Sophomore Slump or A New Perspective?

* This week's gonna be slightly different for us. A little busy, I think. But anyway, I really can't forecast which week's going to be busy, routine, or laid back. Working at a cafe or any food service establishment brings surprises every time. As for today, I don't have work in San Pablo so I'll be filling in for Neil's barista duties. He said he has a field trip that he just can't miss. Good luck with that. But it's a good thing that he told me ahead of time.

* I really don't like being on duty on late notice. That's because for me, being a barista for a day needs a lot of psyching up before game time. Right now, although I'm a bit queasy from watching Gossip Girl all day yesterday (then realizing halfway that I've already watched Season 2 before, badtrip!), I can say that I'm pretty psyched up. I was up very early today, turned on the radio for my daily dose of Good Times at Magic, sipped Nesvita and coffee (mixed!), took a bath, made do lists and sub-do lists, then drove off to do, I mean, PERFORM errands. I like that PERFORM errands, haha! Blogging is an errand, a weekly Monday errand. Along with laundry, picking up groceries at Joyce's place, plus other stuff I do to make me look busy.

* I was forced to eat pancakes at McDonald's this morning. I needed the extra energy. It's part of the psyching up thing.

* Back to the main topic, we're busy this week because...

* I have this interview at 4 pm with a student. She's (are you a she?) doing a study about coffee shops in Elbi. Well, that's been a hot topic lately. Hehe. Suddenly everybody loves coffee; are we the new coffee capital?! Who knows, who knows...

* Then we have this OJT person who will be hanging out with us for a while. She'll be starting today. Just trying to help her out for her TESDA exam. Glad we can help. We hope your experience with us will be fruitful! Add us up on Facebook (www.facebook.com/cafeantonioelbi).

* Then on Friday, I'll be the one gone for the day so Neil will be taking over Showtime Friday this week. It's been quite some time now since Neil's taken over a Friday. I'll be attending this Go Negosyo event at the SM Mall of Asia. They've got a bunch of free seminars that looks interesting. It's an all-day event and I'm very excited. My friend Jenni Sumagui will be accompanying me to the event. Al Labadan was supposed to go with me but backed out, so sayang dude. Joyce has work so she can't come too. I hope we can get fresh insights from the event... yeah, certainly we will.

* Gigs... I'm still waiting for the go-signal from Meliora. I was asking them if they can do an acoustic gig at the cafe. And my band, actually it's just me and Bessy collectively known as The Bookshelf Cassette (because I used to store my cassette tape collection on a bookshelf), haven't practiced yet. Hey if you guys out there have any original material and/or play indie covers you can do a gig at the cafe. But no, we can't pay you, you'll be playing just for the heck of playing and letting others hear your stuff. The message: YOU HAVE A VENUE.

* Cafe news. Got a lot of customers last week, around 400 plus paying customers, we only count those who order food and/or drinks. So that's a lot for our cafe. Thanks to all of you! We really want to be the best in what we do. You've probably read my barista speeches on my blog, and you probably know by now that making coffee for us is rocket science. I'm glad that I've passed on the obsession for clean filter baskets to my baristas. We pull shots until we get it right. We don't care about the wasted coffee (apologies to our bosses in Dumaguete), it's not actually wasted, it's disposed because it's being tested for quality.

* I'm really happy that our espresso orders are picking up, take note, espresso only, who orders that right? It's really the heart of everything good. Bitter to some, but sometimes bitter is better. Thank you!!!

* Ahhh... the pressure to do good, and do even better the next time, it's the formula for breakdown. Are we having a sophomore slump? Uh, I don't think so. It's a new year, a new album, a different project, a new perspective (haha, PATD!). We'll see, it's hard to live up to the hype sometimes. Especially when you've gone full-throttle on your first year.

* I'm amazed that despite the obvious changes at the cafe, we still get new customers and maintain old ones. Special shout out to the Sherwin-Aldo-Candy trio, they've been with us since day one. Sometimes I think Sherwin is my boss, haha!

* So please pray for us and continue to support us. We're very happy that our hometown's here for us because we love Elbi right back.

