Mbuji Cafe

To many, coffee would be their wake up call or morning starters. For me, coffee is something that calms my senses. You may disagree with me, but coffee is something worth enjoying for me. As I was loitering about a friend's office the other day, I came across a brochure of this cafe-- Mbuji Cafe. At the beginning, I kept pronouncing it as "MeeBuuJee Cafe". After much annoyance with the "M" in front, I soon learned that the proper way of pronouncing it was just simply- Buji with the silent "M"

At the looks of the cafe, I thought I ventured into some "Island" with all the coconut tree leaves and "island-ish" decorations. However, at the same time, I felt relaxed at the sight of those deep couches, the place felt calm and cosy.




The menu was thick, definitely have a wide variety of choices, not too sure if I'm a person who likes such wide varieties though, it tends to make things harder to decide! But hey, at least its a place that spoils us with choices, eh? :)






Not forgetting set meals for the day!



I asked the waitress what would be their signature coffee and she suggested the Greek Coffee. She explained with pride that the coffee will be served in a special way. Too tempting to say no, I agreed.

My friends, Kelly and Cindy made their orders too. As we were waiting eagerly, I came across this little piece of information that made my visit an even more meaningful one:




After much talk with the waitress again, I came to know that the name MBUJI was taken from a rock found in Tanzania which the natives use to worship and offer their offerings too. She then further explained that a portion of the money that we consumers pay for a cup of coffee will be given back to the native coffee growers in Tanzania. She also added that most natives in Tanzania only have an approximate life span up to 40 years old as the land is often attacked by Malaria and the people are mostly poor.

Before you would judge that this is entirely a charity post, let me introduce to you the coffee which I have ordered- Greek Coffee.



I was impressed by the amount of things that they served me, definitely worth the price (RM 15, inclusive of tax) However, I was indeed confused! The waitress then guided me with four simple steps to enjoying this freshly brewed coffee.

Here let me show you how!
Step 1 & 2:

The coffee is in the Cezve/Briki pot specially used for this Greek Coffee. Pour out the coffee into the cup and sugar water to taste. This sugar water is different though. It isn't the usual sugar water but rather it is thick some sort of glucose I suppose.

Step 3 & 4

Served along with two large dates, I was told to take a bite of the date and have a sip of ice water. Found it funny though. To my surprise, the sweetness of the dates lingered in my mouth and I refreshed my mouth with the lemon scented water before my next sip of coffee. Refreshing indeed!

The coffee was thick, and I always loved thick coffee. I did not bother to filter or ask for it to be filtered, it was very well blend, and I loved it. It wasn't the usual pungent coffee that we aim for in the mornings, but rather very aromatic and smooth blend of coffee. It was definitely an experience.

My friends ordered other drinks such as Iced Honey Green Tea and Long Black Coffee:





















I did not really like the Iced Honey Green Tea (RM 9.90) because I felt that it was too much of Iced Honey instead of the Green Tea taste. As for the long black coffee, it was a very nice cup of coffee, steaming hot but the texture was lighter than the Greek Coffee that I had.

Here's one of the lunch sets that Kelly ordered:


And here are the food that Cindy and I ordered:


From first picture, Kelly's ham and cheese sandwich, Caesar Chicken Salad and Black Pepper Chicken.
In all honesty, I think the servings were pretty small. But the taste was good, so no regrets there. :)


Again, it was really an experience to this cafe and it is definitely worth to be visited again. The people here are friendly and you need not be shy to ask just about anything about their menu. And boy oh boy, the sight and smell of well roasted high quality coffee beans with slow jazz music is definitely a place for coffee addicts like me!


They have a WIDE range of coffee beans, you smell it, you name it! They have so many types of coffee to offer. I could drink at this cafe for a period of time and I'm sure I would not be bored of it!


Thanks to Mbuji, I'm now a satisfied coffee addict!


So cheers to Mbuji and cheers to Coffee goodness!

Guilty coffee addict, Charmaine Jeeva (54562)

Shake your way with Sno!

The place that I will never forget about which I will really miss it in my life! And here's the place, Sno. It actually had three branches in Malaysia which owned by a Chinese Malaysian aged 24 who studied at UK recently. These branches are at the Sunway Pyramid, The Gardens Midvalley Megamall and the Pavillion KL Shopping Mall. While the one I went for last Wednesday was in The Gardens Midvalley Megamall.

                                             

                                               

                                                       

Sno in The Gardens Midvalley Megamall was just operated since last two months. I've been told that within that two months until today, the rate of customers' visit were increased rapidly. And whether you believe it, it's still the fact, the owner is a student! Imagine how great is that for a student to earn income by just selling of the tasty and healthy drinks. Now, let's find out why his shop can become the center of the attraction among others drinks' shop. 

First of all, the ordering method was one of the specials in Sno. This is because customers are allowed to make an order by themselves with an iPad provided. Next the content of the drink would also the special at Sno as we can make our own Sno shake from iPad.  So in overall, the drink is make by ourselves and the workers are just to produce it from what we ordered. Let see how it goes. 

Make your own Sno shake with iPad is actually as simple as ABC. You just need to go through few simple steps then the drink is ready for you. Firstly, go to the menu page in the iPad and choose whether you want to make the drink by yourselves with "Go Wild" or just order from the ready one with "Take It Easy". For me, of course I would choose "Go Wild" as it is unique, different, and it's created by me. 

Second step, choose your base. It has three different flavor, which are Vanilla Ice Cream Base, Green Tea Ice Cream Base and Frozen Yogurt Base. As what I know, if you choose frozen yogurt as the base, it will have sour taste in the drink. So for people who cannot take sour taste, then I will recommend you to take the another two. However, yogurt is a healthy drink, so for those who wish for a healthy and tasty drink especially for women as they wanted to take something good but with non-fat; then frozen yogurt base is the best choice for them. 

