#barkin blends

050517. Visited a Dog Cafe with ASPAREGUS 💜

Since I’ve been longing to try out a pet cafe for months with failing attempts of persuasion/begging for a company (Yes, i am exaggerating) because of, e.g, busy schedule, bad weather, the never ending rescheduling, getting jammed in traffic, any more reasons that seemed to be compelling enough at that moment to cancel it, etc... but then my boyfriend asked me where I wanted to go to in my birthday, not that he didn’t conceive an effective plan, he did. But we don’t have time to spend the whole day celebrating it. There was this school event we had to go to, that cut the whole birthday thing. He planned to meet me in SM North, dine together and then play bowling after. But I think it’s the type of thing you can do on a normal basis and not that I’m picky-but if it’s my birthday, then I’d like to go some place else than malls.

Since he is a dog lover as well, we both decided to have lunch at Barkin Blends cafe, and visit the pets right after! :)

They were located  along Katipunan, near Shakey’s and Mcdonald’s. Here’s a map:

The cafe opens at 12:00-9:00 PM, and is only closed during Tuesdays.

The food were nice and freshly served and it wasn’t too costly. The price falls between P60-P150. 

The Ticket for the Dog zone cost about P190, inclusive of free drink of choice and it’s good for 2 hours!  but let’s be real, 2 hours weren’t enough for me.

Note: The ticket is not transferable.

With the companions, Skye and Booster!

The dogs were properly groomed, they were clean, they don’t reek, and they won’t bite unless you provoke them to. Don’t worry, there were Barkin Blends’ Dog trainers inside the Dog zone too!

With Skye, Finn, and Robin! :)

If you want to try the Barkin Blends Cafe too, make sure to come as early as the Cafe opens so you can avoid too many people catching the attention of most pets, some wouldn’t even hand them free for others. You wouldn’t want coming home missing the main gist of coming: to pet these cuties and to take selfies with them.

So far, I really enjoyed my time with them, especially that I came with my boyfriend :) For a dog lover like us, consuming the 2 hours weren’t satisfying, they were just too cute to leave! Oh, we didn’t even fully consume the 2 hours because we had to rush into UST for an event. And the traffic between Katipunan and Manila will be wild crazy if we stay quite longer. So we had no choice but to come back again to fully enjoy their company! :)

AMO YAMIE CRIB -- 2/F Gordi Plaza Bldg, Legarda St., Mendiola, Manila

I’ve been studying at FEU since 2011 but I wasn’t able to drop by at Amo Yamie Crib ever since that’s why I included it on our Bucketlist. I heard that it’s a nice place to chill. Me and my HS Friend, Princess, planned to go here but because of our time conflict we weren’t able to do so. 

BARKIN’ BLENDS -- Rosa Alvero, Quezon City

Wooooh. The eagerness to meet Skye a Siberian Husky is the reason why I included it on our Bucketlist. I really wanna have a dog, specifically a Siberian Husky 😁 

CAFFERA -- 2/F Dona Zenona Suites, 54 Maginhawa St., corner, Mahusay UP Village Quezon City.

Im a Photography Lover that’s why I really want to go to this place. The interior design is really awesome. A++! 😊 I promise. I’ll go here and I’ll capture every corner of this awesome place 👌

"Every once in a while a dog enters your life and changes everything."

I started the week right with a visit to one of the most stress-relieving places in Katipunan. Barkin’ Blends, the newest dog cafe in the Philippines is causing quite a buzz and is trending among students. Just an LRT away from UST, who wouldn’t be tempted to visit this dog haven everyone is talking about and sharing on various social media platforms. 

Obviously, me and my friends would not let this chance slip given that this kind of week only comes once in a blue moon (chill week) before the dreaded preliminary examinations next week. We visited Barkin’ Blends with lots of expectations. After ordering our drinks, we were directed to the dog zone. We first put our things in a locker and had a change of slippers. Upon entering the dog zone, I noticed that all of the dogs were sound asleep. Being an owner of four lovely Shih Tzus, I somehow developed a familiarity with their attitudes and habits. And I know that even small footsteps are enough to wake them up so the idea of them being drugged/sedated crossed my mind. At first, we felt unfair since we paid more or less 300 pesos to play with the dogs and yet we were coldly welcomed by unresponsive dogs. We were informed that it was in fact their sleeping time so I thought that we really came at a wrong timing.

I am a certified dog lover so I was definitely happy with just seeing the dogs and caressing them but of course I still wish they were awake and hyperactive. After a few minutes, the drinks arrived and after a sip, I already knew that there was nothing extraordinary about what they offer there. The taste is very ordinary and honestly if not for the dogs I would not think of coming back. But obviously, everyone who visits Barkin’ Blends have the dogs in mind and not thedrinks they offer because if I only want to have a glass of frappe then I’ll just go to Starbucks. And that is their biggest edge from the other cafes out there. 

Customers are given 3 hours to stay in the dog zone and I think that is plenty. Thankfully, after roughly 30 minutes, some of the dogs are already waking up and we started playing with them. I am definitely a sucker for small and lap dogs and I am not a big fan of the big dogs. I am also not very good with breeds and names. The only dog names that retained in my memory were Piolo, Martha, Robin, Ella, Smile, Marley and Skye. Dogs are definitely the cuddliest stress-relievers.

The staffs inside the dog zone are very friendly. They were very open to answer all our queries even if some of them are basically non-sense. They were also very accommodating and they also gladly took our pictures. They never complained even if we ask them to take our shots almost every minute. They also moved fast to clean up the mess made by dogs and that is a thumbs up for me. Three hours felt like minutes when you spend it with good company. Unfortunately, our time at the dog zone already ran out but we were still bargaining for more. We already developed an attachment with the dogs even with that short span of time. It was very nice of them not to rush us in leaving and we were still able to take lots of pictures and play more for a few minutes.

I am beyond satisfied with the service of Barkin’ Blends but I hope they would improve the taste of their beverages since we are also paying for them. It is definitely a place where I can be a frequent and loyal visitor. I actually don’t mind having a weekly visit at this dog cafe and I know my friends wouldn’t too. 

NOTE: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED FOR DOG LOVERS OUT THERE!

THE FLOWER OF SERVICE