Cafe Antonio ELBI's Best of 2009

I thought it would be fun to list down the best (and the worst) moments that we had this year. Thanks to Time Magazine for the inspiration.

TOP 10 BEST MOMENTS

1.ABS-CBN, Bandila Shooting with Sherwin Felicidario (November)

- Even though we didn't get the chance to see ourselves and the cafe on the tube, we all had a wonderful time while Sherwin of CDC was being interviewed for the "Boto Mo I-Patrol Mo" segment. I picked this as the best moment because it all got us hyped even though the segment wasn't about the cafe. Talk about hype-hangover! The TV crew even filmed us for a few "filler" scenes. Well that was a 2009 moment we would certainly remember!

2. First Year Anniversary 15K Gross Sales (April)

- This was the first time we opened at lunchtime and we had two shifts for the day. The crowd was amazing and we were all overwhelmed and thankful for how our customers supported us on the celebration of our first year.

3. Code Red Magazine Review (April)

- I got a text message from my friend, Zadl Suministrado, telling me that his friend read about the cafe in a magazine. The article was written by Myke Celis, and he did a very good review of our cafe. What's amazing is we don't even know him. Thank you sir!

4. Addition of Barista, Ramhil Malabanan (March)

- Kuya Ramhil is certainly a blessing to our crew. A hard-worker, this guy has improved a lot since we first started training. He was part of my first batch of baristas that I formally trained.

5. World Food Expo (August)

- I went there with my baristas, Neil Rebua and Kuya Ramhil, and our friend Al Labadan II. We came to the event to observe other baristas at work and to watch the Barista Competition. That was our crew's first exposure in a food industry-related event.

6. Facebook Boom! (June-July)

- We only had 7 friends on Facebook before. The in-thing back then was Multiply. Thanks to Facebook for the strong network of friends and fans that we made along the way!

7. Rural Walwal (December)

- Thanks to this event, we reconnected with our fellow alumni. The cafe made a good rallying point for all the Rural people. We're glad that we could band together and give our retiring teachers the recognition they deserve!

8. Go Negosyo: Sigaw ng Kabataan Youth Convention/Blog Entry Printed on Major Newspapers

- This was a victory for this blogsite. It was the first cafe blog entry to be ever printed on a newspaper (Joey Concepcion's column on the Philippine Star). A line from the blog was even used by Go Negosyo in their ads in the Philippine Star and the Philippine Daily Inquirer. An accomplishment indeed!

9. Young Entrepreneurs' Convention at UP Diliman (UP Circle of Entrepreneurs)

- I was invited by my friend, Mark Race, to speak at this event. Deo Cajano, Dan Sta. Romana, and my Pop came along and watched as I spoke to a very young audience about the joys and challenges of being a young entrepreneur.

10. Cafe Staff Zambales Road Trip

- Pure fun. We all had a great time as we drove along the city of Olangapo not knowing what to do. But we did spend the afternoon at the beach. Thanks to Jeg's supreme knowledge of the place.

NOTABLES:

* Jabez's Singapore Barista Training Part 2 (March)

* Jabez's Dumaguete Meeting at the Main Branch (October)

* SLEX & Starbucks adventures with crew and friends

* The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus Mall Tour with crew and friends (March)

TOP 5 BEST NEW STUFF

1. The Orange Multicab (a real blessing indeed!)

2. Paper Cups from Primatech Paper Solutions

3. Frappe Glasses from Cafe Antonio, Dumaguete

4. Ozaki Woofer of Woofer Speakers (JBL Speakers also)

5. Steaming Thermometer from Starbucks

Deceased: Bodum 12oz French Press (you did well, my friend)

TOP 3 WORST DISASTERS

1. Leaking Ceiling (January)

2. Multicab Accident at Tayuman (July)

3. Typhoons Ondoy (September) and Santi (October)

Best Drink of the Year - WHITE MOCHA FROTHICCINO

Best Non Coffee-Based Drink of the Year - BLUE CRUSH
Best FoM of the Year - S'MORES FROTHICCINO

Most Played Song of the Year - Trouble is a Friend by Lenka (when iPod is shuffled)

That's it! Hope you enjoyed our Best of 2009 list. You all have been a part of this! Let's make a better one next year! Happy New Year and God Bless You All!

