Today was yet another free and easy day, so we did what we always did on free and easy days: shopping again! Went back to 步行街 (Bu Xing Jie) to try and explore other shopping malls in the area.
Met the others early at 9AM again, and had breakfast at a dumpling place upon reaching 平安大厦 (Ping An Da Sha, aka Peace Building).
Shopping/Meal companions.
Shiling and Eliza playing around with my aviators I bought a few weeks ago for RMB15 (SGD 3) while waiting for their dumplings.
Dumpling Restaurant we ate at. Their food wasn't that bad; and I had their chicken and mushroom dumplings. Also, it was here that I found out 三鲜 (san xian), isn't actually three kinds of seafood, but actually three kinds of fresh meat: pork, chicken and beef. Sure cleared up a lot of confusion.
Shopped non-stop for about four hours right after the meal going from one shopping mall to another. Figured at some point that the first shopping mall (at Peace Building) was still the best place to shop. Would like to visit the night market nearby someday too though!
Got a pair of sneakers because that was all I could find for the day, plus a few other miscellenous stuff. The shopkeeper at the shoe shop was so nice, Eliza and I didn't even try to bargain. He thought we didn't speak Mandarin at first glance and tried to tell us that the shoes were very comfortable by hand gestures, until we starting speaking in Mandarin. At some point he even said we sounded Korean, since we were speaking English so rapidly.
Decided to settle our dinner at the nearby Pizza Hut since we were all starving and really tired. Ah, the things we'd do for cheap deals.
Fancy seeing escargots on the menu in Pizza Hut! If I'm not wrong they were for about less than SGD10.
Part of our loot for the day. Couple pairs of shoes, tops and other miscellenous stuff.
My Mediterranean Style Honey Flavored Chicken.for RMB32 (~SGD6.40). Tasted pretty good but then the spaghetti was a really small portion.
My Matcha Green Tea Ice Cream cake, nom nom nom.
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Personal Reflections
I think for most of the locals here, it's weird to see out-of-towners. The same way we stare at foreigners back in Singapore, it's actually only normal when we speak a language that they're not familiar with.
One of the important things when immersing yourself in another culture is to put yourself in their shoes, and understand that from their viewpoint, you're the odd one sticking out. While their stares may feel strange, I guess it's something to get used to, because afterall, they can't help but be curious.
Most of the shopkeepers like to ask where we are from, since we keep conversing in English amongst ourselves. Just in case, though, we've been telling them that we're from Fujian province. I wish I could tell them the truth though, that we're Singapore, loud and proud! To leave a good impression on them, to share about our own culture.
On the way to 步行街(Bu Xing Jie) today, we ran into one of the photographers from WUST. He noticed we were speaking English and asked if we were from WUST, and we all realised he was the photographer.
Funny thing was, he seemed oddly proud that we were Singaporean. One of the passengers nearby was an elderly man that one of us just gave a seat up to. He proceeded to tell the elderly man this:
"This bunch of kids, they're from Singapore! That's why they gave their seat to you; youngsters here nowadays will never do something like that! Their country is so small, but so clean! Everything is beautiful there.
Elderly man: Ah, Singapore, that small country!
Photographer: So much smaller than China, smaller than Hubei, even!
Elderly man: But small is good, it's easier to govern. China is much too big!
This short conversation made me feel so oddly patrotic, and proud that our small country's humble achievements are recognised. We've met shopkeepers who actually looked jealous when we mention that we're from Singapore, stating that it's strange how all of them would rather be in Singapore, but us Singaporeans are instead visiting Wuhan.
I'm glad that after all the things Singapore has been through, all the struggles, our achievements are actually acknowledged and envied around the world (or at least Asia). It's the little things like these that make me feel patriotic, instead of the superficial National Day Parades.
