Finally after so many days of uploading of photos and writing this post, it is finally finished one week after the return from China trip! PHEW! It is super tough to upload the pictures lor.
At the bottom of the post I have put in photos from Amanda Heng Tour too.
Enjoy these hardwork I have put in! (:
Shandong, China- 27 May'08 to 2 June'08
Day 1 was spent entirely on the travelling from Singapore to Shandong. We even had our domestic flight from Shanghai delayed for a few hours, due to poor weather conditions. We only managed to reach Jinan at around 4am in the morning which was already day 2 and we even had to attend school early that same morning. So after the mere few hours of sleep, we set out for Jinan High School for our exchange programme.
Day 2:
Group photo with the Principals of Jinan High School, the rock behind was supposedly from Mount Taishan.
Their "playground"?? They have swings and also table tennis table.
Their few basketball courts.
Part of their school morning exercise marching routine.
Birds eye view of the school doing their daily exercise together. Amazing aye!
The very boring chinese lesson we have to sit through, but look at how hardworking and serious the students are during lessons. Quite an impossible sight in M.I.
The guy without the specs is my very heartwarming and talkative exchange friend, while the other one is Michelle's.
My second exchange friend from Jinan High School. She is much quieter than the other one, but at least we managed to talk at last. Btw, that is their summer school uniform, just a T-shirt and Trek pants, it is also the same uniform they wear to P.E. Be thankful to be wearing M.I uniform, cause one of them even commented on the nice uniform we have.
After, the exchange programme in Jinan High School, we visited the Baotu Spring Park. The above photo is the only one that I took from there. It is mainly a spring water park with beautiful scenery. It is because of the special geographical structure in Jinan that creates the special BaoTu Spring, whereby spring water pours out from underground limestone caves.
I can't remember what is that monument over there called already. But I remembered there were quite a number of people flying kites over there, which brought out the childhood memories in me. How I reminisce those days when my parents used to bring me out to fly kites.
The guy above is our tour guide.
Below are 2 photos on the stone trough which was used to pour water into the inner apartment. There was this rule that water cannot be carried from the outside to the inside of the apartment through the doors, therefore this stone trough was used to transfer water from the outside to the inside of the apartment.
The water carrier will pour the water into this trough which is located on the outside wall of the apartment. The water will seep through the wall through the hole.
The servants will then collect the water from here, which is located on the wall of the inner apartment.
After visiting the 2 Confucius building, we had to take another few hour busride to Tai An City.
At the bottom of the post I have put in photos from Amanda Heng Tour too.
Enjoy these hardwork I have put in! (:
Shandong, China- 27 May'08 to 2 June'08
Day 1: 
Day 1 was spent entirely on the travelling from Singapore to Shandong. We even had our domestic flight from Shanghai delayed for a few hours, due to poor weather conditions. We only managed to reach Jinan at around 4am in the morning which was already day 2 and we even had to attend school early that same morning. So after the mere few hours of sleep, we set out for Jinan High School for our exchange programme.Day 2:
Group photo with the Principals of Jinan High School, the rock behind was supposedly from Mount Taishan.
Their "playground"?? They have swings and also table tennis table.
Their few basketball courts.
Part of their school morning exercise marching routine.
Birds eye view of the school doing their daily exercise together. Amazing aye!
The very boring chinese lesson we have to sit through, but look at how hardworking and serious the students are during lessons. Quite an impossible sight in M.I.
The guy without the specs is my very heartwarming and talkative exchange friend, while the other one is Michelle's.
My second exchange friend from Jinan High School. She is much quieter than the other one, but at least we managed to talk at last. Btw, that is their summer school uniform, just a T-shirt and Trek pants, it is also the same uniform they wear to P.E. Be thankful to be wearing M.I uniform, cause one of them even commented on the nice uniform we have. One of the think I have learnt after this exchange programme is that I am so thankful to be studying in Singapore. Unlike them, they start school from 7.30am in the morning till 6pm at night every single day and they have tons of homework to complete and hand it up the next day. They can only choose their courses they want to study only in year 2. They even have music exams to take, which I find it kind of cool, cause I love music. LOLS. School life over there is so much more tougher.
