Cost of living(individual)

When I visited Taiwan, my buddy mum said that their cost of living is still okay. The wet markets there are reasonably priced for an average household. However, for supermarkets that are in shopping malls are more expensive and may not appeal to the needy family. Due to the high price, my buddy's parents usually got to the wet market to buy fresh produce. For other luxury items, it depends on where you buy it. If the place has a lot of tourist coming to visit, the prices will be higher. In conclusion , the cost of living in Taiwan is fairly reasonable if you don't buy things in the department stores. 

Education(Individual)

Thoughts and observations 

In Taiwan, I attended a biology lesson. The teacher is very enthusiastic in teaching and the students seemed to enjoy it very much. We had like a little debate about whether we should keep animals in zoos. The teacher allowed students to go up and express their thoughts freely. The students were very proactive in expressing their thoughts. Even if their answer if wrong or irrelevant,  they are not afraid of making mistakes in front of their classmates and learn with their friends. I think that this attitude in learning is very good as it allows students to understand the lessons better by letting the teacher correcting their mistakes. In Singapore, when the teacher asks a questions, students seems to try to avoid and remain silent. Even if a teacher calls a students out to answer, the students will just shrug it off with a poor answer. I also observed that students also have a strong team spirit. They will do the discussions together and will help each other when they are in doubt. I also feel that the teachers have a strong sense a trust in the students. For example, students have the freedom of bringing snacks and drinks to classrooms. This shows a high level of trust given to the students. They are trusted to not dirty the classrooms and dispose the empty cans properly. I observe that the classrooms are very clean. In our class, we do not really care about the hygiene and cleaniness of our classrooms and it's often dirty. We should definitely learn from them. 

Life of a student in Taiwan 

I asked my buddy about their curriculum timetable and found out that they feel stressed and tiring. They start school at 7.15am and self study till 8.25am. They end school at 5pm and have CCAs every single day. Most of the students have tuition after school and usually sleep at 11pm to continue studying. The tuitions usually helps helps the students to understanding better what is taught in school or preview upcoming topics. They do not eat in canteen but eat in classes. They told me that the studying requires a lot of memory work and their topics are rather informative. For example, one of their history questions is when did the Chinese revolution happen. 1911. Our history questions requires thinking and inferring from the source. 

Monuments(individual)

We went to the eternal golden castle. It has magnificent walls and massive cannons in the castle. 

This is a poem that I written 

雄伟的大门

坚不可摧的围墙

抵挡敌人攻击

让百姓安心

Postcards for parents 

Monuments (Individual)

Picture of Postcard

b.  A poem about the monument of your choice.

My poem would be about Anping fort.

雄伟的古堡

炮台保性命

虽大部分炸毁

还坚强地站立着

Education (Individual)

b. Thoughts and observations on behavior in class and style of teaching.

When we visited the class, I've noticed that the students are extremely proactive. They raise their hands at every question, as if they will win a prize for every correct answer. This is unlike in Singapore when the students don't dare to answer even when the question is a simple one like 'What are the tests for congruency'. I think that Singaporeans should learn from them since with constant speaking up in class, the students will have their mistakes corrected and they will learn more from this.

I have also observed that the class runs by the students reading up on the topic before the lesson. This shows the immense amount of trust between the student and the teacher. The students are trusted to read up and the teachers would continue on the topic with notes that needs the prior knowledge from the textbook that the students are trusted to do. This is extremely different in Singapore where the teachers supply the students with notes that cover the content in the textbook since they think that the students would not read up on the topic. I feel that the trust between students and teachers are more prominent in the Taiwan case since the teachers in Taiwan are friendly towards the students, like the both of them are friends but in Singapore, the teachers and students only share a teacher-student relationship.

c. Write about the life of a student in Taiwan.

The life of a normal class student will be that they will wake up at 6.45am and get ready for school, reaching school at around 7am before the Self-study period that starts at 7.15am, which is their first lesson. They will have school till 5.05pm with 10 minute breaks in between lessons and a lunch break. They will have tuition from 5.30pm to 8pm where they will be taught on the topics in school, but more in depth. After their tuition, they will reach home at about 8.30pm where they will do their necessities like showering, eating and spending time with their families before heading to revise or do their homework till about 11pm when they will sleep. Some may sleep later due to revision or longer leisure hours. This schedule is based on the timetable of a Taiwanese net friend from Sacred Hearts High School.

