Mia's Bangkok Travelogue: Cat Cafe by Lila

Yes, I know. I've already visited a Caturday Cat Cafe on the first day of my Bangkok trip and here's yet another Bangkok cat cafe review! 

This wasn't a planned visit at all, for I didn't even know they exist. It just so happened that Cat Cafe by Lila is located right opposite Alpaca View Restaurant, so right after our dinner there, we decided to drop by to play with some cats before we return to our hotel. 

As compared to Caturday, Cat Cafe by Lila is more... rundown, I would say? You probably wouldn't even notice it if they didn't have the luminous signboard that says: Cat Cafe. 

The interior is cute, but still pretty small. It kind of reminds me of Meomi Cat Cafe, but with less well groomed cats and less friendly staff. 

There's about 19 cats introduced on their menu, but many weren't around while we were there. 

Their cat rules looks totally hand-drawn and written, and it's so adorable! So tempted to nick one back home.... But of course, I didn't lah. 

Because we just had a large dinner, we decided to just grab and drink and so, Hot Honey Milk it is! It's a little too sweet for me (overdosed on honey?) and at one point, one of the cat got too greedy and stole a sip at my milk and subsequently I found cat hair floating in my cup, so.... yeah. 

NEXT. 

It's a cat cafe, so let's focus on their cats, shall we? 

In spite of us visiting at night (about 9pm after our dinner at Alpaca View), most of the cats are still sleeping and doesn't really us a hoot. 

 "I sleep..."

 "I sleep...."

"And I sleep, sleep sleep..."

Those who are perfectly awake, are mostly aloof...

 "Go away, human!"

Or, poorly groomed.

This tiny kitten has very bad tear stains on her face, and I'm not sure if she's still having some sort of eye infection or not. But she's the most playful kitten of the lot that night though. 

And you can watch her in action. Video was taken at the end, so she was already calming down/getting tired of playing though.

And then there's this lazy kitty who really reminded me of Junior at Meomi Cat Cafe! They have the same napping pose!

Like, exactly the same belly up, paws in the air pose! So funny!

Now, will I recommend this cat cafe? Sad to speak, no. 

It's really out of the way, and unless it's just a drop by to chill after playing with the alpacas across the road thing, this cafe is really not worth the hassle. 

And if you really wish to visit this cafe, you can find out how to get there by following the directions to Alpaca View restaurant stated HERE.

Till then,

Mia Foo

Mia's Review: Home Nails Gelish Manicure Soak Off [Sponsored]

If you haven't read about how I got my amazingly pretty gelish nail manicure with Home Nails previously, I suggest you check it out HERE before you learn more about their peculiar way of doing their gelish soak off. 

After almost 3 weeks, it's really surprising to find that my gelish manicure looked just as pretty as day 1, just that my nail has grown uncomfortably long and I risk scratching my eyeballs while removing my contact lens. 

You'll be glad to know that Home Nails provides free soak off (or perhaps, removal will be a better word) if you take up their packages. If not, every return soak off will be on 50% off from their usual listed price of $20. 

And so before my therapist, Bella, got started with removing my fancy gelish manicure, I got my whitening hand spa (worth $48) started. 

First up was a whitening scrub to exfoliate and remove my dead skin.

And then the therapist, Bella, slathered on the whitening mask generously with a big brush.

And then wrapping my arms up with cling wrap before proceeding with my gelish manicure soak off. 

Yes, even though I call it a 'soak off', the unique in-house technique Home Nails employ does not require the usage of any chemicals to soak off our gelish manicure as it dries our fingers. This special removal technique is created and fine tuned by Home Nails' founder, Huiqin, over the years. 

It's hard to put it into words, so let the video show you how it's done.

After removing every bits and pieces of my fanciful gelish manicure, Bella then carefully file down my nails to shape and apply a layer of nail strengthening coat and dab on some cuticle oil to restore my natural nails' beautiful shine.

The cling wraps and whitening mask was also cleaned off with a damp towel and Bella finished off my complimentary hand spa session by applying a whitening hand moisturiser on my arms. I could see that the treated portion of my skin turned visibly brighter, albeit not captured well on the camera.

Home Nails is located at
The Nomu - 20 Handy Road #01-01 Singapore 229236 (beside The Cathay)
For more information, visit their website at http://homenails.com.sg/ or check out their facebook page at http://facebook.com/homenails

Till then,
Mia Foo

Mia's Bangkok Travelogue: True Love Cafe @ Siberian Neverland

Other than cute furry felines, their nemesis, the handsome fluffy canines are also one of my biggest love. 

