Japan Trip Part 1

On the 12th of November 2008, I left on a trip to Japan, subsidised by my school. I did not go with high hopes as good hotels in Japan are expensive and I was unsure if good hotels would be provided. After some last-minute checks that my luggage was complete, my parents and I left for the airport. We arrived 15 minutes early and had to wait for the other students. After checking in our luggage, we took a group photo before bidding farewell to our families. Following immigration clearance, we waited at the departure/boarding lounge, for an hour or so, before boarding the aircraft. The take-off was moderately smooth. The flight went better than expected despite not getting enough shut-eye. And that, if you would consider it, summarises the first day of my trip.

The next day, upon waking, I discovered that I had only slept for 3 hours on board the plane. Following that, I proceeded to play battle ships and chess with my classmate and fellow traveller, Joseph. Later, I played a game of insane aquarium by myself. My memory failed me when I tried to recall what was served for breakfast. But, I do recall that it was delectable. After disembarking and clearing immigration and customs, we met up with our tour guide, Auntie Jude. We proceeded to board a bus and travelled to witness the Nishijin Kimono Show. It was situated in a small shopping mall with a great variety of traditional Japanese products. The kimono show was most enjoyable as we witnessed quite a number of beautiful traditional kimonos each with its own unique design. Following that, we travelled to the Kiyomitu Temple. We sampled many traditional Japanese goodies from the stores that lined the way to the temple. I had to eat a lunch of pork cutlet and udon before entering the temple itself. From the main hall, we could walk out to the veranda which commands a breath-taking, panoramic view of Kyoto. Upon entering the temple, our attention was drawn to a well which is said to bring good luck. We toured the temple. It revealed its splendorous scenery and needless to say we took countless photos. We were then honoured with the experience of taking the famous Xing Chang Cheng bullet train. After the exhilarating ride, we proceeded to Osaka Shinsaibashi shopping mall. Sadly, I found nothing of interest. For dinner, we ate a buffet. And that concludes the second day of my trip.

The next morning, we toured a fish market. After that, the next destination was the famous Osaka castle. We had to transverse the winding path around the castle walls to finally reach the castle grounds. It was a real feast for the eyes. Having no chance to drink from a well in the previous temple, I finally managed to drink from the well in this temple. The water was cool and refreshing. We had to wash our hands with the water there before drinking the water with our hands and not the laddle. The inside of the castle was like a museum. I made three impressions of Osaka Castle on two pieces of paper with a rubber stamp and took them home as souvenirs. Photos of the dazzling scenery at the top of the castle were taken. After that, we had a lunch of hot pot. Then, we visited Kouyo Junior High School in Kishiwada. We received a warm welcome. We observed a maths lesson before watching the school band perform. The school band performed many beautiful pieces of music. We responded by performing the magic tricks that we learnt at an earlier camp. Subsequently, we played a game of scissors paper stone. The loser follows the victor who plays against the next person, and then the next victor leads all the previous losers to challenge the next person, and this is repeated until no more opponents are left. When the game ended, we were grouped in pairs and had a discussion with other pairs of students from the high school. I felt that the students were very welcoming and that they warmed up to us with astounding swiftness. We had a dinner of udon and hot pot. And that concludes the third day of my trip.

The following day, I awoke to a hearty buffet breakfast. We took a cruise on the serene and famous Lake Ashi to view Mount Fuji. It would have been perfect if the weather had not chosen to play spoil-sport. We ate tempura, salmon and udon. Later, we went to the sulphur valley. The rancid stench of sulphur pervaded the air. I nearly managed to make it to the area where they boil the eggs. Unfortunately, I was forced to turn back as I was buffeted by a cloud of concentrated sulphur dioxide. Before reaching our hotel on Mount Fuji, we were educated on the use of the hot springs. Due to time constraint, we did not go up to the 5th station of Mount Fuji, Fujisan. To enable me to catch some much needed sleep and rest my weary body, I was unable to enjoy the hot springs. We slept in an authentic Japanese tatami room that night. And that concludes the fourth day.