my cup of coffee

Same ingredients, plus some small ice cubes and whipped cream; In a pint glass or iced tea glass, add vanilla syrup and fill about 3/5 of the way with cold milk. Add ice almost to the top and pour espresso over the top. Drizzle the top with caramel and enjoy iced caramel macchiato!

---from a corner of Starbucks Oakwood.150309---

Having a cup of iced caramel macchiato, my favorite one at the corner of Starbucks Oakwood on a relaxed Sunday afternoon reminds me about my life. Yes, some people say that life is like a bowl of soup and some others call it as a box of chocolates. I prefer to analogize it with a cup of coffee.

Perhaps it is related with my hobby enjoying each taste containing in it. Sometimes it can be bitter or sweet, often both at once. An experience to sip coffee is almost similar with an experience to enjoy life.

In my life, I act as the chef; decide the ingredient should be blended to create the coffee’s taste. I have to play in. I find a challenge to get the taste which I want to sip.

If I’m bored and want to have different sensation, I just change a bit of ingredient. Or I leave my macchiato for a while and choose my other favorite coffee, Ulee Kareng from Aceh. It can be whatever I make it.

In my quest for perfect cup I often should do my best or hardest effort, doing trial and error, passing highway & byway. And when I find it…it hits me. It doesn’t only give me a very delicious taste but also soul satisfaction. And the most important the search itself is a part of the priceless experience. It’s not so much the destination, but the journey that counts. And what I find along the way.

Now I’m not sipping the sweet one, maybe a bitter one. Whatever it is, I should enjoy it. That’s life…

I believe as much bitter my coffee’s taste, there is always a way to make it better. In my way, I try to share my coffee with my closest friends and beloved family. It really means to me coz when I’m sipping the bitter coffee I feel being cheered up. And when I’m sipping the sweeter one, other people also have a chance to taste it. And life is also about sharing…

And I feel so lucky having time allocated specially with my best friend Myra every Sunday afternoon to enjoy and share our coffee. We name it our “sex & the city show”. Actually it’s not just a regular coffee time. For us it becomes a moment for sharing and encouraging each other to enjoy life. We agree to have no any other appointments with other people at that time, even appointment with our loved one.

On Sunday afternoon I feel more relaxed to contemplate what ingredient could make it smoother, more inviting, more tasty, more invigorating and give me the jolt that maybe I need to take that next step up in my life.

Perhaps most other people's life is more successful, interesting, happier, and wealthier. But I attempt to focus enjoying my coffee, even though the neighbor’s grass is greener. Yes, I have to remember that life is like a cup of coffee. We don’t know the content of the cup till we taste it. In spite of feeling envy with others’ life, it’s better for me to be grateful and think what ingredient to make my coffee more delicious.

I’m smiling…There is a cup of coffee, there is a good friend who is always loyal for sharing hot topics. What else?

Maybe I just need another cup of coffee……..as I’m a life addicted.

I soon spend my remained coffee which is bitter, come to the counter and order one more iced caramel macchiato. “Much vanilla syrup and caramel okay? The sweet one please?” I ask to the bartender... And now I'm ready to taste my next sweet coffee...

Enjoy your coffee dear friends! Sip unforgetable taste!

"I wanted to be in charge of my own destiny. I'm always wondering what I'll do next. Enough is never enough.” (Howard Schultz - The Founder of Starbucks)

PS: This is not a kind of implicit promotion of Starbucks. I’m not a Public Relations working for Starbucks:) But I’m inspired of Howard Schultz who is not only success in selling but also creating the experience to enjoy coffee become a wonderful experience as my experience to enjoy life.