I Tried to Do Handstands for You

* Well here we are once again, doing our respective jobs and stuck in the routine of life. Well most of you are on vacation right now but some of us aren't bound by national holidays. But routine is not that all bad. These moments of complacency, assurance of what would happen during the day, and repetitiveness are sometimes necessary, if not essential, in our lives. These lull moments will pass, then something insane will happen, be it a positive or negative form of insanity. Something totally unexpected or something anticipated and well-prepared for. We must bask in these moments and rest ourselves and find comfort in the arms of routine.

* One thing I realized after college is that students are among one of the luckiest people around. Why? Because they live in a routine. A life that is scheduled, planned out, and laid out for them. You know that this subject is on this time, you know when your midterms are, you can prepare yourself for a long weekend and stuff. Things like that. Although there are some elements of unpredictability, like a pop quiz or a typhoon, or an unplanned failed exam, you have to admit that the life of a student is structured in the structurest way of a structure!

* When you wake up after your graduation you'll realize that you are no longer bound by some school's requirements. Unless you found work early and you have to go to the office at once. In my case, I didn't have work for a year. I did the classic PMA (pahinga muna anak) way after grad. Typical soul-searching and stuff. I strongly recommend that to anyone who is reading this that would be grauating this year. Unless your parents are pressuring you or you want to earn money immediately. But being a bum really detoxifies your inner-being. haha! Yeah it does. It gives you time to think of what you really want to do and totally prepare for it.

* And now here I am, after two years, still in a routine, but it's a routine that I made for myself. No one's asking me to blog or maintain several social networking accounts. Our bosses in Dumaguete didn't tell me to do that (yes, this is a full-time labor of love). But I want to. At least the pressure comes from myself. I'm writing this blog because I want aspiring young entreps to know what goes on in the heart and mind of a 23-year old full-time cafe owner in a little town called Los Banos. Yeah, these are just random thoughts indeed.

* A friend of mine saw our new paper cups and told me, "now you're like Starbucks!" Uh, yeah, somehow. I wasn't really offended, I don't want to be a hypocrite, our crew hangs out at Starbucks when we can, but from the start of the business we didn't really want to be like Starbucks. Maybe in terms of brand recognition in the Los Banos (UPLB) and Dumaguete (Silliman) areas, yes we do want to be known for our good coffee. But in terms of the overall image, we decided to stray away from the quiet-couch-WiFi crowd. Instead, we welcomed the noise from a thousand youths and played genres from techno to RnB to metal (right now we're alternating indie singer-songwriters and post-grunge playlists).

* I have something planned out for the cafe this year. As you have noticed we have mellowed down on the posters, videos, promos and stuff. But no, we did not slack off. We're just coming up with something different, something new. I won't tell you what it is yet, I don't want to spoil it! It's still in the drawing board. The question will always be (at least for me), "What does it take to be different? What will set us apart?" Oh, I'm loving the dynamism of this job. After a few years I hope we can get good at this.

* I view my life like that of a musician or a novelist. You spend a lot of time under -the -radar, reflecting on what to do, what to write, what new material to create and all that stuff. People won't hear from you and they'll think you're dead. And then you come out of nowhere and come up with a mega project that's totally cool. Yeah, that's the kind of life I like.

* Like what my friend Aaron Zara told me last night, "I like your life, it's like everyday's an adventure." Yes it is, and thanks for reminding me cause sometimes I tend to lose sight of it. God bless everybody!

Weeds was Entitled Weeds Not Just Because of the Weed

Photo: Our new 12 oz paper cups, yeah!

[Soundtrack: Final Straw - Snow Patrol]

I was about to start this week's blog entry with the word "last" but noticed that I started a bunch of my blog entries with the words "last week". And that's why I started with this notice. Can I use the word "last" now? I think I will...

Last year, we devoted much of our time doing PR work online, making ads (posters and videos), and the works. This year I thought that we'll concentrate more on training our baristas and strengthening ties with our newfound industry friends. More on the technical side this year. I think we've done enough work introducing ourselves to the world (for now) last year. We're happy that as of this entry we already have 1014 friends on Facebook. We may not know them all (some of them I just added on Suggested Friends, some of them invited us) but I'm glad that you guys are part of what's going on in our lives as baristas and young entrepreneurs.

