EXCEL Hairsalon in 109 Woman Shibuya

109 for Woman is one of the most known stores in Shibuya. It's right at the big crossing, impossible to miss. If so then just ask somebody for directions.
Beside being an awesome place to shop it also has a hair salon on the 8th floor.
It was my 4th time going there. I really love this place!! The personal is really friendly and everything looks so nice there.

Inside the hair salon

Everytime I went there I had more or less an idea on how to cut my hair and already picked out some pictures to show them. They also have magazines with hairstyle ideas.
Let me tell you something, they really try to get the exact same result as it is shown on the pictures. No kidding they take it super serious.

My hair transformation from long to supershort.

This is how my hair developped from super long to super short... If you want to know more about why I cut my hair click here.

Just to give you an example, I showed them a picture of Keira Kneighley with short hair and they basically made my hair look exactly the same.

their color collection

If there is something that they can't do, they try their best to do it as similar as possible.

The last time I asked them if it is possible to color my hair purple. I showed them the following picture:

They told me that this is only temporary color and for getting this result, I would need to bleach my hair.They had a purple-pink color and suggested me to color my hair twice, in that way I would get a close result to that picture.
Since japanese hair color is weaker and less damaging, it wouldn't be to damaging for my hair coloring them twice.

selfie while waiting for the color to have effect

This is the outcome of coloring my hair twice without bleaching them....

I was really sattisfied with the result. Everytime I leave this hair salon, I'm super duper happy with the outcome of my hair.


The prices are not that expensive eighter.
For a cut you pay 3500 yen and for coloring 12000 yen. Coloring is a little bit more expensive.

While you are in Tokyo give it a try!!! =)

My flight with Qatar Airlines Zurich - Tokyo

Before booking the flight with Qatar airlines, I had my doubts about them.

On internet I read a few reviews on different websites. They all had different opinions about this airline.

I was skeptical because they were always one of the most inexpensive airlines and they always had many offers.

On one review I read that sometimes they offer more tickets than places are available.

Although all those information, I still booked my flight with Qatar airlines.

I was kind of nervous when the day for departure arrived.

The day of departure

I was almost late, when I arrived at the gate all the passengers were already on board. I was held off when I tried to change my money. In the end I didn't even had time for the duty-free section. Well I had a 6 hour stay in Doha. Enough time there. XD

Btw I only got this kind of connections because I had to postpone my flight. Originally I would only have a 1 1/2 hour stay in Doha.

My thoughts about the Airline

My thoughts about this airline are the opposite from negative!!

The personal is really friendly. Their appearence is really representable. It seems that they even change coats during the flight. I had the feeling that they were walking more often back and forward than in other airlines.

You also have a function on your display were you can text the stuff for some needs.

The food is good. You receive a menu and can choose between two different ones.

I had Spätzli with chicken

I flew economy and had my own screen. As for movies they offered all the actual theater movies. I watched Despicable me 2! Was really funny.

They have internet on board, pretty cool heee?!? ;) Although you have to pay for it.

The window are sun repelling or better you can darken them.

The overall appearence of the plane was really good. Everything was clean, the seats were kind of comfortable especially for the head. They had a head pillow at the back. Seems that in the older planes they still don't have them yet.

I actually flew on 2 different planes. QR 806 and QR 94. I'm pretty sure my first flight was with a newer plane. Because from Doha I had a plane that wasn't as modern as the first one.

in the first plane QR806

Airport in Doha

It must be a huge airport. We had to take the bus from the landing line. It took us about 10 minutes to reach the buildings.

There are different stations and you know by the color of your ticket where you have to leave the bus. They also call it out loud. Unmissable!! =)

I had to leave at the Transfer&departure station. Right after security check you find all the duty-free sections.
A huuuuge section!! They have a really cool souvenir section.

Duty-Free Section

This airport also offers you free wifi!!
It's a fight to find any good dock station. They do have a location with dock station but they don't work. I had to sit in a small corner somewhere in the airport. This was kind of disappointing.

 

All in one I really enjoyed flying with Qatar. I would book a flight with them again. For some reason both of my planes were not full at all. I'm not sure if it's because it's not really a holiday season or if this airline is still not that trusted. Anyways from Doha I had the whole section for myself, no one sitting next to me, that was really nice!!

Watch my youtube-video =)

My 2014 adventure in Tokyo starts!!

In a few days I'll be leaving for Japan again!! I actually should have been there already, but something went wrong with the visa application.

This time I'll be there with a student visa that expires in 1 year.

Extending Tourist Visa for 3 months

The first time I went with a tourist-visa that originally expired in 3 months, but as a swiss passport owner, I could extend the visa for other 3 months. I could do this while I was already in Japan at the immigration office. It's actually really simple and it doesn't take long. You only have to fill in a paper on where you are explaining why you want to stay longer.
It might be that not all nationalities can extend the tourist visa. So inform yourself before going to Japan.

