Friday, July 27, 2007
June Holidays Over
With all these plus going back nie for 2 weeks for classical and modern literature, my june hols were over. not a well-rested hol. :(
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Beijing 24-31 may 2007
Right, continue with Beijing trip since i last ended. mood b4 going was apprehensive cos its the first time tt i travelled so far away, for so long and with colleagues and a bunch of kids. lots of stuff to buy n things to do b4 going like buying luggage bag, changing currency and a day b4 departing, i still had to rush thru my wk review and email my RO.
reached the airport at 630am by cab tog with dad--nice and sweet of dad. received sms-es fm colleagues who were supposed to depart tog with me but due to last min change, i hv to depart alone. very blur when and where to check in and i caught no sight of the parents, students and tour agent. caught sight of 2 parents and they were anxious to check in so tt they could walk ard inside. i wanted them to wait for the rest b4 we went in tog, easier for me to take attendance. then, hod came and helped me to make arrangement for them to go in but need to gather at the departing gate by 7.45am or so. he waited outside the gate b4 we departed in case anything cropped up. he went with my dad for coffee and chatted a lot... well, first time taking plane, din know its such a long walk inside b4 reaching departing gate. got quite a lot of forms to fill in. realised that we got different seats. nevertheless, i still got to sit with my student sean and his mum. quite a nice person to talk to. sean usu don talk to me n his teachers but on the plane that day, he talked to me and even taught me how to operate the remote control to watch movie or other functions. i was seated in the middle on the left side of plane. din feel giddy when plane flew upwards. watched 'museum of the night' but din really watched it as i was sleepy and dozed off every now n then. they served breakfast on plane--bun, muffin, cut fruits (pineapples, papaya and grapes) and tea. bun is nice but i din eat the muffin. as for lunch, was given a choice of steamed chicken or fish as the former was more of a chinese food so i chose the former though i prefer fish. had ice-cream stick as dessert. aft hrs of travelling, we reached our destination. as the plane was flying downwards, pilot realised there was no parking lot so waited quite long to alight. felt very giddy when plane flew downwards.
it was a very long queue at check-out custom and there was a tour guide waiting for us there--xiao xue. think she was gd as she made constant reminders about things to watch out for and always made a head count. as we departed early, they arranged to let us go wang fu jing--a place similar to orchard rd in sg where things were sold very expensively and no bargaining allowed. letting us to go xin hua bookshop before we go for our dinner. as i was hungry, i found the food at restaurant quite delicious though it was normal chinese dishes like cabbage and toufu. little did i realise that i had to go thru the days with similar meals.
when we returned to hotel, some parents made requests to change rooms so that they can be with their close friends etc. was tired so aft unpacking, i dozed off till wei ling, my colleague cum hotel room-mate, knocked n pressed the bell.
as memory fails due to the late entry of beijing tour, what was most unforgettable was the climbing of great wall. i was in charge of leading the students to the highest possible point. think we went to the sixth stop. some steps were quite steep and some students followed me to the top, gladys, neng fang, fang rong, walter, ji wei, sean, xin rong... once we reached there, we made a bronze metal souvenir that had our name carved on it. afterall, not as exhausting as i had imagined, just tt the weather was hot. luckily, we changed our schedule to go in the morning.
a day b4 we went back sg, my throat began to give problems. think food was too oily for me and not enough water. they only provided us with 1 bottle of mineral water each day on tour bus but i brought pre-boiled water with me. most often, i still dont have enough.
reached the airport at 630am by cab tog with dad--nice and sweet of dad. received sms-es fm colleagues who were supposed to depart tog with me but due to last min change, i hv to depart alone. very blur when and where to check in and i caught no sight of the parents, students and tour agent. caught sight of 2 parents and they were anxious to check in so tt they could walk ard inside. i wanted them to wait for the rest b4 we went in tog, easier for me to take attendance. then, hod came and helped me to make arrangement for them to go in but need to gather at the departing gate by 7.45am or so. he waited outside the gate b4 we departed in case anything cropped up. he went with my dad for coffee and chatted a lot... well, first time taking plane, din know its such a long walk inside b4 reaching departing gate. got quite a lot of forms to fill in. realised that we got different seats. nevertheless, i still got to sit with my student sean and his mum. quite a nice person to talk to. sean usu don talk to me n his teachers but on the plane that day, he talked to me and even taught me how to operate the remote control to watch movie or other functions. i was seated in the middle on the left side of plane. din feel giddy when plane flew upwards. watched 'museum of the night' but din really watched it as i was sleepy and dozed off every now n then. they served breakfast on plane--bun, muffin, cut fruits (pineapples, papaya and grapes) and tea. bun is nice but i din eat the muffin. as for lunch, was given a choice of steamed chicken or fish as the former was more of a chinese food so i chose the former though i prefer fish. had ice-cream stick as dessert. aft hrs of travelling, we reached our destination. as the plane was flying downwards, pilot realised there was no parking lot so waited quite long to alight. felt very giddy when plane flew downwards.
it was a very long queue at check-out custom and there was a tour guide waiting for us there--xiao xue. think she was gd as she made constant reminders about things to watch out for and always made a head count. as we departed early, they arranged to let us go wang fu jing--a place similar to orchard rd in sg where things were sold very expensively and no bargaining allowed. letting us to go xin hua bookshop before we go for our dinner. as i was hungry, i found the food at restaurant quite delicious though it was normal chinese dishes like cabbage and toufu. little did i realise that i had to go thru the days with similar meals.
when we returned to hotel, some parents made requests to change rooms so that they can be with their close friends etc. was tired so aft unpacking, i dozed off till wei ling, my colleague cum hotel room-mate, knocked n pressed the bell.
as memory fails due to the late entry of beijing tour, what was most unforgettable was the climbing of great wall. i was in charge of leading the students to the highest possible point. think we went to the sixth stop. some steps were quite steep and some students followed me to the top, gladys, neng fang, fang rong, walter, ji wei, sean, xin rong... once we reached there, we made a bronze metal souvenir that had our name carved on it. afterall, not as exhausting as i had imagined, just tt the weather was hot. luckily, we changed our schedule to go in the morning.
a day b4 we went back sg, my throat began to give problems. think food was too oily for me and not enough water. they only provided us with 1 bottle of mineral water each day on tour bus but i brought pre-boiled water with me. most often, i still dont have enough.
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