Comfort drink

Minutes ago, this was filled with Mocha Frappe

I was in second year in college when I first stepped into Starbucks.  My groupmates for a class project and I dropped by in one of the outlets scattered along Manila on our way home from a meeting.  I don't remember the exact phrase but the barista asked me in straight English what I wanted for a drink. That was the time when Ingliserong/Ingliserang rich kids dominated the Starbucks barista population and I was the wide-eyed probinsyana who fidgets and stutters when speaking in conversational English and thought that everyone who spoke the language well was smart (in my defence, I know a lot better now hehe).  I ordered Mocha Frapuccino.  And Belgian waffle to eat.  I don't remember how much was it but I knew it cost a big chunk of my 500 peso weekly allowance.  I didn't visit the place again after that.

Fast-forward to a few years later.  I would land a job at J5 where we had free lunch everyday at the mess hall.  Whenever we would have a so-so ulam, or just when we feel like going out during lunch break, my colleagues and I would go to Starbucks for a drink.  In most instances, some of our bosses would go with us too.  It was a good place to chill, with its ambient music and the nice smell of coffee. In December, we would frequent the place more often because we wanted to collect as many stickers as we could just to get that free planner. 

It was also me and my friends' reliable go-to place.  After work, whenever we would feel like we don't want to go home, we would go to Starbucks at Araneta to chill.  That was our second home.  And then we ventured to Starbucks Megamall and stay there for hours having fun over kookology.  Starbucks was a place for many of our 20-year old conversations, debates, and rationalizations about life and love. 

And then everyone became a Stabucks junkie.  Students, young professionals, even young kids would be seen at Starbucks sipping coffee.  It became a place to see and be seen. And I wasn't comfortable with that.

When I moved to my new work, my relationship with Starbucks changed.  I didn't go to the place as often as I used to although my office friends and I would still go once in a while.  Personally, I would go there because it's the most convenient place to meet old friends but I learned to discover other coffee shops that are more quiet and intimate.  But it still had that special place in my heart because it held a lot of good memories with my friends.

When I moved here, it took some time before I had my first cup of Cafe Mocha from Starbucks (which tasted different - a bit bland) because of various reasons.  One, I was a student once again and to spend $5 for a cup of coffee was too much for me.  Second, I discovered that kopi po from the hawker centers tasted much, much better.

Now, I rarely go to Starbucks anymore even when Im back in the workforce.  Maybe my taste in coffee changed.  And maybe my taste in coffee shops changed too. But sipping a cup of Cafe Latte, or Cafe Mocha, or Mocha Frappe has a sentimental value for me because it reminds me of comfort and happy times with friends.