Ziyu's blog

OELP TRIP

CID GROUP#3

DAY1:

We arrived at shanghai Pudong airport in the afternoon and this is the place that we waited for our bus to come.  After that,we headed to a restaurant to have our dinner and visited the bund for our last attraction of the day. After visiting the bund, I have learnt a lot through it. I could see the rapid changes and the economic growth that shanghai have developed over the past 10 years.  We also went on the cruise for sightseeing. From there, I could see a lot of similarities between Shanghai and Singapore. From a small vishing village, both Singapore and Shanghai have developed into big cities with big economic partners and are well known around the world.  One of the main reasons that both cities could be so successful is because of their geographical location. Both Shanghai and Singapore were big trading ports back then and thus, that boost the economic growth of both cities.

DAY2:

Today we travelled to Yangzhou in the morning and went to Geyuan after we arrived at Yangzhou. Geyuan was built in 1818 by two salt distribution commissioner as a private retreat. They loved bamboo,believing that they were as persistent,modest,straighfoward and loyal as a good man. A cluster of three bamboo leaves resemble the chinese character Ge(个), thus naming the garden Geyuan.

Next we went to the chinese paper cutting museum. Paper cutting has been a tradition in Yangzhou. Yangzhou is famous for its “three knifes” , first of which is nail clippers, kitchen knifes as Yangzhou is famous for its chefs cooking skills, the last one is scissors. Paper cutting is a very famous tradition in Yangzhou and it lased for many years. We went there and they gave us each a scissors and we are supposed to cut out the design that we were given. The displays on the walls were creative and attractive so I thought it wouldn’t be too hard to cut it out but to my surprise, it ended up being very difficult and requires a lot of patience. At many points I decided to give up and started to lose confidence  I have learnt that a lot of hard work was put into cutting each piece.

We also went to the Beijing-Hangzhou grand canal. It was a very long canal connecting Beijing and Hangzhou,hence its name.(北京大运河). During the 30minutes boat ride along the canal,we noticed many old as well as new residences and historical structures and the beauty of Yangzhou. As many of us have heard from our friends or teachers, Yangzhou is a beautiful city and relaxing city for old people and the pace of work in Yangzhou is much slower than in Singapore. From the boat, we could see that the pace of living in Yangzhou is very slow as many people were exercising and jogging in the gardens nearby. I have realised that Yangzhou has a lot of greenery as well,this shows that Yangzhou focuses much more on environmental problems rather than economical development.

Last but not least, we went to the local supermarket. This was the most exciting part of the day as we were split into our CID groups to go around the supermarket. Our main objective was not to get what we needed but also to compare the supermarket with Singapore's supermarket. I have made some differences as well as similarities between the two supermarkets. In china's supermarket, there's a variety of things such as beds and clothing while in Singapore's supermarket, there's only basic necessities such as food and people's basic needs everyday. China's supermarket is also much larger than Singapore's. We noticed that the local food in China is much cheaper than Singapore as China is a huge country that manufactures their own food thus the rate of production is higher while the cost is lower.  But for imported food in China, it costs higher than Singapore. Wheras in Singapore, the goods are mostly imported therefore the cost of food and basic necessities is higher.

I have made some differences between the city of Yangzhou and Shanghai:

-Firstly, Shanghai is more developed as it has more skyscrapers and the roads are more congested. I have heard that it costs a lot to purchase a car in Shanghai as it is the only way to prevent road congestion due to too many vehicles.

-There's more westerners/foreigners in Shanghai than Yangzhou. The economical development in Shanghai is much more than Yangzhou causing more job opportunites in Shanghai than Yangzhou,therefore more foreigners and westerners choose to work at Shanghai as their pay would be higher and there would be greater job achievements.

-Shanghai is a globalised city while Yangzhou is a culturous city with a lot of history behind it.

For example, Geyuan in Yangzhou is a world historical site as it has a lot of value and history behind it. I believed they preserved Geyuan garden as we can still get in touch with traditional belief and culture.

