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d wacky themed Lauren loves to visit weird an restaurants on her travels Image source: Lauren Juliff
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Q&A: LAUREN JULIFF
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Lauren Juliff is a woman obsessed, she just can’t get enough of travelling and documents all of her adventures on her blog ‘Never-Ending Footsteps’. She’s particularly excited by the topic of weird and wacky themed restaurants. Hype Digital sat down to have a natter with her to grasp an insider perspective of the novelty world of eatery experiences. HYPE Digital: So Lauren, where did your obsession with themed eateries begin? Lauren: My obsession began in Taipei, Taiwan, the home of themed restaurants. On my first night there a new friend took me to a Hello Kitty themed restaurant she’d read about online. It was just such a bizarre experience (laughs) After that I was hooked! WE LOOK INTO THEMED FOOD WITH EAT WEIRD //
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//words by Charlotte Lewis //
A chat with Lauren - A themed restaurant veteran
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T H E R E W E R E S T AT U E S M A D E OF CONDOMS EVERYWHERE
HD: Certainly sounds intriguing. Did you have any other strange dining experiences in Taipei? L: Well, after having a ridiculous amount of fun we did some research and realised just how many themed restaurants the city actually had. And we made it our mission to go to as many as possible. So over the next fortnight we visited places that included hospital-themed, ninja-themed, airplane-themed and toilet-themed restaurants. They were all pretty incredible. HD: You’ve visited ‘Condoms and Cabbages’ in Bangkok, how did you find out about that one? L: After my time in Taipei, I then started making the effort to seek out themed restaurants in every city I visit and a condom themed restaurant in Bangkok sounded perfectly weird.
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HD: Tell us a bit more about your dining experience at ‘Cabbages and Condoms’... L: The restaurant itself was quite normal. The food was standard Thai food and surprisingly good too - normally in themed restaurants you’re paying for the experience and the food sucks! Everywhere you looked there were statues made from condoms, it was so surreal but they were all quite intricate and incredible. HD: So the decorations really made the restaurant special? L: Well, we visited in December so there was a giant condom Christmas tree and a Santa statue which were fantastic. Everything from the lamps at the bar to the flowers on the table were made out of condoms and they even gave us free condoms when we paid.
LAUREN’S BLOG: NEVER ENDING FOOTSTEPS //
HD: Santa made out of condoms!? L: Yes and there was even a Tiger Woods statue, complete with condom golf club and a sign reading “Did you use them, Tiger?!” HD: So other than the condom crazy dining, were there any other themed restaurants you loved? Lauren: Well I’m an animal lover so visiting dog and cat cafes in Seoul was great. You basically pay to spend a few hours hanging out with 50 dogs or cats in a room. So wacky but a lot of fun! From sexually promiscuous golfers constructed out of birth control, to being surrounded by furry feline friends whilst you eat, it is clear from Lauren’s experiences that themed restaurants are a unique source of pure entertainment. Go out there and discover some for yourself - it beats going to McDonalds for a Big Mac any day.
THE GUARDIAN: THEMED RESTAURANTS IN TAIPEI //
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