Travel {Back to Gewai on the Rooftop}

“Out of calmness comes clarity.” 

― Trevor Carss

Being back in this place makes me want to dress in linen and start composting by one of the big wooden tables. There's something about the place that gives anyone who comes here the feeling of being in some forest cabin, if not for the low hum of discrete conversations and clinking of coffee cups against stoneware. 

And the browns and whites give off a calm, peaceful, organic vibe. Despite being so high up (the cafe is located at the top floor of a 5-floor building), it's surprisingly easy to feel so close to the earth, because the entire cafe is surrounded by trees, cacti gardens and a wrap-around al fresco area with a great view of the horizon. Unlike the conventional cafes 'below', Gewai is a great place to just sit and feel closer to nature, even though you are on the rooftop of a concrete building. 

I ordered the sea salt caramel coffee, and R, who was seeing the place for the first time, had the spicy beef wraps. He was also smitten by the place, even more so because the place is just a few blocks from where he lives.

Featured {KC Coffee}

“Coffee is a kind of magic you can drink.” 

― Catherynne M. Valente

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There

A couple of weeks ago, I met up with M in Nanping. She was doing an interview with the owner of KC Coffee for the feature of You&Coffee, a specialty coffee supplier that she runs with her boyfriend. She had asked me to take a few photos to go with the feature and naturally, I jumped at the chance. 

I have always wanted to see how specialty coffee was brewed and served. I knew that there was a certain level of skill and precision that came with it that translates so gracefully in pictures, and this was the perfect opportunity to capture these images myself. 

KC Coffee is a specialty coffee shop that sits across Wanda Plaza Starbucks in Nanping. Unlike Starbucks, KC Coffee has a minimalist-Oriental interior accented by interesting coffee-making thingamajigs, books, and succulents by the windows. The interior is spacious, the colors earthy, with only the upholstery on the chairs in royal blue serving as the burst of vibrant color. 

The unique scent of brewing coffee greets you as soon as you walk up the stairs from the first-floor foyer up to the landing which is large enough that it doubles as the coffee bar. This is where the magic happens, as they say. And indeed, magic, with high quality, single-origin beans, does happen here.

The cafe offers different beans sourced from different places, from Australia to Russia. Most of them are difficult to get in Chongqing so having a cafe where you can get all these when you get a craving for a cup of Brazilian light roast is definitely a good thing to know. The couple who owns and runs it learned the trade of brewing coffee five years ago before deciding to open the cafe a few years later. Today, the cafe is still standing strong despite the competition. They don't advertise, so I think they thrive on the business of real coffee lovers who prefer specialty coffee over the kind we consume on a daily basis. 

The city's coffee scene is definitely changing. M herself commented that this was not how the coffee scene looked like a few years ago. Today, more and more people are discovering specialty, single origin brews, usually as they travel abroad or to cities like Shanghai, cities that already have established coffee cultures themselves. They bring these discoveries to CQ in the form of cafes that are unique, manned by the owner/barista himself/herself, and offering experiences vastly different from the cookie-cutter menus of places like Starbucks and Costa. 

They served a couple of brews, the flavors of which flew right past my head. A coffee connoisseur I definitely am not, so I couldn't make out what I was tasting except that it was a bit on the fruity and acidic side. I prefer my coffee with low acidity, loaded with chocolaty flavors, the kind that IKEA sells, haha! However, drinking coffee in flavors that I have not tasted before was definitely a pleasant experience, especially in the company of people who know so much about it. Who knew that there's so much to learn and taste when it comes to coffee? 

KC Coffee

Location: Wanda Plaza, Nanping

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Travel {My Green Grain Bakery}

“The stars are brilliant at this time of night 

and I wander these streets like a ritual I don’t dare to break 

for darling, the times are quite glorious.

Charlotte Eriksson

I love  tree-lined streets. And cafes on tree-lined streets. They remind me so much of the French Concession in Shanghai with its streets lined with London Plane trees and roadside shops and cafes. So I'm always happy when we find a place that has trees and cafes and cozy sitting areas outside.

Green Grain bakery, in one of the pretty neighborhoods in Ranjiaba serves great coffee and sea salt croissants. The al-fresco area, with its big wooden tables is just the perfect place to people-watch in the shade. After a hearty lunch at the Xiao Bin Lou a few doors down, this was the perfect place to have coffee and wind the afternoon down. 

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Five Frames {D&M by the Lake}

“Whoever loves much, performs much, and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is done well.” 

― Vincent Van Gogh

Love is the ultimate thing to write about, from classic sonnets to prose to the modern tweet. And there's no better place to see it than in the eyes of a couple about to embark on the next big journey when they're in love. 

D and M are getting married in a few months and naturally, a couples portrait before they get hitched! We did this in the park across the street from their apartment. A few close friends tagged along and I'm so glad they did. They provided laughter, entertainment, and a helping hand whenever I needed someone to hold up a prop, haha! We were also lucky because we had blue skies, great light, and an equally romantic sunset. 

Five frames from that afternoon, just because I can't wait to make a longer post. :)

Portraits {N's Baby Bump}

You are the fire

That has given light

To the flame in each of my eyes.

You are the fountain

That nourished my growth,

And from your chalice –

Gave me life.

Suzy Kassem

 Mother is Water

Pleasantly surprised to see N, who I met in my first year in the city, all glowing and radiant with her baby bump a couple of weeks ago. I didn't realize how closely we lived near each other until I made my way to her apartment last week to take a few maternity shots of her. We have been neighbors for almost three years and didn't even know it! 

We spent the afternoon catching up. N is a local but her English is really good so communication was easy.  She's due in a couple of months so I'm on pins and needles excited to see what see her baby will look like. 

A few shots from that afternoon. 

And doesn't she look a little bit like Mandy Moore? :)