On 9 October 2010, it was the time whereby we have to head back to Singapore. We all have to wake up at 3 in the morning and make our bunk before leaving Oshima Maru. It was very hard to leave Oshima Maru as it has given us the opportunity to experience seatime and also give us the opportunity to communicate in a foreign language and living in a foreign lifestyle. It really bring tears to our eyes when we wanted to leave Oshima Maru. To experience such things in Oshima is priceless. After we make our bunk, we all pack our luggage and bring them to the bus that will bring us back to Tokuyama station. Before boarding the bus, the Captain took a picture of us and one of the Japanese student, Yuzo, came by to bid farewell to us. For now, Japan will always be in our memory. The kindness and the friendship that they give to us are very valuable. Thank you for becoming a great host to us. Now, inside the bus, some of us are sleeping, while some of us just can't sleep as we want to spent the last minute enjoying the beautiful scenery that Japan has. After we reach Tokuyama station, we all rush to the airport. Even while we were rushing to the airport, we realised that even though we are taking the escalator, the Japanese would queue up. It is so unlike Singapore. The Japanese are a very considerate people.

On 8 October 2010, we visited the Hiroshima Memorial museum and the most famous Iwakuni bridge. The bridge is made up of woods. It is also said that the bridge normally suffer contraction during cold weathers. We also visited samurai houses in the Iwakuni bridge and we had ice creams despite the cold chilly weather. After we visited the samurai houses, we also visited the white snakes, it is said that white snakes gives good luck to the Japanese. After that, we went back to the bus to go to the Hiroshima Memorial musuem. However, we lost one of our member. Stanley did a headcount and found out that one of us is missing. Guess who? He was Shone. Luckily, Capt Raj, Mr Yoshidome and Daigaku found him. After that, we went to the Hiroshima to have our visit at the museum. We had a free and easy time for 6 hours.The Japanese students that escort us and showed us around Hiroshima were Daigaku, Minami, Miki, Akiko and Hideki. The Hiroshima Memorial museum was built as a memorial to the unfortunate atomic bomb that happened to Hiroshima on 6 August 1945 that put an end to the World War 2. The museum has a lots of artifacts and they also have pictures describing the suffering of the Japanese after the A-bomb. Also, in the museum, we were given a tool which translates every Japanese Language in English. All of us took pictures inside the museum and we also managed to take pictures with the Japanese kids. We all felt dishearten when we visit the place. Seeing all the pictures, sculptures and items donated really felt the pain the people had gone through. We also managed to take pictures at the dome( the only building that stands after the A-bomb). We spent around 2 and the half hours in the museum. After that, we went to various departmental stores in the city to do our shopping and get our souvenir for our love ones. We even had okonomiyaki for dinner and then we all went to do a quick shopping. As for me(Iffah), I bought a Nike shoes at a very last minute. Stanley wanted to buy shoes also but he is more concern of the time.

On 7 October 2010, it was our last day with Yuki, Hiroaki, Umi , Masaru, Wataru and Yuzo. Before we say our farewell with them, we all had our morning exercise at 6 in the morning. All of us assemble at the jetty and the chief officer will start the morning exercise. We all have fun counting upto 8 in Japanese while exercising and stretching. After that, we have our yummy breakfast. We had rice with curry chicken. It was super oiishi (delicious). After our breakfast, we all have to wash our utensils before we went off to work. After that, the DNS students will go to the wheel house while the DMR students will either go to the engine room or the engine control room. At 8.00, we all leave Marugame and head back to Oshima. After we reach Oshima, it is time for the Japanese student to return home. Umi, Hiroaki and Wataru accompanied us for dinner at the school canteen while Yuki, Yuzo and Masaru had to go back home. We all hug them before they went back home. We also exchange contact numbers with them also.

On the 6 of October 2010, we had our morning exercise before we went on a field trip to places like Shipyard which was the size of our little island, Singapore and the Shrine at Marugame.Everybody had a chance to see how work is being done in the shipyard and they also get to see different parts of the ships that were waiting to be assemble together to form a vessel.There are also many new vessels that were newly delivered. The workers inside the shipyard normally cycle to one place to the other. There are also some place set up inside the shipyard just to put their bicycles. It was truly an eye opening experience for us. What surprised us the most is that the main engine inside the shipyard are thrice as big as Oshima Maru. We were also fascinated by the Japanese Coast Guard ships.Next was the shrine, we were all excited to climb the 1500 steps to reach to the top of the shrine. Clarie, Xinsi, Stanley and Aaron were having a piggyback race while climbing to the top of the shrine. Syukriah was on her hills when climbing the 1500 steps,(which I think she's crazy). Shone was chatting with Yuki along the way. The most funniest part come when Stanley and Clarie came behind them and started singing love songs. When we are at the top of the shrine. I felt very giddy.however, that does not stop me from having fun. At the top of the Shrine, Stanley, Xinsi, Aaron and I purchased a fortune telling paper which indicates our luck. Stanley, Xinsi and Aaron got the most luckiest fortune telling paper ever while I got the average. My fortune telling indicates that I cannot move out from my current house. If I were to move out, bad things will happened to me. After taking pictures at the top of the shrine, we all have a race climbing down the steps of the shrine. The winner is Yuzo, One of the Japanese student, we called him ninja.There are many beautiful scenery and holistic architectures that were several hundred year old. Along the way back to Oshima Maru, we also managed to get souvenirs for our loved ones.

