Have a cup of coffee, a bagel and get your eyes checked at Mugshot Café

GEORGE TOWN, April 8 — Getting your eyes checked can be a boring, sometimes tedious affair, so why not enjoy a cup of coffee and some bagels while getting your eyes checked over at Mugshot Café?


Spark Optics is not your typical optometrist shop but an eyewear studio inside a café.

Wayne Ng, who runs the eyewear studio, wanted a slightly different concept to appeal to the young and the young at heart.


“I want to introduce quality eyewear in a cozy, warm and relaxed environment so that people can take their time to choose a pair of sunglasses or a new pair of spectacles,” he said.


Spark Optics also doesn’t offer the usual range of branded eyewear but features Penang’s very own brand of eyewear.


“I wanted to offer something homegrown, so I conceptualised two lines of eyewear — one is a range of sunglasses and one is a range of special concept spectacles,” he said.


Ng’s specially-designed sunglasses range called “The Sea Is Our Playground” is something rarely found in most optometrist shops.


These are wooden and bamboo-framed sunglasses using the highest quality of lenses for maximum protection against our bright tropical weather.


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A customer choosing a pair of wooden frame sunglasses of The sea is our playground range at Spark Optics. — Picture by K.E.Ooi

g said since these are handcrafted sunglasses, each pair is original and different from each other.


“I tried every design before I put it on the shelf so that I know that each pair is comfortable and unique in its own way,” Ng said.


Since they are handcrafted, there may be some minor imperfections to the frames but this should be expected especially when the frames are carved from wood and bamboo.


“If a customer wants perfection where everything is uniform, then I would not propose that they take from this range because when we use natural materials, the end result is different from plastic or metal frames,” he said.


Bamboo and wooden frame sunglasses under The Sea Is Our Playground range at Spark Optics. — Picture by K.E.Ooi

Rather than run-of-the-mill generic brands for prescription glasses, Ng offers his very own brand called “Eyewitness”.


These are a mix of plastic, metal and wooden frames of different shapes and sizes to suit individual needs.

And yes, you get to have your eyesight tested over a cup of coffee and a pot of yogurt if you want to.


Spark Optics can be found in the back portion of Mugshot Café and is open daily from 11am to 5pm.

It is closed on Wednesdays.