Christmas lights in Tokyo 2014

The night view in Tokyo is always impressive, but during Christmas time it gets even better.

They start really early with decorating. After Halloween you are already able to see illuminations.

They don't celebrate Thanksgiving so there is nothing stopping them from anticipating Christmas.

Here are some of my favorite places in Tokyo:

1. Ebisu

The first illumination that I saw weas in Ebisu. Ebisu is where the famous Beer Garden is and where many japanese movies are filmed. One of the most famous drama is "花より男子" "Hana yori dango".

Do you recognize this spot?? =) This was were Tsukasa waited for Tsukushi !!

The opening of the great Chandelier

2. Tokyo Dome

The illuminations in Tokyo Dome were just so futuristic and colorful!! On top of that, they played music box melodies and made everything feel soo fairytale-ish.

 
 3. Shinjuku North Terrace

This was the only illumination that I saw in Shinjuku but definitely the most outstanding one. =)

4. Roppongi and Roppongi Hills

Definitely the most beautiful illumination that I have ever seen!! It's stunning and so magical. There is even a light show that looks like fireworks.

Roppongi Hills

This view!! *__*

Around Mori Tower

Roppongi

*__*

Light show

How to get a job in Japan with a Student visa / Hello Work

First of all you need to apply for a working permission. You can request it directly at the airport or at the foreigner embassy.
For requesting it at the airport I received from my school a sheet where I had to sign it and turn it in at the airport control counter.
At the embassy you have to fill in more papers and wait for 2 weeks till you get the permission.

With this stamp on your residence card you are allowed to work in Japan

Remember that with the student-visa you can only work 28 hours per week!!

The CV

Here in Japan they use printed forms for your CV!! You can buy them in every Conbini store.
They have 2 different kind of CVs. For Part-time job and for full-time job.

Part-time job CV パート、アルバイト

You have to fill it in by hand and you can't copy them. Passport pictures are also needed for it.

Hello Work

Hello Work

What is it

All my friends at school recommended me to go to Hello Work. It's a work agency that helps you in finding a job.
It's charge-free and until now no one ever told me, that they didn't get a job and basically half of my school found their job through that agency. I also found my part-time job there.
They also have English speaking officers.

Office Location

The office worker are all really friendly. The office is located between Shin-Okubo and Shinjuku's Kabuki-chou. Right at a main road next to the train station.

Hello Work Shinjuku (Kabukicho Branch) 1F, 2-42-10 Kabuki-cho, Shinjuku-ku

Keep in mind that it takes almost 3 hours at the first time you go there. The earlier you go, the better. The office opens at 9 a.m. You can also call and ask for an appointment.

What they do

After they saved your informations in their files, they immediately look for any type of jobs in their data bank or also for the job that you want to apply for.

If you are interested in that job they will call for you and rather you have an interview or you can send them your CV.
If they found 2 or 3 places that are interesting, they will send you away. If it didn't work out you have to go back again and they will look for further places.

I went twice there until I got my part-time job at a restaurant.

Other ways


There are also different types of websites to find a job and also one special one for foreigners. It's called Gaijinpot.


Good luck!! =)

Back to school - KPOP Street - first week in Tokyo

On Monday I had my first day at school. It's called KAI Japanese Language School. It's situated in Okubo-dori, train station Shin-Okubo, in a korean quarter which is awesome. There are a lot of KPOP-fanstores, beauty and other stores and also many restaurants. There they have brands like Thefaceshop, Etude House and many others.

At the moment we are four students in my class. I'm going to a conversation class. The Sensei are all really nice. I could start in level 2 which is perfect. There are a lot of new things that I'm learning.
My home is about 40 minutes away from the school. It's ok because there are good train connections. I have school in the afternoon from 13:00 until 16:00. At first I thought it was a stupid time in the middle of the day, but now that I have been doing it for some time I got used to it. I still have enough time before and after school.
The school offers some cultural activities like: tea ceremony, jap. calligraphy, Origami,... I thought they were already included in the school fees but I was wrong. You have to pay for each course 1000 円.

Day 1

After school we went to Akihabara the Electro town in Tokyo.
It's really impressive. There are Maidgirls everywhere and it's really beautiful at night with the lightnings.
It surely is worth visiting it once.

Day 2

Yesterday it was raining the entire day, so I didn't want to go too far away. I went to Harajuku near Shibuya. A classmate told me it would be great for shopping and not too expensive.
The shopping street (Takeshita dori) is right in front of Harajuku station. There are a lot of cute clothing stores and I found a beauty store that has a huge collection.
I also found a Missha store there. There are also a lot of crepes stands and if you haven't tried the crepes yet, I would definitely recommend them to you. They are soooo delicious. I'm obsessed with them. You can choose different toppings, like fruit, chocolate, cake, ecc. The cream that comes as a base is so good!

Day 3

Today after school I went to Shinjuku. The station there is huge and around the station there are many shopping malls. There are a lot of cute clothing stores for girls, but sometimes they are very expensive. There was a sweet stores called Le petit mercerie they sold delicious cakes. On the streets in front of the station I found Forever21, Topshop and Zara. There are way more stores but I didn't get the chance to check them out.

JR trains

I'm slowly getting a hold of the trains. Today I didn't purchased the wrong ticket nor did I went in the wrong train. I still have to purchase the Pasmo Pass but I can't find the place to buy it. They told me that it should be available in a Konbini.

Update: You can buy the Pasmo or Suica at the ticket machine in every station. It's the black box. In the end I went for Suica because it's valid all over Japan while the Pasmo is only for Tokyo. I bought a monthly subscription from home to school.

Click here for more informations about Transportation in Japan.

Jr Skyliner

Remember that I told you I went with the Skyliner from the airport to Tokyo. They told me that there are busses who drive to Tokyo for way cheaper prices.

Update: I never once took the bus to go to Narita. I always took the Skyliner because I was never in time to go to the airport. Remember to check the times and if you buy the ticket at the same day be there early. I lost the train because I had to wait in line to buy the ticket and the next train was 40mins later!! I was running like a crazy person throughout entire Narita because I only had 30mins left!! xD