I had another jam packed day for my first full day in Aichi. Since it was easier to meet up with friends on the weekend, I was booked solid the entire day. It also meant I had to carry a load of souvenirs and presents with me from the moment I left the hotel in the morning (popularity has its downfalls lol).

As it was still early, I started my morning off browsing through some of the shops at Meieki. It was impossible to do any shopping as I had way too much to carry, but I made a mental note of which shops to revisit when I had more time later in the week. At 11:20am I made my way over to the Gold Clock to meet up with my sempai and our mutual friend for lunch at the Marriott. 

During my time working at the Marriott I had never once eaten inside any of the restaurants. However I always had really decent meals at their staff cafeteria and tried a lot of the dishes that were served inside the concierge lounge, so I had high hopes for eating at Pergola. I’m happy to say I wasn’t disappointed eating at their lunch buffet. They had a really wide selection of foods and everything tasted amazing. The best part was probably their custom-made Mont Blanc machine. Their weekend lunch buffet cost ¥6,000, but with my sempai’s employee discount we saved 20% on our meal. =)

It was really nice being able to chat and catch up with both of them over lunch. When we finished, we went upstairs to visit the concierge lounge where I worked about 7 years ago. Aside from some of the furniture being rearranged, it was still pretty much the same. We later went to a newer concierge lounge they opened up on the main floor and that one is way more premium than the one upstairs. I was so happy to run into Yasui-san who was working that day. I still remember the party we had at her house and it was one of the rare times I was invited to someone’s home in Japan.

After our lunch and tour of the hotel it was time to bid farewell to both of them. I headed over to join the delegation in Kariya to participate in the cultural exchange day. The event was already in full swing by the time I arrived, but it was nice seeing many familiar faces! 

Once the event ended, I stayed at the KIFA office with Naito-san and the rest of the staff members until it was time to head over for the evening reception. Since everyone was busy helping set up, I took my time to get dressed in my formal attire, then promptly found a spot in the lobby to take a nap lol. I had been out the majority of the day and it was starting to catch up with me. 

By 7pm most of the delegates, host families and guests had arrived. I had completely forgotten how prestigious the event was – the Mayor was in attendance, as was the President of KIFA and many city staff, including city councillors. I was seated at a table with my mom, her host family and members of the city council. It was a struggle trying to converse and translate in three languages. =P

After the initial greetings, everyone helped themselves to the buffet dinner. I had already eaten so much during lunch I took it easy in the evening. Once dinner was done, there was an official gift exchange ceremony, then they invited all the delegates on stage to say a few words. I thought I spared until the MCs specifically cued me to go up on stage with everyone. (T__T) Thankfully I had prepared a short speech in advance, so I didn’t have to come up with something on the spot. 

It was a really long day by the time the reception ended. I didn’t want to bother Naito-san to give me a ride back to the station, so I walked with Ram and his host family and got to enjoy the illumination along the way. Even though I was fully exhausted by the time I got back, I was grateful I got to spend time with so many friends that day and relive the delegation experience.