DISTANT PAST I can still remember my first time going to a café EVER. It was 2011 and I was in my second semester as a freshman college student. My college besties (Tin and April) and I went to Ayala Mall to finally go and have coffee in Starbucks (we used to jokingly say that we will go to SB sooner or later, it was a joke because we never thought we’ll be seriously going there one day lol). I was so nervous because I felt like I do not belong and this café is only for rich people. “What am I doing here,” I asked myself a couple of times, angry at myself for trying to “be someone else I’m not”. Clearly, I do not feel welcome here because what would a not-rich-freshman-naïve-college girl do in a world-renowned coffee shop? But I still went with the plan anyway. When I entered, I felt so small because apparently, I am in a realm that was outside my league. Looking back, of course, I would feel this way because I was a teenager who was new to the world of coffee and cafes. When it was time for us to order coffee, my best friend Tin, offered to order for us. I was too shy and nervous and scared because I do not know how to order in coffee shops as it was my first time. (This may sound funny and exaggerated but it is not far from the truth of what I felt that day.) As we stayed for a couple of minutes, my fear of not feeling like I belong slowly disappeared. I thought, “This is fun, the room is air-conditioned, the smell of coffee is sweet and calming, and I am so comfortable in this seat, with my best friends in the whole world, everything is all right, what could possibly go wrong??” Fast-forward to a couple of minutes and there: I felt a warm fuzzy feeling of happiness. We spent a magical afternoon that day, talking about college plans and the future while sipping iced cold coffee. I could never forget how delicious the Frappuccino I was drinking that time. I guess the taste was enhanced because of the company I was with! That was the very first time I fell in love with cafés and conversations over coffee. ✨
This photo is recent. I had NO photo of my first ever Starbucks experience because I had no phone at that time yet.
NOT-SO DISTANT PAST When I started working, I used to go to cafés a lot of times a week, and especially on weekends and my days off. When I am not going to places and travelling, you can find me in cafés. My Mama would always ask me why I go to cafes when only one cup of coffee is so expensive. “Why pay 170 pesos for just a cup of coffee when you can have a 3-in-1 coffee for 7 pesos here in our house,” that’s what she used to say. I laugh and explain to her that I am not just paying for the coffee but I am paying the shop’s electricity, rent, and salary for the crew and maintenance. I understand that the Baby Boomers find it a bit hard to understand this “café-going” concept of Millennials because their generation was totally different from ours.
Another favourite coffee shop of mine is Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, this was taken December 2019.
2019 Kind of PRESENT I have experienced a major career heartbreak when 2019 started. I was lost. I was jobless for a few months. I used to cry to sleep because I felt like a failure and this was not the person I wanted to be. Do you know where my hiding place was? My refuge was a café. I used to go to that café to think and cry and write and plan out my next career move and cry some more. I could not just allow life to make me feel like I am a failure. I needed a plan to get over this heartbreak. That café has been a blessing to me because I was able to process my hurts as I wrote everything in my journal. Coffee gave me an energy boost and made me alive and present. It helped me hone my creativity by writing poems and by doing calligraphy. I also read books that help me see the silver lining despite the my life is breaking apart narrative I had. I felt like life could still be better even when my expectations did not come to pass. The café was home to me for a few weeks, I was accepted to be who I am, and I can be allowed to be lost and remain found altogether; until such time that I was able to bounce back from being jobless.
2020 Kind of PRESENT Every time I go to cafés, I cannot help but smile. I say to myself, “Look how far you’ve grown, from being too shy to order your drinks to volunteering to order for other people.” I know it may be silly but it still cheers me up somehow. It is not just that, though, there’s more. I also smile because my heart swells with so much happiness because I used to barely afford the coffee in cafés as they are expensive to a middle-class girl like me but now I can buy even two for a single one-time drink. I realized how much I have been blessed to enjoy the little things in life, and I am more than happy to be able to share them with others as well.
2021 Kind of PRESENT If there is one thing you should know about women, dear readers, is that women are relational beings. We are naturally invested in relationships. As for me, I can say, after a careful self-assessment, that I am a super relational being. In fact, I care too deeply about the islands of people in my life—my family island, my bestfriends island, my close friends' island, my student island, my colleague island, to mention a few. I easily get hurt when the people close to my heart are hurt. Humbly speaking, I can be that “ride or die” kind of person to the people who matter to me. I am willing to fight and die for people I love; that is for sure. What has this to do with coffee, you might ask. Meeting and sharing coffee and tea at cafés with people dear to me have been so helpful in maintaining my relationships with them. When we share laughter and tears, our heartbreaks and our victories, there is an unexplainable bond that makes my relationship with these people become stronger and more intimate.✨🌻🌼
August 21, 2021
My sisters and I are out on a coffee date in Busay. @swaycanete @morenatravels @sassycebuana @eeventuree 🥰🥰🥰🥰
January 01, 2020
What a way to spend the first day of the year!💛
December 2018
I am blessed to be able to call these gorgeous souls my sisters!💛
With my "favourite" niece, February 13, 2021 @kcwonders
My Valentine's Date this year was my niece. She's a coffee lover, too~!🥰
With Kenneth and Sway 🥰
March 2019
My college besties~!!!! Hagie and Tin🥰
On that day, we talked about our career plans and asked each other how we were. ✨
April 2021
We often meet each other in cafes and talk about: career, love, life and the drama of life lol✨
Fourth of July 2021
2019 moments
I love drinking milk tea and coffee with my co-teachers who are now my close friends! Yay!✨
2020 moments with these lovely ladies Hannah and Michelle✨
MY BEST FRIENDS since High School~!✨✨✨ Sarah and Ayel
The three of us love Bo's Coffee since 2015. 🥰
We always have our coffee dates at Starbucks or CBTL!
I am always glad to have found a friend in you, Ms April! 😘 @ate.eping 🥰🥰
For the love of milk tea! With Charisse the soon-to-be Mrs. 😅😘 @charisse.craves 🥰🥰
Out for a coffee fix with Hannah @hannahs.journey 🥰🥰
Conclusion: I like to go to cafés solo, too. When I need time to think and be away from people, I go to any coffee place and mute my surroundings and watch everything happen in slow motion. I tune in. I experience life in the now and not in the someday I will… kind of thinking.
The Future: I lean to café walls and listen to the hustle and bustle of the busy city life. Can you hear it? There, there, come closer, and listen: the hushed tones, the shy whispers, the raucous laughter, the silent weeping, the subtle breakdown, the cheers of victory, the cries of mourning, the hope-filled shouts of celebration? Oh, the stories these cafés hold! The next time you visit a café, make sure to listen, really listen, and be there, be present, and you’ll be surprised by how much you’ve missed had you stopped and listened.✨🌺
‘Til the next post, hivers! Remember that you are loved beyond borders and beyond time & space. Okay? Okay. 💛❤️
Ciao for now! 🤗🥰
This original article is written by Jong, the blogger and owner o fwritetowander.com. All photos are hers, too.
Hive-llo, everyone! Welcome to Jong's little buzz-y corner in Hive. Jong believes that every person she meets can teach her a thing or two (or three, or more) about life. She shares her love for life here-- the captivating beauty of life! To be more specific, but not necessarily in this order, she's interested in: wisdom, love, poetry, single life, books, travel, health&fitness, fashion, gratitude, unspoken hurts, heartbreaks and healing. Lastly, she loves Jesus.
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