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.