Oshima 2017 Day 7 (Final day)

7th October 2017, Saturday.

The day has arrived.. When it is time for us to return back to Singapore :(

Everyone met outside the guest house at about 4.45am, when the bus would take us to Iwakuni airport. It was indeed very early that morning, and many of us felt sleepy, some of us even slept during the bus ride to the pit stop area, where we took our breakfast.

Once again, Oshima College covered our breakfast that morning, and we are ever thankful for their gracefulness :) We enjoyed the meal very very much! Oishi!!!

Breakfast was covered by Oshima College, thank you!!

Sharif and Taka digging in

Yu's selfie!!

The boys enjoying a quick selfie!!

After breakfast was done, we hopped back onto the bus and quickly made our way to the airport as we were slightly behind schedule. Of course, photos had to be taken at the airport before the SMA students checked in to the boarding area!

Benjamin, Yuki and Sharif

Sharif and Yuzuki

Nani and Yuzuki

Girls group photo!!

Nani and Yuzuki

Rachel and Akari

Time to enter the boarding area :(

SMA + Oshima College :)

 It was a saddening experience to say goodbye to our friends who accompanied us for the past 7 days. Moreover, strong bonds and relationships were forged between us, it was definitely a difficult goodbye that day... We hope to see you guys very soon!

We took 2 flights again to return back to Singapore:
1. 1st domestic flight from Iwakuni airport to Haneda airport
2. 2nd international flight from Haneda airport to Changi airport

We departed Iwakuni at about 7.30am, and we reached Singapore at 5.15pm, home sweet home :)

Last SMA group photo @ Changi Airport, Singapore!

Day 7 was a short and bitter-sweet day. It was a tough scene at Iwakuni airport as we parted from our Japanese buddies, but looking on the bright side, because such strong bonds were created between us, it is always possible for us to meet up again in the future especially as seafarers :) We will meet again soon!

We would also like to thank Captain Raj for preparing the 8 of us so well for this trip. He painstakingly guided and pushed us, for over 5 months, to ensure that we performed at our best efforts in the planning, dance performance, cultural presentation as well as the leadership roles and responsibilities of each individual in this team of 8. Moreover, he also kept encouraging us to gel as a team and meet up for bonding outings and games, which we couldn't really forsee the need for them at first, however, our gusto as a team manifested and shone really obviously throughout these 7 days! Not only are we a team, but we became family. For that, we thank you Captain Raj! We appreciate all your efforts!

In addition, we would also like to thank Singapore Polytechnic and Singapore Maritime Academy for funding this trip! Without them, this trip would not have been possible. We truly enjoyed our 7 days in Japan and gained many insights from here. Hence, we deeply appreciate this precious opportunity that was given to us as students. 

Last but not least, we would like to thank Oshima College for hosting us and being so hospitable, accommodating to our many requests so as to make us feel at ease and at home. Many arrangements were made to suit us and many extra activities were planned for us even with a short notice! We SMA students really appreciate everything that Oshima College has provided for us these past 7 days and it would be an honour to have You over in Singapore next year for our turn to host You! We will see you then!

We are a family!

Oshima 2017 Day 6

6th October 2017, Friday.

Hello everyone!

Today is the day where we set sail to return from Shimonoseki back to Oshima.

According to the Chief Officer, the currents nearing Shimonoseki would be very strong and fierce at about 8.30am that morning. Hence, arrangement was made for departure from Shimonoseki to be at 8am.

Everyone got up bright and early that morning, and as usual, we had our roll call and breakfast, before assembling at our designated stations to prepare for departure.

During breakfast, we had the opportunity to try out Natto, which is fermented Japanese beans!

Breakfast!

Natto!

On that day, however, the weather was bad as it was raining quite heavily and the winds and currents were generally very strong!

Visibility is poor on the bridge

The visibility was only at about 6 cables at its worst, and 2 nautical miles at its best!

Sharp look-out is maintained in such poor visibility

Initially, most of us found the rolling and pitching of the vessel to be quite fun, considering that it was the majority of our first time experiencing such a situation. It almost felt like a constant roller coaster ride that would not stop! How fun!

However, after the vessel was accompanied by strong pounding, it was clear that many of us did not enjoy the ride at all. Many of us started feeling sea sick and were completely dysfunctional! Haha.

