OELP DAY 6

CONFUCIUS TEMPLE

In the morning, we went to the Confucius temple to learn more about Confucianism. The temple looked majestic, and was beautifully designed to the style of Ancient Chinese. Inside the temple, there were many ancient carving and paintings, and all of them have Confucianism meanings in them. What amazed us is that there was a 4D theater in the Confucius temple. It was really unique as we rarely get to experience 4D theaters in Singapore. Besides, having a modern 4D theater in an ancient museum is really surprising! We learnt a lot from the visit to the Confucius temple, and we hope we can go there again next time.

GOLD MUSEUM

In the afternoon, we went to the Gold Museum in Jiufen to learn more about old gold mine, such as their history, how to differentiate between real gold and fake gold, how people in the past dug gold, and we also got to see see and touch a huge gold bar. Touching the huge gold made Owen feel very rich, and at that moment  he thought dreamily about all the riches he wanted to get in the future. However, Shi Rong advised him even though Owen could be very rich, he must also be happy, because happiness is very important. Throughout the whole visit at Gold Museum, we enjoyed it a lot. (Wow such Owen Shirong fluff)

JIUFEN OLD STREET

After that, we went to Jiufen old street to do some shopping! IT REMINDED TEGAN SO MUCH OF THE FAMOUS MOVIE SPIRITED AWAY!!! (AND THE TOUR GUIDE SAID JIUFEN WAS THE INSPIRATION FOR THE MOVIE ) There were all sorts of items on sale like ginger tea, calligraphy brushes, prank toys, caps, clothes and souvenirs. There was one particular shop that left an impression on us as they sold shirts with adorable designs, and what's more, they were hand painted! The prank store we visited was also very fun, (think Harry Potter) and the store owner had great marketing skills. He allowed us to try our some products, and introduced the funniest and most interesting toys to us. For example, there was a fake camera that would shoot water out, a mini toilet bowl that would do the same, and the best was a can of potato chips (that looked very real) that has a huge contraption that would shoot out when you opened it. We definitely had a great laugh! Furthermore, we got our dear medic Ming Han (really) early birthday present — a first aid kit filled with sweets (from sophosca) to express our gratitude for taking care of our sick people on the trip . In all, we had a fantastic night (though the dinner was rather...horrible) at Jiufen, and we definitely want to go back there again!

The toilet bowl is supposed to spray water at you when you lift the cover up. The duck is supposed to shock you when you squeeze both of its wings.

OELP Day 5

WULAI

On Day 5, the first thing we had on our to-do list was to go to Wu Lai Aboriginal School. We were welcomed into the school by fellow smiling students and were led into the hall for a traditional African drum performance. The performance was utterly amazing with a catchy beat, however, to our surprise, one of the student performing started singing in the Atayal language. Her voice was astounding and beautiful to listen to even though we might not understand the meaning behind her words. Soon after, we were given a short introduction to the school and a very interesting Atayal language lesson. We were taught basic numbers, words like "Thank you" or "How are you?" in Atayal and also words that describe animals the Atayal people hunt in the forest of Wu Lai. To test our knowledge, we were sent off a scavenger hunt for pictures of these animals hidden around the school and present them to the teachers in the Atayal language. It was a really fun experience as we got to explore the school and got to bond with the local students. After the scavenger hunt, we got to taste the famous local food of Wu Lai: braised beef with rice (卤牛肉饭）and curry noodles cooked with vegetables and bamboo shoots (竹笋). We were all famishing after the scavenger hunt and dug into the food happily. After lunch, we got onto the arts and craft lesson which we learned made cards for our fellow buddies in Wu Lai and vice versa. We wrote down personal messages and our contact details before weaving colourful yarn thread into the holes made along side the card. We weaved the threads into a diamond design which symbolises good luck in the Atayal culture before decorating the card to our hearts' content. Lastly, we played against the friendly students of Wu Lai in a game of basketball and obviously we lost, despite the fact that we have numerous basketball players in our class. It was still a memorable experience though before we parted with the exchanging of our handmade cards. All in all, We had a really memorable and enriching time with Wu Lai students.