See You Next Decade!

We had a great 2009, see you on January 4, 2010! We will be closed on January 9 (Saturday) for the Ne-yo concert.

We Owe Our Mentors A Million

For the past few days, my friends and I have been busy promoting a fund-raising activity for our alma mater, the UP Rural High School.

Yesterday, we went to Rural to shoot videos of our teachers to help promote the event. We thought it would simply be a "shoot-and-run" thing but we were held back by the things we found out as we sat down and talked with our few remaining teachers who stayed at Rural.

Our beloved teachers are retiring. And one of them is sick and badly needs help. It comes to a point where one feels compelled to do something special for these people who (we really have to admit) have built and honed us in our four years of transitioning from our days as little kids in elementary to our bad-ass ways in college.

We have given so much attention to our batch and to our school, and usually forget the teachers who really are the foundation of the school. They haven't been given enough kudos, we have to admit. Usually, we really feel good about ourselves, be proud of our school, and make fun of our teachers. But who are we without these people? They're the ones who have pushed us, pressured us, agitated us, inspired us, and challenged us to be the best students that we can be.

While we were talking with Ma'am Sofia Palacpac, I saw her carrying a book about writing and I don't know why that moment struck me so much. I thought, "all those years...they spent their lives teaching bratty kids like us...all those years...ang tiyaga talaga." I actually felt bad about myself. It reminded me of a situation when parents invested so much time and money for their children's education and when the kids have learned so much they become mayabang, independent, and mostly forgetting about what their parents did for them. Well, parents are somehow just like our teachers because they have spent their lives teaching us. As for teachers, they spend their lives teaching different kids.

I hugged my teachers after shooting the videos, it was the least I could do at that moment. I haven't got the chance to do that when I was in high school. But now, I know we could do more.

Let's honor our teachers on December 19, especially those who are retiring, Ma'am Dimaandal, Ma'am Palacpac, and Ma'am Uri.

After all, having taught Ruralites for most of their lives is truly a heroic feat.

Blog Celebrates 10,000 Views

Teachers' Day Update

 

* Jomar just finished his Teachers' Day duty just a few minutes ago. He was wrapping things up and waiting his last table before I went to Koinonia to blog. Well, he had a decent 2 hours, not as spectacular as last year, but still good.

 

* This year's Teachers' Day superstar was Mahalia Serrano aka Majals. She was scheduled for this Friday and not last Friday. But she told me she already told her students to come. That mistake turned out to be a good thing for us since that day gave us 10,000 bucks gross sales. That was just awesome. I was tired as hell! But the opportunity to serve and make drinks for 95 paying customers is simply unbeatable. We would like to thank everybody who came last week.

 

Blog Celebrates 10,000 Views

 

* Last week, our blog site reached 10,000 page views. So 10K was our lucky number last week. I couldn't believe that people actually read our blog. Thanks to all our readers. I hope you guys get something out of our blog. If you're far away, we're always here to update you about what's going on in the cafe and in our beloved town of ELBI.

 

Promo Cards

 

* We have two new promo cards. First, we have our Loyalty Card. Last year we also had a similar promo. But that one gave you a Loyalty Mug which some of you are still using. This time you get a uniquely-shaped card (the shape of a Frothiccino, which is a hassle to cut out) that will give you a free 16 ounce tumbler and one espresso-based drink if you complete 20 signatures. The promo's until February 2010, so you'll have lots of time to complete it.

 

* The second card is the Maximum Tambay Card. Now this card is for our hardcore customers. I recommend that mega-barkadas and orgs would use this. For every group order of 1000 pesos you get 1 signature. You need 20 signatures to get 100 pesos off on every group order worth 500 pesos after completing the card. It's okay, you have a year to complete it and use it. The card's valid until December 2010.

