Tuesday 8 November 2011

Reflections for Day 1

Post your individual reflections about your experience today in the comments section. You do not need authorship to comment. :)

25 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Today, for lunch, there was an exotic vegetable which they called "pumpkin flower." It had a very nice taste, kind of like mushroom, but still special.

    Next, we visited the VSIP, in which we learnt more about the manufacturing products and Vietnam's partnership with Singapore. We also learnt other things there, such as how the business work, why business companies move to other countries to open up branch shops.

    After that, we went on to Unigen to find out more about how a Memory Card (RAM) are made. It has 12 layers of wire lines, each with their own different circuits. They also has machines for testing and verification whether the product is working or not. (Saw a black spider there)

    Shortly after, we went to a place to take a group photo with the HCMC GCP Trip banner.

    As soon as we finished taking the photo, we rushed back to the Lavender Hotel to check in and quickly head for dinner. Dinner was nice too. There were some Vietnamese food for appetizers and we were told how to actually eat them.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Firstly, it was my first flight experience from singapore changi airport and also using singapore airlines. The flight was awesome. I felt excited and nervous at start but i read the instruction manuel so i am more confident of doing the things that i want.

    Next, its the lunch that concerns me . It has a lot of dishes which include flowers and food we cannot guess what it is like the fish that looks like pork . And then, we had a tour around the VSIP; Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park. We had learnt about the partnership between Singapore and Vietnam better. I also took some photos regarding this tour.

    Lastly, its the dinner. There is the chilli that 'wiped' out everybody red. After the heat is gone, they will experienced cold. This is a very weird experience for me as i did not experience these until i ate the third time. Thus, i had an another fruitful experience.

    I felt today was a great start in Vietnam trip.

    Owen here.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Through the visit to the VSIP (Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park) i realised that the relationship between Singapore and Vietnam was actually important and strong. Through this visit, i learnt that Vietnam was starting to develop rapidly and was a important place for future developments. For lunch, the food we tried was different from the food we eat in Singapore. We tried Vietnamese cuisine which i felt was unique and nice. I also feel that today was interesting as we got to go to the factories and learn how some of the products are made using machines. When the worker from the factory explained, although it wasn’t very clear, Ms Teo had actually explained to us and thus, allow us to understand the process of making the products. The chilli we tried during dinner gave us a totally different experience from the usual chilli we eat in Singapore. Through today, i learnt a lot of things from Vietnam such as their culture and what they normally drink during meals, which is pretty much tea.

    ReplyDelete
  6. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  7. For lunch, we had some funny dishes with flowers in it, along with mushrooms and sweet potato leaves.

    After Lunch, we went to visit VSIP; Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park. We learned about Singapore's partnership with Vietnam, the reasons why companies travel from one country to another in search of new business.

    After VSIP, we were brought to Unigen where they manufacture RAM/Memory Cards. They explained how they made the cards by fusing 12 different layers of wire boards together. We saw many different Machinery used for the entire process.

    After that we took a group photo with the HCMC GCP Trip Banner in front of the VSIP building.

    For dinner, we went to have some Viet. food at a restaurant. The Chilli was "delicious". After we had filled our stomachs, we went back to the hotel.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I felt that it was a very interesting and intriguing experience so far because the feeling in Vietnam is total different from Singapore. I find that the way Vietnamese travel is different. Most of them would travel via motorcycles, and the minority of the country would travel by car. Whereas this is the exact opposite of Singapore.

    Also, it was difficult to communicate with most of the Vietnamese people as they could not understand what we meant. We also had difficulty comprehending what they were trying to say.

    For lunch, we went to some resort and ate a wonderful spread of Vietnamese crusine. I find that it was a unique experience to eat at such a place (the restaurant was on a floating platform) with few people living around there. The place was very beautiful and has a lot of green scenery, it includes a pond too!

    For dinner, we had an enjoyable feast! The chilli we tried for dinner was very strong. It took us at least 6 glasses of water to dilute away the spiciness of just 1 chilli! From there, I have learnt a lot about Vietnamese culture.

    Soon after dinner, we went back to Lavender Hotel. It was a great expericene for Day 1!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Today’s trip was a rewarding trip. When we went for lunch and dinner, I realized that the food in Vietnam was very similar to the food in the countries near Singapore. The soup that was served during lunch tasted extremely similar to the familiar seafood soup that is sold widely in Singapore’s food courts. However, there are still some notable differences, such as the “pumpkin flower” and the mushrooms.

    The VSIP visit was very enlightening too. It was interesting to see how a rubber plantation slowly be developed by the governments into an extremely successful industrial park. The models of the future VSIPs were also interesting. When we went to the factory, I found out many surprising things that I previously did not know. For example, I didn’t know that a RAM board had 12 layers, and the board still looked extremely thin.