-Pace of life is slower in Yangzhou than in Shanghai. Shanghai is more for business dealing and tourism which creates investment opportunities for its city.

DAY 3:

Today, we visited Yangzhou's local school, Shuren Middle school. In the morning, the principal of Shuren middle school came down to our hotel personally to fetch us to the school. From this, I realised how much she cherished the friendship between both schools. We went to the newer school which have more facilities and much bigger than the old school. To our surprise, the school made arrangements for the students of Shuren school to have their lesson in the recording room so that we can watch in another empty room. We have observed the way that the students in Shuren middle school have lessons and realised that they are much more proactive than Singaporean students. They are able to express their opinions clearly and able to share with their classmates and teachers on what they have. They are confident in their speeches and they express a clear thought.

We also went on a school tour with the teachers and principal of Shuren middle school and from that, I saw many facilities that river valley high school does not have such as gardens that takes up the space of our entire school with bridges a nd waterfalls and places for the students to rest and relax after the long day of study such as the coffee house. Shuren middle school is much bigger than river valley high school and I realized that the reason to this is because china is a big country with a lot of free space that can be used to build more facilities for the school wheras Singapore have a limited amount of space and the country is very small. I feel that the students in shuren middle school are very fortunate to have such a big school with many facilities. After which, we were glad that we were in time for the show that students’ have put up with a lot of hardwork. Their performances were splendid and amazing  and we were all impressed with the fact that they could sing and dance so well.

Last but not least, we have the interschool games and basketball competition with the students in Shuren school. It was a meaningful match although we lost the basketball match with them. Through this match, we showed our class spirit and school spirit as we cheered with our heart throughout the match for our classmates playing the match. It was a meaningful match overall and we would not have done so well without the continuous cheering from our classmates.

DAY4:

Today is the second day that we will be visiting Shuren middle school and we visited the old school today. Although the old school is not as big as the new school and does not have as many facilities as the new school, we could feel the warmest welcome from the teachers, principals and students of shuren middle school. Firstly, we met our buddies and exchanged presents as well as contact details and communicated with them for a while. I felt that they were very nice and comfortable to talk with and their English were much better than expected. Shuren school was built in 1999 June and there are two schools, both of which have a total of 177 classes,5400 students and 400 teachers. I realized that the size of each class is about 50+ students and much bigger than Singapore’s. This would mean that the students have lesser opportunities to work in groups. The principal also shared with us that they have close ties with several Singapore schools and one of which is our school.

Next, we were brought to a hall where we performed what we have prepared to the students of shuren school and they have prepared many performances for us as well. It was an amazing experience and all the performances had a lot of hard work put in. After which, we were taught on the different chinese cultures and we each made a bracelet that signifies the chinese culture.

After everything, I have made some differences between the educational system in Singapore and Yangzhou.

In Singapore, we have a lot of projects and requires a lot of teamwork, we alos have to work as one wheras in Yangzhou, the students are more prone to working individually as they have lesser project work which requires lesser teamwork.

However, I think that there are still improvements that Singapore can learn from China’s educational system. In China, I have realized that students are more confident to share their opinions in class and do not need teachers to pick on them while in Singapore, students are afraid that they would get the answer wrong therefore they would not want to volunteer to answer questions. In China, the students are not afraid to show themselves and perform as they have practiced while Singpore students are afraid to show themselves in front of others.

Some of the things that Singapore schools/students have but not Yangzhou:

-WiFi in the school

-we have a longer attention span

-more school spirit(throught the interschool games)

-tissue paper in the toilet

-auditorium

-western food

-a greater food varieties

-food and consumers education & design and technology lessons

-artificial grass and track

-lightning alert

-whiteboards

-limited land space

Some of the things Yangzhou schools/students have but not Singapore:

-big gardens

-two canteens ( one for teachers and one for students)

-air-conditioned classrooms

-calligraphy room

-coffee house

-bridges connecting buildings

-quotes on the staircase

-confidence

Lastly, we visited the Xinhua book store which is well known in china and its local supermarket. This, I feel, was the most fun part as we were split into our CID groups to observe around and we found many books that we were keen in that is much cheaper in China than Singapore. We have realized that most of the things in Xinhua book store is cheaper than in Singapore therefore we bought many books that we wanted.