Benjamin, Salihin, Rifhan and Akari knocked out

Calista knocked OUTTTT

Salihin, Rifhan, Calista, Akari and Benjamin K.O

Sea sickness : Cadets = 1 : 0 :(

We were extremely thankful that the crew members were extremely understanding of our situation and gave us enough time to rest and recover from the sea sickness - they provided us with trash bags because many of us vomited multiple times! Many of us missed our watchkeeping / engineering duties in light of this :(

Here is a video depicting what the condition was like then:

The weather did not last the whole journey towards Oshima, though. After it calmed down a little, many of us started feeling better, some of us finally having the appetite to eat our lunch:

After lunch, we proceeded to our watchkeeping / engineering duties, after some of us missed the first half of our duties due to the sea sickness:

Rifhan watching and learning from the 1st Engineer

Sharif keeping an eye on the radar due to poor visibility

Nani monitoring the engines steadily

Calista reporting to the OOW the information on the charts

Nani, Koki and Rifhan carrying out their duties properly

Engineers in the Engine Control Room

Engineers relentlessly @ work

With everyone working together, it was not long before we were approaching Oshima:

Forward Station

Forward Station

It was certainly a good experience on board T.S Oshima Maru for the past 3 days. The training on board is both eye-opening and enriching and the SMA students definitely learnt a lot from our Japanese friends and the crew members. We are thankful for such a great opportunity and we thank Oshima College from the bottom of our hearts. :)

Closing Ceremony onboard T.S Oshima Maru

SMA + T.S Oshima Maru

Before dinner, at the guest house, Dr. John Park paid us a visit and it was our last time seeing him as he would not be at the airport tomorrow to send us off. It was a saddening moment as we said our thanks to him for his hospitality throughout the trip, and were excited for the next opportunity to meet up with him again in the future :)

We love you Dr. Park!!

Do remember us!!!

That night, it was a very special night not only for a fact that it was our last night in Japan, but our Japanese buddies negotiated with their dorm teacher-in-charge for them to come visit us at the guest house from 8pm to 10pm. Usually, the Japanese students return to their dorms at 8pm for roll-call, then their time is spent in the dorm itself where the students may study or have their own free time. However, that night was special indeed because permission was granted for them to leave their dorms after their roll call at 8pm!!

We had many tidbits and drinks at our guest house, courtesy of Yu Ogawa!!

All of us gathered at the Guest House!

Vlogs were taken using Salihin's camera

We shared laughter and memories that night - eating, chit-chatting and sharing ghost stories with everyone. It was a definitely a night to remember and I'm sure we would all cherish this memory close to our hearts for a very long time.. :)

Before long, it was 10pm and our Japanese buddies had to return to their dorms, however, we did not forget to gift them our unique items from Singapore! These include: Kaya spread, Laksa/Chili Crab instant noodle packet, as well as Merlion chocolate bars! On top of that, some of us also gave them our own individual gifts to our buddies. On the whole, the gifts were to express our gratitude and love to our buddies for taking such good care of us for the entire trip, always making sure that we are comfortable and ensure that we are having a good time in Japan. For that, we thank you! We hope you like our gifts!

Sharif with his buddy, Yuki!

Darwis with his buddy, Taka!

Benjamin with his buddy, Yu!

Nani with her buddy, Yuzuki!

Rachel with her buddy, Akari!

Calista with her buddy, Sarina!

Rifhan with his buddy, Koki!

Salihin with his buddy, Shin!

After the gifts were given out to our buddies, we called it a night and sent our buddies to the door, where we waved our goodbyes and said our goodnights.

With a heavy heart, we closed the door behind us and immediately, the guest house felt so quiet and empty. The only thing we looked forward to was to see our buddies again the next morning :(

Oshima 2017 Day 5

5th October 2017, Thursday.

Hi everyone! It is officially the 5th day of our Oshima trip.

The early morning of Thursday calls for a little exercise...

Turn Out / Roll Call

Start of some morning exercises

After we finished our exercises, the DNS students changed out into our boiler suits and all of us started doing our cleaning duties that were assigned to us. The cleaning duties are to ensure that proper housekeeping is maintained within the vessel such that the area is clean and safe.

Upon completion of our respective duties, it was the SMA students dance performance time!!! Back in Singapore, our team of SMA students prepared a little dance performance to showcase to our Japanese counterparts. We were fortunate to have the time allocated to us due to the busy schedule. Everyone made their way to the Poop Deck at 8.45am to watch our performance. Because a bus is scheduled to pick us up at 9.30am to visit Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Shipyard, we were all donned in our boiler suits. To ensure some uniformity for the dance, SMA students decided to wear our Oshima shirts inside our boiler suits and perform with our boiler suits half-suited up. We indeed looked pretty cool :) Hehe.

Dance performance by SMA students @ Poop Deck

All crew members and Japanese students and teachers gathered to watch our performance, it was indeed a large audience! Hopefully, our little performance sparked some smiles in all of you :)

After we performed, due to the abundance of time, we decided to teach our Japanese buddies our dance too!

