Gifts from Malaysia

     Last month, I received a big parcel of gifts from my Malaysian friends in Jotun, most of them is coffee. They know I have become a coffee coinnosseur of sort after years of tasting them in Malaysia. They sent me coffee, tea and two glasses of prawn chili. The truth is I learned to drink coffee in Malaysia, as I grew up avoiding hot drinks as I sweat a lot. When I was growing up, I drank ice-cold drinks, preferably water, just like many other Filipinos. I was drinking soft drinks, Pepsi or Coke, that time, Pepsi was popular in the rural areas while Coke was for the city folks, which is not anymore today.

My Coffee Supply

     When I moved to Malaysia to work in 1993, I was so surprised very few, almost none of them, drink soft drinks. That's when I was introduced to many other local drinks mostly hot, which later I found out healthier than soft drinks. My local friends drank coffee so I learned to sip coffee from the local coffee shop, during those times, there was no Starbucks yet. And another surprise to me, was that men, mostly Muslims, go out at night to drink coffee, not beer or any other alcoholic beverage. Their being Muslim prevents them from consuming alcohol, so unlike in the Philippines where men gather at night, for sure it's going to be over alcoholic drinks.