Coffee Unplugged November Tour

Friday, November 16

Weddings @ Work (W@W) Christmas Party and Supplier of the Year Awards Night 

@ The Blue Leaf, McKinley Hill, Taguig

We were very blessed to be invited by W@W to our very first out-of-town, large-scale coffee catering gig. We geared up for 350 guests composed of brides & grooms, wedding organizers, caterers, and photographers and videographers. Special thanks to my Pop for lending us the Innova for our transportation!

Our friend, Jason from UPLB, volunteered to help us in this gig--his second time since helping out at the Philippine Women's University a month ago. My sister, Grace, was the one responsible for referring us to W@W. She was part of this group several years ago before she and Kuya Herb got married.

Here's Jason and I with Chef Jeff (right). I taught them how to make pourover coffee using Hario V60s and Melitta manual drippers specifically for this gig. It was amazing seeing them brewing with the manual drippers while entertaining questions from the guests. Now they can brew coffee on their own back at the cafe! Special thanks to Jaycee Martinez for lending his Encore Baratza Grinder and coffee beans; Elena Tence for the coffee beans; and Craft Coffee Workshop for the Hario V60s and paper filters.

The Coffee Unplugged Team: Grace Flores-Osio (coordinator, waiter), Herbert Osio Jr. (grinder), Jason Obrero (barista), Jabez Flores (barista), Chef Jeff Aquino (barista).

With Abet Rana, co-founder of W@W. Special thanks to all the suppliers, photographers, and people we met at the booth, you're all awesome!

Saturday, November 18

Juju's Birthday Luncheon 

@ Cafe Antonio Coffee, Los Banos

This is my niece, Juju's, pre-birthday celebration with relatives from Kuya Mark's side of the family. Juju is now three years old.

Juju loves to dance. Here she is in her princess' gown with a king's hat!

Here's Juju's lolo, Tito Jun, together with the Jimenez family and Osio family.

Here's my sister, Joyce, together with Kuya Mark and silly Jujubee; she organized Juju's party.

Monday to Wednesday (November 19 to 21)

 SINoP Christmas Bazaar 

@ IRRI, Los Banos

We were very pleased to be part of SINoP's Christmas Bazaar this year together with several other local entrepreneurs and some food establishments. The proceeds of this event will go to local orphanages and the home for the aged.

Here's a shot of the bazaar's entrance. It was held at the IRRI Club, right beside the gym. We were stationed near the booth of Yellow Cab so we ate a lot of pizza for three days!

Here's Edu and Marisse entertaining some questions from the customers at the booth. For three days, we served coffee and pastries from 7 am to 6 pm.

The Coffee Unplugged Team: Marisse Bonita (coordinator, barista), Jabez Flores (barista), Lucio Alvarez (baby), Faye Hernandez-Alvarez (pastries), Jethro Osio (little boy), and Edu Foronda. We would like to thank Ria for inviting us to this event and to all the new friends we met at the Suhay booth, Yellow Cab, the security guards, and all the other exhibitors. And also to the ate who drinks coffee all day. :)

Thursday, November 22 

Congee & Coffee for a Cause - A Sacrificial Dinner for Avril Madrid 

@ Cafe Antonio Coffee, Los Banos

Just last week, we heard that our friend and orgmate from The Navigators, Avril Madrid, has a tumor in her brain that needs to be removed with a very delicate medical procedure. We immediately organized an event a few days after to help raise funds and pray for her family and husband, Val Madrid.

We sold special congee for one hundred pesos each. We gave 100% of the proceeds to Avril's family.

Here's the Cafe Antonio staff together with the Madrid family and friends from The Navigators. We closed early that day to give way for the event.

Here's Avril's dad and baby together with Val. Let's continue praying for Avril's healing and recovery. Here's an update from Val posted as of this writing:

"We just talked to our neurosurgeon for the family conference. Pls pray that we will have an unremarkable surgery tomorrow 10 am."