The much anticipated...

Since we’re iced in for the 3rd day in a row and have been unceremoniously kicked out of the hotel lounge due to a misunderstanding with the new front desk personnel, (Who were we to argue when they told us at check-in that we have club level access and programmed our keys to give said access? I mean we did live in your hotels for 75 days last year. We thought it was the least you could do since you wouldn’t even give us a king bed. Obviously I’m digressing and I’m doing so within parenthesis…which is wrong on a lot of levels, but I’m okay with it since I think it gives you a sense of how stir crazy I’m feeling and how annoying I find this particular hotel. I’m just saying: Intercontinental = CRAPTASTIC loyalty program.) I don’t really have an excuse not to write.

Without further ado, our cat café story…



The day before we left Japan we finally made it past the cat covered door at Hapineko Cat Café in Shibuya. Of course once we made it to that door we had 20 minutes of preparation before actually be allowed past the second door and in with the cats.

First up was the menu because the “café” part of a cat café is literal…



Then we had to brush up on the rules like how to properly support a cat’s butt and how wrong it is to pick up a cat from a “high” place…



We then had to sign some papers, take off our shoes, place our bags inside a laundry bag, wash and sanitize our hands, put on some slippers and *drum roll please*…



I’m not sure what I expected from café cats, maybe a little caffeine induced energy, but what we got was what everyone gets with a cat- pure, unadulterated laziness.

I’d say at least 98% of the cats were sleeping and those not sleeping were plenty content to just hide out in their pineapples…



Our entry fee included 30 minutes and a drink. I have to say my latte was pretty good, but with all the sleepers and the rules about which cat you could pick up or touch only on the head (different collars meant they had just been to the vet) I was getting a little worried we’d only be experiencing the café portion of the place.

Why weren’t these cats interested in us? What did this lady have that we didn’t???



Then one of the ladies brought out a laser light and all was saved…




We experienced a lot of strange things in Japan, but this one definitely took the cake.

The cupcake…