SIBERIAN HUSKIES!

(such a cute happy face!)

True Love Cafe is not a cafe you can just stumble upon, for it's located deep among the residential areas with the nearest BTS station a good 20 to 30 minutes walk away. As I was expecting a dog cafe, I didn't even realise I've found the cafe until I took notice of their husky signboard for it looked just like an exceptionally big house with their gates opened. 

True Love Cafe have fixed sessions for interaction with the huskies, so you can't just pop by anytime you like and expect to be welcomed by a hoard of hyperactive puppies. There's 2 sessions (12:30pm and 3:30pm) on weekdays and 3 sessions (one more session at 6:30pm) on weekends. So make sure you drop by around the time each session starts to avoid disappointment. 

It's 350 baht per entry and each ticket is redeemable for a drink and a dessert (cakes or ice cream). If you're feeling exceptionally hungry, you can also get hot (western) food at the cafe at pretty reasonable price.

Iced Mocha

Well, not the best mocha you can find but they'll still make a nice drink with a decent mix of chocolate and coffee. There was a alarmingly large amount of ice there so try not to leave it standing for too long unless you'll like a washed-down tasteless mocha. 

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

Although the chocolate taste is rich, and the tangy raspberry sauce paired up nicely with the chocolatey flavour, the cake layer itself is a little too dry and the generous layer of whipped cream in the middle didn't save it much. 

Taste wise, still good. But it could really be better with a slightly moister cake. 

Oreo Cheesecake

Didn't try much of this, but a special point to note is that the crushed oreo base of this cheesecake wasn't all that crushed after all, as you can see from the picture. You can still see large pieces of the oreo biscuits that's layered upon each other to form the base. 

If you're really a huge fan of huskies, you might want to grab a husky stuff toy or other items like cups or even a tee with their mascot printed on it. 

For hygiene purpose, other than having to queue up to wash our hands with the soap provided, we were also given these ultra-fashionable, super-trendy sky blue plastic foot wraps to wear in place of our shoes when we enter the huskies' interaction area. 

BTW, do you know the pups go crazy over sliced carrots? 

The interaction session kick start with the huskies' snack time and you'll be surprised to find that their 'yummy treats' are actually just ice! 

This greedy pup definitely doesn't want to share as it hogs the entire bowl of ice. 

And right after their icy snack time, it got pretty chaotic as the pups started their rowdy play-fight. And when they got engrossed in playing, it was like a "I don't care if you're in the way human, I'll bang you away!" 

Apparently, huskies are also intelligent enough to say, "you know what, I don't feel like doing this right now." so don't except a lot of affection from them nor expect them to crave for your attention. If you're really desperate to take a selfie with them, do take not to not lean in too close to their jaw for they might not really enjoy having your face that close to theirs. 

 And so, after a few rounds of rowdy play-fights, the pups finally calmed down one by one. 

Some got pretty bored...

 And some just mad happy!

And I finally managed to take a selfie with another grinning pup (after 10 failed tries)! Yay!

 Some started chilling at a corner in style....

Or maybe, not that much style?

Other than 20 over huskies, there's also a handful other cute dogs that aren't of the same breed. So, meet Momo, the Pom x Spitz! 

There's also two handsome Australian Shepherds mingling around with the huskies, which I didn't manage to snap a nice shot of them. 

To get to True Love Cafe, take the BTS to Ari station and go to exit 1. Go down to the Shell Gas Station side of the street and walk a little bit further along the traffic to Soi Paholyotin 7 then turn left into the Soi and you'll get to a tuk tuk station. Most of the tuk tuk drivers will know the cafe really well, for after every session, the cafe will help all patrons to call for a tuk tuk ride back to Ari station. Each tuk tuk ride should cost you about 30 - 40 baht.

For more information, visit their FB page HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo

Mia's Bangkok Travelogue: Alpaca View Restaurant

Shortly after my previous Bangkok trip, I've heard of this Alpaca Cafe that has sprung up in Bangkok and I was like, "Damn, I missed it!"

So naturally, this 'alpaca cafe' got onto my must-visit list for this Bangkok trip, and TADAA~

We went to visit the alpacas, BUT they're on medical leave for eye infections. Dang it! :(

The place is really big, judging that it needs to fit an indoor seating area, alfresco sitting area with a stage for live performances, and large roaming areas for their animals. Other than alpacas, there's also horses, donkeys, pigs, goats, geese and rabbits in the premise.
Another characteristic point of their decor, is the total un-relatedness of one decor to the other. At the entrance you'll see a windmill right opposite Eiffel tower, and in front of the tower stood a snowman. And then walking further in, you'll see a family of Koalas, and they're brown!

