| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
richardlang
Joined: 21 Jan 2007
Location: Gangnam
|
 Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 3:00 pm Post subject: Kashiwa Mystery Cafe, Japan |
 |
|
http://www.cabel.name/2009/09/kashiwa-mystery-cafe.html
| wrote: |
While I was a little uncomfortable, I didn't want to be rude. I grabbed a caf� menu, quickly translated some Katakana (you'll get surprisingly far in Japan by learning this phonetic alphabet!), and found something I kind-of almost.. but not really.. wanted.
"I'll take an orange juice, please," I explained, in poor Japanese.
"Hai!", was the eager response.
A few moments later, I picked up my orange juice.
Except it wasn't an orange juice.
It was an apple drink called "Appletizer", some weird candy, and a little card.
Yeah. Now I was confused.
The guys behind the counter and I immediately launched into a humorous, protracted, Englishanese attempt to understand what the hell just happened. Through judicious fumbling, and after a great deal of precise hand-waving and mangled pronouns, it turned out to be something like this:
At this cafe, you get what the person before you ordered. The next person gets what you ordered.
Welcome to the Ogori cafe!
As I sat down to enjoy my surprise Appletizer, loving this insane idea and wondering what would happen if you tried it in America, a Japanese woman approached the cafe. Since she could actually speak Japanese, she could read the large sign at the front and, fortunately or unfortunately, got advanced warning of what she was in for. Before making a final decision on what to order, she quietly snuck up to me to try to ask me what I had ordered, knowing that it would be her unwavering refreshment destiny. The staff put a quick stop to her trickery, and I didn't answer.
Of course, regardless of what she ordered, she got the orange juice I ordered a few minutes earlier. But here's one of the moments that make this experiment cool: she actually chose orange juice, just like I did. So she got what she wanted. Ogori cafe synchronicity!
Before we left, there was one last thing hat had to be done.
Mike went up to the cafe, slapped down a couple thousand yen (~$25), and ordered a little bit of everything: some ice cream, some snacks, some candy, some drinks, a Japanese horn-of-mysterious-plenty intentionally set up as a shocking surprise for the next lucky customer. (After his order, Mike received single iced coffee.)
As we walked away from the cafe, with just the right amount of delay, we heard an extremely excited "arigato goazimasu!! thank you so much!!" yelled in our direction, from an ecstatic mom and her equally excited young son. They truly appreciated the surprise.
It was so worth it. |
|
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Underwaterbob
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Location: In Cognito
|
| Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 3:25 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Sucks to be the first one there. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Dev
Joined: 18 Apr 2006
|
| Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 5:28 pm Post subject: |
|
|
 Thanks for this OP.
The concept seems very Japanese. Truly out-of-the-box thinking. Bordering on weird.
North Americans would never tolerate it back home even for a second. We're too uptight. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Bloopity Bloop
Joined: 26 Apr 2009
Location: Seoul yo
|
| Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 5:40 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Oh wow! My friend is posted out in Kashiwa. I should ask him to check this out. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Underwaterbob
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Location: In Cognito
|
| Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 5:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I could get into it with some kind of restriction based on prices. There are bound to be cheapskates abusing the system. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Bloopity Bloop
Joined: 26 Apr 2009
Location: Seoul yo
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mateomiguel
Joined: 16 May 2005
|
| Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 5:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| how exactly would cheapskates abuse the system? The chick trying to find out what he had ordered before her was shut down. And maybe there is some kind of restriction based on price - the menu! |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Bloopity Bloop
Joined: 26 Apr 2009
Location: Seoul yo
|
| Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 6:26 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| mateomiguel wrote: |
| how exactly would cheapskates abuse the system? The chick trying to find out what he had ordered before her was shut down. And maybe there is some kind of restriction based on price - the menu! |
By buying the cheapest thing on the menu. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Underwaterbob
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
Location: In Cognito
|
| Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 6:46 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Bloopity Bloop wrote: |
| mateomiguel wrote: |
| how exactly would cheapskates abuse the system? The chick trying to find out what he had ordered before her was shut down. And maybe there is some kind of restriction based on price - the menu! |
By buying the cheapest thing on the menu. |
Yeah, to be really effective it requires at least a minimal amount of altruism. Maybe that's what they're promoting in the first place. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Dev
Joined: 18 Apr 2006
|
| Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 6:49 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Bloopity Bloop wrote: |
| mateomiguel wrote: |
| how exactly would cheapskates abuse the system? The chick trying to find out what he had ordered before her was shut down. And maybe there is some kind of restriction based on price - the menu! |
By buying the cheapest thing on the menu. |
Ha,ha,ha! That's right. And I've met a lot of ridiculously cheap young Japanese people.
The only way to prevent abuse would be to institute a 500 yen ($5) minimum order. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Panda
Joined: 25 Oct 2008
|
| Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 7:05 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Yeah, thats very Japanese. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
mua'dib
Joined: 29 Sep 2009
Location: sweating pure pocari
|
| Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 10:59 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I love surprises!
yay japan for being so much cooler than everyone else (most of the time)
I think that adding a mechanism to guard against people abusing the system kind of defeats the purpose. this is probably why they changed locations..... Also to add a bit of novelty to our lives, you will remember the experience but maybe never duplicate it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Goku
Joined: 10 Dec 2008
|
| Posted: Sun Oct 11, 2009 11:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
lol imagine if they did it the reverse way.
That'd be so hardcore. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Panda
Joined: 25 Oct 2008
|
| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 11:00 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I kinda see communism there. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
giraffe
Joined: 07 Apr 2009
|
| Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2009 12:01 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| So wait how does it work exactly? Do you pay for the order you make or you pay for the order the previous person paid for? Kinda sucks if say you order 3 drinks for friends and the person before you only ordered some cookie ? but you paid for 3 drinks? Anyways interesting concept. I suppose in these situations its better to just order 1 thing at a time. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
