The Taipei International Flora Expo

This is one of the highlights during our trip.

Combined Uniformed Groups Taiwan Immersion Trip

Hi everyone, this blog is coming alive again as we are going for our annual combined uniformed groups trip this week! Do visit the blog for more information and we will post photographs and daily updates during the trip.

Reflection by Titus Ong

The cultural exchange programme to Bangkok, Thailand has been most fun and enjoyable. On Day 1, we arrived at the Wangree Resort and settled down. After a simple dinner, we played ice-breaking games with our Thai buddies. Day 2 was packed with adventurous activities conducted by professional Army Trainers to ensure safety. We went to a five-storey tower to attempt the Flying-Fox. After the Flying-Fox, we went for laser-gun shooting. It was my first experience with a ‘real’ rifle and sensed the impact of shooting was great. After our lunch at the resort, we embarked on water-rafting. Indeed, water-rafting was the most interesting event of the day. At night, we conducted an indoor campfire. Action-songs like Bumble Bee, Flea Fly were thrilling and we sang at the top of our voice.

On Day 3, we checked out from the Resort without hast and continued our journey to the Dream World which was my second visit. The rides and games were exciting although I’ve played them before. After the fun-filled rides at the Theme Park, we travelled to Rittiyawannalai School for Home-stay Induction Ceremony where we were introduced to our buddies’ parents. They were kind-hearted and warm. We had light refreshments prepared by the teachers. Later, Jovi and I were brought by our hosting family to dine on a ferry-restaurant. I was quite worried when I spotted a crocodile lying on the sand, below a nearby house.

On Day 4, we visited the school again to bid farewell to the teachers and students. At the same time, we put up a performance of dance and song. I was slightly nervous and almost got stage-fright. However, the local students applauded to give us support. Later we went to MBK Shopping Centre. I was strolling with five fellow friends and we almost lost our way while window-shopping in the spacious MBK. Thank God that we managed to find our way and meet up with our teachers. Time flew and the last day in Bangkok arrived. Before we travelled to the airport, we had the opportunity to visit another Shopping Centre, Commerical Square, where I happily bought souvenirs for my family members.

As I looked back and recalled the wonderful days in Bangkok, I was thankful for all the teachers from both Singapore and Thailand for making this unique and interesting learning journey a success. Thank you, teachers and fellow buddies in Thailand who had made this Goodwill Cultural Exchange Programme a memorable and fruitful one. I looked forward to meet my buddy Ding again in the near future.

Written by Titus Ong

Submission of reflections

Dear children,

I think all of us have a lot of thoughts and feelings to share after the wonderful trip to bangkok, you can email your reflections to chongfu.ug@gmail.com, this is compulsory for those who did not submit a hard copy on the last day of the trip. Enjoy your hols~

SlideShow

I had uploaded the slideshow. Do watch it by clicking the URL below,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD70pyOFh_Q

In closing, it is a successful and meaningful learning trip. I believe we had succesfully created a lot of opportunities for our students to interact, to play with each other, to develop common experiences and to establish lifelong bonds among themselves, as well as with the Thai people.

My very best wishes to all the participants and i wish you well as you continue you wonderful learning journey.

Mr Gan
19/11/09

HOME SWEET HOME...SINGAPORE

We had returned home this morning at 0050hrs Terminal 2.

Remember to keep these memories and continued to keep in touch...Have a great holidays!

Miscellaneous Photos from Day 2- 5

(uploaded the last batch of photos while we wait for the plane)

Assorted photos from Day 2- 5

Urgent Message from Bangkok

Dear Parents, please note that there is a flight delay for SQ979 and we are currently still waiting to board the plane. Our estimated time of arrival at Singapore is 12.35am, please check SQ website to confirm the terminal we are arriving at. Thanks and see everyone soon!

Reflection by Bogguss

I liked the trip as it was interesting and fun. I appreciated the Thai teachers and pupils welcoming us to Bangkok. I liked the rafting when I was rowing the boat. The parachute was fun when I was about to be pushed by the army personnel. I was scared and I held tightly to the rope. It was most memorable day. I also wanted to thank some of the aunties who helped us to cook all our meals. The food was delicious. I like interact with my buddy and my friends. When I met the buddy on the first day, I did some action for her to see so that she can understand what I was trying to say. I wanted to thank my buddy for letting me to sleep at their house. Their family are so kind and generous and let me do whatever I wanted. I like my buddy's uncle because he told me many jokes and taught me some of the Thai language.