History Notes of Taiwanese students

Monuments (individual)

The poem I wrote is about the Chihkan Tower. The reason I chose this monument as the subject if my poem is that this infrastructure leave the deepest impression on me. It's very magnificent despite its long history. Thus I wrote this poem to show my thought on this monument in Taiwan.

楼，

虽老，

拥有者悠久与古老的历史，

但永不会失去它雄伟的气势。

众知的赤坎楼。

Cost of Living (Individual)

When we visited Taiwan, I asked my buddy and my buddy's mother about the cost of living there and they said that the cost of living was quite okay since they were accustomed to it. I have heard that the average salary was about the same as Singapore with things sold being at a higher price as compared with their average salary. I believe my buddy's family is one of the richer ones since I was brought to a department store and got treated to food. They have also expressed their opinion on our school fees, which is about SGD15 per month since they had to pay NTD50 000 - NTD60 000 per month on my buddy's school fees since she is in the special music talent class. In Taiwan, there isn't much of government subsides since they were impressed by the impressed amount of government subsidies that the Singapore government has provided for us. But, they have adapted to this and accepted it. Hence, we can conclude that the Taiwanese has accepted the cost of living of their country.

Education ( individual )

Thoughts & observation

In Taiwan, I attended one of sec 4 math lesson. I observed that in Taiwan classes, boys and girls are all separated, tablemates are all of the same gender. During the lesson, we have an activity where we are separated in two groups and do a group test. The teacher expects us to work out the questions together. The students there are very friendly. They know that we are from sec 2 and thus the question standard is too high for us so the gave us the easier questions to try them out. I realize the students have a strong team spirit. They know what their classmates are good at and thus let them handle certain questions. It was very impressive as I think not many of my classmates knows what each other is good at. After this activity, the teacher went through the questions. The students are very attentive. I realize the students and the teacher has a very special relationship. They looks like friends and give the feeling of normal friends but yet, very respectable when the teacher is teaching and having lessons.

I think that the Taiwanese students have very good self control. They know when to have fun and when to be serious. Their team spirit is very strong too, working together has no problem at all. They know how to face the problem and come up with a solution. I think the students actually treat their classroom as their own house. There are snacks, drinks and little items. But even though they eat in class, their classroom is still very clean and in good condition. I think this is something we have to learn from them. Often, our classroom is very dirty as we do not care much about the hygiene and cleanliness of the class. The experience I had in this class was very pleasant and fun. It was unforgettable.

Life of a student in Taiwan

I asked some buddies about their normal school lives. They told me it was tiring but they got used to it. The homework amount is around the same as Singapore but they have self study period so they could get them done before going home. Apparently, many of them have tuition after school hours so having self study period actually helped them to cope with their amount of homework. For tuition, it's often late at night till 8 plus. It further explains the subject and at the same time, preview the upcoming topics, to make the students cope better in class. In school, they do not have canteen like ours in Singapore. Their meals are fixed and changed daily. Most of them do not like the food due to their tastes. As for sleeping time, some sleep quite early, some are quite late. Those sleeping late is either due to revision, or playing games. I asked them if their studies would help them when they go to the society. They told me in their opinions, it's not really useful at all since the thing they learn is just memorizing informations. I think that their school life is no much different from school lives of students in Singapore. Except, we don't have self study period and we have a better privilege of food since we have a canteen. We face the same problems and some of us also have tuition late at night. The tuition have the same purpose, understands the subject better and preview on the upcoming topics. In the level of tiredness, both are the same.

Some examples of the Taiwan students' homework

Cost of living( individual )

When I was in Taiwan, during the last few days, I visited our sister school and I questioned some of the buddies on their satisfaction in cost of living in Taiwan. After asking them, I realised that there are different costs in different areas. For normal markets like wet markets ( 菜市场 ), the prices are acceptable, in fact it's quite cheap. People think the price worth the quality. But markets like supermarkets, shopping mall, it's a bit expensive. For normal households, they would think the price is expensive but for the richer households, it's acceptable. Due to the high price, the normal households seldom goes there to buy items. Items like clothings would also depends on the place you buy, usually would be below 500 TWD.Lastly, cigarettes and alcohols are actually much cheaper than in Singapore.

In conclusion, the people in Taiwan thinks the cost of living is acceptable and satisfied with it. Though some items are expensive, they think the quality worth such prices and thus accepted them.

