Not Just Any Cup of Coffee

It was rare for us to wake up without the children nearby. They were at QC with their grandparents while we had decided to sleep at Makati after our sumptuous dinner at Shakey's the night before.

MacGyver invited me over for coffee at a place where he and his buddies frequent. He had often mentioned that he wanted to bring me there so that I could sample their coffee. But there never seemed to be an excuse to go so we would often just brew our own cups of coffee or go instant in the comfort of our home.

Coffee Plus was just a stone's throw away from the house, situated in one of the nearby gas stations. Since there were no kids to worry about this morning, today seemed to be the perfect time for us to make the trip.

When we got there, we checked out the menu. MacGyver asked what I wanted. Typically, I said, 'Get me the one which has the most milk... a cappuccino, I guess.'

While he lined up for our coffee, I bought some donuts for us. (No, not exactly the healthiest of breakfasts, but we were still kind of celebrating MacGyver's birthday. Healthy food and exercise could come another day.)

The donuts arrived ahead of the coffee. When the coffee arrived, I had to smile. There were two cups of cappuccino on the tray but one of them was overflowing with whipped cream. (Can you guess which one was mine?)

As we sipped our coffee slowly, I realized that this was the first cup of coffee MacGyver has ever bought for me. He apologized but he really didn't have to. I have been practically caffeine-free up until recently. So I don't really look for coffee the way some people I know do.

I might actually remember all the instances when I've had coffee from an honest-to-goodness coffee establishment outside the house.

Let me see..

Believe it or not, I have only had ONE cup of Starbucks coffee. It was in a conference room at Standard Chartered Bank. I attended a meeting there along with some of my colleagues. We were considering SCB as the custodian bank for our securities business at the time. They were the gracious host and had some coffee and sandwiches bought for us from the Starbucks located at the Ground Floor of their building.

I got a free cup of coffee from this place when I lined up last 21 July 2007 to pick up GI's copy of Harry Potter Book 7 from PowerBooks. They gave me a free donut, too.

There is a Figaro right around the corner of our building. During lunchtime, I often see officemates having coffee there. One morning, one of our senior officers wanted to discuss one of my projects that affected him. He insisted on meeting at Figaro. He ordered a cup of coffee and some dessert for himself. Come to think of it, I don't know if I ordered a hot chocolate drink or coffee, but I said I'd pass on the pastry. All I know is that when my drink arrived (again in all its whipped cream glory), he said, 'No wonder you didn't order dessert.'

Be amazed .... I've had TWO cups of coffee from this place. This place is right across our building. The first time I was there, i ordered a cappuccino (so typical). The men I had a lunch meeting with decided they wanted to go for coffee. Who was I to refuse? They were all higher ranking than I was.

The other time was with my girl friends. We had breakfast there to celebrate one of my friends birthday. Food was good and yes, even the regular coffee that came with the meal was good. Needless to say, the company was great!

So here is to more good cups of coffee to come.