Hello Kittycats!

The laziest blogger in (probably) the universe is back! I noticed that unlike many others whom I truly respected for dedicating their time to diligently post and share with the whole wide world, I only posted once in a couple of months. Oops. I know, it's a crime. Therefore, let me redeem myself bit by bit, starting with this post!

Being the ultimate cat person (yes, I'm a cat lady. I hope I don't get to be alone at 70 with 2 dozens of cats but if fate says so, at least I got my cats, eh? Well.... that will only happen if by then I'll be capable enough to keep the cats alive, that is), I was over the moon when I stumbled upon this cat cafe in the middle of a must do make-up shopping trip down at Myeong-dong in Korea! It all begins with my countless failed attempts of capturing my towering green tea and vanilla ice cream with the scene of Myeong-dong as the background..

my leaning tower of ice cream. aren't the couple wearing matchy varsity jackets and even the same hair colour just adorable! adding varsity jacket to my shopping list, definitely.

which then leads to seeing this fellow all dressed in a cat costume with (luckily) some English written on him/her...

excuse me for the wobbly image. whoooo.

 .. and off we go to the kitty cats!

gasp!

This was the view that welcomed us after we went up the dodgy looking stairways which was delightfully warm compared to the creepy entryway. I couldn't help squealing and kicked off my shoes, changed into their sandals and played with all the kitties I could grab hand on. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee.

the cafe provided treats for us to buy to feed them!

GARFIELD!

NALA CAT!

ARISTOCAT! yes i'm high on cats, excuse the caps.

MARIE! still so gorgeous despite my horrible photo taking skills.

ME! on a daily basis, rolling around in bed. oh, bliss.

They're all sooooo, so, fat and fluffy I was gonna dieeeeee. Now I know how Agnes from Despicable Me felt. Literally. After fooling around with the furballs for long enough, I finally gotten back some decency and realized I haven't ordered anything or even grabbed a table so therefore we did. The owner was too kind to let us play with them first and kindly ushered us to our table. We quickly proceeded to putting our orders in by their counter afterwards, and wasn't I shocked to find out that the entry fee that includes a cup of drinks out of quite a handful selection was only 8,000 won! Truly the most delightful 8,000 won I had spent within the entire trip.

don't you worry about hygiene, people. before anyone gets in and all we have to spray our hands and dust of ourselves with some antibacterial gel, hence having the kitties on the counter top nearby the pantry is completely fine. they smell fantastic, anyways!

oh hello there, you with the quirky grin!

someone's looking for a treat, eh?

i love how this dalmatian kitty keeps changing its sleeping pose.

SIMBA!

While waiting on our orders, I straightaway wandered around and that liberty of table hopping, rolling around with the kitties on the floor,  and giggling all the way we could is what I love most. We all know that in normal cafes, such behaviour couldn't possibly be done as one normally sits, sip the delightful flat whites, chattering away in controlled volumes with occasional high-pitched laughter, despite how casual the cafe is. Whoever the original brain head of these cat cafes are, I salute you!

peek-a-boo!

REAL LIFE GRUMPY CAT!

HAHA! I just couldn't have laughing away straight in its face with my finger pointed, aren't I'm rude. but you, dear, are just too hilarious!

the cats' plush condos.

miniature houses that i wouldn't let my hands off if i were eight. "no, mummy, i won't leave until you let me take back one home with me." that's probably what i'll do back then and still secretly wish to do at my current age. shame on me.

Our drinks was ready within minutes so I went back to my table and look who I found.

garfield sniffing our cosmetic buys under my chair!

whom swiftly hopped on to my bag... uh-oh.

and decided to nest there. major UH-OH.

he won't leave for the longest time, I had to tickle his way out of my chair! there's a policy in the cafe that none of the cats should be carried so tickling him is all I can do and I think that doesn't really help as to him I guess it's as comfortable as being rubbed on the belly. sighs.

after several minutes tickling him until my arms aches, his royal highness won't budge so i just stand beside my throne, panting, trying to feel my arms.  as he saw me in complete defeat and only then would he stepped down! oh, you, lovely little rascal. 

giant rocking horse which I was so tempted to hop on but stopped myself from doing so out of the will to protect one's dignity.

serene view from our table.

kudos to that, a cup of coffee IS magical.

