続、呼塚の男
Title: "2020 Tokyo University of the Arts Graduation Exhibition Part 1, First! Tokyo Metropolitan Kaikatsu CLUB"
I came to see the graduation exhibition at Tokyo University of the Arts again this year. This time, I was supposed to go with my friend K, but he was running late due to a temporary illness, so I came alone. I arrived at the venue at 9 am on a weekday. It was located on the upper floor (6th or 7th floor) of a mixed-use building near Ueno Hirokoji Station. In Tokyo, it is mandatory to show identification at net cafes. I was asked to present my ID at the reception. They checked it with my driver's license. In net cafes in Tokyo, regardless of booth seats, open seats, or member/non-member usage, ID verification is required.
I chose a non-smoking booth this time. Since the store only has booth seats, I could only specify smoking or non-smoking. The booth seats were on the 6th floor, if I remember correctly. They had locks on them, and there were even safes. The security was excellent. The partitions were quite tall, so there was no need to worry about being peeked at, but it wasn't a completely private room, so sound could leak out.
Free morning area was on the 8th floor. Some Tokyo Metropolitan Kaikatsu CLUB locations do not offer free mornings, so it was a deciding factor for me to use the Ueno Hirokoji store. They prepared toast, potato fries, and drinks (2 types). Unfortunately, the soft serve ice cream was not available because the staff was adjusting it. The potato fries were quite delicious and well-made. I was happy just with that because there have been many disappointments recently (the quality of the "divine potato" at Kaikatsu CLUB varies).
The drinks were in paper cups. I had corn soup and lemon soda first, then cafe mocha and a mocktail of Sprite & Real Gold. The cafe mocha was sweet and delicious! The Sprite & Real Gold mocktail was quite safe in flavor. It tasted like a carbonated drink that would be popular in America with a slightly strong sweetness. I left after 28 minutes. The bill was 290 yen including tax for using the booth seat within 30 minutes. Additionally, I received 100 points from the app's weekly coupon, 2 points for this usage, and 4 points for using PayPay, so I could use it for about 184 yen. The more you use, the more points you receive if your membership rank is higher.
Impressions: The Ueno Hirokoji store had a women-only area and booths with locks, so the security was very good. However, you have to move to a different floor to use the free morning or manga books, so it might be a bit hectic if you want to finish within 30 minutes. Many Kaikatsu CLUB locations in this area do not offer free mornings, so it is worth using. I would like to continue using it when I want to take a short break in Ueno in the future. (January 28, 2020)