Taiwan OELP reflection

Taiwan day 2

On day 2, we went to the Hakka museums, and learnt more about the Hakka culture. I learnt that Hakka is a race in Taiwan, and they migrated from China. In the early days, they settled into the hilly areas of Taiwan, and despite the difficult terrain, they turned swamps and riverbeds in farmland. A unique life style adapted to the hills developed, and that formed the basis of Hakka culture.  We also learnt about some Taiwanese culture, like the oblation furnace (敬字停）they believed that papers with words are precious and cannot be anyhow thrown away, and it's a practice still upheld now. I'm very impressed with how the Taiwanese preserved their culture. Seeing how the many museums are preserved, and how many of the tour guides explaining the museum to us were volunteers, I can really feel their enthusiasm towards their culture. I think they have done it better than Singapore, as even though we have museums, we don't go there, and do not have an enthusiasm like the Taiwanese. I think that we can learn a lot from the Taiwanese, and try to learn and preserve our culture. Especially us, the youths of Singapore. We cannot treat our culture lightly, as it defines who we are and gives us identity. We should learn to treasure and preserve them. 

Taiwan day 3

On day 3, we visited the an ping fort and the liu he night market. I thought the an ping fort was very significant, as it was a symbol of their independence, a story of how Taiwan prospered. It is very important, as it could be something all Taiwanese could relate to and be proud of. Just like singapores story of raffles, the Taiwanese story of zeng cheng gong. It embodies the values the people of the country all admire, so they can all be proud of the person. I think that this is the importance of a monument. It is significant by representing important memories of the locals, and form a common story, or thing all the people can be proud of. Whether it's the Singapore story of raffles or the Taiwanese story of zeng cheng gong, it is all something people of the country can be proud of. After this, we went to the liu he night market. I saw a lot of Taiwans famous snacks. I learnt a lot of the Chinese food culture, and I tried a lot of them.

Taiwan day 4

On day 4, I went to our sister school, sacred hearts high school. We went to their classes to see what it was like, and also we performed a dance for them, and they also had a few performances prepared for us. At the performance, I was very impressed by their discipline. They were very attentive during our performance, and there was none of the fidgeting and noises that we always make. They clapped and cheered loudly, and gave us an impression that they were enjoying the performance very much. It made us feel very welcomed and impressed. I also went to their science class, and it was a debate class, about the merits and demerits of zoos. The teacher was very supportive, and always guided us on how to answer, and help us summarize our points. He made the atmosphere very conducive, and thus helped spark the exchange of ideas. All in all, I think that the Taiwanese students have very good discipline, and their teachers are very friendly and supportive.

Day 5

We went to zhengxin for robotics and balloon sculpturing lessons, and I learnt a lot of new things. For the robotics lesson, I learnt how to transfer the program into the robot, and then assemble the robot. It was very fun, and interesting. We also went for balloon sculpturing, and that's the time we were able to bond with the seniors who led us, and as they taught us how to make the balloons, while we keep popping them, I felt that they were really people I can depend on. In the afternoon, we went to the cake towel shop. I was impressed with their creativity, as they made.... All sorts of things from towels, such as cats, cows.... I learnt that because of the climate, the cotton used to make towels are hard to grow, but they worked around that by coming up with this creative way to boost sales. 

Day 6

We went for a FCE lesson in the morning, and I was very surprised when I learnt that we will be cooking our lunch. I was worried at first, as during the FCE lessons in RV, the food I cooked was.... Not horrible, but not all that tasty either. However, through the guidance of the seniors there who taught us how to cook, I had a very enjoyable lunch, and I'm happy to say that the food was delicious. In the afternoon, I went out with my buddy, and I learnt a lot about the Taiwanese culture, through our visit to a temple. It has a lot of gods there, and the buddy introduced them to me. We also went to a street that is very famous in Taiwan for its paintings of the cats, and the paintings were very creative, as on a 2D wall, they created a 3D feeling, and we had fun and interacted with the cats. 

Day 7

It was the day where we returned to Singapore, and we went to the  911 earth quake education centre. It was designed very well, with a bridge that has markings on it that can measure the earth quake. We went to a area that was preserved to record the scene of the earth quake, and we can see the extent of the damage for ourselves. Classrooms was tore into two, and you can see the steel poking out. Seeing the power of the earthquake, and the damage it can cause, I'm all the more thankful that I can live in Singapore. We are special in the fact that we can avoid these earth quakes, and we must realize how fortunate we are. We must not forget to help those who are less fortunate though, and always be ready to help someone in need.

