Sometimes all it takes to discover our course in life is a chances of encounter. One event or one conversation at the right moment, and everything falls into play.
Day 5 was an adventure of cultural exchange. In the morning, we headed for the cyber cafe. Wow! it was a hell lots of smoke in there. I guess that's one hundred pack of cig, agree? Totally.
Although it's smoky, we carried on using the net. It is our first exchange with the web here in changcun. Everyone logged into msn as though we hadn't interact with our friend in the long while. While others like me and sam played CS~ and Worms Armagedon.
2 hours later,we headed for our dom to fetch jiaqi and clara. They both came out of their dom with a SLEEPY face.
-----
Sometimes, all it takes to discover our course in life is the encounters we chance upon. One event or one conversation at the right moment and everything falls into play.
Our fifth day was a lesson on culture. In the morning we headed for the neighborhood cybercafe for some long needed internet access. When we walked in we were hit by how innocent it seemed. When we walked up to the second level for our computers, though, we were hit by something else altogether. The smoke up there was so thick you could have cut it through with a herring. Almost every other user had a cigarette in his mouth. Ironically, there was a large no-smoking sign on the wall. Even more ironically, though, there were ashtrays next to each computer monitor. I guess the Chinese are more open to smoking than Singaporeans are.
Despite the smoke, we continued to make use of the internet there. We did miss our internet anyway. The lure of the Internet Explorer and MSN were no match for the smoke, however. Jia Qi and Clara were forced to retreat back to the dormitory due to the respiratory discomfort they experienced. The rest of the group continued using the internet and the games there.
Two hours later, we met up with the two bleary-eyed apparently even-more-well-rested girls. We set out to meet a new friend of ours, Xiao Peng, at the school entrance. He would then bring us out to lunch around the block. We arrived at a crowded restaurant hoping for the best. We sat down in a small room for 12 before Xiao Peng started ordering lunch for us. After ordering, he left us to meet his friend. We were left in a foriegn country, in a foreign restaurant with no idea on what was ordered. Before we could think much further than that, food started flowing through the door. There was a plate of meat, and yet another plate of meat, and a plate of tofu, and a plate of vegetables, and a plate of 30 Xiao Zhi, and another plate of 30 Xiao Zhi, and some fish, and yet ANOTHER plate of Xiao Zhi. When we thought the food stopped flowing, in walked ANOTHER plate of Xiao Zhi. We sat there, google eyed watching the food. All in all there were 2 plates of meat, 1 tofu, 1 vegetable, 1 fish and 120 pieces of Xiao Zhi. Before we knew it Sam was getting out of his chair. He had apparently promised to meet up with a few of his friends. Jia Qi quickly followed after him. We were left with 10 people and 120 Xiao Zhi. We never finished our food. This is apparently pretty common in China. People purposely over-order their food to allow the vendor to show his generosity. You will never, if ever, find this in Singapore.
After our lunch, we set out to Hong Qi for some shopping. Hong Chi is an underground shopping center which sells underground goods. its the best place to find cheap, nice looking articles of clothing and other necessities. see a 300 RMB shirt? Haggle it down to 120 RMB! See a 200 RMB pair of shoes? haggle it lower! All in all we spent about 3 hours and a lot of money. each one of us bought at least one item from Hong Qi.
After Hong Qi, we walked to Oh Ya for some grocery shopping. It was already 5 o'clock but it was pitch dark outside. We didn't spend much time there. Just long enough to buy whatever we needed to survive.
For dinner we ate a a nearby KFC. I know what you're thinking - we can get KFC almost everywhere else in the world Why do it in China? It's simple - we wanted to see the difference. In the Chinese KFC, for example, they sell fried chicken 'Peking Duck' style - with sweet sauce and cucumber. Furthermore, the Chicken is smaller, the fries are less salty, the drinks seem home made and they sell salads. It was an interesting experience.
All in all the fifth day of our trip was largely a success. We were able to learn a bit about the chinese lifestyle and it's finer nuances. We might never learn everything about it, but with the right situations, or the right conversations, we might just be able to piece it all together.
