How I Got My Cat Fix In Japan

(This is part 3 of my series of my #kawaiitothekitties post from our October Japan trip)

I'm a cat lady through and through and I can't deny it. So as you can see, part of the things I would want to see in Japan are - the CATS!!!! Japan is practically Asia's neko capital. There's even an island where there are more cats than people. Hmmm... this is an island I would want to be in! I love my babies back home but it's also nice to make new furry friends around the world.

A pleasant kitty surprise came on Day 2 of our stay when we chanced upon East Ikebukuro Central Park. It's located right next to Sunshine City, which is like a small mall somewhat like Podium or Rockwell. We discovered this after having coffee and taking photos at the terrace of Sunshine City. We saw there was a park next door and took a look. Then surprise surprise, it had a number of cute and fat kitties.

 It's literally a very chill park (chill too because it's autumn) and it's super quiet. I see students reviewing their lessons after school, older people getting some fresh air, and even those who are working taking a quick smoke break.

It was practically an outdoor cat cafe open 24/7 available to the public no need for entrance fee. There are cats walking around the park and scrambling on the bushes. They are also very friendly. Some allowed me to pat their heads and stroke their backs. There are some lap cats who were cuddling with some humans all wrapped and bundled in their coats and shawls. I saw also several people play with them and some locals were feeding the cats and giving them treats. They had collars and from how they behaved, they seem to be used to people and are treated very well.

When I did my research about the place, reviews and travel blogs mentioned the cats a lot.  The Japanese clearly love their nekos and even if these cats were strays, they were well taken care of and loved. Kinda wish it was the same here too.

Also, one thing I noticed, the cats there are fat to the point that Candy looked so normal-sized compared to them. It looks like they have been spayed and neutered too because I don't see kittens loitering around anywhere.

Just a few steps away was Nekorobi cat cafe located at Toshima, Tokyo. They have really friendly cats and yes, they are also open on weekdays. Before spending time at the cat cafe, we were given instructions to leave our shoes at the door, our belongings at the locker (with keys), and also wash and sanitize our hands before we play with the cats.  We originally settled for a short time stay of 30 minutes to play with the cats for 800 Yen but we had so much fun and they were so cute we decided to extend our stay. Even if the cats were in their sleepytime mode, they still allowed us to pet them and play with them.

Peko being a cat giving me ultimate judgement

 You also know what's funny? The cats in Japan do not respond to our usual "swswswswswswsws". Believe me, I've tried. But they are so funny they are so used to gigil play and some of the cats liked being patted near their tails. They would even arch their backs.

Kurosuke: Loooove meeee foreign cat lady

Among the cats at Nekorobi, I bonded most with Kurosuke (I also found the name cute). He's this super cute gray Minuet cat that looked like a giant dust bunny when lying down. I even named one of my cat plushies Kurosuke.

Fukomori was also an adorable bebi. He was all cheeks!!!!

Sofi is also this gorgeous and regal cat that sat down like a princess.

I was contemplating on going there on our last day but I decided against it because it would be like saying byebye to the cute Nekorobi kitties and I would definitely cry. I followed them in Instagram to keep updated with my new kitty friends.

Also, I love how the staff of Nekorobi cat cafe was super helpful in answering questions and even understood when I asked them if we could extend our time at the cafe. They were even playing with the cats as well and helping out the other customers. I guess they were just shy with us, being foreigners and me all cooing with my cat lady self.

As an added bonus for my cat lady fix, we bought our babies pasalubongs such as toys from Don Quixote and cat treats, which they absolutely loved. The first-ever pasalubong we bought our babies though? I'm not sure if they loved it but I love taking photos of them wearing these.

I don't think the models of the product liked their jobs too.

Sebastian, inasmuch as he loves me so much was not amused at this. They loved the treats and toys though.

Being a cat person, omigod Japan was such heaven for me. So much cat-themed anything and cats all over. One thing I also like with this place is the marriage of greenery and city. I'm not too much of a green all nature fan because you know me I'm such a city person but I actually found their parks kind of refreshing as in it's super quiet with everyone doing their own thing. I took lots of photos and IG photos, yoga photos and doll photos. People were having picnics, kids were playing, and there's this group doing acro yoga stuff and it's all good.

