It's been almost a week in Suzhou

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It's been almost a week in Suzhou, China and the girls are still healthy and chirpy, thanks to our gracious host.

Some highlights of what they have done:

Chinese Lesson on Suzhou in Computer Lab - equipped with fast broadband access...hmm...i think they seem faster than back in nygh 😊 The CL tr was very enthuiastic and allowed the girls to copy the ppt slides for their homework..of course, our girls were busy taking notes and one hardworking gal even tried to snap pix off the ppt slides....(no wonder "diligence" is one of our school motto!)

sat was a fine bright day as compared to friday where it rained non-stop and the weather turns really cold. The girls were given a treat to 2 famous museums - "kunqu" and also "ping tan" which are two forms of entertainment for the people of Suzhou. In fact, some of the richest in Suzhou have private performances in their houses which looked like mansions to me!

We also visited the famous "tai hu" where some of the freshest fishes were caught...it does look a little like San Francisco drawbridge minus all the touristy aspect...

Next we went on to pluck mandarin oranges in an orchard and guess how much it cost us? only 1 rmb per kati...and as much as u can eat over there (FOC of course!)

We also went up "shi gong san" which is a little peak near "tai hu" and a place where people write their wishes and hang them up on a tree...there were wishes for good luck, peace and health and of course for the students..to do well in exams...

all in, the day was fun and educational...oh well..u can see it from the pix!

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Photos

look ma...me..an ancient beauty?
hey......guess who's dat beauty?

Lesson in chinese culture
all eyes were glued on the screen as the cl tr brings the girls on a virtual tour of Suzhou, china !

Group Pix
group pix outside xing hai zhong xue..

Beautiful lamppost
some of the suzhou streets were lined with beautiful lamp posts that looked like christmas trees:) they are energy saving also...

Famous Dong Po Rou
the trs were given a treat to the famous "dong po rou" which is in fact quite delicious..esp the skin which is cooked and taste very tender..however, for me it was a challenge to try to finish something that was swimming in oil!!

Tianyi and her buddy
tian yi showing off her singing talent..karoking with her buddy and mind u...the words are not in simplified chinese...

Having fun at "Kun Qu" theatre
guess who these performers are? our very own nygh "kunqu" singers...not bad eh...

beautiful suzhou house
it is in one of these houses that the "ping tan" players were engaged for family functions

fresh chestnuts anyone?
at a bus junction and fruit market - for me it was a first time tasting fresh chestnuts - gee, it's nice and fruity...

visitation with the vice-principal
the vp of xing hai school personally turn chauffeur and brought us to our girls home - we are into 11 homes already...9 more to go..so far, our gals have done us proud and many of the foster parents luv them! well done gals!! (seen here is Ewe and her buddy. The vp is at the far right)

a street scene
guess what is behind our lovely gals...a street corner "you tiao" stall that sells 2 pieces of "jian bing" for 1rmb..hmmm...n according to Tiffany...our unofficial food taster..they are delicious!

encounter of the closest kind
hey...our first intro to an "open" concept toilet...no peeping please..and kindly do ur business asap... :) ...pssst..did u c someone there?...oh no..it's mrs teresa wong...our very own physics tr..going about her business...*grin

at the scenic tai hu
a gp pix at the rock announcing the start of "tai hu" !!

range of goodies served by Tian yi
gee...van houten chocs never tasted so good...tian yi doing us proud by being the gracious host n serving us delicious tit-bits in her buddy's house!!

stuffing ourselves silly...
at the mandarin orange orchard...we went crazy and last i heard was that 1 boy ate 7 oranges at a go...the boys from xing hai school also went wild chasing a rooster...