You've CAT to be KITTEN me right MEOW!

Themed cafés are kind of a thing in Korea. Don’t believe me? Just Google “themed cafés Korea” and you’ll see a plethora of opinions on which themed café is best. So when my sister came to visit a few weeks ago, it was only natural that we would visit one such vibrant and fur-filled establishment. Yes, we needed to go to a cat café.

There are dozens of cat cafés in Korea, so choosing the one was no easy task. But we decided to make it easy on ourselves and just go for one that was relatively close to where I live. Hence, we found ourselves at Kitty Cat Café Pyeongtaek. And we were not disappointed!

Now I would not completely consider myself a “cat person” but I’m not a hater either. On the cat person/hater spectrum, I fall somewhere between “I like cats that act like dogs” and “I’ll tolerate your cat if you’re my friend.” A happy medium, if I may declare it so.

Well luckily for my type, the Kitty Cat Café had a cat for everyone.

There was the bouncer who had an eye on everyone coming or leaving the place, no matter what species you happened to be.

He sees everyone.

There was the bouncer’s sidekick who wore a red bow tie much like the actual bouncer. He kept an eye out too, although not as watchful as the main bouncer.

Thankfully this is the type of cat that tolerates me too.

There was the resting bitch face who was antisocial (obviously), but still demanded that you look at her.

RBF > Grumpy Cat. Just look at that face, practically demanding to be punched.

There was the contortionist who seemed unexpectedly comfortable while appearing to have all joints dislocated at once.

No one likes a show-off.

There was the sleeper, who appeared to be dead the entire two hours we were there.

We never did see this one wake up...

There were many others as well, not all of whom I was able to photograph. The cast of characters also included:

• The massage therapist: wraps her furry little arms around your neck and uses her paws to knead your shoulders and hair while possibly also plotting your death.
• The stalker: keeps his distance while his eyes are locked onto yours with an ice-cold stare that could not be mistaken for anything but “I have already plotted your death.”
•  Mean girls, aka, “The Plastics”: yes, there was a group that got into a catfight. I actually would have been disappointed had there not been.
• The token Asian: not doing anything unusual, just hanging out there amongst her peers, but definitely having that unmistakably Asian-looking cat face.

Just to make sure we’d had our fill of Korean animal cafés, we also paid a visit to Thanks Nature Café in Seoul. I’d already visited this place once before (and blogged about it in March, but you already knew that because you’re such a good friend), but ever since sharing the news that this type of place exists, many of my (totally normal, don’t worry) family members expressed interest in seeing the place as well.

The place was just as magical for me this time as it was the first time, however, I was a bit shocked to discover that the former sheep had been switched out with newer, younger-looking models! We fed these new sheep the delicious hay they adored, we sipped on our overpriced beverages, and we watched the sheep keeper dutifully maintain order within the sheep pen. But I could not help but wonder, what happened to the other sheep? Did they die? Were they not drawing the crowds anymore? If only I could speak enough Korean to ask someone! I may never find out!

Stay-cation

Oh, I've just been acting like a tourist in the place where I'm living, how 'bout you?

The world is green again!

Between visits from family and some very pleasant pre-summer weather, it seems like we have every excuse in the world to leave the house and do lots of activities.

Sun's out, tongue's out.

We went to a Korean baseball game and it was the most fun ever! Not only did the Lotte Giants play the Doosan Bears, but so many more activities were going on in the stadium to make this a completely memorable event for any foreigner or local. Trust me, I'm a person that grew up in Atlanta where the Braves were on TBS all the time, and I still don't really care that much for baseball.

Sun's out and it's way too bright for these cheap sunglasses.

First of all, there's beer, fried chicken, and cheerleaders. I will remember these as staples of the Korean baseball game. (Never mind what was going on on the field!) What's so special about those things? Well, the beer was reasonably priced (i.e., not $10 for 12 ounces). Thank you, Korea, for giving us the option to tailgate inside the stadium. Fried chicken places are on just about every corner in Korean cities. The locals love it. And with all the options of sauces and seasonings, it's easy to see why. Plus, we were allowed to bring outside chicken (and other food) into the stadium. As for the cheerleaders, well, they're no Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. And in my opinion, they really needed to work on their attire; they looked more gymnasts-in-tutus than hype-girls, but they were entertaining nonetheless. Sometimes more entertaining than the game itself!

Our friend John, enjoying a fried chicken wing which came with a complimentary glove.
Because neatness counts.

Okay, we got into it too.

Lotte is a huge brand in Korea. It's kind of like Wal-Mart plus Disney. And they also have apartment complexes. And a baseball team. And lucky for us fans, that means free plastic bags to put on our heads! Of course, we had to tie them off before applying them atop our noggins. That way, the rich people who manage the Lotte corporation can continue to be rich and hand out even more fancy bags to win over even more potential fans.

If everyone is doing it, then it must be right.

It was a very fun game, and if we have the chance, we'll go to at least one more. It was much more fun than an American baseball game, but then again, I am of the opinion that the only thing fun about American baseball games is tailgating in the parking lot with friends before the game starts. What I'm trying to say is, if you go to Korea, go to a Korean baseball game too.