    Overall, the day today was extremely enlightening.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Today, we had a vegetable called “pumpkin flower”, along with several other dishes for lunch. Then we went to the VSIP(Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park). I realised that the industrial park looks a lot like the concept of Singapore. Going to the VSIP made me understand more about relationships between Vietnam and Singapore. The presentation there also enabled me to know more about expansion of companies to other countries and its reason. We later went to Unigen where we learned to process of making the RAM cards. The dinner we ate allowed us to experience Vietnamese cuisine which is totally different from the food we usually eat in Singapore. The dishes included various kueh and a bowl of noodles. Seeing the traffic and living conditions on the road on our way to the hotel also made me feel how fortunate I am living in Singapore. Nevertheless, today’s experience in Ho Chin Min City is still very great.

    ReplyDelete
  11. On the first day, I was exposed to many new experiences like eating the ‘flower’ vegetable and the very memorable spicy dish. Although the dish looks like a salad, you couldn’t underestimate its spiciness, just like the saying does “don’t judge a book by its cover”.

    The VSIP was an interesting and wonderful experience for me. The Singapore government has done a lot to maintain a good relationship with its neighbour Vietnam by building an Industrial Park. The industrial park is a place where jobs, accommodation, necessities and fun could be found. We also went to Unigen where I further understood how some of the computer chips are produced through the clear explanations of Ms Teo and the worker there.

    Lastly, the traffic conditions in Vietnam was an eye-opening sight for me as on the road, I felt that we were the only group that was traveling in a bus, most of the residents were moving around in bicycles and motorcycles with a minority in cars.

    I’m looking forward to the school visit tomorrow to look at how schools in Vietnam operate and the guided tour of the retail developments in Vietnam.

    Gladys

    ReplyDelete
  12. At VSIP, I learned about why the park was built. It was because companies needed to expand, and the since Vietnam has a large population of 90m and a lot of land, it can provide human resources and land resources for companies to thrive. This also helps Vietnam as the many companies that come to Vietnam to build factories will need a lot of human resources, so they will most likely hire local Vietnamese to work for them, providing job opportunities for the local Vietnamese, improving their standard of living.

    We also visited the company called ‘Unigen’, and it produces RAMs. I went through the process of the building of each and every RAM, starting from the fusing of the different layers to form a single sheet. It is then fused to multiple memory things then the connections between the layers are tested. It is then tested on the other side, then sent for programming.

    On the whole, I have learnt a lot about the VSIP, Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park, about why it was built in the first place, and how it has thrived over the years. I have also learnt about a real world industrial factory.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Vietnam has a huge variety of food that we do not usually eat back in Singapore. Even though there are differences between Singapore and Vietnam, there is a strong bonding between these two countries. I learnt how the RAM chips were made when we visited the factories. The road is quite tough to cross as we have to walk very slowly in groups. Motorcyclists usually squirm in between us and sometimes, I don't know when they are going to stop for us. It feels creepy as people like to smoke, and for one instance, an elderly woman lay on her portable chair, smoking and looking at us. Lunch was awesome as I can taste Vietnamese food. The Pumpkin flower tasted delicious and not what i expected it to be. Food tasted delicious, ate many servings of it. The factory was surprisingly clean and neat, we were only allowed to stay at the destinated walking area. On the road, I felt quite weird as we were among the only few in a bus whereas majority of the road are filled with motorcycles.

    ReplyDelete
  14. 8 November 2011 ,Tuesday

    Ryan Yeo S102 Group 1 Day 1 Reflection:

    After a delayed flight to Saigon, we head for lunch, there was a great, and interesting dish, which they called “ Pumpkin Flower “ it had a special taste, quite like a normal vegetable but its has a slight tingle to the food. They introduce another dish too ( name has been forgotten ) but it wasn’t touched by anyone, being one of the first to try it, it had a seaweed like taste after adding it with the sauce that was given to go with it, Salty at first, but slowly moved to bitter taste at the end, definitely a special dish indeed.

    After our lovely lunch we took off heading towards (VSIP) Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park, where there gave us a talk at some conference room, there introduced to us the different ways Vietnam and Singapore are working together, helping each other grow.
    They even talked to us about the way companies work and plan strategies to expand their companies and make more branches in stable countries to increase their stability of the companies also to branch out more shops everywhere around the world. Interesting to know the insides of what companies do!

    Then, we went to visit a Unigen branch, getting to look at how the components of the computer hard disk was made, how 12 layers of wiring a melted together into one, then going through a checking machine to check each sides of the wires are done right, it is then put into a computer and tested for working condition...

    When our tour through Unigen ended we were taken to the (VSIP) entrance to take a group photo with the SST Banner with us.

