Throughout the trip, there were several valuable lessons to learn from the Japanese. The impression they gave me was that they were not only friendly, but also very dedicated to help whoever is in need.
When we went to the Yokohama central area where there were most shopping centres, on our way to the train station, we passed by a bus stop. An old man at the bus stop suddenyl slipped and fell whilst walking in the bus stop. Instantaneously, we stopped and looked stunned. Well, probably that is the Singaporean common reaction. Stop, look, continue walking. On the other hand, for Japanese, they immediately went forward to help. 4 people, 3 women and 1 man went forward to help the old man to his feet while we looked on. Personally, I did not know what to do at that time. The culture in Singapore has sometimes left me stunned and not knowing what to do when faced with such situations. Indeed, I was full of respect for the Japanese.
Furthermore, their utmost dedication in overcoming the language barrier just to ensure they get the message across to us. The several Japanese people we asked from convenience stores, food outlets, etc. all patiently tried ways and means to help us get to our destination or help us get out of the trouble we often get into due to the lack of detail in the tourist maps.
The amount of gratefulness I have towards the Japanese for making my trip so enjoyable is undescribable and all I wish to say is for SIngaporeans to start modelling after the Japanese and their cultured ways and manners. The best way to understand their culture is to go Japan yourself and finally you will see what I am trying to get through. Should Singaporeans be as polite and gracious as the Japanese, I believe that we will become a quintessentail cultured and gracious society that the government has been for long trying to propagate in the hearts of Singaporeans.
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Last Day here
Last day in Japan...went about for sightseeing in our hotel area first, then Yokohama, then finally Tokyo. Impressive behaviour and customer service.
When we were lost at the Tokyo station, we asked a couple with children if our line was correct. The couple then went to great lengths at explaining to us. After which, they moved on and we continued looking at the tourist map to confirm our bearings. After 5 minutes or so, the couple came back! We were surprised at first, only to realise that the couple had actually walked to the station office quite far away to confirm which platform we were to get on and walked all the way back with their children, who are merely toddlers. We were indeed extremely grateful and continually thanked them.
The only thing I can describe is awesome. I really hope that Singapore can one day be as gracious a society as Japan.
When we were lost at the Tokyo station, we asked a couple with children if our line was correct. The couple then went to great lengths at explaining to us. After which, they moved on and we continued looking at the tourist map to confirm our bearings. After 5 minutes or so, the couple came back! We were surprised at first, only to realise that the couple had actually walked to the station office quite far away to confirm which platform we were to get on and walked all the way back with their children, who are merely toddlers. We were indeed extremely grateful and continually thanked them.
The only thing I can describe is awesome. I really hope that Singapore can one day be as gracious a society as Japan.
Day 4--5 Dec 08
Day 4, 5 Dec, last day of conference. Perhaps this day is one of the most thought-provoking and interesting day out of the 3 days.
Once again, there have been several new ideas that can be implemented/modified in our local education system. One of which, is the usage of blogs in education. Yes, blogs have become an online revolutionary phenomenon, and schools can introduce blogs in their curriculum to aid students in learning.
By encouraging students to blog and write their online journal, it is an excellent opportunity to brush up their writing skills be it in English or in Chinese. Through constant blogging, students will be further able to express themselves in writing. Furthermore, most importantly, teachers will best be able to comment on the students writings. More often than not in our education system, time is a limiting factor, and if we take a closer look as to why students hardly write essays for their teachers to grade other than in examinations, it is because the teacher has no time to mark them.
Henceforth, introducing the blog writing method will help both sides as students get to write more in their free time on topics they like and are interested on, and teachers on the other hand have enough time to comment on the students essays and need not mark them in great detail. It is hence mutually beneficial for the blog writing system to be introduced.
Another conference talk was on the usage of games in the education system. Game-based learning is gaining momentum in Technology-Enhanced Learning, and why should games be used for learning?
Games are engaging, and hence students learn. Students get to play an active role instead of a normal, boring "sit-and-listen". They get the opportunity to take part in a two side communication with their teacher, not just a one side communication where the teacher is the only one who talks. Furthermore, students cannot pay attention to the teacher as they are bored after sitting down and listen to the teacher for 15 minutes. Hence, playing is a crucial role in learning and education. Afterall, mammal cubs learn through playing, but why aren't we using them in school?
