Day 1

Changi Airport

After weeks of waiting, the day have finally arrived! You could tell from our happy faces that we were both excited and full of anticipation for Hong Kong trip. We were divided into 4 groups of 5 students. Each group had a leader and one of the key responsibilities of the leader was to ensure that all members within the group were accounted for before we move from one place to another. We were also reminded of the importance of team spirit and to watch out for each other well being.

Hong Kong International Airport

Upon arrival at the Hong Kong International Airport, we were swarmed and greeted by a group of students from Lai Chack Middle school eagerly waiting for us. Each one of us was given a stalk of flower and a round fan by our respective Hong Kong buddies. Their warm and friendly behaviours have left deep impression in all of us.

We were also impressed with the efficient and friendly service of the Cathay Pacific baggage handling crew. The handle of Jie Ying’s baggage was found to be broken upon retrieval from the baggage conveyor belt. When this was reported to the ground crew, they immediately offered to replace the damaged baggage with a new one. It even came a warranty card! All of us were so envious of Jie Ying’s brand new baggage.

One for the memories … group photograph with students from Lai Chack Middle School at the airport.

Check In at YMCA Hostel
We would be staying at Wu Kwai Sha Youth Village for the next 10 days. There were many facilities available like tennis courts, badmintion courts, running track, swimming pools etc.

We were assigned 2 chalets for our accomodation. Each chalet has 4 bedrooms and 3 common toilets. Each room has 2 double-decker beds. So 4 of us were squeezed into each bedroom like "sardines".

Using the toilets was a hassle as at any one time only 3 students could use them. It would take up to 1 hour for all of us take showers before we could retire for the night. To solve the problem of students fighting for toilets, a timetable was drawn up to prevent conflicts.

Dinner time

This is where we have our first decent meal since leaving Singapore. It was a simple but sumptuous meal with 8 dishes plus 1 soup. There were so much food that we could not finish all the dishes.

Shopping at Supermarket

After dinner, we visited the Sunshine Plaza which is about 5 minutes walk from our hostel. A lot of us bought phone card to call home. The talktime is about 100 minutes for HK$100. We also visited Wellcome Supermarket (similiar to our NTUC) to buy daily groceries like fruit and mineral water.

Before we say good night

We were back to the hostel at around 2100 hrs. The teachers have bought apples for each of us. We were forced to finish eating an apple before we were allow back into our chalet to do our "end of day" reflection and personal administration. It was a tiring day but it was also a lot of fun.