Hiroshima Internship Programme: March 2008 Archives

Hiroshima Internship Programme 30/5/07

Jhui

on March 20, 2008 12:41 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Were assigned to the Loans Department today. As there was some time left before work started, we were taught by Ms Nakamoto the methods of counting money. It was really interesting but difficult at the same time. What I liked most was that they have only-for-pratice-usage money. :D

Learned about many different types of loans at the Loans Department.

Lunch was tonkatsu with rice. I really love the set meals at the Shinkin Bank's staff canteen. Look at the amount of food!!! The best thing was that it only cost me 400 yen. Quality+Quantity+Cheap.

Returned to the Loans Department after lunch. Was actually a little sleepy though because we did not need to move much today. Just needed to sit down and listen to what the in-charge had to say.

Seriously tiring day.
Dinner was at Handaya again but I ate something different this time. Pork kimchi and gyoza. I've never eaten pork kimchi before in Singapore and it was really really delicious. :D

Hiroshima Internship Programme 29/5/07

Jhui

on March 19, 2008 11:42 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Next part of the Hiroshima Internship Programme~

2nd day of internship. Same as the day before, we were assigned to the HR department and our in-charges were Mr Nakamura and Ms Nakamoto. They treated us to Hiroshima's speciality, Okonomiyaki, for lunch. I seriously love okonomiyaki, especially the Hiroshima version. Then again, I've only eaten the try-to-imitate-Japan-but-fail-Singapore version so it's not really difficult to choose which version I like.

Ms Nakamoto, Me, Pei San, Mr Nakamura.

As the okonomiyaki was really too big for us to finish eating it (although both our in-charges managed to do so), we started to play with the thing that you are supposed to eat the okonomiyaki with. Whee~

Returned to the company's carpark after lunch and I was seriously amazed by how high-tech the carpark was. You just need to drive the car into the place as shown above and it will automatically get parked. To retrieve the car, simply key in the password or something and out it comes. So.freaking.cool.

Went to this place called Ougon San, which basically means...Golden Mountain(Huang Jin Shan)?

As Pei San's afraid of heights, she was like grabbing my hand the whole time we were up there. I, on the other hand, am afraid of walking down slopes so I was like the slowest one to descend the mountain.

Group photo~

Plus size cat. Look at it's hair/fur! So fluffy~ All the animals/pets that I saw in Japan had like damn pretty hair/fur, like as if they apply serum to them and get combed a million times per day.

Signboards in Japan are cute and sometimes funny, especially the English ones. Didnt take a photo of that though.

Pei San wanted to go to Fudoin so we got brought there.

Our in-charges were initally shocked when Pei San told them she wanted to go there because apparently, not many foreigners know about this place.

I really like how temples are really quiet and serene. :D

I've not been to Hiroshima Castle yet and really wanted to visit that place but because parking was a problem, we headed to the next destination instead.

So in the end, we went to Shukkeien.

Not many people were there that day(Of course la! It was still within working hours).

Shukkeien is a man-made garden.

I dont know how and why I went to climb onto this bridge. Although not really visible from this angle, the steps of the bridge were freaking smooth and tilted. Going up was a little difficult already...somemore had to come down. Since I'm afraid of slopes, I did the very unglam thing of removing my shoes and basically slid down the steps. If you see closely, those are my shoes at the foot of the bridge. I rock.

Dinner was at this family restaurant called Handaya. Basically, they display the different kinds of food on the shelves and in the fridge and you can pick whatever you want to eat. Like...mix-and-match? After selecting, you just need to proceed the cashier, pay up and enjoy your meal. Damn cool and not to mention...CHEAP. Really good for poor people like me.

As you can see from above, I've added links to names of shops and places of attractions so you can know more about that particular shop/place just by clicking on the link. All links are from this site. It's so freaking cool. Lots of information on Hiroshima.

Hiroshima Internship Programme 28/5/07

Jhui

on March 17, 2008 12:12 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Internship finally started today~!

We have to walk like 45mins(15mins for Japanese people) to the train station every day, take a train, get off and walk for like another 10mins(probably 3mins for Japanese people) to the company. As we were damn afraid that we would be late, we used to leave the training centre early in the morning. In fact, we were like always the earliest to leave and we'll reach the company like 30mins earlier. We will then kill time in the waiting room on the 5th floor.

Lunch on the first day of work! For 400 yen, you get like pork katsu curry, tea and 2 side dishes. Oh wait, there's fruit too! So worth it can! The food's really tasty too.

Spent the first half of the day learning about the history of the Shinkin Bank from Mr Nakamura. Went to the Hiroshima Peace Memorial after lunch with Mr Nakamura and Ms Nakamoto. That was like my 2nd time visiting the Peace Memorial.