Third step, choose your blended flavors. As you can see in the photo, this part has been divided into four sections called chocolates, fruits, local favorites, and everything else. This means you can choose up to 8 flavors within these four sections into your drink. 

Forth step, choose your add-on toppings. Obviously, you can put up to five toppings on your drink in order to make it taste more delicious. For example, sprinkles and marshmallows. 

                     Then choose your cup size. It has two sizes for customers, small and large. 

Now, get ready your money, the drink will be served after few minutes. But before that, I would like to tell you my Sno shake which is also the top seller in the shop. I named the drink as Forrero Rocher Milkshake. While the base was in Vanilla Ice Cream, the blended flavors were the Forrero Rocher, lastly I had Kellogg's Froties and Popcorn as the toppings.

After you make sure everything you wanted are in the order list, press "order" and "confirm" on the iPad. Then you will get the order number which will be sent to the workers for the producing of the drink. Here are some of the photos on how the workers make the Sno shake after the order is being made. 

               The drink now is ready for serve. Finally I can taste my awesome Forrero Rocher Milkshake!

And this is another Wild Sno with frozen yogurt as base while cornflakes and marshmallow on top. As what I said previously, it would taste sour when you drink it. 

Between, I also bought another from the " Easy Sno" called Sno Signature; which the ingredients would just slightly different from the top seller's flavor, Forrero Rocher Milkshake. This is prepared for those who are lazy to to make their own Sno shake but still wanted to take something with good taste. 

Before to end this post, let me tell you one more thing. Why is it the shop's name called Sno without the "w"? It is because every drink produced looks snowy. And even though it's cold, but no ice is adding in. So that is why the word is incomplete without the "w". 

For more information of Sno, kindly go in to these pages and see their new updates. 

1) www.sno.com.my

2) facebook.com/SnoShakes

3) twitter: @SnoShakes

Stay tune for the next upcoming drink! =)

Cheers! 

Low Sook Nyet 55568

Cool Blog!

And yes, the title says it all! To end our Bubble Tea Mania week, I've visited another bubble tea outlet called 'Cool Blog'.

It was kind of random because I was driving home one night and spotted this awesome bubble tea store on a highway rest area. It's open till very late but I'm not quite sure whether if it's 24hours. 

Cool Blog is introducing their new drinks called the Happy Blog for those who needs to perk up their gloomy days. The first thing that came to my mind was what a perfect drink to have on Monday=D

It was so tempting, so i lined up and ordered my own personalized super-cool blog on the go! Even at such late hours at midnight there were still quite a lot of people lining up for this bubble tea. So I guess it's worth a try.

Just Rm1.80 and you can get your choice of green tea, milk tea and also pearl tea. So many flavors to choose but i settled on chocolate and yam flavored milk tea!

After selecting the flavor for the milk tea, you can add an extra 60cents for the base. There's grape jelly, grass jelly, pearls and so on! Just go crazy with it!

And Voila! My bubble tea is served and ready to go! 

It was late and I dint get to ask much about this shop, but it was really superb! Do try it out and find out more about Cool Blog at the nearest outlet from you! 

Thanks for reading peeps! Stay Tuned for our next post on some surprisingly amazing cool beverage outlets in Malaysia! 

Your's Truly,

Kelly Lim 55292

Taipei No.1 Shared Tea

After a very tiring day from shopping, I decided to stop by a shop which caught my attention for a cup of drink. When I got a little closer to the menu, I wondered to myself "another Bubble Tea shop?" and thought to myself, perhaps I will give it a try.

While queuing to order, I noticed that the television is actually replaying a recorded news about Taipei No.1 Shared Tea drinks which have been broadcasted at Taiwan Newstation. After watching the news, I anticipated on how good their drinks really are that it actually made it its way to the news on television. 

The menu was a headache. I really could not decide which to drink as there was too many to choose from. In the end, I only asked the cashier for their bestseller and I was introduced to the top four drinks in their shop, which are Passion Fruit Orange with Grapefruit Tea, Lohas Fruit Flavored Green Tea, Signature Milk Tea with Tapioca Pearls and Milk Tea with Handmade Taro.

I end up paying for their Signature Milk Tea with Tapioca Pearls as well as the Milk Tea with Handmade Taro for myself and my parents. After paying, I was giving a queue number to collect my drinks. Again while I was waiting, I watched how the kitchen staff made their drinks with sincerity as they kept a smile all the time on their faces. 

I also browsed through their brochures which state a consumer promise that each cup of drinks is filled with all-natural antioxidants. 

The one thing I never failed to notice is their drink ambassador. A famous Hong Kong actor, movie director, film producer and tv host Eric Tsang. I was curious and asked why use someone from Hong Kong when the drink are from Taiwan? I was told that Eric Tsang was born in Guangdong, China. 

A little later, my number was being called out and my drinks are ready for collection! I was both thirsty and excited to know what made their drinks so unique. 

The Signature Milk Tea with Tapioca Pearls have a really rich aroma of tea while the milk was really mild. It taste like a good cup of Teh-Tarik but with the tea being much more richer and with very little milk in it. The Tapioca Pearls made the drink that much more delicious. 

On the other hand, the Milk Tea with Handmade Taro looks and sound blunt, but at first sip, it was love at first sip! (for Yam lovers -- Taro means Yam) It was a really genius drink where the yams were crushed into tiny pieces and at every sip, the milk tea melts the yam inside your mouth and some of the crushed pieces are slightly bigger where you can munch into it and taste the delicious yams!

There are no photographs of me with the drinks as I was the photographer myself. This is an extra post by Cindy Lim 53069 contributing to our weblog assignment as this week we are writing all about Bubble Tea from variety of shops offering this drink. 

Cheers!