I was deleting emails from our inbox last night and I was surprised to see that we actually receive fan mail! Wow, I can't believe I've been ignoring those because all I see are the words Facebook and Multiply in our inbox. To those people who've been mailing us, thanks for the encouraging words! I hope the advice I'd given you would help you in your own future endeavors. We're not industry experts but we're glad to share our experiences with you. Here's one email:

Subject: Inspired By You
From: Niña Luigi Chua-Cabardo

Hi Joyce and Jabez,

I stumbled upon your cafe in Entrepreneur magazine and I have been thinking about your endeavor ever since. It has truly inspired me to take action on a long-time dream, which is to put up my own cafe. And you guys are so young, too! Congratulations on your success! If you have any tips on how to get started on this (which do I do first?!), please do let me know!

Hope to visit Los Baños one of these days so I can try your concoctions ;) Thanks and more blessings to you!

Inspiring people to actually pursue their dream gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling inside. Whenever I feel I haven't done anything significant, here are some things that really gets me going and also inspire me to do better. I actually already made a sorta template reply for people asking for advice on setting up their own shop. Just a list of some things that I learned from Phil and Cedric Ho at Highlander Coffee Academy and other people I've talked to.

One thing I've learned from those guys is that you don't have to monopolize the industry. It's great that there are many small shops coexisting in one place. It offers variety, hosts different types of people, and also puts less pressure on you to actually accommodate everyone on the planet.

I've been really really busy last week. I have this 8am to 2pm secretarial job for my father at TOPIC Phils. every Monday to Wednesday. I think it's been three weeks now. I drive to San Pablo then back to Los Banos in the afternoon to setup the cafe at 3pm. We open at 4pm then I hangout for awhile then go home to prepare for another day. I still work at the cafe during Thursdays to Saturdays. Oh the things people do to get by.

Last Saturday morning was really very tiring. We were supposed to pickup the paper cups at Cubao at 9am. But then we were bitten by the "lakas trippings" bug. We decided that we take Ramhil home to Tanauan, Batangas after work then head straight to Cubao. We brought our former barista Bessy along too.

So after work we went straight to Tanauan and had "dinner" at Jollibee. Then went to Cubao. Realizing that our meet-up place was still closed, we went to Ortigas to look for a place to chill. We were looking for a Starbucks but unfortunately we got lost. The place really looks different without the light of day. We stopped at a Chowking but there was no CR. So we went to McDo instead, had our pancakes and coffee and stayed their until 7 to 7:30am. Talking about life and all that comedy-drama stuff.

We went back to Cubao at the Navigators building. I toured Manong and Bessy around and then we fell asleep on the couch. Thanks to Noynoy for accommodating us! Then the Primatech people came, did the transaction, and then we're off again. The traffic was horribly amazing, it was freakin' hot inside the multicab, with all the boxes containing the 5000 paper cups inside it. It was hell on earth, the multicab's fans were blowing out demons with pitchforks on our faces. The Creedence Clearwater Revival album I was listening to repeated 3 times and we were still in the same place! We got home at 12:30pm. Then Manong and I overslept, we woke up at 3pm instead of the usual 2pm. We were late. But when we got to the cafe, I decided to take my time and just chill, not worry about anything or panic. I opened the cafe alone at 4pm, customers went in but it was all cool. Iba lang talaga pag laseng sa puyat.

[Soundtrack: Futures - Jimmy Eat World]

After closing that day we went straight to Tagaytay to have bulalo on Dan's birthday. Happy 22nd bday dude! Then we stopped at Petron, SLEX on the way home to have breakfast and coffee. As expected, I woke up at 5pm the next day. I finished season 1 of Weeds. Actually the series inspired me to write today. I don't know why but the inspiration that a comedy-drama series can give me is often unparalleled. Props to My Boys season 1 for inspiring me for our first year at the cafe. Trust me, I learned a lot of things from that series.