The one thing I love the schools over there is the way the student show their attitude towards studies. It is something that can be rarely seen in M.I. The students are very keen in learning, which in turn motivates other students around them to study even harder.
After, the exchange programme in Jinan High School, we visited the Baotu Spring Park. The above photo is the only one that I took from there. It is mainly a spring water park with beautiful scenery. It is because of the special geographical structure in Jinan that creates the special BaoTu Spring, whereby spring water pours out from underground limestone caves.
I can't remember what is that monument over there called already. But I remembered there were quite a number of people flying kites over there, which brought out the childhood memories in me. How I reminisce those days when my parents used to bring me out to fly kites.The weather was terribly hot on that day and we had to walk from here all ther way to the building behind the monument (if you can see).
Our shadows.
Below the building were some statues of famous chinese people. The above statue is a statue of Sun Wu, an historical figure who was the author of the book- The Art of War. While the below photo is a statue of Li QingZhao, a poetress.
A scenery taken from the building. Below are photos of our dinner, it was more like a dumpling nightmare feast! The dumplings were yummy, but having too many becomes yucky. There were so many plates of dumplings wrapped with different kind of vegetable. We even played some secret number game to clear up the dumplings. Hahas. After that meal, you will definitely not touch dumplings again for at least a year!
Day 3:
Our shadows.
Below the building were some statues of famous chinese people. The above statue is a statue of Sun Wu, an historical figure who was the author of the book- The Art of War. While the below photo is a statue of Li QingZhao, a poetress.
A scenery taken from the building. Below are photos of our dinner, it was more like a dumpling nightmare feast! The dumplings were yummy, but having too many becomes yucky. There were so many plates of dumplings wrapped with different kind of vegetable. We even played some secret number game to clear up the dumplings. Hahas. After that meal, you will definitely not touch dumplings again for at least a year!
Day 3:After breakfast, we had to take a few hours bus ride from Jinan city to QiFu city to visit the Confusius Mansion, Confucius Forest and Confucius Temple. Below are pictures of these places except for the Forest which the forbids pictures to be taken in there. The forest is also a burial ground for the Confucius Family. I won't be elaborating much on the pictures below.
The guy above is our tour guide.
Below are 2 photos on the stone trough which was used to pour water into the inner apartment. There was this rule that water cannot be carried from the outside to the inside of the apartment through the doors, therefore this stone trough was used to transfer water from the outside to the inside of the apartment.
The water carrier will pour the water into this trough which is located on the outside wall of the apartment. The water will seep through the wall through the hole.
The servants will then collect the water from here, which is located on the wall of the inner apartment.
After visiting the 2 Confucius building, we had to take another few hour busride to Tai An City.Day 4:
Then after History lesson, we changed classes to attend their Chinese lesson. What is there more to say, Chinese lesson has always been boring to me. Their book is so chim, that up till today, I still don't know what the teacher was teaching on that day. The only fun part of chinese lesson was towards the end. Whereby the teaching stopped teaching and ask us to introduce ourselves and interact with the class. There was even a guy who asked us to pick a JJ song and sang it to us. So sweet right! I really really enjoyed the lessons over there alot!!! 
A "studious" me during Chinese lessons.
The picture above may be blur, but one look at their chinese textbook could put you to sleep. It is barely readable and understandable for a girl like me who is so bad in chinese.
Our signatures in their guestbook.
Marching to the stadium for their daily exercise, just like the other school.
After the 2 periods of lessons, we were treated to lunch at their school. During lunch we had another exchange sessions with the Arts students. After lunch we went into their performing studio and had some cultural exchange. There were quite a number of traditional chinese instrument performances, a dance item... ... We had Jocelyn to perform for us a piano piece.
Photo of Jasmine and I, taken during lunch.
A picture taken outside the cable car station.
That is our destination!! I was so happy to see that building, because it signifies the end of the cable ar journey!! Well, at least to the top of the mountain.
The above picture was the furthest I went. Didn't went beyond that to the peak because the weather was terribly cold and had to accompany Michelle too. Michelle and I spent an hour waiting there for the rest of them. Luckily, Michelle brought along a book with her and we read the book out loud. It was a book on Love. LOLS. At least I learnt to read a few new chinese words.
