Mia's Review: Meomi Cat Cafe

Yup, the animal crazy Mia has visited yet another cat cafe!

 -credits to MEOMI-

This time, it's the newly opened Meomi Cat Cafe, located at North Bridge Road. They've officially opened on 22nd August, and the extremely kiasu me actually chat them up and managed to reserve slots on Saturday night. Whee~ :)

 -credits to MEOMI-

And here are their charges. As you can see, they're actually more expensive than The Cat Cafe ($15, flat, with complimentary soft drink) and can be considered 'on par' or slightly cheaper than Neko No Niwa ($12 for 1st hour with no complimentary drinks), for the additional dollar for the first hour actually gives you a drink. 

And sadly, due to a camera malfunction, I didn't get any shots of the cafe itself. Boo, I thought I managed to snap pictures of the cafe interior, but I just ended up with an empty memory card. T.T 

My first impression of this cafe was: Whoa, so small? 

I was first greeted with this 4-door shoe rack at the shop front, along with another shelf selling cute novelty items with cat prints, like pouches and etc, right opposite. After which comes the cashier counter and after it is the glass door that leads to the cats' area.

Indeed, this is the smallest of the 3 cat cafes I've visited, and with the upcoming Cuddles Cat Cafe at Scape boasting a whopping 2,500 sq ft area, Meomi Cat Cafe seemed (or rather, sounded) even smaller. But later on I became enlightened on why being small pretty much ended up as their cutting edge. 

The cats' area was lined by floor cushioned bench seats at the 2 sides, along with really small tables for patrons to leave their drinks/food. A rough gauge tells me that it can only comfortably house at most 20 (or just slightly over 20) patrons at one go. 

Coming from the cats' welfare, this is actually a huge plus point for them, as it not only prevents them from being overwhelmed by large number of strangers trying to harass play with them all at the same time, but also allows the staff to keep a lookout for misbehaving patrons. 

All right, let's move on to my experience at the cafe, shall we? 

Upon entering, we were asked to choose a tag (I chose Junior, the Scottish Fold!) for a form of identification (ordering and billing) purposes and issued a ticket stating our time of entry. 

After a quick briefing of the Dos and Don'ts (they have a house rule put up on the wall as well), we were then asked to leave our shoes at the shoe rack and sanitize our hands before entering the cats' section. 

Our complimentary drinks (choice of orange or lime) sitting on the really small table, and Curley perched at the back. 

And at a corner, right in front of the washroom (both humans' and the cats'), is the cats' toys section. I'll highly recommend getting the 'cat wand' with a dragonfly/butterfly at the tip as the cats seemed to like them best as compared to everything else (apart from Mario, whose favourite is a ball). 

When I got there at 7pm, all the cats were up and actively playing and interacting with the patrons. Let's start with the cats' introduction, shall we?

 -credits to MEOMI-

First up, Junior the Scottish Fold. This boy is also the maknae (youngest) of the group. 

I had to use this shot from the cafe management because it's so cute and it totally reflects Junior's temperament. 

Junior is a very chillax, bochup boy. This was taken a while after their meal time at 730pm and he just flop down on his back, belly up legs splayed and dozed off for... a little while. 

I love his coat pattern, a nearly artistic spray of black among grey. And it's really soft too! 

 But of course, a cat will still be a cat. Play time!

Trying in the most chillax manner to catch the butterfly at the tip of the wand.

*gimme that gimme that... MEOW!*

Haha, Junior looked so adorable I just had to upload both the videos I took of him. I was totally multi tasking! Swirling the wand, videoing, and laughing at how cute he looked. 

Another picture of Junior multi-tasking as well. Doing splits while catching the cat toy. *rofl*

Oreo, the American Shorthair. It took me a while to differentiate between Junior and her, due to the similar coat pattern. 

But of course, Oreo is actually visibly smaller than Junior and is an extremely shy girl. This explains why this is the only decent shot I have of her. According to the staff, Oreo is the only cat that doesn't allow her humans to carry her. 

So, try to 'catch' her if you can. But of course, patrons are NOT supposed to be carrying the cats at all. ;p

Next up is an American Curl, Curley!
This cute, playful girl is named so because of her cute curled up ears. And if you noticed, she has a 'tiger left paw' too! 

