Vaynard's Personal & Aquatic Journal: GIP Shanghai Day 1

After months of waiting, it's time for me to go for global immersion program in Shanghai. I barely had much time after the YEP trip to Cambodia. And here I am, in one of the most establish cities of China, Shanghai. Want to thank Eugene for organising a sending off for me at the airport and thanks to all who came, Andy Wong, Alvin, Amanda, Xue Jing, Theresa and Lam Yarn. Of course not to forget Sok Fang whom i went to meet in the airport as she's working there.

NPCC Pals
Top Row (L to R): Lam Yarn, Theresa, Eugene, Alvin
Bottom Row(L to R): Andy Wong, Amanda, Me, Ruibao, Xue Jing

My Family

The whole group of us from CBE boarded the China Eastern flight to Shanghai. Though by half of the journey, we kinda regret opting for this cheaper alternative instead of slightly more expensive Singapore Airlines. Besides having the wait in the airport for approximately 1hr, the flight was kinda bumpy as well. Worse... when i asked for my favourite red or white wine, the flight attendant replied... “先生，我们只有啤酒”. Kinda turned off. We arrived at Shanghai Pu Dong International Airport and waited for the rest of the people on Singapore Airlines to arrive. After which, we made our way to NTU Shanghai Office at 张江高科 where we had our breakfast. There were a variety of them such as chicken porridge, xiao long bao, you tiao and soya bean milk. However, the stunning thing that i saw on the package was like wow... Look at the pic below and you'll understand. It sounded so vulgar!

The vulgar brand name

Breakfast Set: Vegetable Bun, You Tiao (must tug of war it to eat) & Soya Milk

Now it's time to head to my apartment in Shanghai for the next 5month plus. It's located at 龙阳路万邦都市花园. Prior to the trip, we were told we have only one toilet in the apartment which is going to be shared by 6 people, namely myself, Edwin, Yee Chwan, Andrew, Evi and Estelle. Finally after one super long stretch of walking, we reached our apartment and saw our landlord. Everything in the looks fine, very well equipped. TV, fridge, microwave, aircon, dispenser and washing machine. Then we took a look at the toilet, found an additional plus point - electric toilet bowl which look like those you find in Japanese hotels.

万邦都市花园

Maglev Station

Kitchen

Meeting Desk ( The single chair is for Andrew(house rep aka Xiao Liu))

Bedroom

After all the unpacking, no one was hungry so we proceed to Metro to buy some stuff for our apartment. Hell scary... The stuff there was ultimate expensive. That will be the last time we wil buy anything from there. Lesson learnt for the first day. Die die must compare prices before buying, no hurry. Being 萝卜头 once is enough, must be street smart liao. Then we went to a fake Ajisen outlet and ate some food. Miraculously, the waitress forget to count in Yee Chwan and my food when calculating the bill. Maybe things are likedat. You win some you lose some. Then we headed back to the apartment where we continue unpacking and played Winning Eleven on Playstation 2. Yeap... I brought my PS2 slim to Shanghai. It totally bonded us, even Evi is super pro in the game, some of the guys in the apartment are no match for her. And after the game. It's time to turn in!