Am I stressed? I don't think so, doing nothing stresses me more. I think we will all have cancer in the future anyway. So do what you have to do right now. Very bad advice for those who want to save money. Don't listen to me for financial advice. I don't like money and math.

AND as for this week, we hope that a lot of you would be taking out our hot coffee. The coffee cups really look good (see the picture above). Nice work by the Primatech people (not the Heroes Primatech people, ok? hehe).

Well thanks for reading these things that's been going on in my head. A lot of people won't care but some people just have to do this. They just have to blog. It feels really good.

Okay, I'll see you all at the cafe. I have some errands to do. Earlier this morning I hung out with my tito Ed Cvelich, a long-time family friend. We talked about a lot of stuff and had coffee at the cafe. Yeah, I opened it for him (because Ate Mila was cleaning anyway). He bought a t-shirt and I gave him a bag of beans to take home to the States. Hope you read this Tito Ed!

God bless us all!

May caffeine be the only drug you take.

The Search for the Ultimate Soundtrip Experience

I remember our first set of speakers when we opened the cafe last year. It was a pair of desktop speakers with a left side mini-component speaker I salvaged from my room during my college days semi-plugged in to the desktop PC's headphone thingy, socket-plug-chorva. Ano ba tawag dun?! Anyway, it was the same set of speakers that I used in my room back in college. When the cafe was still under construction, I would come at night when the workers have gone home then test my speakers at the site. I told myself, "ayos na soundtrip to, ok naman pale e."

Then of course, taste and preference evolve over time. When our former cook, Dan, arrived he let us use his grandpa speakers with a mini subwoofer. It was a little better than mine. Dan argued that mine lacked the bass that his set can offer. I can't argue with that because it's true. So we used that pair for a long, wait, loooooong time.

But during the course of the year, I finally got irritated when one of the speakers lost its sound and the jack connecting the speakers to the laptop got busted. I got an iPod Nano for Christmas and the speakers kept on draining it before the day ended. We needed a solution, fast. I can't work without music.

When I went to Singapore for my barista training the following year, I purchased a JBL On Stage Micro Portable for my iPod and the cafe. I was wandering around this electronics shop and docked my iPod on every speaker I saw. The On Stage really blew me away, it was really small but the sound was very very good, it was excellent, in fact. When I got back, the VERY FIRST thing I did was showoff my speaker and test it at the cafe. I played L-O-V-E by Nat King Cole. Wow, it was so swabe pare!

I kept on raving about the JBL speaker, telling everyone that it's so good and it even chargers your iPod, and all that stuff. Salesman talk. But as usual, it came to a point that groovin' with the On Stage got old. I even got sad when the cafe noise drowns out the music.

Music is my life, you can read it at our high school yearbook. It's a personal truth. I'm not a gamer, I'm not athletic (at least not anymore), I don't drink, I don't go out much, I don't even watch TV anymore. But what I do aside from making coffee is listen to music, read music mags, write and record songs, and play my instruments. That's what I do in my room. I'm always in search for the ultimate soundtrip experience.

Okay so we bought this Ozaki Woofer of Woofers set at ATC yesterday. But there's a good story behind that purchase. Please allow me to blog about it (haha!). So here it goes...

I was on my way to Lady Gaga's concert, and I was trying out my SkullCandy Hesh on Lady Gaga's album, The Fame, on the way to Araneta. I like the way it drowns out the noise then you hear absolutely nothing from the outside world. When we got to the concert, I already had an excess amount of Gaga and I remembered the Walkman days when I used to listen to music album by album. It was during those days that you form a strong bond with an artist and an album. Anyway, it was a perfect jam. I thought that since we have a cafe, I have the perfect venue for people to listen to music and I hope that they too would have a good jam the way I did.

On the way home, Joyce played this really kick-ass playlist on her iTouch. I was reeeally, enthralled (wow, first time I used that word on this blog) by the sequence and selection of songs that includes Tonic classics, Dishwalla, Swirl 360, a new OLP song, 90s post-grunge classics, early 2000 alternative hits, and the works. I have to admit that I had a perfect soundtrip on the way home. Na-high ako (ask Bessy how that feels). Then I thought, "Ang ganda sana magpatugtog ng mga ganyan kung maganda ang mga speakers sa cafe, yung hindi nalulunod yung music, tamang chillax lang, waaah pano kaya..."