    After our long day, we rushed back to our hotel, Lavender Hotel to get our stuff kept, we then went out to a nearby restaurant to have a quick lunch before heading our debrief, we had even more interesting food during dinner we were taught how to eat weird dishes that were never seen in Singapore and introduce to the different seafood and sauces for each dish, sadly I am allergic to seafood therefore I can’t describe to you how it tasted like, but it definitely had great presentation, I can give you that.

    After our dinner, we had our debrief in the restaurant as the conference room where the debrief was to be taken place was occupied by others, so after our debrief, we head back to the Lavender Hotel to have our rest for the next day of fun!

    Also not to forget about the first time we crossed roads in Vietnam, it wasn’t that bad, just that we had to keep a look out for cars at all times and keep our personal belongings safe, from unknown pick-pockets just to be safe.

    In the end, I would give todays trip a rating of 7/10 and hope that the next day would be even better!

    ReplyDelete
  15. The start to the day was quite a disappointment. We were stuck on the ground for about one hour, and then finally took off. The breakfast on the plane was good, I had scrambled eggs with hash brown. Lunch was still okay, we had rice with an exotic dish (pumpkin flowers), seaweed soup, and spare ribs. For dinner, we had seafood. I did not eat much, because I dislike seafood. I ate the main course, noodles with beef (I guess), and it was good. The whole trip so far was pretty good. My groupmates are friendly, the flight here was pretty smooth. Overall, things went smoothly.

    ReplyDelete
  16. I think that the experience of vietnam is fun. Although there is a bumpy start at first, but the rest of the trip is relatively fun. When we first landed, we went for a boring trip to a resort to have lunch. Next, we went to VSIP and have a glimpse at a joint government manage industrial. It shows the fruit of labour made by government to improve the life of locals. Also it is a rare opportunity for us students to be able to enter a industrial park and have a glimpse of it. Next, we went to a chip manufacturer and have a extremely rare opportunity to see how it is made. Humans and machine alike are needed to make a perfect chip. Next we went to the hotel, to have dinner. It is the best experience for the whole of day. The trip to our destination is not fruitless, we are able to see the traffic and the life of people in Ho Chi Ming City, which in my opinion is horrible. Of course we are able to see sights that we are not able to in Singapore, such as a herd of cows, overhanging wire and underdeveloped houses. The food there are also different, most taste good, but nothing beats the taste of home-cooked food, overall the trip is fun.

    ReplyDelete
  17. From the visit to VSIP I have learned how some some of the products they have there are manufactured using many different machines, and i also have understood the importance of the relationship between vietnam and Singapore and how they help each other, for example Singapore is able to provide job opportunities to local Vietnamese. I really like the food we had during lunch as it was a completely new experience for me, as the food there was nothing like the kind we had back in singapore. Among everything that we did i liked the part of the day when we had dinner, as the food was really good, and all of us enjoyed ourselves. I love the chilli there as it is a lot spicier than those that can be found in Singapore. After today i have learnt quite a few things about the practices of Vietnamese for example their culture and i have heard a lot more vietnamese words though i do not understand them.

    ReplyDelete
  18. When we first arrived in Ho Chi Minh, I was shocked by the province in Saigon. It was all mudded with fallen bricks. There were people smoking and all.

    During lunch, I realised that I was not used to the kind of food (e.g pumpkin flower). Not being a very adventurous person, I didnt want to try initially. Afterwards, I decided to give it a try and it actually tasted quite good.

    Following that, we went to VSIP (Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park). There, we learn some Geographic and Historical information about Vietnam. We were also able to apply some of our I&E knowledge (like the marketing strategy).

    Next, we went to the electric components manufacture line. We then learn how RAM is made and tested for quality. Though not the most interesting topic, we did learn a thing or 2 about how RAM is made.

    During the meal at night, I once again tastes “different food” that tasted relatively different. It was also quite nice though. I also realised that the people in Vietnam like to serve a type of tea that taste slightly bitter.

    I enjoyed today (except the flying part)

    :D

    ReplyDelete
  19. Today was a great day. At the first sight of vietnam, I thought that I was still in Singapore. The roofs of the buildings looked the same, the infrastructure of the buildings looked modernized like that of Singapore. And the road was good. But moving into the city gave me the true taste of Vietnam. There was a large lake, and in between districts there were pools of water with a layer of moss over the top and a sampan in the water. The road was hectic. There were no traffic lights at the junction, even if there is one, it was very hard to spot. When the traffic actually stopped, a sea of motorcycles could be seen. The motorcycles were more like scooters, cars were very few. A few motorcycle shops could be seen. Most of the roadside shops were traditional family-owned food shops.

    The vietnamese food was very interesting and different from what we have in Singapore. Flowers, sweet-potato leaves, a nasty chilli, and a whole host of seafood. From the trip to the VSIP, we learned that Vietnam exports rice, crude oil and rubber. Vietnam also produces sports shoes. We also learned of the friendship between Singapore and Vietnam.

