When it’s been over 20 years since you leave high school, you tend not to keep in touch with most of your mates way back then. That’s true for me at least. Gratefully, the few that I do keep in close contact with keep in touch with the rest of them and keep me updated on the comings and goings of these men and women I used to run around the playground with.
I was still pleasantly surprised when I heard that one of the boys from my class went around the world, got married and came back and is now the proprioter of the Railway Cottage Café at the Bormill area along Keretapi.
We had our reunion at Chiang’s joint this month. We had a buffet style layout, specially for the group, so Chiang does do catering for home parties if that’s your preference. My personal favourite was the black pepper chicken, although I must say the vermicelli is not too bad either. But that’s just the special menu Chiang put out for us. On any one day, Chiang reckons his best sellers are the mixed grill, heng hua pak mee and a few others.
What really caught my eye was Chiang’s collection of collectible figurines. Zowee! I’m not a serious collector myself but I love these things. His Bruce Lee series is completely swoon-worthy. He’s got Jackie Chan, Pirates of the Caribbean and more. Every Sunday afternoon, a gaggle of collectors congregate at Railway and talk shop. So if you wanna get into this as hobby, this is the place to start your obsession.
The Railway Cottage Café is located on the ground floor of Studio 23 fitness centre, a few doors down from Little Hainan, one block away from the Gingerbread House. Just walk in and tell Chiang Cyn sent you to try his stuff out so make it extra special.
by Marita P.
When Starbucks first came to Kuching, the team put in a lot of effort into getting to know the community. Like a happy little moth to fire, I very quickly got enamoured by the ambience, ever so conducive to my writing and vegetating preferences; and I’ve always been a sucker for merchandising anyway. So it’s hardly surprising that I and a few others have become almost like furniture at our neighbourhood Starbucks.
I don’t know about your Starbucks but mine is run by a pretty cool and creative bunch of peeps. They organise Christmas parties for the Salvation Army, do Earth Day free coffee nights with the lights off; and just a couple of nights ago, they had a free coffee sampling session at their Spring branch. They cordoned off part of the premises and set up tables. It was mostly regulars and friends.
It’s Starbucks 40th year. They’ve come a long way from the fish market in Seattle to this island in Southeast Asia. So they came up with a special blend of coffee beans called Tribute, with beans from Ethiopia, Sumatra, Papua New Guinea and Colombia. Not bad – smokey and not too heavy. And they had a few new munchies on the line-up, so they showcased all of that for free. I liked the macaroon the best. The carrot cupcake comes in second. The chocolate brownie was okay, but I’m not a brownie person.
But what a great way to touch base with clients and community. I was never impressed with large corporate organisations but the Kuching arm of this large corporate conglomerate has managed to make themselves small, personal, flexible (for customers) and creative.
You must be wondering how much they’re paying me to sing their praises. Answer: nothing. I just like the way Ezam (my buddy who supervises Starbucks at the Spring) and his team do things. There’s a personal touch and a level of sincerity to their modus operandi and I like that.
Here’s a thought: there’s a touch of creativity to what they did but what makes it truly work is that pinch of genuine friendliness and passion that makes what they do all the more noticeable. This is not about Starbucks for me. This is about what the individuals do for me as a customer.
But that’s Ezam and his gang for ya.
So what’s your local Starbucks like?
When it’s been over 20 years since you leave high school, you tend not to keep in touch with most of your mates way back then. That’s true for me at least. Gratefully, the few that I do keep in close contact with keep in touch with the rest of them and keep me updated on the comings and goings of these men and women I used to run around the playground with.