It was frigging cold up there! Just look at how strong the wind is by seeing my messy hair in that unglamourous picture. Hahas.
After that we took, a cable car back down to the foot of the mountain to have our lunch.
A Coke substitute?
Our hotel at Weifang city. The hotel room was so beautiful that I just how to shoot it down to show it to you guys. It is kind of unique too.
My completed painting of my Kite. One of the teacher commented that the circle in the center looks like an earth. Even though I am an "earthly" person, I swear this was just a coincidence. Maybe it is just in me.
Look at everyone's serious concentration in the painting of the kite.
On day 4, we had another exchange programme with a school in Tai An, which I cannot remember the name of the school in english. This school even had banners to welcome us. I find the activities and lessons in this school so much more interesting as compared to the other and the students we so much more approachable. After meeting up with the principal we were broken up into little groups to go to different classes and attend two periods of lessons( History and Chinese). By the way, the start school at 7am and finish school only at 10pm every day and sometimes they even have to come back on Saturdays. This definitely made me appreciate M.I even more. LOLS.
I love their History lesson and their history teacher is very interesting. There was this one part that all of us have to go up in front of the class to introduce ourselves. I so pai seh la, my chinese isn't good so I ended up speaking like a robot like that. Then I will constantly turn up head to my friends and ask them translate. I am so going to brush up on my chinese!
There was this one girl who had to do a punishment. She went up to the front and read up an english poem. If you think their english is going to be bad, you are so going to be wrong. Her english was amazingly good and it kind of shock us. Hehes.
They were studying economic globalisation for History!! Which we just so happen to learn that chapter in geography. Don't know is it lucky or unlucky that the teacher picked me out to talk on that chapter. It would have been great if I could speak in english, but that would be a no over there. Even my chinese is so poor in the introduction of myself, imagine how terrible it was trying to say all those economical terms on globalisation. I keep turning to Junhao and ask him to help me translate. So embarressing! Then the teacher still ask me to tell more about the economic disadvantages and advantages in Singapore!! Thankfully I was saved by the bell. Hahas.
Then after History lesson, we changed classes to attend their Chinese lesson. What is there more to say, Chinese lesson has always been boring to me. Their book is so chim, that up till today, I still don't know what the teacher was teaching on that day. The only fun part of chinese lesson was towards the end. Whereby the teaching stopped teaching and ask us to introduce ourselves and interact with the class. There was even a guy who asked us to pick a JJ song and sang it to us. So sweet right! I really really enjoyed the lessons over there alot!!! 
A "studious" me during Chinese lessons.
The picture above may be blur, but one look at their chinese textbook could put you to sleep. It is barely readable and understandable for a girl like me who is so bad in chinese.
Our signatures in their guestbook.
Marching to the stadium for their daily exercise, just like the other school.
After the 2 periods of lessons, we were treated to lunch at their school. During lunch we had another exchange sessions with the Arts students. After lunch we went into their performing studio and had some cultural exchange. There were quite a number of traditional chinese instrument performances, a dance item... ... We had Jocelyn to perform for us a piano piece. The teacher asked me to perform too, but I didn't. Just knew that if I were to perform then, I will be making a fool out of myself. Whats more there were so many people, I will forget how to play. But if I had played that day, the piece would have been Mariage'D amour. The only complete song that I ever remember and love so much since learning it 2 years ago. The only song that took me 1 week to finish learning just to play it to Hoang on his birthday. The best piece that I could ever play and one that I have never played in front of unknown people at all. One day, whenever the time is right, maybe I will finally play this song that is so dear to me. 
We clapping and singing along.
We clapping and singing along.
Photo of Jasmine and I, taken during lunch.Day 5:
We spend the whole morning of Day 5 at Mt. Taishan, one of the 5 sacred mountains in China. The bad thing about this Mt. Taishan is that we had to take a cable car up to the mountain and I hate sitting in cable cars! I have this phobia in whereby whenever I am in the cable car I will keep having the thought of what if the string breaks. Hahas. Stupid me right.
A picture taken outside the cable car station.