What are some of the things that Singapore bookstores have but not Yangzhou:

-Ah Boys To Men comics

-math and science assessment books that are in English

-To kill a mockingbird

-snacks

-sweets

What are some of the things that Yangzhou bookstores have but not Singapore:

-math and science assessment books that are in chinese

-sports equipment

-korean and Japanese language books

-rice cooker

-study tables

-porcelain vase

-rubrik’s cube

-calligraphy things

DAY5:

Today we visited tourist attractions such as

-former residence of Zhu Ziqing

-dongguan street

-skender west lake and 24 bridges

Background information of Zhu Ziqing: Zhu Ziqing died of starvation as he refused to receive the American aid as he does not want to betray the chinese government. He showed support for chinese government therefore they made his residence in Yangzhou a tourist attraction to make more people remember him as a strong and loyal person.

The value of visiting his residence is because his works of poetry represents the chinese culture and his residence was preserved to remember his great works and spread the chinese culture as well as introducing him to foreigners. It was also to preserve the way of living back then as he had made contribution on fighting therefore the chinese government built it. The intended purpose of building this is to tell the chinese to love China.

This reminded me of Mr Lee Kuan Yew as the Singapore government also wanted to preserve his house  to get more support by telling people that he was from PAP. But instead of agreeing to this, Mr Lee does not want future generations to make a figure of him and use his name for their own political uses therefore disagreed to preserving his house after he passes.

Next, we went to the slender west lake and 24 bridges and walked for about 2 hours there looking at the scenery. The scenery was breathtaking and there were a lot of historical buildings there as well.  During the Qing dynasty, emperor Qianlong goes there often and liked the place a lot, therefore slender west lake has became a tourist attraction and a place that signifies Yangzhou’s beauty.

Last but not least, our last attraction of the day is Dongguan street. We had the most fun there was were were split into groups to do our own shopping and enjoying the breathtaking view. We also felt Yangzhou’s culture there and we were all impressed by many of the shops there and bought a lot of things from the shop.

DAY6:

Today, we woke up at 6am to take the bus back to Shanghai. The few tourist attractions that we visited are

-cheng huang miao(城隍庙)

-pearl oriental tower

-shanghai science and technology museum

-old French concession

-tian zi fang

When this temple was first built in 1403 under Ming Emperor Yongle, it was dedicated to the legendary Han general Huo Guang as well as the guardian city god, Qin Yubo. He was a righteous scholar who refused to get involved in court politics despite much pleading from the emperor. Deified upon his death in 1377, Qin Yubo now watches over and protects the city of Shanghai.

The temple had become more of a marketplace by the time of the Cultural Revolution when it was mostly destroyed. Both the temple and surrounding market were thoroughly restored in the early 1990s.

We were amazed by the shops and crowds of people at Cheng huang miao, at first my impression before I went there was that I thought Cheng huang miao was a temple and it would boring for us to go there. But after I reached there I was thoroughly amazed by the fact that it was a market with a few shopping malls inside while it was covered by temple-looking structures. We had a great time shopping and buying our group identity there although we thought that the time given to us was not enough as 1 hour is definitely not enough to shop around such an amazing place!

After lunch, we headed to the well-known pearl oriental tower. Pearl oriental tower was built in 1994 and is a total of 468 metres tall. Between 1994 to 2007, it is china’s tallest structure when it was surpassed by Shanghai world financial tower. It serves as a national icon for shanghai like the merlion or the Singapore flyer we have in Singapore.

