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[nelsonchang10]

Samurai Training Reflection (ACS Japan trip 2019)

During the first day of the Japan VOOYA trip, we had 2 workshop: Taiko and Samurai. I really enjoyed both workshop and so here are my experiences...

In the Samurai Workshop, we were first instructed to take off our shoes and place use these very weird but comfortable Japanese socks. We then picked our Samurai dresses and Sensei Ryu helped us put it on. After that, he handed us a Katana and the training started...

We trained like real Samurais with long and dangerous Katanas. Sensei Ryu taught us about different moves to attack and defend ourselves using the Katana such as Suki. It was very tiring but fun.

Before the lesson ended, we had a photo session on where we can pose however we want to. We also had a group photo with our Samurai outfits.

This experience was very fun as it was the very first time I had ever dressed in a real Samurai outfit but there is no words to describe of how it felt holding a Katana. I hope I can experience it again...

[nelsonchang10]

Taiko Workshop Reflection (ACS Japan trip 2019)

To be honest, this was the workshop I was least looking forward to. I thought that it was going to be boring and useless but I was totally wrong! It was if I can say, my favorite workshop!

We were first greeted by our instructor, which I cannot remember the name, who instructed us to take off our shoes before we entered the room. The room was filled with drums of different sizes and sounds. One was higher and another was lower. We were told to choose one drum. I chose a semi-low drum which worked out pretty well.

He first taught us how we were suppose to hit the drums. We were suppose to hit them with a pair of short and thick wooden sticks and to widen our legs when hitting the drums. We were also instructed to shout “Ha” and hold our sticks upwards when told to.

We then moved on to the real lesson. He gave us a beat (3-7-3) and told us to divide into 2 groups. After we perfected a beat, we would move on to a new beat. We learned 6 beats in total.

After we perfected all 6 beats, we were told to perform all 6 and it was a ton of fun as we also got to wear an actual Taiko outfit.

We then wrapped up the workshop with a performance by our instructor . He used a total of 3 drums and performed spontaneously! He didn’t even forget to flex his skills by flipping the drum sticks in the middle of the performance which made it even harder for him. But even with that, the performance was still flawless.

This experience is indeed very fun and I hope I can learn Taiko again some time in the future...

[nelsonchang10]

Tokyo Stock Exchange (ACS Japan trip 2019)

The Tokyo Stock Exchange was really fun as I got to learn about stock exchanges and how hard it was to earn profit in the business world by selling and investing in a company. The Tokyo Stock Exchange experience would be something that will be useful for me in the future.

We first arrived the Tokyo Stock Exchange literally about an hour after our visit to Keio University so I was really tired and I also just woke up from a nap. We were actually late for our session so we had to immediately go to the Stock Exchange room. I couldn’t go to the toilet which was a huge bummer as I had to go through the entire stock exchange with my thighs crossing each other.

We then proceeded with the Stock Exchange. We had 10 days to sell and invest to 3 companies but thanks to our professionalism in always being late, we only had a week. So of you can do the maths, we only had 7 days.

I didn’t do great at first because majority of us, or should I just say, all of us were stacking Ms. Vitri and Stefanie with all sorts of questions like, “what do we do?” , “now what?” , e.t.c. After about 2 days, I finally understood the objective of the stock exchange and I started actually doing work but I did already lost close to ¥800 000.

As the days went by, I started recovering my losses and after Day 4, I finally started to earn money. After the 10 days were up, I was pretty impressed of how I have done and I actually made ¥1 100 000 in total which placed me in 7th out of 30 competitors. I then was finally able to uncross my thighs.

After the session, we had a look around to the actual Tokyo Stock Exchange and how big it was. And I was also really impressed when I saw that the manager of the Japan National Team in Russia 2018 came there along with many other famous people. We then took some pictures inside and outside the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

I learned many things from that experience that will definitely help me in the future when doing business. This experience will definitely be forever in my head and to be shared to other people about it.

[nelsonchang10]

Keio University (ACS Japan trip 2019)

Before I went on the Japan trip, I was looking at the itinerary and I saw Keio University. I did a bit of research and I figured out that it was one of the best university in Japan so I was already excited about before hand.

When we first arrive in Keio, I was stunned by the amazing scenery and really modern buildings of the campus. The University looked very modern and the greenery there was just “wow”. We were then immediately greeted by some students. They then guided us to a lecture room where a group of professors and organizers were already there.

Professor Yoko Hasebe then greeted us with some welcoming speeches. As I was looking around the lecture room I was really surprised by how formal the event was. Like legit they made us feel like we were some sort of VVIP.

We then played some ice breaking games with my, I should say, friends from the campus to learn each others culture. We were all told to pair up with a campus student. I was paired up with this guy called Ken. But I also made friends Kinako and Miyuko who were Dylan and Razan’s pair.

We were then sent of for lunch. Me, Dylan, Kinako and Ken sat together and we had a great time talking and sharing out thoughts about things despite the gap of our age. The lunch we served was delicious and full. We had rice with fish, chicken, salad and I even had miso soup.

We then had a session of pattern algorithm with the teacher from the campus. We found out ways how to sort height, numbers, e.t.c. and it was really fun. After that, we had a campus tour and I was stunned by how big the facilities were. We were toured by some students from the campus that were also from Indonesia! I don’t remember their names though.

After about an hour walking around the campus, we were led to our bus. We then said our goodbyes to our new friends as we had to leave to attend our next workshop.

I had a fun time in Keio University and I am even considering to study there. I hope that I can get another chance to visit Keio as I had such a wonderful experience there.

[nelsonchang10]

Bento Cooking (ACS Japan trip 2019)

Bento is a box of lunch that moms create for their children by making the lunch into characters. During our workshop in Japan, we were required to make one and it was not easy.

We arrived in the place early for the first time so we had to wait for the instructors to some. When they arrived, we had to put on an apron and begin prepping the equipment and ingredients. We were to make a bento of Totoro using eggs, rice, broccoli, e.t.c. We were first told to choose a pair to work with. I chose Dave and we started prepping the ingredients before being told to cook.

We were told to take turns cooking the tamago and this sort of like fish cake. We cooked it fairly well with the help of the instructor. After we finished cooking the food. We started to make the rice colour black by adding some black seasoning to make the body of Totoro.

After that, we started to place the food inside the bento lunch box. It was pretty difficult to make it look identical as the picture but I managed to make a pretty decent bento of Totoro after the instructors complimented my work. We then took some pictures with the Bento that we created. After that, it was time to eat.

I really didn’t want to eat it to be honest as it looked so good and it felt like it was a waste of doing that if it just came inside my belly. For me, it definitely did not look to good but it still tasted phenomenal.

I’ve taken bento classes before and I still believe that making a bento is really hard but that is what makes it really fun. I love making bento and I hope I can take another class soon!