That is our destination!! I was so happy to see that building, because it signifies the end of the cable ar journey!! Well, at least to the top of the mountain.
The above picture was the furthest I went. Didn't went beyond that to the peak because the weather was terribly cold and had to accompany Michelle too. Michelle and I spent an hour waiting there for the rest of them. Luckily, Michelle brought along a book with her and we read the book out loud. It was a book on Love. LOLS. At least I learnt to read a few new chinese words. 
It was frigging cold up there! Just look at how strong the wind is by seeing my messy hair in that unglamourous picture. Hahas.
After that we took, a cable car back down to the foot of the mountain to have our lunch.
A Coke substitute?After lunch, we had to travel for few hours from Tai An city to Weifang city.
Our hotel at Weifang city. The hotel room was so beautiful that I just how to shoot it down to show it to you guys. It is kind of unique too.Day 6:
In the morning, we went to some place which I don't know the name in english to have make our own kite!! The really big lesson I learn here is that Feng Zheng means Kite in chinese. Throughout the whole trip I thought Feng Zheng was some windmill thing!!!
My completed painting of my Kite. One of the teacher commented that the circle in the center looks like an earth. Even though I am an "earthly" person, I swear this was just a coincidence. Maybe it is just in me. Look at everyone's serious concentration in the painting of the kite.After painting the kite, we went to buy strings, go to the field and make it fly or whatever you call it. I am so happy that the 2 times I set the kite up, it flew!!!! Hahahas. It was like 15 years ago that I last remembered ever touching a kite.
If I am not wrong, the above process is called printmaking.
Before.
After. 
Our China house, as self declared by Sohteng, Michelle and Me.
After this Kite place we sit for another few hours bus ride to our final destination, Qingdao City.
These are pictures on the facade of the beer production plant.
This is the cutest thing I ever seen during the whole China trip. The sign directly translated reads: "Green green grass, please cherish." So sweet right! Singapore should have this!
The first time, I finished that much amount of beer. It is considered little already, but because of its bitter taste, I dislike drinking it.
The above reads "drunk house". Basically when we enter that house we get to experience the feeling of being drunk, because of the way the inside of the house is positioned. There is even a TV outside to show the how stupid we can be when we are drunk. LOLS.
After visiting the beer production plant, we went to our next tourist attraction- Xiao Yu Shan. Didn't translate it into english because it will be "Small fish hill" which sounds too weired for a name of a hill. The scenery there is breathtaking.
The entrance.
A birds eye view of the coastal area of Qingdao city from the hill. I love Qingdao city the most because they have the most scenic spots, it is very clean, kind of peaceful and it is unique as there is a mix of western context over there.
This is all the pictures I took on Day 6, because my dear handphone went out of battery!! But after this place we went to a Historical Museum and also to some special road, where I saw a beautiful mini castle house like the one you would see in fairytales. But it is just a mini version. 
The last pictures we took with the tour guide.
Look at the enchanting view from the plane. At the black clouds below the horizon, I swear it was filled with millions of stars, it just that the camera is not able to capture this beautiful stars. :(
This Shandong trip is very enriching and I learnt alot from it. Throughout this whole trip I practically speak Chinese most of the times, basically due to the encouragement from the teachers. I also experienced lots of things in which cannot be learnt in the classroom and the memories spent there is definitely priceless and one that I will never forget. This trip made me more stronger, more independent and taught me how to come out of my rock and learn new things, such as making new friends. I started this trip afraid as I only knew a few souls, by the end of the trip I made quite a number of amazing friends. I also not only learn new chinese words but also learnt how to be more confident when speaking in chinese. I also learnt how to play bridge!! Hahas. It is a super interesting game, miss playing it every night we my new found friends. I also had wonderful experiences interacting with students from the two school and learning from each other culture. I definitely enjoy learning chinese much more than before and am starting to like the language. I terribly miss speaking in Chinese!! I can't do that at home neither to my malay friends. :( So disappointed, shall speak to myself than! LOLS.
