Tuesday, May 31, 2011

When It's All Bean Said and Done


* First of all, I would like to thank Globe and its new office at SM Calamba for putting us back online. Clap clap, apple sauce. The last time I blogged was 2 weeks ago, that was May 15. I think it was still scorching hot back then. But now, it's raining! And with the rain comes showers of blessing! RECAP TIME! (Open planner and review past activities)

* May 16 - Juniper Face the Corner's first out-of-town gig as a four-piece band at Conspiracy Garden Cafe! Lesson learned but still not applied for the past few gigs: WAG NA KASI MAG-COMMUTE! (see related story at www.cafeantoniosessions.tumblr.com). JFTC performed three original songs, Fast Forward (download it for free on Facebook), Free Hearts (online release is on June 1), and Awoken.

* May 17 - Summer Coffee Workshop Day 3. For the first time, Ian and I taught the class with the aid of a PowerPoint presentation! And we had the espresso machine turned around facing the dining area so that the participants could see the demos better. That session was especially challenging because it rained and the humidity changed. You see, humidity is a factor in extracting espresso. It took Ian and I about four tries before getting the right grind for the espresso demo. The attendees for that class were Al Labadan, Chrys Pinol, and Kris Reyes.


* May 18 - CAnton LB Investors Meeting. For the first time this year, the investors of the Los Banos branch finally got together over dinner and catch up with this year's happenings at the cafe. More power to us!

* May 19 - Summer Coffee Workshop Day 4. The last day of the Summer Coffee Education series! Ian and I were more prepared and we already knew what to do...after three classes. The attendees for that class were Al Santillan, Clancy Read, and Ephraim Quinones.

The series of workshops encouraged us to focus more on educating our community about the complexity of preparing coffee and the joy of drinking coffee.

Coffee Culture in the Philippines and in Los Banos is just beginning. There are a lot of things to learn and we want to share and spread what we know about coffee in our immediate community. We believe that it is our duty to provide a venue where coffee can be experienced as an important part of our daily lives. We would like to thank our friends from Pinoy Barista for continually inspiring us to do well in our profession. More power to you guys! Let's continue to support and encourage each other.

* May 20 - Catering at Brent-IRRI. It's our second time to cater at Brent-IRRI, the first one was a year ago, during Jethro's 1st Birthday Party. My sister, Grace, invited the CAnton baristas to prepare kiddie drinks for their year-ender party. With me at the catering gig were baristas, Ian and Wats. Ian made the Special Edition Brent Milkshakes (with chocolate and strawberry ice cream!), I prepared the Granita Blush and the Blue Crush (the Blue Crush was their favorite), and Wats served the Red Velvet and Chocolate cupcakes that Ate Marisse baked. We all had fun serving the kids and watching them dance to hip versions of nursery rhymes. Who would have though that Bah-Bah Black Sheep had a rock version? Good times!


* May 21 - Sessions XXII featuring Gabes Torres and KomiKo. Starting this June, Cafe Antonio Sessions will be held just once a month just to make it  more special. The Gabes and KomiKo gig was cancelled last May 14 and was moved to the 21st due to an unexpected event in LB Square. So finally, the gig pushed through and it was a success! Thanks to our new friends, KomiKo, for coming all the way from Paranaque to play in Los Banos! (see related story at www.cafeantoniosessions.tumblr.com)


* Caio Cadiz and I just opened a mini-record store at the cafe. It has no name yet. He was on a roll last week and did some carpentry work for the CD display rack. We also went to SM Calamba to buy materials. Unfortunately,we didn't get anything from SM. Everything we needed was in LB. So much for the gas and and the 30-minute order at Mang Inasal. Hoho! The record store selection includes albums from: Yosha, Hemp Republic, Cooliedread and the Microphone Commanders, Mike's Apartment, Yield Avenue, and Gabes Torres. Text 0916-4550522 for advanced orders and reservations.

* May 28 - Sessions XXIII. This was a GV gig for all of us. Khat, LIME, and Yield Avenue put on a splendid show. Amazing indeed. We had friends who came all the way from Manila just to watch. It was a good feeling. And the old skool Sessions crowd were there bringing back memories of the Sessions back in 2010. Special shout out to Roy and Pipoy of UST and Cafe Antonio Dumaguete, Dada and Verna, Mako and Nestle, Grace, Herbert, and Jethro Osio, Mon and Jenni, RiKi, Butch and Doi, Caio and Jena Baril of ICs Bar, Kams and her friends, Maya's officemates, Sessionista breads, Mac Atienza Photography, Junipers, and welcome to Kit of Yield Avenue! One comment: Dharma, ang bigat mo talaga. GOOD TIMES!


