me and my Starbucks®

The smell of coffee wafts in the air. You can hear the faint sound of jazz from hidden speakers. People are everywhere, sipping from their white coffee mugs, obviously savoring the sweet taste and enjoying a good conversation with friends. Ah! This is what greets you when you enter any Starbucks outlet. Everything just seems so… perfect? Starbucks will always have a spot in my memories. It was in this placed when I found solace during my unemployment days. I would spend every afternoon here just enjoying my Venti Green Tea Blended Frappuccino, smoking my lungs out while contemplating on what to do with my life and what job to accept. It was also here that I met Robin. This was also the place where I reconciled with my sis after two years of ignoring each other. Starbucks is my place. Now people seem to be taking over my place. It’s always crowded. But nevertheless I still love it here. Who wouldn’t want love Starbucks when every time you come here the baristas greet you by your name, makes your usual coffee/frap and even spells your name correctly? It is worth every peso I pay for that Grande cappuccino or that Venti Frap.




I always have my spot in Starbucks Ayala. It’s the second table to your left downstairs facing the lagoon. I get my Grande Toffee Nut Cappuccino, a slice of banana bread, a packet of brown sugar, some table napkins and I am ready for my afternoon of people-gazing and smoking. I just sit there in that little corner and just watch the people go by. I sometimes enjoy watching the frogs jump from one water lily to the next under the wonderful glow of the afternoon sun. Starbucks is the best place to be at when you need to escape from reality for a while. I have been a coffee addict since college and I need at least three large cups of joe to tide me by. Lately though, I have been fixated on espressos. I just love how a double shot of espresso does to my body. It sort of like jolts my body awake. On some days, I even go as far as drinking a quadro. Now, I do not advise doing this if you are not a coffee addict. A quadro will keep you up for days if your body is not used to all that caffeine.




Sitting on that black metal chair smoking menthols and occasionally sipping from my paper cup of heavenly coffee has a therapeutic effect on me. It eases my mind from whatever issue I have ongoing and it makes me enjoy my afternoon. I know that Starbucks is a bit overpriced compared to its local counterparts. They all have the same ambience (hey, Starbucks started the coffee craze) and menus. But trust me, the coffee’s really different. I tried drinking coffees from different coffee shops but I find their coffee too sweet or too weak. Plus, they don’t have friendly baristas. I think Starbucks train their baristas to be friendly and to always remember their customers. It’s not just the coffee, though. In Starbucks, you get to sit in über-comfy sofas on top of drinking high-grade coffee.




My love for Starbucks goes beyond coffee and sofas. It’s the whole experience, really. Just the thought that I will be enjoying my coffee in solitude is reason enough for me to always go back to Starbucks. Even through the din of the afternoon crowd, Starbucks always brings me to this place where I know only I exist. And those frogs in the lagoon.




How about you? What is your Starbucks story?