Return to the cat café

A brown striped cat stretches his legs out, his lazy frame spanning two feet. The venetian blinds let in late afternoon, their shadows an echo of stripes underneath his purr. The paws of a fluffy white cat dangle over a table on the other side of the room. A third, thin haired cat bats at a toy ball.

We’re back at Gio Cat, a cat café in Hongdae. Three women are sitting, knees bent, in the centre of the room. They are wearing floor-length grey cotton skirts provided by the shop. Cats are crawling all around them, jumping towards swinging toys, and climbing up a carpet covered pillar to the roof.

If your apartment says no pets, sister has an allergy, or mom hates animals, this is where you go. It’s near dinner time and we just sat through a thirty minute wait at the door. All day people swing in and out of the shop, snapping pictures and playing with the cats.

We tour the room, stopping to meet every cat. On a place card laid out we learn all their names. When our drinks are done we wash our hands to leave. But before we go we shoot a look back to the brown striped cat. He is still deep in greedy sleep, happy as they come.

All the pretty kittens

She holds three fingers up to each cheek, creating whiskers. The woman behind the necklace stand knows what we are looking for, points towards a back alley several steps away.

Outside the door is a sketch of two cats on yellow brick. Up two flights of stairs is where the fur begins. Unlace shoes and slip on black slippers, each stitched with the face of a happy cat. Inside we pay eight thousand won, get coffee and access to the cats.

All around us run cats of different breeds. Near the ceiling a white one wags a snowball tail, perched on its scratching post. Across the ground runs a hairless friend, past a fluffy tab at the water hole.

In the back the cats jump up and hide in circle holes for the night. All day long they prance about, petted by the masses. The cameras click and children shriek, a cat flies up the wall towards a string and toy.

We pick our favourites and sip our coffee, watch them run around. Once we get our fill of cuteness we head back down the stairs, cat hair filling up the nose.