Reflection by Ang Chun Yang

It was a fun and excited trip. I enjoyed it very much. We stayed 2 nights at Wangree resort, one night at home-stay and we even had the accomodation for a hotel for one night. the activities the thai prepared for us were great. We had water rafting, parachute jumping, playing at DreamWorld, going shopping and more! I did not have so much fun at Day 1 as we reached the resort. It was already night. We also got to know our Thai buddy that day. It was a day packed with adventous activities on day 2 The parachute jumping was fun. The only part that scared me a little was when I jumped because to me, it was like suiciding off a 5-storey building. The laser shooting made me so angry. I did not know how to shoot and aim. Suddenly, there was no more helium! The water rafting was the main activity for the day. We were rowing at a long river which took about one hour to get to the end. I had a great view at the river. It also trained our stamina and strength at rowing the boat. We also had a campfire right after dinner. I was in-charged of singing some campfire songs.

Reflection by Lee Yong Kang

I think this trip is very interesting. We played many exciting games with the Thai buddies at the DreamWorld. The most interesting game is the flying fox and the rafting. I wish I can go for exchange culture programme again.

Refection by Uwais

This trip is fantastic. This trip is my last camp with Chongfu. I have learnt a lot from this trip. I have made many Thai friends on this trip and also know my friends better. On day one, when we reached Thailand, we met our buddies and we went to the resort. When we reached the resort, we played ice-breaker with the Thai students. One day 2, we went to the army cadet academy and tried parachute jump, after that, we played laser gun. During the laser gun game, we had a lot of fun and carried a 'real' gun. On day 3, we went to DreamWorld. The Thai theme park is different from the Singapore's theme park as we had to pay for some of the rides. On day 4, we went shopping. My friend wanted to buy cards, we asked every security guards we saw but only four of them knew English. We almost got lost. I spent a lot of money there. I love this trip!!

Reflection by Dara and Andrea

Dara:
From this trip , I learnt about independence and also made a number of friends . I have also learnt about international friendship and the Thai culture , learnt about team co-operation and its results . Thailand maybe known as a dangerous country but to me , it was not as dangerous as I thought it was.

Andrea:
This trip has been great. I ate lots of good food and bought gifts for my family and friends. My buddy ( Yayie) has been great friend , she gave me a warm welcome , I stayed at her house for one night , her neighbour , Eve , came to her house for a sleep over party. We watched a movie and went to sleep. The next morning , breakfast was ready , there were hot dogs , beef , bread and jam , and some porridge. I have learnt alot of interesting things , I was the leader of the performance and was so scared that I might have a stage fright . I did alot of creative things (e.g making a fish out of pandan leaves.) I really gained alot of experience from the trip.

Day 4 - Rounding Up Our Trip Soon

Chongfu Uniformed Group Trip to Thailand - Day 4

Chongfu Uniformed Group Trip to Thailand - Day 4(2)

Day 4 see our students arnmed with their bags returning from home-stay. The students came to school with their buddies driven by the parents in wave...Smiling and waving at each other at the school entrance with the rest of their Singapore comrades, had proven an unforgettable experience staying with a Thai family.

0830hrs - School starts with a warm welcome by the School 2500 students led by the School Director, Mr Pramod. The elaborated backdrop of the stage, the rousing cheers and applauses warmed our hearts. A welcoming gesture of Thai traditional dances and music broke the barriers of our everlasting friendship. Next, come the exchange of our mementos between the School Director and Mr Gan, the Delegation Leader of Chongfu. Our students displayed their talents with dance and songs that melted the hearts of our Thai counterparts.

The school-based activities offered our students a great opportunity to deepen and broaden our knowledge of Thai educational activities. Our students had a great and learning fun time. After a sumptuous lunch, the Singapore students say byes to our Thai students with "emotional" waves and tears...for some...

We visited the Royal Thai Air Force Museum and the National Scout Association Of Thailand. A visit to MBK (Ma Boon Khrong Shopping Centre) provided our students an opportunity to do last minute shopping. By 1700hrs, we gathered and returned to Silver Gold Hotel. Upon arrival at the hotel, we were warmly greeted by carnival-like Farewell Party at the hotel open court. The School gave us a rousing Farewell BBQ Dinner Party with the host families and school management present. What a memorable night! As the night closed up, we bid farewell with a thank you cheers and hugs to the Thai School teachers and parents who had all made this programme a rousing success.

