DAY 28

It was supposed to rain today but it didn’t, so Anglia and 5 others decided to exploit the nice weather by going out (read: to Xinghai Park). First stop was Yoshinoya for lunch. I must say, the beef bowl here tastes better than Singapore’s. I contemplated getting a second bowl but decided against it.





To get to Xinghai Park we had to take the electric tram which is exclusively driven by ladies. My friends theorized this is because ladies are bad drivers; they can thus only drive the tram which has tracks to follow. I beg to differ. But more importantly, one should observe where the tram station is located. We had to line up in the middle of the road with cars zooming and honking by the side. Oh the terror.






After 6 stations worth of standing, we finally arrived at Xinghai Park.







To my delight, we went on the Ferris wheel. To my horror, the wheel made creepy creaking noises as we moved up at a snail’s pace. As much as I was trying to enjoy the ride, my fear of height got the better of me and I couldn’t help but be spastic when we reached the peak.







We moved on to stroll by the beach where I spotted a huge playful Malamute. The little girl reminded me of my younger self because bouncy as she was, the dogs almost always ignored her when she threw the ball for them to fetch.



Upon reaching the infamous Xinghai Square, I received a call from home. Like finally. Mom claimed she couldn’t call before because she forgot to dial the last 2 numbers. We talked for a minute or two before I set off to be snap-happy at the Square though my camera’s battery was running low. Trust me to forget to charge it.


First attempt at climbing the slope resulted in me embarrassingly sliding down.


Went to the opposite slope and proudly managed to sit steadily at the tip after frantic clawing at the floor and putting pressure on my feet.













We spent a good 3 hours playing at the slope and snapping away.







As the sun sank deeper, our stomachs growled that it was time for dinner. On our way to the tram station, we stopped to observe an elderly lady writing on the floor with a big brush and water from the pond. I couldn’t understand what she was writing but the scene itself was poetic enough. How long has she been using the tiles as canvas and water as ink?




The day ended with us going to Carrefour to get yet more snacks and having dinner at KFC. I was delighted to see Carrefour carrying Dars chocolate.

DAY 27

Today was all about chasing danger and facing fears, at none other than Disney- Discoveryland. Yours truly wasn’t as thrilled as many others simply because heart-stopping rides don’t appeal.

While others were busy pumping their adrenaline and screaming their hearts out, 3 of us became the assigned photographers and bag nannies who ironically preferred to walk around and have our own fun.

I ended up taking only 5 rides, 4 of which caused my head to spin beyond redemption. The only non-nauseating ride was the go-kart. I excitedly queued with a friend for 45 minutes only to be rather disappointed at the puny course. Nevertheless, it was a fun ride.

The 5th and last ride was the merry-go-round. How unfortunate that it was not an outdoor one but I’m satisfied that I went on it.

DAY 26

Anglia slept at 3AM last night preparing for today’s interim review. More preparation could (and should) have been done, particularly for my share. The review revealed more aspects to be considered such as furniture layout. As of now the furniture layout is way too boring but it’s so tough to enliven it. This weekend needs to be a work-productive one; otherwise I’ll be swamped.



Lunch consisted of something new; exploded chicken (and a bucket of rice). It came with a heap of capsicum bits which I dislike but that aside, it tasted nicely bland. There was a table of Pepsi and another of 7-Up.






Post-lunch scheduled activity was a design enterprise talk (held in Chinese, as per norm). Good news is there was an appointed translator thus I was able to understand the talk a tiny bit better. Bad news is the sleep fairy decided to pay me a visit halfway through the talk. To keep ourselves awake, we played with gummy bears. Designers are creative people.





After the talk ended, 18 of the DID students headed to town for a birthday dinner. Much to my relief, the bus was not as crowded as last time. The venue for dinner was a steak house in a Paragon-like mall. The mall was filled with generous amounts of empty volumes and it reminded me of the malls in my home country.





This was dinner; American-grilled chicken and beef plus orange juice. I love the restaurant simply because I could actually read the menu for it has English and Japanese (though I have no graphic proof of that because in my silly excitement I forgot to snap a picture) and it serves Western food. Frankly speaking I am very, very sick of Chinese food so I am insanely happy with tonight’s meal.


This was dessert; chocolate fruits parfait and strawberry fruits parfait. Both had cornflakes in the middle and were delectable so that made me extra pleased.




To end the night, we went grocery-shopping at the nearby Wal-Mart. The picture shows a pillow of seaweed. We stocked up on food and bought tomorrow’s lunch (which will be sandwiches). Guess where we’re going tomorrow?