Sections: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3
Week 1: 8-11 Aug | 12 Aug | 13 Aug | 14 Aug
It has been a tiring 4 days since we have arrived at Hangzhou. The 4 days have passed by quickly as we have programmes set for us from morning till night. On the first day we arrived, we immediately checked into the Hotel Lily after meeting Mr. Xue Fei and Shi Yan from Zhejiang University at the Hangzhou International Airport.
5 of us (excluding myself) and Prof Chong (taken at the airport)
The Departure Hall at Hangzhou International Airport – no one at all...
On the 2nd day, we were given a tour around Zi Jin Gang, Zhejiang’s newest school campus for undergraduates. Future SUTD students will be staying there for their exchange programme. It was really an amazing view from the top of the administrative building (which is the tallest building). You could see the views of the north, south, east and west directions from the building.
Following that, we were treated to a grand lunch by Prof. Yin at a nearby hotel restaurant. The food was really good there! It’s a totally different cuisine from what I had in Boston just a few days ago – more salty and oily. We were then introduced to the students from Zhejiang University that we will be working with at the Yu Quan campus (where we would be working at). They were all really friendly and approachable.
We were then separated into our different groups, namely Amos in group 1, Dexter and Sharon in group 2, Edward and Olivia in group 3, and I in group 4. We then proceeded to meet in our groups before moving off to dinner with Keng Hua. We went to look around at the nearby supermarkets before ending up at a café near the stadium. We tried ‘smelly’ tofu and it was really stinky. It stayed in our mouths and we had some difficulty trying to remove it!
A top view of Zi Jing Gang’s Yue Ya Wan from the Admin Building
Group Photo taken at Nan Hua Garden in Zi Jin Gang campus
The 3rd day was full of lectures and lessons. The first one in the morning was a lecture on Digital Design and Manufacture and the second one in the afternoon was about Computer-aided design using Rhino. Rhino was really fun and very different from Solidworks as it allows the user to create more of freeform shapes in 3 different axes. A really cool tool for the Industrial Designers.
They also introduced Spaceclaim, which is a software that engineers and designers use to design their products nowadays. Then, there was also a night lecture about design methods and modeling methods. It was really fun and interesting as we practised our sketching and learnt the basics about different perspectives with different number of vanishing points.
Olivia intently sketching the mouse of a computer
Prof Chong already knows how to sketch!
On the 4th day, we visited Hangzhou Heli Electronics Co Ltd which is the company that we will work closely with for the designing of our new toy product. Prof Yin signed an official agreement with them after giving a lecture about Design Thinking for Products. The lecture was really engaging as Prof Yin used a lot of examples to showcase his points.
It was then followed by a tour around the factory which was an eye-opener. The factory produces core mechanisms of toys, usually the moving parts to give you an animated moving toy. We then returned to Yu Quan to start on the brainstorming of initial ideas for our first toy designs.
The president of Hangzhou Heli Electronics and Prof Yin sign an agreement
Group Photo taken outside the factory
The different moving cores of the toys that He Li makes...
Friday Friday, gonna brainstorm on FRIDAY~~
We are looking forward to the weekend, weekend...
Friday Friday, gonna 外卖 on FRIDAY~~
We are looking forward to the weekend, weekend...
Yeah right...we are still working during the weekends. <3
Back to topic, we are indeed delighted to be working with our Chinese counterparts. They have plenty of wonderful ideas and methodologies that we can learn from.
Brainstorming in progress
For our lunch, we had takeaways. :) This is our first time having takeaways in China. After having a long discussion, we were pleased to see our food, and bubble tea. At night we had another round of rhino lessons.
Tao Ye giving the rhino lecture and we are either listening attentively or lost in our duck world.
Our cute duck in progress
After the lesson, we had a short game of table-tennis with our teammates. It was a long and tiring day.
Up next (tomorrow) will be a visit to Hu Xue Yan’s residence. Hopefully we can get some inspirations for our designs. Finally a day of fun and relaxation! I think.
The day has finally arrived, our very first Rest Day (not really).
As the old saying goes, “the early bird catches the best worm” so we
rushed through our breakfast hoping to head out as soon as possible.
Keng Hua was eating supeeeeerrrr slowly...