I did read about these cat cafe joints in Tokyo way back then from Jane Aldridge's post but I never expected that they have it too in Korea, so it was a such a pleasant surprise after we blew off our wons buying make up products that we aren't sure of using but just have to get! It's such a perfect place for lazy cat persons like me who actually lives more like a cat than a human being should - which makes it pretty impossible to keep a cat itself as a pet - yet still want to pet some furballs every now and then. That said, even if you are not that much of a cat person, still do give them a chance if you happen to stumble into one as it'll definitely be such a memorable experience! My friend who is totally afraid of animals of any sort came to join and sat in horror in a corner trying to avoid all the cats but in the end he still managed to squeeze some fun out of the "terrorizing" experience anyway, so why not give it a go? Until the next post then, cheers with the typical Asian grin and peace hand sign! Heehee.

Twenty and Six Espresso

Without any doubt, I crowned Twenty and Six Espresso as the best brunch spot in Melbourne to date. Food there is always innovative (not just some random stack of greens with some proteins and simple yolk porn you can put together easily at home), coffee backed up by Proud Mary's blend has never been disappointing and service is always awesome, therefore giving us the actual Melbourne's own brunch experience.

my all time favourite - the hunter. mushrooms and chorizo just couldn't get any better with their dressing combined.

my original love - the traveller. amazing moroccan sort of taste - hummus, flat bread, amazing lamb sausage hidden beneath the glistening spicy sauce. too bad they've stopped serving this.

and they've replaced it with this - the cassoulet. fancy name for baked beans and sausage drowned in sinful duck fat. it stands equal to the traveller in terms of presentation and cooking method but to me the traveller is still the winner.

this poor little fellow looks too ordinary sitting next to others at the table. there, there.

Apart from their marvelous food aesthetic, owners of this successful little cafe - Nedin Rahmanovic and Majda Falan - are graphic and interior designers. No wonder every details the eyes caught in the place also seems to be thought of carefully despite the limited space and the deceiving simplicity. Both the eyes and the tummies are satisfied at once. What's more to ask?

notice anything unusual here?

it's the water glasses! certainly not some crappy-dented plastic cups. they used to serve water with these when they started but as they grow very crowded, sadly they've stopped. 

innovative use of empty bottles, light bulbs and pot-pourri. no?

crates as racks. brilliant.

more crates as seats with old coffee sacks as cushions; industrial chic done right!  nigahiga should have made an ad about crates rather than the inflatable green ball, agreed?

wonder what is he throwing?

a paper plane!

that ends on the other side.

i just have a thing for cream and this shade of greenish-blue. and they have it all.

Oooh I know. Ask them to be open on Wednesdays as well, maybe? And also bring back The Traveller? Or maybe a slightly expand the location? Or make bookings available so we don't have to queue up on weekends? Okay I better stop here, I'm starting to ask for too much.

Little King

On the way back from the vintage fair, we visited this fantastic little cafe called Little King hidden in Westin Melbourne's alley run by Melbourne's sweetest girl.

most delightful strawberry tea from Serendipitea. it's called Strawberry Kisses. too cute.

vintage tea spoon. don't sweat, it's hygienic. trust them.

a drop of golden sunshine in a bowl. indeed the most delicious pumpkin soup i've ever had to date. 

exterior of the cafe. randomly, don't you think this guy should work for Abercrombie & Fitch? So Ken-looking.

Ave- my dearest, extremely talented friend who captures most of the pretty pictures featured in this blog - and I just can't stop blushing and giggling after the view. thank you for the entertainment, eye candy.

Definitely a must visit! It has always been a lovely surprise when there's such a place hidden the busy, busy CBD.