Part 2: Free Pass to Toyohashi Japan

Okay – so I’m in this FREE 2 weeks visit in Japan (read previous story for details) and somehow ends up in this small town called Toyohashi. For the first day of seminar – everybody was preparing formal suit. And for Indonesian, that means the traditional-print-fabric outfit called “batik”. I personally already prepared this pretty turquoise two piece batik gown. On last minute, I was just thinking what a hassle it will be. Well first of all, it’s SUMMER for God sake. And I have to get in and out of the charter bus. So I ended up wearing something more subtle.

When we got to the university of Toyohashi, first impression, mmm not as clean as I thought it was be. O don’t get me wrong – this IS Japan so you don’t really see a lot of trash lying around. It’s just that the building is not sparkly new. Looked really run down. Very quiet though as at that time it was summer break time. We got that early – and saw Toyohashi city view from 7th floor.

We wait. And wait. And wait. When the Japanese seminar participants arrived, we ware shocked. They really dressed… uhm, informal. Like sleeveless and punk gothic kinda way ha ha… See what happen if there’s no clear dress code? Thank God I didn’t wear that gown. That’ll be more awkward ha ha…

The seminar itself was kinda boring. It was a comparison study between Indonesian and Japanese education structure. Errr… Not really my forte (I’m a Math major btw). Well, there’s no such thing as “free” lunch – or “free” trip to Japan so I just had to play the part. Day after day – of course my mind was flying and it’s depressing that you’re in this gorgeous country and you don’t really get to see around. To make matter even worse, I forgot to bring my electricity plug converter. So I cannot charge my camera battery – and it went absolutely DEAD in the 3rd day. Hiks hiks…

As part of the event, they took us around the university labs. Poor guide. These Indonesian loves to take picture more than paying attention to technical explanations. Well any lab is almost the same anywhere – I think. What’s a bit more interesting is when they took us to Toyota plant! They display from oldest Toyota until the latest release. They even took us across the invention lab – where they kept the one they still developing and not yet released to the market. The funny thing is, they hide it away beneath this thick sheets up to the tires! So when I said we only went “across” it – it’s literally like this.

The plant itself is huge. They showed from car assembly until finishing part. Again – no picture allowed! They made us wear this stupid hats. Well, those are helmets anyway he he…

So between those 2 weeks, they gave us free weekend trip to Tokyo. Whoa! Better than nothing! How was it going? Wait for the 3rd part he he he…