Dance teaching led by Darwis

Getting the hang of it...

All smiles!!

After a couple of rounds of us dancing alongside our buddies, we decided to step down and allow our Japanese buddies to perform for us too!!! They were a little shy at first, but their spontaneity afterwards broke all their nervousness and they danced ever so beautifully :)

Their turn to perform!!

We indeed enjoyed the entire period we had up on the poop deck with everyone!

Thank you everyone for participating!!

With our hearts full and faces all smiles, it was soon 9.30am and the bus was ready to pick us up to head to Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Shipyard.

On the way to the shipyard

There, we learnt about the shipbuilding company and what they do. Many of us were surprised that they actually cover not just the sea, but land and air as well! This means that they not only build ships and vessels, but also land-related technology like airbags in cars that react and activate instantaneously upon a major car crash, and also aircrafts that cover the sky! It was indeed an insightful experience to be at the shipyard.

From L to R: Benjamin, Rifhan and 1st Engineer

We also got the chance to have a tour around the shipyard, where we could see engineers working real life, performing welding and ship construction right before our very eyes. It was also astonishing to have seen a HUGE vessel coming together from smaller pieces. This is as such because the shipyard is limited in space, hence the company builds different parts of the ship separately and then weld the different parts together to form the entirety of the vessel - almost like a lego set! (Unfortunately, pictures were not allowed to be taken during the tour around the shipyard!)

After the tour, we visited the museum there, where we were then allowed to take photos:

Vessels displayed in the museum

Vessels displayed in the museum

Group photo inside the museum

After the educational visit to Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Shipyard, we returned to the bus which brought us back to T.S Oshima Maru, where we changed out of our boiler suits and into our casual clothes. It was time for shore leave again!

Lunch was taken at a beautiful restaurant by the coast at Moji, where the meal was on the school again! We thank Oshima College for their hospitality and grace and we definitely enjoyed the meal :)

Clockwise from top left: Yuki, Darwis, Shin and Rifhan

Clockwise from top left: Mr Seiji, Dr. John Park, Capt. Raj and Ms Miyuki

Mr Seiji was around to assist Dr. John Park, while Ms Miyuki was around to assist the Chief Officer on board Oshima Maru. 

Clockwise from top left: Sharif, Taka, Koki, Nani, Calista and Yuzuki

Clockwise from top left: Rachel, Yu, Benjamin, Salihin, Akari and Sarina

Thank you Oshima College!!

After lunch, we proceeded to our sightseeing around Shimonoseki!

Salihin with his Fugu (Pufferfish)

From L to R: Yuki, Benjamin and Sharif

Capt. Raj the cool sir!!

Rachel together with Yuki

We also took a 5-minute ferry ride from Shimonoseki to a small island just opposite called Moji:

Yuki and Koki with an amazing view on board the ferry

Awaiting to depart to go to Moji

Selfie on the ferry!!

Immediately at Moji, we met a Japanese newly-wed couple who was carrying out their photoshoot in the region. Of course we had to ask for a photo with them!

Love is in the air :)

Calista with her favourite Totoro

Our group photo!

Clockwise from top: Calista, Rachel, Yuzuki and Sarina

From L to R: Koki, Yuki, Benjamin, Sharif and Yu

Darwis with his 2 Fugus

After sightseeing at Moji, we met back at the ferry station to return back to Shimonoseki. There, we were given free time again!! We decided to take a bus ride to the same mall that we were at yesterday:

A bus ride ticket

Crowded bus!

Dinner was on our own that night:

Crepe!!

Shin, Yuki, Benjamin and Koki having ramen!!

Oishi!!

Crepe for dessert afterwards!

That night, we returned to Oshima Maru by 8.55pm, and there was a roll call in the study hall at 9pm to ensure that everyone is accounted for.

After roll call, we were given free time to shower and prepare for lights out. That night, another group of students were in charge for night round: Salihin, Rifhan, Yu and Koki. 

Night round lasted from 10pm to 10.30pm, where it was then time for lights out. However, as many of us did not feel sleepy, we decided to ask for permission to use the Study Hall to transfer our photos from the camera to Darwis' laptop. In addition to that, we also had a good chit-chat session with some of the Japanese buddies, as not all were there as some may have already gotten to bed. 

Transferring photos from camera to laptop

Selfie!!

From L to R: Sarina, Yuzuki and Akari :)

Group photo for the late nighters!

Our night ended at about 11.45pm, when the transferring of photos were done and we all felt sleepy. Hence, we proceeded to bed to rest up for Day 6!