This was where the bomb dropped on.

Went to a cafe in Hondoori to kill time after that because there was still lots of time left before the welcome party in the evening. Mr Nakamura and Ms Nakamoto returned to the company to prepare for the party whereas Pei San and I walked around Hondoori.

The welcome party was held at Rihga Royal Hotel.

Mr Saeki giving out nametags.

The chairman of the Hiroshima-Singapore Association(HSA), Mr Tamura, giving a speech.

Our representative, Liling then giving her speech.

Cheers~

The nine of us each received souveniers from Mr Tamura. The souveniers included a ballpoint pen and the HSA badge.

Vivien, Mr Tamura, Grace

Representatives from the Hiroshima ANA Hotel.

Representatives from JTB.

Representatives from Kinki Nippon Tourist.

Representatives from Rihga Royal Hotel

Representatives from Toppan Printing.

Representatives from Hiroshima Shinkin Bank.

Hiroshima Internship Programme 27/5/07

Jhui

on March 16, 2008 11:50 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

2nd day of homestay. On the way to youme town, we dropped by Hiroshima University, the university where Airi's studying in. Coincidentally, Okaasan's also from there too!

Rubbish bins in the school. Throwing rubbish away in Japan is helluva troublesome because you have to throw rubbish away according to how they are categorised. Then again, it's good for the environment.

The canteen.

The campus was really spick-and-span and the buildings looked really clean on the outside...unlike the university that I study in now.

Proceeded to youme town after the short visit where we met up with Melody and her host family, Ms Oogata. As we were a little too early, we went shopping and bought the same top :D I also bought a yukata that I havent got a chance to wear yet.

After Melody and Ms Oogata arrived, we went to eat ice-cream. There were like so many different flavours to choose from la! Thanks to Ms Oogata for the treat!

After choosing for like ages, I finally decided on grape. Yummilicious~!

Me, Airi, Ms Oogata, Melody.

Poster of Aibu Saki.

Melody, Me.

Proceeded to Sakagura-dori. Apparently you can fill your water bottles up with this water. Ok, I'm not sure if it's allowed because I did not read the sign behind me but I saw some guy doing that. :D

Outside the gates of Kamotsuru.

Standing next to this thing that they steam the rice in. So freaking big.

Me, Airi.

I like the origami.

Things needed to make sake.

Sake galore~ Can drink for free somemore!

:D
It was at this place that I dropped my camera on the floor so...the lens got slanted or something. Luckily the floor was carpeted though. Went to Deo Deo to repair my camera. :(

Ate at Okonomimura for dinner and went to take neoprints after that. I've actually uploaded the neoprints in the gallery like months ago so if you want to see them, please proceed to the gallery.

Hiroshima Internship Programme 26/5/07

Jhui

on March 16, 2008 3:47 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Saturday was homestay day. As Melody's and my host family were busy in the day, their common friend, Ms Watanabe, took care of us for the day. We had to travel like 45 minutes by car to East Hiroshima.

Played with Ms Watanabe's 3 children, Shouta, Sakura and Momo, at her house. Sakura tied my hair for me :D

Momo, who's like 2 years old only.

Sakura, 5 years old.

Shouta, 7 years old.

Poor Sakura was 'stepped' onto by Momo.

Shouta doing a handstand.

Momo trying to play the piano. So cute~!

'How was it?'

While Melody was playing with Sakura and Momo, I drew maze puzzles with Shouta. This's Shouta's masterpiece.

My maze puzzle. As you can see, my drawing's really bad. :(

Momo gave up on playing the piano and went to ride her 'bicycle'.

Cute~

Had udon for lunch.

Had my first taste of lady's finger. I used to think that lady's finger's spicy because of it's shape. Looks like green chili to me. However, it wasnt spicy at all but kind of sticky~

Played around their house after lunch. Shiitake mushrooms grown by the Watanabes.

Their neighbour's onions.

Saw lots of rice fields there.

Somehow, the kids decided to go frog-catching.

Can you see the camourflaged flog?

Shouta managed to catch the frog.

Momo following closely behind Sakura. So freaking cute!

While the kids walked/ran across the muddy grass patches, Melody and I walked like 2cm/hour or something. We fail :(

Shouta managed to catch 2 frogs in the end. Sakura wanted 1 frog from him but Shouta was unwilling to share them with her so she...started crying. While her mum was trying to make her stop crying, Momo, on the hand, ate jelly as if nothing was happening around her. :D

Had a party held by the HIPPO club at night. It was Shouta's birthday as well that day.

Sakura and Melody.

