52 New: #18 Popoki and Tea Cat Cafe

June 26, 2021

I'm so fur-tunate my in-laws are currently on island and we decided to try something new together...we took them to a cat cafe. It was the purr-fect Aloha Friday outing. Technically, I have already been to a cat cafe, but it was only one other time and several years ago now. This was my first visit to this paw-ticular cafe, so...NEW! I'm fe-line radi-claw. Thank goodness for Instagram keeping me in the loop on all things new and fun on O'ahu, it's paw-some. I happened to see that a friend who was also visiting O'ahu recently, stopped in to Popoki and Tea---so I too had to quickly get to work making an online reservation for myself, the boys, and the in-laws.

The Majors household is clearly gearing up for some sort of pet scenario. Late in the game for sure, as I have one son on the cusp of turning eighteen and ready to leave the nest. Only now are we finally considering adding a pet into the mix. Cats were previously always off the table since both Gabe and I are allergic, but yesterday's visit to Popoki and Tea had us reconsidering...

The cafe is located in the always quaint and lovely Kaimuki. After paying for and reserving our time slot online, we made the drive to town for our fifty minute cat playdate. Parking was easy---metered street parking directly in front of the cafe. Upon arrival we knocked on the door and waited for our cat-hostess to greet us. We only had to wait a couple of minutes for a wipe down and sanitization after the previous cafe visitors, and then it was all ours. The nice thing about going later in the day and with a group of five was that we essentially had a private cat cafe experience. We were the only folks inside and we got to enjoy the experience without having to share the cats with others.

Once inside, we filled out waivers, rented socks, purchased cat cookies (of course), and made our drink order. Normally this cafe serves up Boba Milk Tea, but they were sold out for the day by the time our time slot arrived. Next time. We were fancy and ordered Perrier instead. After all the formalities and logistics were handled, we went on to the cubbyhole---that's where you store your slippers, your personal items and transition into the cafe itself---where the cats are.

Inside was incredibly clean and comfortable. I counted about ten to twelve cats. There were a couple of older cats and several kittens. Zach made fast friends with one of the youngest kittens, Dan. Dan is a sweet black cat that was over nap time and ready to pounce and jump at everything. Zach was able to get in a few lap snuggles but mostly enjoyed seeing a cat that embodied his personality. Gabe, who I must point out, was against going to the cafe, had the best time of any of us. He also took an immediate liking to Dan the black kitten. It was so nice to see the boys being sweet, gentle, and calm with the cats. My in-laws also enjoyed all the cats and showing the boys (and me) how to hold and handle the cats. The time went by too quickly. It was a short but fun and rewarding outing.

Keeping our face masks on helped with the allergy situation immensely. Not one watery eye, sneeze, or sniffle. The staff was knowledgeable about cats, Kaimuki, and the adoption process. We learned that in just three days time (after an interview, submittal of application, upon board approval and an $85 payment) we could have our very own cat. Sounds easy enough...

Despite no milk tea, and two out of five of us having a cat allergy, I would say our cat adventure was a success. I'm not a "crazy cat lady" yet...but was happy to spend the afternoon with these sweet kitties. The cats had a soothing affect on us all...well, maybe not Jim---he suffered a very minor injury to his calf.