观赏樱花

Can’t visit Japan in Spring to admire the cherry blossoms?














Some of us, International and exchange students, decided to make do with a trip to 玉渊潭公园this afternoon.














Somehow, the cab that I was in ended up at the park’s East Gate, while all the rest were at the West Gate.

And so…I explored the park with 3 new friends – 2 Laotians and 1 African from Congo.














Lar and Biggest (pronounced: Bee-gus) are Master students in PKU, the former doing Business and the latter, Economics.


















Jin is an International Relations Year 1 student.














We saw this cute little boy with his mummy…














But when Lar carried him… ;)














We also came across some soldiers at a Poetry Recital session. (??!!)
































Bought this 烧饼snack at 3rmb, and got Biggest to be its spokesperson. =P
































This sign was interesting…














and Biggest said it makes him cry…sobz??

About 2 hours after wandering around on our own, we met the rest! Finally, a group pic…














And of course, more photos.

Qian Qian, my neighbour and the only exchange student from Austria.














Kai Qin of course…














I couldn’t understand why Jia Song said I shouldn’t stand behind him, until…


















And here’s one with Muscle Man aka SSA’s secretary, Jin Yao!














Before we left the park, some French and English-speaking Chinese tried to pick Biggest up. He sure is a hot favourite among the locals! =P














We were famished when we arrived at Nyonya Kitchen for dinner.














Although it cost almost S$6.00, this laksa was good enough. I mean, where else can I find laksa anywhere near campus?!














Lar had popiah…














And many Singaporeans ordered this: Char Kway Teow!














Yummiliciousssss!

gRacE =)

Merely Political Issues?

I think she's pretty.


















And I think she acted well in Memoirs of a Geisha too. But the Chinese don't seem to like Zhang Ziyi very much...Is it merely her so-called arrogance that put people off? Or is it her role in the film?

I have been reading China's English papers on and off for a couple of weeks now, and similar issues keep surfacing.

China VS Japan, China VS Taiwan, China VS US

The top of course is the Taiwan issue.
I have always looked upon Taiwan as a separate entity. After all, Taiwan is an island on its own, governed by a very different party, and they’ve cultivated their own unique culture. In my Modern Chinese History class, I innocently questioned my lecturer on the reason behind the one-China policy. He talked about a nation’s sovereignty and that left me as puzzled as before.

Taiwan's "Peace Angels"















In TsingTao, a shopkeeper started a lengthy conversation with me about this issue. He claimed that the entire 1.3billion Chinese population was against the secession. He was proud to proclaim that China has rows of missiles targeted at Taiwan, should they openly rebel against the one-China policy.

In the recent NPC and CPPCC session, China's Foreign Minister Li Zhaoxing also claimed that the increase in military expenditure was purely for defence purposes (Reuters).

And finally, among my peers in school, they say that Taiwan has always been part of China’s territory anyway, so what right have they to become an independent nation?

My dear Singaporeans friends, what do you think?

Sino-Japan relations
After the buffet on Monday night, Jing Jing shared that her friend has warned her against buying a Sony laptop. Should anti-Japanese sentiments be aroused, her laptop 就难保了！

There appears to be an underlying tension when Chinese meet Japanese here. To be on guard? Suspicions?

I know mama’s generation still, to a certain extent, carry negative sentiments towards the Japanese. What about the generation after? What about MY generation?

Perhaps, there is a need to be aware of their acts during the World War, but with the passing of time and emergence of each new generation, “hatred” is inevitably diminished.

Lisa confessed, “其实我们这一代也没什么感觉了。”

Hmm...

gRacE

Green is the Colour of Spring

心情不好时，我爱到海边去。一直以来认为新加坡少了自然界的美，来到北京才发现湖怎么也比不过海的无边无际......

I wish I brought my camera to show you how different Wei Ming Lake looks now in Spring. Green willows against the backdrop of brownish red Chinese buildings and the deep blue sky. Away from the honking vehicles, packed classes and chattering students, I appreciate the serenity in this northern part of campus.

gRacE

能吃真的是福噢！

I’ve always felt weather reports in Singapore are redundant. Here, one has to trust weather reports…Especially in days like this when there’s strong wind of 5-6 degrees. Clueless about the strength? Bicycles toppled over, people wore masks, and I almost...almost thought I was gonna be blown away.

