Can you guess, what's my top to-do-list when I knew I will be going to Japan?
Visit a neko cafe!!!
Actually, most of the cat cafes are offering the same thing: cute cats and free flow drink (with fee, of course). However, I chose Cat Cafe MoCha because it has several branches in all over famous districts in Japan (9 branches in Tokyo and 5 in outside Tokyo). With the many branches, for me it was easier to fit in the visit into my schedule. They also have website with information in English which was very useful to understand the location, facilities, and the occurred fee(s). Oh, they also list out the cats lineups for all their branches!
I visit the cat cafe when I was in Tokyo and choose the branch in Harajuku. The shop is located at the 4th floor of Cross Avenue Harajuku Building and it was fairly easy to find. After we go out from the JR Harajuku station, just go straight and the building is located at the corner. Take the lift to the 4th floor and tadaaa welcome to cat lovers heaven!
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| The signage on the building wall |
P r e p a r a t i o n
Once we go out from the lift, we will be welcomed by the shop assistant. She will ask the number of visitors and give us a locker key with a paper attached. The paper indicates the starting time of our visit (for the fee calculation). Just after we received the key, we could then store our belongings in the available lockers, take off our shoes, change with the prepared indoor slippers, and wash our hands. When we finish all the preparations, we can enter into the play room.
I t ' s P l a y T i m e !
Inside the play room, we can see cats in every corner of the room: on the table, on the chair, on the wooden tree, on the hanging decorations, on the fence... They were everywhere. It was a heavenly view! According to the website, there should be around 20 cats in Harajuku branch, but I think I only saw 10 to 15 cats. The cats were clean and fat. They were very tame and familiar with human as well. We could pat and touch them freely, but remember not to chase or pick them up. So, when they walk away when you try to reach them, just let them be.
The interior design of the play room was excellent. I really love the homey ambiance with the wooden tree made as the central point in the room. There were some sofas and chairs prepared for us to lounge and we can also do works as they've prepared some socket charger for laptops. It was a nice place to chill out. You can also take beverages from the vending machine available outside the play room (you pay for it, so drink a lot!).
The only drawback from my visit was that most of the cats were sleeping (still cute tho). There were some cats awake, but when I tried to interact with them with the given feather toys, they were just not interested with it. I think they all already bored with the toys hahaha. Maybe the only way to have good interaction is just with the cat food. It was sold for ¥500, but I just didn't want to spend extra money so I didn't buy it. Perhaps next time I should visit in the daytime or during the scheduled feeding time at 10:30AM and 7:30 PM. It must be cute to see all the cats eating together!
P r i c e
Most of the cat cafes in Japan apply a time-based price in hourly basis (usually ¥1,000/hr). If you think your visit time is limited, Cat Cafe MoCHA was one of few that charge you on a 10 minutes basis with price of ¥200 per 10 mins. On top of the 10 mins fare, we need to order an all you can drink for ¥350 per person. It is mentioned that the minimum cost of a visit to Cat Cafe MoCHA is ¥550 (exclude 8% tax).
For my visit, I paid ¥810 (20 mins + drink + 8%tax). In my personal opinion, their charging scheme was a lil bit unfair because they calculate the starting time once the shop assistant handed us the key locker. While after we received the key, we couldn't directly play with the cats as we still need to do all the preps I've mentioned above (which could take around 5 mins). If we past the time by 1 mins, we need to pay another 10 mins of ¥200. So in my opinion, at the minimum we will be charged for ¥750 (exclude 8% tax).
If you planned to stay long in Cat Cafe MoCHA (if you have a free day in Japan and you want to spend all day long in a cat cafe), they have a capped maximum fee of ¥2,400 exclude tax.
Overall, I enjoyed my visit to Cat Cafe MoCHA. Not only this was my first time visiting a cat cafe, but also my first time interact closely with cats. If you love cats or any other animals that have the cafe in Japan, spare your time to visit one to have a unique experience interacting with them. It will be a memorable moment!
For further information on Cat Cafe MoCHA, visit their website http://catmocha.jp. See you in my next post!
For further information on Cat Cafe MoCHA, visit their website http://catmocha.jp. See you in my next post!
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| OMG tomorrow is Monday! |
