Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Went to Tachikawa Bosaikan(Disaster Prevention Center) to learn on ways what to do when a disaster occurs.Experienced the different magnitudes of the earthquake and highest was 7 which was already very destructive like in a roller coaster ride.Went to school visit at Cambodia International School.It is so different from my school in many different ways,for example;1 term they only need to study 3 subjects but for us all terms 8,9 or 10,every wednesday they end school early at 1.15pm different from usual days which ends at 1.50pm as they have cca after that...Then went to Asaankusa Kannon Temple/Nakamise Shopping Arcade.Learnt about the culture and traditions there and really there was so much reasons for what they are doing.The shopping street was so big like Shin Sai Basiu-suji,I,TDC and LSK saw a group of young kids with coach playing soccer in a well built fence area soccer field...they were like so cute!!!(pics in facebook after going back singapore)Overall,today's trip was fun and I learnt alot and really cant wait for tomorrow's trip^^
Gone to Shirakawago to see the beautiful houses build there.I bought lucky charms,saru bobo for souvenir as,the charm only sold there.Then we go see how the roof was made it was made wuth aloe vera and changes every 30 years.Next tour was to the tea farm,we watch videos on how green tea powder was made.Next tour was the best part,going to Mount Fuji,the trip up there was very cloudy,nothing can be seen.After reaching the 5th station,it was very exciting.Getting out of the bus was very cold,it was like in a fridge.I got to see the top of Mount Fuji.It was very nice,there was snow on it.
Instant Ramen Museum was the first destination for the day. I learned the history and how to make and design my very own cup noodle. We could choose the flavour of the soup and the ingredients to go with the flavour of the soup. However, I did not design my cup noodle cup because not enough time was given for me to think about the design. Koyomizu Temple has a very unique structure, as it is built with wood. Wood, only wood. No nails or other metallic materials was used for the construction of the temple. Isn't it AWESOME?
Day 3,4 and 5(Terence)
I woke up in the morning feeling refreshed. I quickly turn off my alarm and went to bathe. My legs were shivering due to the coldness. After bathing, Jian He, my roomate, went to bathe while I started to pack my stuffs. Soon, we went to eat breakfast at the hotel. There was a varity of food. After eating, we visited the Instant Ramen Museum. We designed our own cup noodle pakaging and choose the ingredients to put inside it. It was a good experience for me as I can only make my own cup noodles in Japan! Then, we visited the Kiyomizhu temple. The temple was made only made up of wood. I learnt that people purify their hands before going in and they use the smoke from the altar to heal the injuries. It was a day filled with lots of walking but there were many learning experiences for us to learn, regardless of their food or culture.
Day 4
Today, there were many events that took place and I enjoyed mostly all of them! Firstly, we visited Shirakawago. All of their roofs are built 60 degrees to keep the snow off the roofs. We also bought 'Sarubobo', which is a charm. Miss Phyllis said that each charn with different colours have different meanings. She also said that the 'Sarubobo' in the older times, was a toy for children. After that, we visited a tea farm. There, we learnt the different steps of making tea leaves. There were many machinaries used and most of them are used to dry the leaves. Finally, we visited Mt Fuji. It is the tallest mountain in Japan. It is 3776 metres tall! We visited the fifth station and it was extremely cold. All my fingers went numb. After that, we came back to the hotel and we wore yukata. I had difficulties tying the yukata. We did our reflection after that and return to our rooms. I cannot wait for tomorrow!
Day 5
It was an exciting day today. We visiteed the Tachikawa Bosaikan. At the Tachikawa Bosaikan, we learnt more about earthquakes. There was even a chance for us to experience it ourselves. Singapore is a very safe country which means earthquakes hardly happen there. Hence, it was really a good experience as we can understand what to do when an earthquake occurs. Next, we visited the Columbia International School. The students were very kind and kept joking with us. It was really rare to see such students. We visited the Asaakusa temple. It was said to be built in the year 1798. The temple is already very old by now! We went to shop at Nakamise Shopping Arcade. The streets were crowded and there were lots of items on sale. We visited the Tokyo University last and the scenary was beautiful. We went to check in our hotels and quickly went to bed.