The main reason for going up to the Observation Floor is for the view over Shanghai city, the Huangpu River with the beautiful cruise boats, and for some the excitement of the height. For sure you will have the opportunity to take beautiful photos, but the buzz of the crowd combined with the "toy like" buildings and vehicles below brought home to me the wonder of this man made structure.

After which, we went to the shanghai Science and technology museum. Shanghai science and technology museum was a beautiful place where everything seemed real and alive. From there, I fully appreciated the rich and colorful life phenomena and the interdependence between species and ecology, and understood the importance of protecting the natural environment. It was a fun and exciting trip down to the Shanghai science and technology museum and it was definitely worth the time.

Last but not least, we visited Tian Zi Fang and the French old concession. Tianzifang is a tourist shopping and cafe area in Shanghai in the Old French Quarter. This road is absolutely striking because of the great finds that you can easily spot as you walk by. Being here gave me a whole new meaning to the word ‘shopping’. From clothes to home decorations, I have found many items which will made my heart skip a beat. Shopping at Tianzifang is something that I have not experienced before.

08/05/2015 blogwork


扬州中学集团教育树人学校

这是一张树人学校的照片

DAY:7

Today is our last day of the trip. Although we are filled with sadness, we still had places to visit before heading to the airport in the late afternoon. We went to Qibao Ancient Town (七宝古镇) in the morning, followed by the Shanghai Museum (上海博物馆). Although we were scheduled to visit the Shanghai Urban Planning Centre (城市规划馆) as well, due to miscommunications, the centre was not opened as it is closed on Mondays.

When we first arrived at Qibao Ancient Town (七宝古镇), we felt surprised at the fact that it was an ancient town which sells lots of things and something that we were not planning to see in the urbanised Shanghai. It was a rare sight for us. The Town had made us feel that we were in Yangzhou and not Shanghai. Although it was a little old, the place was really big and our group almost got lost there! While roaming about the streets, our group was fascinated by the historical values and the culture and atmosphere there.

Next, we went to the Shanghai museum. According to the tour guide, the shanghai museum is one of the biggest museums in China. It has five levels altogether with cafe and different sections that contains things of historical values from the past 5000 of China. There were coins, paintings, artifacts, arts and works on display about the life of the Chinese in  that particular dynasty. I thought the coins from that particular dynasty could describe a lot about the economical background of China in that particular dynasty.

Last but not least, we headed to the airport in the late afternoon and had our dinner. Although all of us do not want to leave China as we really learnt a lot about the chinese history and culture and their economic status throughout this seven days. The past seven days was one of the best and most unique experience i have ever had and we bonded a lot as a group too! We'll be back China!

Yangzhou's history and facts

-Yangzhou, where Marco Polo once served as a municipal official, is a city with a history of 2,500 years, it was called Guangling. The city was one of ten cities in the world around 1800 A.D, which had the largest population over half million.

-The city has been well known for its once brilliant historic role in Chinese history and one of the first 24 cities that were announced as the Historical and Cultural Cities in China. Until the 19th century, Yangzhou acted as a major national political, financial and trade center and a transport hub duo to its excellent location at the junction of the Yangtze, the Grand Canal and the Huaihe River. 

-This historical period had left Yangzhou a large number of treasures, including valuable architectures and arts, splendid culture and well-known celebrities.





Blogwork 28/04/15

扬州带有文化的食物

扬州有句老话叫做“早上皮包水，晚上水包皮”，是用形容扬州人比较随意的生活，意思是早上扬州人吃包子，吃干丝,喝茶，晚上洗澡。从这就可以看出扬州的美食和休闲生活节奏了。  扬州人是极讲究饮食的，不独讲究饮食的佳美，还追求饮食的味外之味。

扬州炒饭               

相传源自隋朝越国公杨素爱吃的碎金饭，即蛋炒饭

到扬州必须吃的食物

1       1.  扬州炒饭

太知名了，简直就是扬州美食的代名词

   2.小黄鱼豆腐

     咸香的鱼和豆腐一起吃会有不同的层次感。这家店离瘦西湖和个园都不远

   3.大煮干丝

     这道菜是扬州菜系中的看家菜。看似简简单单的一道菜单单原        料就有很多种

   4.扬州汤包

     也可以叫灌汤包子。上品的扬州汤包必须是“外形玲珑剔透，汤汁醇正浓郁，入口有而不腻。

Blogwork

Do you think Merlion would make the best national icon for Singapore?

