The stop - start conundrum

Is there a good finishing line? Or are we just fools to believe that 'happily ever after' is a single permanent moment after which time freezes, and with it our thoughts and lives?

The world around us encourages us to believe in this notion, and in a way, I think it makes sense. Walking one milestone to another, and all the time thinking that the final reward is just around the corner, keeps us going. 

The problem I believe comes when we can no longer maintain the enthusiasm, and the disappointment of every corner grows bigger than our zeal and belief to keep the spirits high and march bravely forward.

There are so many self help articles, tweets, trends on google plus, books, seminars, therapists, priests etc. A whole business has been established for something as basic yet critical as 'keeping the faith'. Bon Jovi sang it, religions preach it and fairy tales sell it. All set to keep us humans going, down the same loop a million times, with the promise of an unique adventure each time. 

And believe it or not it is an unique adventure each time. It may look repetitive, and very same as an observer, but when you are inside this blue green whirlwind, it is a whole new world every day. And in a way there is merit in unlearning our past, re-discovering a lesson and re-inventing the wheel. It keeps us rooted.

And with this in mind, I prepare for the road that I have travelled so often - Another house, another city, another set of good byes to be said. The search for a home continues. And with that the search for cafes, friends, my thoughts and feelings about random things and places will continue too. This virtual address will stay the same, but I know my views, opinions and ideas will change. With time.

P.S: There are still so many places that I have not visited in Cambridge - but that is fine, I can always come back here when I want. 

P.P.S: I have started posting my verses in public again. You can read All roads lead to... here!

Sell Coffee, not your soul

Hope floats!

Past few weeks I have been crazy busy and almost - almost forgot about everything fun and creative in life. But then yesterday a hint of a diffused sun made me move myself out of the couch and out into the open. Let me tell you that the outside was nowhere near what it looked like from the inside. No sooner that I hit the road, the dark grey depressing clouds were back and this time with a sprinkling of what cannot be called as snow or rain or even sleet - something in between all of that!

Nevertheless we marched on (driven more by hunger than by any passion of finding a good cafe really). Our first choice the amazing home-made dumpling place - Zhongua - being completely full, we simply proceeded to Cafe CB2.

Now this cafe has been on my list of places to visit for some time, yet never really found the occasion for it. Yesterday, by pure chance we found ourselves at its doorsteps. My initial plan was to visit this place one evening because I know they often have gigs and live music happening in its basement. However because we visited around lunch time, we really got to see it more as a bistro than a cafe. In fact to me the place was a bit confused. It even had a bar like place serving alcoholic drinks.

You will have to take this piece of writing with a pinch of salt. I apologise in advance for being slightly on the cranky side of life these last few days and that may have interfered with my mood and observations of the place. But I was not the happiest person when the waitress seated us close to the entrance (where it was cold enough for me to have to keep my coat on the whole time). The worst part though was that she promised to give us a table inside as soon as one became available and completely forgot about it later. And even though I asked her once again before ordering food, she just said 'yes yes of course'  to our face and the next minute forgot all about it. To top it, all this time I could see empty tables inside.

I don't think I would be awfully pleased with this service on a good mood day either.

That off my chest, I can now concentrate on the positive about the place - which was finding the 'coke float' on the menu. This very simple vanilla ice-cream drenched in a soft drink like Coke/Pepsi was something I loved having as a kid and was quite delighted to see it here. Nostalgia made me go for it instead of a coffee even though the weather really called for one.

Overall it was not the best day out, however I am willing to go there once again some other evening and find out if the place indeed has a split personality. I have hopes that this place may still come alive for me.

And if there is one thing which floats rather well apart from ice-cream that is hope :-)



(Also among other things, I found out that the Cambridge Eat festival is going to take place in March. I am looking forward to the street food festival in particular. From their website I got to know of many different independent Cambridge food places. Do take a look here if you are interested.)

Sell Coffee, not your soul

What's the story (morning glory)?

Every cup of coffee should have a story to tell, I think. The ones I have every morning, possibly have the same one line story but it is an important one - It is a cup which forms the boundary between the fuzzy-ness of last night's dream and the hard cold reality of the following day. It's the warmth from that one cup which offers comfort and courage to face the rest of the day.

The cafe I visited this weekend -  Cafe Jocolatte, had the perfect environment for exactly that - stories. And they proved it by their tag line

 'Drink coffee, eat chocolate and talk'

Simple and profound and exactly my thoughts!

It was a much overdue visit, but it finally happened. The cafe has one of the most welcoming interiors, and many more surprises waiting to be explored once you are inside. It is not more than 15 minutes walking distance from my place and so I have no idea why I waited so long to walk right in!

The place is possibly closest to what I had in mind for a physical representation of SYB. It looks cosy from outside, but is actually quite spacious once you go in. There is a garden with outdoor seating as well (for warmer days - Yes English summers are a 'real' phenomenon!! They do happen once in a while :-) and more space upstairs. The walls are decorated with bright art work (which are for sale - you can take a look at their website) and most importantly I loved my flat white which went perfectly with the Toblerone-almond tart.

If you are able to zoom into the picture above, you can also read about the advertised 'Marcussens tea'. With 25 herbs going into it, I think it has it's own special story to tell!

Also for the non chocolate eating, non coffee/tea drinking people (surely there must be a few such outliers!) there is also some wine on the menu if you fancy.

