Market Friday and happy Caturday: ice cream shop with three cats.

I haven’t been to the lime coloured ice cream for ages. I passed by this ice cream and coffee shop several times but the light wasn’t on inside. So I thought it was probably closed since the long lock down. I felt sorry for the owners as they couldn’t do any business for almost three years. Time flew like dark magic! I meant to drop by one of these days to investigate how the shop owners have been doing.

After accomplishing several tasks, I felt I deserved a reward for my hard work. So, I had a nice lunch at my favourite street food place near the Robinson mall on New road. Then I went to check out the ice cream parlour. The place was very quiet and I was the only customer. I was glad to see the lady owner still running the business, her Austrian husband wasn’t around that day.

After a brief chitchat, I settled for the double chocolate ice cream. I noticed a big black and white cat walking around so I tried to get acquainted with him. But he was rather reserved and kept me at arm’s length. So, I had to let him go on his way and I switched to taking photos of the coffee shop instead.

To my surprise, a small black and white cat with a thick moustache came to greet me. This small cat was super friendly and very gentle, he was a very good PR officer for this ice cream/ coffee shop. I tried to take a photo of his face showing his thick moustache, but he kept shying away from the camera. The lady owner of the shop was very nice and generous. She gave me a big serving of her home made ice cream, topping with cream. I wanted to taste the ice cream so much that I forgot to take the photo.

The ice cream was very good and I would be dropping by to taste other flavours whenever I had to reward myself. The interior design and decorations reflected the artistic tastes and spiritual beliefs of the owners. I could see that they were very fond of cats. They had cat porcelains to protect the shop and to attract good lucks. The Buddha statues told me that they were keen practitioners of Buddhism.

The wall paintings were commissioned according to the owners’ imaginations. This was the most spacious ice cream and coffee shop with colourful wall murals and oil paintings. The staircase was very eye catching as it reminded of old merchants’ houses with curve retro design staircases in the sixties. The big black cat seemed to be the guard of the staircase.

In the old days, people would have to dressed up to go out to restaurants and coffee shops. These days casual clothes and sandals made going out less of a dressing up ritual; simple elegance had disappeared from our social scenes. The only occasion we could see people dressing up lavishly would be at high society weddings and parties. I have become too comfortable in my casual clothes that I had declined going to wedding parties. It had become such a hassle to dress up for grand occasions.

But this ice cream parkour made me wishing I could dress up in retro style to fit in with the decorations. I forgot all my worries and enjoyed myself totally in this shop. I could play with the cats; albeit trying to befriend the two big cats rather unsuccessful. But I enjoyed watching their behaviours and interactions.

The big black cat wanted the door to be opened so he could explore vehicles parking in front of the shop. Perhaps he was going to issue a ticket to the bike rider. But the rider just ignored the threat of a fine and started his engine. The loud noise startled the black cat and he asked me to let him back inside the shop.

The big white and black cat wanted to go outside to explore the world too. But the lady owner told me that she was never allowed outside as she might get lost. So the white cat just had to accept her inner world comfort and let go of the mood to be free in the wild reality. The lady owner told me that these two big cats emigrated from her neighbours’ houses. She didn’t know why they decided to live at her place and refused to go back to their original owners.

This was like my orange cat, Joan who moved to my neighbour’s’ house leaving Kwan by herself. I thought the two big cats were artistically inclined and had very good tastes. Perhaps they were humans with sophisticated culture and backgrounds in their past lives. So, I thought that my orange cat, Joan had a strong past life connection with my neighbours; so he was drawn by his instinct to get back to them. I had a feeling that Kwan, the smaller orange cat, was like a family member from my past life.

I had a very nice and peaceful time at this shop, I could relax and enjoyed myself quietly alone with three cats. As I was about to leave, an expat customer arrived in his formal suit and brief case. He also came to this shop to have some quiet moments and to escape from the hurdles in the office. I was so glad I found this quaint ice cream parlour where I could have excellent home made ice cream in friendly and relaxing ambience. I would try to work harder on my house chores and packing so that I could enjoy more ice cream in the near future.

Wishing you peace, good health and prosperity.

Stay strong and cheerful.

#marketfriday hosted by @dswigle.