Better than Starbucks

Stars & Bucks Cafe is better than Starbucks because there is no Starbucks in Bethlehem. Coffee Palestinian style. Free Wi-Fi.  They also offer juice, ice cream, desserts and much more. Also, they sell their own “You Are Here …” mug. … Continue reading →

Seriously!

It was a warm start of June. I was sweating and starving. My blood sugar is at the lowest. I need something quick to feed on before I pass out. The closest cooling place I could find is Starbucks at … Continue reading →

Memorial Day

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Today, May 28, 2018, is Memorial Day in USA. Today, in America, all Starbucks are CLOSED. I could here the groaning and moaning and screaming of citizens of US defending on their caffeine jolt. Nothing to fret, you are welcome … Continue reading →

Location Counts.

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Location, location, location. This is the motto of most businesses. Where I live, in Metrotown, there are at least five Starbucks in one big area of Metropolis. A great location. Starbucks seems to have a strong sense where the money is. … Continue reading →

Let me get this off my system.

Let me get this off my system.

If you are looking for Starbucks in India, good luck! You can only find the coffee shop in the Airport, departure area.

And if you are looking for a freshly brewed coffee, there is no such thing! Everything is instant coffee in India. The famous one is Nescafe or Folgers. Kate Crimmins  are you rolling your eyes yet?

It was a problem, a very big problem for me. But hey, I am a pilgrim, this is not Club Med.

So, what is Indian Coffee? Pretty basic:

• Instant Coffee – two packets if you want it strong
• Hot Water – very small amount to dissolve the coffee
• Warm Milk –lots to combine it with the dissolved coffee
• Sugar – if you want it sweet.

Oh, some make it frothy to give it an espresso look. There’s hardly any coffee in this cup but bubbles.

I was kicking myself to get a “caffeine kick” to it. There’s hardly any caffeine in an instant coffee. Drinking two or three cups of this first thing in the morning is my form of “flagellation” for seventeen days to wake me up. I survived.

The minute we arrived in Canada, we stopped over at my sister’s place and I asked for a real good brewed coffee, mug size.

Aaahhhh…. good to the last drop followed by a refill.

I am so glad to be home.

Science or conScience: On Donating

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Money cannot buy happiness but how you spend it differently will make you feel better and happier. Michael Norton experimented on making people spend money on others rather than on themselves and measure their happiness as shown at TED.  Michael went … Continue reading →

The rain in Spain…

The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain.

Really?

Somehow this cloud does not look promising on the first morning of staying in Bilbao, Spain. The sun was struggling to break through the thick clouds.

It’s rather a warm day, the sun won, the rain lost, the clouds remained in the horizon giving a soft white fluffy cottony texture,

I found a corner bar that is open first thing in the morning. It is actually a coffee bar by morning and  serves stronger beverage by night, if you get my drift.  Here I decided to have my morning Java and a simple breakfast.

Ah coffee. Coffee tastes much better in Spain than Starbucks in Canada.

In the background, I could hear music playing to the tune of “It’s a Wonderful World. It seemed to me that it was coming from across the water,

After coffee, I decided to follow the music and crossed the bridge. At the other of the bridge, I found the lone player and people were passing, in a rush, and continued walking.

Well, I have all mornIng and now he has an audience of one, me.  I requested if he could play the “It’s A Wonderful World” again. And he did.  What a beautiful way to start a day. Of course, he deserves a good tip for making my morning memorable,

I walked away and he was playing the classical hymn “Ave Maria.”

Good Morning, Spain!