We're cat people. All of our friends at home are cat people. We often find ourselves spending way too much time talking with our friends and families about the personalities of our cats and the things that they do.
However, we are not the type of crazy cat people who choose to fly their cat halfway around the world just because we choose to spend a year abroad. So, our special little guy is chilling with our BFF Dayna and BCFF Lola back in New Brunswick for the year. We'd read that Taipei has several cat cafes where dozens of cats roam freely while dozens of cat lovers pet them, so today we decided to check out the first place Google directed us to: Minimal Cafe in the Shida Night Market.
Minimal Cafe is located at Lane 2, Number 42 Taishun Street, just around the corner from the hustle and bustle of the market. I've included the address in this post in case anyone else wants to find this place, because we had a little trouble locating it- all we knew was that it was on Taishun Street and there are dozens of Lanes branching off that one street. When we found the cafe we knew we were in the right place because there was a big orange cat laying on a picnic table in front of the building.
When I pictured the cat cafe I pictured a utopia of cute cats frolicking about, jumping on my lap and wanting to be petted. In reality, although the cats were cute (of course!) they didn't really want to be pet or touched and the place stunk like a litter box. As soon as we walked in and the smell of cat piss hit us we decided that we wouldn't be ordering any food. Health Canada would have this place shut down pretty fast; sad but true.
The cafe was packed, but the service was quite good. There weren't any tables available when we first arrived but while we were looking at a menu a waiter came over and showed us to a table that had opened up. The booth that we sat in had been scratched to pieces, and kind of reminded me of my sofa back home. Aw, I'm getting teary-eyed. Actually,
everything had been scratched to bits in this cafe- even the lamps.
The cafe also provided cat toys for customers to use. The guy at the table next to us had one and managed to catch the interest of a couple of the younger cats. At first there weren't really any cats to be seen but as soon as he grabbed that toy they appeared, and they were obsessed with it! Even when the guy's food came and he stopped playing with the toy the cats just sat there staring at him, waiting to be played with some more.
These two spied the toy from the other end of the cafe and soon joined in on the action.
The cafe had lots of nooks and crannies for the cats to play and hang out.
One thing that I thought was a bit strange- though I have seen it before in Asia- is that the bathroom was a onesie with two toilets in it. Can you imagine sitting side by side with a stranger and using the bathroom like this? My theory is that one toilet is for customers and the other is for the cats to drink out of.
This guy was the smartest of them all- he slept on the coffee maker. It's probably the warmest spot. Probably-related sidenote: there was a hair in my cappuccino.
On our way out of the cafe (our allergies had started to act up!) we noticed this fellow relaxing on a scratched up chair. After we left we went to Kiwi Gourmet Burger for supper and then did some shopping at the market before coming home. Despite the smell of the cafe it was a fun place to visit to get a quick cat-fix, but of course it just made us think about our own special little guy back home, scratching up Dayna's apartment and making it smell juuuust right.
Minimal Cafe is located at Lane 2, Number 42 Taishun Street, just around the corner from the hustle and bustle of the market. I've included the address in this post in case anyone else wants to find this place, because we had a little trouble locating it- all we knew was that it was on Taishun Street and there are dozens of Lanes branching off that one street. When we found the cafe we knew we were in the right place because there was a big orange cat laying on a picnic table in front of the building.
When I pictured the cat cafe I pictured a utopia of cute cats frolicking about, jumping on my lap and wanting to be petted. In reality, although the cats were cute (of course!) they didn't really want to be pet or touched and the place stunk like a litter box. As soon as we walked in and the smell of cat piss hit us we decided that we wouldn't be ordering any food. Health Canada would have this place shut down pretty fast; sad but true.
The cafe was packed, but the service was quite good. There weren't any tables available when we first arrived but while we were looking at a menu a waiter came over and showed us to a table that had opened up. The booth that we sat in had been scratched to pieces, and kind of reminded me of my sofa back home. Aw, I'm getting teary-eyed. Actually, everything had been scratched to bits in this cafe- even the lamps.
The cafe also provided cat toys for customers to use. The guy at the table next to us had one and managed to catch the interest of a couple of the younger cats. At first there weren't really any cats to be seen but as soon as he grabbed that toy they appeared, and they were obsessed with it! Even when the guy's food came and he stopped playing with the toy the cats just sat there staring at him, waiting to be played with some more.
These two spied the toy from the other end of the cafe and soon joined in on the action.
The cafe had lots of nooks and crannies for the cats to play and hang out.
One thing that I thought was a bit strange- though I have seen it before in Asia- is that the bathroom was a onesie with two toilets in it. Can you imagine sitting side by side with a stranger and using the bathroom like this? My theory is that one toilet is for customers and the other is for the cats to drink out of.
This guy was the smartest of them all- he slept on the coffee maker. It's probably the warmest spot. Probably-related sidenote: there was a hair in my cappuccino.
On our way out of the cafe (our allergies had started to act up!) we noticed this fellow relaxing on a scratched up chair. After we left we went to Kiwi Gourmet Burger for supper and then did some shopping at the market before coming home. Despite the smell of the cafe it was a fun place to visit to get a quick cat-fix, but of course it just made us think about our own special little guy back home, scratching up Dayna's apartment and making it smell juuuust right.
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