Starbucks Summer Gathering 2012

Dear fellow tasters,

From so many reasons to go to Starbucks, one of them would probably be because it makes drinking coffee fun.  If black brewed coffee and cappuccino sounds boring to you, then there are other options to choose from, such as the signature trademarked ice blended frappuccino.  For this summer, Starbucks Indonesia introduces two new seasonal frappuccino beverages and I had a chance to try them out during the summer food blogger gathering event at Starbucks Pasaraya Grande.  They are Mocha Cookie Crumble Frappuccino and Chocolate Cookie Crumble Cream Frappuccino.

Casual Fine Dining with Starbucks Indonesia

Dear fellow tasters,

A couple of weeks ago, I was invited for the third time to a Starbucks Indonesia gathering and the theme was casual fine dining.  Hmm, I wonder why.  It turned out the theme was chosen to feature the newly-introduced winter promotional whole bean coffee by Starbucks, called Casi Cielo^TM, a fancy Spanish name which means ‘almost heaven’.  This time, the gathering was held at a new Starbucks outlet at Tempo Scan Pacific Tower, Kuningan area.

SendokGarpu – Kaffein Meet and Greet

Dear fellow tasters,

Last Friday, I was invited to a meet and greet event for culinary bloggers organized by SendokGarpu, one of Indonesian restaurants guide website.  It was always great to meet other fellow food bloggers and this time, the meeting point was at Kaffein, fX lifestyle X’nter Senayan.  The main agenda was to try Kaffein’s holiday beverages and to get acquainted with SendokGarpu and its soon-to-be-released new version of the website.  The rest of the time was spent in delightful conversation and foodie information exchange.

Starbucks Holiday Gathering 2011

Dear fellow tasters,

It’s almost the end of the year.  That means it’s that time of the year again.  When Christmas trees are put up, the festivity is felt in the air, and of course when Starbucks Christmas beverages are back for another year.  Who doesn’t love toffee nut latte or peppermint mocha? And this year there’s a new drink introduced, the cranberry white chocolate mocha.  Drooling as I might be, I hadn’t had a chance to try it until one day an email came to my inbox with an invitation for Starbucks Holiday Gathering 2011, of course with a chance to try the new espresso beverage and other holiday delicacies.

Starbucks VIA® Special Preview

Dear fellow tasters and coffee lovers,

During the long Idul Fitri holiday, I received a DM on my twitter from Starbucks Indonesia twitter account requesting my email and contact number with regards to some food blogger gathering event. Several days later, an email came with more details.  The theme of the event was ‘Starbucks VIA® Special Preview’.  The date and time, 8 September, 1.30-2.30pm.  Hmm, that was like office hour for me but fortunately after back and forth email correspondence, Miss Corry Tjong who managed the event said that it was absolutely fine to come after getting off work.

Phoenam

Dear fellow tasters,

The director from my former workplace once treated us, the project team, for a Friday lunch and afternoon coffee at a humble Makassar coffee shop called Phoenam.  The occasion: a colleague’s farewell from the company.  The location: Phoenam branch on Jalan Wahid Hasyim.  These coffee shops originate from Makassar which is quite known for its Toraja coffee or Torabika (Toraja Arabica).  A Chinese family founded this business back in Makassar decades ago and several branches are now scattered around Jakarta.

Monolog

Dear fellow tasters,

From Hacienda, my friends and I wandered around Plaza Senayan just for the sake of feasting our eyes after a feast for our bellies.  We ended up in a recently-opened coffee shop, Monolog or Monolog Quality Coffee Co. in longer version, which is located on the revamped ground floor car parking.  For a new coffee-offering place, it appeared pretty popular judging by the flocking crowd that occupied the elongated cafe bar and lounge area that holiday afternoon.  Ambiance was sleek, minimalistic, urban-meets-rustic but no less warm, cozy, and inviting.

Cafe Vienna

Dear fellow tasters,

Still in Gandaria City, after lunch at White Hunter and a bit of window shopping, my friends and I were looking for a place to rest our weary feet and we decided to try a nice-looking European-themed cafe that we had previously seen when we were looking around.  Cafe Vienna, lavishly decorated with marble pillars, golden chandeliers, and classic leather couches which might seems a bit over the top and tacky, offers quite a cozy atmosphere for a Euro lunch or just coffee and afternoon munches. 

Kopitiam

Dear fellow tasters,

Kopitiam franchise restaurants are a dime a dozen these days.  This one is the one without anything trailing behind the kopitiam title and they have an outlet open in the LG level West Mall area of Grand Indonesia Shopping Town.  I went there one late afternoon to meet up with my friends who apparently already had lunch.  Thus, I decided to grab some bite there since I haven’t had any, while my friends only ordered some coffee and tried some of my food.

The Connoisseur Concerto

Dear fellow tasters,

Continuing my one day Singapore culinary journey, after browsing around and a little bit of shopping at Borders and Ion Orchard, I decided to rest my feet at a coffee shop slash bistro restaurant inside Ion called The Connoisseur Concerto or simply shortened to ‘tcc’.  What I ordered was the promo high tea set (which I knew from a friend’s facebook photo and also tcc website), actually for two, but what the hell, I thought I would just finish them all myself *grin*.