After the immersion program, we went to the Atayal aboriginal museum to learn more about their culture and traditions. We were introduced to their way of life and saw many artefacts that the Atayal people uses in their daily life such as spears, swords, bow and arrow, musical instruments(口簧琴）, cutlery, etc. They were decorated with traditional carvings or adorned with colourful woven cloth handmade out of nettle plants. We were also introduced to the different types of Atayal traditional costume worn by different Atayal tribes in different parts of Taiwan or for special occasions and events. The Atayal people can also be differentiated by their piercing and tattoos marking on their body that were made when one becomes of age or accomplish a task for one to be accepted into the tribe. We also learnt about the hunting methods or the Atayal people and the different building structure used for different buildings built on a specific type of land. After our tour in the museum, we were let to our own devices for an hour to explore the old streets of Wu Lai to purchase souvenir and popular snacks such as Japanese style Mochi (麻糬).

RAO HE NIGHT MARKET

After our trip to Wu Lai, we headed to the highly anticipated Rao He Night Market. Rao He Night Market was bustling with life by the time we arrived and we quickly broke up into separate groups to explore the 600m long street. There were food stalls everywhere of different cuisine: Japanese pancakes and omelettes, seafood barbecue, Thai banana pancake and milk tea and authentic Taiwan snacks. After drooling in queue for our food, we woofed .down our delicious meals and went off to explore the rest of the street. The street also had shops offering trendy clothes and accessories for youngsters at great discounts such as snapbacks, sneakers, printed shirts, pants, denim shorts, etc. Shopping till we drop, we headed back to our hotel hauling shopping bags in our hands.

Wu Lai

  

Diamond symbols on a bridge that represent good luck and ward off bad omens in the Atayal Culture.

Delicious curry noodles with vegetable and bamboo shoots (竹笋）served at Wu Lai Aboriginal School.

Rao He Night Market

GERMANY VS. BRAZIL :\

FIFA World Cup⚽️ in Brazil was amazing 🎉🎊🎉🎊and the most depressing, saddening highlight match to watch was obviously Brazil vs Germany🇩🇪 (T^T). With Neymar Junior and his fractured vertebrae out of the match, it was kind of predictable that Germany would be victorious but to a certain extent. However, to my extreme surprise, Germany crushed Brazil to 7-1. Yup, that's right. SEVEN TO ONE!!!!! It was really hard to watch as the match slip into Germany's hands, breaking the record by scoring three consecutive goals in 76 seconds. But what struck me the most saddening was this old man standing on the sidelines holding a World Cup trophy replica in his arms tightly, with tears in his eyes (obviously a Brazil fan with yellow green jersey and a hat with pinned with badges). He must be a very loyal fan to the Brazil team giving the grief that was practically written all over his face. However, after the match, when I thought he would be shaking fists and pouring curses all the way home, he did something else. Despite the fact that his beloved team lost tragically, he handed his World Cup trophy replica to a young Germany fan with a gracious smile and his lips forming the words "Take it to the final! As you can see, it is not easy, but you deserve it, congratulations!" It was really heartwarming and moving to watch his act of sportsmanship and kindness to that young Germany fan. Of course, you must wondering, who is he? His name is Clovis Acosta Fernandes. 😇 

Chufei

Sad stuff :\

    

OELP DAY 4

JIANGUO MUNICIPAL HIGH SCHOOL

The next day, we headed over to Jianguo for our second day of immersion. We were all extremely excited and were looking forward for it, as we had enjoyed ourselves tremendously the day before. As we drove into the familiar school gates, we could see the smiling faces of the students, already waiting to welcome us into the school, we felt the rush of excitement as we immediately knew it would be another enjoyable day!

We were briefed shortly by a teacher and then headed to our respective classrooms. We were split into three classes, each class set to use different timetables, there was an Earth Science lesson, and the teacher was very nice. He taught us how to operate a telescope and how to use it. The lesson was in Chinese, so most of us did not understand the terms and did not really get the lesson. However, the enthusiasm of the teacher made the lesson really more interesting. There were also English lessons, and the students had a debate session showing the lawsuit between Frankenstein and the monster he created. Even though the students did not use English a lot, they tried their best and were very funny when they spoke. There was also a music lesson, in which we learnt a japanese song, and the teacher even got some of us to demonstrate in front of the entire class. Lastly, a few of us attented the maths lessons, which to our surprise, was easier that what we had expected. All of us also had a chance to attend the foreign language classes for either Japanese, German or French, it was extremely interesting as most of us had not ever attended such classes before. 