 Curley half chilling-half staring at me while Junior and Mario unknowingly photobombed her. 

Yes, Curley seemed to love chilling beside this particular cat toy. 

And let's see Curley in action with the butterfly! 

Another one of my favourites, Mario the Munchkin! Look at his adorable short legs and nugget-like paws. 

Sociable yet not exceptionally playful, Mario does react well to the well-loved butterfly....

 Stalk, stalk, stalk, stalk...

Caught it! Meooww!

But, Mario actually loves another toy much more. Way more than this pesky butterfly. And the staff calls it, the Mario Ball!

Basically you get the ball, throw it up to the highest shelf in the cafe, and Mario will fetch it down for you!

Seeing is believing. That's the Mario Ball in his mouth as he made his way back to ground after retrieving the ball. 

And of course, as I've said, Mario does like the butterfly too. :)

Then there's Coo, the Maine Coon, and also the largest cat in the group. 

The fluffy ring of white around her neck actually reminded me of a lion's mane. But Coo is a girl! 

As compared to Mario, Junior and Curley, Coo seemed more aloof, just like a Queen. See me waving that cat toy like crazy (yellow-green-blue blur) and yet she just lay there, full of poise, and staring straight at the camera like a supermodel.

Great job, Coo. Nice. 

And apart from her white ring of fur around her neck, Coo also has distinctive rings of white fur on her paws! It made her look as if she's wearing white socks (She's an MJ fan?) all the time. 

And of course, the Queen has her own fetish. It seems like she kind of prefers black socks instead? 

And there's Frowny, the Ragamuffin! 

I don't understand why she's called Frowny actually. She has such a pretty face and princessy demeanor. Plus, a pair of soleful blue eyes. Aww...

The poor girl was having diarrhoea that day and she was randomly spurting loose stools all over the place. She wasn't very happy about getting cleaned, though she didn't really kick up a ruckus.

But not to worry, she's definitely eating well. Love all that fluffiness, especially in that tail!

And she was also fairly active that night, even trying to go after the Mario Ball.

Lastly, there's Luna, the local breed!
I'll say she's definitely one of the more hyperactive cats here, which explains why this is really the best shot I could get that has her totally fitting into the shot and not in a blurry mess.

Like so.
She was getting all hyped up over the toy and leaped up to catch it. Very active indeed!

And what did I say happened at 730pm?
Dinner time!

Luna actually didn't really like wet food, so the staff topped up the dried food bowl for her.

And what's after a meal?

Some cleaning up?

Curley goes nom nom nom...

Mario goes nom nom too....

And Junior totally nailed it with the ever so carefree bochupness.

And only after the biggest eater, Junior, has polished up every remaining scrabs of food, Curley came searching for more. Haha!

And for Coo, what's after dinner? TV time!

When the staff came over with a remote control, saying it's cat's TV time, I thought he's going to air some cats related TV programme. Little did I know that it's literally a show meant for the cats, involving loud mice squeaks and many hamsters and rodents running on and off screen.
And according to the staff, Coo is the usual fan. And true enough, once the mice squeaks sounded, she immediately pranced over to the TV and sat down, watching the TV screen intently.

And apparently, being at the floor wasn't close enough. She even jumped on top of the box to watch!
How adorable!

And now on my thoughts on Meomi.
I really liked how it's done up simple, small and cozy. The small size really made it easier for patrons to spot and interact with cats. And of course, the cafe was fully installed with high 'wall-bridges' for the cats to escape from the human clutches whenever they feel overwhelmed.

The staff (cat-keeper on shift) did spend a substantial time inside the cats' section over the 2 hours I was there, but it didn't felt suffocating or stressful (to the patrons) at all. In fact, he was extremely approachable and was interacting more with the patrons, introducing the cats and their special tricks/behaviours to the patrons, genuinely seeking feedback from the patrons and etc, rather than hogging the cats, as observed by some, at the other cat cafe.
There was also NO children (much less to speak of rowdy children traumatizing the cats) around when I was there, even though Meomi does welcome 'little humans' as well, and even gives a special discounted rates to kids.

