It's sad to see vacation go, it's back to school tomorrow!
Yeah new semester's starting tomorrow and I'm least prepared for school this time round. Still in a holiday mood, distancing myself from books and stuffs related to them hahaha. But I guess it's gonna be a pretty good start to the new semester tomorrow 'cos lesson is only for 2 hours! And the next day is a holiday (hari raya haji) hip hip hoooray! Shall start off the week with a positive mind :)Alright, like what the title states, this post shall continue ranting on my 2 weeks trip to Guangzhou and Hongkong! Well actually there are just too many things to tell... and obviously this post is not adequate, but I'll just highlight the prominent ones la okay. And top it off with a set of vlogs which I've done editing with! *pats self*
My thoughts on Guangzhou:
I've always imagined Guangzhou to be one of those upper-end states, which more or less looks like Singapore, with skyscrapers and stuff, but guess I was wrong. The most shocking part is that, it was so effin' hard to converse with them 'cos most of them only know their national language. Everything was in Mandarin and to be frank, I felt lost for a moment. It's like you're clueless at everything 'cos you can't read the signs... nor can you understand what they speak. Yup that feeling.When we were brought to the hostel of Panyu Polytechnic (the place we stayed for 11 days), I was greeted with a..... COCKROACH. And I swear I was feeling uneasy all the way through... till Raddiah swept it down to the ground floor using a broom (oh we stayed at the 5th floor).
Good thing is that, the goods there are cheap. And I went crazy at their apparels asdfghjkl! Well yup you can find them in Singapore too but you can't get them this cheap! We didn't shop that much la, only went to 3 shopping areas... and the rest were spared for Hong Kong. Another interesting stuff I got there is 'Hui Lau Shan'. It's so popular there we actually spotted quite a few stalls selling it. Oh ya, it's actually a drink stall (something like Sweet Talk here) selling fruit juice. But the unique thing is, they'll put different layers of fruits with some sago or jelly and top it off with fruit toppings. IT IS HEAVENLY REFRESHING I TELL YOU. I hope they'll expand (lol) and come to Singapore soon, like REALLY.
Other than that, we visited a number of museums and those ancient places. Visited a mosque there too at their Muslim Street, and the architecture is similar to Chinese temples too. Went to 2 factories (piano factory/beer factory) and thats when I see their workers manufacturing the stuff from scratch, in milestones, with the complicated machines... which is really tedious but skillful.
Oh and we covered two modules there! One is on conserving the environment and another one is on culture. We got the chance to actually craft our own bags/wallets/etc using leather from scratch. From sketching out our design, cutting out the leathers, colouring and varnishing, hammering holes on it for sewing before finally hand-sewing the leather. IT WAS OVERALL AN EXPERIENCE LAH BUT AGAIN, A TEDIOUS PROCESS. I'll appreciate leather stuff more now.
Well, it was an enjoyable trip to Guangzhou, all because of the great company, coursemates, schoolmates and lecturers! But of course, everyone was eager to leave Guangzhou for Hong Kong lol! And let's see what amazed me there.
My thoughts on Hong Kong:
Hong Kong on the other hand, was expected to be totally different from China lah. Ok in case if you're unaware, HK isn't part of China anymore. Even the currency is different. Even though the distance is quite near, the atmosphere between both countries is DIFFERENT. Period.Once we reached HK, everyone was like "OMG THIS IS TOTALLY SINGAPORE-ISH. EVERYTHING LOOKS LIKE SG." True enough, the buildings there are similar to SG's. When the tour guide brought us to one of their attractions i.e the 'avenue of stars', I swear it looks like our Raffles Place area. For once, I thought I was back in my country and I'm not even exaggerating.
Obviously, HK is much more adaptable. We managed to tour around a few attractions in less than a day 'cos HK's size is like SG. Therefore, traveling from one place to another is not time-consuming at all! We also went to victoria peak and Hong Kong University on the first day before checking in our hotel (mongkok metropark) at night. The hotel's place is strategic, me likeyyy! 'Cos its located by the streets (which is lighted up super brightly you can't even tell it's already midnight) and its just a walking distance to the malls & the famous ladies' street market which sells cheap goods. Well, besides H&M, ladies' street was the place we shopped at for all the 3 days of our stay in HK.
Second day was free and easy and we couldn't decide between Disneyland and Ocean Park. In the end, to avoid the huge crowd, we chose the Ocean Park and IT'S BY FAR THE BEST THEME PARK I'VE BEEN TO. No, not talking about the rides but the PLACE ITSELF. The whole design and concept are just unique and interesting. Firstly, it's very huge. Secondly, the park is kinda divided into 2 sections. One is on the land where they have those kids' rides, shops, eateries and show theatres. Another one is located at the mountain which is accessible via cable car or monorail. There, they have those thrilling rides such as roller coasters, 360 viking and others. AHHHMAYYYZIINGGG ISN'T IT? And it's about SGD50 ($HK320) only. (Y)
Our last day there was nothing much. We decided to wake up later than usual. We've been waking up at 7am for the past 13 days so..... guess what? We actually woke up around 10am before packing up our luggage and finally...checked out. Headed to a mediterranean restaurant for brunch (the best food ever mannnn) before roaming around the streets for the last time. At 4pm, bus-ed to HK airport and again, their airport is similar to our's! HAHAHA.
My PERSONAL vlogs on the 2 weeks trip:
I repeat, these are my PERSONAL vlogs which were created just for memories sake. Sorry for the bad quality/shakiness etc. And eheheheh my voice/face fills most parts of the video... so just bear with it lor! :PThe trip was a memorable one, filled with experiences and lessons to be learnt. I realised that being a Singaporean kid is one of the pleasures I'm granted with and I wish to travel around the world and gain more knowledge about other countries' lifestyles. :')