Terence
klarance's entry
It is a nice day as it is going to be a cold day.We took an 4 hours trip till 12noon and we had lunch.We finally find gums after 4 days in Japan.We went to a place where every 30 years, the Japanese will use aloe vera to build a roof made of it within 2 days. It is a rare opportunity see this. Afterwards, we went to the tea farm. They showed us how the tea leaves are processed and what machinary waqs used. The leavesthat were frngrant. Next, we went to Mount Fuji and my so-called 'warrior streak' was broken due to the extreme cold temperature which ranges from 3 to 5 degree celsius. We went to the hotel and we have to wear some kind of 'dress'. The dinner was simply delicious as tampura was served. The room in the hotel is the same as day 3 which is the tatame.
klarance's entry
Today, I visited a instant ramen museum. There was a exhibition of the instant ramen recipes which were made over the years. After that, we went Koyomizu Temple, it had a scenic view of it surroundings and we learnt fact like the temple was built without the use of nails and I think that the wood used was of very high quality as the temple looks very new even though it was built over 300 years ago. After that, we took a 3 hours ride from the temple to a japanese restaurantto have dinner, we had thick japanese noodles noodles called udon, rice and sashimi. We had a debrief after that and get to sleep at a hotel nearby.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Reflections for 30 May
The trip today was to the ramen museum and kiyomizu temple. Ramen museum was mainly the brand of niisin, created by mr momofuku. In singapore, cup noodles are considered unhealthy and not recommanded to eat everyday. But my thought changed after the information told. Niisin cup noodles were being given to victims in the world war 2 to save their lives. Isn't that superb! It was quite amazing that the temple was built with only wood blocks(without nails). And it can still restain from 1000 years ago till now not corroded. This can tell that the technology in the past was not very advance. I felt lucky to be able to step onto it!
Lycia
Today was another great day. In the morning,we woke up in Osaka Plaza hotel and washed up. After that,we packed our bags and headed downstairs for breakfast. The hotel served both japanese and western food. After breakfast,we went to the Instant Ramen Museum. There were many people so we had to wait for awhile. Then we went upstairs to make the noodles. The place was so cool! There were seats and tables for us to design our noodle container and there were also many stations to pack and flavour the noodles. After that,we went to the museum. There were many packets of noodles Nissin made. After taking pictures and looking around,we went to the Kiyomizu temple. It was made without nails! They many people and souvenir shops. People prayed to the statues for luck,health,fortune,and other things. I am glad we were able to visit such a place.
By Abigail
Today we visited the kiyomizu temple. The place was magnificent as the structure of the temple did not have nails. I think that the people from the past were smart for building the structure of the temple. Another thing I learnt is that people who wear a kimono with short sleeves are married while long sleeves are for the non-married. Also,we visited the Ramen museum. I found the ramen museum exciting as there was a hands off session. We were given the cups and we had to design the cup, by our own. After that, we proceeded to get our cup noodles made.I saw how the process of the cup noodle was done.I felt that it was a great experience as singapore does not have a ramen museum nor a ramen factory as the noodles were imported from other countries.
By jianhe
Today is a fun day for me! My friends and I visited the Instant Ramen Museum where we made our very own instant cup noodle. We were very fortunate to make the cup noodle because it is not available in Singapore! I learnt how the process of the cup noodle were made with the help of machinery. Also, we visited the Kiyomizhu Temple which is popular among tourists. It was very unexpected that it was built hundred years ago! I learnt how Japanese prayed to the God of Fortune. Firstly, throw a five yen coin into a box provided,then clap two times and lastly bow. That would give the prayer not only a good fortune, abd also maybe their wishes to the God would fufill.
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Reflections for 30 May
The trip today was to the ramen museum and kiyomizu temple. Ramen museum was mainly the brand of niisin, created by mr momofuku. In singapore, cup noodles are considered unhealthy and not recommanded to eat everyday. But my thought changed after the information told. Niisin cup noodles were being given to victims in the world war 2 to save their lives. Isn't that superb! It was quite amazing that the temple was built with only wood blocks(without nails). And it can still restain from 1000 years ago till now not corroded. This can tell that the technology in the past was not very advance. I felt lucky to be able to step onto it!
Lycia
Today was another great day. In the morning,we woke up in Osaka Plaza hotel and washed up. After that,we packed our bags and headed downstairs for breakfast. The hotel served both japanese and western food. After breakfast,we went to the Instant Ramen Museum. There were many people so we had to wait for awhile. Then we went upstairs to make the noodles. The place was so cool! There were seats and tables for us to design our noodle container and there were also many stations to pack and flavour the noodles. After that,we went to the museum. There were many packets of noodles Nissin made. After taking pictures and looking around,we went to the Kiyomizu temple. It was made without nails! They many people and souvenir shops. People prayed to the statues for luck,health,fortune,and other things. I am glad we were able to visit such a place.