Certificate of Eligibility

Through my school in Tokyo I requested a student visa called "CoE".

It requires 3 months to get that visa and you have to fill in quite some papers. Because my tourist visa was almost expired at that time, I had to leave Japan and go back to my country to wait for the results.
This visa permits me to work and study in Japan. The Work-and Holiday Visa doesn't exist for my country, so I had no choice than requesting this type of visa. The difference between these two visas is that with the CoE I have limited working hours, while with the work- and holiday visa you don't have a limit on working hours.

Attention!!

I had a few Swiss friends with the same visa and they both requested the visa while they where already in Japan, they didn't had to do anything in Switzerland.
When I received the accepted visa documents from my school per mail, I thought that I had to go to the immigration office in Japan.
Only 1 day before my departure I realised that I had to go to the japanese embassy here in my country to get the permission for my visa. This requires 1 week until it's done!!!
It never accured to me that I had to go there!!! It was kind of written in the papers that I got from my school, but I misunderstood it totally! That was quite a shock actually but in the end everything went well.
Actually I had to fill in some other documents at the japanese embassy. Kind of the same again as I had to fill in in Japan.


Working with the CoE

With the student visa I'll be able to work for 28 hr per week, which is quite a lot since I'm also going to school.
It's not necessary to work. If you don't need it you can also only go to school.

I received from my school a document that I have to submit at the airport. There I get the permission to work in Japan.
Actually you can also do it a the immigration office when you have already left the airport, but I guess it's easier to do it right from the beginning.


Kai Japanese School

A few friends asked me, if I was planning to change the school. I never thought about it and I don't see a reason why I should change school. I really like the school and their concept. All my friends are there and this is why I don't see a reason to change my school.
If you are interested in the school, here is the link to their website: Kai School

Guesthouse Hippo House Kita-Toda

I actually didn't want to go back to the same place where I was before. I still decided to go there again, because I know the people that are living there and it's not a start-over again.

I wrote a separate post about the guesthouse. Click here to know more about it.

Website: Hippo House Saitama

If there is a possibility to change and find a new place that is closer to my school and cheaper, I will take the opportunity.
I'm actually thinking of gathering some friends and rent an appartment. But well I still haven't figured it out.
I will let you know if something has changed.


Let's start with this adventure!! =)

日本 no okashi - Japanese sweet side

Sweet crepes

They are my all time favorites!!!
I know them only from Animes and always wanted to try them. I finally ate them and just fell in love with them. They are really delicious and everywhere available. They are in many different flavors available. In Harajuku there are tons of crepe stands situated.
I could eat them everyday sooo yummie. I wish my country had them too.
If you are in Japan you definitely have to try them.

Cakes from the petite mercerie in Lemure Shinjuku

Just look at them!?! They look sooooo delicious. It's not only the look they really are suuuper delicious. I took one with strawberry flavor really really delicious. They are a bit pricy, but it's really worth trying them. Also from that store you can look outside to the Shinjuku streets.

Hottok

It is a korean dish. Reminds me of pancakes. They are sell them sweet or salty. I once just tried a flavor without knowing what it was and ended up with a cinnamon flavor. It was sooo delicious. I really recommend to try them. They sell them in Shin-Okubo. Korean town of Tokyo.

Prezel in Ikebukuro
Next to the station in Ikebukuro there is a station called "Aunty Anne's".They were distributing small pieces to try out in front of the store. They were soooo delicious, that I got addicted to them. Every time I'm in Ikebukuro I just have to buy one. They come in different flavors. They also have salty ones and sell lemonades too.
I only knew Prezel as a salty food but never eat it sweet. I really recommend to try the vanilla milk prezel they are soooo delicious.

Taiyaki

It's a sweet pastry. I know them through animes. I badly wanted to try them since them.
They are soooooo delicious. They are filled with different flavors like anco, cream, .... Anco are sweet beans mixed to a paste. It's really delicious. They have also salty ones.

Bakery store

There are a lot of bakeries in Tokyo. They sell different pastry and bakery food. They are a bit of pricy but I really like them. They are way too yummie. They have stores in the most main stations like Shinjuku, Tokyo Eki, Ikebukuro, Akabane,..

yogorino

OMG!!! I found this stand in the AEON Mall in Saitama, where I live and it totally remind me of Italy. They are selling yoghurt ice creams and crepes in different flavors. In Italy we have similar stands too. I really love them. Actually I prefer the ice cream from Italy better, since they are bigger, pricier and the ice is softer.
But still seeing something from my home town made me sooo happy.

My home - Sharehouse Hippo House

How I booked it 

Before I came to Japan, I booked through an travel agency the place where I would live. At first I planned to stay in a guesthouse. The travel agency proposed me different possibilities and I saw that staying in a sharehouse would be less expensive.