Then last week, Manong, Jeg, Bessy, and I hanged out at our "happy place", the Starbucks at Petron, SLEX. As I listened to their soft music playing from their superior Bose speakers, I told the guys, "Tingnan nyo, ang sarap makining ng music pag ganito e! Kahit gano na karami ang tao, rinig mo parin yung tumutugtog!"

Of course, I didn't have the money to buy the superior power of a Bose, so I had to settle my soul for something else. I remembered we saw this 6-piece Edifier speaker set at ATC when we watched GI JOE. I told Retz that we had to buy that, we just HAD TO. I really can't stand seeing my little JBL speaker huffing and puffing from the corner trying its best to sing the music that I like.

When we finally got the chance to come back to ATC I went straight to the speaker section and told the "kuya" stationed over there to test the speakers. Then we found out that that kind of speaker doesn't work with an iPod or a laptop. It needed a desktop PC and a kick-ass sound card to make it all work. Shattered dreams.

But the kind "kuya" showed us their other speakers. All in all we tested 5 sets. It was very crucial, I think we spent about an hour listening to the quality of the speakers. We tried different genres of songs on each. Then when the choices went down to the final two, the 2-piece Edifier speaker and the Ozaki Woofer of Woofers, I had to play and test a single song on the two sets to judge the sound quality. I decided that whichever played the BEST version of Crack the Shutters by Snow Patrol would get the final nod. Hands down, the Ozaki won. Plus the "treble" feature beat out the FM radio feature of the Edifier.

It didn't matter how hot it was inside the multicab and how tired and wasted we were from watching Hellboy 2 and Resident Evil: Regeneration prior to our trip to ATC, we went straight to the cafe to test the speakers. Retz and I spent an eternity looking for a connector that would extend the speakers' cables so we could place it on strategic areas. We didn't find any that day. But thanks to Julius and the Eusebio Electronics Shop, we got a pair today. Thank you!

Retz went all OC on trying to find the perfect angles for the speakers. The final test was a good Boom Boom Pow by the Black Eyed Peas. And yeah, it was groovin'! Finally.

Well I never thought telling a story about buying a set of speakers would be this long. But that's how it went.

As you can see, Cafe Antonio is not just a story about coffee, it's also a story about the experiences of the people inside it and how everything falls into place. And now you know how those speakers got pumping at Canton.

One last thing, ang galeng mo pare kung natapos mo tong basahin! haha! God bless! Thanks for the support!

CAFE STUFF!!!

* Blueberry muffins and Apple Cinnamon muffins are available again at the cafe. Now only 15 pesos.

It's Getting Better All the Time

* Last week, our Cafe Antonio baristas, Neil, Ramhil and myself, along with our friend Al Labadan II, went to the World Food Expo 2009 at the World Trade Center to watch the student-level barista competition. We also bought some coffee and tasted the free espressos at the booths. It was a good experience for all of us. I really wanted to show my baristas different kinds of espresso machines, taste different espressos, and watch pro and amateur baristas at work. It's all part of their training as baristas atthe cafe. And the WOFEX fieldtrip really got us inspired to work even harder and perfect our craft. We also met some coffee people who gave us their calling cards. I hope to get in touch with them soon. Special shoutout to Wilma Serrano and the Equilibrium guys, thanks for the tickets and thanks for your support!

* Before the WOFEX trip, we really didn't know what to do because with the baristas gone, no one will work at the cafe, and it's a Friday, our best day of the week. We didn't want to close for the sake of the trip. It's a good thing, our former barista, Bessy (probably the most serious student/trainee I ever had) was available for Friday. She doesn't work at the cafe anymore, but still she agreed to fill our shoes on that day, even though it's her birthday week. We really appreciated your help! Bessy, Joyceann, and Manong were able to serve 97 customers that day generating 9,000 pesos in gross sales. That's our highest Friday sales this year! We're really glad that everything worked out just fine. We had our trip and still we were able to open the cafe with the help of our volunteers.