Tainan OELP Individual reflection

I'm Day 1 

At about 6+ we boarded China Airlines plane from Changi airport to Kaohsiung International Airport. All of us were looking forward to the trip and was buzzing with excitement. We reached Kaohsiung International airport at 12+ midnight and we were all tired and exhausted from the flight. We took all our luggage and sluggishly walked towards the arrival hall. That moment I was puzzled. Why are there people holding banners saying “ 欢迎立化中学！”  Later I realised that they are actually teachers from 正心中学. We greeted 刘秘书and the teachers a good evening. Wow. I was so impressed by their hospitality. I heard that they need to travel a long journey just to welcome us to Tainan. They also bought pineapple tarts and some tibits so that we can eat on our way to the Ten Drums Culture Village.

I was extremely touched by their warm hospitality. I look forward to the trip ahead even more. And also, we were introduced to Uncle Terry, our tour guide of this trip. He is quite friendly. 

Day 2 

Quite a lot of places to visit today. After we had our breakfast at Ten drums cultural village, we set off for our first location, the Meinong Hakka Culture Meseum. Before going to the Meinong Hakka culture Mesuem, I didn't know anything about the Hakka Culture.  After the trip, one thing I learnt is that the Meinong used to be a tobacco plantation place. Tobacco plantation was a very profiting business at that time. We had lunch at the Mei Nong Folk Village. After that we moved on to Kaohsiung Hakka Culture Mesuem. I learnt that their traditional clothing is blue. Next, Kaohsiung Meseum is a so different from the other museums. It was built by the Japanese when Japanese was in control of Taiwan. It was green in colour as it is designed to camouflage from the American planes. In the past, this was where high officials like president workplace so security was very important. The structure was built by the Japanese and even survived the 911 earthquake as Japan itself experienced earthquakes and the architect purposely built it to withstand earthquake. Next we went to a local supermarket, Carrfour. The supermarket was huge and had multiple levels to it. It sold a lot of things, really different from our NTUC. we did our group task, which was to find brands that also appear in Singapore supermarket. 

After that, we had our dinner. At first it was drizzling and we thought that the night market might not be opened and everyone was feeling very sad. However, after our dinner, the rain stopped and we were on our way to the Liu He night market. It was buzzing with people. There were a wide variety of food sold there. I was extremely excited for the crispy chicken. Really nice experience there! 

In the end, I saw how the Taiwanese really put in effort to preserve their culture. Museums were all over Taiwan to encourage people to visit them. I feel that the Singapore Government should build more Meseum nearby our homes to allow more people to visit them. Make them free too! 

Mei Nong Hakka Culture Meseum 

Mei Nong Folk Cultural Mesuem with my friends! 

Kaohsiung Hakka Cultural Mesuem 

Kaohsiung Mesuem of History 

Liu He night Market

Day 3 

I got up with a bad start today. I was late for the meeting. Me and my buddy Jing Heng together with 4 other people was scolded by Mr Gay. After that, we proceeded to have our breakfast with our heads hung low.  I apologised to Uncle Terry and our classmates. After that, toured around the Ten Drum Cutural Meseum. I was totally shocked that our staying place was actually once a sugar cane factory. 

After that, we watched a performance by the very own Ten drums percussion group. The performance was exciting and full of energy.  After we checked out of the Ten Drum Cultrual village, we proceeded to the Anping Fort. Anping fort was once a administrative centre of the Dutch regime, and the hub for trading. After that we have lunch at Anping Old street. This meal showcases Anping local delicasies and it was really delicious. We moved on to the Eternal Golden Castle. The castle was built in 1874 by the famous Qing official Shen BaoZhen in order to safeguard the coast from attacks. Next we moved one of my favourite, the Chihkan Tower. It was designed and built in a Classical Chinese style with red tiles and cornices. Really beautiful Tower. We had XiaoLong bao for our dinner and headed to our new hotel, Metro Hotel located near Douliu Station. In then end, I feel that the Taiwanese relay put in effort in preserving their artefacts. For example at the Chihkan Tower, the stairs leading up to the second storey was really preserved it was the wooden and narrow. The steps wer high which make it difficult to climb. 

Therefore, Singapore should really put into consideration for preserving the olden artefacts. For example the old Tanjong Pagar railway station. We should really preserve it for the younger generation to view it and learn its history. 

