Inside a busy kitchen at the LeoPalace Resort Wednesday has two worlds colliding for a special culinary exchange.

Guam Community College culinary students and high school students from Japan cooked up delicious local dishes.

Honori Yamazaki, Haruka Miyajima, and Rana Akuzawa are from SETA Agriculture and Forestry High School.

Last Fall, this trio beat over 300 teams in the All Japan High School cooking contest, winning a trip to Guam for a study tour sponsored by the Guam Visitors Bureau.

A creative dish called okonosobayaki is the dish that won them first place. It’s a fusion of okonomiyaki and yakisoba and the original recipes use local ingredients from Gunma Prefecture.

It’s where these students call home.

Translated from Japanese to English, Miyajima said, “We used local ingredients from our prefecture, such as yaki manju and yakisoba, to make it into a waffle.”

They also had a chance to learn how to make chicken kelaguen and titiyas from GCC Culinary instructors Chef Paul Kerner and Chef Bertrand Haurillon.

“This is very popular for fiestas. It's usually at the beginning of the fiesta table,” said Haurillon.

Kerner added, “When you see the coconut and it's all green. That's where this comes from.”

The chefs gave a demonstration and a taste of island cuisine they won’t forget.

The students expressed their liking, saying, “It’s delicious, it’s sweet.”

Yamazaki noted, “As it's a taste that you don’t normally get in Japan, it was fresh but delicious.”

As GCC student Alyson Sablan put it, despite the language barrier, it’s an exciting exchange where both schools get to try something new.

Sablan said, “I'm excited to try their food because we prepped for them the other day. And seeing them go through the process of what they are making for us today– I'm excited to try their dishes.”

The excitement is evident as everyone dug in, enjoying the fruits of their labor.