42 days in China..42 days of learning journey: Day 5 ( First free-and-easy day)

Had a very comfortable sleep. Woke up only at around 10A.M as today was Sunday and every Sunday would be a free day. Washed up and washed my dirty laundry. I rarely wash my clothes in my entire lifetime and today I realized how difficult it was just to wash a pair of jeans, a shirt and a pair of socks. Had a very hard time squeezing the water out and had to hang them up. The water still dripping onto the floor beside the window. However, I believed that the more I wash, the better I would become in washing my own clothes and hence I could be more independent.
After that, sat around the table with my group and discussed where were we going to. Used the map of Wuhan as a reference and decided that we would be going to Wu Chang Qu, the area where the Yellow Crane Tower was.

Went out of the school gate and waited for a taxi. However, we waited for a long time and there was still no taxi. A minivan then drove towards us and asked us where we wanted to go. The driver then offered to bring us there, charging us a fee of 70RMB. At the moment, we were quite hesistant as we were not familiar with the roads and after all the guy was a total stranger. However, our impatience made us board the van. Throughout the journey, the driver was chatting with us, telling us where to buy cheap stuffs and some basic geography of Wuhan city. Despite the chatting session, I remained on a high state of alertness and kept looking at the places we were passing by in case we were kidnapped.

Luckily, after a ride that lasted around an hour, we reached our destination safely. Began to walk down the street. Beside the street, there were many shops. Some were selling cheap imitation goods while some were shops selling authentic goods such as Nike and Adidas shops. There were also many famous sports shops around such as Nike outlets and Adidas outlets. My favourite brands! I guessed that the Chinese here must be really sporty, if not there would not be that many sports outlets. Walked around and went to Hu Bu Xiang(Hu Bu Alley). We were told to go to this place when we asked a Chinese where we could find many local delicacies. At the alley, there were many stalls selling many local snacks and delicacies. Unsurprisingly, the prices were very cheap. The food were also very delicious. Bought a fried banana for only 2.50RMB. Ate many other things too such as prawn dumplings, BBQ cuttlefish. Planned to go back there when we got the time.

After that, continued our ‘shopping’ trip. Walked into many shops but came out empty handed. Entered a big building that sells all the imitation goods but I also came out empty-handed. Frankly speaking, I don’t really like buying imitation goods that’s why I rather just walk around and not buy anything. We also did enter the authorized Nike and Adidas outlets, but I could not buy the shoes that I wanted all along. It was my idol, NBA star Kobe Bryant’s signature shoe. I was actually quite prepared that I would not get his shoes as the Chinese here are really crazy over him as well.

After a long shopping trip, I only bought a Converse jacket which I intended to give to my friend as a gift. Went to a restaurant for dinner and had steak for dinner. Paid only about 39 RMB and enjoyed the sumptuous dinner. After dinner, took a taxi back to the school. The driver was really friendly and kept chatting with us. He told us that he had worked as a tour bus driver for 10 years and hence, he was telling us about the many tourist attractions in Wuhan(e.g huang shan Yellow Mountain). We were also told that the van which we took in the afternoon was actually operated illegally and advised us not to take it again anymore.

Today was quite a fruitful day, observed some stuffs about the locals. For example, most of them just threw their litter on the ground after eating. At the Hu Bu Alley, there were piles of litter lying on the floor and I really pitied the Chinese woman who was busy sweeping the floor. Also, the Chinese also tend to spit on the floor wherever they are. Even the taxi driver spit out of his window while driving along the road. Also, as we all know how serious the problem of counterfeit money in China is, the Chinese cashiers always determine whether the cash given to them is real or fake, in front of their own customers. I also noticed that the traffic system in China is really incomparable to Singapore’s. A jam could occur at a JUNCTION just because some cars did not obey the traffic rules. The drivers will only obey the rules when the traffic police stood in the middle of the junction and commanded the traffic personally. Seriously, when the police was not there, cars were driving recklessly. Some even drove on the lane going in a opposite direction.