* Again and again, we would like to say thank you very much to our customers, both new and die-hard fans. We're very happy to say that each week keeps surpassing the previous week's performance. And because of your support we were able to print the 16 oz plastic cups we are using now. Our 12 oz hot paper cups are coming soon, and they have printed Cafe Antonio cardboard sleeves, thanks to Primatech Paper Soulutions. Slowly but surely we are trying to improve our products for you guys. Our barista training is in "adik-mode", we would like to serve perfect shots of espresso every time and make coffee art every time we pour milk into your cappuccino or latte. The best is yet to come, thank you very much! We're looking forward to a better week. God bless us all and continue praying for our young crew!

It's a Brand New Month, Let the Games Begin!

* Last week was simply terrific. Highest weekly gross sales and highest total number of customers since anniversary week! Friday was showtime at its finest. Even Ramhil got exhausted from making sandwiches and pasta. That was quite a challenge! Now we can pay the bills and still have enough for a week's worth of gas, hehe. Our hats off to the happy community of Los Banos. Thanks, thanks, and thanks! Bongga ka day!

* New FoM for August! The CHOCNUT FROTHICCINO! Actually it's not really new, it was last year's August FoM too. For some of you it's new. In this drink you get to enjoy 4 pieces of Chocnut in three different ways. Two are blended with the drink, giving the drink its Choc-nutty taste (plus other magical stuff and pixie dust of course), one is chopped into chunks and stirred, and the last one is diced and sprinkled on top of the whipped cream! Definitely a treat for those who love Chocnut. Order one this week, it's certainly a classic! Plus, it's also one of the cheapest and easiest FoM's to make. Unlike the assembly line effort put into last month's Blueberry Cheesecake Blended Cream.

* NEW MERCH!!! Available at http://www.cafeantoniostore.multiply.com. The new t-shirt features the Cafe Antonio Coffee logo with the word "Los Banos" at the bottom. Classic gold and black color combo. We will only produce 10 this week. If we run out of stocks just request your order. Only 250 pesos each.

As for the mugs, we have two new designs from Azzul Grapika. One is the Cafe Antonio Elbi - Laguna map-themed paint splatter mug, and the other one is the Neil Rebua Cafe Antonio Elbi Barista Fan Mug. Only 5 mugs per design are available this week. Php 200 each.

* Our paper cups are on its way this August! Our hot coffee will finally be available in 12oz cups when you order it to-go! Thanks to Primatech Paper Solutions for making it all possible for us.

* See you at the cafe! God bless us all!

Towards the End of an Amazing Month of July

(L-R): Our Navigator friends from the US, Matthew Robert Rowe, Drew Lukes, and Trent Hannack, with my main man Glenn "Glen Dawg" Barria, each brought home a piece of Cafe Antonio Coffee. Thanks guys, we will see you on Facebook! (http://facebook.com/cafeantonioelbi). God bless you guys on your student ministry!

* After a few blog entries, July's finally coming to an end. It's already August on Saturday. July has always been a defining month for us. It's the time of year that Joyce and I turn a year older. And now we're 23, I wonder what would happen at this time of our lives? More challenges, definitely, of course that's always a given. But we pray that there would be more blessings ahead for us and the cafe that we love so much.

* Last week I realized that there's so much work to be done. Although the cafe performed very well last week in terms of sales (it's been the highest since May). And we thank God and our very loyal customers for that. We also thank our new customers for trying us out, we've been seeing a lot of new faces lately. I hope you guys would come back and bring your friends. Anyway, I'm still trying to work out some things to improve our products. We'll be telling you what those things are when we've done them already. We wouldn't want to disappoint you. Just pray that everything will work out well for us. As always (thankfully!), our bag of tricks is always full. Just be patient!

* The month gave me a lot of time to think. There was a time I was sad, feeling down and out, feeling empty and unproductive. There was also a time when I was just plain happy about what I'm doing. I really am happy to be your barista every Friday (showtime!) and Saturday. Talking to people making sure they get what they want, like the time when I talked to our customers, Terry and Duncan, about their affogato and stuff. The time when Ise taught me how to make the white chocolate iced americano. Ramhil and I drink 2 glasses of those almost everyday. There were also moments when everything felt like a hassle to me, sometimes I just don't want to think stuff over. And there were also moments when I had to get my old, crusty, Brent notebook and scribble things down to assure me that I have done something productive. It's just crazy. But I'm thankful.