 

ESLITE BOOKSTORE

At night, we went to the Eslite bookstore. We heard from the tour guide that it is very famous for the items being sold there, especially its books. When we arrived there, we saw that there were many books alright. But the Chinese books were written in traditional Chinese, and we, being Singaporeans, could only read and understand simplified Chinese, and not traditional Chinese. Therefore, the Chinese books there didn't really suit our taste. There were also English books, but there was a lack of them. There were also manga books, and both Chu Fei and Shi Wen really loved the wide variety of manga books there.

Trip Advisor

HOTEL RF Pretty Hotel (4 Stars)

There are 8 stories, with 8 rooms on each storey. Each room is equipped with beds, neatly made, a television, a table, the bathroom, and if you're lucky, even a fridge, the soft carpeted floor made it comfortable to sit even on the floor. Breakfast is buffet-style, and there is a variety of food choices to choose from, from ham, bread and eggs. The drinks provided during breakfast times are: Milk, orange juice, and soya bean milk. 

Critique: The room was slightly smaller than what we expected, but we at least managed to have enough room to walk around and to conduct discussions in them; the breakfast wasn't up to our expectations, however, the customer service and facilities were good, and the good things far overruled the bad ones! Therefore, we decided to give RF Pretty Hotel 4 Stars!

Taipei 101 (5 Stars)

Feel the rush of excitement as the life speeds up to the top floor in a matter of seconds, with the fastest lift in the world that goes at a speed of 1010m/s, it brings you to the top level of the Taipei 101 in merely 37 seconds. Furthermore, it is built with a huge damper located in the iconic building, to reduce damage done to the building by natural disasters. The damper is made up of 41 thick steel plates, with a diameter of 5.5 metres and a weight of 660 tons. 660 tons, is estimated to be the weight of 132 elephants. The Taipei 101 has mascots too! There are a total of 5 mascots, in the colours green, silver, red, yellow, black. However, the best part of Taipei 101 is definitely the outdoor observatory deck. Over there, the wind is very strong and cooling, and you have a beautiful birds eye view of the entire cityscape.

Critique: Taipei 101 is filled with many visitors from different countries. This made the queues to the entrance, and to the lifts, extremely long, and we waited approximately 45 minutes before we could take the lift. Even though the wait was very long, the view from the top floor of the Taipei 101 is simply exhilarating. Large buildings down below suddenly turned into the size of our fingers! Since buildings in Singapore are relatively short, we have never experienced this before, and so we liked it very much. The wait was definitely worth it. With this new and fun experience, we decided to give Taipei 101 5 Stars!

National Palace Museum (5 stars)

Jadeite cabbage, Meat loaf shaped rock, are the most famous items being viewed in the National Palace Museum. What is it that makes these artifacts from the exhibits so precious? It is the history of these artifacts. Many of these artifacts were brought from China to Taiwan by Chiang Kai Shek, who lost the Chinese Civil War, and brought his riches to Taiwan to escape. They have been intricately carved and designed by the ancient Chinese people, to show the story, background, and of course, history of the ancient Chinese people. On top of the two iconic monuments, the National Palace Museum was also home to many historical weapons, cutlery, and clothes, all to give off the look and feel of the olden day China/Taiwan.

Critique: The National Palace Museum is huge, and even though we didn't manage to see all of the exhibits, we saw most of them and learnt a lot about the history of both China and Taiwan. During the pre-trip PowerPoint slides shown to us, the pictures of the famous Jadeite cabbage were huge, but over there at the National Palace Museum, it did not appear to be too big. In fact, it was just as tall as the foot of a grown man! However, it made sense for the Jadeite cabbage to be built small, as jade is a very rare material. Being small, but beautifully designed, 

the jadeite cabbage was carved with great skill, and really looked like a real cabbage! Other artifacts we saw were: Traditional calligraphy writings and chinese paintings, pots, weapons and many others. The tour guides there were also very good, as he answered our questions with great detail. That was a good learning experience, so we decided to give the National Palace Museum 5 Stars!

