Day 3 (5-3-2009) - Meeting new people

Today I believe, is the best day yet. Even though there was nothing planned today and we were all just on our own, we actually did many things.

For a day so good, it actually did not have a good start. We all woke up late and way beyond breakfast time. So when it came to meeting up for a meal, it was for lunch. Basically, we all skipped breakfast. Moreover, when we got to the campus canteen, we realised that the stalls were already closed. The decision after that was to go out to town, find your own place to eat, walk around and meet up again 2 hours later.

My group which consisted of me, Fareez, Shakir, Jonathan, Hao Bin, Yi Ren and Wilfred went to the left side of town, while Ram, Chao Liang, Edward and etc went to explore the right. First thing that caught our eye was the term “Singapore Style Burger”. We did not know that burgers from Singapore even had a specific style. One of us just had to try it and Jonathan volunteered to do so. It is a good thing that it tasted good.

Next, we explored a fancy looking shopping centre, probably similar to Orchard Road’s Heeren. Most or all outlets over there are well known or reputable brands so there was really nothing to do there, except for have our lunch at KFC.

The next shopping centre we explored would be the one that would leave a great impression on us. I would say that it is similar to Bugis Junction or Far East Plaza. With so many fashionable shops, extremely reasonable prices and a fun arcade, the place is like heaven for a typical Singaporean teen. I am so glad that the youth here in China have similar fashion and entertainment tastes as us Singaporeans. We almost got carried away by playing the arcade games, if it wasn’t for the machine breaking down and reminding us what time it was.

Now that we are done with the entertainment part of today, I shall elaborate on the meaningful part. Priceless moments and events which we never knew could happen.

Our visit to the girl’s dorm was only meant for us to play soccer outside. We never knew that we would get the chance to interact with so many people.

First of all it was Alex who played soccer with us. Alex is a Russian (who does not look Russian at all), who speaks very fluent Chinese. After having fun with him, we met Mohamed.

Mohamed is an African from the war-torn country of Somalia. Because of that, many people like him are forced to migrate to other countries. As for Mohamed, he has chosen to travel China, and is finally settling down and learning the Chinese language. He then plans to stay on and take a major on Medicine. Big plans for him! He’s an extremely nice guy and even volunteered to show us where the Muslim restaurant is, as he is also a Muslim and eats there. For me, it is a great blessing to have been able to meet him. Words cannot describe how happy I was to have been able to find this Halal stall. I’m even happier that the way we found it was by making friends with other people; one of my main objectives in this trip.

So after having my first ever official Halal meal in China, we planned to just walk back to our hostel and call it a day. However, when we were passing by the park, we saw lots of people gathered there, and conversing with one another. We then remembered that on Thursday and Friday evenings, English Speaking is conducted there. Basically everyone just hangs around and speak to whomever they want to, most importantly, in the English Language. I feel that it is a very meaningful and beneficial activity for them, as they do not get many chances in conversing and improving their English Language. We decided to join in, and talk with 3 very nice people, Frank, Saint and Aimee. They are all locals, from a neighbouring university, majoring English. I mainly talked to Saint and he shared with me some things about himself.

For example, he is majoring English, and is also taking courses on hotel and hospitality. In fact, he already has working experience in Dubai, which I feel is very impressive. Here’s the treat. Saint actually plans to go to Singapore and work soon in the future. Well, we shared with him how there are many working opportunities in Singapore for foreigners like him, how the tourism industry would be getting a boost with the Integrated Resorts, and most importantly, wish him well for his further studies. After saying our goodbyes, we finally went back to our hostels.

I really like what I have done today, interacting with people from all walks of life. Even though today was free and easy, I’m glad we took the initiative to try things.

Us and our new friend Mohamed (extreme right) outside the Halal stall he introduced to us.