 

* You can avail of these cards at the counter.

 

Rural Walwal

 

* Calling all Ruralites (lahat ng batches)! We will be having an after-party on December 19 (8 PM, Saturday) at Java Avenue. The event is called Rural Walwal: An Exclusive UPRHS Alumni Mega Party. Tickets are available starting tomorrow (Dec. 8) at Cafe Antonio. Tickets are sold for only 250 pesos each (inclusive of raffle ticket, food & drinks, and entrance fee) this week. Next week, tickets will be available for 300 pesos each. So better buy a ticket as early as possible. See you all there! Please contact Deo Cajano for more details: 0916-5758034 or visit http://ruralwalwal.tk

Loyalty Cards & Teachers' Day II

* Tomorrow's the first day of December and we have some treats for you for the last 3 weeks of the year.

* Like last year, we will be giving away LOYALTY CARDS. Remember our Ako'ng Cafe Antonio Loyalty Mug (Wednesday, November 19, 2008)? This time we will be giving away a free tumbler and a free drink when you complete 20 signatures on the card. The promo will run from December 1, 2009 to February 28, 2010. So you'll have lots of time to complete it.

* Some of our Loyalty Mug holders brought home their mugs but most of the mugs are still kept in the cafe where they can use it for their hot drinks (click the link below to see pictures of our Loyalty Mug holders):

Cafe Antonio Loyalty Mug Holders

* Next week (December 7 to 13), we will have another Teachers' Day run. Last year featured Aldo Lim of CDC, Jomar Rabajante and Therese Medina of CAS, and Butch Bataller of CEAT. This year, new faculty member , Mahalia Adelina Corazon Serrano of CAS will join some of the Teachers' Day Alumni. So please come when your teacher invites you. Sila na bahala sa incentives nyo! hehe.

* We're hoping that you guys would join us at the cafe this December! Let's all have a great time and end the year at CAnton. God bless!

Latest CAnton Commercials:

Best Served Piping Hot!

* I had a near perfect week last week. It's just one of those moments in my young life where everything seems to be going in the right direction. It's not really headed that way, but the feeling of it was there and I cannot help but relish it.

* The cafe was very busy last week. The UP Socius had their orientation last Wednesday (or was it Tuesday?) and Neil had a great time preparing pasta for them. And the rest of the week from that point on was just great! It's like hoisting 3 point shots from half-court and you couldn't miss! Thank you everyone for helping us last week. We reeeaally needed the help!

* My sister, Joyce, gave birth to a baby girl last Saturday, her name is Julia. Now I have a niece! I'm really excited to see her. And now we have two babies in the family, the other one is Jethro, my sister Grace's baby boy.

* Hmm, I've used so many exclamation marks already.

* Anyway, we had this high school batch party over the weekend and everyone just had a blast. Retz, Joyceann, and I were late because we still had to close the cafe at 1 am. Right now my friends and I are still hung over about the event and as of this blog we're still talking about the party and how everybody had a good time and all that stuff. People are posting pictures on Facebook like crazy! Ah Facebook, what a wonderful creation. If only we had Facebook back in high school...

* But of course, reminiscing from memory is more fun because we don't get the facts straight and we can add and skim out bad memories without the aid of visual evidence. Yeah, so it's still more fun before. Right now we're just adapting to how people have fun. Nothing really ever changes. Fun never dies, it just transforms. Hehe, just watched Transformers 2 again last night.

* Happy birthday Padeys! Just wanted to put that in.

* My thoughts on the batch outing? First of all we were late, now that's a good start. The resort kicks ass, especially the free videoke, that was golden. The food was plenty, good job on that. I was able to grab 2 bottles of softdrinks, the maja blanca, and a bag of Clover Chips Ham and Cheese Flavor (which I consumed last night while watching My Sister's Keeper and Definitely, Maybe. Yes, I watched three films last night).

