In my last article, I discussed the importance of being frugal and staying aware of one’s spending. 

As it turns out, the author is not very good at following her advice. But it’s probably alright to be a little lax about spending during a once-in-a-lifetime experience in Japan. Right? Maybe? Hopefully. 

Jokes aside, I noticed that it’s a lot harder to follow my advice and much easier to spend in big cities in Japan. 

This past weekend, I visited the Kyoto International manga Museum in Kyoto with my friend Mia. I joined her in visiting the museum as a part of her class field trip. Entry to the museum was inexpensive, being only 1,200 yen ($8.45) for a ticket. 

The museum had several types of exhibits, such as shelves full of manga from different eras and sculptures of hands showing the pencil grips of different artists. 

At the moment, the main attraction for this museum is the Ryoko Kui exhibition and “Delicious in Dungeon” exhibition. 

Mia and I were big fans of “Delicious in Dungeon” and excitedly took as many photos with concept art and props as we could. 

I am very proud to have gotten a photo with the prop recreation of Kensuke, the show’s adorable living sword. 

Afterward, we hit the souvenir store to purchase some official “Delicious in Dungeon” merchandise. 

However, this is where I began to notice what would become a recurring issue while in Kyoto: cash. 

I didn’t carry a lot of cash on me that day, as I expected to use my card for in-store purchases and food. The cash I brought was just in case I wanted to shop at stores that didn’t take cards. 

The gift shop unfortunately didn’t accept my card, but I figured it wouldn’t be an issue in the long run. 

However, when we went next door to the Museum Cafe: Maeda Coffee, I had the same problem.

I spent 4,080 yen ($28.74) on an order of curry and two ice lattes. Not bad for collaboration cafe pricing, but our visit still took a significant chunk out of my bills. 

Regardless, the food was great. The curry was delicious and the latte was the perfect sweet treat to beat the heat. Mia ordered the pizza which she thoroughly enjoyed, although I can’t personally recommend it. 

The pizza was topped with onions and either chicken or tuna (Mia and I couldn’t agree) so it wasn’t my favorite, but it was still very good. 

We planned to go to a shopping street, but we made a pit stop at the Pokémon Center Kyoto. I would highly recommend visiting the center if you are a fan of Pokémon. 

It is a great place to find your niche favorites, but be warned that a handful of items can cost you over $30 like it did for me. 

Unfortunately, this store also did not accept my card. I’m sensing a pattern here. Now low on cash, it was time to be wary of my future purchases. 

‘Surely, this will be easy,’ I thought as we rounded the corner. 

Light shown through the red, green and yellow glass tiles overhead as I stared down the roofed street. 

Mia made her way down the street as I struggled not to get swept away from her by the crowd or distracted by the array of food before me. 

We had stumbled our way into the Nishiki Market, a food market that left me completely awestruck. I couldn’t believe my eyes and my wallet couldn’t believe my foolishness.

At this point, I only had about $20 in my pocket and a choice to make: do I try some delicious and amazing food or wait to do some more shopping and come back later?

I made the wise decision to wait and begrudgingly dragged myself away from the market. I did, however, grab a sandwich of oranges and cream as a little snack before I left. 

I exited the street and the next few hours became a whirlwind of stores, claw machines and Gashapon, Gashapon and more Gashapon, most of which only took cash. 

I did my best to resist purchases and managed to save up just enough cash for one item from the market. 

I let time get away from me and, after being distracted by a Haikyuu collaboration cafe and more stores, it was too late. By the time I was ready to go back to the market, it was already closed. 

I definitely plan to do a do-over on this trip where I am more adequately prepared. Next time I will properly manage my time and bring ample cash. Hopefully, I can follow my advice this time.

Liz Curtin can be reached at [email protected].