Ten drum Cultural village 

Group photo at the Ten drum cultural village

Lunch at Anping old street 

Anping Fort 

Eternal golden castle 

Group photo at Chihkan Tower 

Check in to Metro Hotel 

Day 4 

It was the first day of our immersion programme in Sacred hearts high school. We had a warm welcome from 丁校长 and the students. They prepared a performance for us and we also performed a performance for them. After that we meet our buddies. My buddy's name is  林俊佑。Upon meeting, he was really hospitable. He was a really friendly and smart guy. Next we were introduced to the classes. I was in a biology class and we discussed about whether we should keep animals in zoos. We debated heatedly and it was a really fun experience with the students at scared hearts. After the 1 hr of lesson, we were treated to lunch. The school provides lunch for them and there are only a few stalls selling tibits if students were really hungry. The buddies were really proactive in helping us with our group task. Really looking forward to the next few day with them. Next we bade goodbye to Sacred heart high school and moved on to places in Siluo. We first went to a soy sauce making factory where we learnt how to make soy sauce. Next we went to a pen attraction that was beautiful. The attraction we went was the Siluo bridge. It was a really beautiful place for sightseeing. After that, 刘秘书 order a few huge watermelons that are famous in Siluo for us the try. Really nice gesture from him, appreciated it. 

Day 5 

We went to the second day in Sacred Hearts High School. We went to different classes again. I went into a robotics class where we create and play with the robots we build. We were tasked to build a baseball robot. The robot that can shoot the "ball" furthest wins. Me. Tianhong and another students created a robot but we didn't win because our robot had some technical difficulties. After the robotics class, i went into a ballon sculpting class. I was at first a bit skeptical that my balloon will actually bend and fold into different shape and sizes. However, under the guidance of the teachers and a few pops, I created a swan successfully. After that, we went to visit the Yulin Cake Tower cafe. The cakes that are either real or made by towels! We made ourselves a very own cat made of towel and everyone seemed very excited. After that it was shopping time. Everyone bought their own towels and pillow. Really fascinating experience to see towels bring made into animals and cakes. I feel that this shop is really creative and appealed to the younger generation a lot. After that, we went to the Yulin puppet theatre, where we watch a traditional puppet performance. We also saw puppets that we big and small. First time I saw puppet as big and human beings. Wonder how they manupliate it though. 

Day 6 

Today is the last day at Sarcred Hearts Secondary School. We had home economics class where we cooked carrot cake and make our own dumplings soup with the other students. We were not very experience with the frying of the carrot cake but the seniors helped us along. Considered a successful a attempt by our group and the students. Next, Jing Heng and I went out with our buddy and his mum. We drove to their aunts house which was kind of like a farmhouse. It was beautiful. My buddy said that her aunt used to be a teacher but now she has retired and build her own farm and designed her own house there. She was very nice and gave us bananas in case we felt naseous during the 2hr ride back to our hotel. Next, we bade goodbye to his aunt and his mum and we went to the theme park ourselves. We had a lot of fun there. We bonded quite a lot with our buddy. After that we went to his uncle house. His uncle is a the policeman in Tainan. His house is quite tall and even taller than Singapore Terence house. They were very hospitable and treated us to dinner. I had papaya milkshake after that. After the meal, my buddy mum brought us to a department store where we shop at Muji. The shopping centre is quite different from Singapore's. It is tall and 1 level caters to only one shop. 

After that, we drove back to Douliu to Jiayi. During the journey we chatted and they asked us about Singapore's way of life. They were surprised that cars in Singapore could cost up to a hundred thousand due to Coe prices. Upon reaching, we didn't bear to leave the and they bought us bubble tea to bid goodbye. Really nice experience with them. 

Day 7 

Last day in Tainan. Time flies. We checked out of Metro Hotel and baded goodbye to 丁校长，刘秘书 and the seniors who helped us throughout the trip. Next we headed to the 921 earthquake educational park. We learnt about how the earthquake is formed and the effects of earthquake. It is a really deviating thing to happen. House and buildings collapsed and the entire city turned into ruins after the 921 earthquake. Real life damage was preserve for people to see. Many lives were lost because of that. We must really count ourselves lucky to live in Singapore where earthquakes and natural disasters  do not happen.  I was impressed by how the Taiwanese even preserve the real life damage to houses and infrastructures. It is left untouched after the earthquake. After that, we had our lunch and headed to TaoYuan airport where it's time to say goodbye to Uncle Terry and Taiwan. These 7 days was filled with laughter and fun. I have learnt to cherish things we have in Singapore and the importance to learn our culture properly. 

