September 3, 2009

Day 3 - What a ride to shopping

I guess I am getting used to the surroundings already.

The schedule for today is mainly about shopping around the city area. We took bus 903 there, about a 30 minutes ride from our campus. This is the first time we are traveling on a public transport. The bus is rather smaller than Singapore's and passengers just squeezes themselves in.

The bus stops at every stop, like our MRT system in Singapore, and there is no bell for passengers to alert the driver. The fee for the ride is only 2RMB regardless of the distance you travel in. A bus conductor will collect the bus fees after you boarded the bus. The fascinating thing is, the conductor is able to recognize who had just boarded the bus when the bus is so packed and full.

Anyways, we went to 步行街's(Pedestrian Street) 世界成-shopping center for shopping. Had lunch at McDonald's and ordered Pork Burger! This is something that Singapore doesn't have. It was quite nice too.

After which, we went window shopping and ended up playing in the arcade. We played the one which you have to use the claw to grab a soft toy. Most of us managed to get one of those. Boarded the bus back to campus and something shocked and amused us. One of the passenger actually scolded vulgarities at the driver for not opening the rear door and nearly drove off. THAT IS SOMETHING YOU DON'T REALLY SEE IN SINGAPORE! :)

Went to the roadside stalls for dinner, the food is really cheap and delicious! Worth the money. :) Managed to see some fireworks too, but we don't know what the occasion is about.

Reflections
The incident in the bus really amazed me - from the memory power of the bus conductor to the anger showed by the unhappy passenger. The passengers here are quite impatient and rushing for time as they would just squeeze their way through to alight. Singaporeans are more considerate by trying not to cause any inconveniences to other passengers.

While crossing the road at pedestrian zebra-crossings, the vehicles won't wait for you, they will just start to accelerate once the green light is on. It's quite unsafe too, unlike in Singapore, both parties will compromise each other.

A video on the fireworks.