raining ktula » train

Tokyo: Musical door closing tone on the Fukutoshin Line

ktula — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 09:10:37 +0000

I was in a really good mood after leaving the Yakitori joint so i decided to ride from one end to the other on the Fukutoshin Line, the newest subway line in the Tokyo metro subway system. It is amazing what a few glasses of alcoholic drinks can do to you I had ridden on Fukutoshin Line earlier during the day and i noticed each station appeared to have its own musical door closing tone. I wanted to record the door closing music from each station and the only way to accomplish that was to ride from end to end. The Fukutoshin line goes from Shibuya (station F16) to Wakoshi (stations F01). As soon as the door opened at each station, i would hold up my iPhone to record the door closing music. A few passengers were giving me the strange look as i was holding my iPhone up but most simply ignored me. I discovered that only stations between F07 Senkawa and F16 Shibuya on the northbound line have musical door closing tone. The remaining stations have the normal non-musical door closing buzz. On the soundbound line, as i rode it to get back to the Higashi-Shinjuku station, F06 Kotake-mukaihara station, which did not have any music going northbound, has its own musical door closing tone. In fact, on listening to the musical tones later, i found out that the musical door closing tones are different on trains traveling northbound and southbound in the same station.

Anyway, here are the musical tones i recorded on my iPhone:

F06 Kotake-mukaihara: southbound. This is a partial recording because i did not realize this station has musical tone as well as i was traveling southbound.
F07 Senkawa: Northbound | Southbound.

Northbound

Southbound

F09 Ikebukuro: Northbound | Southbound.
F10 Zoshigaya: Northbound | Southbound.
F11 Nishi-waseda: Northbound | Southbound.
F12 Higashi-shinjuku: Northbound | Southbound (my favorite!).
F13 Shinjuku-sanchome: Northbound | Southbound.
F14 Kita-sando: Northbound | Southbound.
F15 Meiji-jingumae: Northbound | Southbound.
F16 Shibuya: Northbound | Southbound.

Day Ten – Shanghai

ktula — Fri, 05 Aug 2005 14:07:19 +0000

I arrived in Shanghai in the morning on the overnight express train from Beijing. After checking into the Hua-dong hotel (華東), i took the advice of the subway assistant by taking the bus to Cheng-huang temple (城隍廟) directly. I was not really clear on what Cheng-huang temple was all about prior to arriving there. I thought Cheng-huang temple was only a temple. I found out that it was more than a temple. The Cheng-huang temple area included tons of commercial stores, the temple was only a very minor part of it. I saw global companies like Starbucks and Coca-cola there. It really was not what i had expected. It was not what i had intended to see.

While i was there, i had lunch at the Lu-bo-lou restaurant (绿波廊酒樓). This restaurant is supposed to be a really famous one – according to the pictures on the wall, i saw the English Queen, Bill Clinton and a few others. At first, i was led to a small room with people smoking at multiple tables. So i requested to move to a non-smoking area. The waitress brought me to a “non-smoking” area – a bigger area with less smokers. I ordered the grilled squid, stir-fry local veggie and the shanghai fried noodles. The grilled squid and the veggie were pretty good. The shanghai friend noodles came a little too late – i was extremely full.

As it was a pretty hot and humid day, i did not stay at the temple for very long. After spending about an hour an Nanjing Road, i went back to the Shanghai station. I wanted to go to Hangzhou (杭州) the next day so i went to a travel agency recommended by Wendy, the Shanghai SiHai Travel Service (上海四海旅行社). Because i only wanted to go to Xihu (西湖) and the Lou-Wai-Lou restaurant (樓外樓). The restaurant is supposed to be the most famous restaurant in Hangzhou. Because i was only going to the lake, the travel agent told me it was not necessary to take a tour with them and all i had to do was to take the train there. Since she had spent so much time discussing the trip with me, i felt bad not taking the tour with them, so i bought a tour to go to Suzhou (蘇州).

Getting the train ticket to go to Hangzhou at the Shanghai train station was another one of my bad experiences in China. People cutting in line, people yelling and screaming around me and people standing too close behind me. I am so used to my personal space in Seattle. I feel so uneasy with so many people standing around me.

