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!! =)