On 5 Nov 99, the Japanese Language teacher together with a group of 21 delighted students and staff from Ikoma Language School assembled at Changi International Airport, ready to set off to the land of Rising Sun - Japan. Excitement filled the air as the long-waited trip to Japan has finally come

Upon arrival at the Kansai International Airport, we took a drive to Osaka and visited the most magnificent and well-preserved Osaka Castle. The observation deck at 8th storey allows you to have a panoramic view of the Osaka City and its surroundings. At about noon, we whisked off to downtown Osaka, Namba - one of the famous shopping belts. The district is filled with side streets and fringed by large and small specialty stores, restaurants, coffee shops as well as sushi bars etc, something to suit all tastes. We took the opportunity to try out the local savoury delicacy - "Takoyaki". Simply yummy!

We bid farewell to this exciting city and continued our journey to Tenri before being brought to our hostel. At the hostel, we were warmly received by a group of hospitable native Japanese. Specially homemade sumptuous "Chuka Ryoli" (Chinese cuisine) was served at the Welcome party. The Welcome party reached its climax with a karaoke session, whilst we enjoyed ourselves to the fullest. After a day of fun and excitement, we returned to our cosy tatami room for a well-deserved rest.

Rise and shine as we made our way to Kobe - a "minato machi" (port town). Standing at 108m high, the Kobe Tower is the most prominent feature of Kobe's skyline.

Next, we proceeded to Akashi Kaikyo Ohashi - one of Japan's most famous and longest "Tsuli-bashi" (suspension bridge) and visited the Onaruto Kyo. As we crossed the Onaruto Kyo (bridge), we sighted countless whirlpools swirling in the Naruto Straits that flow beneath the bridge. About noon, we stopped over at a typical Japanese restaurant to enjoy a delicious "Saruki Teuchi Udon" meal.

After lunch, we continued our trip to Seto Ohashi (bridge). The bridge adorned with exquisite architectural design, harmonizes with the beautiful Seto Inland Sea. We stood by the spectacular Seto Ohashi (bridge) for a tourist snap to capture its stately grandeur on film.

Before dusk, we headed to Kurashiki at Okayama Prefecture. Kurashiki is a rare surviving example of the olden Japanese town. Within it, lies a canal flowing past the traditional-style Japanese shophouses and buildings.

The day began with a visit at Iwakuni, Kintaikyo - a wooden bridge comprises five similar arched bridges over a serene river. The uniqueness of the Kintaikyo is that it has no nails except straps and clamps.

Thereafter, we proceeded to Miyajima (Itsukushima) by ferry. The magnificent crimson "torii", rising out of the sea in front of the Itsukushima Shrine, is marked as one of the scenic spots in Japan. It was also a great pleasure to walk around the Itsukushima Shrine.

After breakfast, we took a morning walk to the nearby Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park where we offered three thousands colourful hand-made paper cranes , in remembrance of the bomb's victim and worship for world peace. At one end of the serene park, stood the atomic bomb dome. Adjacent to the Peace Memorial Park is the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum. The museum contains photos, narratives, models of Hiroshima as well as graphic portrays of the bombing. We felt that a visit to the museum is an emotional experience.

Arashiyama was the first stop of the day. Autumn had brought a new colour to this place where maple trees prepared to shed their leaves. The bright yellow, orange and red maple leaves, coupled with the cooling and refreshing air, offered an ideal backdrop for sightseeing and photo-shooting Thereafter, we continued our journey to Saimyo-ji . The surroundings had also turned into a brilliant crimson as the maple leaves "show off" their lovely colours .

The next destination was Kinkakuji. The 3-storey Pavilion is aesthetically covered with gold-leaf. The large pond in front of the Pavilion makes it a perfect setting. As the Chinese saying goes, it is better to see it once than hear it a hundred times.

At about noon, we arrived at Heian-jingu where we had our task learning programme. We were divided into small groups of four/five. Each group was given a different task sheet that contains questions relating to the history, culture and festivals in Japan. We were told to obtain answers to all the questions by asking the native Japanese. To make the programme more challenging, we had to find our way from Heian-jingu to Kiyomizu-dera with just a map.

Guided by the map, we slowly made our way to Chiyoen, followed by Maruyama-kouen. As we wandered along the streets, we made an effort to communicate with the natives using Japanese. With the assistance of the friendly and helpful locals, we were correctly directed to Ninen-zaka and from there, we continued our trip down to Sannen-zaka before we finally arrived at our last destination - Kiyomizu-dera with all the questions answered. All of us deserved a good tab on the shoulders for the job well done as we had made the task learning programme a success. Hurray!

The task learning programme had also served a dual purpose of fostering closer relationship and building up teamwork among the students. More importantly, through the task learning programme, we were able to learn more about the traditional Japanese culture, history and beliefs etc. After the fruitful task learning, we were led by our teacher to Nara City to meet up with our host families.

Culture learning and home-stay were the highlights of the programme for these 2 days. First we visited the "Chasen" (Tea brush) factory at Ikoma City. We observed the whole process of producing a bamboo tea brush with highly skilled techniques inherited from tradition.

Then, we had a Kimono dress-up session where we could try on the beautiful and gorgeous Kimono. Although said to be elegant, elaborate Kimono can be "heavy" to wear but "feminine" to see. All the girls were overwhelmed with joy when they were dolled up beautifully in the gorgeous and exquisite Kimono.

The school had also arranged a pottery-making lesson for us. Here is where we could let our imagination goes wild as we expressed our creativity by transforming the plain-looking clay into different shapes and designs. We had never known that pottery making could be so fun!

Home-stay offers an additional avenue to promote culture exchange. We had a 3-day home-stay at Nara, which had provided us great opportunities to interact with the native Japanese. We could fully experience the daily Japanese lifestyle and learn about the Japanese culture, traditions and customs etc. Chatting with the host families at the dinner table was wonderful where we exchanged views on some interesting topics. The 3-day home-stay had offered us valuable experience.

We spent a fun-filled day in Nara. First, we took a leisurely drive to the Nara Deer Park, followed by a visit to Nigatsu-do and the Todai-ji - home of a giant and magnificent Buddha statue before we returned to our hostel for the Sayonara Party.