课外活动只有短短45分钟，其他时间都是在学习，因此我也感到很庆幸我们能够有更多的课外活动时间，让我们能够培养自己的兴趣爱好，以及学习更多课本上学习不到的东西，如团队的合作精神、个人的领导能力、运动员精神等等。这令我们能够往更多方面发展，学会更多技能，并更好地与人相处。我们这边上课时条件也稍微好一些，能用到更多的科技，上课更加方便。我们的厕所卫生条件更好，而我们的食堂所能够选择的食物也更多，让我们能够按照自己的喜好来选择要吃些什么。我以前觉得我们学业很繁重、上课时间很长而且没有什么自由，但经过这次交流后，我发现其实我们和他们比起来上学更轻松有趣，而且学生的自由也更多。

在晚上，我们去了卢氏豪宅享用晚餐。这里曾经是以前一名富裕的卢氏盐商的住处，室内的设计十分雅致，多数家具都是木制的，上面还有一些美丽的雕刻，给人一种复古的感觉。这家特别的餐馆为顾客制造了一种古朴的环境和气氛，让顾客更能感受扬州特别的历史和文化，并在这种气氛下享用扬州的特色菜肴—淮扬菜，这样顾客能够更好地理解并更容易喜欢上扬州的文化特色。我觉得新加坡也可以把这种发扬文化的机会融入商业中，像是开一些主题酒店和餐馆，可以以艺术、手工等等为主题来吸引顾客。我认为这种主题餐厅特别有创意，而且很新颖，一定可以吸引很多顾客。

然后我们在晚上船游了北京杭州大运河，我们在扬州和上海所看到的夜景很不一样，在上海我们看到的都是高楼大厦以及五彩的霓虹灯，而扬州的夜景却是岸边的一棵棵柳树以及许多座桥，看得出扬州更加古老以及传统，是海派文化。在上海时，我们也没怎么看到当地人在外活动，而在扬州，虽然那时是晚上，但我们看到很多老人在跳广场舞，还有很多小孩子在玩耍，看得出扬州人更喜欢在户外运动，而且生活节奏没有那么紧张。上海和扬州比起来，对于商业发展以及旅游业更加重视，而且投入了很多的资金，但扬州人的生活却更惬意、更悠闲，我想各有各的好吧。在新加坡我们的生活节奏和步伐也比较快一些，其实我觉得也许有的时候我们应该调整一下自己，不要那么紧张和压抑，试试学习扬州人，到户外多活动活动，好过在家里对着冷冰冰的手机电脑和电视。

在第六天，我们去了朱自清先生的故居，虽然他是一名十分杰出的作家，但他的故居布置得很简朴，地方也不是很大，看得出朱自清先生低调和节俭的性格。在进入故居前，最先看到的是悬挂在门上“朱自清故居”的牌匾，听导游说这是江泽民主席题写的，足以看出朱自清先生多么受人敬仰。在他的故居内，我们也看到了毛泽东主席和江泽民主席对于朱自清先生一生的评价，我们还看到了朱自清先生创作的一些作品以及他一生的写照。我认为他很令人敬佩的是他爱国以及爱家乡的精神，我在读他展览的一些作品时，看到他多次强调自己是扬州人，而他的作品里也有很多描写扬州美景的句子。

接下来，我们参观了个园和大明寺。导游告诉我们，“个园”这个名字来源于主人对竹子的喜爱，因为竹子拆开来是两个“个”子，而竹子的三片竹叶也形成一个“个”子，所以把这片园林称为“个园”。进入个园，确实有着一大片的竹林，而且还有许多不同品种的竹子，各自有着不同的意义，如孝竹代表的是孝顺。个园内还有很多叠石和假山，其中有一座假山是是由从安徽黄山所搬来的石头所叠成的，我们看得出这名盐商的富裕程度以及建园时的别出心裁。个园的另一个特色就是以它“春夏秋冬”这四种景色为主题的设计，让人能够一次性游览不同季节的景色。我们也参观了很多有不同用处的厅堂，厅堂内挂着许多书法作品以及水墨画，甚至有郑板桥先生的杰作，看得出主人的品味和雅兴，以及受到儒学影响的室内摆设。在大明寺里，我们参观了大雄宝殿、欧阳祠等寺院，还看到了过去雍正皇帝和乾隆皇帝的字迹。我还在这里买了今年品送给爸爸，因为爸爸是个佛教徒。在这里也可以看得出新加坡和中国的宗教信仰很相似，许多新加坡的华人都是佛教徒。

