Today, we finally set out for Wuhan! I've been feeling a lot of emotions for this trip; excitement at this new adventure and being able to explore new places around China, and yet at the same time wrought with worry at how I'm going to have to be independent for a whole month. Plus the anxiety about the possible language barrier due to my lack of use in Mandarin over the last two years, it was starting to seem like a bad idea on the day of my flight. But there's not turning back, for sure, and the Dora the Explorer inside me was overpowering the worries. So as the time came for me to take a giant leap of faith, I did, with an open mind and much hope that China wouldn't disappoint.
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Location: Changi Airport.
Flight CZ 354, 1325.
Destination: Guangzhou Airport.
Some of my family and friends who came to send me off. Was super grateful to them for taking time off to come down, but not so much at how they saw me bawl before going into customs. :/
The ever-cliched photo of the 5th OIP Wuhan batch with our banner at the airport. (In the shirts that I designed! /Proud)
My room 220 room-mates! Also known as the people who would have to put up with most of my nonsense for the next month.
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Location: Guangzhou Airport
Flight 3367, 2020 (Supposedly, anyway.)
Destination: Wuhan Airport.
On the bus from the runway to the airport.
Was a little strange to experience since the usual flights would let us off right at the airport. Nonetheless, it was interesting seeing the place from the runway instead. Remember; new perspectives!
Sheila the Roomate at Guangzhou Airport's McDonald's.
The whole menu was in Mandarin and I had to help both Diyanah and Sheila translate it. China's McDonald's menu didn't offer much variation from Singapore's though, so it wasn't too hard. Yuhaw treated us this meal! All our notes were too big and we haven't managed to break any of them yet. Heh, thanks Yuhaw!
Groupmates Liangxun and Brenda on the way to our boarding gate.
Trip mates Edward and Yuchuan showing off their bromance!
Our domestic flight to Wuhan from Guangzhou was supposed to be at 8.20PM, but it got delayed to a little after 9PM. One thing that was vastly different fron Changi Airport: There was almost no sign or annoucnement telling us of the delay other than the LED board. Boarding time was also further delayed after 9PM and we were mostly dead beat. Some of us took advantage of the free Wi-fi to contact our families via webcam though.
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Location: Wuhan Airport.
Time: 2327
Destination: Wuhan University of Science and Technology.
Touchdown! Our first look at Wuhan/Wuhan Airport.
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Location: WUST Room 220
Time: 0130
Destination: Cloud nine.
Dorm room 220. Diyanah took the bed on the left and Sheila, the right.
My hugeass 26.7KG luggage. It warranted a "HEAVY" tag during flights, heh.
The roomates bidding you a good night.
We finally unpacked by 2AM and promptly fell asleep at around 230AM. It's been a tedious and tiring journey, and it's only the first day!
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The whole journey from Singapore to Wuhan has been a real eye-opener. This was the first time I've ever taken a transit flight, and in an actual domestic airport. The way they handle things (luggages, to be specific) is a lot more, for a lack of a better word, violent. From the plane itself while waiting to alight, the airport staff were literally throwing luggages onto a vehicle in plain sight. The ironic thing was one of the packages they threw around clearly stated "fragile".
The first cultural shock I experienced was the bus transporting us from Wuhan Airport to WUST. Instead of storing the luggages below the buses as Singaporean buses do, they actually loaded our luggages to the back of the bus, via the side windows. We ended up taking another bus instead. While it gave us a more comfortable (not exactly) ride to WUST, it was a little worrying having your luggages away from you in the middle of the night and in a country you've barely spent two hours in.
P.s: Zhenzao, sorry I left out your link earlier! Apparently I limited the link list to 21 links only and yours got cut off; my bad!