Mongolian Teh
I love teh tarik and I miss teh tarik.
My roomie offered me a packet of instant Mongolian milk tea mix two days ago.


















Having tried Mongolian milk candies, I expected the tea to be sour, if not, very sour. It looked similar to the Lipton 3-in-1 milk tea, and it even smelled the same.














Guess what…SALTY milk tea!!! Dith, wanna try? ;)

Yummy USB drives!
Received these pics from a friend.






















































I tried to imagine what I’d want my thumbdrive to look like. Maybe attach a kopitiam cup of teh, or a bowl of laksa. Yikes, not aesthetically-pleasing.
I still love my simple black Trek.

Origus – Pizza Works buffet!
I’ve heard Lisa talk about this Western buffet place,好伦哥, for quite some time. Tonight, I finally visited the place, just 10mins’ walk away from PKU.














39rmb per person, no service charge, no tax…That’s one thing I love about dining in China.














Pasta, sushi, soup, pizza, french fries, onion rings, chicken drumsticks, sausages, fruits, ice-cream, and even BEER. Oh…they had Lipton milk tea too!

The chicken was really tasty, but if you ever get the chance to visit, DO NOT try this.














It’s Mashed Potato by the way. Tasted like…mmm…soupy I-don’t-know-what.

This was my last pic of the food before I was told not to take pictures in an eatery…again.














Jing Jing and her fruit salad. This girl sure can eat...she downed 4 bowls of ice cream!































A very bloated-but-satisifed Lisa


















Kaiqin kept saying her “肚子肿了！”














A great meal and fellowship!



























gRacE =)

What is my Isaac?

Due to local government regulations, BICF ZGC is open to foreign passport holders only. Please bring a photo ID that proves foreign citizenship. Thank you for your cooperation.

Kai Qin and I forgot our identification proof at church today, and we thought speaking a couple of sentences in English would get us in.

NOoOOoOOoooooo.........

We were each subjected to a screening process!

For me...

“What is the most famous beach in Singapore?”
“Erm…East Coast? Sentosa?”
“What is the name of the famous shopping road?”
“Orchard.”
“Yupz, you are a genuine Singaporean!”

Things didn’t go as smoothly for Kai Qin, a Malaysian. She could hardly even catch what the Caucasian man was asking.

“What is the name of the famous Malaysian port?”
“Huh?”
“What is the name of the famous central mountain range?”
“Er…”
“Ok…name me an eastern city in Malaysia.”
“Errrr….Hee…I can name state lar…”

Thankfully, she eventually gained entrance by proving that she could speak Bahasa Melayu. =)

Sermon: Genesis 22:1-18
God tested Abraham by asking him to give up his beloved son, Isaac, as a sacrifice. Abraham did, and the boy was spared.

“Issac” is where your passion lies + what matters most to you.

The preacher shared that the “Isaac” in his life was work and the need to be in control. I did identify two “Isaacs” in my life, but I do not understand…

What does God want me to do with them?
Why do I need to offer them to Him?

我真的不明白......

gRacE =[

Bits and Pieces

4am, the howling wind caused my window to creak...
For a brief moment, I thought I was home and torrential rain would follow...

I miss rain.

40 DOP Session 4
Discipleship: You were Created to be like Christ.

The word “forgiveness” first came out strongly in Session 2. Last night, over a very honest sharing by one of the girls, the issue of forgiveness came up again.

F-O-R-G-I-V-E-N-E-S-S

Ping-Pong!

Wanting desperately to recover from my cold, I skipped self-defense and table tennis classes in the past week. This afternoon, I was invited to play ping-pong at the basement. After 4 hours of homework (I feel like a student!!!), I thought I’d go watch them play.

I brought my bat. ;)














Rules: A King is selected. Challenger must win one ball against the King to enter the next round. In the next round, to defeat the King, the Challenger has to reach 3 points first.

I played a little and discovered what the cold has done to my entire body. It was a torture seeing a ball come, and not being able to coordinate my hand at the right distance + right strength. Argh.