我们还去了上海大众汽车工厂参观那里的运作状况，在车上，那里的工作人员很细心地为我们解说工厂的运作状况，我们看到工厂内挂了很多条幅来鼓励员工，如“态度决定一切，细节决定成败”等，员工们也很以认真、专业的态度工作。他们使用了很多高科技来维修和生产汽车的个别部分，整个过程很有秩序，并且会有员工重复检查，确保过程中没有什么差错，这些都反映了这家公司能够成功的原因。我认为公司这么做可以鼓励员工，激励员工，让他们每天更有精神工作，是个很好的做法。

最后，在第七天，我们乘坐高铁从扬州回到上海，高铁上十分舒适，隔一段时间就会有人来清理垃圾，而且整个旅程很平稳，丝毫没有颠簸。我发现乘坐高铁的乘客很文明，多数人都在看杂志、休息或者看手机，没有人喧哗或者大声说话。但我发现再乘搭高铁前，有些一乘客踩过了黄线，这种现象我在新加坡搭地铁时也会偶尔看到，我认为这么做很危险。我觉得高铁和新加坡的地铁相似的使他们都是利用磁悬浮，而且效率都很高，并且很方便。而不一样的是高铁的速度更快，据导游说，高铁的速度能够达到每小时430公里，而高铁和地铁相比起来也能够行驶更长的距离，并更快抵达目的地。

总的来说，这次的经历令我扩大了眼界，并使我增广见闻、增添了不少处人处事的经验。这次的学习之旅是我第一次离开父母，“在家靠父母，出外靠朋友”，在互相照顾的过程中，我和同学们学会体谅包容对方。虽然“近距离“的接触让我们发现了一些对方以前不知道的小缺点，但在争吵和和好后，我们巩固了我们的友谊，也增进了感情。而在和外国的伙伴们交流的过程中，我们也亲身体验到了异国文化，让我们有了更广阔的世界观，以另一种角度仰望世界。

Sheryl Mah - OELP reflection

Daily Reflection:

Day 1) 

We reached the airport in the afternoon around 2pm. As we stepped out of the airport, I felt a cool breeze. The weather here was 21 degrees at the moment! It felt so much better than the weather in Singapore as it was 30 degrees in Singapore at that time. The first place we visited was the Bund. This brought back a whole lot of memories as I had visited Shanghai before about 7 years ago, when I was in Primary 1. We were able to admire the amazing yet breathtaking sunset alongside the neatly constructed buildings. At night, we took a boatride to look around the Bund. We enjoyed the sight of the buildings decorated by flashing lights. Everyone was taking pictures without even resting. We learnt that Shanghai has such iconic buildings constructed in the Bund which represent their culture. Each building had a unique reason for their architecture. For example, Shanghai's World Financial Centre, also known as the bottle opener building, was supposed to have a circular hole at its peak instead of the current rectangular one but the Chinese protested that it looked like the Japan rising flag so they decided to change it to the current rectangular shape. It was the first day of our trip, everyone's really excited and could hardly sleep as we were spending time with our close friends. This is also an experience that was new to most of us and we really look forward to the next few days.

 

Day 2) 

When I woke up in the morning, it was entirely sunny however I noticed that the time was only 5am! However in Singapore, the sun only rose at 7+ am. We visited the French Concession in the morning at around 9.30am, we had a short walk around their old street and had a close look at their old houses. We even saw the Fu Lu Shou statues in the fountains and also went to the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre where we learnt about the culture, history and development of China. We got to know about their famous buildings by viewing models of them. As a reward for our effort spent in reading and understanding Shanghai's culture, we had our lunch at the well-known Hai Di Lao hot pot restaurant! I must say that the food and service there topped the tables. Their service was remarkable, they took care of every little need we had. Providing us with hair ties to have a comfortable eating experience and glasses cloths in case our glasses got foggy when we are cooking the hot pot. There were just so many positive comments that I can't list them all. After a long 4 hour bus journey, we finally reached Yangzhou. To sum it up, I learnt about both the old and new cultures of Shanghai and also the reasons of success for the Hai Di Lao restaurant. 