But the funny thing was, despite the entire mismatch of literally every piece of decoration in the premise, the place still looked good and there's an overall relaxing atmosphere that surrounds you while you dine. 

 Watermelon Smoothie (Slush) and Lemon Soda

Well, you can't go wrong with a cup of icy cold watermelon slush on a hot day (or evening). But that lemon soda was a little too acutely sour for me though.

 Stir-fry Morning Glory Stalk

Specially ordered this because I've never seen morning glory (stalks) in any other menu before and I HAD to try this out. Savoury and slightly spicy, the stalks were kept relatively crunchy and they're really yummy and goes pretty well with plain rice. My only complaint is that they should have cut the stalks into small bits, for picking these long stalks up with a fork and trying to bite onto one end (to start munching like a rabbit/goat) can really look pretty... unglam, no joke.

 Tom Yum Goong

Well, something you just have to eat while you're in Bangkok, but may not necessary love. The Thailand/Bangkok version of TYG is always too sour for my liking (acutely sour plus spicy hot really isn't the best combination for sensitive throats), but I just can't help ordering one when I see them on the menu when I'm in Thailand.
I mean, if not now, then when? Right?

 Omelette with Seafood

The best dish we had for the night, without a doubt. I know right, you can hardly go wrong with eggs, especially when they're fried till crispy at the edges and fluffy on the insides, and then stuffed with shrimps. The amount of food we ordered were definitely too much for 2, but this plate of omelette was polished off at the end.

Fried Grouper/Snapper

Didn't know T ordered this. It was a major 'Oh, I shouldn't have!' moment when it was served. He thought it would be a whole, fried fish but what came was the whole fried fish carcass bones with minced fish meat, probably stir-fried with a whole lot of other ingredient and spices, so much so that we couldn't even tell that we're eating fish.

BBQ Scallops in diced garlic

Didn't like the dip, at all. It tasted weird, near rancid for me. Definitely an acquired taste there. As for the scallops, they were pretty good. Sweet and slightly chewy, but it'll be good if they weren't so generous with the chopped garlic and spring onions. 

And while waiting for out massive order to be served, we left the table for some animal-exploring! 

And well, the alpacas went on medical leave, so the next cutest things we met were these hungry, squealing piglets! 

There were three of these greedy piglets and you can get a small bottle of milk at 20 baht to feed them! If you follow me on IG (@mianne86) you should have seen my instavideo of their greedy selves vying for the milk bottles. 

Other than milk for the piglets, you can also buy a box of pellets to feed the goats. I wouldn't say it's the best experience, for these goats were.... violent. HAHAHA! You really had to use force to keep a firm grip on the container to not have all the pellets spilled while they try to empty it in seconds. 

One greedy goat got so excited trying to pick the pellets on the ground that it actually squeezed itself through the small gap in between the barricade and gave the staff a pretty tough time trying to chase it back in. 

And RABBITS! I got so excited seeing this pretty rabbit munching on some food under a long bench as I came out of the washroom and waiting for T. For the staff did tell us that there's rabbits around but we couldn't find any. And as we decided to leave and headed for toilet breaks first, tadaa~ I found one!
And right beside this rabbit was a pretty grumpy looking goose. Didn't want to get chased or pecked, so... no shots of it. Heh!

And while we walked out of the premise, we saw another rabbit family chilling on the grass patch. See one with a one-lopped ear! So cute!
And when they saw me aiming my camera at them, they all decided to show me their sexy backs.

And lastly, there's two obviously very bored donkeys housed at the entrance to say their goodbyes to us. And there's the snowman and Eiffel tower I was talking about at the beginning. 

Getting to Alpaca View can be quite troublesome because it's pretty far away from Bangkok city centre. We decided to forget about all the squeezing and lines changing on the BTS/MRT and hopped onto a cab right outside our hotel, and then got stuck in a glorious traffic jam. Google map stated the car ride will be about half a hour with smooth traffic, and it was more than an hour's ride in the cab for us and the cab fare was about 200 plus baht. 

Or else, if you'll really not want to waste time doing nothing but doze off out of boredom in the cab while getting stuck in a traffic jam, you can take the MRT (or BTS then change to the MRT line at the interchange stations) to Lat Phrao station first before hopping onto a cab and telling the cabbie to get you to Wang Hin 71. Traffic turned exceptionally smooth after we went past the Lat Phrao MRT Station exit and it took about slightly more than 5 minutes (at most 10) to reach Alpaca View.

For more information, visit their FB page HERE

Till then,

Mia Foo