1. Social concerns. The public which includes parents might doubt the overall effectiveness of incorporating games into the education system, whether they will reap more harm than good. The usage of games in education was once a taboo; the current ideology that still persists is that games and education are at two separate ends of the spectrum. Games can never be used for learning and learning can never involve games. But today, the world is different, and games can be indeed used for learning. Games, yes games that are created on a educational platform, not the common commercial games where you just shoot and slaughter and kill mystical creatures. That is the main reason why gaming in education is not widely supported.
2. Difficulty in getting teachers involved in the creation of the content. Teachers often want to control most if not all of the content in the game as they would want the games to be as educational as possible. However, teachers are not programmers, and they do not know how to create the game/game content. If game developers are outsourced, they might not create the game according to the school's requirements, hence initiating quite a bit of trouble. Therefore, teachers are also not in the idea of using games for education.
3. Students perception. When students hear that games are being used in education and learning, they start to get excited. What they are expecting is something like from World of Warcraft of Maplestory, where you kill and shoot and fight other monsters. However, when they know that the games for learning are not what they have in mind, they then switch off completely and the flame in them to learn through games has totally extinguished. E learning was not a foreign idea in the 1900s. In 1970s, e learning was one of the most "in" and cool thing in education. Yet it failed. Why? Because it was too boring and students rejected the idea.
Therefore, there is a need to develop games that meet the certain requirement:
- Cheaper
-Involve teachers
-Engage students
-Deliver the games and supervise the learning experience
There is a university which has a e-learning faculty meted out to develop games that suit the above requirements and differs from the past games. The university in Spain has developed games for several well-known institutions. One of which is the Harvard Medical School. The university's e-learning faculty created a 3D Adventure game which is open source, and has close collaboration with teachers. In Harvard Medical School's game, the game imitates Intensive Care Unit (ICU) facilities and educate the students on how to go about with surgical procedures.
Though pedagogy is still under discussion, yet this might just be the future of our education system, and the Ministry of Education can and should look into collaboration with the Spain university to develop game prototypes.
For now, this is about it, and I personally hope that one day, games can be fully incorporated into our education system.
Once again, there have been several new ideas that can be implemented/modified in our local education system. One of which, is the usage of blogs in education. Yes, blogs have become an online revolutionary phenomenon, and schools can introduce blogs in their curriculum to aid students in learning.
By encouraging students to blog and write their online journal, it is an excellent opportunity to brush up their writing skills be it in English or in Chinese. Through constant blogging, students will be further able to express themselves in writing. Furthermore, most importantly, teachers will best be able to comment on the students writings. More often than not in our education system, time is a limiting factor, and if we take a closer look as to why students hardly write essays for their teachers to grade other than in examinations, it is because the teacher has no time to mark them.
Henceforth, introducing the blog writing method will help both sides as students get to write more in their free time on topics they like and are interested on, and teachers on the other hand have enough time to comment on the students essays and need not mark them in great detail. It is hence mutually beneficial for the blog writing system to be introduced.
Another conference talk was on the usage of games in the education system. Game-based learning is gaining momentum in Technology-Enhanced Learning, and why should games be used for learning?
Games are engaging, and hence students learn. Students get to play an active role instead of a normal, boring "sit-and-listen". They get the opportunity to take part in a two side communication with their teacher, not just a one side communication where the teacher is the only one who talks. Furthermore, students cannot pay attention to the teacher as they are bored after sitting down and listen to the teacher for 15 minutes. Hence, playing is a crucial role in learning and education. Afterall, mammal cubs learn through playing, but why aren't we using them in school?
1. Social concerns. The public which includes parents might doubt the overall effectiveness of incorporating games into the education system, whether they will reap more harm than good. The usage of games in education was once a taboo; the current ideology that still persists is that games and education are at two separate ends of the spectrum. Games can never be used for learning and learning can never involve games. But today, the world is different, and games can be indeed used for learning. Games, yes games that are created on a educational platform, not the common commercial games where you just shoot and slaughter and kill mystical creatures. That is the main reason why gaming in education is not widely supported.
2. Difficulty in getting teachers involved in the creation of the content. Teachers often want to control most if not all of the content in the game as they would want the games to be as educational as possible. However, teachers are not programmers, and they do not know how to create the game/game content. If game developers are outsourced, they might not create the game according to the school's requirements, hence initiating quite a bit of trouble. Therefore, teachers are also not in the idea of using games for education.