Day 3)

We headed to the 治春茶社 for breakfast. We tried out their soup buns. It was an interesting experience for all of us because we have never heard of people using straws to drink soup. Although I burnt my tongue, I won't be able to forget this interesting experience i had. In the afternoon, we headed to the Shou Xi Hu (Slender West Lake) to bask in the nature of their historic park. Just like the Bund, the plants and bridges here also have their own unique history. For example, an easy way to remember the architecture of the zig-zag bridge is to ward of ghosts from entering as they can only move in one direction. As you know, Yangzhou is most well-known for their beautiful ladies. Thus, at night, we watched the 千秋粉黛 performance put up by some musically talented local ladies. They showcased their vocals and gracefulness while promoting their Yangzhou culture and dialect. It was a fun performance as we were also able to witness our male classmates gawking at their beauty. 

Day 4)

Today, we all woke up early to meet our new friends! The ones whom we have been talking to a few weeks ago through mail. We arrived at "扬大附中学校”. It was the first day of our school immersion trip and all of us were really excited for it. Through interaction with our buddies, I found out that most of them weren't our age and they were really friendly and hostile. My buddy kind of had the same personality as me so we became friends straightaway. After one whole day in their school, we found the students here to be really well-disciplined, attentive and respectful. During lessons, they pay 100% attention and sat up straight through the entire history lesson! Our class was the total opposite, after 10 seconds of History, you would find us sleeping already. Not only that, they did not have toilets with seats and proper flushing systems like us, but none of them complained! Usually, if we step into any toilet, we would start complaining straightaway. I feel that we should learn from students of this school. 

Day 5)

It was our second yet last day at this school and I am having loads of fun! Even though my buddy was 2 years older, I grew extremely close with her to the point that we held hands everywhere we went. One of my favourite lessons was the wushu lesson we had. Their teacher was really humorous and taught us wushu in a very comical way. He treated all of us really nice and we bonded alot more through the race games towards the end of the lesson. Other than the wushu lesson, we also had Art in which I exchanged art pieces with the other students and dumpling making sessions. The dumplings we made tasted really plain but fruitful with our efforts. At the end, both of our schools performed for each other as a parting gift and a way to thank their school for this wonderful opportunity. The ending ceremony allowed us to grow closer. As we all know, good times never last long, all friends would have to part eventually. We were leaving their school and our buddies sent us off. I took lots of pictures with them. It was a really sad moment for me because I felt like we had been friends forever due to the amount of time we had bonding with them. I teared up a little when I saw my buddy tearing up as our school bus slowly rode away. My buddy and I are still contacting each other now and we often chat about our worries, I felt really thankful to the school for this opportunity for me to have such a wonderful friend. I learnt about the differences between China and Singapore's education system, China has a longer curriculum time and did not have any after school activities unlike Singapore. I feel that China students have a more stressful life than us Singapore students so we should learn to appreciate and not complain about homework and tests. One of the best part of today was the reward we got for our effort we put in for the mass dance. Our teachers let us shop in the supermarket near by! The tidbits sold there were REALLY CHEAP. The tidbits sold in the China market were slightly different from those in Singapore, so we bought as much as our budget could hold. Today was definitely one of the best days in this trip! 

 

Day 6)