There was lots of food that day~ Yummy!!! Finally met my host family that day. She's Ito Airi, a university student who's like only 2 years older than me! :D

Hiroshima Internship Programme 25/5/07

Jhui

on March 16, 2008 2:59 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Split up and went to our respective companies.

Hui En, Me, Peisan. On our way to work. The only day where we got to take a car to work. Had to walk like mad and utilise the train for the rest of the days.

The place where Pei San and I were supposed to intern at.

We just had to go around the company to do greetings today so we ended relatively early. In fact, we ended work before lunch :D Ate at Yokocho Ramen which was located a short distance away from the company.

Hmmn, what to eat?

The chef of the shop we went into was from Shanghai, China. We knew that because he was eagerly showing us photos of his hometown when he realised that we could speak Chinese.

While waiting for the ramen to get cooked, we camwhored in the shop. Whee~

Dont ask me why I did that.

My miso ramen.

Walked around after lunch and Pei San discovered her favourite Mr Donut...so we went to buy donuts~The donuts there are seriously pretty and presentable, unlike Singapore's neighbourhood donuts shop. I really cant stand the donuts sold in Singapore. First of all, the size of the donut's damn small and the donuts never fail to look like as if they were done in a hurry or something. Slapping a teeny-weeny M&M on top of a plain donut does not make it a M&M donut okay!!!

Kamenashi Kazuya~

Went to take neoprints. Neoprints in Japan are like dirt cheap and the machine's functions are like really good. No wonder I took so many neoprints in the 3 weeks there. Like...6 times?

My favourite shop. Daiso~

Met Vivien, Grace and Melody at Hondoori.

Supposed to pose like as if we were very tired but...why is Hui En laughing?!

We took the wrong train back so we were like the latest to meet up with the rest at Yokogawa Station. :(

Dinner was donuts, bread and takoyaki.

Hiroshima Internship Programme 24/5/07

Jhui

on March 16, 2008 2:08 PM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Went to Hiroshima Shudo University today.

Before setting off, we had a short internship briefing by Mr Saeki in the cateen of the training centre. Following that, we set off for the university in a taxi~!

Weiying, Vivien, Me

All of us upon reaching Shudo University.

Had a really warm welcome by the students there.

We got split into smaller groups and had lunch with the students there. Look at the amount of food in the Maku-no-uchi bento.

My group.

Was brought to the library after lunch. My god! Their library is big, pretty and modern...Unlike NUS' lao kok one.

Pretty origami at the counter.

They have like plasma TVs in the library where students can watch movies there. This is so unfair!

What I like about the library most. They have well-equipped facilities for the wheelchair-bound.

Some prize they got.

In the library with the teacher and students.

At the entrance of Shudo University before leaving the campus. One of the guys was really comical and ran after our taxi for a short distance. :D

Had a lecture by Mr Hashimoto on workplace manners after we got back.

Since there was a 10pm curfew, we stayed in the computer room for the rest of the night.

Supposed to go to the various companies early the following day but we ended up talking till quite late...This is what happens when girls get together :D TALK.

Hiroshima Internship Programme 23/5/07

Jhui

on March 16, 2008 3:27 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Hiroshima Internship

Took the JR from Kansai Airport to Osaka station to take a highway bus to Hiroshima.

The 8 of us with all our luggages basically clogged up one carriage of the JR and resulted in many people being unable to get onto the train during rush hour. So sorry!!!

The highway bus terminal.

In the bus. Everyone was really excited at the start and were taking photos like there's no tomorrow but in a twinkling of an eye, everyone was in la la land.

Finally reached the Hiroshima Shinkin Bank training center. This was my room for the whole internship period. One person to two beds~ So shuang~ In the end, one bed became the place where I dumped everything on(clothes, plastic bags, receipts, bottles...) and the room was seriously cluttered up by the end of the internship.

Had a briefing in the training centre.

Was made to do a self-introduction in front of the new employees of the Shinkin Bank who were there for training as well.

Had dinner at this family resturant called Gust.

First dinner in Hiroshima~

Photo taken outside Gusto with Mr Tani and Mr Saeki who treated us to dinner~ Thank you very much~!

Hiroshima Internship Programme 22/5/07

Jhui

on March 16, 2008 3:05 AM | Permalink | TrackBacks (0)

Havent got the time to blog about my Taiwan trip so I've decided to blog about the internship programme that took place in Hiroshima...in May 2007. Yet another backdated entry~

Went with 8 other girls from school to Hiroshima in May for the internship programme.

Took a plane from Singapore, transited in Thailand before taking another plane to Osaka. The transit in Thailand was 5 whole freaking hours and we almost died walking around in the humongous Thailand airport. Since we spent so much time there, I think that I should dedicate one post solely on the aiport :D