And then on the issue of cat-sources. I've been following ALL the cat cafes on facebook, officially opened or not, and apparently there's already one who has received some negative comments, declaring 'no support' simply because most of their cats were bought from pet shops and not adopted.
And it's also pretty obvious that most of the cats at Meomi are pedigree, bought from pet shops. However, they did attempt to adopt from rescue shelters but were turned away when the shelter found out that they're adopting cats for a business entity.
And after much thought on this, I actually agree with the shelter's decision. I'm pretty much also a 'Adopt, Don't Shop' person when it comes to pets. But to adopt mature cats with a history, and possibly highly individualistic temperaments, as a pet cafe's resident cats really can be worrisome for the shelter, as the cat's quality of life after adoption pretty much rounds up to a question mark.
Can a group of animal-loving entrepreneurs re-train these rescued cats into highly sociable, human-loving, playful and yet gentle and mild temperamental cats that are ideal for a pet cafe? Is it even fair for the rescued cats to be mass adopted into a business entity instead of getting a proper home to itself in the first place?

And I shall leave that to your own thoughts. But feel free to leave a comment and throw me your opinions to carry on with the discussion, if desired.

And lastly, Meomi also has a loyalty programme, issuing this 'Friends of Meomi Loyalty Card' to all patrons and awarding them one stamp per $15 spent. And with every 4 stamps, you'll be entitled to a reward that ranges from a free 1/2 entry to a full day entry + drink + pastry!
And the card itself is so adorable, with the 2 meowscots gracing the 'cover' of it.

Meomi Cat Cafe is located at 668 North Bridge Road.
For more information, visit their Facebook page HERE

Till then,
Mia Foo

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Mia's Review: Neko No Niwa (Cat Cafe)

Just in case you didn't know, we finally have a pet cafe dedicated to cat lovers in Singapore starting since Christmas Day 2013, located conveniently at Boat Quay.

Needless to say, ohyz, finaldust and I quickly arranged to set a date for a visit... which took place sometime earlier this month. 

warning: picture heavy post

 Located at 2nd storey of the row of shophouses and coupled with a pretty tiny signboard, it's actually quite easy to miss it. I reckon this kind of hints at their exclusivity. It's really difficult for someone to chance upon this cat cafe unless one is determined to visit.

There's this short staircase leading up to the cafe, with both sides of the wall painted with adorable cat doodling.

I personally love the one of the sleeping kitty dreaming of a fish. Ahahaha, what a glutton!

The cafe is not very big, consisting of a cats' section and the food section. You can order some drinks or dessert from within the cats' section via this window. The food section also consist on a small stretch of 'lawn', the only area whereby footwear is allowed, for patrons to remove their shoes and leave them at the shoe rack (not in pictures). We were also reminded to wash our hands before entering the cats' section, after being handed a ticket (upon which you have an assigned number used to order food and make payment when you leave), and also on the rules and regulations at the cafe. One of which, is to not disturb the cats when they're napping. 

And guess what, ALL the cats were napping when we dropped by at 415pm. Yes, cats all nap in the day. So really, what's the point of spending $12 an hour (and $5 per subsequent half an hour) to sit around and observe sleeping cats? 

 Showing more of the cats' sleeping areas.... Yes, they were all asleep... and we can't disturb them. 

 And so I decided to play with the cat's toys and read through their handbook instead....

And yes, all their cats were rescued cats. It's rather commendable for their thoughtfulness and care for these abandoned poor kitties, to nurse their malnourished and sickly bodies back into health and give them a second chance in life. And hopefully, it can also induce a higher acceptance of adoption in potential pet owners by showing them that there really isn't any difference between shelter animals and those caged up in pet farms. They're all equally highly individualistic and loveable. :)

And giving you an introduction of all 13 cats housed at Neko No Niwa...

Out of these 13 cats, we didn't get to see Dewey at all, for he's been sleeping in one of the sleeping hut the full 2 hours we are there. A few other cats like Mr. White, Jiajia and Little Miss Muffet did too, but they slept in open boxes/hammock so we can still see them sleeping. Other cats like Baloo, Luna, and Brown Monkey spent most of the 2 hours napping/stoning in the huts/covered boxes too.
So for that $22 worth of 2 hours we spent there, we only did get to see/interact with less than half of the cats.

 

Sleeping Jia Jia... Look, she's an 'ombre' cat! 

 Sleeping Kai Kai, Jia Jia's brother....