    At the electronics manufacturing company, we learned how RAM chips are made. It is a simple process, PCB, Component, Heat and Test. We learned.

    I am looking forward to tomorrow's school visit to learn more about Vietnam.

    ReplyDelete
  20. When I first saw Vietnam after leaving the airport, I thought Vietnam was kinda like Singapore in the sense that it was somewhat urbanised. I was even more amazed when I saw where we were eating lunch. The bus was like 'in the middle of nowhere' and there was a restaurant 'in the middle of nowhere'! Lunch was pretty enjoyable as I first tasted Vietnamese 'green tea' which looked like tea but tasted like plain water.

    After lunch, the visit to VSIP was a little too educational. At first, we were given a talk about how VSIP came to be, why it was started and why it was somewhat necessary to start VSIP. After the talk, we set off to visit a electronics component factory. There was a lot of explaining about the different components of a RAM module. There was too much information and I did not manage to catch all the information that was explained to us. We had a group photo taken at the main building of VSIP before leaving for Lavender Hotel.

    Dinner was very eventful, with nearly everyone on my side of the table eating the extremely spicy chili. The trip has been amazing so far and I look forward to tomorrow. C=

    ReplyDelete
  21. Today, after we boarded our flight at 9.40am, we had to wait at the taxiway of Changi Airport as there was heavy traffic, and thus the time that we were supposed to take off was delayed. After that, when we arrived at HCMC at around 12 noon (Vietnam time), we went to eat lunch at a resort. This was an eye-opening experience for me as I have not tried Vietnamese cuisine before. There were a lot of vegetable dishes, along with a meat dish and a bowl of soup. There was a dish with pumpkin flowers in it, which I found interesting as I had never tried pumpkin flowers before. It was served together with a few cut up mushrooms and tasted delicious.

    After that, we went to the VSIP, otherwise known as the Vietnam Singapore Industrial Park to get an idea about the strong collaboration between Singapore and Vietnam in order to boost each others’ economies by helping on another. Also, we learnt about the future development and expansion of VSIP, and reasons why investors were drawn to Vietnam. There were a few familiar Singapore brands/companies which had factories in the park.

    We also paid a visit to Unigen Vietnam, and were given a tour through the process of creating its products.

    After our visit to the VSIP, we went to our hotel and put down our luggages, before meeting at 7pm at the lobby. Then, we went to eat dinner, where there was a very spicy chilli (according to people who tried it), which apparently, had a numbing effect and most could feel a rising flush in their cheeks.

    Today was fun and exciting, yet enriching at the same time. :)

    ReplyDelete
  22. First, we went to the airport, where we assembled, took our first group picture and bid goodbye to our parents. After that, we wandered around for one hour, looking at stuff we couldn't buy. After that, we took off on the plane, but not after an hour delay. After that, we arrived at Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City and collected our luggage.After that, we had lunch, eating dishes that I have never seen or heard of before. We actually had fish that was as fat as pork, and we also had this food called "pumpkin flower" that actually tasted quite interesting. There were also vegetables that were quite dry and soup. Then we went to the Vietnam-Singapore Industrial Park, and we learnt about its history and expansion in other Vietnamese cities, such as Hanoi. After that we went to the hotel to put down our stuff, then went for dinner.

    ReplyDelete
  23. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  24. Today’s experience was amazing and eye-opening as the conditions in Vietnam and Singapore are very different and unique.

    While taking the bus,I realized that the majority of the vehicles are motorcycles and there are very little cars probably because its very affordable .There are so many motorcyclists that some roads are divided into 2,one is for motorcycles and the other dedicated for other vehicles.Some motorcyclist are so impatient that they use pavement, such acts are very dangerous compromising the safety of the people.
     
    Next we went to the Singapore Vietnam Industrial Park and learnt the importance of this Industrial park.It is for creates a relationship between Singapore and Vietnam through working together in business.With the industrial park,it also creates jobs for the locals.This enables both Singapore and Vietnam companies to benefit as Singapore can earn money from the industrial park and Vietnam can be more developed too.

    I learnt more about the Vietnamese culture and their standard of living after this day.

    ReplyDelete
  25. I slept for most of the journey on the flight, the food there was also one of the worst I had ever tasted. After touching down, I was still very very tired, so I tried to sleep whenever I can, so during the bus journey, I slept yet again.

    I was hesitant at first to try the food for lunch as I don’t like to eat food that I have never tasted before especially a flower. However, I was surprised at the taste the flower gave me, it tasted just like a vegetable that I had eaten before. We then visited the VSIP, I felt that the VSIP shows how much we have improved from World War II. Building friendships etc.

    During dinner, I tasted my first ever chili after seeing Isaac eat a whole spoonful of it. I was amazed at how Isaac did not call for help but instead try to solve it on his own. He’s a real man.

    ReplyDelete