30 August 2017

Cafe MoCHA: Cat Cafe in Harajuku, Tokyo.


Tokyo, the land of technology and neon lights meet tradition and culture. A City that would never seem to bore anyone, especially crazy cat people.

There are TONS of cat cafes in Japan, and there is always one in every single corner and I'm not even exaggerating! Opened in March of 2016, Cafe MoCHA is the best cat cafe that I have ever been to in this whole world (no lie, I've been to few in Japan, Hong Kong, London, Paris, Vienna to name a few). Located in one of Tokyo's most trendy districts, Harajuku (原宿), it is Tokyo’s most Kawaii district. It's the neighborhood that gave us Lolitas, Harajuku girls, decora, and Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. Harajuku has been the epicenter of Tokyo teen and vintage fashion for decades, and it's still nurturing unorthodox, garish styles even as big-name international retailers like H&M, Forever 21 and American Eagle Outfitters muscle in on the area. Find yourself immersed in all the trendy restaurants and a lot of fashion boutiques.  

Just look at all these kitties!

 In the hustling and bustling parts of Harajuku, just a few minutes away from the JR station, you go up to Café mocha and the store is like a lounge in the sky inhabited by cats. The décor is sleek and simple. Cute sofas with soft pillows perfect for you and our furry friends to cuddle up and chill. 


They provided me with gorgeous cat ears, you take off your shoes and slip into a clean pair of slippers which were disinfected by a high tech machine so you don’t have to worry about hygiene!Ffor an additional 350 yen, you can get unlimited drinks!! Which includes coffee, tea, soda, calpis (Japanese yogurt drink)and much much more. But I didn't really drink a lot since I was too mesmerized by all the kitties. Cat treats cost about 500 yen, they encourage you to play with them and feed the treats to them as a little reward. However, if you wanna feed the kitties you gotta act quick cause they are handed out in limited quantity.
There are two meal times for the cats, at 10:30 in the morning and at 7:30 at night. Watch them gobble up the yummies!
You get to meet Pikkoro the resident Somali cat, Kotetsu, a Singapura and Omochi the Scottish fold. What are you waiting for! 

Closest Station:
 JR Harajuku Station (few minutes walk away)
Address:
4F Cross Avenue Harajuku
1-14-25 Jingu-mae, Shibuya, Tokyo
Hours:
Monday to Sunday 10:00 AM – 8:00 PM (Last entry at 7:30 PM)
Price Range:
Time-based price starts at 
¥200/10mins
Tel:
03-6477-2665

23 August 2017

Wonita Christine Network Luncheon - London

"Be inspired by someone elses journey towards success rather than envy them. Learn something new. Be Inspired."
I was invited by the Wonita Christine Network to attend Women In Power Networking Luncheon as a special guest. It was the perfect venue for the woman who is just starting out or a veteran of their craft in the Creative industry. It was such a perfect opportunity to be inspired, motivated & encouraged by other inspirational women in the creative industry. Author Lola Jaye was there to give us a motivational speech that encouraged me to keep writing and work hard on my travel blog and Bae Bakare was performing her own music at the event., and honestly, it was beautiful. Girls came up one by one to tell their own stories of depression, working in the creative industry, judgement from family and friends. It felt like a personal space where I could be comfortable, it also made me realise that I was not alone with struggled in life and to settle in the creative industry.



The food there was also amazing, we had wine, prosecco and lovely chit chats. The pizza was made so deliciously by Well Street Pizza in East London, they make one of the best Neapolitan pizza in London. I have chosen to have the Quattro formaggi , which just literally means Four Cheese, made with Gorgonzola, mozzarella, provola, parmesan (white pizza) it was super cheesy! The event was sponsored by Cakes by Nadia, my favourite one has to be the lemon cupcake, the icing itself was delicious and to my surprise, there was a lemony filling as well! The whole thing was honestly so light I could have five in one go. You can find her cakes here: www.cakesbynadia.co.uk

Keisha George, the founder, who grew up in East London said “Where I'm from people are conditioned to thinking that sky is the limit. They don't believe in going to infinity and beyond.  I want to change that. I want people to embrace the everyday women. We can all make it.” She truly believes that she could create a business that supports and uplifts females globally. That the non-privileged girl could also know that with love, talent, hard work and a sisterhood she can achieve anything in life.

Wonita Christine is “For The Uninspired Woman xox”


Please go and check out her website here; https://wonitachristine.com/

22 August 2017

Deers in Nara, Kyoto

"Oh hello dear.. deer? They just sit there and let you pet them. How cute."
It was spring, late March in Kyoto where it was chilly but not too cold as we welcome the arrival of the cherry blossoms. We were on our way to Nara park, we got there by the JR, it took us less than an hour to get to Nara from Kyoto town centre. It is a famous public park, known for its gorgeous nature and of course - the Nara deer. The park itself is considered as a national treasure, it was such a delight to visit during the start of spring as the sun lights up the soft, golden tones of the gardens when I went in March. The park is a few minutes walk away from the station but it is so close to many interesting places and shops, and it leads to the shrines and temples in Nara such as Todaji. We didn't end up going to Todaji but we did visit Kofuku-ji which leads us to Nara park.
 On our way to the park, a vendor was selling mochis. Mochi is a Japanese rice cake made of mochigome, a short-grain japonica glutinous rice. The rice is pounded into paste and then made into their desired shape. This one on my hand is covered in soy bean powder. You can't miss the stall out, and it only cost me 100 yen!

The most entertaining feature of the park has to be the thousands of deers walking around the park freely. They were such friendly creatures, stubborn but polite, these deer are accustomed to human presence and they walk around the park with such disturbing confidence. You can pet them, take selfies with them, but they'll just run off. Where to, you ask? To people holding a potential meal, or at least just a snack. They will follow you around when they notice you have these num nums, sometimes they will nudge you to remind you to feed them. If you want to feed them, you will find little stalls around the park selling these deer-crackers (shika-senbei) for 150 Yen.


Bonus: We stumbled upon a cute little shop in Nara selling little trinkets that are mainly pigs, cats or owls. AND THE STORE KEEPER IS AN OWL! HOLY. I love owls.

21 August 2017

Sakura in Tokyo







“What a strange thing! to be alive beneath cherry blossoms.”  ― Kobayashi Issa
I visited Japan the past week, we slowly see the whole of Japan turn into the pale pink hue of the sakura cherry blossoms in the spring months of March and April. What's not to love about Spring in Tokyo?
So when is the best time for viewing the cherry blossoms? The Weather Map Co.’s forecast for Tokyo puts first bloom at the 25th of March 2017, with the best viewing times right around the 2nd of April.

Here are two parks that I have been to during my trip and I fully recommend:

1. Ueno Park

Ueno Park (上野公園) is a large public park easily accessed by Ueno Station. It was raining when we went but it did'nt stop people from having picnics and viewing the sakuras. It wasn't busy due to the weather but I could imagine the amount of people visiting during sunnier days. You could easily spend one day at Ueno Park. There are a large number of museums that are housed within the park, including the National Museum of Nature and Science, and Tokyo National Museum and for Ueno Zoo, if you wanted to check out some pandas.

2. Shinjuku Gyoen

If you're looking for some peace and quiet, then Shinjuku Gyoen is the best choice. The park is spacious, with lawns and plenty of walking paths and easy directions. The park is located next to Yoyogi park, could kill two birds with one stones if you fancy visiting these two park. It was very easy to get to from Harajuku, after a whole morning of shopping. The park was relatively quiet and it means having a larger chance of taking nicer pictures with less people in the background. Please note that the entrance to Shinjuku Gyoen is 200 yen. 

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