Tainan OELP Personal Daily Reflection

Day 1 

We arrived at Kaohsiung Airport at around 12am. I was so tired and was planning to sleep on the bus while I walked out of the arrival gate when there was a man with a child beisde him taking photos of us. I was shocked but didn't really think much about it and continued walking. We were instructed to put our luggage in an area and assemble. I was confused, why were we told to assemble when we are about to go to our hotel? It was close to midnight and we were yawning. I finally realized what was happening when a group of adults was standing there, smiling at us. I remembered that our CID teacher, Mr Wong, and a accompanying teacher, Mr Ho, told us that our sister school, Sacred Hearts High School（正心高中）was very hospitable, they had visited the previous batch of Year 2s that went on this trip. I was shocked because I didn't expect them to be this hospitable, it was unlike anything that I had seen in Singapore.  Our vice-principal, Mr Gay, walked up to a male, whom we knew later as 刘秘书 the vice-principal of Sacred Hearts High School , and shook his hand. Our chairperson then told us to greet them. We were told that unlike what we greeted: "刘秘书晚上好，老师们晚上好", the Taiwanese would say : "刘秘书好，老师们好", showing a cultural difference. 刘秘书 and the teachers had came all the way from DouLiu, a city near Tainan, to Kaohsiung, a city at the south of Taiwan, showing their hospitality. They had also brought us 麦茶 and 凤梨酥 so that we can eat on the bus ride to Ten Drums Culture Village（十鼓文化村）I was touched by their warm hospitality and could not wait for our visit to Sacred Hearts High School

An MRT station at Kaohsiung Airport 

Me and Yizhi's room~

Day 2

Places we visited in sequence: Mei Nong Hakka Culture Museum, Mei Nong Folk Village, Kaohsiung Hakka Cultural Museum, Kaohsiung Museum of History, Carrefour (local supermarket), Liu He Night Market

We visited museums showcasing the Hakka Culture. From these museums, I have learnt things about the Hakka Culture that I didn't know about, for example, they were immigrants from China since in their time, there was a lot of internal conflicts and riots. I was impressed by the effort the Taiwanese made by conserving the buildings. I was told that Taiwan has an array of cultures but they are willing to put in their utmost effort to conserve each and every culture so that the next generations could have the chance to learn about them. This was different form Singapore since our government is just preserving the old buildings without doing any major activity to promote the culture. For example, our government has created museums such as the Pernanekan Museum but there isn't much appeal to the younger generation to visit it since the location is far and they have to pay. I remember that my first time going to the Peranekan Museum was because I won 2 pairs of tickets to the Peranekan Museum but that was when I was Primary 4. I do not see any activities like that anymore . Hence, I think the Singapore government should learn from the Taiwanese government in terms of preserving the culture and appealing to the younger generation so that our culture can be passed down for generations to come.

Later, we visited the Liuhe Night market. There was a wide variety of things sold there and the prices were cheaper than in Singapore. But nonetheless, it was dirty and there was a stench when I was walking there. I was told that it was because of the increase in number of tourists from China. But there was a rubbish bin at distances of around 10 meters, showing the strong 环保意识 of the Taiwanese people. If you compare it to Singapore, Singapore is definitely much more cleaner but we are not the ones who clean Singapore, Singapore is cleaned by foreign workers. We can learn from the Taiwanese to clean our own city, not depending on others to clean it for us.

A garden in Ten Drums Cultural Village

Mei Nong Hakka Culture Museum

Mei Nong Hakka Culture Museum

Kaohsiung Hakka Cultural Museum

Liuhe Night Market

Liuhe Night Market

7-11 in Liuhe Night Market

Day 3

Places visited in order: Ten Drum Culture Village, An Ping Old Street, An Ping Fort, Eternal Golden Castle, Chihkan Tower

We visited a lot of places that were remains from the war. The place that had the most impression in me was the An Ping Fort, because there was a wall that was the remains of a building of a war, and it is at least two hundred years old. In Singapore, I hadn't seen something that was so old and so well preserved. There was also a small fort that was accessible by stairs and was very tall. The stairs was really tall and the surfaces was uneven. It was also a rainy day so I was hesitant on climbing the stairs up, but after I climbed up, I could see a different type of scenery and there were exhibits showcasing the things from the war like weapons. I couldn't believe that the weapons and silverware was so well preserved, there was little to no rust on them and it was from the 18th century. I really respect the Taiwanese for making the effort to preserve such artifacts. I believe that they respect the people that passed away in the war and the sacrifices they made to mould the society into what it is now, showing their culture of 饮水思源. Even though we do preserve our history, but I believe that the Taiwanese people have done it better while teaching the younger generation to appreciate them.