No matter how close friends are, they are always bound to have some conflicts. Being too close with your friends can make you realize their flaws. Today, I experienced alot. My friend started to ignore me and I felt really scared and didn't know what I did wrong. I was really shocked as this never happened so seriously before and I didn't know what to do. Fortunately, my friend found out that it was a misunderstanding and we reconciled. During this trip, many of the cliques in my class started to drift apart. I feel that something like this is unavoidable and a part of life, so we should learn to cherish the fun times we are spending with our friends right now. Let's talk about the places we visited today.This morning, we went to Geyuan garden and Daming temple in which we learnt about the histories of these two places with different religions. The Geyuan garden's architecture had been influenced by Confucianism and the Daming temple's design was by Buddhism. In Geyuan garden, we were given free time so my friend and I decided to climb to the top of the pagoda. We climbed till we were breathless so we decided to crawl up. It was definitely worth the sweat. The view was breathtaking! We could see the whole of the garden and even buildings far away, we even saw Yangzhou's power plants. This visit helped me understand more about the different types of gods which the Chinese worship. This night, the teachers gave us a short talk on appreciating and loving our parents. As the emotional toilet queen I am, I started sobbing but I wasn't alone. I had to constantly lend tissues from my friends, it had already been 6 days since I last saw my parents and I really missed them alot! This trip helped me to cherish our parents and to be grateful for all they have done for us. Today was definitely an unforgettable one!  

Day 7)

It's the last day! I can finally go home and sleep with my beloved toy bears and bolster, I missed the comfort of my bed so much! Today, we took the bullet train from Yangzhou back to Shanghai. It was my second time taking a bullet train. The speed of the bullet train felt almost like we were travelling on air, it was so smooth. We stopped by the Volkswagen company and had a tour around their factory. We learnt the methods they used to make cars in China through a short tram ride. Volkswagen is one of the most successful and well known type of car produced in China. I found out that the workers there are efficient in working and know exactly what they are supposed to do. They treat their job seriously and do their best. This must be one of the reasons as to why Volkswagen is such a well-known brand. Afterwards, it was time to head to the airport. On all of the bus journeys we had today, I slept through all of them. I have no idea why I was so tired, maybe it was because I missed home too much. On our flight back, I chatted with my friend for 2 hours. The feeling of returning back home was so intense that I was no longer in the mood to sleep or watch movies anymore. On the flight, I thought back on the 7 days we spent in China, recalled everything I learnt, remembered all the fun times we had. This experience will be one which I will never forget in my 6 years of life in River Valley! 

Overall reflection Jeremy

My reflection on OELP 2G Shanghai-Yanghou trip

I feel that my trip to China Shanghai and Yangzhou has been a fulfilling one.

China, a common word, I would see in the newspaper, internet, news etc. Does the china I am visiting reflect the image I have in my mind? My initial impression of china was just a place filled with Chinese, Dim Sum , a place that Is getting more and more rich and products from all over the world is  made in china.

But what I imagined is very different from what I see. China is not just a place filled with chinese culture it also has lots of foreign influence. The buildings in shanghai for example was influenced by the westerns. The buildings outside the Bund was as if we were in England . Not only that, the French concession area further show that not only chinese live in china. By visiting China has also made me realised that the economy growth in china is indeed getting faster. For instance, when I visited the Shanghai Volswagen, I was very impressed by the efficiency of the production of the Volkswagen cars. Imagine how much money would have been earned from selling so many cars everyday. China also have lots of branded brands from the western country such as Starbucks, Apple etc developing in china. As more trades will happen in china, Singapore would slowly lose it’s customer. Singapore doesn’t own as much land as China and the living ost in sinagapore is so much higher. Therefore I have learn we singaporeans should not be complacent but instead should be more aware of the upcoming challenges and start preparing to improve ourselves. 

There are many lessons to be learn in China too

When everyone was looking at the beautiful nightview of shanghai we observed that iconic buildings and lasers. It is not to act as landmarks but instead it is to advertise their brands in the night. It is also similar to Singapore’s marina view in the night iconic structures such as the esplanade, marina bay sands, Fullerton hotel and etc. This is iconic structures defines a country hence it is important.

Is Singapore’s attitude towards the customer the best in the world? Not quite look at Hai Di Lao’s service it is a lot better than what we are experiencing in Singapore. The difference are that the waiters and waitress in the restaurant are much more polite and considerate. The services provided are much more thoughtful. The restaurant have a playground for children so that the parents can eat without taking care of their excited children.But what is more significant is that they have Television showing their children playing. Hence the customer could observe what their children are doing so they can prevent any trouble from happening. The restaurant also provides nail and shoe polishing services. It increases the satisfaction of the customer. Before the steamboat meal the restaurant provided the girl’s with long hair with hair pins and for people who wore spectacles a cloth so that one could wipe off the water droplets on our spectacles when we were eating the steamboat. They also have a counter for customers to make their own appetizers and fruits. Hence it gives the customers more freedom to choos what they want. From a customer’s point of view I feel that the whole experience was very memorable as every small action they did was significant and cause my time in the restaurant like I was an emperor. They must have achieve their target of leaving their customers a good impression and making their customers want to come again. (their food is really good J) But Singapore is lacking of such detailed thoughtful services. Therefore we should learn from them and improve ourselves.

