Testing Times by Max

We were all very excited to enter the exam room this morning to undertake the first part of the iGeo. The Written Response Test was split into 6 questions which required good knowledge and interpretation skills to a really high level. I found the test challenging but not impossible and once I got into it I actually enjoyed it. Isaac felt the test was 'alright', Britt thought there was a lot of time constraint as it was longer than an NCEA exam in the same time.

Later on in the exam time we found we were against the clock in a race to get it finished in time. Rock's favourite question was on World Development and Britt's was on Sustainable Tourism.

After the exam we had a chance to rest our mind for a couple of hours and have some lunch - Beef Curry, Rice and Salad before venturing out into the hot sun at 3pm for a fieldwork exercise.

It was enjoyable walking amongst the picturesque Kyoto but the heat soon got to us and we all found ourselves consuming copious amounts of water + Pocari Sweat.

We have had another great buffet dinner which was enjoyed by all.

Tonight we have a 1.5 hr lecture about the fieldwork exercise which will happen all day tomorrow.

Over and out from Max

Test time

This morning saw the start of the testing with the Written Test - Here are the kids before they went in. Anna is marking a section of this so will be inside for the next couple of days with a red pen ready.

Atlas at the ready :)

Kyoto - let the iGeo begin

After a busy morning of packing our bags we headed to the airport for our flight to Osaka and then 1.5 hr Jumbo taxi to Kyoto. On arrival at the iGeo Location - Hotel Heian-No-Mori we went for a quick walk around a local temple which is a place to wish you luck for exams

In the evening we had an amazing opening ceremony complete with a brass band from a local orchestra who played 5 numbers. The teams then needed to introduce themselves and we got to see all 32 countries including three new one - Kazakhstan, Mongolia and USA

Lex's opening address

Sightseeing Day 2 in Tokyo

We started the day off with some team prep for our poster presentation and hotel made breakfast while the masses headed off to work in the many high-rises around our Hotel in Shinjuku. Steve had our day planned out super well - starting with a walk and shop to one of the craziest department stores we have been to - 6 floors and everything (actually everything) imaginable from Hello Kitty Onesie, Bento boxes, Passionfruit Kit Kats, paper clips, fake Chanel bags, crazy dress-ups etc etc

Steve in his element at the Cat Cafe

Isaac loving the cats as much as his face mask 

It's not only bowls of milk available at the Cat Cafe...

Menu of the cats - just so you know who you are patting 

Calico Cat Cafe - 5 Star rating from NZ iGeo Team

From there we headed to what had to be the highlight of the day - The Calico Cat Cafe. Cat Cafe's are places where you can pat and play with cats as many people are unable to own them as they live in apartment buildings. You can pay extra to feed the cats - which makes them want to hang out with you more and order drinks and snacks. We were all amazed by the variety of cats - including the munchkin cats (ones with really short legs) and huge massive cats.


You pay by the hour after our time was up we washed our hands and headed to a Ramen Noodle shop next door where we ordered by selecting what we wanted using a vending machine and handing over tickets to the chefs.

Kujoji Temple

We caught the train to Hamamatsucho following lunch to visit a Buddist Temple and Tokyo Tower - an replica Eiffel Tower with a Japanese twist - painted red and white. The day wasn't so clear so the observation deck wasn't amazing but it still gave us a great sense of what a vast built up area Tokyo is. On a clear day you can see Mt Fuji but unfortunately we missed it today so made up with it by getting delicious ice creams before we headed to Shibuhya.

Shibuhya is the site many people will be familiar with seeing in Tokyo as it is the home to the giant intersections. It also has many great shops and we stumbled across the 100 Yen shop, 3 coin store, another 6 floor electronic shop and an amazing craft/building/everything you could ever need shop called Tokyu Hands - a great number of rolls of washi tape brought by the Team Leaders :)

Shinbuhya Street Scene

When choosing somewhere to eat we stumbled across a place which was easy to say no to - A whale Meat restaurant. Not only did they have a million signs outside but they also had a pamphlet explaining their viewpoint on why whaling was good. Pretty sad from our NZ viewpoint.

Whale Meat Cafe Menu

After finding a great non-whale restaurant we jumped into the train to head home to out hotel for our final night Tokyo - we haven't scratched the surface of this amazing city but we have a job to do in Kyoto and these kids are ready and rearing to go!

Anna :)

Before crossing the road 

Isaac's quote of the day about being in the train - " If your not touching people it's not really busy"

We made it to Tokyo...

The team arrived and was met by Max's Grandad's friend Jun at the airport before we travelled into our hotel in Shinjuku. We meet Isaac who had travelled separately from 

visiting his Uncle.

We explored the local area and found a restaurant that made okinomiyaki - so we ended up cooking dinner ourselves the first night :)

This morning we headed out early to Akihabara to explore the world of Anime, Manga and Electronics. We saw lots of amazing things in up to 5 floor buildings which housed every cord, console or computer you could imagine. 

After a quick train ride we jumped out into the heat again of Harajuku - explored the amazing fashions and all managed to lighten our wallets with some shopping - Steve won MVP in that department. In our bags were a collection of shoes, kimono, speakers, t-shirts, hello kitty items, shirts and a large number of cold drinks. 

After a late afternoon relax we headed for some dinner to a very authentic sushi bar where we ate a range of squid, tuna, salmon, shrimps, egg and octopus sushi followed by a snack run to our favourite Family Mart.

We hope everyone has a great start to Term 3

Anna (on behalf of NZ iGeo Team)

Hello Kitty at the 5 floor toy shop Kiddy Land

okinomiyaki - our first meal in Japan

From NZ to Japan - Rock, Brittany, Max and Isaac

View from our Hotel in Tokyo

Brittany being interviewed about her favourite Anime characters

The shopping begins

Bags are packed and ready to go.....

Hi everyone,

Well we are on the eve of our trip and tomorrow Max, Brittany and Anna will be traveling to Auckland to meet Steve and Rock. We will leave for Tokyo on Saturday morning and will meet Isaac at our Hotel.

Please keep an eye on our blog and keep up on our journey as we participate in the iGeo

Anna, Steve, Brittany, Isaac, Max and Rock