* On August we will be releasing our new batch of shirts and mugs designed by Azzul Grapika. Check it out at the cafe or visit http://www.cafeantoniostore.multiply.com

* The month of August will also be featuring its FoM (Flavor of the Month): the ChocNut Frothiccino. It's a blended espresso beverage that tastes exactly like the classic Pinoy chocolate treat. It also has ChocNut chunks on top of the whipped cream. So watch our for it!

* That's it for now, please add us up at Facebook, Multiply, MySpace, Friendster, and Twitter. God bless us all!

We Got Older But We're Still Young!

Snippets of Last Week's Activities & Festivities

* Joyce just turned 23 last Saturday, which is amazing because we were just 21 years old (we were turning 22 that year) when we started the cafe at Elbi. Oh how time flies... Congrats and God bless Joyce!



* We would like to say thank you and goodbye to our new friends Lindsey Powell and Alissa Goodding -- the Cafe White Mocha Girls -- of the Navigators. They've been our loyal customers during their stay here in the Philippines. Almost everyday, they will arrive very early, several minutes before opening time, and then they'd have coffee at our shop at most two times a day! We would see them having Bible Study in the afternoon with UPLB students and spending time with the UPLB Navigators in the evening. The night before they left, we gave them a bag of Houseblend Coffee Beans, a PBJ poster, and a coffee mug. Says Alissa, " Your coffee is so far the best I ever tasted!" Well thanks guys! "Best" is such a big word, but wow, thanks for your opinion! We will miss you and we will always remember you and the support you have given the cafe. May God bless you and your student ministry with the Navs!




* We had a storm last week. The wind was very strong and it was raining hard. I woke up early one morning (Thursday, I think) and thought that we may have to close for the day if the rain would continue to pour that hard. It subsided and somehow, some sort of miracle just happened, the cafe was full the whole day. Hot coffee was served like water. It was great practice for latte art for Ramhil and I. Elbinizens, you guys are the bomb! Nakakaantok na nga, hassle pa lumabas, sarap matulog o mag Facebook, pero pumunta parin kayo sa Canton, adik! Galeng! We praise God for these blessings that we receive.



* Ise, our barista friend from Starbucks, taught me how to make an Iced White Chocolate Americano last Saturday. She told me a customer of theirs taught her how to do that. I thought that was very cool. So from now on I'll have an alternative to my daily dose of Double Americano. Thanks Ise!

* This has got nothing to do with the cafe but I would just like to share, hehe. Our graphic artist, Jeg, told me about a teriyaki recipe that involves breaded porkchop. I think that's just plain genius. I really appreciated my time talking about recipes and food with Jeg, can't wait to cook with him and try out his recipes.

* I just grew fond at the concept of people teaching me how to do things again, especially when it involves food and drinks. AND advertising. Thanks to Sherwin again for stimulating my mind again and challenging us to do more stuff for the cafe. Very healthy because being dull, stagnant, and complacent kills me.

* We have a new housekeeper at the cafe! Well, she's not exactly new, she was supposed to be our first one but she's back after 3 housekeepers left. Welcome back Ate Mila! I hope you would stay longer than the others. Cleaning in the morning and working at night is just plain wrong, it doesn't get any "wronger-rer" than that. I mean, you don't get to sleep anymore, you rest in between packets of time. The concept of morning, noon, and nigttime no longer exists. You wake up on the same day 3 times, weird weird weird. Anyway, I'm glad that's over. Moving on!

* The week looks very promising, we just paid our rent and we're ready for another six rounds of cafe life. Some people just enjoy doing the things they do, even if the pay's not that good, or now matter how repetitive things get, sometimes things just have to get done. We have come to accept that and it's very comforting to think that we have a role, no matter how small or big it is, in the lives of many. I love being a barista, it's my life and it will continue to be my passion. With that, we assure you guys that every drink we serve is a reflection of what we stand for, what we believe in, and what we love to do! Yeah!

