First Day--2 December 2008

Arriving at Narita Airport, the check in counter transit was as efficient as Changi Airport. Cheerio to Narita Airport for its utmost efficiency. Afterwhich, we proceeded to the train station to take a train all the way from Narita to Yokohama. Took about 2 hours, and the train was nearly empty. It was only the 4 of us, me, Mitchell, Ms Saras (accompanying teacher) and Ms See (Mentor) to one whole cabin. And they had very high tech technology in the trains too. No, I refuse to compare with the KTM...you know how big the gap is.

After reaching Yokohama, we transited here and there before finally reaching the train station, 2 minutes walk from the hotel. After putting down our luggage, we walked around the area, only to find out that the area we lived in was a very very quiet one, with very little life and few shops. Most shops did not have businesses, and we began our slow walk down the streets. We walked for more than 1 hour, only to realise later that we walked more than one train station away.

Moving on to lunch, lunch was great! Though it was more of Western than Japanese, yet the food was good. However, what impressed on me most was the customer service the restaurant staff gave to us. As we are in Japan and do not speak Japanese, the communication barrier was a very obstructive challenge to overcome. On the lunch menu were all pictures and Japanese words. The waitress then continuously keep coming to our table to explain the whole menu to us. By the way, the menu is 6 pages long and she spent about 25 minutes going through with us each type of meal and the type of meat. Though we did not speak Jap and she did not speak English, yet she took all pains to explain to us the type of food. She even drew out on paper the type of meat that a certain meal offered.

She was trying to tell us that the certain meal was fried squid. She did not know how to say squid in English and had to draw it out for us on a blank piece of paper a squid before we finally realised what it was. it indeed wins my respect. The Japanese are really a breed for us Singaporeans to follow and replicate. Their utmost dedication in providing customers the best service is impressive and REAL! More often than not, we hear friends saying Japanese are very polite and helpful, yet we do not believe, continuing in our self-centred ways. Well, COME TO JAPAN and you will understand why they are our role models in becoming a more civlised and gracious society. Their customer service, i can undoubtedly guarantee is of world-class standards.

Throughout today, we continually asked staff from convenience stores, shops, petrol kiosks, etc. directions as we were down right confused with the confusing train lines and streets. Out of the 7 people we asked, ALL replied us courteously. All had in common: when they saw we did not understand them in japanese, they tried to convey the message using broken English and hand signals, as well as drawing on our tourist map. it really stuns and amazes me how Japan breeds its people. Its in born culture and stature is one Singapore has to replicate, and sadly, is one Singapore is far from.

In the evening, we went to Yokohama's Chinatown. Well, no offense, but it was quite a disappointment, as we originally expected to be some sort of a crowd and tourists who will visit, but turns out on the contrary, it seems like a scene in a rural area rather than a popular destination. There were extremely few number of people/tourists in the Chinatown, yet throngs and throngs of eating places and shops. Now, i can tell future tourists to Yokohama, when you visit Chinatown, you need not worry about where to eat. Every alternate shop along the streets of Chinatown is a eating place. What is sad though is that almost every restaurant had only one table occupied out of the many tables. We are not sure whether is the peak hour or what, but business definitely looks quite down in the Yokohama Chinatown area.

Yes...Day 1 is almost over. Conference has not started today, but will be starting tomorrow, so i guess tomorrow night, i will have much less to write about!. :)

Qin En