3. Students perception. When students hear that games are being used in education and learning, they start to get excited. What they are expecting is something like from World of Warcraft of Maplestory, where you kill and shoot and fight other monsters. However, when they know that the games for learning are not what they have in mind, they then switch off completely and the flame in them to learn through games has totally extinguished. E learning was not a foreign idea in the 1900s. In 1970s, e learning was one of the most "in" and cool thing in education. Yet it failed. Why? Because it was too boring and students rejected the idea.
Therefore, there is a need to develop games that meet the certain requirement:
- Cheaper
-Involve teachers
-Engage students
-Deliver the games and supervise the learning experience
There is a university which has a e-learning faculty meted out to develop games that suit the above requirements and differs from the past games. The university in Spain has developed games for several well-known institutions. One of which is the Harvard Medical School. The university's e-learning faculty created a 3D Adventure game which is open source, and has close collaboration with teachers. In Harvard Medical School's game, the game imitates Intensive Care Unit (ICU) facilities and educate the students on how to go about with surgical procedures.
Though pedagogy is still under discussion, yet this might just be the future of our education system, and the Ministry of Education can and should look into collaboration with the Spain university to develop game prototypes.
For now, this is about it, and I personally hope that one day, games can be fully incorporated into our education system.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Day 3-- 4 Dec 08
Tick tock tick tock....As i update yesterday's posts, its already 11+pm here in Japan.
But anyway, let us continue on the priceless experiences today.
E learning plays one a vital role in education today. Though it is still a once a year event, but it represents the future of education. As e-learning begins to play a pivotal role in education, avatar-mediated games can take on a new look in local education systems. Avatar-mediated games...what are they???
Avatar mediated games are basically games where you, the gamer has an avatar (in-game character), and you control the avatar to explore around the in-game environment. During the sharing session today, the professor told us of how they educated their students on the highly controversial issue of Guantanamo Bay in USA. Well, what is Guantanamo Bay? Guantanamo Bay is the high-security prison in the USA where highly-dangerous criminals are detained. There has been several reports of soldiers and prison wardens brutally treating the prisoners there, not treating them as humans. President George Bush seems to be silent regarding the issue, sparking off debates whether Bush is actually supporting the supposedly inhumane activities done to the prisoners. The professor then wanted to let students understand fully what the prisoners experience like in Guantanamo Bay in order to discuss the social issues involved.
The professor then incorporated the highly popular Second Life game, whereby it is a virtual game world aimed to simulate the real world. Using Second Life and developing the code, the professor re-creates Guantanamo Bay from reality and fact-based accounts, using audio and videos that are real and non-fictitious. The students take the role of the "prisoner" whereby they fully experience in the first-person the whole process of being "'imprisoned" in Guantanamo Bay. Students showed positive responses and felt that they learnt more via Avatar mediated games in an after-game survey.
Hence, during E-learning in Singapore, students and log on to the online platforms such as Second Life and they have an avatar. While exploring the virtual environment, educational videos and audio, as well as content can be present in the gaming environment. Boundaries and private servers can be created to prevent students from wandering else where not within the perimeters of the e learning platform area in the game itself. Schools and MOE can collaborate with current popular game platforms to develop education systems ONLINE, as what many other education systems have done, especially in Europe and USA.
This system is ideal for several reasons:
Firstly, students are very attached to computers and even more to computer games. During e learning in today's context, students often display obligations to deviate from their motive: to study online. Many turn towards games to kill boredom or just to socialise with their friends. Hence,incorporating the e learning INTO the game itself will enhance the overall effectiveness, as learning takes place in the game itself, and students have no reason to deviate from the game. Results would be better achieved.
Secondly, for schools yet to introduce and are foreign to e learning, this is a very viable option for them to explore further on this new, interesting e learning field.
Teachers themselves can take on the roles of avatars themselves and conduct lessons in the game too! "Field trips" can be organised with ease in the virtual environment.
But anyway, let us continue on the priceless experiences today.
E learning plays one a vital role in education today. Though it is still a once a year event, but it represents the future of education. As e-learning begins to play a pivotal role in education, avatar-mediated games can take on a new look in local education systems. Avatar-mediated games...what are they???
Avatar mediated games are basically games where you, the gamer has an avatar (in-game character), and you control the avatar to explore around the in-game environment. During the sharing session today, the professor told us of how they educated their students on the highly controversial issue of Guantanamo Bay in USA. Well, what is Guantanamo Bay? Guantanamo Bay is the high-security prison in the USA where highly-dangerous criminals are detained. There has been several reports of soldiers and prison wardens brutally treating the prisoners there, not treating them as humans. President George Bush seems to be silent regarding the issue, sparking off debates whether Bush is actually supporting the supposedly inhumane activities done to the prisoners. The professor then wanted to let students understand fully what the prisoners experience like in Guantanamo Bay in order to discuss the social issues involved.