* Be a Follower! Follow us on Twitter and read my live tweets everyday from 4 pm to 1 am. http://www.twitter.com/cafeantonioelbi

Some News and Notes

* For those of you who have been following us on Twitter for the past few weeks, you know what's been happening. If you're not yet a follower just create an account, it's very easy; you can also follow us on your mobile phone. http://www.twitter.com/cafeantonioelbi.

* July's feels really weird. We had the multicab accident, the pathetic bday dinner with Manong and Arnel, the showtime Fridays (3 weeks in a row!), the a(h1n1), the NBA transactions, Neil Rebua quotes from Zadl, Twitter, Opera Mini, Mobile Facebook, the July rain, cooking lunch and dinner at home while listening to a radio station you don't know (like a mom does), etc. Yes, I don't get the picture, really. It's like being sticky and dry at the same time. Stress, routine, redundancy, unpredictability, hassle-bility. Life in a nutshell.

* The Facebook Quiz that I posted yesterday has already been answered by 20 people. Just claim your prize at the cafe this week. Your prize is the result of the quiz, so it's either a choco chip cookie, oatmeal raisin cookie, a Bibingkinitan (http://www.bibingkinitan.com), a cinnamon roll, or a Blue Crush. Your prize is no longer valid next week.

* There will be another Facebook Quiz next week. It involves something called 1000 pesos. So be prepared and start reading the blogs in any Cafe Antonio website, especially Blogger (http://cafeantonioelbi.blogspot.com).

* Our FoM for July doesn't have coffee in it. It's the first and only FoM that isn't espresso-based. The drink is really difficult to make and I'm really proud of it because it doesn't have any blueberry syrup or sauce (except for the blueberry preserves) in it as a base but it still tastes like blueberry. It's still available, order it today!

* Thanks to all our customers, we have lots of new ones last week. It seems like every new person that comes in adds us up on Facebook. We have friend requests everyday. Kudos to hardcore followers on Twitter too.

* Signage lights are okay. At last we have lights, it has been dark up there for the past few weeks. It's really swell to see that yellow glow once again from across the street.

* We have never really formally introduced and welcomed our new cook, Joyceann Damian. Like Joyce, she's been my batchmate since elementary at MSMSI. Actually she sat in front of me back in Grade 5. She's replaced Bessy Espina, our junior barista/cook, who has been concentrating on her studies since she'll be graduating this semester. Thanks for the good times Bessy and welcome to the crew Joyceann!

* Given that, I have taken barista duty on Fridays and Saturdays, showtime days. Neil and Ramhil have been alternating as cook and barista.

* Well that's about it, it's already 11 am, I still have to deliver my laundry at Orange. Got up early, I was supposed to sell the Kia Carnival this morning. But it was moved this afternoon, no worries.

* Okay, see you this week! God bless!

What a Birthday Week!

July 1 - Dinner with friends (Mon, Jenni, Joyceann, Chino, Fidel, Paolo G., and JD) at Faustina's soft opening. Great food, you should visit it! Thanks Caio!

Happy Bday Jabez 2009
July 2 - My 23rd birthday! (click the link to watch the video)


July 4 - Accident at Tayuman with Manong, Zadl, Joyceann, and Yell. Got home at noon, went to work at 3pm. Hardcore!


July 5 - Birthday dinner with family and Manong & Zadl at Faustina's. Thanks again!

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CAFE STUFF

FoM for July - Blueberry Cheesecake Blended Cream (Php 140)

Answer our Facebook Quiz and get a chance to win a free pasta, frothiccino, and tuna melt! Visit http://www.facebook.com/cafeantonioelbi

http://apps.facebook.com/quizdoyouknowme/take_quiz.jsp?q=15043407&key=8EYW

Still Available - Bibingkinitan Freshly Baked Mini Bibingkas (Php 25 each/Php 150 per box)

"WE SATiSFi WITH NO WiFi" shirts are no longer available. Watch out for new shirts on August! (http://www.cafeantoniostore.multiply.com)