I think that merlion can be used as Singapore’s national icon.

The merlion can represent Singapore as a national icon because there is a need to have a national icon in order to identify the country. For example, we can identify these countries because of their national icon.

India, Taj Mahal

United states of America, statue of liberty

Ancient Greek , the Acropolis of Athens

         By making the merlion as our icon, it is easier to identify Singapore among all the other countries. Almost every country has a national icon that represents their country and we have Merlion to attract tourists to our country and people can identify Singapore by looking at the Merlion.                                                                                    

        The merlion is suitable as our national icon because of the fact that sinapore’s history is related to it. “ Accoding to an ancient legend, in the eight century, a sea monster appeared. It was half fish and half lion and made such an impression on a Malay prince that he renamed the city to Singapura which means lion city. And,today, a dragon with lion’s jaws is featured on the coutry’s postal stamps and its depiction may be seen pretty much everywhere.”

         
         The merlion has a history behind it therefore we should use it as our national icon. Futhermore, it is unique and easily to identify. The main idea that we are using to support this is Sang Nila Utama’s story about Singapore. Having a national icon for Singapore would make people feel a sense of belonging as we have something that is representing Singapore and it makes us feel at home whenever we look at the merlion.

        
         The merlion is used as a mascot and national personification of Singapore.

Remembering LKY

The first factor is an almost unbelievable accident of history. It is truly remarkable that Singapore have simultaneously put in place dynamic and reform-minded leaders who can be expected to transform their countries over the next decade. For Singapore, it is our first prime minister, Mr lee kuan yew. He has foreseen the future of the world and led singapore from a less developed third world country to one of the top few countries in the world. 

I think that moment has not only arrived, but that we are also now living in what future generations will look back as Singapore’s Golden Age. There are so many things to do, so many places to see. So many top tourist attractions. Statistics and surveys support how this is a country at its peak. In fact, it’s reached a stage where being voted most liveable city or best place to do business or eighth richest country is no longer big news. 


We’ve grown accustomed to accolades. Even though the global economy is shaky, unemployment here is low and opportunities abound. There are multiple ways to make a living and succeed. The Singapore dollar is strong, many households have maids, luxury cars hog the road and many have holidays abroad. Property is a national preoccupation, but it’s not whether you can afford a roof over your head that Singaporeans fret about. It’s whether or not to get a second property to invest in. Singapore must be doing something right if so many foreigners want to be part of the action. 

Blogwork : 07/02/15

Predict the future scenario of Singapore given the dwindling population growth. Reflect about possible situations that might happen and how singapore can possibly prepare for them.

POPULATION TRENDS: LOOKING AHEAD

The development of the population over the next decade could make us imagine that all is well. Population numbers in Western Europe are expected to increase until 2020, but will then decline dramatically. Between 2020 und 2050, they will shrink by almost 16.5 million or 3.5%, according to UN projections. 

According to the UN, Singapore’s population is also set to shrink by 2% or by some 108,000 persons between 2035 and 2050. However, it will still be almost 900,000 more people in 2050 than today. Other countries in Asia will face the same problem but with different starting points. Asia’s population as a whole will continue to increase well into 2050, thanks to the growing populations in most Asian countries, most notably India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Bangladesh.



I think that if the population of Singapore is going to dwindle , ageing population is going to increase as the ageing rates are faster than birth rates. In my opinion, Singapore is already a small island with most of the people from foreign lands, if the birth rate still continues to dwindle, the amout of singaporeans would be insufficient to work for the country and. In addition to that, Singapore would need more manpower from other foreign countries. 




