Day Three

The 3rd day of our Japan trip :

We woke up at 4.15 this morning, it was cold and already very bright at this time; it looked like 7 am in Singapore. We were heading for Tsukiji Fish Market this morning. We wasted half an hour waiting for Nicholas and Ravin because they overslept and refused to wake up. It was a good experience for us to go to the Tsukiji Fish Market, but it was a pity that we missed the auction of the fishes due to them. The Fish Market was huge and quite dangerous as there were many special and unique battery-operated lorries, which are not found in Singapore, used for transporting the really BIG tuna. We saw many things that we've not seen in Singapore. There are many kinds of seafood, ranging from different kind of fish to octopuses and other shellfish.

Mode of transport in the busy Tsukiji Market & the BIG tuna

Fresh seafood at Tsukiji Market

After visiting the fish market, we went back to the hotel to have our breakfast and changed into our school uniform. It was time for the much-awaited school visit - Shibuya Makuhari International School.

We saw many interesting practices in Shibu Maku. Every student has two pairs of indoor shoes. One pair was used for lessons and the other pair was for gym. They have 10 mins break between lessons, and they do not need to lock the classes when they leave the classroom. It's amazing to see the kind of trust among students in Japanese schools which we lack of in Singapore. Some of us felt ashamed after witnessing the behaviour of the Japanese students - their politeness and consideration for others and friendliness.

During their break, we had fun interacting and getting to know the students from an English class and we even got some of their contacts. The students there are very friendly and cheerful, and photogenic.

After the school visit, the Japanese sent us to right up to the 'doorstep', they even waited for the bus to leave and waved goodbye. The students which were having lessons then also waved to us too when they saw us leaving.

Interaction with Shibuya Makuhari Students

We went for lunch after that, and we ate many kinds of dishes which Singapore doesn't serve. After lunch, we boarded the bus to the Studio Ghibli Museum, famous for creating animated movies. We waited for a short clip of My Neighbour Totoro. While waiting we wandered around and saw many exciting pictures at the different exhibits. The short movie was entertaining. After the movie, we were given some free time to roam around to get souvenirs and have some ice cream. Some of us went to the Dog Park nearby and saw how disciplined the dogs were.

My Neighbour Totoro & Castle in the Sky

After that we went to have our dinner and shopped around the shopping centre until 8pm. We went to see the rainbow bridge which was lighted up at night.

Night view of Rainbow Bridge

After dinner, we came back to the hotel and we were asked to drink half a bottle of water as we ate a lot of fried food during dinner and the teachers were concerned that we would fall sick.

We then went to pack our bags for tomorrow as we will be checking out of the hotel and head to Mount Fuji and now we are here blogging and about to turn in soon.

By:
Evelyn, Rebecca, Hafizah, Li Ting, Chang Teck and Derrick.