2)         What is ONE similarity between Singapore culture and Taiwanese culture?

3)         What is the most interesting thing you have learnt from Music 4 Fun?

2. One similarity is that we both treasure our passion for food and their respect for the founding fathers as seen from the memorial hall.

3. The most interesting thing that I learned is the inner workings of the sound board in pianos which I never knew about before which was an interesting experience.

Ryan:
*Day 2*

1. Today we went to the Chiang Kai-Shek memorial hall.  What fascinated me was the great effort and detail put into making the memorial hall (eg. 89 steps = 89 y/o). It showed that the Taiwanese were really grateful for the great things he has done for the country. 

2. Both Singapore and Taiwanese culture have been influenced by many of other origins as both were a melting pot for various cultures due to colonial powers.  This let's both Taiwan and Singapore have their own unique blend of flavours and cultures,  allowing for a great diversity.  

3. The most interesting thing I learnt in the Music 4 Fun programme was seeing the process of how pianos we're made.  It showed the tedious process from tuning to painting of the keys and explained why a piano was so expensive.  It was an enriching behind the scenes experience for me and made me more aware of the dedication and effort put into making the instruments in our band.

Ximending was love! It was where I found my xiaogua never going to forget that place :). But i still have regrets because i still want to buy a few more items from there :').

(it was going good until that metal thing fell hehe, but cool bah)

Through visiting the Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall, we have also found that Taiwan, like Singapore, both hold their founding fathers in great regard. In the memorial hall, we saw a great giant statue of Taiwan’s first president, Chiang Kai-Shek, guarded by two guards of honour. While in there, looking up to the giant statue, we could really feel that there was a sense of grandeur surrounding him, with his principles carved onto the walls of the memorial hall. Even the direction of the memorial hall different from most buildings, facing mainland China rather than the South out of respect for him.

After visiting the pineapple tart factory, we went to Music 4 Fun, which produced pianos. While there, we learned about the various essential parts of a piano, as well as the mechanisms involved in the piano keys. We also had a chance to try making music from recycled household objects, and even make our own harmonicas, recorders and small piano models. This experience really provided us with greater insight into the science behind music.

Next, we visited the Vigor Kobo, a factory that produced a wide assortment of delicious snacks and desserts. There we were treated to a DIY session of molding pineapple tarts using prepared ingredients. We were also given a detailed tour around the place, as well as a brief lesson on the pineapple. Then, we had a dessert buffet provided to us by Vigor Kobo, where we tried the many varieties of snacks and desserts they had to offer and took some time to purchase some of them to bring home.

Then, we headed to the Music 4 Fun Factory, where we immediately got hands-on to assembling either a recorder, a harmonica or a small wooden piano model, which was an interesting experience by itself. We then went on to learn about how a real piano was made, from exploring the concepts of how to build it, to taking a look at an assembly line for constructing the piano. Ranging from the initial framework, to the tuning and even the painting, each step was meticulous and the process seemed painstaking, even to an observer. We moved on to a room where many games and musical instruments consisting of odd parts were. Enjoying ourselves there making merry, we proceeded on to travel to our next destination- Lunch time.

On the tour bus, we were briefly given a history on how the restaurant we were eating at came to be, as well as how the soup dumpling became a defining dish in Taiwan and its culture. At the soup dumpling restaurant we were eating in, we enjoyed an assortment of soup dumpling and other dishes, having fun as we went along.

Next, we headed to the Eslite bookstore to do some shopping. However, with the chinese books mixed in with the English books, it felt hard to find a specific book and we settled on just roaming the grounds and eating some of the food in the basement. The size of the bookstore did surprise us, as for a bookstore, it seemed comparable to a shopping mall. While we did not buy anything at the bookstore, it was still intriguing to find a bookstore as large as the Eslite bookstore.

We then went to have dinner at a local restaurant, where we continued to make merry and enjoy the great feast that we were given. Regardless of that, our minds were more preoccupied with the next visit to Ximending, where we enjoyed ourselves a lot. We went to buy even more food, went around and found countless interesting shops and bought a few souvenirs to bring home for ourselves. 

All in all, the first day in Taiwan was very enjoyable and we quickly picked up on the fact that their government too, was very invested in the idea with recycling, much like in Singapore. That combined with all of our take-aways at the various tour locations made us even more excited to finally have a musical exchange with another school tomorrow.