Confucius temple (4stars)

The Confucius temple is a temple where scholars went to in the past to pray for good results for their upcoming exams. The scholars believed, that they would be protected, in spirit by a famous teacher from the past, Confucius, to aid them in their exams, however, technology has brought the Confucius temple one step further. There are exhibits to introduce Confucius and exhibits to show traditional dances by people who believe in Confucianism. Furthermore, the Confucius temple has even built a 4D theater, to show visitors videos, to introduce Confucianism and the history of that Confucius temple located in Taipei.

Critique: With ancient and modern elements merged together, the Confucius temple is definitely a place for anyone regardless of race and religion to go to. The Confucius temple gives a deep insight of the history of Confucianism and the founder of Confucianism, Confucius himself. The guide around the temple, a lady in her 50s, was very nice to us, and taught us many facts about the religion of Confucianism. However, to be honest, there were certain parts which were quite dry and dull, but overall, the guide explanation was good. To add on, the 4D theater was really unique, and very less places in Singapore actually have a 4D theater. The 4D theater allowed us to immerse into the visual teaching, and besides, the 4D effects were really good! Therefore, we decided to give the Confucius temple 4 Stars!

Eslite bookstore (3 stars)

The Eslite bookstore is known famously for its books being sold there. Other than books, there are other items such as pens, bags and souvenirs being sold there. There were a huge selection of books, consisting of mainly books written in traditional chinese, a range of japanese comic books, otherwise known as manga, and fewer choices of english books; the non fiction section had travel guides, study books and to our surprise, there even was an area which consisted of music related merchandise, from classical music pieces, to the latest trending songs.

Critique: As Singaporeans, we read simplified chinese, and not traditional chinese. Therefore, it was rather taxing for us to read the books properly. This is one of the facts we didn't like a lot about Eslite bookstore. However, avid manga readers like Shi Wen and Chu Fei were very happy to see the variety of manga books being displayed on the shelves of the bookshelves. As there were fewer english books, Laetitia, was unable to pick out many books which she prefered, as who loved reading english books, as a result, she did not buy many books. Even with the wide variety of books, the books in Eslite bookstore did not really suit our taste in reading, as they were mainly chinese books, we were slightly disappointed, as most of us had expected to spend more at this venue, and thus put off buying things from other places initially, so we decided to give it 3 Stars!

Raohe Night Market (4 Stars)

As the sun goes down, the shops will start to open and lights are turned on— the Raohe Night Market is instantly revived! Raohe Night Market is known famously for the food being sold there. Smelly Tofu, Mountain pig sausage, Milk Tea and Huge Squids that are bigger than a grown up's face are just some of the food being sold there! The entire night market is bustling with life, as tourists from every oart if the world to visit Taiwan's most famous tourist destinations, the night markets. Even the locals did not miss a chance in buying the best foods in Raohe! Even though the shops there are mostly shops selling food, there were also accessory shops that sold items ranging from shoes to shirts! There were many souvenir shops in Raohe Night Market, each uniquely put up. Night Markets are unique to Taiwan, and attracted many people.

Critique: Although Raohe is crowded, the walking paths were big enough for people to walk through. However, what we think that can be improved is that more dustbins should be placed along the walkways of Raohe Night Market, so that people can dispose their rubbish easily. Overall, the food is tasty, especially the Milk Tea, which was absolutely delicious. However, many shops were selling the same items at the same price, keeping the customers in inner turmoil, as they pojdered on whcih stall to purchase from, additionally, we think that the Raohe Night Market was slightly small, and could probably be extended, so that there can be more shops selling different items. In conclusion, we decided to give Raohe Night Market 4 Stars!