 After which Kai Kai woke up for a brief moment, only to join Jia Jia back to sleep on the single seater couch in an yinyang style. At one point when Kai Kai was woken up by someone kicking against the furniture, he spun around and literally sat on Jia Jia's face, who continued sleeping. Ahahahaha, so funny!

 Kai Kai yawning like a boss while he was up....

 There's Dewey who remained deep in sleep in this pink hut throughout the 2 hours we were there...

There's Little Miss Muffet, who also pretty much slept throughout the 2 hours.

 She woke up for a while and looked pretty miffed at me trying to snap a picture of her....

 

 The dead sleeping Skittles who didn't care that we placed all the cat nips on/around her to snap pictures... Eventually she woke up and even chillax on a pillow on oyhz's lap!

Luna, who was hiding in a box to nap, and was only out for a brief moment for a drink.

So was Baloo, brother of Little Miss Muffet and also the biggest cat in the cafe. See his paw hanging out because he has filled up almost the entire box. *rofl*

 Here's Baloo when he's out for a quick drink. He really is hugeeeee! To get an idea, scroll down and compare with the picture of Robbie drinking from the exact same water feeder.

 There's Brown Monkey stoning (he never came out of the hut even though he never napped) beside a napping Emma....

Brown Monkey got attracted by the cat nip first and woke up Emma with one of his cat-swipe.

 And then Emma got totally hooked...

And she came out of the hut just to play with the cat nip! :) What a beauty!

And also to chew on Finaldust's bag strap. Ahahaha!

Suddenly there was a small hoo-haa at the other side of the room and we realised that Demi has woken up and leaped onto the chair. That kink in her tail is actually pretty entertaining. Try touching it and see her swipe her tail around... but actually we aren't supposed to irritate her tail like that. :(

Soon, Miley also came out from her hidden spot in the tunnel linked to the food section and we got the chance to use the grooming brush on her, under supervision of the staff of course.

 Here's Robbie, the 'tail-less' cat that gave affectionate headbutt to Finaldust after he mimicked the staff's position which earned him a few headbutts too. But when oyhz tried, Robbie couldn't be bothered. 

And with the end of my picture spamming, let's move on to my thoughts on Neko No Niwa. First and foremost, kudos to them for setting up this cafe to give these abandoned kitties a 2nd chance in life. But in my most honest opinion, that basically summed up my good views towards this cat cafe. I can't comment on their food quality, because I couldn't be bothered to order anything on top of my $22 hourly charges for 2 hours spent with sleeping cats. 

My favourite dog cafe, WTF, now charges barely $9 on a weekend and allows us to stay with the puppies from the time they open at 2:30pm all the way until they closes at 10pm. What's more, we get a drink too! Need I say more?

For cat lovers out there, you'll know cat nap away most of their days, and with their opening hours ending at 9pm and apparently (or so I heard) limiting the number of patrons interacting with the cats at one time to prevent the kitties getting freaked out by too many strangers, how many lucky patrons can really get their money worthwhile by truly playing with the cats (when they wake up in the evening/night) and not obliged to just sit around and stare at them sleeping/stoning?

And yes, I am using the word 'obliged' for a good reason. Apart from being reminded on their rules of never to disturb a sleeping cat or carrying them, at one point one of their staff also came into the cats' section and kept us under his watchful eyes, reminding us of their rules whenever he caught us breaking them. 

Namely (apart from the 2 mentioned), 

1. Do not touch their paws.

2. Do not touch their bellies.

3. Do not irritate their tails

4. (You're doing it wrong) Do not stroke their head too fast. You should go slow.

5. Do not wave the cat nip mouse's tail at the stoning Brown Monkey. Do not disturb them! 

So the conclusion should be obvious. Why bother spending $12 an hour to sit around in an aircon room with other strangers to look at sleeping cats, and be 'told off' by staff when you try to interact with the cats? There should be more than enough strays at your void deck to entertain you, as long as you prepare some cat feed.

But oh well, just to be fair, I do believe that it would definitely feel very much less of a horrible rip-off should we have visited at night when the cats are done sleeping. 

So yup, if you're interested, start calling and DEMAND slots for late evenings/nights! It really is pointless to drop by in the day. 

For more information, visit their facebook HERE.

Till then,

Mia

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