September 1, 2009

Day 1 - Arrival at WUST

Woke up as early as 4am, and met up with the other OIP participants at Changi Airport Terminal 1. After checking in, boarded the plane to Guangzhou for a transit. The journey lasted for about 4 hours. We reached Guangzhou Bai Yun International Airport at around 1pm.

We had our first meal in a Chinese restaurant called "Jinlong Restaurant" in the airport. Food was okay, just that it is much saltier and oilier than Singapore's taste. Well, that's expected and have to adapt to such food for the next 6 weeks here in China.

Gathered ourselves for the transit flight from Guangzhou to Wuhan. It is my first time having a transit flight too. It's another approximate 1.5 hours of flight starting at 5.30pm. We reached the Wuhan airport at 8pm. Set off in a coach to our hostel, and manged to reach at 9.30pm.

Had our dinner at the hostel, lots of dishes! Just managed to fill our stomachs as we had eaten on the plane. Next, we checked into our rooms. I will be staying with Chin Kuang and Daniel for the next 6 weeks. The room was quite alright, air-conditioned.

Overall, today had been spent on traveling from Singapore to Wuhan itself. The airport at Guangzhou and Wuhan are really nice as it is glassy and class. The interior designs are also rather interesting and unique. They don't really have No-Smoking laws in the airport as you can see people smoking in the toilets and restaurants. If you were to do that in Singapore, you will be definitely be dealt with. We were quite shocked that the staff actually did check our cash if it is counterfeits when we are having our meal at Jinlong restaurant!

Reflections
It's a really nice experience for me to travel so far away from home with my friends instead of my family, and it is my first time in China. Also, I can know how is the food like in China, as different people have different tastes and the culture there, like they will check for counterfeits.