Some of us awoke early for what would be a walk to a Pagoda with Fang Shen. Being near the affected region, the Pagoda was badly hit by the quake and it was far from picturesque.
At times, the happy faces at You Zha Primary School blinded us from the destitution that was meandering behind those very smiles. The human emotions can choose to conceal the facts but these inanimate objects truly revealed the real story behind the episode. The power of the mind startles me sometimes, but I suppose it is for the better because it is much better to anticipate a fresh beginning rather than to brood over a stale past. Even so, the sight humanized many of us who had slightly forgotten the purpose of our trip; we were suddenly hit by the reality of the devastation.
After our morning walk, we headed back to the Shan Zhuang for lunch before we made our way to the old vicinity of Tong Ji Zhong Xue and the 512 bridge. Unlike most daytrips, which usually comprised of visits to pretty sights and scenery, our tour this time focused on the devastation of the earthquake. Little Flower narrated to us how the army would make a human bridge to enable those affected to cross to the other side where it wasn't. It sounded rather gory ... :x
But it was an infinite eye-opener which taught us to appreciate the fact that Singapore is in a quake-free zone (since we are located so near to the equator). Ahh, and yet, it is on such an occasion that we applaud those who have stayed strong and unwavering despite the tremors. For buildings can sometimes be like human beings, unyielding to nature's forces. This particular part of the school (built by the French) emerged from the disaster, unharmed... earning itself the name of "Zui Niu" (which means Super Strong!) It serves as a reminder to us Sichuan Sweethearts to remain steadfast in spite of everything and that even in something as unromantic as plastered walls and shattered window panes (due to the pressure), there can be lessons learnt from them as well.
We headed off to the city of Sichuan for our dinner. This was going to be our last night in Sichuan, and we made full use of it by admiring the night view of Sichuan one last time.Hosted by our Sichuan counterparts, we had a sumptuous spread of steamboat slurps. Alvin was foolish enough to challenge Kerui into a drinking game in which they competed to see who could gulp down more cups of beer. He lost. There was so much leftovers at Kerui's table, so they played a bit of Zhong Ji Mi Ma, and Zack got the brunt of it. Mwahahah! Too bad Ah Gong wasn't at that table; it would have been more fun watching him consume ALL the leftovers (until he pukes out everything. >:PP) without even having to play the game.
Being our final night in Sichuan, we checked in to a 4-star hotel, equipped with a seated toilet bowl - heaven on this part of the earth!!! - and a bathtub.
Before we bade our final good nights, it was also the revelation of our Angels. Jinnie thought of this mind-game of making us guess who our Angels were, and hilarity ensued when a good part of my Sichuan Sweethearts deemed Kerui as their Angel. :S First, it was Jinnie, then it was WenQing, and then, it was Joyce, followed by Shan Li. Lol!
After all the Angel-Mortal drama (which was rather funny) we called it a night. It was a free-and-easy night, with no curfews, no lights out, and some adventurous went bingeing and P-A-R-T-Y-I-N-G!!!
Till the next update!!!
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