When we left London to travel for three months, our feline family member stayed behind. He probably doesn’t miss me, but I miss him. Which was why I was happy to discover that Taichung is full of cats (dogs too, but that doesn’t excite me as much).
First, there is a cat cafe called Orange Cat Coffee very close to T-Life Hostel over in the Arts Street area. They are open from 11 am – 10pm every day except Monday and in addition to coffee, they serve cakes, pasta and sandwiches. There are sixteen happy cats living there and they also have free WiFi, so you can Instagram every cute thing they do instead of reading the book that you brought with you. Not that I would do something like that.
The cats are very friendly and some of them are also very, ah, well fed (you can purchase cat treats at the cafe, so perhaps this is a contributing factor). While we were there, several of them made grand leaps from the shelves that run all along the cafe wells, landing right in the middle of a table with a loud thump like chubby ninjas. Not exactly Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. They also clambered into our laps, poked our books, explored our bags, investigated our feet, and generally milled around nearby.
To get there from T-Life, just walk (it will take about 15 to 20 minutes):
In addition to the cat cafe, the feline fanatic can enjoy plenty of casual sightings around town. Any time we went out to explore, we would encounter a kitty that I just had to photograph, pet, or both (my partner doesn’t completely understand this compulsion). Here are a few of the cats-about-town we met.
While we were at T-Life, one of the staff also brought her kittens over in the evenings while she was working and studying for exams. The two of them kept everyone entertained with their antics.
Waiting to greet new visitors at T-Life.