Some of the possible situations that might happen is 

-ageing population

                                                                                 

 -not enough manpower to work for the country

                                                                                 

 -birth rate lagging behind replacement rate

                                                                                   

Possible ways to prepare for the decrease in singapore's population are,

Baby bonus doesn’t seem to be working 
– our campaigns have fallen flat
– our birthrates are a paltry all time low
– it’s really no wonder that everyone’s knickers are in a twist.


Lower cost of living

More affordable living costs. People love to have more kids, but the high living costs here means that both of us have to work and with the very limited options on who is going to look after the kids

Create a better support structure

3) Pay stay home mothers the same amount (or at least close to) if they decide to stay at home to look after their children, especially having more than one child

4) Offer bigger subsidies for childcare if both parents have to work to make ends meet5) More cash give out (i.e baby bonus) $4000 or more is spent on medical even before the baby is born.

Reflect on china's economic growth and opening up of of their country to international trade. Explain the possible implications on Singapore.


In my opinion, international trade is a major factor of openness and has made an increasingly significant contribution to economic growth. Chinese international trade has experienced rapid expansion together with its dramatic economic growth which has made the country to target the world as its market.

Research have shown that increasing participation in the global trade helps China reap the static and dynamic benefits, stimulating rapid national economic growth. 


"There is concern in many parts of the world that China's expansion squeezes them out. In other parts of the world there is hope that China's rise will pull them up. These perceptions of opportunity and threat apply as much, if not more, to China’s Asian neighbours as to the rest of the world. Both the threats and opportunities are increasingly visible. But the impact of China's economic growth on the economies of Asia is extremely heterogeneous. Therefore, the analysis has to proceed by major sectors of the economy. "


adapted from  https://www.ids.ac.uk/files/dfidagendapaper1106.pdf 

Implications on Singapore:

1. Increased consumption

Consumers can benefit from consuming more goods and services. An assumption of economics is that consumption is related to utility. With higher consumption levels, there is greater prosperity.

2. Improved public services

With increased tax revenues the government can spend more on important public services such as health and education. Improved health care can improve quality of life through treating diseases and increasing life expectancy. Increased educational standards can give the population a greater diversity of skills and literacy. This enables greater opportunity and freedom.

3. Reduced unemployment and poverty

Economic Growth helps to reduce unemployment by creating jobs. This is significant because unemployment is a major source of social problems such as crime and alienation. However, despite rapid increases in economic growth since the Second World War, areas of high unemployment in the EU remain.

Poverty in Singapore

Singapore is the richest country in the world, our government has one of the highest national reserves and surpluses in the world, and we have the highest national reserves per capita in the world, but we have the highest proportion of poor among the developed countries and the countries in our region.

I think that one key reason is because our government spends the least public spending for Singaporeans, as compared to the other developed countries. This caused 28% of the Singapore population to suffer in poverty. I think that there should not be so much difference between the incomes of every family to make it fair. In this way, we can reduce the amount of people who suffer in poverty. One strategy the government made was to create the FAS system. Every family who’s income is below the average income can get extra money from the government or have all the education fees subsidized.

                                                                                                        

23/01/2015 CID lesson reflection

Vulture Stalking a Child

with 400 comments

March 1993, photographer Kevin Carter made a trip to southern Sudan, where he took now iconic photo of a vulture preying upon an emaciated Sudanese toddler near the village of Ayod. Carter said he waited about 20 minutes, hoping that the vulture would spread its wings. It didn’t. Carter snapped the haunting photograph and chased the vulture away. (The parents of the girl were busy taking food from the same UN plane Carter took to Ayod).

The photograph was sold to The New York Times where it appeared for the first time on March 26, 1993 as ‘metaphor for Africa’s despair’. Practically overnight hundreds of people contacted the newspaper to ask whether the child had survived, leading the newspaper to run an unusual special editor’s note saying the girl had enough strength to walk away from the vulture, but that her ultimate fate was unknown. Journalists in the Sudan were told not to touch the famine victims, because of the risk of transmitting disease, but Carter came under criticism for not helping the girl. “The man adjusting his lens to take just the right frame of her suffering might just as well be a predator, another vulture on the scene,” read one editorial.