Day Nine – Beijing

ktula — Fri, 05 Aug 2005 05:43:58 +0000

Since i was going back to Shanghai in the evening, i did not plan any excursions today. I went to the Oriental Shopping mall again at Wangfujing Road. Bought some pretty cool-looking shirts – my only purchase in China so far. While i was there, i made my third visit to Starbucks. It’s funny because i have never bought anything from Starbucks in the US, even though Seattle is literally lined with Starbucks. And now that i am in China, i have already gone to and bought drinks from three Starbucks. So far, i have tried the green tea iced Frappuccino. I have never acquired the taste for coffee but this drink is really good. Somehow i think Starbucks is probably not catering to most of the Beijing population. A tall size of green tea Frappuccino costs RMB 29 and that is about two meals for most people.

Rant and Rave
At around 1800, i walked to the Beijing train station. There was already a line waiting at the gate to the express train to Shanghai. At round 1830, the gate opened. Again, there was this mad dash to the train. I don’t get it. Everyone has an assigned bed, and it really does not make any difference if you get there early or late. This is one of the things that drives me insane. Another is when people are boarding the subway. For the longest time, i have known that it’s more efficient to let the departing passengers get off the subway before boarding it. But most people here (both in Beijing and Shanghai) don’t seem to know that. All they care about is to get on the freaking subway regardless if there are passengers trying to get off the subway. Just yesterday, i was lining up to get my ticket back to Shanghai. This guy behind me was standing a little too close for my comfort. He kept looking over my shoulder at the direction of the ticket booth. I really don’t understand it. It did not help him one bit by constantly looking over my shoulder to see what the ticket agent was doing. I have no clue what the hell he was thinking. In the end, i had to stare at him and asked him if there was anything that i could do to help him before he backed away a little. I have enjoyed my trip so much but it is little things like these that drive me crazy. I don’t think i can live in Beijing or Shanghai for another week!

On my return trip in the express train to Shanghai, i was sharing my cabin with a pretty girl (Sammy) from Haerbin (哈尔滨). She was quite friendly and told me about her desire to be a fashion designer in Paris.

Day Three – Shanghai (in express train to Beijing)

ktula — Fri, 29 Jul 2005 15:36:17 +0000

2005-07-28 1835 (CST)

At around 1825, the gate to platform #1 was opened and there was this “mad” dash to board the train. I knew that i was supposed board the #6 train but i did not know what 06號上鋪 meant. After asking a fellow passenger, found out that it meant bunk bed number 6 (top). The cabin is extremely clean, to my surprise. I think i just might take the same train back to Shanghai when i am done with Beijing. Each cabin fits four people. The people riding in the same cabin as me were going to Shang-xi (山西) to visit some relatives. Oh yeah, i am the lone representative of the male species in the cabin. I hope my fellow female cabin mates can handle my occasional snoring. If not, oh well

Day Two – Shanghai (evening)

ktula — Thu, 28 Jul 2005 13:03:12 +0000

I was so sleepy early last night, so i did not update this blog.

Yesterday afternoon, i dragged my ass out of the comfort of the hotel room to head toward the train station, which was only about a block or two away. It was around 1645 but it was still extremely warm and humid. At the train station, there were tons of people. Even though it seemed chaotic at times, most people were actually following the proper rules of lining up for their tickets. I went to the only booth where the electronic sign said “bilingual window” (雙語窗), in chinese. It didn’t appear odd to me until i realized that if you can’t read chinese, how the hell in the world are you going to know what 雙語 means? Unless 雙語 means the local Shanghai dialect and mandarin, but that did not seem very likely.

After waiting in line for about 15 minutes, i got myself a ticket on an express train to Beijing !!! Yes, Beijing, here i come The train will depart Shanghai tonight (28th) at 1900 and it is supposed to have seats where you can sleep. Instead of the “3 hours” train ride to Beijing, as told by the hotel receptionist, it will take about 12 hours to get to Beijing. The train ticket costs me RMB 478. If the train ride turns out to be nightmarish, i am taking a flight back !

Last night, i went to the restaurant within my hotel. It’s called Shanghai Si-fu (上海食府). I ordered the “Lion Head soup” (獅子頭), some beans with pickled veggie (毛豆酸菜) and Eel strips with mushrooms (金牌鱔絲) for about RMB 70. They were all very good. Not sure if those dishes are local Shanghai delicacies – the waiter claimed they were.