I really was missing my babies during their stay cation but these cat fixes got me my fair share of cat fur on my clothes. When I come back, I will probably know the Japanese version of "swswswswsws."


Nekorobi Cat Cafe is located at 〒170-0013 Tokyo, Toshima City, Higashiikebukuro, 1 Chome−28−２８番1号 タクトT・Oビル 301号室 
check out their site at http://www.nekorobi.jp/english/

A Magical Day At Tokyo Disneyland

There's something with Disney that transcends generations. So when the occasion came for me to visit Tokyo, I wanted a trip to Disneyland. The last time I was in Disneyland was in California in 2002 and I had a marvelous time and didn't know how it happened but I managed to ride even roller coasters and thrill rides. I missed the happiness and even with people telling me to go to Disney Sea, as it was more for adults, I wanted to relive the nostalgia of my childhood first and went to Disneyland in Tokyo.

With Google Maps, it was easy to get to Tokyo Disneyland via train. Before going there, I already watched travel vlogs and ride walkthroughs so I could know where to go. To save time, we already bought our tickets ahead of time via Klook.com and I downloaded the Tokyo Disneyland Wait Time App in my phone so we could plan out the rides and check out parade and character greeting schedules. To get there, you need to get to Maihama station and from there take a 6-minute walk to Disneyland, the happiest place on earth.

We go to Disneyland on a Tuesday, which was a relatively light weekday. In weekends, the park reaches maximum capacity. We were also lucky that it didn't rain and it was quite sunny (and a bit hot) during noontime.

The moment I saw Cinderalla's castle and Disney music started wafting on air, I cried. It was just the right time we got there because the Spooky Boo Parade (annual Halloween Parade) was about to start. As it was Halloween, the park was decorated with pumpkins and halloween decor. Guests even came in Disney-related costumes. When I mean Disney-related costumes I meant full gear, with wigs, makeup, and shoes. It was actually hard to distinguish who was the park guest and the cast member.

wore my Little Mermaid t-shirt for this occasion.
Next time, I'm going full gear.

The Spooky Boo parade featured classic characters such as Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy, and Chip and Dale in Halloween floats and cast members dressed like ghouls and skulls dancing.

Before the parade started, the cast members taught the guests a bit of choreography to join in. Since it was in Japanese, I couldn't understand it though but I watched the guests who did the choreography.

What I did notice in the parades was that everyone was sitting down. Even if there were lots of people watching the parade, it was very orderly and I was able to take decent photos.

check out the guests in full costume

Fantasyland had almost all the nostalgic Disney rides there. There was the Peter Pan's Flight, Snow White's Adventure, and Pinnochio ride there too. The first ride we had was It's a  Small World, which had a relatively short wait time (25 minutes)

It's A Small World gets a different upgrade since popular Disney characters were included in the ride. I was able to spot Peter Pan, Lilo and Stitch, Moana, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Mulan, Mushu, and Ariel making cameos in Small World children form.

Of course, who wouldn't forget that sole Filipina every Pinoy takes photos of?

By the time the first ride was done, we were hungry. Since it wasn't lunchtime yet, we decided to get popcorn with an unusual flavor. Hence, the honey-flavored popcorn near Pooh's Hunny Hunt.

I was super surprised too that not only was there presence of very popular Disney characters and characters we see in Disney channel, even super throwback and lesser-known characters were there too. Guests dressed as them too. I was only able to take a photo with one character, Max Goof, from A Goofy Movie, which I used to watch.

I swear the cast members are the sweetest. They give super tight hugs to guests and even kiss the little children. A little girl even came back to give Alice a few more hugs.

 There were lots of photo-op corners in the park, and interactive displays especially in Toon Town, which took you to a quirky land reminsicent of Roger Rabbit cartoons complete with sound effects. It was also in Toon Town where we watched the second parade of the day.

Mickey!!!!!!!!!!

When I was a little girl, I was quietly watching the parade. Now, I was waving back at the characters and singing with the songs and saying "Hi Minnie! Hi Mickey!!!!" But wait, am I not a cat person?