Wall painting in Ten Drums Culture Village

Altar in Ten Drums Culture Village

弹珠汽水

An Ping Fort

The remains of the An Ping Fort

Statue of Zheng Cheng Gong in An Ping Fort

An Ping Fort

Map of 亿载金城

Tunnel of 亿载金城

Tunnel of 亿载金城

Day 4

Finally, we went to Sacred Hearts for our immersion program. We had a warm welcome from 丁校长 and the students. They had prepared a performance for us and we had prepared one for them. Sacred Heart's performance was great, they had the Wushu, Choir and Orchestra perform for us. After the performance, we had a short tea break with our buddies. I had spotted a girl that seemed like my buddy in the Orchestra and when I saw her standing in line, waiting for the teacher to pair us up together, we pointed at each other and recognized each other even though we didn't share our photos with each other. It was a miracle~ After the tea break, we were split into groups and I went to a Year 4 class for History. We were given notes which were in traditional Chinese and while I was reading, the seniors kept asking me if I could read it. Luckily, I was introduced to traditional Chinese when I was young so I could read both Simplified and Traditional Chinese. The seniors there were very caring and kept asking me questions about Singapore, sharing our different experiences. I was told at the end of the day that the lessons that we were having was came up the night before our arrival since Sacred Hearts was worried that we wouldn't understand the lessons.

After the History class, there was a performance made by the graduating seniors before lunch at the library, our holding area, with our buddies. When we returned to the holding area, I was shocked to see a bag on all of our tables. They were goodies from the school to us! I was touched by their hospitality again. I found out that my buddy was from a Music specialized class. Her school fees are NTD50,000 a month including her hostel fees. She plays the cello and she's good at it! I told her that I was from Concert Band and I play the trombone, she was ecstatic and couldn't stop sharing about her experiences at the Orchestra. I was surprised to know that there was such specialized classes in Taiwan since the classes remove lessons such as Home Economics to let their students master their interest. In Singapore, we have CCAs but our emphasis is still on academics, not like Taiwan.

After lunch, we went to places in Siluo. A place that had the deepest impression in me was the Siluo bridge. It was very old but it was still preserved well and there were cars driving on the bridge. There was noticeable greenery on the other side of the bridge so it was refreshing to see.

Poster made during 高一 history lesson in Sacred Hearts High

西螺桥

西螺桥

Day 5

We had an immersion with Sacred Hearts again. We had a NXT lesson. The class were practically boys so they were extremely nervous when talking to us since....all of us were girls. I had some robotics background when I was Primary 2 so I didn't have much problems assembling the robot. The hard part was the programming since they were using a newer version of the program me. But somehow, we completed the task. After this, we had a balloon-sculpting lesson with girls from the Art class. Balloons kept popping and we were laughing all the way. During these lessons, I got to bond with a graduating senior and she was extremely fun to be with, like an older sister.

After lunch, we went to the Yunlin Cake Towel Cafe. I thought that it would be place where it sells towels and cakes but it actually sells cakes and animals made from towels, towels and real cake. I was surprised by it since it was really creative to have a shop where you can DIY a towel into an animal, it was also a good platform to promote local culture since they sell coffee and cakes made from ingredients in Yunlin. The staff there was really kind, they explained everything from the towel-making process to the correct way to take care of your towel. During the DIY session, I've created a cat. I really like the DIY session since there wasn't much opportunities to do things like this in Singapore. I really think that this is a good way to interact and share ideas with locals and tourists especially the younger generation like us since the towels are cute and the whole place is really colorful. I hope that Singapore could do something like this in the future

"Cat" made in Yunlin Cake Towel Cafe

iicake 雲林蛋糕毛巾咖啡館 [ YUNLIN CAKE TOWEL CAFE ]

Figurines of a puppet based television show

说书人

Day 6

Today is the second-last day of our trip in Taiwan and the last day in Sacred Hearts. When we reached there, our buddies were given fifteen minutes to bring us around the school. My buddy brought us to their Eco Garden where I spotted ducks and rabbits roaming freely. My buddy also brought me to her classroom where I saw a lone Euphonium on the shelf, I wanted to play an instrument.... TT^TT We were brought back to the holding area before going to a Music lesson, a History lesson and a Home Economics lesson. During the Home Economics lesson, I burnt my finger by oil. It hurt and the senior I talked about brought me to the infirmary. While walking to the infirmary, she told me that she hoped my teachers wouldn't see us since they will definitely ask about it. But, we really met the teachers. 刘秘书 asked about it and both of us were scared for a second. The infirmary was bigger than the one in our school since they have a classroom specially for it unlike ours which is the general office.

