Every room, checked.

A basement room under a department store, open later than the store itself.

Opens at six in the evening and runs until two, for the people who finish work late.

A residential shop with a garden, a sandpit for children, and coffee for their parents.

A courtyard café under an old banyan, with plastic stools and very good coffee.

A bar built for espresso, with a competition pedigree and a short, confident menu.

Behind the city hall, a glass-fronted room that empties out entirely by seven.

A bright corner with a bakery counter and a permanent queue for the egg tarts.

Beside a plaza fountain, with metal chairs and a permanent breeze.

A weekend room by the river with a gravel yard and no indoor seating to speak of.