coffee, anyone?

there's nothing like a freshly brewed coffee.

i've been drinking coffee for as long as i can remember...i remember that as a child, i would make instant coffee for myself and would pour it on my rice and would be instantly rewarded with a good meal of rice with coffee...growing up, instead of making chocolate ice candy, i would ask my mother to make coffee ice candy...i even tried making coffee out of burnt fried rice grains...they said it's healthy because it had no caffeine...and then, i tried brewed coffee....and i never went back to instant coffee anymore (well, when sudden urge comes and brewed coffee is not available, i'd settle for instant).

and for as long as i can remember, i've been brewing coffee and enjoying my addiction to it.

but last night as i came from a meeting with a very dear friend, i suddenly had this compulsion to try something new...well, it had been brewing in my mind to try the coffee press instead of the regular drip coffee maker...drips are fine when you're having a coffee drinking spree with your friends at home, because they can brew more than 4 cups or depending on how big your coffee pot is....or when you're having your own drinking spree by yourself and can gulp at least 3 cups of coffee within 20 minutes....why 20 minutes? because coffee is best when consumed within 20 minutes after it is brewed.

so without much debates in my mind, i went to Starbucks at The Fort and went straight to the shelves where they keep all the mugs, tumblers and other merchandise on display...and as if some magic, i was drawn to this round object with its glistening glass significantly attached to some hard black vinyl handle with rod protruding from its head cover...i took it from its nesting place and held it in my hands...admiring its beauty and its splendor, i knew this is going to be a prized possession.

after holding it for almost an eternity, i decided this is going to be a joy to have and will be an instrument to make my coffee more enjoyable.

im not saying goodbye to my old reliable drip coffee maker....not yet...i'm just welcoming to my fold my new French Coffee Press!!!

another busy season

it has been a crazy month for me...and it's going to get crazier next month...busy, busy, busy....yes, that's what i am now, and will be for the coming weeks.

just came from La Union...spent 5 days in the region...it had been raining so hard you'd think you were in Noah's days...got stranded going back to Manila.

will leave again on Monday for Butuan, Mindanao...i will be there for 5 days, all weekdays....ha! and as if that's not enough, as soon as i return to Manila, i will be immediately whisked away to Ridgemont Hotel in Ortigas for another week of Asia Pacific regional conference...and then i just found out that i also have schedule in Lucena for 3 days right after the conference...you think it's over?...third week of September, i will be leaving again for Bangkok, Thailand for another regional forum where they said my input is needed (if i still have something left in me, after all these travels)...then, Iligan is next...crazy schedule?...you bet!

now who says travel is fun?

boys' day-out

it is always a blast when you get to meet with old friends from way back just chatting away the time and reminiscing of the seasons when all of you were just like ducklings trying to survive in the world of geese and eagles.

i just had a wonderful time spending one whole day with some college friends...it's not like we didn't plan to have one but what happened the entire day were all unplanned and pleasantly enjoyable...Lito, who is from Toronto, Canada, Jon, Jojo and I started our day with lunch at the Tin Hau restaurant at Mandarin Oriental Hotel...we had dimsum as appetizers and had a sumptuous variety of oriental dishes for main course...well, buffets are always sumptuous, aren't they?

i think that was the longest lunch i've had in my life...we were at the restaurant for three straight hours...not because because we ate for three hours but when you're with friends, the element of time does not exist...great conversations are present in places like this everyday...and ours was not an exception...we've covered almost everything that deals with life, business, family, sports, food, current events, geography, even fashion and entertainment.

"let's do something different together, malls are for high-school students", i think it was Lito who said that...so we decided to go to a Spa so we can have our muscles relaxed...it was a good idea, i thought, because i've been planning to do that sometime myself...men need a break, we told ourselves...and so the four of us had a Thai massage...we deserve it, you know...we men have been working so hard it's time to pamper ourselves (and all men say "amen").

what better way to follow-up on good body massage than to unwind and have coffee by the bay...yes, by the bay...not in SanFo, but in Mall of Asia...i've been there a number of times (actually only about 4 times, and all during the heavy typhoon days) and everytime i go there, it has always been because of the bay view...the breeze especially towards nightfall is very relaxing (again, maybe because of the wind the typhoon brings, i heard it's not as relaxing on regular warm days).

dinner at the new Dampa along Macapagal Avenue followed...i love seafood, especially crabs...and expectedly i devoured the helpless crabs served on our table, cooked in chili hot sauce...we also had shrimp cooked in oyster sauce, grilled squid and fish sinigang.

earlier in the day we found out that Southborder is having a gig somewhere in the vicinity, so at around 9:30pm we went to Bagaberde near the World Trade Center to catch them...they sang the night away as we continued to talk about anything amidst all the noises and confusion happening around us...the waiter kept coming back to our table for additional orders...while Lito kept texting the lady seated about three tables away from us, whose number he got from the waiter i believed got a big tip from him.

it was just like college days...when everything was almost as crazy as what we were doing that night...but now, we know better...we believe that we are now more responsible...and i saw it in everything that we did that evening... there now is a certain depth in the way we talk...more sense in the statements we throw at each other...clearer directions in the plans we make for our future...and the evidence of wisdom in every conversation.

i realized at that time that seasons and journeys in life could change a person's identity, image and even destiny...but no matter how much change one's fate could do to a person's life, the friendship you have built amongst the people who have influenced your own life, can never be easily windswept by the storms of life that each individual encounters.

people who are willing to to share their pieces of mind on random things and have time to give (more or less 13 hours) and forget about being chased by the ticking of the clock are definitely my friends...being able to "stop and talk a while" and have fun with friends is just what everybody needs.