* My batchmates and I weren't as rowdy compared to our previous escapades, I guess most of us have mellowed down because of age or what, develop some kind of responsibility, have jobs to attend to, and all that stuff, many factors really. College was mindless enjoyment of college-ness and freedom from high school. And graduation was freedom from college. While work is not exactly freedom from anything. It's just a formless, bounding concept that dictates the direction of our lives.

* With that I can conclude that every chance to escape a routine is a good time.

* Oh yes, the cafe. Sometimes I forget that this is the cafe's blog and not mine. But since I don't have a personal blog I treat this page as my own. So happy reading.

* We're alternating Benguet Arabica coffee with our House Blend coffee starting this week. We want to show our customers that drinking coffee is not just drinking coffee. Coffee has many many many varieties, blends, species, and methods of brewing. If you pay close attention, you'll know the obvious differences between the Benguet Arabica and the House Blend.

* The Benguet Arabica has less caffeine, has a kinda grassy-earthy smell, and a smooth finish. Very clean. Very light. While our House Blend really packs a punch and cuts through the masking of milk and ice to make our Frothiccinos taste like coffee. Some of you guys might miss the kick and the muscle of the half-Robusta House Blend, but sometimes you have to try and experience an entirely different coffee. We've put up a sign on our sliding door which coffee is brewing for the day. It says: "Now Brewing: HOUSE BLEND" and on the flip side, "Now Brewing: BENGUET ARABICA". Check it every now and then so you'll know what you'll be getting. It's all part of our coffee education project.

* I'll be having a tooth pulled out tomorrow. I'm still not sure if the dentist's gonna pull it out, hopefully not. But I'm kinda curious about the pain... hmm...

* Okay! Lotta ideas drilling my mind right now... it's like a bee stinging my brain constantly. This is something I love about my job at the cafe as the manager, I always have to come up with something new, but I'll never know when the big idea's gonna hit me.

* We try everyday to do our best at the cafe. You can taste the caffeine in this entry.

One Big Holiday

* "So what are you looking forward to this week?", my father asked the cafe crew as we ended our weekly Bible Study. I answered, "Well, the Pacquiao-Cotto fight's over, that was last week's highly anticipated event, maybe our high school batch outing this weekend is what we're looking forward to." These are, of course, non-cafe related stuff, but when you work at a cafe everyday, simple pleasures like watching a DVD is something to look forward to. Spending a day with your high school batchmates (most of them we see everyday) is another thing, and it can also be considered a highlight, but the experience is far more superior than watching a DVD.

* Two weekends of watching horror/suspense/thriller flicks was quite a handful, most of us still have hangover, reacting to bumps and creaks like little girls. But that was quite enjoyable. Like decorating the cafe until 4 AM and until 2 AM the following day. That was also a treat.

* We spent the whole afternoon talking about the Pacquiao-Cotto fight, prior to this article. We just saw Pacquiao on the cover of TIME and that gave me goosebumps. Imagine what a boxing match can do. If he lost, we would be depressed for a week or maybe a month. It's been a while since we've seen Manny lose. And we didn't know how to respond to a fallen hero. Well some of our friends don't like Pacman, yes, you can get angry at him for some reasons, but as a boxer, you should be very proud of him. He's the best in his generation, he's a Filipino, be proud and give him credit.

* We're selling Gift Certificates at the cafe this Christmas season. It says "valid until Dec. 31, 2009" but we will extend the promo period until January because we will be closed for two weeks on December starting December 23. My sister thought of the idea and Julius designed it for us. The GCs are good and cheap gift ideas if you want to treat your friends at CAnton this season.

* We had a good week last week, thanks to Gelo Arboleda's birthday bash. Plus we had a bunch of people come in. Wow, you guys still love us, hehe, we missed Showtime Fridays, the couple past of Fridays weren't that "show-timey".

