COFFEE TIME...BONDING MOMENTS WITH AN OLD FRIEND!

Today I spent a very fun afternoon with an old college friend. We had our regular ‘coffee break’ which was actually long overdue – she had her birthday last week and we usually meet up around that time between the New Year and her birthday to catch up with each other’s goings-on and to exchange gifts. But we were both busy during the early weeks of 2013 and so we only got to see each other now… We were supposed to do lunch but her morning meeting got extended and so we just settled on coffee. By 3 pm, I left the office, rode a trike to get to our regular meet-up place, and where else would coffee addicts converge but at Starbucks! We talked and reminisced for about two hours. She had a new man in her life now and I am happy to know that she had moved on. Even if I haven't been able to meet the guy yet, I have every reason to believe he has a positive effect on her...she looks good, less stressed and happier now. As always, when two friends meet, it seems there is always too little time to spend and there's still so much chika left unsaid...but we have to part ways since I have to go home to our place in the boondocks and she has to return to her minions of cats and dogs...and of course, her new beau. Someday, I hope I get to meet him, too...and I also hope to spend more bonding moments like this with her.

SAVORING COFFEE BREAKS

These past few days have been wet and dreary... although the newspapers do not report a storm, they say the rains are here to stay for the next few days because of the cold front that also signals Christmas is approaching. But instead of lifting up my spirits, the weather has gotten me sort of blue and a little bit depressed...

I guess it also doesn't help that these past few days the headlines, too, have been hogged by depressing news - the latest bribery scandal in Malacanang and the bombing/explosion in Glorietta. So rather than let out my emotions with a scream and contribute to the existing mayhem , I would rather find solace in mundane everyday things - like indulging in a hot cup of brewed coffee and a slice of rich creamy pastry.

There is a coffee shop a spitting distance from our office and it serves great coffee and an array of pastries that are simply to die for...chocolate decadent cake, blueberry cheesecake, choco caramel cake, banana walnut and blueberry muffin. It is perfect for quiet moments alone or when meeting long-lost friends. The past two months, I have met two different sets of friends whom I haven't seen for the longest time - one just came from a one-year stint abroad while the other was simply busy rediscovering herself.

But during moments when I take my coffee breaks alone, I simply indulge in Arabica brewed coffee courtesy of our office coffeemaker and just buy pastries from the corner bakery - I can take my pick - carrot slice, banana bread, cinnamon roll, brownies, or crinkles... my choice of pastry, a cup of steaming hot brewed coffee, and an internet-connected computer - these three things are enough to inspire me to blog and chase my blues away.