Carter eventually won the Pulitzer Prize for this photo, but he couldn’t enjoy it. “I’m really, really sorry I didn’t pick the child up,” he confided in a friend. Consumed with the violence he’d witnessed, and haunted by the questions as to the little girl’s fate, he committed suicide three months later.

After looking at the picture, my first thoughts were that the poor little girl was in need of help and that she was in a devastating state with a vulture. I felt that the photographer of this photo should help her out or call for help but instead, he was told by the other journalists not to touch the famine victims because of the risk of transmitting diseases. From this article, I understood that there was a famine and the girl had nothing to eat, therefore, she does not have the strength to stand up and defend herself against the vulture. The photographer of the photo later admitted that he felt sorry for the little girl and not helping her when she’s in need of help.

Blogwork

In today’s lesson, we were shown two pictures of different beggars asking for help. We were asked which beggar we would rather help and why. After I read up on the different accounts of the two beggars, I would rather help the man. He just needed to make a phone call as all his valuables and belongings were stolen. After that he could find a proper job and making a living for himself. But as for the woman with the child, they were from a company who pretends to be homeless but giving a fraction of the money they collected from passers-by to the company leaving little for themselves. I think that the woman has the ability to work but instead, she chose to get other people’s hard earn money for the sake of herself. She does not have the determination to work and earn a living for herself but instead, she cheats on compassion money. I feel that this way of getting money is quite irresponsible as the woman has the ability to earn money for herself.

I think that this few pictures have something in common that is, the people in those pictures needed help. But whether we should spare the money for them depends on the situations they are in. we should always understand the information on the background of those people before making decisions. We should also research on the customs of reputations about the places we go, this will help us form more accurate perceptions.

My December holidays




My December holiday had been a great period of time as I could finally relax after a long and intensive term 4 due to the EOYS. Holidays are necessary to every one to get rest and refreshment from our monotony routine. We all get tired and bored with normal routine and wish to have a change from it, holidays have the ability to give more comfort to us and most of us are expecting holiday from the week beginning. I would say that it had been a really cozy and great holiday especially going out with friends and family or cuddling on the sofa watching a movie or reading the newly published bestseller books! Watching korean dramas is also something that I presume everyone will enjoy.


One of my favourite Christmas movie in 2014 is paddington. It featured a deadly earthquake that destroyed a young bear's home in Peruvian rainforest, he then made his way to England in search of a new home. The movie was very thrilling and I couldn't take my eyes off the screen for the entire 2 hours !

One of my favourite pastime movie is home alone. Everytime the movie is being played, it reminds me that Christmas is approaching. Home alone is a hilarious and touching Christmas movie and the plot is one of the best I have ever watched. 

For me, I spent my Christmas in universal studios as they had decorated the park with Christmas decorations to enhance the mood. I also watched some of the popular youtubers' videos such as Joe, Zoella sugg, Casper lee and Bethany mota. Their youtube videos are the best someone could wish for on a cozy Christmas Day!

By keeping up to date with the latest trend, I set up a blog shop to purchase and sell small accessories with other users. Some of my friends have an online shop as a form of entertainment instead of the usual computer and video games, it also allows you to make more friends online. Despite the fact that it looks effortless and entertaining, the real process of it is tough as you'll have to collate orders made by customers and import things from other websites then delivering it. Therefore, I gave up halfway because it was quite troublesome doing all those my myself.

Last but not least, CCA practices during the December holidays had been a great time for improvement for me as I became more confident in playing the viola. My section mates and I had also bonded a lot during the holidays. They had been a great influence for me as we would help one another. As the saying goes "learn more grow more" , we have learn a lot during this December holiday and we would pass on our experience to the future batches.