It seems people have their own styles in playing the game. Zhi Qing would stamp his foot with each service, and here, Eric gives a back kick every single time he hits the ball. Amazing.


















When I finally became “King”, the guys tagged me “Wu Zetian”.
Hmm…back in Sec 2...mmm...

Singapore Student Association (SSA) dinner

Eric offered to ferry me from PKU to the restaurant, a 30mins' walk away. Unfortunately, he was so unstable, Weilie had to take over.
Woah. An experience.


















Occupying 6 tables, 67 Singaporeans indulged in Peking duck, veggie and mushroom, salted-egg-coated sweet corn, tofu with crab egg, crispy fried potato strips etc. Yummilicious! Each of us forked out 24rmb for the meal.

2 NTU Global Immersion Programme students, Ee Jin (NUS biz and my NJ year1 GP classmate!), and meeeee….














Group pic! The GIP students are happening, aren’t they…














To test our 默契, we were split into groups (according to the kind of sweets we picked up at the entrance), and we had to find out common things among each other when we were back in Singapore.

One group found out they all attended PAP kindergartens, another group recited the pledge.

My group had 2 NTU engineering guys, a NUS design student and an Industrial Studies Master student. To be honest, the ice didn't seem to break for us.

In the end, one of the enginerring guys smoked his way through by saying that we’ve all learnt the recorder in school, and we are somehow all linked to Hello Kitty...

How???
The NUS student had asked his friend to queue for him, one of the NTU guys have queued, and ermmm…the other 3 of us are aware of it. =P

The dinner also provided the opportunity for the introduction of the new SSA committee.

This is Wei Hao, SSA’s Vice President. He’s a first-year International Relations student at PKU.


















And…Chek, aka Ze Ling, SSA’s new President. PKU, 2nd-year International Relations.


















In the middle of the dinner, Jian Kang, one of my ping pong mates, came up and passed me a plastic bag.

Knowing that I was having a cold, he bought me this.














Touched lorrrrrr….

gRacE =)

Pure and Holy Passion

When "experiences" take precedence over my spiritual growth.
O Lord, forgive me.

Give me one pure and holy passion
Give me one magnificent obsession
Give me one glorious ambition for my life
To know and follow hard after You

To know and follow hard after You
To grow as Your disciple in the Truth
This world is empty pale and poor
Compared to knowing You my Lord
Lead me on and I will run after You

Lead me on and I will run after You

gRacE

拇指乐团 - 震撼五月天！


















I am not a fan of Mayday, but a 40rmb ticket is really too hard to resist.
And so, here at PKU, I attended my first ever pop concert!

At the beginning, I felt kinda out of place cos I brought no 萤光棒, wore no Mayday Fan Club shirt, and basically wasn’t as outwardly excited as many of the girls around.
To make matters worse, I went A-L-O-N-E. Who goes to a concert alone?!!

This was how far behind I was, without zoom.














When I saw the media crew right before the stage filming, I immediately thought of the exact privilege my Broadcast Journalism group had when shooting FIR. Oh well…that was almost a year ago…

The concert was to start at 7pm.
At 7.20pm, Miss Discipline Mistress aka overstressed-backstage-crew came on stage and warned everyone to sit down asap, or the concert "永远都不会开始". She received jeering, booing and a very impolite gesture. Sigh.

The high and enthu fans…














The lead singer, 阿信, kept talking about bringing the roof of this “100-year-old building” down, not realising that Peking University Hall was actually built to mark PKU’s 100th year anniversary. =/














My sincere apologies. This is the best shot I got from the entire night. Took a couple of videos though, but don't know how to upload them.. Paiseh... ;)














Compare the above with this. Captured by a fan who bought the 150rmb tix. Hee.














Songs wise, the highlight for me was their Hokkien rap! WOW. I have no idea what they were singing, and I am sure most of Northern Chinese present couldn’t either, but I have never heard Hokkien sound so cool (and not crude).

After 2 hours of performance, *clap clap*! 值回票价!

My verdict:
10
- 1 (no-standing rule…it just didn’t feel right)
- 1 (didn’t perform 纯真... Boo…)
+ 0.5 (coming back for the encore with 倔强)
= 8.5

Thurs night means clubbing for my roomie...yawnz...It's me alone tonight...

gRacE =)