kuya ramon

Nagbaon ako kanina ng sandwich kasi nagtitipid ako. Ang cute, nilagyan pa ako ng Chuckie sa baunan ko! Tuwang-tuwa ako.

Dahil adik na kami ni Nelli sa signature iced hot chocolate (I know, ironic mag-order ng iced hot drink), napag-isipan namin na doon na lang mag-lunch para isahan na lang yung pag-alis namin sa office. At dahil sa wala na kaming pera pareho at kahit pang-taxi e hirap kaming bunutin sa wallet, sabi niya magdadala na lang daw siya ng kotse.

Pagdating sa paborito naming branch, wala nang parking. Meron sana kaso may harang na ayaw tanggalin ng guard dahil naka-reserba na daw yun para kay Mother. Swinerte naman kami kasi di nagtagal, may umalis nang kotse at pumorma na si Nelli para ma-occupy yung nabakanteng slot. Akalain mo ba namang bigla kaming nasingitan! Okay lang sana pero ang hirap talaga ng parking sa may Morato kaya handa kaming ipaglaban. Tinawag namin yung guard at nabigla kami kasi of all things, heto ang tinanong niya: “Kasama niyo ba yun?”

E ano ngayon kung kasama namin? Hindi naman kami makakasiksik sa isang slot! Kawindang! Sabi namin na hindi namin kasama at umalis siya para makipag-usap dun sa driver ng isang kotse. Pinanood namin at mukhang seryosong-seryoso ang kanilang pag-uusap. Aba, epektib kasi wala pang 1 minuto e umalis na yung pumarada! Ang cute pa ni manong kasi bigla kaming nginitian na tilang tuwang-tuwa sa kanyang powers.

Maya-maya, nung nasa loob na kami, chinika ko siya. Tulad ng ibang guard dun, alam niya yung pangalan ko. Ginagawan pa nga niya kami ni RB ng issue. Nakakataba ng puso kasi ang daming proprotekta sa akin pagdating ng panahong mangailangan ako ng bodyguard. Tatlo yung baon kong corned beef hash pandesal with tomatoes (in fairness masarap naman ang kumbinasyon) kaya inalok ko siya ng isa. Hindi siya makapaniwala na binibigyan ko siya pero di din naman siya tumanggi. Hehe.

Dahil abala si Nelli sa telepono, nakipagkwentuhan na lang ako kay Kuya Ramon. Tubo siyang Quezon pero sa Cainta siya nanunuluyan ngayon. Kabilang siya sa Superstar agency at noong Nobyembre lang siya na-destino sa Starbucks branch na yun, kung saan 7AM – 7PM ang kanyang shift. Wednesday at Saturday naman ang kanyang day-off pero kanina pumasok siya kasi nagkasakit yung nakatoka sa Morato kaya binawi muna ng amo niya yung day-off niya. Meron siyang maliit na green notebook kung saan niya nilo-log ang mga empleyadong dumarating at umaalis. Ayaw niyang sabihin yung pinaka-exciting na nangyari sa kanya sa karir niya bilang security guard pero kwinento niya na kagabi lang daw e andun si Mother Lily at madalas daw siya dun dahil siya ang may-ari ng building. Aniya, makinis daw yung kutis ko kasi mahilig akong kumain ng kamatis. Kamukha ko daw si Maui Taylor at nang sinabi naming kamukha niya si Marky Cielo, ngumiti lang siya at sinabing, “Alam ko, madami nang nagsabi.”

Kaloka!

Nung lumapit ako sa counter para mag-order, chinika naman ako ng isang barista. Araw-araw daw niya ako nakikita doon. Tinanong pa kung anong oras ang break ko sa trabaho at nang sinabi kong flexi-time naman kami, pinababalik ako dun ng 4pm. Tinanong ko kung may libre pag 4 tapos sabi niya na sila daw libre. Ang labo! Close ko na yung buong branch, ultimo mga sikyo. Ilang araw lang ako di magpakita, pag daan ko uli, ang init ng pagsalubong nila sa akin. Ganun kaya kakaunti yung mga pupunta dun na nakikilala na nila ako?!

starbucks moment

Kanina, nag-meeting uli kami sa Starbucks. Sa sobrang lamig, naupo kami ni Boo sa labas habang pinag-uusapan ang mga plano naming summer projects. Nabigla ako nang tanungin ako ng guard: “Kayo po ba si Cara?”

“Ay ako nga yun,” sabi ko sabay ngiti.

“May gustong mangamusta sa iyo,” sabi niya.

“Ah talaga?? Sino??” excited kong tanong.

“Yung isang barista diyan, si RB,” sabi niya. Yun yung crush ko! Yeee!! Pero di naman ako kinausap. Sabi ko na lang sa sikyo na sa araw-araw kong andun sa branch na yun dapat may libre na akong pagkain. Sasabihin daw niya. Sana banoffee!! Sobrang adik kasi ako sa banoffee pie nila na nasusuya na si Nelli para sa akin. Pero ang sarap kasi!

coffee sampling

I am such a permanent fixture in Starbucks nowadays that the baristas know me by name and, since I am such a creature of habit that even if I always, always spend minutes in front of their menu, they know that I will end up asking for a tall mocha frappe with mint syrup (which is basically the peppermint mocha frappe holiday drink minus the peppermint sprinkles).

 

This afternoon, I went there as usual so I could plan the future of our music business.  The female barista, who was as familiar to me as I probably was to her, smiled in recognition as I approached the counter.

“Mag-isa po kayo ngayon?” she asked, looking over my shoulder to see if Nelli was behind me.

“Ah oo, ako lang,” I said with a smile before placing my order.

As I claimed my drink, she moved from behind the counter and asked if I would stay long.

“Oo, uupo lang ako dito,” I said, gesturing to the nearest free seat.

“Ay, may favor sana ako sa iyo…pwede po ba tayo mag-coffee tasting mamaya?” she asked.

I immediately perked up. I just love, love, looooove free samples and new, unusual experiences!

“Sure!” I exclaimed happily. “Anong kailangan kong gawin?!?!“

She laughed at my eagerness. “Mamaya na lang po,” she said.

I headed to my seat and started working on my report. Gosh, there’s something about being in Starbucks with a laptop and a hot drink that makes me feel like I’m not a pretend grown-up. I opened up my Excel sheets and immersed myself in my favorite numbers. Before I knew it, she went up to me holding a tray and asked if I would mind if she joined me.

“This is my first time,” she whispered confidentially as she set the tray down.

“Me too!” I said, happy we had something in common.

It turns out that coffee sampling is an initiation rite of sorts among baristas who want to be regulars. They select a customer randomly and engage them in conversation over a cup of coffee while explaining the history of the particular sample of the day. It was pretty interesting, actually. I learned about Starbucks’ corporate responsibility and about how the coffee beans we were drinking was multi-regional (from exotic places but unfortunately Batangas wasn’t one of them). And, oh, here’s my lesson for the day:

SLURPING COFFEE WON’T BURN YOUR TONGUE!!!

I felt a little silly when she said that I should slurp the coffee for the ultimate experience. I wondered wildly if I could practice (hehe) but she took the lead and took a satisfyingly loud slurp from her own cup. I did the same and hey, it worked!! It really, really worked!!! For once I didn’t burn my tonuge!!! Scientifically it makes sense because slurping covers a wider area of your mouth, thus dissipating the heat instead of concentrating it on the tip of your tongue–okay, I totally made that up. But it works!!!That Starbucks place is definitely my new favorite branch. I need to find more excuses to stay out of the office!