I couldn't really imagine how it looked like.

I thought maybe a lot of foreigners would live there. At the agency they told me, that not only students would live there, but also other people.

First Impression

The day I arrived at the sharehouse, the housekeeper showed me around. It actually is an entire house with about 50 rooms divided in 4 floors. At the ground there is a big kitchen and dining room. The laudry and washing room are also down there.
My room is in the 3. floor. This floor is only for women. The 4. floor is only for men. The other floors are mixed. I don't really know why they separate some floors.
On each floor there is a bathroom.

My room

I was really surprised about my room. Since Japan is known for their really small rooms, I thought I would receive a small room too. Actually it was pretty big. There was a single bed, a desk, a chair, a mirror and plenty of space for clothes. I even got a small balcony. It was really nice.
There is also internet available in the rooms, but only with cable.
I was a bit disappointed about the wall color. It's brown and it makes my room soo dark at daytime. Also the curtains aren't really darkening, so the light penetrates really easily. (Really annoying since in Japan the sun rises really early in the morning)

House situation

My sharehouse is situated in Kita-Toda,Saitama. It's outside from Tokyo. It's accessible by train with the JR Seikyo-line. It's about 30 minutes away from Shinjuku.
The last train in the evening is running around 23:30 everyday. If you don't want to stay out the whole night or pay for an expensive taxi, you always have to hurry to the last train.
This train is one of the most used trains. In the mornings and evenings it's always crowded.

My Housemates

The people in my house are all really nice. I'm often in the living room, because it's the only room where WiFi is available.
At the living room they are more or less always the same persons there. Most of them are Japanese. There are more Japanese here then foreigners. There are some people, who come to the same school as me. It's actually pretty funny with those people around.

House surroundings 

We have a lot of Conbini's around our house. My house is only 5 minutes from the train station away.
I can see the station from my balcony.
About 15 minutes from the house, there is a big shopping mall.
There is everything you need near my place.

... it could be better 

I have lived almost 6 months in this sharehouse and there were many moments that I thought about moving out.

• I don't know what's up with those girls on my floor. The bathroom are always a mess. It's disgusting. There is no other word to describe it. There are hair everywhere and other disgusting things. There is personal who cleans the bathrooms, but they don't come everyday.  This is for me the biggest problem.

•  I refuse to cook in the kitchen. It looks not clean at all. There are cockroaches running around. There are people that don't clean their mess. You can see the kitchen from the living room and I don't really like if people watch you while cooking.

• For some reason they always turn the lights on at night on the floor. I can see the light through my door and it's really annoying.

• If somebody walks on the floor you can hear everything.

•  It's sooo far away from Tokyo. Even if it's only 30 minutes to Shinjuku, it still feels like forever. Going home from partying or from a long day and getting stucked in a full train. It is sooo depressing.

• I wish they had Wifi in the rooms too. 

• Because of the washing machine I had to throw away a lot of my clothes. That washing machine didn't wash properly and it also rip my clothes.

You might wonder why I never moved from there... That's because I got sooo affected to the people there. It was hard for me to leave.
Why I never complained?... I really don't know about that. I actually never thought about it before. I always accepted everything.

Soon I'm leaving this place and going back to my home. I'm definitely missing my roo back home. Can't wait to cook in my kitchen and to use my own bathroom again. =)
Still I'll miss this place too.... was definitely a great experiance. =)

Check out my room-tour video on Youtube!!

I'm a horrible blogger..Ageha, Disney, Madame Tissauds... New Haircut!!

I feel sooo horrible!!! I specially made this blog for my travel adventures, but I'm not blogging as much as I thought I would. Just soo much is going on!!!

In these past few weeks I met so many new people, I changed my school course, visited Disneyland, went on the biggest ferris wheel in the world, went to Madame Tissauds, went partying in Ageha and other cool stuff.

School life

Until last month I was going in a conversation class for 3 month. Since I decided to stay 3 more months in Japan, I changed to the general courses. So you may ask yourself what is the difference between those two courses so I like to explain it to you: 

Conversation class:

- everyday new grammar 

- few exercises

- talking while using the new grammar

- every month a new course starts

- 5 different levels

- small classes

- no kanji exercises

- no tests
- 4 h a day
- no writing exercises

General course: 

- everyday new grammar 

- everyday kanji exercises

- listening and writing exercises

- 1 semester goes 3 months

- speaking exercises with cd

- tests

- final exam

BTW I think I never told you in what school I'm going. It's the Kai Japanese Language School in Shin-Okubo. It's 1 station away from Shinjuku with the Yamanote Line. It's situated in the korean Town.
Here is the link to the schools website: http://en.kaij.jp/

Summertime is getting crazy hot in here!!!!

