Without any kind of doubt, I was always going to be the first person to arrive at Terminal 1 of Changi Airport. I arrived at the airport at around 11pm on the night of the 2^nd of March, a symbol of my family’s enthusiasm. With that, I had to wait 7 hours until the rest of the group arrived; most of the time I used to just wander around. But 7 hours passed swiftly and soon I found myself checking in. I gave a symbolic last wave to my parents, and we were already on our first few steps to China.

Much of our time spent in the airplane was used for sleeping. When we reached Guangzhou’s airport about 3 hours later, I had my first few experiences with the Chinese people. I looked around shops like Baleno, which sold 2 shirts for 8 RMB. I found a McDonalds, but to my disappointment the outlet only sold ice-cream and other simple snacks. When I was starting to get hungry, as if it knew, the 7-11 appeared in front of my eyes. But I realised still, that I did not have many choices for lunch, so I ate prawn crackers. After that, we boarded our next plane to Wuhan.

When we reached Wuhan, it was colder than I expected. I realised that borrowing a windbreaker and gloves was a wise decision. We had a minor problem at the airport as a few girls got separated from the group and went the wrong direction. I actually saw them straying away from us but did not do anything as I assumed they knew what they were doing. I regretted keeping quiet and I would look to identify any problems from here on, and help to solve them if I can.

I had a pleasant bus ride to Huazhong University. Looking at the passing scenery which slowly changed from wet rice fields to modern buildings, accompanied by the music from my Ipod, I had a great time; but I also fell asleep later on. Before I knew it, we had already reached our hostel.

My opinion on our hostels is that it is totally satisfactory. We have our basic needs like thermostat, water boiler, a comfy bed and more. However the only drawback is that we currently have no access to the Internet, whatsoever. This, I feel, is a major blow as I had previously planned on updating a blog every day, for all my friends to see in Singapore. I really hope that we can get access to the Internet soon. [oh but we have it now (: ]

The last highlight for today was probably the welcome dinner we had in a restaurant in campus. I have to say that the food was marvellous. It is just that I have to be wary of what I am eating, as some dishes contain pork which I cannot eat as a Muslim.

With that, Day 1 ended with all of us tired of travelling, and urgently needing a night’s sleep.

contrary to popular belief, other countries also have nice airports.

Geography at it's best.

Our very first meal in China.