By Abigail
Today we visited the kiyomizu temple. The place was magnificent as the structure of the temple did not have nails. I think that the people from the past were smart for building the structure of the temple. Another thing I learnt is that people who wear a kimono with short sleeves are married while long sleeves are for the non-married. Also,we visited the Ramen museum. I found the ramen museum exciting as there was a hands off session. We were given the cups and we had to design the cup, by our own. After that, we proceeded to get our cup noodles made.I saw how the process of the cup noodle was done.I felt that it was a great experience as singapore does not have a ramen museum nor a ramen factory as the noodles were imported from other countries.
By jianhe
Today is a fun day for me! My friends and I visited the Instant Ramen Museum where we made our very own instant cup noodle. We were very fortunate to make the cup noodle because it is not available in Singapore! I learnt how the process of the cup noodle were made with the help of machinery. Also, we visited the Kiyomizhu Temple which is popular among tourists. It was very unexpected that it was built hundred years ago! I learnt how Japanese prayed to the God of Fortune. Firstly, throw a five yen coin into a box provided,then clap two times and lastly bow. That would give the prayer not only a good fortune, abd also maybe their wishes to the God would fufill.
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Saturday, May 29, 2010
Kennedy's entry
I was rather excited on the day of the trip as it is going to be a fun , exciting and education trip. We took the plane around 1am, 29may and it landed at the Osaka Airport around 8.30pm. The trip was quite long and our tour group didn't get a good night sleep. It will be a rough day for all of us the next day. After arriving, we met the tour guide who is from hong kong, we boarded the bus and she explained the places and events is going to take place for the next 6 days and 5 nights. It is rather good as many of the people want to go to the manga museum which is our first destination...
Day 2:
We arrived at the manga museum and the main theme was "Astro Boy". 14 students were chosen to draw manga and the other 6 went to the top floor to take pictures and we went to have a buffet lunch. We went shopping afterwards and everybody was elated, we were given 2 hours to shop 7km long. Some of us went to the rooftop garden. We went to the hotel to change and go for dinner. It was a steamboat dinner, it was delicious. A reflection and a trip to the convienient shop to buy snacks and we go back to the hotel and sleep. Till next day...
My Reflection- Gladys Tan
After waiting for several hours, we finally boarded the plane, SQ618, at around twelve-forty am.
Most of us were already tired by then. I was rather dissapointed that I could not sit with Huixin on the plane. Reason is that we won't be sleeping in the same room and we aint in the same group and once again, not sitting beside each other on the plane. It was quite boring without her t0 chat with. As mention, just like everyone else, i was also dead beat. I wanted to just fall into a deep sleep but I couldn't. I wanted to watch a movie till i fall asleep but after only a few minutes i got very bored of it and just turned it off. I listened to some songs and somehow fell asleep after several moments. The next thing i knew, the air hostess was greeting me with a smile asking me what would i like for my breakfast. I did not finished my breakfast and we soon landed at kansai airport.
Day 2-
We started off our journey by going to the Osamu Tezuka Manga Museum and learnt how do draw animation. It was very interesting and i like it very much. The following event was a buffet lunch at a chinese restaurant, it was very much filling and scrumptious. Aftermath, we went to a shopping district but i didnt get anything in the end because nothing caught my attention and because i was feeling very tired and did not have the mood to shop. Things there were rather boring and unattractive as well. Continuing on, we went for a shabu-shabu dinner. It was hilarious as it was with the company of Huixin, Valerina and Peishan. Last but not least, we went to a convenience store near the lousy hotel and bought some snacks. My favourite brand of chocolate was sold way cheaper here in japan then in singapore. Thus, i bought three of them. Not to forget, the tour leader, auntie phillix, was the one translating and bringing us around. She is very fluent in Japanese language and i admire it. The bus we took today was very shiok and it was name "angel". I find it very meaningful and i enjoyed the bus ride as there were comfy seats. We returned to our hotel room after the nightly briefing and washed up. I was called to do this COOL reflection and waited for very long till i finally did it as i missed many turns due to our lazyness. Byebye :D
After a long time of waiting, the day I was waiting for has finally arrived! The trip with my friends to Japan! I reached the airport around9.30 p.m. Due to the fact that the terminal 3 was build, my family found the terminal extremely obfuscating. Other than that, the terminal was perfect. It was humongous and enchantic. After saying farewell to my family, I went for duty-free shopping. I went to Burger King with Mun Mun and had a cup of ice milo. Mun Mun and I talked a lot. Soon, it was time to assemble as we need to get on the plane. We went to have our hand-carrier bag checked and we went to board the plane. I had a difficult time on the plane as I could not sleep nor play video games because I would disturb the rest of the passengers. Silently, I closed my eyes and fell asleep. Before I knew it, I was already at Japan.
