I don't have anything particular to do, but I do have a reason to go to a café

I'm at the cafe again today.

⚫️ A café I wandered into by chance — even the ice was made carefully, so it never watered down the coffee. Vietnamese cafés are a bit different from both Japanese kissaten and the coffee-break spaces you find in coworking pantries. Since I live here, I can really feel the role that Vietnamese cafés play, so I wanted to jot this down. What's interesting about Vietnamese cafés is that they're kind of a place where anything is allowed. (Of course, upscale shops and chains do have their own rules, to some extent.) It's totally fine to spread your snacks (the ones you brought) out on the table without hesitation. You can work here for a loooong time. It's fine to just space out, too. You can even just stay a while waiting for the rain to stop. Even though everyone around you is a stranger, there's a strange kind of comfort in not feeling "too alone." Stay as long as you like — the staff won't give you dirty looks. Wifi and outlets are free to use too. That's just the default, taken for granted here.

⚫️ A café where you can even get a coffee lecture right at the counter It's not an exaggeration to say that cafés in Vietnam are as numerous as the stars in the sky. According to a rough survey, it's estimated that there are as many as 300,000 to 500,000 cafés in Vietnam. (The number changes depending on how you define it — whether it's a coffee specialty shop, whether it serves light meals, and whether street cafés and stalls are included, so the count fluctuates quite a bit.) Even so, it's said to be about 4 to 5 times the number found in Japan. In Japan, even including cafes and coffee shops, the figure is said to be around 80,000 establishments, and when you compare that to population size, Vietnam actually gives the impression of having an even higher density. Well, numbers aside, just turn a corner and there's a cafe here too. Right next to it, and next to that one again, two or three cafes lined up in a row. And there's a cafe across the street as well. This almost comical scenery is nothing unusual at all — it's one of Vietnam's mysterious little zones. There are cafes that barely have any customers inside, yet somehow never go out of business, There are also cafés with such rapid turnover that the owner changes in the blink of an eye. Anyway, it's simply impossible to walk down a street without noticing the cafés along it. Still, why are cafés so irresistibly appealing? Feeling thirsty, needing the restroom, sudden rain, waiting to meet someone — sometimes it's out of necessity, but psychologically speaking, maybe it's because they're just the right kind of place for people's moods and actions. My own mood shifts back and forth throughout the day. I want to draw a bit of a line under things. I want a change of pace. I want to clear my head. I want to sit with my thoughts calmly. (Home just doesn't work for that, you know?) That's the kind of place this has become — one you find yourself drawn to.

⚫️A croissant and an American coffee set costs about 90,000 VND — roughly 540 yen in Japanese currency. So, which one should I choose... A place where nothing but low chairs is lined up along the street counts as a café too. Cheap coffee starting from 15,000 VND. At first glance, it doesn't look relaxing at all, but you watch the endless stream of motorbikes passing right in front of you, and with the noise as your background music, you just quench your thirst. Strangely enough, this is what feels calming. After lunch, quite a lot of people sit close together with their coworkers, chatting away cheerfully. Why here?" you might think. "Wouldn't it be better to go back to your workplace?" But, actually, maybe that's not quite it. When you sit in a low chair, you stop worrying about the gaze of people walking by, and you can focus on the conversation with the friends whose eye level matches yours. This feeling is interesting. I really want you to experience it. It's just sitting on a chair with no walls and no cushions, chatting away, but is it like an engawa porch? A smoking area? A break room? You can touch a feeling close to that of a casual gossip session by the well. There, a wonderful café space has already come into being. I also like just wandering in on a whim, to kill some time. Someone with a dog. A young person who starts singing, instrument in hand. Someone sitting cross-legged on a chair, working away. A couple who, instead of sitting face to face, sit side by side and just keep talking on and on. Many cafés stay open late into the night. This is basically a living room already. Put another way, it might be a lounge.

Vinyl records are quite popular too~ On the other hand, there are cafés chosen with care — the space, the desk, the chair, even the background music — because you want to get into work mode. Even if it costs more than 200,000 VND (about 1,200 yen), if you can find truly delicious coffee and dessert, that's happiness, and in its own way, that lets you indulge in a luxurious reading session too. These days, more and more cafés are putting real thought into their design and taste,

⚫️Cafes that incorporate fish tanks into their design have really been increasing, haven't they. Some bring in beans from Japan and abroad, sourced from farms and growers whose faces you can actually see, some set up their roasting process like a laboratory, some create a lounge-like space with records playing, some are filled with art and plants, finished into an otherworldly space that feels like... a museum? a garden?

⚫️ Some cafés are purely about the picture-perfect atmosphere. Others put freshly baked bread or flavored teas front and center. Honestly, there's so much information it's hard to keep up. In other words, the range of choices is simply enormous. Many cafés end up closing down, but new ones spring up again right away. It feels almost alive — just like Vietnam itself, so full of energy. Now then, which café should I go to today? Expat Life Ranking