I Woof You at Barkin' Blends Cafe

Last October, I went to Manila to attend the Philippine Conference on Community Health 2014. My passion to take the road less traveled was yet again fueled by the said conference. However, this is not what this post is all about (perhaps I'll write about it in another blog post but not today). 

Anyway, while I was in Manila, I grabbed the opportunity to meet up with some close friends from college. We did the usual activities: traveling, eating, talking, and taking photos together. This is the first of my recollections from that trip. Haha, forgive me, I realized that med school isn't the main thing that's consuming my time but my chronic procrastination.

Here we go~

We went to a cafe called Barkin' Blends in Katipunan. The name of the place is pretty self-explanatory but for the benefit of those who have not heard about it, it's a milk tea place across Ateneo with resident dogs available for cuddling and petting. Its exact address is at 91 Rosa Alvero Street, J&R Concon Centre, Loyola Heights, Quezon City, Philippines; see the map below:

Barkin' Blends has a dog zone where the customers can interact (and cuddle!) with different breeds of dogs such as a Shih Tzu, Golden Retrievers, a pug, a Beagle,a  Sharpei, and a Siberian Husky. There were many dogs on the list but not all of them were "on duty". Hey, a dog's gotta have his dog-tired days too. *insert pity laugh for bad pun here* 

Fiona Babe, looking adorable in her kimono

Sleepy heads.

The dogs have their major in cuteness, minor in cuddling! 

In order to stay in the dog zone for at most two hours, we had to pay Php 180 (fee includes one drink of choice). While staying in the dog zone, customers have to follow some rules to maintain sanitation of the place and to prevent any untoward incidents that may harm the dogs or the people. There is also a humans only zone in the cafe where one can enjoy drinks and "pupcakes", minus the playtime with canine friends.

The dogs in Barkin' Blends were all sweet, cuddly and lovable. If our school had a dog cafe such as Barkin' Blends right across it, exams won't be as frustrating as they are now. Well, this is perhaps an overstatement but you get the point.

I never knew that I was a dog-lover until I had a dog this year (Arya Snow, our mixed breed Shih Tzu-Poodle-Japanese Spitz). It pains me to think about other dogs without loving homes to take care of them. This Christmas season, will you please do a small favor for our little doggy and kitty friends? Follow the instructions of the photo below.

Click photo and zoom in if the letters are too small for reading

Arya Snow for #PurinaLendAPaw

Until the next adventure,

Dena

My love for sleep must have rubbed off on these dogs.