But when we improve we must always remember to preserve too. In Singapore as time goes the traditional habits, buildings, culture are slowly depleting. Lesser people speak in their dialects. We all have forgotten our roots. But in china it is different they not only preserve but they also promote and improve their culture. The make up shop for example was a popular make up brand even back in the Chinese dynasties. But as competition gets tougher and tougher they have to improvise. Once a makeup that you have the adjust yourself, now no more the company produced products that appeal to the crowd and also preserving the brand that is popular among many. Therefore it is killing two birds with one stone.

What Singapore could do too is to implent our old Singapore culture into modern day society. Shophouses could be ‘alive’ again maybe having a modern day kopitiam in a shophouse hence one could not only enjoy the delicious Singapore cuisine but also feel the old Singapore.

When visiting a local Chinese school and workplace of the Chinese I am more aware of the values and beliefs of people in China.  They are serious, determined people. In the school every student are sitting straight paying attention to the teacher. They did not even drink a drip of water during class as they are afraid of missing out some important facts the teacher might be saying. Even in relaxed classes such as art and music they still bring in a hardworking and attentive attitude during lesson. Even though it is an impossible task for students of Singapore to pick up such serious attitude towards learning . But we still need to be as serious when we are studying as it concerns your life whether you could be a scholar and I the future contributing towards the society  through your job. At their workplace I could see many banners hat was words printed that is used to give the workers constant reminder to be serious at work. Such seriousness is a value that every person should have. To be serious at a particular work could allow one to perform better to be more focused hence the outcome of the person’s action would be better.

I myself is a person who can’t always be serious. I would usually be less focus on my task and hence make mistakes at important times. But the attitude in China shocked me and made me realised that it is important to be serious at times. Hence I always remind myself to be more serious at times a I don’t wish to have anymore preventable mistakes happening again.

This made me realised how lucky I am to be born with a status of a Singaporean. China has it’s beauty that I admire like the weather but it has it’s con too. People smoking at places when they are not suppose to. Not as clean public toilets. This is are things that can be change but even if those changes are made I will still be proud being a Singaporean. Singapore brings me a feeling that no here else has. A homely feeling. I have my friends an family in Singapore not only that.All the clean air familiar places same language the food that I am accustomed to makes me feel that Singapore is unique. It is the best place to live in not china. I love Singapore

Through this I have also learn more about my classmates. Closing in on our relationship thus, I could better take care of my friends in the future . I also made friends in China. They reminded the importance of friendship. When I was at a lost of how to complete my drawing task my newly acquainted friend Sunzhen came and help me promptly. I am touched by his hospitalitywhen I was in his school and I wish to do that too when he comes to Singapore.

In a nutshell, I have an enriching experience in china and I will apply my knowledge to the society

Jeremy Koh Zi Yang 23

许子洋

OELP Daily Reflection~Lixian

Day 1-The Bund & HuangPuJiang

Along the bund, there are a lot of western and old historical buildings. The Chinese government transformed them into shopping which sells clothing or bags. This allow Shanghai to preserve the historical value of the buildings while earning money as the bund is now a famous tourist attraction. The shopping district also helps in contributing towards Shanghai's economy. Singapore can learn from Shanghai in terms or Bukit Brown and Tanjong Pagar train station.

Day 2-French Concession, TianZiFang, Shanghai Urban Planning Center & HaiDiLao

The way Chinese government preserves the historical value of the buildings in the French Concession and TianZiFang is similar to the buildings at the bund. Old and new can co-exist, while western and eastern can stand together. At the Shanghai Urban Planning Center, we witnessed how Shanghai transformed from a small fishing village to how it is now. We also visualize how Shanghai is going to be developed in the future, which mainly consists of more skyscrapers. At HaiDiLao, twe enjoyed service that was rendered to royalties. Even though we were only young adults, the waiters and waitress treated us with immense respect. Their discipline politeness earned our respect towards them and we were amazed by their service. The food was delicious as well. Singapore can learn by creating more courses in training the waiters and waitresses to be more customer-oriented.

