Working in an upmarket environment, I find myself in the center of an amazing cafe culture. Despite free coffee, tea and hot choco at work, people still go out to grab coffee anytime of the day. There are lots of coffee shops around; morning till three all of them fully-packed. Our favorite one quite close to our office with the most gorgeous coffee is where you literally brush elbows with Prime Ministers. Yeah, no kidding. More than a couple of times I saw Jenny Shipley (Helen Clark‘s predecessor) and once, the current PM John Key.
It is very easy to get into the habit but each cup costs a minimum of $3.50. (NZ dollars po.) A conservative 1-cup-a-day habit would be $17.50 a week, $70 a month, or $840 a year! Makatarungan pa ba yun? I can swap my 1st generation iPhone with the latest, or buy Wii Fit or World Tour hahaha! Nga pala, every 7th coffee is free.
But I LOVE coffee. At home I drink a cup every morning. Sometimes another at work especially during a meeting (free one). And I can’t help but drink a cappuccino at least once a week. That’s $168 a year. Pwede na siguro (i-justify daw ba?). The coffee shop at the ground level of our office building has a free muffin to go; good deal.
Deliciously fluffy, creamy top. Love it with a piece of marshmallow, too. That’s my cappuccino during one hot summer day last month, a weekend on the streets of old Victorian Mt. Eden.
For Lasang Pinoy, Sundays. Hot Drinks.
I am not a professional cook. My only claim to having a culinary background is a short stint as my dad’s teen ‘sous chef’ in his carinderia ages ago. Dad ran small eateries since I was a young kid - serving standard ‘turo-turo’ food ranging from the likes of menudo, adobo, pritong isda, dinuguan, binagoongan, bopis, munggo, pinakbet and giniling to merienda fares like goto, ginataan, pancit bihon, halu-halo and saging con yelo.
My father, a farmer in his hometown before working his way to becoming an accountant, definitely influenced my cooking in a lot of ways than I thought. My siblings and I were raised in a backyard full of fruit trees and vegetable garden. We spent weekends and the summer breaks running around with ducks, chickens, goats and pigs. I had wonderful memories of gathering eggs, butchering chickens, selling vegetables and the sweet aroma of preserved fruits. But my love for art led me to a degree in Architecture. Just few months after getting my license, I went abroad and lived independently at age 23. Definitely no maid, no cook, and a totally different food culture. Along the way I met lots of friends and spent what seemed a lifetime learning new tricks and recipes.
Now living in Auckland, I am a work-from-home mum who juggles time between work, fun and family - in pursuit of work-life balance. No matter how busy I am, I love the idea of cooking for my family. My blog chronicles home cooking greatly influenced by life outside my home country from Southeast Asia to Beijing and Auckland. And most of the time, being busy also means easy (sometimes quick), affordable meals.
Bakit nga naman, me free coffee na why still buy? Maybe its the taste? Anyway, big savings if you don’t buy even if it tastes better Ang gulo ko.
That cuppa looks good,
Happy Sunday!
julie´s last blog post..Tsokolate-e
sad to say i cant afford a coffee like dat
and i love your pix. thats is why im sipping my monitor :))
Here is Mine
magandang araw ka-lasa-ista
Salamat sa pagbisita
Jay´s last blog post..La.Pi.S # 32: Hot Drinks
haha! You remind me of my coworker who would bring starbucks coffee to work everytime! When I asked her if she did not like the regular coffee we had, she said she just felt like she had to pay for good coffee; as if saying she works hard (night shift at theat!) and deserves one, no matter if it meant extra unnecessary expense (I don’t blame her!) I believe we should have our luxuries from time to time. We do a lot at home already, so when I do buy coffee, it’s a once-in-a-while (not daily, mind you!) indulgence for me.
I love it when hubby picks up a cup to bring home for me.
Manang´s last blog post..Concord Grape Jelly
Kaya as much as possible 1 cup a week na lang para medyo mura. Good thing I get free coffee from suppliers visiting hehehe.
Manang, I’m glad you can relate. Na-justify ang cravings ko hahaha! But yeah, this must be one of the few indulgences that I have not spared myself from…
ooohhhh… gorgeous shot! am not much into coffee; paminsan-minsan lang, kaya ok lang kahit from starbucks. hehehe, trying to justify din.
maiylah´s last blog post..Lasang Pinoy, Sundays: Gulp Gulp/Hot Drink
once a week lang? naku me thinks you shouldn’t count as long as you’re enjoying it…life is short, let’s enjoy it =)
btw, what i did was- i bought a small espresso/cappuccino maker para ma-stisfy ang every craving, lumabas na mura ang kape ha ha
I should save a portion of my 3.50-a-week and buy myself a decent cappuccino maker, too hahaha! Thanks, Thess.
Love how your coffee looks…though admittedly we aren’t really coffee-drinkers in the family
Once a week seems fair enough – you have to treat yourself naman for working so hard the rest of the week, right? Kunsintihin ba? Hehehe…
Pinky´s last blog post..LaPiS: Hot Drinks
Huwaw… kasarap naman tignan! Parang ang hirap ng inumin! =) Thanks for dropping by my LaPiS post.
FoodieJenn´s last blog post..Milk on My Coffee
i agree with you, designer coffee can be really costly. hindi talaga puwedeng pang-araw-araw. in our case, it’s X2 (one for hubby and one for me!). so we just brew our own coffee. don’t you just love the aroma of freshly brewed coffee? hmmmmm.
Even if I think I’ve had enough for a day, the smell of good coffee is simply irresistible!
that is one gorgeous cup sis:) pero i think that’s the humongous cup na dko rin naman kaya ubusin:) pero tama si tita thess…life is short so when you have the craving, just DO it!:)
ces´s last blog post..Lasang Pinoy, Sundays: hot drinks
That’s the price of a regular size, sis. Yeah, life is too short and I really love living to the fullest but more than 2 cappuccino a week may hurt our budget hahaha! or NOT.
this looks like a warm hug…
peachkins´s last blog post..Mann Hann
With marshmallow sounds promising! though like pinky im not a coffee lover hehe. Enjoy your week!
I have never tried a cappuccino with marshmallows, I shall have to give that a shot soon, thanks for the idea!
Jason´s last blog post..Barack Obama is Not Your Messiah
Wow that looks so super yummy! Great photo. Gotta try the marshmallows.
Thanks, all of you for dropping by.
Just 1 piece of marshmallow is enough for me as I don’t want it to be too sweet