Damn!!! I heard that it would be hot here in Tokyo, but feeling the real thing is crazy!!! I really am thankful for that person that invented air conditioner!! Sometimes when leaving the train it feels like entering an oven!! Be sure to carry around tissues! They will save you.

It wouldn't be that bad if it's only hot, but there are some days when it gets really humid and the clothes are sticking on your skin.

Odaiba

After 3 months I finally went to Odaiba. It's an Island in the south of Tokyo.
It's really pretty there. It is definitely the perfect place for a date!!

I went on the highest Ferris Wheel in the world. It was pretty cool. The view was amazing. Actually I want to go again when it's nighttime. =)

In Odaiba I also found the statue of Liberty!! Lol why going to New York if you can find it in Tokyo as well ;)

Disneyland

This was my first time ever in Disneyland. Just being there feels so magical!! There were a lot of shows. Most of the food had some Mickey shape.

Be prepared for long waiting times at the roller caster and no seats in the restaurants.

Madame Tissouds

It's different from the one in London. Here in Tokyo it's placed in Odaiba. Basically you could took pictures with almost every single one, because it wasn't crowded at all. I was really surprised about it. There are less wax statues than in London, but it's really cool.

AGEHA Partytiiiime!!!

Damn!! This club is sooooo cool!! They have an outside "floor" with a pool. Well you actually can't enter the pool, but still an outside floor!! How cool is that?!?

That club is huge. There are a lot of partypeople and they sometimes have some theme going on really cool. I actually went to some cosplay event. They were all dressed up. It was amazing.

Ageha is the biggest club in Tokyo and it's situated in Shin-Kiba. Quite far away from the center. Apparently they have some buses running from Shibuya that goes directly to Ageha. There is also a train station near the Club. So it's quite easy to reach it.

New Haircut

I cut my hair!! Like a lot!! I used to always have long hair, never wanted to cut them. I felt like they would be my symbol. I was so proud of them.

Recently it was getting so hot and I was always putting my hair in a bun. I got annoyed by it.

As the new song from Miley Cyrus was released, i was thinking at how much she changed optically after cutting her hair and I started to wonder how I would look with short hairs. 

Somehow while I was thinking about it I started to have that wish to change something while I'm here in Japan.

On a Friday afternoon after school I decided that it was time to cut them.

It feels sooo great. I really was asking myself why didn't I cut them earlier!!

They are so light and they dry in no time.

How I decided the length?? I just wanted an extreme change but still the possibility to tight my hairs so i decided them to be a bit longer then the shoulders and with layers.

Transportation in Tokyo / Japan

The public transportation in Japan is definitely one of the best that I've ever seen. There are so many different trains going in many directions. They also have amazing subways that are incredibly clean and not as scary looking as the ones in Europe. It's super easy traveling around Japan with the Shinkansen. They are super fast and are running really often during the day.
They also in some places Buses, Trams and of course Taxis.

Transportation in Tokyo

The most used transportations in Tokyo are the trains and subways.
At the vending machine you can purchase a ticket for the destination you want to reach.
At some stations it's possible to change the language to english.

On this website you can check when the trains are running:

http://www.hyperdia.com/en/

Suica Card

For those who stay longer than a month in Tokyo, I recommend purchasing a Suica Card.

It is a card that can be charged with money. That way it's not necessary to always purchase a train ticket.
This card can be used all over Japan.
The Suica card can also be purchased at every station vending machines.

Suica + track subscription

For those like me who have to go to the same place almost everyday, I would definitely recommend to make a track subscription. It's possible to buy them at the vending machine as well.
It's possible to have the track subscription printed on your Suica Card just like in the picture above. 

JR Rail Pass

Before coming to Japan, I was recommended to order the JR Rail Pass. It's a pass that can only be ordered outside from Japan. There are different time periods available. For 7, 14 and 21 days. The pass can be activated in Japan at the indicated train stations. Once it was activated, it's valid for the period it was ordered.
The JR pass can be activated within 3 months.

The JR Rail Pass can be ordered online. Just search for JR Pass on Google. There are different websites that sell them.

Activation of the JR Rail Pass 

It's possible to activate the JR Pass a few days earlier. I went to the information corner in Shinjuku. The lady asked me on which day I want to use it. At first you have to fill in a small document with your name and adress.

Th JR Pass must be shown to an officer at the station. It can't be scanned at the barriers.

For the Shinkansen it's possible to make a seat reservation. It is for free.

It is also possible to choose where to sit in the train.
There are a few Shinkansen that can't be used with the JR Pass. But don't worry, there are sooo many Shinkansen running throughout the day.
The JR Pass can only be used on the JR Rails and JR Shinkansen. (except for Nozomi and Mizuho)

I definitely recommend to buy the JR Pass, if you are traveling around Japan. The Shinkansen are usually really expensive, so this JR Pass is totally worth it.

I wish you all a save journey!! =)