Day 3-Yechun Restaurant, Slender West Lake, Yangzhou Museum, Dongguan Street & 千秋粉黛 performance

We had our breakfast at Yechun Restaurant. The bun there was delicious and we used a straw to drink the soup of the bun. The breakfast of the Yangzhou people are very heavy, as they often skip lunch. However, we only eat very little or even skip breakfast in Singapore, thus, we could not finish all the food. At the Slender West Lake, we enjoyed scenic view and learnt how the official in the past would do anything to let the emperor be happy. The scenic view relaxed and refreshed us. At the Yangzhou Museum, we saw how people in the past had to painstakingly carve out word by word in order to print a book. This taught us to never take any things we have now for granted, as it was all because of the hard work of our ancestors. We had a blast shopping at Dongguan Street. The things sold there were cute and cheap. We could also bargain with the shop owners, which was amazing and fun. Dongguan Street is our favorite place out of all places we visited. The performance was beautiful as the actress sung and danced.

Day 4-扬大附中东部分校初中学部 , Lushi Old Mansion & Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal 

At the school, we saw how attentive the students were and their active participation during lesson time. They did not slouch in their seats and respected their teachers. The students were hospitable and greeted us with warm smiles. They made us feel at home.  They had nap time during lunch break and eye movement exercise twice a day. Compared to their lesson time, Singapore's educational system was far more relaxed as we have more CCA choices and shorter curriculum time. We enjoyed delicious dinner at Lushi Old Mansion. We realized how rich the salt merchants were in the past. The dinner we had was basically what the rich salt merchants had on a daily basis, which was a lot, as in 1 meal, we drank 4 different types of soup. During the boat ride at the grand canal, we experienced the hard work of our ancestors. It was as if time was turned back and we witnessed how the people worked hard to dig up this canal.

Day 5-扬大附中东部分校初中学部 , Xinhua Book Store

We had paper-cutting, 中国结 making and dumpling making exercise students. They were patient as they taught us step by step. Afterwards, We basked in the lovely performance of the students as it was the last day that we visited their school. At Xinhua Book Store, we bought cute and cheap stationery as well as the large volume of books available there. We ate the dumpling made with the students late at night as we emailed them as we started missing them.

Day 6-Geyuan, Paper-cutting Museum, ZhuZiQing former house, Volkswagen, Daming Temple, Dongguan Street

Confucianism influenced the architecture design of Geyuan. The master of Geyuan emphasized on studying a lot. He built a library for his sons to encourage them to study as much as possible. There are 4 gardens in Geyuan, spring, summer, autumn and winter. Each garden has their own specialties and is unique. The master also loves bamboos, and it is because of the arrangement of the leaves of the bamboos, which is similar to 个, that the master name this house Geyuan. We did another round of paper-cutting at the museum and we were impressed by the works put uo at the museum. It is sad that young people nowadays do not like to do paper-cutting, thus an important and high value activity is slowly dying. At ZhuZiQing former house, we saw how much he respected and loved his father. He is an important person that contributed a lot to Chinese Literature. The adventure at Volkswagen factory was amazing and we simply loved it. It is rare to have a chance to see how cars are created and it was also the first time that we got to sit on electric car, which was awesome. At Daming Temple, we saw parent praying for their children to do well in the upcoming national examinations. This is how the parent in China express their love and care for their children. However, this is a rare sight in Singapore. We had another round of shopping craze at Dongguan Street. This time, we saw an old man making sugar art, a dying trade of Yangzhou. The sugar was delicious and the making of the sugar art was simply incredible.

Day 7-Bullet Train Ride

The bullet train traveled at high speed. We could eat and drink on the train, something we cannot do in the MRT in Singapore. The interior of the train was spacious and clean, even though we can eat in the train. This shows how responsible the commuters are. Also, the chair were able to be turned so that we can enjoy talking to the people sitting behind us. It was an amazing experience.