The professor then incorporated the highly popular Second Life game, whereby it is a virtual game world aimed to simulate the real world. Using Second Life and developing the code, the professor re-creates Guantanamo Bay from reality and fact-based accounts, using audio and videos that are real and non-fictitious. The students take the role of the "prisoner" whereby they fully experience in the first-person the whole process of being "'imprisoned" in Guantanamo Bay. Students showed positive responses and felt that they learnt more via Avatar mediated games in an after-game survey.
Hence, during E-learning in Singapore, students and log on to the online platforms such as Second Life and they have an avatar. While exploring the virtual environment, educational videos and audio, as well as content can be present in the gaming environment. Boundaries and private servers can be created to prevent students from wandering else where not within the perimeters of the e learning platform area in the game itself. Schools and MOE can collaborate with current popular game platforms to develop education systems ONLINE, as what many other education systems have done, especially in Europe and USA.
This system is ideal for several reasons:
Firstly, students are very attached to computers and even more to computer games. During e learning in today's context, students often display obligations to deviate from their motive: to study online. Many turn towards games to kill boredom or just to socialise with their friends. Hence,incorporating the e learning INTO the game itself will enhance the overall effectiveness, as learning takes place in the game itself, and students have no reason to deviate from the game. Results would be better achieved.
Secondly, for schools yet to introduce and are foreign to e learning, this is a very viable option for them to explore further on this new, interesting e learning field.
Teachers themselves can take on the roles of avatars themselves and conduct lessons in the game too! "Field trips" can be organised with ease in the virtual environment.
3 Dec 08 Update
Well, yes, the more important things to talk about regarding the first day of conference. Several new insights were obtained from the talks given by the speakers:
Firstly, education in Japan is well integrated with technology. More often than not, researchers and developers in Japan take their prototypes and request people of schooling age between 11-17 to test their prototype. The main technology that the school children test are robots. These robots are often brought to Japan schools for the children to try it out, and after which, they provide valuable feedback to the piece of technology.
To me, this is what education can be like, and Singapore can model after it. We often see the Singapore Government actively trying to spark off the interest in the younger generation, to breed "potential top scientist, researchers, and developers". However, most of the time, it is just talks and events that reap little benefits to achieve the purpose. In Japan, technology is BROUGHT to the students, not the students going to the talks or whatsoever. This allows the young generation in japan to try out and inspire them to enter into the technology and science field. Afterall, results have clearly proven that Japan has no worries regarding who is to lead the science fields in their country in future.
Singapore should model after bringing technology--entertainment technology that will stimulate students. Furthermore, rather than investing in "future schools" which is the prevalent situation in Singapore, where only FEW schools get the privilege of being exposed to technology, research institutions and universities can bring in their own technology into school life and let the students test the prototypes. It will help stimulate students to be more involved in the science field. it is also definitely less costly than building the future schools.
Furthermore, as mobile technology is the prototype technology introduced the the "future schools" that is currently under the primary stage (if i am not wrong), the technology should spread to more than PDAs and UMPCs--those mini PCS that weigh less than a kilo. In order to make mobile education technology readily available, software should be developed on platforms that are able to cater and run on normal mobile phones. PDAs are most costly and less user friendly, not to forget very much less common among students. What is the purpose of introducing mobile education technology? To facilitate learning everywhere, anytime, and make it common. I strongly believe PDAs do not meet the mark.
Mobile education software should be developed on common mobile phone platforms to allow the wide schooling population locally to fully utilise and maximise the capabilities of the mobile education technology. Not only will costs go down as only software needs to be invested upon and new technology need not be purchased, but also the wide majority will be able to use as mobile phones play an integrated in the young generation's lives today. Mobile phones are also always next to the young today; few ever part with their mobile phones. Therefore, using mobile education software on common phones will allow students to learn more conveniently and frequently, fully achieving the purpose of the mobile education software.
I know that to develop such an application on such a platform is by no means an easy task. Researchers at the conference have also pointed that out, but it is something worth looking into, as it is a viable idea that can always be adapted and modified.
