Growing Fond of the Tube

After returning from the Nasu English Summer Camp, I've been doing dorm stay. The monotonous lifestyle is toturous... Waking up around 11... Shower... Breakfast... Try to study... Instead, succumb to the temptation of watching anime downloaded in the previous night ... Lunch... Try to study again... Succumb to the temptation of surfing... Some missing hours before it's time for dinner... Try to study but to no avail, as predictable... Then somehow, it's time to go to bed and start another boring day tomorrow...

I finally figured that I should get my lazy ass up from the couch before I rot in the dorm. So, made a list of places to visit before going to Hokkaido next week. Unfortunately, the hot weather always deters me from going out. Given the choice, I'd rather rot in my room than getting dried up like salted fish.

But then, on some rare urge, I decided to take a train all the way to Roppongi (六本木) this evening. Roppongi is a place where us commoners should steer clear of as it is high-class area which was developed as an entertainment outlet for foreigners after the war.

For me, there's nothing to do in Roppongi at night. I'm not into bars and nightclubs. There's Roppongi Hills though, an upmarket area with five-star hotels out of the reach of budget travellers and apartments owned by filthy-rich celebrities.

I left that for another day, though. Since it was already dark by the time I reached Roppongi by subway.

Oh yeah, the subway! Did I tell you that I start to like subways more than trains?

For the less initiated...

This is a train, or densha (電車).

While, this, is a subway...

Uh, no photo, sorry!

Anyway, if you don't already know, subways are trains that run underground. I grew fond of subways instead of trains because subway stations "smell".

Yeah, they "smell good". Didn't notice that until I read about it in a website. Hey, I don't take subway trains unless I have to. They're expensive, you know. I'm loyal to Keio line, you know! (Well, that's because it's the cheapest railway that links to the major cities in Central Tokyo.)

But I digress.

So, I took a deep breath in the Roppongi subway station and found that it was right! Whoa! It did smelled fresh! Thanks to the good ventilation system (and the fact that they're about 40m underground)! In fact, it's usually a lot more cooler than the other train stations - JR stations, especially. They charge more than the private railways and their air-conditioning system sucks. Some kind of "energy-saving" scheme, I guess.

And, besides, subway trains are usually less crowded compared to the other densha's.

Speaking of sardine-packed trains, there's a certain technique for squeezing into one during rush hour. The trick is to enter the train backwards, holding your bag or whatever you carrying in front of you.


(Video taken in Shinjuku during my first week in Japan.)

If you're lucky, a station attendent might give you a gentle shove hand!

Trust me. Taking a sardine-packed train for a 25-minute ride isn't a fun experience. Once is more than enough.

Fore heaven's sake. Take the subway if possible - especially during peak hours. It saves you from the horror getting groped.