Kyoto: Internet cafes and coffee shops for overnight stays

1. Internet cafes for overnight stays. Kyoto in early April is the cherry blossom season, and the price of B&Bs is usually three times the usual price. A bed in a youth hostel usually costs $35, but now it costs $120. Because I don't like to plan ahead, I didn't have any accommodation when I arrived in Kyoto after dark the day before yesterday. But I have a tent and sleeping bag, so I can camp by the Kamo River for a night, although it's a bit cold. Moreover, knowing about Internet cafes is also a very good experience. In short, I don't want to pay 800 yuan for a bed in a youth hostel.

Following the search on the map, I started looking for the first internet cafe: Hailey'5 cafe. This is an ordinary internet cafe, located on the fourth floor of a commercial building at the intersection of a busy street. Bicycles need to be parked on the ninth floor (the next task is to figure out the rules of roadside bicycle parking lots). Next to the internet cafe is the Kamo River and the bars along the river. It is very noisy and no different from the most vulgar tourist town. Although I was disappointed on the one hand, I also knew that there must be many unknowns.

The internet cafe is very clean and bright when you enter the door, just like the check-in front desk of a hotel. The staff is friendly, and we use Google Translate to communicate, which the girl at the front desk is very skilled in. After registering, go to the small cubicle, and settle the fee when you leave. There are two floors, and the public area has toilets and showers (extra fees), and free beverage machines with coffee, carbonated drinks, ice cream, and tea. It is very clean and tidy. You need to register at the front desk to go out and get a small receipt (I don't know what it does). Although there are many people staying, I rarely meet them, and everyone is in their own cubicle.

In the morning, there was another young man in the smoking room. I took the initiative to talk to him. He could speak a little English, mixed with Japanese. I asked: "Are you traveling?" He said no. At first he said bike, I thought it meant riding. I checked and found that bike means motorcycle (motobike) by default, and bicycle means "bicycle". He was from Nagoya and came to Kyoto to take the motorcycle driver's license test: "It's expensive to get a driver's license in Nagoya, it costs 230,000 yen (11,500 yuan), and 130,000 (6,500 yuan) in Kyoto."

After checking out, I left the internet cafe. I spent 13 hours and about 260 yuan. There were still a few hours before the language school's new student orientation at 2 pm, so I rode my bike to the nearby Higashi Honganji Temple. Unexpectedly, after only a few hundred meters, I turned into a small alley in Kyoto, with old-style townhouses and traditional shops. I had a set lunch at a restaurant called "LORIMER KYOTO" on a quiet road. The atmosphere in the restaurant was very good. The meal included three kinds of fish (two kinds of sashimi, one fried silver cod), several delicious side dishes, a soup, and rice. It cost 140 yuan. After lunch, I rode not far and saw the quaint and grand Higashi Honganji Temple through a few cherry trees. I felt that I had truly arrived in Kyoto.

After chatting with new classmates (two Taiwanese and two British) in the smoking area on the rooftop of the school, we went home. They all rented apartments. After leaving the school, it was cold outside and I didn't know where to go. I continued to look for an Internet cafe. The Internet cafe last night was okay, but I didn't like it. I looked at a few more, just to experience it, although I didn't have high expectations.

We came across an old-fashioned coffee shop on the way, and I liked it very much. We had food and coffee. When we left the coffee shop, it was already dark. We arrived at this new internet cafe, "Happy Club Shijo Omiya Station Store", which is also at the same intersection, but more casual and not noisy. On the fifth floor, the bicycle was parked at the door of "Gyoza King" downstairs.

The biggest feature of this store is freedom, which is basically completely self-service (a more advanced system). Although there was an employee at the front desk who assisted me, I could actually register for membership at the self-service machine (with an English version), check in, and get a QR code and room number. All access and room entry require QR codes. The compartments are smaller, but better: cheaper, cleaner, and reasonably designed: there are compartments for luggage, comfortable reclining chairs, and you can put your own computer on the table. According to my preferences, this size is not spacious, but it is enough. You need to go to the front desk to get the key to take a shower, which costs 16 yuan for 30 minutes. The bathroom is also relatively spacious. After taking a shower, I went out for a walk. The small streets at night are sometimes quiet and sometimes lively. Most of the lively ones are izakayas.

So far, I have unlocked the Internet cafes in Japan, which is a great breakthrough, because apart from accommodation, everything else is not expensive and convenient.

2 Coffee shop I went to the language school's freshman meeting yesterday afternoon. It was raining and cold after the meeting. I rode my bike with my luggage to find a nearby internet cafe to spend the night. I came across this coffee shop on the way. The furnishings inside were very comfortable, and it felt like time was slowing down. I ordered coffee and egg toast. The owner was an old lady, about 70 years old, thin and neat. The egg toast was unexpectedly delicious, with some mustard added to it, and it was toasted hot.

After sitting for a while, I checked Google Maps. The name of the store is "March". It says that it will close at 19:00, with ten minutes left. When I pushed the door and entered the store, the old lady said, "Seven" in Japanese, but I didn't understand what it meant. After eating, I sat for a few minutes, smoked a cigarette, and then left. Across the street, the old lady was also packing up the light box outside the store and closing the store.

Before leaving the internet cafe today, I thought about eating here. There were several customers in the store, all elderly, both men and women, eating lunch and drinking coffee. There was also a middle-aged man helping out in the store, probably the old lady's son. There was only one set lunch: tofu rice bowl, with miso soup, cold eggplant, a small dish of cabbage, and a cup of barley tea. I pointed to the others and said: おなじ (same as onaji), and the old lady said: "Oh, ランチ" (Japanese pronunciation of Lunch).

Starting with the ideal internet cafe for an overnight stay that I found last night, and with this store, it seems like I have put down some roots in Kyoto.

Well, not bad.

As for what I wanted to do in Kyoto, I just wanted to live in a completely unfamiliar place for a while.