Team 2
Diploma in Integrated Events Management
Nadira (Leader)
Celestine
Jemie
Wanning
Peng Kiam
Objective
To visit the World Expo and also the wonders of Shanghai.
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Tuesday, September 28, 2010
27 September 2010, Day 6
The 2nd last day for us at Su Zhou begin with the touring of the Garden of the Master of the Nets. It was a one of a kind which cannot be found anywhere else. There were quite a lot of people viewing the area and that we managed to get some gifts from the nearby area. The Garden of the Master was well maintained with all the original furniture around and that the air was very fresh and good.
We carry on to the Su Zhou No 1 Silk factory where we learn how Silk is manufacture and also we went to see the kind of product they offer. We also had the chance to learn how to identify the real silk as compare to the fake one. The lunch time meal was then arranged at the silk factory area and it was quite delicious for us with foods like steam egg, French fries, the nice fragrant rice from Su Zhou and a healthy ketchup soup.
The last itineraries was to the Tourism and Finance Institute and we had a really fun time over there as we were introduce to the art of making tea and also to do some buns and dumpling. It was very enriching for us as we don’t get to do this kind of thing very often. In summary, today is a very enjoyable and good day for all of us in the team and we hope the Shanghai trip could be longer.
26 September 2010, Day 5: Site Inspections!
We started off our Sunday slightly different by gathering an hour later than the usual 8.30AM. According to our itinerary, it is the day of site inspections to places such as the local tour & travel agency known as Shanghai Ba-Shi International Travel Service & to Shanghai International Conference Centre too. We had to be split up into 2 groups when visiting the local travel agency as the operation office would not be able to accommodate all of us at one go. Thus, explains why we set off an hour later.
Upon reaching the travel agency, weather was being unpredictable yet again with sudden showers getting all of us the chill. We quickly entered the building and found ourselves touring the operation office guided by the head management. It was like a typical office with every department working in their separate offices. As we settled down in the meeting room where the first batch was already there, the head manager of the agency gave us an overview of the company. Shanghai Ba-Shi International Travel Service specializes in inbound and outbound domestic travel & has apparently established itself over a short period of time. That was definitely no easy feat to accomplish & for that their hard work needs to be applauded. Truly commendable albeit the crisis they faced during the economic downturn & competition from online travel agencies as well. Even though the meeting was a short one, it was no less fruitful.
After which, we made our way to the Shanghai International Conference Centre. Similar to the visit to travel agency, we were being split into 2 groups again. Over at the conference centre, it was sure a busy sight to see. This is so because they were in the midst of setting up the exhibition space for an annual event. There was plenty of noise pollution with all that drilling going on. Thus, it was a challenge for all of us to listen clearly to what was being explained by the event In-charge. However, we did catch up on certain points regarding the registration process. There was nothing in the process that was being done manually. Every stage of the registration has the usage of technology which resulted in higher efficiency & a more systematic process, proven workable by past events as well. Unfortunately, we could not explore the whole conference centre as time did not permit.
Off we go for lunch somewhere near Chenghuangmiao district. We had to source for our own lunch this time round. Shopping was done as well in the given free & easy period. In late afternoon, we set off to Suzhou reaching there just in time for dinner at a scheduled restaurant. The food was great especially the rice as I realized it tasted quite different than the one in Shanghai, much tastier! Our Sunday ended with a fruitful shopping trip at Guan Qian Street of Suzhou. This particular street is a long stretch of shops and more shops! As a tourist, Guan Qian Street is not to be missed out in the itinerary. Soon after draining out the last bit of our energy away, it was time to settle in our Suzhou hotel. The hotel’s exterior design was beautiful due to its traditional architecture. Overall, the night stay at the hotel wasn’t disappointing.
Monday’s itinerary will be visits to Suzhou’s attractions such as the #1 Silk Factory & the Garden of the Master of the Nets. Aside from that, we will be having a short student exchange during our visit to Suzhou’s Tourism & Finance Institute. It’s going to be another amazing & productive day. Check back for latest updates on our Suzhou’s experience! Till then, have a good night sleep everyone!
25 September 2010, Day 4 in Shanghai
It has been our 4th day here in Shanghai and 3rd day at the World Expo, which is the last. To be honest, we will really miss the World Expo, as there are really so much things that we missed out! There are so many pavilions we did not get a chance to visit due to the crowd and time constraints. Also, the countries performance portrays a deep image of them hence it is an interesting and important part of the pavilion.
Today, it is also our team’s turn to visit the Singapore pavilion as a helper, we were in the afternoon shift so before that, shopping time! Bought many souvenirs before we entered the pavilion . We were treated like VIPs as compared to ANY OTHER people. The guides in the pavilion are so nice that we felt at home when we were there. They brought us around and introduce the different parts of the pavilion. There was interaction during the whole walk through the pavilion, we were able to scoop up the pictures with a fan provided! Next, the most interesting part, one of our team members, Celestine, volunteered and got the chance to be the mascot!
