Visit to the "Flying Dragon" High School
I woke up slightly earlier today cos PinkHippo replied to my sms at about 5am (Hanoi time). I tried cleaning the memory card of the camera like she suggested but to no avail. I was slightly disappointed that I could not take anymore pictures and I didn't recall seeing any shops selling memory cards.
My teammates were nice to offer their cameras, knowing fully well that I had to update my blog with pictures for my friends back home. Still, I felt bad that I had somehow spoilt the camera.. Did I?
Mr Phuc came by our hotel at around 8am to pick us up to visit one of the top high schools in Hanoi. I can't remember the Vietnamese name but Mr Phuc told us it stands for "flying dragon".
It was quite enlightening sitting in the classes of the level 12 students (equivalent to JC2). We realised that they had a better grasp for grammar and were certainly better than us! They were going through Gerunds, and the students could easily list down the form, the function, the usage etc.! And I only learnt it when I was in NIE!
When the lesson ended, the teacher invited us to the front of the class to share with her students about Singapore. My teammates and I ended up playing some classroom games, singing a song and telling them about Singapore. It was nice as the students clapped and laughed. It was heartening to see the sparkle in their eyes as they expressed their interest in studying in Singapore.
We then had a short sharing session with the teachers of the high school, and they shared their difficulties in teaching English. We shared with them some of the teaching methods we used in our classroom, hoping that they will be able to adapt some practices. Personally, I feel for them. It is certainly not easy given the facilities they have and the constraints they have to work under. Once again, it made me appreciate the education system we have in Singapore.
We met our Korean star from the HUT team for lunch after the high school visit. It was a really big lunch as we indulged in pizza, pasta, sandwiches, beef, fries... Then we headed towards St Joseph's Cathedral, Vietnam's oldest cathedral.
Along the way, we saw a shop selling very attractive lanterns. We crossed over and was attracted to the shop next to it instead which sold beautiful hand painted cards. I got 3 of them as I thought they looked really nice and colourful. I definitely know people who will appreciate it as much as I do!
When I was waiting for the rest to figure out their buys, I realised that the shop next to it was a camera shop and it sold the memory card that PinkHippo's camera used. I got the man to help me figure out the problem and he successfully fixed the problem by reformatting the card. I really don't know how he did it, but he did it! He seemed to know the camera more so than I did! I felt bad not getting the new memory card from him as he took out a brand new one to try on my camera. And so, after bargaining, I paid 630,000 dong for it - about S$63 for a 1GB memory card...then he tells me I can take some 2000 pictures!
The four of us walked along the streets leading to the Cathedral and we realised that the shops there sold really pretty things. Though a little pricier, you'll know you're getting things of a better quality. My friends bought some bags from a designer shop that apparently exports her bags to Tyan - and really, if you know how much she charges, and how much Tyan charges back in Singapore, you'd get a few back home to give away
The visit to the Cathedral was nice. I've always liked visiting Catholic churches overseas as it had the kind of grandeur and old charm that our Singapore churches lacked. The cathedral was old, and really, I wished it was better maintained, but yet again, I understood why it was like that. I did a quick walk round the church and took some pictures cos I didn't want the rest to wait too long. I sat in front of Our Lady and St Anthony, and said a long prayer. Then I made my offering and left the church.
The two guys needed to get back to the hotel to wait for their students to pick them up on the scooters to watch a soccer match. So we headed back to the hotel.
I'm waiting for the guys to come back so we can head back to Ma May to get the top I tailored for myself and PinkHippo. Hopefully it fits better this time. Whilst waiting, I decided to head to the Hilton and do my routine. My teammates all know about me and WIFI and so each time they pass by a cafe, they'll tease me! This morning, they even said I may go into a fit soon if I don't get my WIFI!
They are a cute bunch, and I'm glad I'm on this trip with them! :)
I leave you with pictures I took of the Cathedral while I savour the music from the string quartet at the Hilton Hanoi...
My teammates were nice to offer their cameras, knowing fully well that I had to update my blog with pictures for my friends back home. Still, I felt bad that I had somehow spoilt the camera.. Did I?
Mr Phuc came by our hotel at around 8am to pick us up to visit one of the top high schools in Hanoi. I can't remember the Vietnamese name but Mr Phuc told us it stands for "flying dragon".
It was quite enlightening sitting in the classes of the level 12 students (equivalent to JC2). We realised that they had a better grasp for grammar and were certainly better than us! They were going through Gerunds, and the students could easily list down the form, the function, the usage etc.! And I only learnt it when I was in NIE!
When the lesson ended, the teacher invited us to the front of the class to share with her students about Singapore. My teammates and I ended up playing some classroom games, singing a song and telling them about Singapore. It was nice as the students clapped and laughed. It was heartening to see the sparkle in their eyes as they expressed their interest in studying in Singapore.
We then had a short sharing session with the teachers of the high school, and they shared their difficulties in teaching English. We shared with them some of the teaching methods we used in our classroom, hoping that they will be able to adapt some practices. Personally, I feel for them. It is certainly not easy given the facilities they have and the constraints they have to work under. Once again, it made me appreciate the education system we have in Singapore.
We met our Korean star from the HUT team for lunch after the high school visit. It was a really big lunch as we indulged in pizza, pasta, sandwiches, beef, fries... Then we headed towards St Joseph's Cathedral, Vietnam's oldest cathedral.
Along the way, we saw a shop selling very attractive lanterns. We crossed over and was attracted to the shop next to it instead which sold beautiful hand painted cards. I got 3 of them as I thought they looked really nice and colourful. I definitely know people who will appreciate it as much as I do!
When I was waiting for the rest to figure out their buys, I realised that the shop next to it was a camera shop and it sold the memory card that PinkHippo's camera used. I got the man to help me figure out the problem and he successfully fixed the problem by reformatting the card. I really don't know how he did it, but he did it! He seemed to know the camera more so than I did! I felt bad not getting the new memory card from him as he took out a brand new one to try on my camera. And so, after bargaining, I paid 630,000 dong for it - about S$63 for a 1GB memory card...then he tells me I can take some 2000 pictures!
The four of us walked along the streets leading to the Cathedral and we realised that the shops there sold really pretty things. Though a little pricier, you'll know you're getting things of a better quality. My friends bought some bags from a designer shop that apparently exports her bags to Tyan - and really, if you know how much she charges, and how much Tyan charges back in Singapore, you'd get a few back home to give away
The visit to the Cathedral was nice. I've always liked visiting Catholic churches overseas as it had the kind of grandeur and old charm that our Singapore churches lacked. The cathedral was old, and really, I wished it was better maintained, but yet again, I understood why it was like that. I did a quick walk round the church and took some pictures cos I didn't want the rest to wait too long. I sat in front of Our Lady and St Anthony, and said a long prayer. Then I made my offering and left the church.
The two guys needed to get back to the hotel to wait for their students to pick them up on the scooters to watch a soccer match. So we headed back to the hotel.
I'm waiting for the guys to come back so we can head back to Ma May to get the top I tailored for myself and PinkHippo. Hopefully it fits better this time. Whilst waiting, I decided to head to the Hilton and do my routine. My teammates all know about me and WIFI and so each time they pass by a cafe, they'll tease me! This morning, they even said I may go into a fit soon if I don't get my WIFI!
They are a cute bunch, and I'm glad I'm on this trip with them! :)
I leave you with pictures I took of the Cathedral while I savour the music from the string quartet at the Hilton Hanoi...
posted by deb at 5:57 PM
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