Asia Pacific Pharmaceutical Symposium (APPS) 2013 Tokyo, Japan
Still fresh from the hype of joining APPS 2012 in Taipei, Taiwan last year, joining the APPS 2013 in Tokyo, Japan was on my mind ever since the day I touched down from the flight in Malaysia. This year, the event was held on from the 22nd - 28th of August which is exactly right after my semester had started for about 3 weeks. Thankfully after all the planning and coordination with my university I was able skip class legally and catch up on the tutorials and lectures when I came back.
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| Registration |
The main difference between this year and the last was that I went with a bunch of my coursemates instead of going alone. More time were spent with them (obviously) as well as meeting up with the old friends that I met in Taiwan. This really opens up a new and fresher perspective for me to approach this symposium compared to the last. It was really a bit tricky to try to make an effort to build new friendships and leave an impact for the short few days and not neglecting your friends at the same time. Oh well, at least I won't feel lonely for most of the times lol. Hard to get the best of the both worlds.
Day 0
As usual, I turned up one day earlier prior to the event to do a bit (yet intense) of travelling before appearing during registration. Our hotel was at APA Hotel, Tokyo Bay Makuhari which was a good 1 hour plus train ride from central Tokyo and a 20 minute walk from the Kaihinmakuhari Station. Expectations were really high, for me at least for this symposium, as Taiwan did a marvelous job in hosting the event.
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| Small small room :/ |
After checking in and getting a quick bath we then headed to the Manhattan hotel for the Welcoming Night. After a simple Japanese traditional dance and musical, a simple ice breaking session proceeded and the participants were divided into their respective groups. Good to finally meet up with the people from Taiwan last year :)
Day 1
The size of their auditorium was really impressive. 400 people in the hall and there were still many ample empty seats. The day started off with the welcoming address by the main sponsors and the symposium. Lunch in the bento form was served and it was really delicious. I especially love the Japanese rice.
For the afternoon workshops I participated in the Clinical Skills and Counselling Skills Event. This 2 events involved everybody last year, not sure why they conducted in workshops for this time. Anyway a lot of great information were picked up related to patient counselling as well as pharmaco therapy.
And the highlight of the day was none other than the International Night (a.k.a Cultural Night) which was held at Club Camelot located right in the heart of Shibuya. The Japansese sure do know how to party! Unfortunately we had to endure a 2 hour jam on the bus from Chiba. Driving on the roads of Tokyo can be really daunting and stressful. :/
The performances by each country was really well done, especially Taiwan in my opinion. The only drawback was each country only had 2 minutes to perform and the whole thing ended like in 1.5 hours time. :/ Dissatisfied my friends and I went out to explore to Shibuya instead of hopping back on the bus back to the hotel lol. The night was really too young to go back.
Day 2
This time round I joined the Clinical & Counselling Skills competition. The competition really pushed your pharmacotherapy knowledge and counselling techniques to the limit. Needless to say I screwed up in both competitions. A good reminder of how little I actually know and how much more work I need to put to actually be a competant pharmacist in the future. :/
For the night activity we were brought to a nearby port where the Japanese Night was being held. Many stalls were set up to sell famous Japanese foodies and they were all manned by students themselves who also cooked the food. Impressive!
The highlight of the night were performances by the participants of the Miss Pharmacy. Some technical issues marred the show but the participants put up a good show nevertheless.
Day 3
We started the day by waking up around 5am and went to jog around the area surrounding our hotel. Sounds a bit crazy but it seemed like the norm for the citizens living in the vicinity. The summer morning was really, really cooling for jogging and it was certainly and unforgettable experience.
Day 1
The sun rose much earlier in Japan. By 5am the sky was already very bright like a 10am sun back in KL. Breakfast came in the form of very delicious bread with A LOT of jam (no buffet breakfast this time haha) and we were on our way to the symposium venue at Toho University.
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| Flag ceremony. Australia, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand |
The size of their auditorium was really impressive. 400 people in the hall and there were still many ample empty seats. The day started off with the welcoming address by the main sponsors and the symposium. Lunch in the bento form was served and it was really delicious. I especially love the Japanese rice.
For the afternoon workshops I participated in the Clinical Skills and Counselling Skills Event. This 2 events involved everybody last year, not sure why they conducted in workshops for this time. Anyway a lot of great information were picked up related to patient counselling as well as pharmaco therapy.
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| Great stuff by Eric So once again. |
The performances by each country was really well done, especially Taiwan in my opinion. The only drawback was each country only had 2 minutes to perform and the whole thing ended like in 1.5 hours time. :/ Dissatisfied my friends and I went out to explore to Shibuya instead of hopping back on the bus back to the hotel lol. The night was really too young to go back.
Day 2
This time round I joined the Clinical & Counselling Skills competition. The competition really pushed your pharmacotherapy knowledge and counselling techniques to the limit. Needless to say I screwed up in both competitions. A good reminder of how little I actually know and how much more work I need to put to actually be a competant pharmacist in the future. :/
Day 3
We started the day by waking up around 5am and went to jog around the area surrounding our hotel. Sounds a bit crazy but it seemed like the norm for the citizens living in the vicinity. The summer morning was really, really cooling for jogging and it was certainly and unforgettable experience.
One of the interesting workshops that I attended was the Traditional Chinese Medicine workshop (yes, again). This time they passed around the medicine in their natural form and we get to taste every single one of them! Prior to this I caught a really bad cold and this opportunity was just at a great time for me to test out the therapeutic effects of the medicines. =X
For the free night my friends then headed to Harajuku, Shibuya and Shinjuku under 3 hours. Yes, crazy and intense travelling.
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| Missed out on the Public Health event with my group as I was doing the PCE competition:/ |
Day 4
Today is the day for Field Trap and part of Exploring Japan. For my group, we were brought to FANCL's manufacturing factory located in Chiba. This company produces preservatives free cosmetics. We got to see the whole manufacturing line and the strict standards they imposed to produce such high quality products. :O
After a good 2 hours exploring the factory, we were then brought to visit the Tokyo University of Science. Despite Tokyo being such a dense place with really small roads and houses as well as buildings located really close to each other, their university spaces are often very huge.
Having said that, the spaces of their science labs are quite small and cramped. It really wonders me how these researches conduct their experiments conducively? :/
Though I am impressed on how they conduct bed side teaching..
and the size of their classrooms..it should be noted that every slot for a person has a power outlet as well as a network port. It really encourages students to use their laptops and electronic devices.
Our last stop for the day was at Sensoji Temple, Asakusa. Regretfully, we didn't really spend much time here. :( It's one of my favourite places in Tokyo with the temple architecture and all the stalls lining the road leading into the temple.
In the night was the customary Auction Night to raise funds for IPSF as a whole. This time the event was held at the Sumida Hall which was located beside the beautiful Sumida River with the Tokyo Sky Tree in the near background. In conjunction with the auction, the winner of the Miss Pharmacy was also voted and presented. Congratulations to Miss Indonesia! :D
All good things must come to an end and it's the final day of the symposium. There was the simple Patient Counselling Event finals and another symposium with the gala dinner at night to wrap up the 2013 Asia Pacific Pharmaceutical Symposium.
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