Both Sam (my companion) and I felt the effects of walking around till 11PM after our stint at Jurong Point Mall last Sunday, March 27, 2011. We were both very tired even before we reached Sophie's home. Both of us fell asleep almost immediately after changing into our sleepwear.
We had set both our cellphone's alarm clocks for 5:30AM, but every single time one phone or the other rang to wake us up, one of us would press the snooze button. Thus, it was only around 6:00 AM when we actually decided to get dressed and prepare for our first day at Hwa Chong Institution.
We arrived at HCI at around 7AM, courtesy of Sophie's father who drove us there. There was little to no traffic at all on our way to the school, which surprised me since compared to Singapore, traffic is very common in Quezon City in the mornings, especially on school days. The other Filipino delegates (Renzo, Jeks, Ferdie) were already at the Council benches by the time we arrived. We waited a few more minutes for Zyra while Mr. Jayson Bingcang, our chaperon, is with some Singaporean teachers who already visited the Philippines. Our delegation then began updating each other on what had happened to each of us since we parted ways at the Jurong Train Station the previous night.
General Assembly was called at around 7:50AM. We went down with our buddies to HCI's large track and field to witness our first morning assembly, which teachers of both the Junior College and Secondary School as well as all the students in both levels attended. Everyone was very disciplined and stood at attention for most of the assembly. What amazed me most was that during flag raising, both Singapore's national anthem and the school hymn would be played a live band composed of students from both JC and SS, compared to the use of recordings back in Pisay for Monday morning assemblies.
After the GA, we had an orientation on the nature of our trip as well as a quick presentation on what HCI was and what it does for its students Our group was joined by two other groups: one was from a high school in Tsukuba, Japan and the other group from Taipei, Taiwan. Both were composed of boys and girls. The Japanese group were also staying with host families while in Singapore. On the other hand, since the Taiwanese group was very large, they stayed at HCI's dorms.
We began our tour of the school with a visit to HCI's museum, wherein we viewed several items and exhibits related to the school's history along with the various exchange programs that it had joined. We also got to see the trophy cases housing most, if not all of the awards and prizes HCI has gathered in the competitions it has joined.
Our next destination was the Art Gallery, which was, for me, one of the highlights of our tour around Hwa Chong. There were several pieces which amazed me due to their out-of-the-box nature and sheer creativity, while there were also some that didn't capture my interest at all. I believe we spent the longest time here, since our all of our group's members wanted to see the pieces showcased in the gallery.
Afterwards, we visited the school's research labs. Many of our group's members were impressed with the facilities and equipment, and took several pictures to show to our teachers back at Pisay when we got home. However, we were unable to visit all of the labs, as the Physics research department staff were out having their break during our tour.
Our excursion around HCI had us visiting the Jing Xian Library next. Armed with new editions of several science books, high tech computers, roomy discussion areas, well-ventilated study areas as well as a hospitable library staff, Hwa Chong's Jing Xian Library can be considered a haven for the diligent student. Zyra became friends with several of the Chinese students while she was inside the library. She introduced them to us later on, as we were leaving for lunch.
*On a side note, there were "condemned" or outdated books being sold inside the library. One of our group's members, Renzo, took a liking to several of the books (which cost $1.00 each) but in the end, only bought one that had to do with geometry. I eventually bought one myself too.
We had sumptuous lunch, hosted by HCI, with the other delegations following our trip around the campus. Sam, Zyra and I were able to meet several of the girls from the Taiwanese school and get their contact details (i.e. Facebook) so that we could talk to each other even after the trip was over. One of the girls even gave Zyra (or Sam?) a gift as a sort of thanks for being able to meet them.
All of us decided to go with our buddies to their classes after lunch. The first class Sam and I went to was Chemistry, wherein Sophie and her classmates had a practical lab "test". It was actually more of an exercise, with the required and graded output being a plan for determining the identity of each of five unknown compounds using qualitative analysis along with the results of the "test". This was followed by a discussion on the nature of acid-base reactions.
The next and last class for the day was Economics, which was taught by Mr. Foo, who is also 10S7E's (Sophie's section) civics tutor/homeroom advisor. During that period, it was a "tutorial" session. There as a lecture on how to answer case studies in the best way possible by Mr. Foo, with short amounts of time allotted for letting the students ask questions and clarify certain ideas.
[While at the onset of the class, I was disinterested, I slowly began to find what they were studying---Macroeconomics---interesting, since I began to understand it.]
We left for the Council benches right afterwards. As Zyra and Sam had forgotten their casual footwear at their host families' homes that day, the five us (that excluded Jeks) decided to remain in our school uniforms for our trip to Singapore Flyer, the giant 165 meter Ferris wheel that offers a panoramic view of Singapore.
We were accompanied by Sally, as our other Singaporean buddies had responsibilities to attend to. We rode the bus to reach the station nearest the venue, and walked the rest of the way there. Along the way, we tasted Japanese takoyaki as well as the frozen yogurt offered by Yoguru, a brand found only in Singapore.
Jess Kabigting, one of the Pisay students who had hosted the Singaporeans during their stay in the Philippines, also tagged along with us. However, when we reached the venue of the Singapore Flyer, we found out that it was closed for maintenance. Thus, our group decided to work around the Marina Bay Sands (mall) instead. We also visited the Youth Olympics Park and the DNABridge. The former had a floating platform on which there was a soccer field, while the latter was a bridge made in the shape of the DNA double helix, with viewing decks for visitors.
Our group had dinner at Seoul Garden, accompanied by all of our Singaporean buddies and Sir Jayson Bingcang, our chaperon. We grilled our own food, in true shabu-shabu style. While at first almost of all of us ended up eating half-cooked food since we didn't know how to tell when the meat/prawn/fish ball was ready, we slowly learned and successfully began to pinpoint when the food was ready. We ate till we burst, with room to spare for chocolate-coated strawberries purchased from Esplanade, a restaurant located near Seoul Garden.
We parted ways after dinner. Sophie, Sam and I accompanied Jess to her hotel before leaving for Sophie's home. This led to a "kwentuhan" session while crossing streets, riding the bus and the MRT, and buying aloe vera bubble tea. We were able to successfully drop her off at her hotel; afterwards, we went home to Sophie's house via taxi cab.
All three of us were very tired when we arrived, so we all said good night, went to our rooms and got ready for bed. I still spent some time awake, fixing my things for our next day at HCI before bidding Singapore good night.
by: Bianchi Dy