Destination 1: Guo Zhuang
We started our trip with a visit to Guo Zhuang (Hangzhou Mr Guo’s Villa). Guo Zhuang is the best existing traditional private residence in Hangzhou. We were amazed by its tranquil environment, well-preserved buildings and well-thought landscaping layout.
Keng Hua’s busy explaining the architecture behind Guo Zhuang.
The history of Guo Zhuang.
We spotted a wild duck! |
We spotted more wild ducks! |
And... Mozzies!
Keng Hua and our awesome tour guide for the day, Xiao Ling.
Water, the main feature of Guo Zhuang.
Lake
Fishes
It was a really hot and sunny day, we could hardly open our eyes! (Olivia being the exception)
Edward’s camera on self timer. Trying to snap a view of the scenery in the perspective of a huge lotus leaf.
What a scenic scenery (except for Edward’s head)
Our trusty driver had some conflicts with the Traffic Police as he waited for our arrival.
Destination 2: Hu Xue Yan Gu Ju
Hu Xue Yan was a successful merchant who set up a Chinese medical hall (Hu Qing Yu Tang) in 1874. His motto of avoiding “deception” and “benevolent enterprise” gained him fame in the medical field.
A snippet of Hu Xue Yan Gu Ju.
The Legendary “Thousand Hand GuanYin”
Yong Cheng: “I’m lov’in it”; Edward: “Yeah”
“The Vitruvian Man”
We bought some souvenirs back for our loved ones!
Destination 3: Restaurant
After an exhaustive walk through two enormous villas, we finally rested our sore legs over a scrumptious lunch in a restaurant.
A Local Hangzhou Delicacy
While savouring our mouth-watering dishes, streaks of lighting were seen and the roaring of thunder was heard. Next came one of the heaviest rains we have seen.
Our driver staring blankly into the pouring rain.
|
Stallholders and passers-by helped to open up the
clogged up drainage. |
Stallholders are frantically sweeping drainage water
out of their shops. |
A motorcyclist makes his way through the flooded
streets. |
Destination 4: He Fang Jie
Yes! The rain had finally subsided. We loaded our bags into the van and headed towards He Fang Jie. We almost spent the entire late afternoon there as we satisfied our eyes with wide arrays of fruits, candies, performances, gadgets and toys. Here are some of our findings:
A glass smith in action!
Intricate toys made from leaves.
Very cheap 3D Modelling puzzles! Haha!
Interestingly, we’ve found edible pumpkins with wordings “naturally” imprinted on them.
Wu Da Lang selling his biscuits.
A boy looking intently at his beautifully crafted malt candy
(麦芽糖). |
Sharon couldn’t resist the cuteness and bought one
too. |
Destination 5, Final Destination: Xi Hu (West Lake)
After a relatively thorough exploration of He Fang Jie, our stomach pangs for more tasty food. We headed to a crowded foodcourt where coupons were used to purchase the food items there. Despite all the clamour and bustle within the foodcourt, we could but would not resist the temptations of Hangzhou’s delicacies.
Soft chicken feet dipped with tangy special sauce.
Cute little dumplings stuffed with fresh prawns and
vegetables. |
An appetising plate of stir-fried vermicelli.
|
As the sky grew dark, bats started to flock around West Lake (yes, they are bats not birds) while people waited around the edge of the walking platform for the Musical Fountain to start.
The lit portion of the West Lake marks the boundaries of the Musial Fountain.
After a 15-minutes wait, the red warning lights surrounding the boundaries of the Musical Fountain were lit up, notifying any passing boats. Following that, the long-awaited moment came. The Musical Fountain ended our day with a spectacular display of collaboration between modern technology and nature!
A magnificent sight of the Musical Fountain.
Another magnificent sight of the Musical Fountain. :)
Today I don't feel like doing anything.. (naturally cos its a Sunday..)
Still, here we are.
At our discussion board, in our 头脑风暴 chamber.
Some, still enjoyed their day thoroughly.
Intensive vray rendering lesson conducted by WuJiang
(cool and smart dude, deep in thoughts, spot him!)
Some choose to take a breather with a game of pingpong!
Some are pro.
Others not so.
Thoroughly involved with sensors for our night lesson.
Take-away-of-the-day: (read it good and register it in your head!)
How a touch of imagination can make you more intelligent.
An uncanny resemblance.
Picture of the day: "How's my linguine?"
(the amazing product of our combined rendering efforts)