We really enjoyed ourselves at the pavilion and honestly, Singapore is the best pavilion in the World Expo!!!! Though China’s Pavilion was good too, guess it was the VIP treatment we received. Singapore’s technology has really improved over the years, I am proud of Singapore! Time passed really fast today so we did not explore much. Somehow we kind of grew on to Shanghai World Expo within these 3 days and we hate to leave but we must!
Headed off for dinner and after dinner, we went to shop!! The team went separate ways. But we all did our own shopping. The place was magnificent! Beautiful structure of the buildings in the area, the vintage feeling and the pond, where was the meeting point, had an awesome peaceful feeling when we were resting and waiting for the others. Overall, a fruitful trip I must say! Leaving us excited for the next day’s event!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Day 3: Gallery Suite and YuShanghai
We meet exactly at 8.30am at our hotel lobby and set out for our first destination. It was the chance to take a ride on the MRT transport in Shanghai. The MRT transport have not much differences as compare to the one in Singapore, however they have more Mrt lines as compare to us. The total lines in Shanghai is 13 while Singapore has only 4 so far.
After we complete our MRT ride, we continued on to a Gallery boutique hotel for some learning experience. We were introduce to the rooms which they offered, however we were only allow to view one stateroom known as the designer room as the others rooms were fully occupy by guests. It was an enriching experience for us as the hotel appearance and outlook was actually very good as compare to many other hotels in Shanghai.
We carry on for lunch at a chinese restaurant where the food were just good in proportion and that it was quite delicious for some of the dishes. Some dishes include, steam soya sauce egg, steam and fried fish, ketchup soup and vegetable steam bun.
We carry on to Tao Bao City after our lunch to start our shopping trip. There were many shops over at the shopping mall which sell items like clothing, accessories for men and women and also jewellery's item. The shocking thing we discover was that our bargaining skill have to be very good or else we would be over charge by the shop owners. For example, when I ask for the price of a T-shirt, they quoted me as 90 Yuan. However when I wanted to walk away from the store, They quickly decrease the price more and more and in the end I was able to negotiate the price to 50 Yuan.
After the first shopping trip, we continued on for a second round of shopping trip at Cheng Huang Miao. The exotic design of the building were very catchy and we were also impress at how all the building were actually located closely to each other. We managed to get gifts and items from there as it was a place for tourists to shop for souvenirs and gifts.
We had a good time going around the places before we went for our dinner at YuShanghai. It was a very good restaurant as it look very elegance and at the same time the food were really excellent for us. There were ketchup soup, duck meat, chicken meat,fry egg,fried noodles and also a hot plate cabbage. After the good meal, we had the chance to go into the restaurant theater to see some performances. The performances include Wushu, Chinese dance ,videos and some skits by the performers.
We ended our day by going to the famous Shanghai Tan where many of us took many photos as it was the best place to see the nice scenery of Shanghai. It was a tiring day for many of us, but we enjoyed ourself with the foods, shopping and sight seeing.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Day 2: Visit to China Pavilion
Hello fellow readers,
Today is the first day we had breakfast at the hotel, Rose Cafe. The food was awesome, ranging from your humble breakfast of toast & butter to porridge with various kinds of side dish; China style! After the hearty breakfast, we headed down to Expo which was an hour journey.
The first place we visited and the sole purpose of today was the China pavilion. The queue was extremely long and the weather was rather cooling and sunny at the same time. There were other foreign students, the Australian in particular. They were very enthusiastic as they were singing as a group and the crowd would cheer for them. It was rather entertaining despite the long waiting time. It has certainly brought up the atmosphere which makes waiting more bearable.
We took a long travelator to the China pavilion and we had to queue, yet again, to get into the elevator to the main exhibition. While we were queuing, there were live performances. The performances were repeated, showcasing a snippet of China's culture through traditional dance and music. After hours of queuing coupled with a truck full of patience, we were finally able to enter to the main exhibition which got the first gallery to kick start our tour in the pavilion.
At the first exhibition space, it is filled with image and video projections of China's history. The way they were being projected was fairly interesting as the images and videos were up high at the ceiling. Thus, we had to look up half of the time, straining our necks to get a better view of everything. The exhibition area was very packed with people of various nationalities as we anticipate to move on to the next gallery. Soon after the entrances for the next exhibition opens, visitors began to rush in to the theater like space. There were 3 humongous screens showing China in a timeline. We time traveled from China's past to modern times in a very fascinating way whereby each of the screen will show the various scenes at different angles. It was a challenge to focus as there were more than one thing going on at the same time but definitely different in a good way!
After which, we joined in a long but fairly quick queue to see another exhibition called 'National Treasure'. The exhibition had visitors ride on a travelator as a mean to explore the space. It was a short ride as we looked on the exhibition which was centrally located in the area. We headed down to another section soon after, which is called 'The Children's Aspiration'. It showcased numerous of China's little talents in the form of drawings and paintings. They were all special in their own ways as each speaks of a different story which we thought were all impressive. Aspiring & inspiring indeed.