The main waterworks for me for this was the floats of the Disney Princesses. As a little girl, Cinderella was my Disney princess. Then, it became Ariel when The Little Mermaid came. When Frozen was shown, I added Queen Elsa to my list. Well, here I saw one of my princesses and I super waved at her.

A nod to modern-time Disney was this Baymax float

This is Peter Pan, the first person who showed us that adulting sucks.

I'm not really much of a roller coaster fan (lol, such a tita) and since this version of Tomorrowland was full of them, we decided to make our Tomorrowland experience to be where to have lunch. Park food can get quite expensive. However, it's also part of the experience. So what you can do is eat small bites or share food. That way, your tummy isn't super full so you can maximize your ride time too. I just had nuggets and a melon soda sugar churro that looked like a lightsaber. How does melon soda sugar churros taste like? Like Froot Loops. Not bad.

Also, even it was fall, it does get a bit hot during noon time. Have a reusable water bottle with you that you can fill up with water so you stay hydrated all the time.

Most of the afternoon was busy exploring the park and riding rides. One ride that we waited super long was The Haunted Mansion, which took 40 minutes. However, it wasn't much of a long wait because the mansion itself had a lot of decor to take photos of.

The Haunted Mansion takes a different spin because the ghost host happened to be Jack Skellington of Nightmare Before Christmas, and this feature would continue over at the Holidays. It was a total Tim Burton-fest with more creepy creatures and monsters, not just ghosts.

I also saw one of my favorite rides of my childhood - Splash Mountain.

Did anyone dare try ride this? I remember it not being super fast though with the thrill part being just the 52-feet drop.

Mark Twain Steamboat made me sing Pocahontas songs in my brain and took amazing photos of the sunset.

It captured autumn leaves and sunset colors at just the right moment. Honestly, it was a ride I would definitely ride twice.

While I was doing my Disney research, I came across the waffle cone. It does look like an ice cream cone but it wasn't as it was a steak and potatoes cone. For 500 Yen, you get this cute cone which had beef in yakiniku sauce and purple potato on top with a bit of cheese sauce.

This is not ice cream. 

 At first I thought it was weird, but I wanted to try it since it seemed like a bestseller. It was pretty good actually. It would have made a good lunch or pre-fireworks snack. There was also  maple churros as a special autumn food but since I already had my melon churros, I thought I would have just one churros for the day.

The Celebrate! Tokyo Disneyland at Cinderella's castle had fountains, lights, pyrotechnic effects, and music show attractions and throwback Disney clips which got adults who have been going to Disneyland as kids sentimental. I guess this was the show/parade that made me cry a lot since I saw all the rides, even the rides I no longer ride and the cartoons I used to watch. This was the perfect feature that showed that the magic of Disney reaches many generations as it will definitely live in many people's hearts forever.

A day in Disneyland would not be complete without the Nighttime Parade. So another tip for those going to Disneyland, be prepared to stay until nighttime because these are shows you wouldn't want to miss. If you are bringing children, have them nap first in the afternoon because they would surely not want to miss this as well.

You get your usual Mickey and the gang, classic Disney characters like Alice, Pete's Dragon, and every little girl's favorite- The Princesses, from classics like Cinderella and Belle up to today's Rapunzel and Frozen. I was happy to see two of my Disney Princesses and even sang their songs with them.

I think I cried probably about 7 times in this visit. I cried at the park when I saw the entrance. I cried in all 3 parades and in Celebrate! I cried at It's a Small World. When the park was closing and we had to go home, I also cried. Even though that Disneyland was the "kiddie" version, I enjoyed every minute of it. Maybe the cold weather helped but I didn't realized that I walked so much steps in that day with no complaints at all. It was super nice to relive the nostalgia of Disney and just like Peter Pan, being a kid is super fun!

Is a Tokyo Disneyland trip worth visiting and returning to? Yes. They change every season and they have different character greetings every time. Maybe when I'm ready to grow up, I can go give Disney Sea a visit as well and see Ariel too. As Disney transcends many generations, It's a perfect place to bring your children. Don't forget to take plenty of photos and relive the magic and share it with your loved ones. Now that I know, maybe I'll level up my dress up a bit.