Do It Go

As we head into Barcelona to meet with a friend of ours, Lara and her family, we come off a all day passage form Valencia where we spent three days exploring the city. Lara was staying at one of the Valencia hotels which was very exquisite. We were docked in Port America’s Cup, which is a modern marina that was built to house the 32nd America’s Cup in 2007.

Valencia itself is an often over looked city in terms of tourism. It’s a great combination of history, historical architecture, modern architecture and the home of paella, a rice seafood dish served in a huge frying pan. After our overnight from Ibiza to Valencia, we spent the morning recouping and napping. We have discovered that those nights at sea and the 3 to 4 hour watch schedule that my wife and I share, requires a catch-up nap the next day. For our multi-day passage, we simply nap on and off throughout the day, but on arrival days, the tendency has been to immediately head out into the city. We’ve learned to take it easy our first day. The children unloaded the bikes and explored the park and rode the Formula 1 race way which was built around the marina for August, while my wife and I napped and cleaned up.  Later in the day we went into the old town by bus and spent the late afternoon and early evening walking the city past beautiful old churches and museums. The doors on these buildings were works of art. They were 15 feet carved wooden masterpieces. We passed the very rich shopping area and encountered a very rare and somewhat magnificent site…a Starbucks. My wife couldn’t resist.

We hadn’t had a Starbucks cup of coffee for over a month, and here we are, sailing across the sea’s like we were in search of something familiar. I have to admit, the coffee was good.

Tags: Ibiza, Port America's Cup, Starbucks, Valencia, Valencia hotels
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A Singapore coffee shop is called a Kopi Tiam. Kopi Tiams have long been a part of the social fabric of its community. You can almost find them on every corner; they are commonly found in all residential areas, some industrial sites and business districts numbering over 2,000 stalls or shops. A Kopi Tiam is typically run by the owner who sells the coffee, teas and any other beverage available. Breakfast items, like kaya toast and soft-boiled eggs are also available. The better Kopi Tiam and more traditional, still buy and roast their own beans and brewed on a charcoal grill, strained through a bag and severed with sweet milk and a chaser of hot water. The hot water a necessity for those not used to a strong coffee.

Despite the exodus of Malaysian coffee-drinking society from the Kopi Tiams to the new hip and cool incorporated coffee shop such as Starbucks and Coffee Bean, the coffee shop still figures prominently as a part of the local scene, to all Singapore Luxury Hotels and rural countryside rest stops for the weary traveler. Kopi Tiams are still around due to not only a place to get a hot drink or a quick meal, but their atmosphere of relaxation and for catching up with friends, neighbors and local news read out-loud from the newspaper. What corporate coffee shop can say that they read, out-loud, the newspaper to their customers?

To compete with today’s corporate chain coffee shops, the outdoor Kopi Tiam has had to move into the food-courts of shopping malls for the air-conditioning and the convenience of shopping for their customers. But, many Kopi Tiam owners are sticking it out and not going with the trend and capturing the attention of the younger generations disillusionment with the corporate look-a-like coffee shops wanting the experience of the uniquely wonderful tastes of a neighborhood tradition. Do to the tenacity of these Kopi Tiam owners and promoting the concept of buying local, once again, the humble, unassuming Kopi Tiam is becoming a lucrative business.

Tags: coffee, hotle, Kopi Tiams, Singapore, Starbucks
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