Eyes of The World
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By Puteri Sarah, Sharyna Alia and Taqriz Aris
The KYS Chamber Orchestra comprising of 30 students from Form 2 to Form 5 went for a performance tour at the Yokohama Science Frontier High School (YSFH) from the 20th to the 25th of April 2019. This performance is part of a musical and cultural exchange program held annually. Through this performance we got to bond with the students of YSFH and create new friendship ties with them. We also had a tour of Yokohama and Tokyo during the trip.
On the 20th of April, we departed from Kolej Yayasan Saad at around 5pm and arrived at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) at 7pm. We checked in our luggage at 8pm before saying our goodbyes to our parents and relatives. We took off on Japan Airlines flight JL724 to Tokyo.
We landed in Narita International Airport on the 21st of April 2019 at 6:45am local time where we were greeted by a local tour guide who took us for sightseeing around Japan for the next 5 days. Our first location was NHK Studio Park where we got to experience what it feels like at a television broadcasting studio. At 9am we headed to Harajuku for a little shopping. Next, we went to the largest chinatown in Japan located in Yokohama after lunch at Torimero Harajuku restaurant. Then, we checked in at Shin-Yokohama Prince Hotel before heading to Minato Mirai 21 which means “Harbour of the Future” where we did a little shopping. Dinner was served at Sangendo Minato Mirai Restaurant at 6pm before a coach transfer to the hotel where we had a briefing for the next day.
After 4 months of hard work, the day of the performance finally arrived! We woke up as early as 5:45 am to get ready for our performance. We left from our hotel at 8:00 am after having a delightful breakfast and headed straight away to YSFH. It took around 20 minutes to arrive at the school. We were amazed by how beautiful and modern the school was. We had a short rehearsal. After a few hours, we were given a tour around the school by the teachers there. We had the chance to witness the way the Japanese students learn. It was truly different from our way of learning. Later on, we had lunch together with the YSFH students at the school cafeteria. We had a few more rehearsals together with the Music Club students of YSFH before facing the waiting audience. Before the performance started, we gathered at the school garden for a tree planting ceremony to commemorate 10 years of friendship. Our performance started at 4 pm in which we played a wide variety of pieces including a few famous Disney pieces such as Coco and Aladdin and a few more other pieces like When I’m Sixty-Four and Princess Mononoke. After that, we had a combined piece together with the members of the YSFH Music Club for the pieces Titanic, L’Arlésienne Suite No.2 – Farandole and the iconic Rasa Sayang song. After the performance, we had the chance to observe a few projects made and conducted by the students of Astronomy Club. Other than that, we also got to experience a Japanese Tea Ceremony held by the Tea Ceremony Club. Before leaving for dinner at the Hokkaido Kannai Restaurant, we said our last goodbyes and had a quick photography session.
The next day which was on the 24th of April, we checked out of Shin-Yokohama Prince hotel after having breakfast and headed to Tokyo. We stopped at a few places before going to the famous well-known shopping street, Ginza. Our first stop was the Tsukiji Outer Market. The market is known as Japan’s “Food Town” where one can encounter all kinds of Japanese traditional foods. Next, we headed to Nakamise Shopping Street and Asakusa, witnessing the grounds of Sensoji-temple, renowned to be the oldest temple in Tokyo. We bought a lot of souvenirs for our family and friends before heading to Niryumara Akihabara Branch Restaurant for lunch. We headed straight to Ginza right after lunch. As we arrived, we straight away went into the Yamaha store to get our musical equipment and scores before exploring the wonderful streets of Ginza with our group. Later on, we had dinner at Irohanihoheto Ikebukuro Metro Branch and headed straight to Sunshine City Prince, Tokyo to check in.
To pay off our hardwork, on the 24th of April 2019, we rewarded ourselves by going to the one of the main attraction in Japan, Disneyland! We left our hotel as early as 8am in the morning and divided ourselves into the allocated groups before entering. We spent almost half a day in Disneyland enjoying ourselves by riding different types of thrilling and exciting rides such as Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain. We also bought ourselves souvenirs from The World Bazaar in Disneyland where shops are located. After taking a group picture to treasure this memorable trip, we headed out of Disneyland at 5.30pm to have dinner at Hokkaido Sunshinedori Restaurant.
On the 25th of April, which was our last day in Japan, we checked out from Sunshine City Prince Hotel, Tokyo at 7 in the morning to catch our JL723 flight to Kuala Lumpur at 11am. We arrived at KYS around 10pm safe and sound. This tour taught the KYS Chamber Orchestra new things and gave them chance to meet new people there. It is hoped that the bond between KYS and YSFH never fades and can be maintained by continuing this Chamber Orchestra in the upcoming years.
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