Continuing on the education part of entertainment technology, e-learning can actually take on a new phase. There was a paper written on the usage of robots in the classroom, which is quite futuristic and quite challenging to accomplish in the near future. It encompassed the teacher teaching a robot, and the robot records down the voice, expressions, gestures, etc. The robot then transmit the information wirelessly to other robots via the network, and the other robots on the receiving end then convey the message and information to the students. The purpose of this function is to facilitate how the student wants to receive the information as he can control the robot in front of him, and the teacher is more able to convey the message across. The robots also come with different functions to facilitate learning.
There is an interesting piece of technology that a scientist at the conference innovated. The scientist innovated a chair whereby it FORCED users to nod. Yes, nod. The chair moves, forcing the person on the chair to jerk his/her head forward slightly. But what is the purpose of this chair that makes you nod? Well, together with other studies, it has been proven that nodding at certain intervals when someone is talking to you helps you focus and understand on the information more. Interesting right? However, nodding much be subtle and subconscious, not rocking your head back and forth violently. This chair in other words helps you concentrate more. We can always introduce this piece of technology in our classrooms in future, who knows? one not so good point was pointed out by one of the audience though. If this chair technology is introduced in classrooms, say in a class of 30 students, when the teacher talks, all the chairs move at the same time (as they are of the same type), and everyone nods at the same time, wouldn't it be very funny, comical and most of all, distracting. The point is, when you are talking to two people and they nod simultaneously, you know something is amiss. Talk about 30 people nodding all at the same time...a little strange and distracting right?
Basically, this is all I have thought of and written till now. This is my take on how some research presented at the conference can be applied locally. Of course, I have been exposed to much more content, but if I were to tell you verbatim, it would be pointless. Might as well throw you the whole conference proceedings! Therefore, this is my view and sharing with you all regarding how we can incorporate entertainment technology in Singapore. That's the point on attending conferences after all, so hope you are more open and exposed to new ideas now...
By the way, for those interested in developing mobile applications for whatever reasons be it entertainment or whatsoever, a good website to check out is www.mupe.net This website is a Nokia product where it is free of charge and teaches you step by step how to create multiplayer mobile phone games and applications. Note: this application is only used to create MULTIPLAYER software.
Cheerio!
Qin En
Firstly, education in Japan is well integrated with technology. More often than not, researchers and developers in Japan take their prototypes and request people of schooling age between 11-17 to test their prototype. The main technology that the school children test are robots. These robots are often brought to Japan schools for the children to try it out, and after which, they provide valuable feedback to the piece of technology.
To me, this is what education can be like, and Singapore can model after it. We often see the Singapore Government actively trying to spark off the interest in the younger generation, to breed "potential top scientist, researchers, and developers". However, most of the time, it is just talks and events that reap little benefits to achieve the purpose. In Japan, technology is BROUGHT to the students, not the students going to the talks or whatsoever. This allows the young generation in japan to try out and inspire them to enter into the technology and science field. Afterall, results have clearly proven that Japan has no worries regarding who is to lead the science fields in their country in future.
Singapore should model after bringing technology--entertainment technology that will stimulate students. Furthermore, rather than investing in "future schools" which is the prevalent situation in Singapore, where only FEW schools get the privilege of being exposed to technology, research institutions and universities can bring in their own technology into school life and let the students test the prototypes. It will help stimulate students to be more involved in the science field. it is also definitely less costly than building the future schools.
Furthermore, as mobile technology is the prototype technology introduced the the "future schools" that is currently under the primary stage (if i am not wrong), the technology should spread to more than PDAs and UMPCs--those mini PCS that weigh less than a kilo. In order to make mobile education technology readily available, software should be developed on platforms that are able to cater and run on normal mobile phones. PDAs are most costly and less user friendly, not to forget very much less common among students. What is the purpose of introducing mobile education technology? To facilitate learning everywhere, anytime, and make it common. I strongly believe PDAs do not meet the mark.
Mobile education software should be developed on common mobile phone platforms to allow the wide schooling population locally to fully utilise and maximise the capabilities of the mobile education technology. Not only will costs go down as only software needs to be invested upon and new technology need not be purchased, but also the wide majority will be able to use as mobile phones play an integrated in the young generation's lives today. Mobile phones are also always next to the young today; few ever part with their mobile phones. Therefore, using mobile education software on common phones will allow students to learn more conveniently and frequently, fully achieving the purpose of the mobile education software.
I know that to develop such an application on such a platform is by no means an easy task. Researchers at the conference have also pointed that out, but it is something worth looking into, as it is a viable idea that can always be adapted and modified.
