Today, I felt very tired because I had only 5 hours and 30 minutes of sleep, when I did reflections for yesterday until about 12.30am and woke at 6am. We had breakfast at 6.30. The breakfast had less variety and honestly, I disliked some of the food there, such as broccoli and the milk was very bland. In the end, I only ate bread with ham, broccoli and chicken.
After breakfast, we headed for the National Palace Museum. Sadly, we could not take pictures inside the museum and we could only look at them, without bringing back any pictures for memories... Except for the outside view of it:
We saw many ancient artifacts (from China in the past), such as plates, copper bowls weapons and calligraphy etc. It was a pity as we saw the Jadeite Cabbage and the Meat-shaped stone and could not take pictures of it, because it was an eye-catching and priceless treasure. However, I learnt many interesting facts about the ornaments, for example, what the wine bottles and teapots were carved for and also, what materials they were made of. Most of them were made of copper as it was relatively easy to carve on and many teapots and wine bottles had shapes of dragons carved on them, as it is known that in the past, many people loved the dragon as it brought prosperity and showed majesty. Also, there were words carved on them, in the ancient Chinese words called 甲骨文. The porcelain ornaments were mostly plates, teapots and wine bottles, which were white in colour. Out of all the ornaments I saw at the museum, I was fascinated with the Jadeite Cabbage and the Meat-shaped stone. These precious ornaments were brought into Taiwan by Chiang Kai Shek when he escaped from China with the Kuomintang Party, after their loss to the Chinese Communist Party in the Chinese Civil War. China was very angry with Taiwan for not returning what belonged to them. These two ornaments looked really real and also, they were made of jade, which made them priceless treasures, which explains why China had so desperately wanted to retrieve them from Taiwan. The Meat-shaped stone had different layers and it was somewhat called 'braised pork' by the people there. I think that the brown layer at the top of the stone made it look like a braised pork, and the meat looked soft, even though the ornament itself was hard. The Jadeite Cabbage was made of green jade, however, not the entire jade was green and therefore, there were some white patches in the Jadeite Cabbage. There were also a katydid and a locus camouflaged on the Jadeite Cabbage, which depicts that the Jadeite Cabbage was so real that even insects flew to them. They attracted the attention of many Chinese people, who looked it as as though they were theirs but they could not get hold of it... HAHA!
Next, we went to Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines. The tour guide, Miss Zhang (张老师), spoke so softly and quickly that I could not catch what she was saying and also, did not have the chance to ask questions. We learnt the culture and lifestyle of the different tribal groups in Taiwan, such as their weapons, costumes and crockery. Most of their appliances that they use were man-made, such as using clay and rope to make weapons, or use clay to mould objects such as pots. We also watched a video about how a tribal member of the past 'evolved' to a modern citizen, such as how cloth was weaved in the past to now, how cloth can be made from machines. We were very tired and so, we could not understand or listen to what the tour guide was saying throughout the visit... However, we learnt that even without modern day technology, we can still survive with these skills from the Chinese ancestors. We must not depend or rely on these machinery and equipment too much and must learn some manual skills to make or operate something.
I thought that the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines was the last destination, but according to the itenary, we still had to go to Shih-fen Old Street! Luckily for us, we were able to sleep before reaching Shih-fen Old Street, which took about 1 hour! :D I SLEPT SO WELL!! However, due to the fact that one of the CID tasks that groups were supposed to complete was to take a photo of someone sleeping with their mouth open, AND I GOT CAUGHT!! :(
Fortunately, the trip to Shih-fen Old Street was quite enjoyable whereby we let lanterns into the air, with our wishes written on it. It was a fun-filled experience because I did not release such lanterns before in Singapore, whereby it is prohibited by law. The lantern had a fire burning at the 'foot' of the lantern, releasing hot air into the lantern which carries it up into the sky, hoping that the gods above can see our wishes and make them come true.
We also went shopping for souvenirs and food, whereby I tried a peanut ice cream! It was delicious! But it made me extremely thirsty despite the cold ice cream... Also, there were shopkeepers basically shouting to promote their products, which made the street lively. Unlike Orchard Road in Singapore, whereby we only hear the customers voices because all the shopkeepers do is just to give out brochures and flyers! I feel that Singaporeans must try to be more outspoken, and maybe proactive...
We had a sumptuous dinner which made us feel recharged after another 1 hour journey back to Taipei with traffic jams, which delayed us for about 10 minutes. We sat in our OELP groups again and together with my room mate, Jing Xue, we sat with our group mates (from Group 2) and Group 1, together with teachers.
After that, we went back to our hotel, whereby we did our reflections and also, practiced our performance for tomorrow's educational exchange with Jianguo High School. We also took a photograph with the tour guide and the bus driver with another group (the bittersweet), which was one of the tasks needed to be completed for CID.
It was another tiring day but I felt that I could get a taste of what Taiwan is like... And here are my reflections:
I feel that I have learnt that we need to treasure and know our traditions well. Traditions and cultures tell us about the way of life people live, such as the food they eat, the houses they live in, how they work and how they move about (stay in the same place or move around like nomads). Without traditions in the past, people might be living different today and there would be no meaning of living today, because what is the point of following a modern way of life without knowing what our ancestors have left for us? For example, farming may be looked down upon because it requires hard work and the profit is very little. But what if all u have now was just land with soil? Without money and technology? Without traditions, there would be no 'starting point' for the development of technology, which we use daily...
We have to learn and cherish our traditions because they may help us to pull through difficulties in harsh conditions, just like how people in the past had gone through with the traditional ways when they were much poorer back then. Traditions have many benefits, that's why countries have museums to preserve them, and we must learn to cherish them...
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