5 October 2010 is the day whereby we all have to start working. The engineering students will be handling the main engine in both engine room and engine control room while the deck cadets will be doing their watchkeeping. We are sailing from Oshima to Marugame which is 90 nautical miles away.Most of us were given 15 to 20 tasks onboard the ship. The deck cadets have to keep a watch as an officer, lookout and mooring operations. Thus it was very good opportunity for all of us and this was also the reason why I wanted to come to oshima so badly! For me throughout the 2 days of duties it somehow had gave me more passion of my future career and it was also help me to better understand what was taught to us and I must really thanked all the Japanese students, captain,chief engineer and crews onboard for teaching us everything single thing they know about navigation and operations of the ships. We have learn a lot during the trip. On top of that, the engineering student also went up to the bridge to enjoy Japan's beautiful scenery. We also learn how to know the bearing of the lighthouse using the gyrocompass.

Today,which is day 2. We went to the school canteen to have our breakfast. After that we met up with Mr Masa for the campus tour, he brought us to the Laser Lab where there is a laser cutting machine that is able to cut materials with a smooth finishing. Over there, we are able to design our own keychain and bring back home. Halim put his new nickname on it which is Mika. Mika means orange in Japanese. After the Lab, Mr Masa brought us to the school’s new training simulator for deck and engine cadets. We were also provided a chance to use the new system. We were divided into groups of 4 and each group must maintain their course while the instructor tries to surprise us with vessel colliding with us or rough weather and we had to make sure that our vessel does not collide with another vessel during that exercise.We all had a great time navigating the vessel. Next we visited a Life Boat at a warehouse located in the school, we boarded the lifeboat and Captain Raj enthusiastically explained the various parts and features of a lifeboat and we felt that it was very useful to us as we have to attend safety drills in the future if we want to go seafaring. After that we boarded the state-of-the art Solar Boat. The person in charge explained everything about the vessel and he even gave one of our SMA students, Stanley a chance to steer the vessel. However, Stanley slightly brushed against the side of the wharf. Next, was the boarding of the Subaru, the captain brought us on a leisure ride around the cove of the island and we took many pictures of each other. The captain also gave each of us a chance to steer the vessel. For most of us, it was our first time sterring the vessel. Lastly,the Tea Ceremony whereby it was led by 2 lecturers and several female students from the school. It was an eye opening experience for most of us as we get to learn one of Japanese culture which is to make green tea. After the tea ceremony we rushed back to Oshima Maru to change and prepare for our welcome dinner and a short performance of 3 songs and 1 dance prepared by us 4 months ago. The performance went out great and everyone like it pretty much as I can tell from their loud claps and cheering. It gives us a great feeling that all our hard work had been paid off . After the performance we went back to the student hall in the vessel to have our welcome dinner. We had many conversations with the lecturers and the student. After that, we had a group photos with the college director, the lecturers and the students from Oshima NCMT. we all had a great fun and now we are all off to bed.

today, all of us gather at Terminal 3, Changi Airport to board our plane which is at 1 in the morning, We had fun taking pictures and getting to know Capt.Raj family members. After that, we have to check in at 11pm, Stanley had the heaviest luggage weighing 20.7kg, As for me, my luggage weight was 15.7kg. At 12am, we all have to bid farewell to our family members. I was shocked to know that my brother was Stanley's NS mate. It was my first time travelling in Singapore Airlines, the stewardess are all super friendly but the toilet is super small. When we arrive at Fukuoka Airport, we have to take a bus to the subway station, inside the subway station, they are signs saying that do not litter,smoke or blast the music out loud. The thing that surprise me the most is that the Japanese are all very nice and polite people, even though we are strangers, they would bow down to us. we had lots of fun there. Xinsi had never failed to hype things up, Halim is always with his crazy creative ideas and Clarie with her funny jokes. After we reach Tokuyama Station via bullet train, we met Mr Masahiro Sugimoto. He's a very nice guy and he always smile plus he speaks English very well. We went to the college by bus, it takes about 2 hrs to get there. After we reached, we put all of our luggage inside Oshima maru(ship), the ship has a very narrow walkway and very small cabin but we certainly enjoy ourselves very much. After we put all our luggage, it's time to change our clothes and play badminton with the Japanese students. All of us were excited as we all not only get a chance to play with the Japanese, we also get a chance to mingle around with them.