Day 1
It's the first day of our trip! Everyone was excited, its our first trip overseas as a class! We reached there slightly before 12am, and everyone was tired when we reached there. However, seeing that the teachers from Sacred Hearts High School came all the way to the airport at midnight to welcome us, we felt very happy. At last, when we finally reached the hotel, the Ten Drum Cultural Village, many of us were sleepy, and quickly went to sleep.
Day 2
Today, we went to many places of interest, and learnt a lot mostly about the Hakka culture in Taiwan. These places include the Meinong Hakka Museum, Meinong Folk Village, Kaohsiung Hakka Cultural Museum, Museum of History, Former British Consulate and the Liuhe Night Market. Even on the bus, our tour guide told us about the culture and history of Taiwan. We were also given a secret task of taking photographs of our classmates and things in Taiwan, which made our trip much more interesting.
One of the task: taking a group photo with a sunset in Taiwan
At the Meinong Folk Village, we had the chance to try many different Hakka food. Our lunch was also Hakka food, at a Hakka restaurant, which was really amazing. I am a vegetarian, so I can't say for sure that what the others ate was nice, but what the vegetarians in our class had was awesome. However, there was too much food for us to finish.
The Meinong Hakka Culture Museum
One of the dishes that was served: noodles~
The Liuhe Night Market was the most anticipated place to visit for our class. After a long day at the many museums we visited, we finally got to the night market! We walked around the night market, being indecisive about what to eat. After visiting the big market, I really felt that it was worth coming to Taiwan, even with all the museums we were going to visit in a day, like today.
After the night market, we had another amazing dinner at a restaurant. Overall, the visits to the museums was actually quite interesting, and learning about the Hakka culture was actually quite interesting.
Day 3
If yesterday was all about learning the Hakka culture in Taiwan, then today was definitely all about learning the history in Taiwan. Today, instead of museums, we visited many historical places instead, and learnt about Koxinga. After yesterday's experience with all the overwhelming information I gained, I definitely was not looking forward to today. Today, we visited the Anping Fort, the Old Street, the Chihkan Tower, the Eternal Golden Castle and the Tainan Confucius Temple. Some of the names of these places like the Chihkan Tower and Eternal Golden Castle are very interesting, aren't they? We also had a tour around the Ten Drum Cultural Village before we left for the Anping Fort. Since we were heading to Tainan from Kaohsiung today, there was a 2 hour long bus ride, and most of us slept through the ride, but some hardworking people listened to the explaination of the bus tour guide. The tour guide had literally talked for 2 straight hours about Taiwan! As for me, even though I tried to listen, I could not absorb anything, so I just daydreamt and eventually fell asleep.
A statue of Koxinga at Anping Fort
There were many canons at Anping Fort and the Eternal Golden Castle, and we were told the history of japan, and how Koxinga (鄭成功) actually freed Taiwan from the Dutch. After visiting the Anping Fort, we went to the Old Street, and had snacks (小吃) for lunch: yet another sumptuous meal! We were served the famous coffin bread with some other snacks, and also an interesting drink. It was actually a soft drink, but there was a marble in the bottle itself. It was really fun rolling the marble around in the bottle! It really has been a sumptuous meal after another on this trip! But, I guess we were really tired by the time we were visiting the Tainan Confucius Temple, the last place of the day. Even on the short bus ride there, many of us slept on the bus, including me. Also, many of us just stayed at a corner of the temple and did not bother to explore it. Unexpectedly, the tour guide had nothing to say at the temple. However, we met some other tourists who seem like Singaporeans too. After a long and tiring day, we finally got to eat and check in to the hotel. I slept quickly after we got our room keys and entered our rooms.
The Tainan Confucius Temple. Apparently this is not the only Confucius in Taiwan.
Day 4
Finally, school has started for us at Tainan! The first stop for today was Sacred Hearts High School, and we were warmly welcomed by the students as Sacred Hearts High School. They even prepared performances for us. After the performances, we were introduced to our buddies. We were treated to some snacks and soon after, our buddies had to return to their classes for lessons. It's too bad we can't stay together and interact more with each other.
