Sunday, 17 July
After four hours of cramped leg space and a tiring flight with nothing to do other than talk and sleep, we arrived at the Taoyuan International Airport. Puan Yeo asked for directions and after a few wrong turns and a bit of getting lost, we made it into the highspeed railway train. From there, it was another one hour of cramped leg space with beautiful landscape sceneries until we arrived at Kaohsiung. We caught a taxi and finally reached our hotel, Garden Villa. After registration we found out that we had no rooms and were relocated to Han Hsien International Hotel-a 20 minute bus drive from Garden Villa. We decided that it was time to call it a day as soon as we set foot into the room as we were physically and mentally exhausted. Well, what would one expect after lugging huge luggage all over the place the whole day.
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| At the Taiwan High Speed Railway Station |
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| Registration at the Garden Villa Conference Centre |
Monday, 18 July
We woke up early and headed down for breakfast. Took the shuttle bus they prepared to Garden Villa to attend the opening ceremony. The countries attending the conference as well as the youth summit were introduced one by one. Standing tall with a total of three delegates from Malaysia, we waved to the rest of the world. A total of 42 countries attended the event. We listened to the opening speech and the few announcements made before snapping a few group photos. Yes, a group photo of all the delegates from the 42 countries. We then proceeded to have lunch. Ah, food was always something to look forward to. After the satisfying lunch, we participated in the various team building activities. During these activities, youths were asked to join their respective groups which they had been assigned to during the registration. It was to enhance better interaction between each other. We briefly introduced ourselves to our group members and vice versa before proceeding to the team building activities. We were not too sure what happened as it was mostly chaos with a lot of running and hopping about but what we do know is, it was a whole lot of fun. Next, we participated in the cultural activities. We joined the mandarin class and learned some interesting new words and common phrases in mandarin. Other activities carried out were calligraphy art, Chinese knotting key-chain, tai chi and paper cut-outs. Dinner was served at 6pm and with that the day ended. We had a few laughing fits back in the room before going to bed.
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| During the opening ceremony |
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| Japan Blue Planet Exhibition |
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| At the Kaouhsiung Night Market |
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| With friends from Japan & Taiwan |
Tuesday, 19 July
We spent the whole of Tuesday at the National Science and Technology Museum (NSTM) participating in various workshops organised for us. To name a few, there was the Crazy Scientist, Solar Car Racing, Dam Design, Treasure Hunting and Spaghetti Building. In the Crazy Scientist
workshop, we were enlightened by the interesting facts of science that may appear magical. We also had a chance to build our very own mini solar car in the Solar Car Racing workshop. A competition for the best dam to withstand the marble avalanche was held in the Dam Design workshop which was done in pairs. Syaqira and her partner failed pathetically in their pathetic attempt to create the best dam the world has ever seen. Farhanah on the other hand, created a very stable spaghetti building which could withstand the earthquake test. Dinner was again served at 6pm and before retiring to bed, we participated in one last activity of the night which was the Adobe Youth Voices film festival. This was particularly a long day as the workshops went on and on.
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| At the National Science & Technology Museum |
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| Adobe Youth Voices Film Festival |
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| Syaqira's magnificient dam design |
Wednesday, 20 July
We had the whole day free for this day. It was originally for those who wished to participate in the one-day tour they arranged for the delegates but we decided to take a tour on our own. We bought a whole day ticket for the MRT and basically travelled all over the place. Our first stop was the Zuoying Municipal Junior High School. It was a great chance to collect ideas and bring back some information for our school to help in the betterment of Sri Aman. We made lots of comparisons and took loads of pictures. Basically, we were in awe. Their school was the size of our universities-and it was only the junior high! Although we would probably not come even close to compare with their academic facilities, but our sports facilities are to be proud of. Apparently, students in Taiwan bury their heads in books all the time which. It sounds boring but it allows them to concentrate on and only on their academics. Still, it would probably be really stressful. We also found our way to the mosque. It was interesting to see how Muslims there go about in their daily lives. We took the opportunity to visit an Indonesian restaurant to have our lunch before heading towards Kaohsiung National Stadium. Here, we found out that it is powered by solar power! They have solar panels for roofs. We didn’t miss the opportunity to visit Lotus Pond, which is a tourist attraction to see temples and the sort. It was an amazing experience to see the incredible architecture of some temples and pagodas up-close. We snapped a few embarrassing photos before heading back to the hotel to have dinner. Later that night, we visited the Love River and found out that their boats are also solar powered! How awesome is that?! We went to bed with great memories of the day-and feet full of blisters.
