Day 24 - Over the Charcoal

Today's schedule: barbecue with the local students! Had to walk a long, long, long way to the barbecue venue with cucumbers in hand.
It was along our usual jogging route, but further. The air was really fresh up there, though, and at least now I have a chance to finally take photos of this place.

Lagging behind the very first group of trip mates plus the local students. (If you squint or enlarge the photo, you can see them.)

Lagging behind even more, because we got distracted by butterflies. No, really.

After losing them for a bit, we finally found the well-hidden barbecue spot, where everyone who were there first had already started setting up.

Had a nice hammock near the pit area where we could all lie (and swing and scream).

Bags for sale! Basically everyone lumped their bags on one mat and ran off to search for food.

Tons of vegetables to barbecue with for the sole vegetarian on thie trip, who earlier on had decided not to join us for this barbecue. -___-

In China, they barbecue almost everything. Yes, that's cabbage you're looking at.

As I mentioned before, lots of swinging and screaming, mostly from Edward. Here's why:

Struggling like fish caught in a net.

Nicholas with his bun (馒头)

After we were done with filling our stomachs and got bored sitting around and playing with the hammock, we decided to explore the area a little. Turns out it had a lot of sports facilities around, with table tennis tables, pool tables, basketball courts and a skating area.

Brenda playing table tennis with local student Yangtao.

Unlike in Singapore, their pooltables are not automated, and we have to fish the balls out from the net after the end of every game. The table was also balancing on some unstable bricks, which meant that the ball may change direction even after it came to a stop. Really does make things more interesting.

Their cue was also ultra long, as tall as Eliza herself (who isn't very tall at all, hahahaha).

Too tired after all the fun and games, a bunch of us took a cab back to the dormitory and had dinner after. Will probably sleep a lot better tonight, because I actually manage to conquer my fear of basketballs (my no.1 nemesis when it comes to sports) and shoot a few hoops after about...5 years, thanks to the advice of Eliza. Personal achievement, whoot!

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Personal Reflection

It still surprises me how sports-orientated the locals are, young or old. Every day, without fail, there would always be students playing badminton, table tennis, basketball or just jogging on the campus. It was the same at the barbecue pit area too. A lot of human activity going on, be it pool, table tennis, basketball, skating, jogging, walking dogs and flying kites.

I was told before that the Chinese were very motivated to do sports after some Chinese became sports legends, like Yao Ming for example, and because of the Beijing Olympics. I sometimes wish Singaporeans could cultivate an active lifestyle just like the locals here have. It's not uncommon to see the elderly sitting around coffee shops and drinking beer in the afternoons in Singapore, doing almost absolutely nothing and whiling their time away. In contrast, I often spot the elderly here out and about; cycling, walking dogs, playing ball with youths (!), and the like. Even in the park behind my own house back in Singapore, I see Chinese nationals playing basketball at 6AM in the morning every day.

If the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and legends like Yao Ming had inspired the Chinese to take on a healthier and more active lifestyle, I wonder when the elderly in Singapore will ever be inspired by our own Youth Olympics.