Tokyo Is Now Home to a Pop-Up Nap Cafe
Japan is famous for its novelty cafés. (There are hedgehog cafes, mayonnaise cafes, and My Little Pony cafes, just to name a few.) Now, RocketNews24 reports, instant coffee brand Nescafe and Japanese bed manufacturer France Bed Co. have joined forces to bring a pop-up coffeehouse/nap café to Tokyo’s Harajuku district, in honor of World Sleep Day.
Patrons who swing by Nescafe’s Harajuku location can lounge on an assortment of luxury electronic reclining beds in a dimly lit room. To help them fall asleep, each bed comes with a Walkman and headphone set, along with a smartphone-controlled wireless LED light that provides relaxing mood lighting.
The experience isn’t 100 percent free, nor can visitors sleep the day away: Customers who want to nap are required to purchase at least one food item from the café’s menu, and all patrons are assigned a two-hour sleep limit. However, Nescafe will give guests a free cup of decaf coffee to enjoy before their siestas, along with a cup of regular Joe once they’ve woken up.
Tokyo’s coffeehouse/nap café is open until March 26. Hours are 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., with last call at 8:30 p.m. For an idea of what to expect, check out the picture above.
Article Source: http://mentalfloss.com/article/93445/tokyo-now-home-pop-nap-cafe
Image Source: http://images.mentalfloss.com/sites/default/files/styles/ｉnsert_main_wide_image/public/d4158-53-114720-0.jpg
VOCABULARY WORDS:
1. Novelty (n.) ~ the quality of being new, original, or unusual
2. Patron (n.) ~ a person who is a customer, client, or paying guest, especially a regular one, of a store, hotel, or the like
3. Luxury (adj.) ~ the state of great comfort and extravagant living
4. Dimly (adj.) ~ with a faint light not brightly
5. Siesta (n.) ~ a short nap taken in the early afternoon, often after the midday meal
6. Cup of joe (n.) ~ a cup of coffee
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. What are the examples of novelty cafes?
2. Why do you think novelty cafes are popular these days?
3. What kinds of novelty cafes are popular in Korea? Have you ever been to any of those? How was the experience?
4. If you can open a novelty cafe of your own, how would you make it different from the others?