Friday, 22 July
Another fresh new day! The closing ceremony was held on this day but before that, we attended a workshop called Fun for Change. The workshop was all about trying to make change in a fun way. Youths had to come up with ideas to make change fun on specific issues such as recycling, being friendly and etcetera. Night came pretty quickly and we found ourselves in the gala party. We took a few final photos with our friends and bid them goodbye before retiring for bed. Next year, the event will take place in Trinidad and Tobago. So, here are a few snapshots with our friends from all around the globe :)
As you can see, the trip was truly an enjoyable one packed with fun and information. We learnt about the various efforts to help the environment that can be carried out here in Sri Aman or better still in Malaysia. Solar power is definitely something worth looking into. Recycling which has become mandatory for every citizen just shows that it is not impossible for us to follow in their footsteps. It was sad to leave new friends but exciting to come back to old friends and family. So, yes! We had a great time at the 15th Youth Summit held by iEARN in Kaohsiung, Taiwan and wish all the best for the 16th and the coming conferences and summits. We thank everyone who made it possible for us. Thank you, thank you! Or as they say in Taiwan, xie xie!
We had the whole day free for this day. It was originally for those who wished to participate in the one-day tour they arranged for the delegates but we decided to take a tour on our own. We bought a whole day ticket for the MRT and basically travelled all over the place. Our first stop was the Zuoying Municipal Junior High School. It was a great chance to collect ideas and bring back some information for our school to help in the betterment of Sri Aman. We made lots of comparisons and took loads of pictures. Basically, we were in awe. Their school was the size of our universities-and it was only the junior high! Although we would probably not come even close to compare with their academic facilities, but our sports facilities are to be proud of. Apparently, students in Taiwan bury their heads in books all the time which. It sounds boring but it allows them to concentrate on and only on their academics. Still, it would probably be really stressful. We also found our way to the mosque. It was interesting to see how Muslims there go about in their daily lives. We took the opportunity to visit an Indonesian restaurant to have our lunch before heading towards Kaohsiung National Stadium. Here, we found out that it is powered by solar power! They have solar panels for roofs. We didn’t miss the opportunity to visit Lotus Pond, which is a tourist attraction to see temples and the sort. It was an amazing experience to see the incredible architecture of some temples and pagodas up-close. We snapped a few embarrassing photos before heading back to the hotel to have dinner. Later that night, we visited the Love River and found out that their boats are also solar powered! How awesome is that?! We went to bed with great memories of the day-and feet full of blisters.
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| The solar powered World Games Stadium |
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| At the Lotus Temple :) |
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| The Chinese-Muslim uncle whom we met at the Kaouhsiung Mosque |
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| The LOVE River <3 |
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| Visit to the Zuoying Junior High School Thursday, 21 July Finally, our presentation day arrived. This whole day was spent in the NSTM. Basically, it was the chance for the youth delegates to present their project. Some presented and some came to listen. It was an interesting day full of information. We presented our project about the various efforts taken in our school to help the environment. We can conclude that it was a successful presentation. After the presentation session, we were split up into our respective groups again to attend two more activities which were the aboriginal dance and the lantern painting event. Later that night, we attended the International Cultural Night. Delegates from a few countries had organised a performance or two. Mainly they were from Indonesia, Spain, Netherlands, Trinidad and Tobago, Qatar, Egypt, Sri Lanka and Japan. It was truly an enjoyable day. On the bus, everyone fell asleep. |
Friday, 22 July
Another fresh new day! The closing ceremony was held on this day but before that, we attended a workshop called Fun for Change. The workshop was all about trying to make change in a fun way. Youths had to come up with ideas to make change fun on specific issues such as recycling, being friendly and etcetera. Night came pretty quickly and we found ourselves in the gala party. We took a few final photos with our friends and bid them goodbye before retiring for bed. Next year, the event will take place in Trinidad and Tobago. So, here are a few snapshots with our friends from all around the globe :)
As you can see, the trip was truly an enjoyable one packed with fun and information. We learnt about the various efforts to help the environment that can be carried out here in Sri Aman or better still in Malaysia. Solar power is definitely something worth looking into. Recycling which has become mandatory for every citizen just shows that it is not impossible for us to follow in their footsteps. It was sad to leave new friends but exciting to come back to old friends and family. So, yes! We had a great time at the 15th Youth Summit held by iEARN in Kaohsiung, Taiwan and wish all the best for the 16th and the coming conferences and summits. We thank everyone who made it possible for us. Thank you, thank you! Or as they say in Taiwan, xie xie!
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