Day 5 was an adventure of cultural exchange. In the morning, we headed for the cyber cafe. Wow! it was a hell lots of smoke in there. I guess that's one hundred pack of cig, agree? Totally.
Although it's smoky, we carried on using the net. It is our first exchange with the web here in changcun. Everyone logged into msn as though we hadn't interact with our friend in the long while. While others like me and sam played CS~ and Worms Armagedon.
2 hours later,we headed for our dom to fetch jiaqi and clara. They both came out of their dom with a SLEEPY face.
-----
Sometimes, all it takes to discover our course in life is the encounters we chance upon. One event or one conversation at the right moment and everything falls into play.
Our fifth day was a lesson on culture. In the morning we headed for the neighborhood cybercafe for some long needed internet access. When we walked in we were hit by how innocent it seemed. When we walked up to the second level for our computers, though, we were hit by something else altogether. The smoke up there was so thick you could have cut it through with a herring. Almost every other user had a cigarette in his mouth. Ironically, there was a large no-smoking sign on the wall. Even more ironically, though, there were ashtrays next to each computer monitor. I guess the Chinese are more open to smoking than Singaporeans are.
Despite the smoke, we continued to make use of the internet there. We did miss our internet anyway. The lure of the Internet Explorer and MSN were no match for the smoke, however. Jia Qi and Clara were forced to retreat back to the dormitory due to the respiratory discomfort they experienced. The rest of the group continued using the internet and the games there.
Two hours later, we met up with the two bleary-eyed apparently even-more-well-rested girls. We set out to meet a new friend of ours, Xiao Peng, at the school entrance. He would then bring us out to lunch around the block. We arrived at a crowded restaurant hoping for the best. We sat down in a small room for 12 before Xiao Peng started ordering lunch for us. After ordering, he left us to meet his friend. We were left in a foriegn country, in a foreign restaurant with no idea on what was ordered. Before we could think much further than that, food started flowing through the door. There was a plate of meat, and yet another plate of meat, and a plate of tofu, and a plate of vegetables, and a plate of 30 Xiao Zhi, and another plate of 30 Xiao Zhi, and some fish, and yet ANOTHER plate of Xiao Zhi. When we thought the food stopped flowing, in walked ANOTHER plate of Xiao Zhi. We sat there, google eyed watching the food. All in all there were 2 plates of meat, 1 tofu, 1 vegetable, 1 fish and 120 pieces of Xiao Zhi. Before we knew it Sam was getting out of his chair. He had apparently promised to meet up with a few of his friends. Jia Qi quickly followed after him. We were left with 10 people and 120 Xiao Zhi. We never finished our food. This is apparently pretty common in China. People purposely over-order their food to allow the vendor to show his generosity. You will never, if ever, find this in Singapore.
After our lunch, we set out to Hong Qi for some shopping. Hong Chi is an underground shopping center which sells underground goods. its the best place to find cheap, nice looking articles of clothing and other necessities. see a 300 RMB shirt? Haggle it down to 120 RMB! See a 200 RMB pair of shoes? haggle it lower! All in all we spent about 3 hours and a lot of money. each one of us bought at least one item from Hong Qi.
After Hong Qi, we walked to Oh Ya for some grocery shopping. It was already 5 o'clock but it was pitch dark outside. We didn't spend much time there. Just long enough to buy whatever we needed to survive.
For dinner we ate a a nearby KFC. I know what you're thinking - we can get KFC almost everywhere else in the world Why do it in China? It's simple - we wanted to see the difference. In the Chinese KFC, for example, they sell fried chicken 'Peking Duck' style - with sweet sauce and cucumber. Furthermore, the Chicken is smaller, the fries are less salty, the drinks seem home made and they sell salads. It was an interesting experience.
All in all the fifth day of our trip was largely a success. We were able to learn a bit about the chinese lifestyle and it's finer nuances. We might never learn everything about it, but with the right situations, or the right conversations, we might just be able to piece it all together.
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