DAY 1
The Voyage Begins
We all arrived at Perth Airport on the 3rd of October, so excited for our long awaited trip to Japan. Ms Mayes made sure we were all ready and had everything we needed, and we had thoughtfully been made contact cards, for Kyoya Inn, the base camp in Nagoya. We all went through customs, feeling like we must have forgotten something at home. We all went through customs without a problem (thankfully) and all gathered around the gate waiting for our plane. Next thing we knew, Fraiser was running up to us, saying 'We found Alice Cooper!' *At the time, we were very excited to find that Ms Dinning had found the rockstar himself. Jessie was wearing an Alice Cooper tshirt from the night before's concert, and Alice commented 'Nice shirt' After Alice retreated into the Gold Lounge because of our constant mobbing of him with requests for photos and autographs {No, he was very nice to us} we all sat down once more, awaiting the plane flight from Perth to Singapore.
Once the plane finally arrived, Ms Mayes bustled us all onto the plane, taking very good care of our passports for us. Some of the students had never been on a plane, let alone out of the country before, so it was a very exciting flight. We were very lucky to be able to fly with Singapore Airlines who were very accommodating and polite. They also have excellent entertainment facilities which kept us occupied for the 6 hour flight.
As soon as we arrived in Singapore airport, we were all very tired and hot. We had a 3 hour break at the airport in which we visited the many different shops such as Burger King, Accessory Shops, Starbucks, etc. After exploring the airport , we met up at the designated place and time that miss Mayes had set. Max Mayes chose us to show the others some stretches to make us more comfortable on the flight. It was a little bit awkward because we were doing it in the middle of the airport. Before we went through the customs, some of us chose to go to the bathroom. We were amazed at how clean and beautiful the toilet was. After marvelling at the toilets, we headed for our next flight from Singapore to Nagoya, a 7 hour flight.
Max had told us that we would have a big day ahead of us, so he recommended us to get some sleep on the plane. However it didn't turn out so well. It was very uncomfortable for us to sleep but there were a few people {Ernest and Miss Mayes} who managed to sleep through the turbulence the whole time. After being able to choose between a western breakfast of spinach omelette and sausage, and a Japanese breakfast of perch, egg, omelette, beans and carrots, a very tired class stumbled off the plane at 7:30 Nagoya time {which is plus one hour difference from Perth time}. From the airport, we caught the Meitestu line all the way to Nagoya station, where Mr Sato, the owner of Kyoya Inn, picked us all up and drove us what we now would know as home.
But no, after minimal sleep we didn't spend the day relaxing, or catching up on sleep, boy did Ms Mayes have plans for us that day! We walked to Nagoya castle, the icon of Nagoya. All of us were amazed at the immense size of the castle, it soared up into the sky. Quoted from Germaine Lo's description in her journal 'The two dolphins glittered in the sun, and I was suprised by the lush green; which hadn't turned one bit orange despite the weather being Autumn...' and she goes on. Those 'glittering golden dolphins', Kinsahachi is the symbol of Nagoya castle. Looking more like a fish with a dragon's head, the two Kinshachi are made from gold, and are at the top of the two large buildings in the castle. These golden status have been stolen 4 or 7 times, the culprits being caught each time! Once reaching the observatory on the top floor, we had the option to buy gifts from the gift shop, items ranging to miniature Kinshachi replicas to fans to keychains.
On our way back to the exit, we grabbed some lunch. We ordered our own lunches and some of us ate Nagoya's specialty which is called Kishimen. Kishimen is a flat, thick noodles with Katsuo base served with fishcake and tofu curd. It was very delicious and quite filling. After we left Nagoya, we returned to Kyoya inn, happy to hear that we are given relaxing time. Each of us went into a deep sleep and showered with hot water. It made us all feel much better. Even though we felt clean and energised, we were starving. We went to a 24 hour restaurant which was great. We then rushed in our futons to sleep. It was very comfortable and we fell into a deep sleep. It had been a long tiring day.
Heidi Jiang and Jessie Edwards
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