Jianguo High School (5 Stars) 

Jianguo High School is a boys' school and one of the top schools in Taiwan. Freedom is emphasized greatly in the school, and students are given a lot of freedom. Joining clubs (similar to CCA in Singapore) after school as a pastime is very common for the students there. Students live in the hostels provided by the school, and buy food from a store located at the ground floor of the school. The students eat in class, as they do not have a place specifically located for them to eat. 

Critique: Students at Jianguo welcomed us warmly when we went there. Even though the students were give freedom, most of the students there could manage their own time and schedule, and knows when to play and when to study. There were some students who played phone games in class and one student even slept in class, but even after the teacher seemed to have saw them, the teacher allowed them to carry on doing so. This explains the freedom given to the students of Jianguo High School. The teachers were friendly too, and interacted with us during the lessons. A learning point we noticed in Jianguo high school is that the boxes used to pack food in is made out of paper, and after having their meals, the students will place the paper packet neatly into a designated area at the back of the class. It seems that the school promotes recycling. This is a point that Singapore schools can learn from, and attempt to adapt to. In conclusion, we decided to give Jianguo High School 5 Stars!

 

OELP DAY 3

JIANGUO HIGH SCHOOL

When we went there, the students happily welcomed us. They waved at us happily and welcomingly as we stepped out of the bus. The students brought us to what they called the Red Brick Area. Over there, they gave us a brief introduction about their school. A funny duo, Darren and Derrick, were the presenters. Their explanation was both funny and engaging, which made it very interesting for us. Even Mr Chua Shi Rong, who found almost everything boring, found the introduction funny and interesting. After that presentation, we were brought downstairs to enjoy a performance by the Jian guo students. There were violin, viola, cello performances, and a circus show. Even though the students were amateurs and failed to do certain tricks successfullly, they did not show signs of giving up, and pesevered. They even got some of us to go up on stage to peform with them, which made us realise that it was not an easy task, but Owen however, mentioned that he "felt like a pro".

After that, some of us went up to stage to present them the dance they learnt before the OELP trip. After the dance, all of us went up to stage and put our hands over each other and sang “立化情”, a song dedicated to our school. The Jianguo students also joined us and put their hands over us, and they even lifted their legs to the rhythm of the song. They encouraged us to follow them and we did the same as what they did. After that, each of us were assigned a buddy, and they brought us around Jianguo high school, introducing it along as they walked. Their school building was very historical and they mentioned that we shouldn't attempt to jump together at the same time for the building would collapse.😂😂😂 Soon, it was time to leave and we were moret han glad to be able to go back the next day. We were touched by the hospitality and sincerity of the students as they not only put in the time and effort to prepare the performances for us, they even treated us to shaved ice. 😍😍😍 

CHIANG KAI SHEK MEMORIAL HALL & SUN YAT SEN MEMORIAL HALL

At the Chiang Kai Shek and Sun Yat Sen Memorial Hall, we were able to catch a glimpse of the changing of the guards ceremony at both places. It was truly an eye opener, and the discipline of the guards were amazing, seeing how they were able to stand so still for such long periods of time. We also got a better understanding of two very important historical figures in taiwan, Chiang Kai Shek and Sun Yat Sen, there, we learnt about their contributions and sacrifcies for the country. Without them, there wouldn't be the Taiwan we see today. The trips to both museums were truly enriching and we learnt alot there. We were tasked to do the 'Matt Harding Dance' there. We got Mr Chng to help us film it and everyone stared at us like we were crazy. It was pretty embarrassing but at the same time, we were glad to be able to complete the task. 😅😅

[we had a great meal before going to ximending after dinner!!!]

XIMENDING

After dinner, we went to the long awaited XIMENDING!🎉🎉🎉 There were many teenagers there, as the items being sold there is very trendy. For Owen, he bought a plastic chicken that shrilled whenever he squeezed it. The sound when you squeeze the chicken is both annoying and funny, expectedly, we received many prank calls with the chicken shrilling when we returned to the hotel. For Shi Rong, he bought soft toy that was pervertic and too big for him to carry which made him hug it. Why do we say that the soft toy is pervectic? It is because the toy was a baby which had diaper on and when you remove the diaper, it shows the baby's private part. As for Shi Wen and Laetitia we both bought wallets.