THIS WEEK:
* It's June! Time for the new Flavor of the Month. June showcases the one and only Frajelli FoM of Cafe Antonio, the PBJ Frajelli. All the goodness of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a ice-blended drink. Sounds weird, I know, but it's tastes better than it sounds!


* June 3 - Hemp Republic featuring LIME and Segatron at IC's Bar.

THIS MONTH
June 8 - Catch us giveaway CAFFEINE TICKETS and free stuff to Freshmen during AlmOSAlan. Thanks for to the UPLB Photographers Society and Gelo Arboleda for the support!
June 20 - Coffee Cupping Workshop with Pinoy Barista, 2 pm. Admission is FREE!
OTHER NEWS
* Read my article, Cafe Antonio Sessions: Building Hometown Confidence in Los Banos, featured on the Indie Band News Webzine at www.indiebandnews.blogspot.com. Thanks to Sir Wizzy and my co-admins for the support!

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Kids Our Age Like to Search Their Souls

* It's been awhile since I've written an actual blog. One with actual words and thoughts in it. The summer heat has certainly caught up with us. The Heat have also defeated the Celtics and will take care of business in Chicago. Hehe.

* Here's this week's reflection nugget. We've been through a lot of stuff this May, it's a pretty darn challenging month. It's testy. That's funny because we're still midway May. Anyway, every now and then we have to review ourselves and our lives from where we're standing. It's another perspective. It's not the bird's-eye view perspective. I learned to focus on the immediate tasks at hand and take a break from long-term planning that sometimes borders on daydreaming to over preparing to losing sight of the real goal (thanks to my CAnton homies). Sometimes it is right for people to just knock your head and keep you in check. These persistent knocking will hurt and make you dizzy but think of it as "helpful concerned little knocks" that will help you wake up so that you can go back to doing your business. Raise the roof. Let's remember this and apply it in our daily lives. Just like Jergens Ultra Healing lotion. Thank you, friends. 



* Cafe News served in a demitasse! Last week, we hosted two Summer Coffee Workshops at the cafe. It was a very enjoyable experience both for the staff and the participants. Basically, our workshop talks about how to choose and prepare coffee at home and understanding the different espresso beverages served in coffee shops. Very practical indeed. In 3 hours, you'll be able to enjoy your "registration food" (worth 200 pesos, consumable) and taste a lot of coffee beverages! At the end of the class, you'll receive a Certificate of Participation. For last week's participants, your certificates are already available. Thank you! We have workshops this week, on Tuesday (May 17) and Thursday (May 19), 4 to 7 pm. You can register on the day itself! The workshop is open to all ages!



* Gigs yo! Juniper Face the Corner has a gig tomorrow at Conspiracy Garden Cafe at Quezon City, 8 pm. The band has just finished recording three original songs with Silver Alcabasa, vocalist of Segatron, at Dog House Studio under the Powered by Isaw record label, haha! Nice one! The gig last Saturday wasn't able to push through because of an unexpected event in LB Square. Hopefully we can have a peaceful and quiet gig on May 21, Cafe Antonio Sessions XXI featuring Gabes Torres and her band consisting of Ian Soliven of LIME, Banjo Inandan of Sweet Symphony, and Genesis de Guzman. See you all there!

* Thanks for supporting CAnton guys. Always pray for us! To God be the glory!


Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Know More About the World of Coffee This Summer!


Summer Coffee Workshop 2011

Dates: You can sign up for any of these dates - May 10, 12, 17, 19 

Time: 4 pm to 7pm 

Registration: To register, just order a meal consisting of a Frothiccino (mocha, white mocha, caramel, strawberry), a Pasta dish (Bolognese, Alfredo, Antonio), and a Waffle (any variant). Then choose a date and sign up at the counter. 

Workshop: There will be 3 hours worth of lectures, barista demos, and coffee-tasting. Our baristas and friends from Pinoy Barista will guide you through this educational experience. A Certificate of Participation will be awarded to all attendees of the workshop.

You can sign up starting this week. See you all there!