AMANDA HENG'S TOUR- Wednesday, 4 June 08
The tour with Amanda Heng was an eye opener, although most of the time I was too tired and ended up stoning or even falling asleep. She brought us to places around Singapore in which she had done performances art before and told us more on these historical places such as the esplanade bridge, war memorial and the old national library. She talked on her influences and the purposes of her works. The last stop for the tour was her studio, whereby we saw some of her works and a powerpoint presentation on her works.
The site of the Old National Library, the only ruins left are the brick pillars at the front.
Telok Kurau Artist's Studio.
Amanda Heng's Studio
The very artistic students of M.I. (:
This photo is total randomness.
If I am not wrong, the above process is called printmaking.
Before.
After. Our China house, as self declared by Sohteng, Michelle and Me.
After this Kite place we sit for another few hours bus ride to our final destination, Qingdao City.The first tourist attraction we went in Qingdao city was the Qingdao beer production. Their beer can be commonly seen almost everywhere in China.
These are pictures on the facade of the beer production plant.
This is the cutest thing I ever seen during the whole China trip. The sign directly translated reads: "Green green grass, please cherish." So sweet right! Singapore should have this!
The first time, I finished that much amount of beer. It is considered little already, but because of its bitter taste, I dislike drinking it.
The above reads "drunk house". Basically when we enter that house we get to experience the feeling of being drunk, because of the way the inside of the house is positioned. There is even a TV outside to show the how stupid we can be when we are drunk. LOLS.
After visiting the beer production plant, we went to our next tourist attraction- Xiao Yu Shan. Didn't translate it into english because it will be "Small fish hill" which sounds too weired for a name of a hill. The scenery there is breathtaking.
The entrance.
A birds eye view of the coastal area of Qingdao city from the hill. I love Qingdao city the most because they have the most scenic spots, it is very clean, kind of peaceful and it is unique as there is a mix of western context over there.
This is all the pictures I took on Day 6, because my dear handphone went out of battery!! But after this place we went to a Historical Museum and also to some special road, where I saw a beautiful mini castle house like the one you would see in fairytales. But it is just a mini version. Day 7:
Day 7 was the day we will travel back to Singapore. It was kind of sad cause I really enjoyed the holiday so much that I wished we could stay longer.
The last pictures we took with the tour guide. Look at the enchanting view from the plane. At the black clouds below the horizon, I swear it was filled with millions of stars, it just that the camera is not able to capture this beautiful stars. :(
This Shandong trip is very enriching and I learnt alot from it. Throughout this whole trip I practically speak Chinese most of the times, basically due to the encouragement from the teachers. I also experienced lots of things in which cannot be learnt in the classroom and the memories spent there is definitely priceless and one that I will never forget. This trip made me more stronger, more independent and taught me how to come out of my rock and learn new things, such as making new friends. I started this trip afraid as I only knew a few souls, by the end of the trip I made quite a number of amazing friends. I also not only learn new chinese words but also learnt how to be more confident when speaking in chinese. I also learnt how to play bridge!! Hahas. It is a super interesting game, miss playing it every night we my new found friends. I also had wonderful experiences interacting with students from the two school and learning from each other culture. I definitely enjoy learning chinese much more than before and am starting to like the language. I terribly miss speaking in Chinese!! I can't do that at home neither to my malay friends. :( So disappointed, shall speak to myself than! LOLS.I really enjoyed this trip to the fullest and it is one that I will never put into my regret list. Seriously glad to withdraw from Pre-U seminar in the end, it was worth the persuasion and hardwork after all. LOLS. :D
AMANDA HENG'S TOUR- Wednesday, 4 June 08
The tour with Amanda Heng was an eye opener, although most of the time I was too tired and ended up stoning or even falling asleep. She brought us to places around Singapore in which she had done performances art before and told us more on these historical places such as the esplanade bridge, war memorial and the old national library. She talked on her influences and the purposes of her works. The last stop for the tour was her studio, whereby we saw some of her works and a powerpoint presentation on her works.
*Didn't post up the picture taken with Amanda Heng up here, cause I'm too ugly in the picture to be posted up here. LOLS.
The site of the Old National Library, the only ruins left are the brick pillars at the front.
Telok Kurau Artist's Studio.
Amanda Heng's Studio
The very artistic students of M.I. (:
This photo is total randomness.