Apparently, the impression didn't stop there but keep on growing as we visited a few more places in the pavilion showing more of what China has to offer. The next exhibition is called 'The Dialogue'. Visitors had to queue and wait for their turn to ride on the trams to explore the exhibition space. We were no exception either. It was like a mini roller coaster ride except that the speed is much slower for visitors to enjoy the exhibitions and art installations. 'The Dialogue' talked about the history of certain bridges in China but it was a pity that the explanations given over the speaker were brief and a tad unclear. There were no English translations either which absolutely serves no help to non-China visitors.
As fun as the tram ride could get despite not being very informative, we had to move on to the last exhibition space of the pavilion. The next space showcased China's transportation system and energy consumption. Overall statistics were provided, showing the level of usage of the various transportation and energy consumption in China. Apart from that, the space promotes China's invention of Eco-friendly cars as well. After our last exhibition visit in China pavilion, we were being directed to exit the pavilion via a long escalator. All of us gathered again after being separated in the pavilion and of we go to our very own pavilion, Sunny Island Singapore! It sure make us feel like home :)
Over at Singapore pavilion, a small talk was given by the event manager. He covered briefly on the operations of the pavilion followed by a short Q&A session. We didn't manage to explore Singapore's pavilion but there's definitely a chance to do so when it is our team's turn to be attach to the pavilion this Saturday! Looking forward to what Singapore has to offer and contribute to World Expo. On a side note, the Singapore mascot costume cannot get anymore adorable. We sure visitors will like it as much as we do.
After all the precious times we had in World Expo today, we headed out to Nanjing Road for dinner! Unfortunately, we were given only 2 hours of free & easy before we need to gather back. Apparently, the time given didn't permit enough for us to shop around and cover the shopping district as much as possible. However, by the time we were all gathered back, weary faces were all around and so we were YueHua hotel bound!
Overall, the experience we had is truly enchanting on all levels. Amazing day today! What we have accounted in this blog space may not seem sufficient but in fact, words can never express the goodness enough. Pictures to come so stay tune for it! Looking forward to another incredible day tomorrow with visits to places like Gallery Suites & Yu Shanghai. Till then, have a good rest everyone!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Hey all readers!
It’s late at night and we are settled in our hotels. It had been a long day for us and we still have 6 more days to go. Do keep following us for more interesting adventures! We boarded the plane at around 1a.m., all excited for the trip to Shanghai! Took us around 5 hours and we reached at around 6 plus, but it was super bright! Unlike Singapore heehee :D
Made our way to Shanghai world expo and when we were reaching the car park, we spotted the huge and magnificent China pavilion! Btw, pavilions are where the different countries showcase how they want a better living in the future for urban environments. It was drizzling and it dropped from 25 degrees to 18 degrees! Freezing!
It was a public holiday for the people in China, they are having a whooping 7 day holiday and they call it the golden weekend. How jealous! So there were tonnes of people at the Shanghai world expo! It was so crowded so it took some time to get into the place, their ticket looks super cute! We walked to a small pier where the ferry took us to another side of the river to see the pavilion that we were visiting! Coca cola pavilion!!! At first we thought that it would be boring, but it ended with a cute little clip on how coca cola was actually made (just an advertisement :P ) We all had a cute coca cola bottle as a souvenir! Showed us the history of coca cola over the years, it was educational and entertaining!
Back to the ferry! And next up! Denmark Pavilion! It was interesting with the beautiful art piece in the centre of the pavilion. We continued climbing upwards in a spiral direction to the roof with the drizzle and cold winds. On the way up, there were pictures of their story on the little mermaid and their history over the years. Due to the freezing temperature, we left early.
The rest of the day ended with drinking hot stuff to keep ourselves warm and sitting around discussing about the day. What I liked about this was how efficient they were in controlling crowd though there were a few people who kept cutting queue which was crazy!!! Other than that the day was great! Just freezing haha.
Monday, September 20, 2010
I've collaged the pictures of the places we will be visiting in Shanghai!
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Happy Sunday ^^
Time check, 1.40 AM. My stomach is doing back flips & somersaults! 2 days away and before you know it, we’ll be assembling at Changi Terminal 3 for the much awaited Shanghai study trip :D Just the mere thought of it gets me even more pumped up. With this amazing opportunity, it marks my virgin trip to China. Albeit the given 7D6N itinerary, I should have known what to expect but hardly I would say. Perhaps, it is just me & my imagination; so did I go overboard with it then? I have no way to know about that..at least for now.
That aside, I genuinely wish for all of us to have a time of our lives over at China. Let us all unravel to fit the pieces of this mega-sized puzzle; Shanghai’s world of hospitality, tourism & events management! Everybody, Fighting! ^^ HAHAH!
-Nadira
Picture Credit: couvade
-Nadira
Picture Credit: couvade
Saturday, September 18, 2010
Ready, Set, Go!
Greetings fellow readers! The Shanghai trip is drawing near by the hour & I’m pretty sure everyone of us in Team 2 is psyched about it as well. We will be documenting the highs & lows of this rollercoaster ride right at this very page! Do anticipate as to what we have in store. All you have to do is to watch out for this space (: There’s more to come!
-Nadira
Picture Credit: couvade