Day 2
I met my tour guide, Miss Phyliss. Her japanese was very fluent! I thought that she was a japanese herself. However, she was from Hong Kong. I was surprised. She brought us to the Tezuka Osamu Manga Museum. I learnt how to draw animations and its past. It was very interesting as usually, I would just watch animations without knowing how it was made. Due to time constraints, we had to rush and did not have enough time to go to the Instant Ramen Museum. Hence, we had to swap with tomorrow's itinerary and decided to go to Shinsaibashin. There, I learnt how to communicate in Japanese and help out with my group members who did not know Japanese. We went to the hotel, shower, and went for dinner. We ate 'Shabu-Shabu', a japanese style of steamboat for dinner. The food was delicious. We did our last minute shopping at the convinience stall. We did our reflection and went to sleep after a day full of fatigue.
-Terence
We were at the airport, going to fly to Japan in a few hours time. My father,sister and maid were there to send me off. I had mixed feelings about the trip-i was excited and overjoyed to be able to go to Japan, but I also missed my home and family during this long 7-day 5 nights trip. As how things are going on now, I am probably going to get homesick. The reason being is because i have never been out overseas alone for so long, especially in a faraway country. But i kept my spirits up, thinking that having my friends to go with me instead would also be a wonderful experience. My family told me to enjoy myself when I was there, so i will try not to get homesick. After bidding a warm good-bye, I reluctantly went to check-in. During the few hours of waiting for the plane, I spent my time playing on the available computers, chatting, feeling homesick and thinking about the trip.
Day 2
Today i think most of us were tired and weary because we didn't get much sleep. But it definately did not deter our excitement when we went to the famous manga museum. I learned about the wonderful person behind who created Astroboy, and learned that he had a rough childhood but in the end became such a respected person in the manga world. We learned more about the history of manga and many other things. We learned the way of how animators animate the drawings. The man-in-charge of the museum was very polite to us.
We had lunch, which was a scrumptious buffet spread.
Next activity was the visit to the Instant ramen industry where we could make our own instant cup noodles. But for some reason, it was postponed until the next day. Instead, we went to Shinsaibanshi, a wonderful shopping district. I was filled with excitement and I could almost feel the liveliness and energy coming from the throng of people in the shopping district. We window-shopped and bought a few things until we were exhausted. At the end of the shopping trip, I was surprised at how polite the Japanese are. They were very friendly and willing to serve customers and all the people I met had been very polite and nice. In Japan, i really like their politeness.
My Reflection - Toh Ding Chao
I am quite suprised that i felt unsecure, nervous and excited for the Japan Trip. It is n0t my first trip overseas though, maybe it is because i will not be with my parents, who at least make me feel much more secure in their presence. However, going overseas alone is something inevitable as i grow older. This trip will definitely bring me a step forward to become more independent and give me more confidence to travel overseas without my parents around. In addition, I want to gain something useful from this trip as Japan is a beautiful and a high-tech country with well-mannered citizens that practices good hygiene and respect to anyone all times. I hope to learn and carry out such values in myself after the learning journey..-.-
Day 2 -
Japan, a country well-known for its Manga Art, which is also why it brought us to the famous Manga museum at the second day of the learning journey. We learned to know about the history of Astro Boy, but unfortunately not being able to make my own Manga art piece due to some complications. My friends, Soon Keong and Johnson the 1.8+ metre tall gaint, strolled casually down the streets of ShinSaiBaShi with our P.E uniform which make me feel really uncomfortable. Streets after streets, we finally decided to move out of the crowd and stroll back to the meeting place. The rest of the day spent at ShinSaiBaShi street was awkward but eye-opening... 0.0
linnette's reflection for day 1 and 2
i was very excited as i sat with my friends on the plane to japan. it is my first time travelling with my friends as i always travel with my family and i did not go for the malacca trip. even though the flight was very early in the morning, i as still filled with energy and i could not sleep for the first 2 hours of the flight but soon i got tired. i sat beside rachel who was taking te plane for the first time. i was concerned about her as she was scared when the plane took off and landed.
Day 2
today i finally reached japan! i am so happy as the first place for visit is a manga museum! my interest is anime and manga so i was really happy. attended a workshop on how to draw characters doing different actions. the lunch was very nice as it was mixed chinese and japanese. then, going to shinsaibashi was a good expirience. My first time walking through a long street of shops which was very crowded. i walked till i was dizzy. dinner time we had shabu-shabu which is a japanese steam boat. it was the best! to me, hte japanese people are well-mannered and polite.