BSC ended; the precious memories brought back

Been thinking of writing this post for the past 2 days, yet never remembered to do so.

Today was the first day of school upon returning to Singapore from Beijing. Was filled with stuff like a Chinese composition and Napfa 5 items test. How fun. Shall not elaborate on this though. Tmr, the next batch of people will be leaving. Filled with an envy, I look back at the memories in BSC, Beijing.

My room consisted of 5 people, all of which are from my class.Much memories were that of in the dorm, in school, in the track and field, or the school's mini-stadium.

I remember the times in the dorm, doing work, playing CS, making pokemon fusions, the times people randomly come into our room, the card games, the times Kenji came dashing in with a loud "fuu". I remember the time we played CS till 3 am in the morning, and the times when we stayed in for the day, making me feel sinned. The times where being unable to connect caused much displeasure. I remember laundry days, which was Friday for my room. At 8:30 sharp, we would pack our laptops and rush straight for the dorm, and pile up our used clothes before dumping them into all 3 washing machines. Then, we would go get breakfast for Saturday while waiting for the laundry. I also remember the times where there was hardly any clothes hanger in the laundry room. The toilet, even bring back its own memories, unfortunately not the pleasant kind.

I remember the tests we took in Beijing. The biology test, in which was postponed from the previous week before we left. Also, the maths test on differentiation here, which everyone felt was difficult and that they did badly.

I remember the times in school. The classroom where we worked, played, self-studied, and torrented.. I remember the small garden in the middle of the school, the road which we take to get to the canteen. I remember the track, with each round being a mere 200m, 2.4 takes a wretched 12 rounds to complete. I remember the field, the place where we had fun playing soccer. I remember the 3 rounds we ran everyday when the weather was cold. I remember the mass exercise when the place turned warmer. I remember the morning Chinese lessons, where many had their heads buried in their folded arms. I also remember the snowball fights, the handprints in the snow. I also remember the PE lessons. The table tennis where we had to share a table. And also the basketball game where me Troy, Kiat Long and John got thrashed by 4 girls, possibly from basketball during immersion week. I also remember the self-study sessions, where sometimes we played CS, shoddy battle, while there were also the serious times, doing work.

I remember immersion week. Me and Ephraim were posted to 高二（四）班. Though the buddy did not really communicate with us, there were some people who were quite friendly. I remember the 艺术课, where I watched The Phantom of the Opera for the first time, though having heard about it before, and starting to like the songs in the movie, though unfortunately we were unable to finish the whole movie. I remember the english lessons, which reminded me of the earlier styles of teaching english in a more structured manner.

I remember 红桥, the pearl market, where Leymo Coffee, a starbucks lookalike is. The time one of us pissed a shop keeper off by haggling and walking away. Went there thrice, but never really saw all the anime stalls, Toy City, the time we went in high spirits for an iphone, only to find it was bad.

I remember 绣水街, where the prices could be cut dramatically, from hundreds to tens. The haggling process, the random attempts to piss shopkeepers off, and also the 2K ++ Harley Davidson Jacket. It was also the place I obtained my hand-carry bag, also the place I bought all my new shirts and a pair of jeans.

I remember 西单, where the prices were all very high and unreducable, with a doraemon shirt costing as much as 240 RMB. I also remember the shop which was having a mass sale, possibly cos it was closing down, and where I bought the jeans at a mere 45 yuan, whose pockets were sewed up.

I remember the various fieldtrips, to places like the Great Wall, the National Theatre or something along that line, the Beijing Zoo with the Aqua World thingy, the dolphin performance, 圆明园 and 天坛公园 near 红桥.

I remember 欢乐谷, the theme park in Beijing. The rides, Crystal Wing, Apollo's wheel, the Ride through the jungle thingy which was rocky and where YY amazingly managed to maneuver the popcorn so that none fell out. There was also the water ride, with the second fall being one of the tallest few. I also remember the 1000 ton hammer which some bought, I remember the hand-like thing on a stick, which pointed the number 7 and costed 10 yuan.

I also remember the 天外天烤鸭, the Roasted Duck store near the dorm. The first experience there wasn't exactly too pleasant, with the rice arriving only after ALL the dishes had been eaten. The atmosphere then was gloomy. The second time we went there to crashgate a guy's family dinner though they only arrived when we were finishing. Then, we had requested for the rice to come quickly, and the meal turned out much better. I also remember the 羊肉串. Though we were never exactly a big fan of it, I remember spamming those on the last Wednesday there, to savour a last taste of it.

Thinking back, there is still so much more of the place in my memory. The drinks there: 统一, the milk tea, the 营养快线. All the precious memories of Beijing, all obtained within the short but extremely memorable 6 weeks, will forever be etched in every BSC-goers' mind. The photos taken during the stay may just be photos, but they do speak a thousand words, bring back all these heart-warming memories of the place where we stayed for 6 whole weeks.

2 weekends more

2 more weekends in BSC and I would be back in Singapore.

Results were released today and personally I feel that I have done well for this term, with it being the best term 1 msg since sec 1.

Over the course of the week, I went to the Great Wall. Unfortunately, I did not reach the peak, only stopping at a tower before the great climb. Interestingly, there was a small cute dog that followed us all the way up the great wall, and even reached the top. Incredible. Along the way back, there were some stalls which sold clothes and souvenirs. Unfortunately, I missed getting s small piece of metal which said "____ has climbed the great wall."

The next day, went to tian tan gong yuan. It was just a look around with nothing interesting in particular. Some people bought a chapteh and played in a secluded area. There was this place called the Echo Wall, though I never really hear any echo. Furthermore, I lost my ticket in there, so was unable to go to another attraction in the park.

Other than this two fieldtrips, the week was generally not too exciting an experience. Time flies, hopefully the last 2 weeks would be a nice and fruitful experience.

Immersion week

Time flies and the 5 days of immersion week is over.
Quite a nice week. A few students talked to me. Their lessons were quite interesting too, and I think the class was a pure science one as it did not have any humanities lessons at all. Interesting to hear the lessons we that usually have in english in Chinese.

today, we went to 国家大剧院 also known to some as "the egg", like the esplanade is "the durian". It was also like esplanade inside, full of theatres for the performances, so there was nothing much in particular other than an exhibition. After that went to hong qiao, where I bought a pair of shoe for 50 yuen thanks to a friend's help in haggling.

Overall, quite a nice week, though I'm beginning to fall ill.