* I've gotta go, my bandmate Eric's at the cafe right now and I want him to hear the songs I've wrote for our band, The Bookshelf Cassette. See you around!

Moving Pictures

* I just erased two sentences prior to this. These past few days I've been thinking for the next big thing for the cafe and myself. We've certainly done a lot during our first year and this year we're just trying our best to live up to the hype that we've created. We just cannot help but compare last year and this year. But every year has its own story and every season has a different plot with a bunch of new characters. This week I'd just like to tell you about our YouTube channel and our videos.

* I was watching our YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/cafeantonioelbi) last night and I was amazed at the number of elaborate videos we just made. The "Shaken" video was spontaneously rehearsed during the closing hours of the cafe while the "White Strawberry" ad was insanely choreographed, involved the participation of a bunch of random people, and was shot in UPLB and UP Diliman. The "New Year" ad introduced The Weepies and their song "I Gotta Have You" to our circle of customers and the "Cafe Antonio Jingle" was heard for the first time in public.

* I kinda missed making videos for the cafe. It's just one of the things we have that makes us sorta different from other cafes--using cheaply done videos to market coffee. I really don't have knowledge in video editing. All I use is Windows Movie Maker, Paint, Joyce's digicam, my stick people drawings, some stop-motion, a thousand songs, and a degree in Sociology. Making videos is just one of the things that I love to do and suddenly stopped doing. Maybe because I'm watching too many DVDs. But I use it as an excuse to gather some inspiration.

* But last night I was able to make a very simple video (that took 4 hours to complete) about our FoMs, paper cups, and Christmas. I felt I was getting rusty and I wanted to make a video to revitalize both myself and our channel on YouTube.

* Nothing really special about the video, maybe I was just inspired when I was watching Sesame Street with my sister and nephew. Listening to Emmy the Great (from Bessy) and re-reading 3 back issues of Paste was just enough to push me to make another innocent, kindergarten-level video inspired by last January's "New Year Ad".

* Well I hope you guys enjoy the video. By the way, we now have Benguet Arabica Beans you can buy for 500 pesos per bag. It makes for a good gift this Christmas for your loved ones who love coffee. And yes, welcome back students! A horde of Ruralites just invaded the cafe before I came to Koinonia to blog. I believe that was Lara Lopez and her crew, hehe, welcome back!

* Enjoy the rest of the week, God bless!

Fall 7 Times, Stand Up 8

The Bookshelf Cassette (L-R: Jabez, Bessy, Eric)

* Remember in my past blogs when I was writing about being safe in the arms of routine and all that stuff? Well, we were certainly rocked when Typhoon Santi hit Elbi. Ondoy was also a big hassle. But what made Santi more memorable was it showered my room...my room--the command center of Cafe Antonio-Los Banos. All the magic happens there, that's my laboratory, my music studio, my art studio, and my history museum. That's when I found out how vulnerable I was and how dependent I was on my stuff.

* I tried to stay cool and composed, I didn't get mad but I was certainly panicking deep inside. Good thing, aside from being a control and neat freak, ironically, I also like nomadic adventures and Bohemian values, weird. It's like switching between two modes.

* Last night I was surfing the net at Infobucks because Koinonia was closed. For two days we spent the night at my sister's house at the IRRI Staff housing. I had three bags, one for clothes, one for gadgets, and my usual backpack of notebooks, books, and mobile phone chargers. I had pillows, a blanket, and Bishan the White Tiger in my MultiCab. I was relishing the moment, I remember the days when I was a kid when we would experience horrendous floods at Jordanville in Quezon City. Our life was a life of cleaning up stuff, packing things in to boxes and moving from house to house. My family has moved a total of 21 times, I was there in 3 or 4.

* Maybe I just got fed up with all the running and cleaning. And I never thought my stuff would get wet again. I said to myself that what happened to us was just okay and it's a good thing that nobody got hurt. It's also a good thing that the cafe didn't get wet inside.