After our lunch, I went out with my buddy and her mother! They brought me to 台中 which was about an hour's drive from Douliu. We were talking non-stop on the way there and they were interested by Singlish, a mixture of dialects and English. They asked me to say a few sentences and I was really embarrassed since I had never said Singlish for 'show'. They brought me to a department store called 新光三越 where I blew a lot of my money for books at the bookstore and other things at Muji. My buddy's mother treated me to Starbucks and bought me a set of chops. After being at the department store, we went to 一中夜市 where I ate lots of stuff. My buddy's mother even bought 老婆饼 for me to bring home.

Eco Garden in Sacred Hearts

Eco Garden in Sacred Hearts

Swimming Pool in Sacred Hearts *^*

Specially made drawing by the Year 2 Arts Class

新光三越

新光三越

台中国家歌剧院

Starbucks in 新光三越

无印良品 in 新光三越

LINE Stickers Exhibition in 新光三越

LINE Stickers Exhibition in 新光三越

诚品书店 in 新光三越

一中夜市

一中夜市

Gifts received from my buddy and Sacred Hearts O.o

Day 7

This was the last day of being in Taiwan. I didn't want to leave Taiwan since it was really fun there and the people from Sacred Hearts were very hospitable. We were assembled at the ground floor of the hotel when we saw 丁校长，刘秘书, some teachers and the seniors that brought us around Taiwan for the three days. The senior that I was really comfortable with even gave our groups gifts and exchanged contacts with me. I was even requested by Miss Christiyani to read out a letter of gratitude to 丁校长 and 刘秘书 personally! I was so nervous with teachers taking photographs and seniors watching! Moreover, only me and our class chairperson were called down from the bus! I hope I didn't embarrass our school....

We then went for a long bus ride to the 九二一地震教育园区 where we were taught the formation of earthquakes. I was told that the earthquake happened during the midnight so no school children was killed in this earthquake, which was a blessing. But, the school was destroyed. The photograph below shows the ruins of the school. When I saw it, I was impacted greatly. I had never seen something like this before. During the Sichuan earthquake in 2008, I remembered I watched a documentary and cried buckets, so I had a strong impact when I saw the real ruins of an earthquake. I was thankful that I was born in Singapore, one of the few places on Earth where there aren't any natural disasters. I was also impressed by the lengths the Taiwanese went to preserve this ruins. They had covered the whole ruins with tarp and strong pillars so that those who did not experience the earthquake could at least see and understand how it happened, while knowing the ways to protect yourself and loved ones if one really happens.

After this monument, we bade goodbye to our guide, Uncle Terry, and Taiwan. I will go to Taiwan again if I have the chance to!! 

I have learnt a lot of things in Taiwan and I hope that the next batch of Year Twos going to Tainan would appreciate this opportunity and learn new things! :3 

九二一地震教育园区

桃园机场

Conclusion

I had learnt a lot of things from Taiwan. The one that was the most memorable was the immense effort out iron by the Taiwanese to preserve their culture and history. They had tried their best efforts to preserve monuments such as the An Ping Fort and Eternal Golden Castle so that it looks as similar to its original look hundreds of years ago. The Taiwanese had also bothered to preserved each and every culture in Taiwan. Since Taiwan was a popular immigration spot for mainland Chinese, there was a lot of mainland Chinese that had different cultures and traditions that escaped to Taiwan such as the Hakkas. But they still preserved places such as the original house of a Hakka and a Hakka street so that the later generations could gain knowledge about the Hakkas even though there might be lesser Hakkas. Singapore could learnt from Taiwan since Singapore just preserves a building and make a museum in that building and calls that preserving. I feel that the Singapore government could do things like giving out tickets to museums as a part of the celebrating of SG50 which would encourage the public to visit the museum and learn more about the olden days of Singapore.