Continuing on the education part of entertainment technology, e-learning can actually take on a new phase. There was a paper written on the usage of robots in the classroom, which is quite futuristic and quite challenging to accomplish in the near future. It encompassed the teacher teaching a robot, and the robot records down the voice, expressions, gestures, etc. The robot then transmit the information wirelessly to other robots via the network, and the other robots on the receiving end then convey the message and information to the students. The purpose of this function is to facilitate how the student wants to receive the information as he can control the robot in front of him, and the teacher is more able to convey the message across. The robots also come with different functions to facilitate learning.
There is an interesting piece of technology that a scientist at the conference innovated. The scientist innovated a chair whereby it FORCED users to nod. Yes, nod. The chair moves, forcing the person on the chair to jerk his/her head forward slightly. But what is the purpose of this chair that makes you nod? Well, together with other studies, it has been proven that nodding at certain intervals when someone is talking to you helps you focus and understand on the information more. Interesting right? However, nodding much be subtle and subconscious, not rocking your head back and forth violently. This chair in other words helps you concentrate more. We can always introduce this piece of technology in our classrooms in future, who knows? one not so good point was pointed out by one of the audience though. If this chair technology is introduced in classrooms, say in a class of 30 students, when the teacher talks, all the chairs move at the same time (as they are of the same type), and everyone nods at the same time, wouldn't it be very funny, comical and most of all, distracting. The point is, when you are talking to two people and they nod simultaneously, you know something is amiss. Talk about 30 people nodding all at the same time...a little strange and distracting right?
Basically, this is all I have thought of and written till now. This is my take on how some research presented at the conference can be applied locally. Of course, I have been exposed to much more content, but if I were to tell you verbatim, it would be pointless. Might as well throw you the whole conference proceedings! Therefore, this is my view and sharing with you all regarding how we can incorporate entertainment technology in Singapore. That's the point on attending conferences after all, so hope you are more open and exposed to new ideas now...
By the way, for those interested in developing mobile applications for whatever reasons be it entertainment or whatsoever, a good website to check out is www.mupe.net This website is a Nokia product where it is free of charge and teaches you step by step how to create multiplayer mobile phone games and applications. Note: this application is only used to create MULTIPLAYER software.
Cheerio!
Qin En
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Day 2-- 3 Dec 08
Day 2 over. Very late now in Japan--11pm now. Today is the first day of conference, and it was quite interesting, though tiring. Feel quite drained at the moment, do not wish to write much for now. I will further update this post tomorrow when I am back earlier from the conference.
Basically, today, after having lunch at the Keio University dining hall (which served food that was of quality standards), we attended the opening ceremony, which was basically a keynote talk by the sort of Guest of Honour. He explored on the topic of how fingerprints help us in our daily lives rather than the common conception many people have and the definition in dictionaries.
Afterwhich, the talks were about Food Entertainment. The talks were extremely interesting, yes, with live demonstrations of how to make "fake" food. We often see fake food both in Japan and in Singapore. fake food is basically food made of inedible materials, yet looks exactly like the real edible food. The professor did a 1 hour long live demonstration on how to make "fake" food which was immensely entertaining and interesting. He used paraffin to mould and colour the "food".
Dinner was great on the cruise "Marine Shuttle". The conference organisers booked the whole ship and we set off from the Yokohama Bay. Dinner was good in buffet style, with quite a lot of variety of food and drinks. The view was astounding fro mthe Yokohama Bay and the river too.
Tired day...so will rest for the moment. Will be back tomorrow with more about today! :)
Basically, today, after having lunch at the Keio University dining hall (which served food that was of quality standards), we attended the opening ceremony, which was basically a keynote talk by the sort of Guest of Honour. He explored on the topic of how fingerprints help us in our daily lives rather than the common conception many people have and the definition in dictionaries.
Afterwhich, the talks were about Food Entertainment. The talks were extremely interesting, yes, with live demonstrations of how to make "fake" food. We often see fake food both in Japan and in Singapore. fake food is basically food made of inedible materials, yet looks exactly like the real edible food. The professor did a 1 hour long live demonstration on how to make "fake" food which was immensely entertaining and interesting. He used paraffin to mould and colour the "food".
Dinner was great on the cruise "Marine Shuttle". The conference organisers booked the whole ship and we set off from the Yokohama Bay. Dinner was good in buffet style, with quite a lot of variety of food and drinks. The view was astounding fro mthe Yokohama Bay and the river too.
Tired day...so will rest for the moment. Will be back tomorrow with more about today! :)
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