As I put up this updates, the time now is 0015hrs at Silver Gold Hotel...the corridors of the 14 rooms (twin-sharing) were quiet....and I believed most of them were alseep by now..

Before I signed off...I am heartened to say that we had come to the end of this programme..every part of the programmes and activities had been organised and planned for..had been executed for the benefits of our students....the experiences and the friendship we had with our new-found Thai friends will be in our memories for a long long time....and to our parents who had trusted us in good faith in making this possible...and to our dedicated teachers, Mr Gan Kok Onn, Miss Chiang Yu Rong and Mdm Joanne Chua for given me the opportunity and confidence to liven up to the success of this exchange programme.... Cheers...

Signing off.....reported by Desmond Foo (time: 0030hrs 18 Nov 2009..) we will be home this evening....

Day 3 - 16th November

Chongfu Uniformed Group Trip to Thailand - Day 3

Chongfu Uniformed Group Trip to Thailand - Day 3 (2)

We woke up with much anticipation as the day was going to be really eventful. After breakfast, we left Wangree resort with wonderful memories and friendships built over the past two nights. Before we left Nakon Nayok, the bus took us uphill to visit the dam. We could see that the dam was a very awesome structure as it was built so high up in the mountain, protecting the village from floods.

We were all looking forward to our next destination, the Dream World theme park! In the theme park, there were over 20 rides or activities we could choose from, and we had 3 hours of free time to explore the place. Some of our favourite places were the Haunted House and the Snow Town.

After all the fun at the theme park, we went to Rittiyawannalai School, where the parents of our Thai buddies were waiting for us. There was a simple yet formal ceremony for us to meet our 'parents' for the night. We were given flowers to present to the parents, and some of us followed the thai custom to kneel down before the elders to show our appreciation to the host. We were all relieved to see that our buddies' parents were really warm and full of smiles, treating us like their own children.

Day 2- 15th November

Chongfu Uniformed Group Trip to Thailand - Day 2

We had a good night sleep at the resort. After breakfast this morning, we went to the army academy for the adventure activities. All of us were very excited as we had a chance to do a parachute simulation there. Most of us also had a lot of fun at the laser shooting range. After lunch, it was time for water rafting! We took a bus to the local dam and started rafting downstream. It was a 5km journey and we were totally wet at the end of the activity. Nevertheless, we enjoyed ourselves and took our time to enjoy the scenery along the ride. After washing up, we had dinner and a sing-along session, we also had a short rehearsal for our performance before bedtime.

Day 1 - 14th November

Chongfu Uniformed Group Trip to Thailand - Day 1

At 4pm (Singapore time), we set off for Thailand with much enthusiasm. 2 hours later, we arrived at Bangkok new Suvarnabhumi airport. We had a great surprise once we reached the arrival hall, our thai buddies greeted us with warm smiles and a small souvenir. We took a bus to Wangree Resort, the trip was another 2 hours but we made use of the time to interact with our thai buddies. After dinner, we played some ice-breaking games with the thai pupils and had a lot of fun. We settled down at the comfortable resort with our buddies.

DEPARTURE THIS SATURDAY, 14 NOV AT TERMINAL 2 ROW 6

Please report to Changi Airport Terminal 2 Row 6 (SQ Group Check In Counter) at 1.00pm

Do remember to bring your International Passport.

Be in your smart Scout/or Brownies uniform.

See you there!

Day 5 Highlights - Farewell & Home Sweet Home

0800hrs - Breakfast @ Hotel

0900hrs - Check-Out & depart for Rittiyawannalai School

1000hrs - @Thai School (for facilities visit)

1200hrs - Farewell Lunch @ School

1400hrs - Depart school for Airport

1500hrs - Check-In

1839hrs - Depart Bangkok (SQ979 ETD 1840 ETA 2205hrs)

2230hrs - Return Singapore - Home Sweet Home

Day 4 Highlights - Official Visit To Rittiyawannalai School

0600-0800 - Breakfast @ Home-stay family

SIN students (to wear your school uniform and bring all belongings) to the Thai School

0800hrs - School Assembly & Welcome by Thai School

0900hrs - Cultural Performances

1000hrs - School & Classroom Activities

1200hrs - Lunch @ School

1300hrs - Depart school for Scout Association (next to National Stadium)

1430hrs - Shopping programme @ MBK

1730hrs - Meet-up for dinner

1900hrs - Return to hotel (for one-night stay)

2000hrs - Rest & Pack-Up