Going to Taipei... I was so very excited at that thought. I looked forward to it so much, that when the day arrived to board the plane, I was very disappointed. A few things went wrong on that day. Firstly, there were the hours of waiting for the plane to come. Well, truth be told, it was not really that bad. My slippers posed another problem. The strap had snapped, and at every step I took it would hit my foot and sting really badly. Thankfully, Mdm Liu helped to sew it back on (even though another strap snapped again later). The main problem was the plane. Sure, there were mini-screens where we could watch TV or play games, but the plane's movement left me in motion sickness and unable to fully enjoy myself. Just like this, I began to dread the plane trip home.

We did not do much on our first day, except have a bit of dinner and then went to bed in the hotel. Jia Xin and I claimed the inner bed (it was two people to one bed), but Jia Xin and our other roommates complained about the Paradise Hotel's quality so much I decided to turn in early. I have never been to a hotel before (if I did I don't remember) so I found the small room really quaint and cosy. Apparently my friends did not share the same view.

On the second day, we went to visit a school first. To our surprise, there were only three Gu Zhengs to be played on, so we could not have our performance together, but instead separately. Jia Xin went up to play, and she must have been really nervous, for she was the only person to be playing a different part from the other two, who were playing the same parts.

After that, we visited the farm and had a barbeque. I brought my jacket along, so it ended up with a weird smoky smell afterwards, and refused to go away. Even so, I liked helping in barbequing the chickens and other bits of meat. It was not easy, and most of them came out charred.

I loved watching the heavenly light carrying all our wishes float off to the heavens with fireworks everywhere. I did quite a bit of making the lantern (although it did not quite turn out right) and then we all wrote our wishes on it. I must say, the teachers' lantern was quite a piece of work. I believe this night was the best in the trip.

The third day. We took a tour (I got a mosquito bite!), visiting the animals and plucking several plants. The first animals we saw were the water buffalos. There were four of them, two adults, two calves. Even the calves were really huge, but we fed them and they seemed satisfied. After a while I worked up the nerve to touch one of the calves. It had really stiff, coarse fur. I did manage to stroke the adults too, but I got butted away by its huge horn. It stings, but other than that my hand was still in one piece. We went to see the goats next, and then the turkeys, followed by the wild boars. The geese would be next, if I did not mix up the order.

Later on, we found the paddy field, several of our girls were brave enough to step into the mud to plant the rice. They were really reluctant to step into the mud, but it was a once in a lifetime chance, so they agreed. After that, we visited the waterfalls. Climbing was really tedious - the stairs refused to end. But the sight was worth it. The spray of the waterfall welcomed me as I stepped onto the platform, the waterfall itself crashing down from above. It was really magnificent, a majestic view indeed.

The forth day, I cannot really say much, for I was asleep most of the time on the bus, so I only joined the rest when we visited the night market. It was really not bad, too. Sure, it was oily and everything, but other than that it was okay. I bought a cup of bubble tea, and some fishballs made out of egg and not fish. After that, I met up with the teachers (they were waving at me madly and I only saw them after a while) and we walked around together. I also bought some gifts for my Singapore friends, and I can't wait to give it to them.

The days are running together, and it is getting much harder to pick out one day from another, since the schedule was all mixed up...

On the fifth day, I believe we visited the Geological Park. It was raining lightly, but the place was terrifying, with the strong wind threatening to blow you off the cliffs. Jia Xin and I arrived back at the bus fifteen minutes earlier, and spent our time waiting for the rest. We also visited a garden, and we walked around happily, taking snapshots of flowers that we deemed pretty enough.

The schools we visited were really friendly to us, although we did not get to interact much with them. I must say, we've learnt quite a bit since visiting Taipei.

The thing we did most on our trip was... Shopping! (I skipped quite a bit of shopping, as it was too much.) Most of the places we went to did not have the things we were looking for, but nevertheless we still found something we all liked and wanted to buy.

Going overseas was really fun. I hope we all can do so again sometime, together.

Victoriette Lim 3A