As for me, I shall now proceed towards the refrigerator, and relish some left overs of the Austrian 'Sachertorte' also bought from the same place ;-)

Parting thoughts - while coffee, chocolates and cakes may not solve our problems directly, at right moments and in right amounts, they are a bit like good friends. They make us feel warm and comforted, and sometimes gives us the much needed kick to wake up and solve our own problems!

Sell Coffee, not your soul

Let's start at the very beginning

As we all know, beginning is a very good place to start. And so without further ado, if I am to start talking about Cambridge, CB1 is possibly the first place to talk about. For those of you who haven't visited the city of Cambridge (UK, not US), you probably have an idea of this place in your head. Well Mill Road is one street in this city, which is quite different from the usual pre-formed idea. At least it was different to mine. It is not sophisticated, posh with scholars walking around in their robes. You don't see a glimpse of the famous river Cam from here, nor do you see the punts. No towering impressive university building is in sight either. The by lanes have these houses stuck to each other known as terraced houses and the main street is very multi cultured, with shops, restaurants and cafes belonging to many different regions of the world (including English, Algerian, Turkish, Indian, Korean, Chinese, Bangladeshi to name a few). The street is full of character, and seems exactly like a place where the 'geeky-freaky-and-crazy' (all in a good way of course) crowd of Cambridge would hang out.

One such hangout place on this street is cafe CB1. It is not sleek and polished. But it is a quirky little place, which from the outside may look a bit old and basic, but as you walk in, you can tell its a place for the 'regulars' to meet up and chill. Also the numerous really old computers and loads and loads of books in the background almost sets the mood for the people who walk in. During my visit, I heard someone discussing his (or someone he knows) plans for going to moon (I know it is not good to eavesdrop, but hey, who can avoid listening to bits and pieces of an interesting plan :). Another person was looking through an old notebook, and I think I saw some feedback control systems and digital circuits drawn there. (I could be wrong of course, I could be seeing what I want to see and hearing what I want to hear :) But that really is part of the magic of a place I think. A place which tickles your imagination and makes you think.

The coffee was good, though not possibly the best I have ever had. The ginger cake I had, was also not my favourite, but then again, this is not a place to just eat and drink, but a place to feel and dream and be a part of the real Cambridge I would say. A place to start your explorations of this city, and possibly breaking out from the set idea in your head. Yes you will see the river, the punts, the impressive university buildings eventually but that is not all that is there to this place.

Sell Coffee, not your soul

What's in the name?

How often do you have to calibrate and re-calibrate yourself? You say something with great resolute and find yourself going back on your word the very next moment. And all this while you thought you were being honest to yourself the first moment as well as the second.

A book I had read in the past told me contradictions don't exist. Yet at every stage of life I seem to bump into one. I guess every additional moment gives us a different perspective and additional information about ourselves as well as our surroundings, and that calls for some calibration. But I do struggle with exact opposite ideas trying to co-exist.

Anyway, the point I am trying to get to in a very round about way is that, in the past I had said I will try to avoid big corporate coffee chains like Starbucks, Barista, Costa and the likes. Yet these days I find myself addicted to a cup of cappuccino in the morning. It is almost a ritual for me. I get to work, start my computer, change into work shoes, take my cup and head down to the cafe downstairs to get my super frothy cup of cappuccino with chocolate sprinklings (I don't for a minute stop to care that this is coming from a big brand) and then start working.

In fact the Tesco's right behind my house has sold their cafe over to Costa Coffee. I remember in the beginning I was not happy with this, and must have resolved not to go there again. Yet the other day I was sitting there, enjoying a cup of flat white in the morning, sinking into their sofa and I don't recall any trace of guilt or negative thoughts in my head at all.

Speaking of big names, recently I went to Patisserie Valerie in Cambridge to satisfy a sudden and rare cake and coffee craving and was not very happy with the taste of the coffee or the cake. I have visited this place a year back, and that experience was slightly better. But I hadn't tried their coffee before. Also it is not the kind of place I would like to sit and enjoy a cup. I guess the warmth was lacking.

This really proves one thing, that no matter what you do, if you start a cafe, it better sell really good coffee. This is the best and simple formula. Everything else, the comfy sofa, the good service, the nice atmosphere, the underlying principle behind opening a cafe, everything, is secondary. And that is what I need to keep in mind when I have my own.

Also this does not make me stop trying to go to more independent coffee shops. In fact there are a few really quirky and nice coffee places within Cambridge, and I want to feature them here in this blog very soon. But until then, take care, have a happening new year and note to myself, have an open and learning mind, always.

Sell Coffee, not your soul

Few tidbits

What do you guys think about Begin Space? Looks like they started out as a small idea like ours and have gone quite some distance. Definitely worth a visit by our team, as soon as we get some time.

Which reminds me, I have to apologise for the slow movement on this site, the house hunting scene in Cambridge is not as easy as in London. It is so freaking competitive there!! Everything about the city reeks competitiveness actually! Or at least that was my first impression, I do hope I am wrong.

Oh and I have to mention here that my friends from Delphi really really surprised me, when they gave me hand painted coffee mugs as my good-bye gift! Thanks guys! You guys are the best! There are also two different books that I have been given, one about starting a cafe, and the other about starting a start-up business, both I think are exactly what I needed. This should give me a kick to keep my venture and the idea alive!





Sell Coffee, not your soul