Sunday, June 25, 2006

Starbucks Dungeon

Nothing is permanent. No matter how abrupt or gradual, still, everything changes.

Starbucks Intramuros is my favorite branch. Situated inside one of the tunnels in the walls of Intramuros or The Walled City of Manila. I call it Starbucks Dungeon Branch hehe.. Seth calls it Kweba ng Starbucks (Starbucks Cave). Come in and you'll hear the standard jazz music that this coffee company plays. You'll hear talking and the occassional bursts of laughter. You'll smell all sorts of nice scents like coffee, caramel, vanilla and cigarette smoke. All right the last one isn't nice at all!

What makes this branch so special? Compared to other branches, In my opinion, this one's not so classy. I mean hello! Its in a tunnel! If you think about it, this tunnel could have been a place where they punish the Indio (natives) servants which are the only ones allowed inside the walls or maybe this is the tunnel where the Spanish soldiers take their lunch to take shelter from the 18th century afternoon sun. Or worse - this is where they imprison the guerillas.

I'm not sure though but its a testament of how times change. Its my favorite branch probably because, aside from it being in a historic site, coming here always puts my mind in perspective. Once I sit on one of the couches and look at the arched ceiling and the unpainted brick walls I get a sense of assurance that there is a Higher Being that controls things and puts everything in balance. This was once a prison(probably), now its a branch of one of the leading coffeeshops in the world. Translation: No matter how bad your situation is right now, it will change. It could be abrupt or gradual but it will. You'll see.

FOTP_2Geraldine's despedida, June 2006. All photos were taken at Starbucks Intramuros. Next time I will try to get a photo of the whole branch from the outside.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree with your opinion here. I 've been to Intramuros and that Starbucks place inside during my vacation last April 06.

The most important, your translation, "No matter how bad your situation is right now, it will change. It could be abrupt or gradual but it will. You'll see."

Let me add one thing, God sends angels to help and aid you get out of the bad situation. And did you know, they (the angels) have blogs, website url's and what have you. What God needs to do is to just redirect you there so you'll find them and you get His help.

Believe me. It happened to me.

Anonymous said...

Wala akong masabi pero sinulat ko 'to sa journal ko. hehehe...

Deins ko alam kung bakit chineck ko agad page ni ate gi pero definitely may purpose. Gumaan ang pakiramdam ko. Thank You Lord sa isang ate gi na may ganitong mga perspectives sa buhay. =)

Astig talaga! To God be the glory! ΓΌ

Anonymous said...

Sama mo naman kami dyann :)

Ivie

Anonymous said...

i have visited that branch twice and it is not that crowded (at least when i was there) compared to other branches.

just bloghopping from almelyn's site.

turtlepace said...

love the smell of coffee!! but i never buy from coffee shops, i think theyre too expensive. well, there was one time when i did but only because i wanted to sit on the chairs without getting the strange look from the manager.
i like just to smell the nice aroma. if i get the chance to be in manila, id have to go to that starbucks branch.i think it's a unique branch..coffee shop in a tunnel? that's interesting.. :-)
hope youre well :)

Pinoy Pan de Sal said...

myepinoy, i believe you. its so comforting, what you said about angels. thanks!

apol, miss na kita! thanks to u for letting me know the real you.

ivie and ymir, thanks for dropping by.

nikki, musta ka na? pag nandito ka sa manila text/ email mo lang ako. i'd be glad to take u there - ng makasinghot din ng amoy ng kape.

Gigi

Anonymous said...

Kelangan ko mapuntahan ito. Madalas ako sa Intramuros noon (I used to work in that area) pero never pa ako nakadaan sa dungeon na yan. LOL.

Bakit pala blooming ka? May boypren na ba? Hehe.

Mel said...

Ate gigi! kumusta ka na? miss na kita sa ascm, nabawasan ang maganda! hehehe!
Ate, me problema po ako eh, magpapatulong po sana ako kung papanong magpublish ng newsletter on line? Tsaka meron po bang free-publishing? salamat ate ha, eto po email address ko: mhel_alejado@yahoo.com

Salamat!

shing said...

hoy ate gi, mag-update ka na ulet ng blog...balik ako ng balik...hahaha, wala naman akong bagong balita, hehehe.

But I like this entry...and it suits my most current entries too. :)

Anonymous said...

Jayred, salamat. As always encourager ka talaga. Wala pa ko boypren, pag meron na i-blog ko n lang hahaha!

Almelyn, oks lang yun. Nanjan ka pa naman e - panatilihing maganda ang paligid :-)

Oist Shing, impatient ka talaga! Hahaha! Kaya sa aspect n yan, jan ka tuturuan ni Lord! Be happy.

Gigi