Today, we visited the National Palace Museum, Sung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, Gold Ecological Park and lastly Jiufen Old Street.
Firstly, we kicked start the day by visiting the National Palace Museum. During this trip, we were led by a tour guide from the National Palace Museum, who introduced to us the different treasures of the various dynasties. Although there was a slight argument between Anne, the local tour guide and the in-house tour guide, who did not want to show us the most popular treasure in the museum, I still think that this trip was worthwhile overall. Anne took on the role of that tour guide and introduced to us the jadeite cabbage of Qing dynasty. It was indeed an eye opening experience as the cabbage was indeed a beauty and we had to queue for a long time just to have a glance of it. Moreover, I feel thankful towards Anne, who insisted we had to see it physically to learn and absorb better, instead of only listening to the tour guide who only wanted to use a picture of it to explain to us. Thereafter, I began to appreciate the Chinese art and culture.
Next, we proceeded to Sung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines nearby. We learnt about the culture of aborigines, their living conditions, their practices as well as their weapons and clothes. It was really interesting as many of us had little knowledge of aborigines before this trip. I was shocked too, when the in-house tour guide told us that aborigines used to use needles and sharp equipments to tattoo their face and body. According to the aborigines in the past, if they could withstand the pain and pull through the ordeal, it meant they were 'courageous and brave'. But if they could not and unfortunately passed away in the process, it was god's fate for them and it was too bad for them that they were 'not brave enough'. Personally I feel this is too sadistic and I am glad that this is no longer practised today. I have to acknowledge that this is really an enriching trip to the museum.
Afterwards, we proceeded to the Gold Ecological Park. It was a long journey there though. The bus driver took great pains to manoeuvre through curved, uphill and steep roads just to bring us there as it is located high on a mountain.
But before visiting the exhibitions, we had lunch first. Our lunch was a bento set specially prepared for us. It was meant for us to experience the life of gold miners, who usually brought bento sets for lunch. I have to admit, the bento set was very scrumptious and the food tasted delicious too! We also got to bring home the tins and cloth.
Personally, I feel that the most memorable parts of this Gold Ecological Park is the tunnel walking experience and the miniature gold mining DIY experience. Although the tunnel was dark with some lights and it was merely a pathway through the darkness, it left a deep impression on me. I could empathise with the gold miners who had to work daily from dawn to dusk in total darkness, just to mine for gold. They had to do hard labour in dire conditions while many of us could enjoy our lives. This taught me to appreciate the little things in life. The very fact that we could see daylight might be a minor thing, but it is certainly something to be thankful for.
The miniature gold mining DIY experience was quite cool to me as I felt it was fun searching for gold particles. The instructors taught us how to sieve through the tiny rocks and stones to find those gold particles and I was quite glad that I managed to get some gold particles. They allow us to empty the contents into a mini cork bottle to bring them home as souvenir too.
But before visiting the exhibitions, we had lunch first. Our lunch was a bento set specially prepared for us. It was meant for us to experience the life of gold miners, who usually brought bento sets for lunch. I have to admit, the bento set was very scrumptious and the food tasted delicious too! We also got to bring home the tins and cloth.
Personally, I feel that the most memorable parts of this Gold Ecological Park is the tunnel walking experience and the miniature gold mining DIY experience. Although the tunnel was dark with some lights and it was merely a pathway through the darkness, it left a deep impression on me. I could empathise with the gold miners who had to work daily from dawn to dusk in total darkness, just to mine for gold. They had to do hard labour in dire conditions while many of us could enjoy our lives. This taught me to appreciate the little things in life. The very fact that we could see daylight might be a minor thing, but it is certainly something to be thankful for.
The miniature gold mining DIY experience was quite cool to me as I felt it was fun searching for gold particles. The instructors taught us how to sieve through the tiny rocks and stones to find those gold particles and I was quite glad that I managed to get some gold particles. They allow us to empty the contents into a mini cork bottle to bring them home as souvenir too.
Lastly, we visited Jiufen Old Street which was just around the corner. It was bustling with tourists trying to get the best buys. We were fascinated by the variety of items sold there as most of the things sold are not common in Singapore, and yes, my group took a long time to shop for items and caused the teachers to be quite unhappy. It was quite inconsiderate and selfish of us. We should not have only thought about ourselves but instead think of the whole group. It would be rather unfair for the other groups who had to wait for us. This is one part my group should take note of next time.
By Nicolette Yip, edited by Jacelyn Loh and Ng Kwok Wing
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