My buddy and I :D
Afterwards, we were given the privilege to split into groups and choose a subject within a few choices. Japanese was one of the choices, and as a student who takes Japanese as a third language in Singapore, it was obvious what choice I would make. I chose the Japanese class. After the class, I found out that their class was actually preparing to go to Japan for an overseas learning trip to their other sister school in Japan. It was quite unexpected as we didn't prepare to the extent of learning traditional Chinese before going overseas to Taiwan, yet they prepared to go to Japan by learning Japanese, a totally different language, before the trip and just for the trip. After the lessons, we went to a pineapple tart factory, and got to make our own pineapple tart. It was a rare and new experience for me, and it was really fun, even though the first steps were already done for us. Then we got to see the pineapple plantation close up, and learnt a little about the agriculture in Taiwan. Then, we went to Hwa Shan Public School (华山国小) for an art exhibition. It was really shocking to see the primary school children explain each art work to us, and some of their presentation skills might just be better than ours!
Our own pineapple tarts :D
Today, instead of learning about Taiwan by getting the information, we got to experience things first hand and learn about Taiwan and the Taiwanese life ourselves more, which made the day seem much more interesting.
Day 5
Today, we went to a towel factory after picking up the principal of Sacred Hearts High School and some student helpers from their school. The towel factory is famous for its pretty designs of the towels the sell. There, we learnt about towels, and also had a DIY session there, and we could make our own, cute towel with our own design.
Presenting to you our DIY towels :)
After that, we went to a puppet museum. First, we learnt about how puppets were made and the main roles of each puppet show. Then, were introduced again to the puppets, this time with real puppets, and with a puppeteer explaining how a puppet show works, and how each character should be moved in order to show their personality. We were also given a chance to manipulate those puppets ourselves, which was enjoyable. Next, we were supposed to visit another museum, however, it seems that there was already another group of tourists inside, so we were not able to enter. Instead, we stood outside and someone from the museum came out to explain some things to us. However, it was raining at that time and we were not really able to concentrate well.
Our form teacher, with one of the puppets.
We headed back to Sacred Hearts soon after, and were shown around the school and introduced to their CCAs. We were given a chance to join, and I had wanted to play basketball or something, but as majority of the class did not want to join, as we were wearing our pinafores, we did not join. Lastly, we went for a concert hosted by Sacred Hearts. If I were to guess, this concert is something held annually for the students in the special music classes to showcase what they have learnt.
It was another enjoyable day at Sacred Hearts and visiting different places. I have really learnt a lot through this trip to Taiwan until now.
Day 6
Today, we went to Scared Hearts yet again! This time, we did not attend classes with the senior high students, but with student of our own age. I went with some other people to join the boy's class, and had geography and English lessons. We also learnt to do magic and twist balloons.
Our teachers wearing the balloon bunny ears xD
I was relieved when I found out that I would not be attending Chinese lessons, which is one of the subjects I am bad at. After attending the lessons, we had a cooking lesson, and we had some food I had not really eaten before, so I believe it is Taiwan food. It was really delicious, but, as usual, too much for me to finish. What was worse is that we were given even more food after the cooking lesson! The school had given us pineapple tarts as a present, which was really nice of them, however, we had to carry a lot of stuff along with us to the outing with our buddies and their parents as a result. I went to a glass museum with my buddy and her mother, and also saffren and her buddy. My buddy's mother was really nice, constantly asking us if we needed to use the washroom, needed a drink, some food, or just some explainations. She is very knowledgeable, as whenever I have a question, she can always answer it. She also explained many things to me and saffren. After we ate dinner, we went shopping, and finally had to part. Outside the hotel, we exchanged gifts, and hugged each other goodbye. After interacting with my buddy for 3 days, it's really sad that we can't meet each other anytime soon, and had to part after just 3 days.
A shop selling sweets near Douliu train station. Just look at the number of colourful designs for the wrappings for the chocolates!
Day 7
It's the last day of our OELP trip. We left for Taichung soon after eating breakfast and checking out of the hotel. After about an hour, we reached the final place to visit: the 921 Earthquake Educational Park. It was actually the ruins of a school. Fortunately, it was not a school day when the 921 earthquake happened, there were no casualities at the school. There, we learnt about how merciless Mother Nature could be. I am sure there would be many casualities in the school if it was a school day. After the 921 Earthquake Educational Park, we headed for Taoyuan Airport and went home.
A part of the school track destroyed after the earthquake.
The last class photo of the trip :)
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