The air was crackling with excitement at Auntie's house this morning as she heard news about Cat!
In case you don't know about Cat, he was the furry feline drifter who arrived at our house in France one day, cost us hundreds of euro for surgery to remove a tumour, ate like a pig, became quite fat, and then ran off when we put him on a diet. Since then, he's popped up here and there, from time to time, and we always look forward to news of his feline exploits.
Well, my Japanese friend just returned from a trip to Tokyo and along with some lovely gifts, she brought news of Cat whom she recognized from reading The Auntie Times.
She told us that she saw Cat at a Cat Café! Well, Hello Kitty!
What's a Cat Café you may ask?
Well, let's say you live in Tokyo and you like cats and you can't own one since it's customary in Tokyo to pay a lot of extra cash to your landlord so you can, the Cat Café is the place for you! For about 1,000 yen, you can sit in a lovely café, sip tea, eat snacks, and pet and play with cats. I know! How fabulous is that?
Some Tokyo Cat Cafés have up to 20 cats to play with but to keep the kitties safe and healthy, you have to follow some strict rules. For example, you aren't allowed to pick them up, dress them in cute outfits or take them home with you. You're only allowed to gently pet and scratch them and then only after you've taken off your shoes and washed your hands when you arrived.
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| A poster from Cat's stage performance |
So, let's say you're at a Cat Café and you want to know more about the lovelies purring at your feet. Most Cat Cafés keep a Cat Album with photos and detailed biographies and personality profiles for each of the cats. Some of the cats even have Twitter accounts so you can follow your favourite cats' tweets!
It makes sense that Cat would turn up at a Tokyo Cat Café. When Uncle Jim and I visited Tokyo last year, Cat was starring as "Pete the Cat" in a play based on the 1957 novel, The Door into Summer by science fiction writer, Robert A. Heinlein.
The play closed many months ago so I guess Cat is taking a bit of a sabbatical at the Cat Café between gigs.
Cat seems to have many talents.
Who knows where he'll turn up next?
Oh my! That first photo made me smile. Cat reminds me quite a lot of Holly GoLightly's "Cat". Same wily expression. And apparently, also a star. :)
ReplyDeletePancake update: Sadly, no luck for the Lait Fermenté Maigre at the local Monop'. It is a small one so I will have to hold off until my next foray to the "Grande Surface"--which I detest but sometimes a girl has to do what a girl has to do!
You are one smart cookie - that is exactly who Cat is named after! He comes, he goes, he was never really ours but we loved him nonetheless and still get the occasional postcard. Maybe your Monoprix can order some buttermilk for you? Anything to avoid the "Grande Surface!!"
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