* This week we're facing a lot of cleanup, especially for my part because I have a lot of stuff packed in my room. The MultiCab also needs to take a bath. That's life, it gets messed up, we clean it up, make the best out of it and then get ready for the next big thing. Too much good will make you miss the bad and vice versa.

* Cafe NEWS! Our 100% Benguet Arabica Beans are now available in 500 gram bags for 500 pesos. That's double the amount of our House Blend beans. We decided to be the first shop here in Elbi to sell 100% Arabica beans. And it's from Benguet, we thought it would be a good way to support local coffee.

* FoMs! The Christmas Season offers 3 FoMs every year. The Choco Chip and the Smores Frothiccino. If you're having trouble deciding which one to pick you can always try the combination of the two, the all-time favorite OVERLOAD! It's soooo insane, it can be served in a bowl! Try one now!

* I just came back from Dumaguete last Wednesday, you can check out our pictures at our Facebook page. See how the branch in Visayas is doing. That's all for this week, thanks for supporting us!

Of Paper Cups and Music

* I slept at around 7pm last night and woke at 12 noon today. I felt so terrible so I fixed myself a mug of instant coffee and a pack of Nesvita to perk me up. Feeling much better, I took a bath and pressed another mug of real coffee this time while listening to my friend Eric's playlist. Then I felt really good. And that is how I started my Monday.

* Last night, my band, The Bookshelf Cassette, practiced about 7 to 8 songs for our gig with Meliora on Wednesday (9 pm at CAnton). I was so happy with what we did that I only ate once the whole day and got sick right after my bandmates, Bessy Espina and Eric Soliven, left the apartment. But I'm ok now. If you feel awful, just drink coffee, it will keep the physical and mental blues away. Become a fan on Facebook! Just type "The Bookshelf Cassette" and you can hear some of our covers.

* Tomorrow, our paper cups from Primatech Paper Solutions will be arriving! Hopefully, you guys, our customers, will be experiencing for the first time, a CAnton Frothiccino in a 16 ounce paper cup. That will surely be be a momentous event.

* Switching to paper cups is our way of contributing help to the environmental and waste disposal concerns of our beloved town of Los Banos. If you have noticed we have bought new trash cans with proper labels indicating where you should throw your biodegradable and non-biodegradable trash. Although paper cups are more eco-friendly than plastic cups, a 16 ounce cup is still a 16 ounce cup. It's still trash. And we would like to lessen the use of solid waste in our cafe. So here's what we've thought of:

When you buy a Cafe Antonio Tumbler (available in 16 oz orange and/or white w/ or w/o handle designs; you can purchase it at the cafe or on http://cafeantoniostore.multiply.com) and bring it to the cafe to order a FROTHICCINO, your NEXT order of ANY FROTHICCINO (except FoMs) will only be 75 pesos.

Example:

1.) You come to the cafe with your tumbler then you order a Choco-Macadamia Frothiccino for its regular price of 120 pesos (your drink should be put in your tumbler).

2.) The next time you come to the cafe and you order the same drink or, let's say, a Rocky Road Frothiccino (Php 110), it will only be 75 pesos.

3.) Then if you bring your tumbler to the cafe every time and ask the barista to put your drink in the tumbler, you'll be able to get a 75-peso Frothiccino every other day.

Here's a more visual example. Let's say you start on a Monday with a Choco-Macadamia Froth,

MONDAY - ChocoMac Froth (Php 120)

TUESDAY - ChocoMac Froth (Php 75)

WEDNESDAY - Black Forest (Php 90)

THURSDAY - ChocoMac Froth (Php 75)

FRIDAY - Mocha Froth (Php 75)

SATURDAY - Caramel Cream (Php 75)

* And that's what you can do with your tumbler. We hope that this would help in lessening our trash. Tumblers are made-to-order, so better reserve one now at the cafe. And you'll get the tumbler the next day. You can return it if it has defects and we will replace it for free.

* Okay, so we hope this would be a brand new start for all of us! We would be glad to here your comments and suggestions.