I am a sucker for a good cup of black gold, a.k.a. coffee, actually that was one of the three main reasons that made me decide to move to Sydney in a first place (other two being LAFHA – due to be cancelled in couple of months and the weather – got rainiest summer in decades). So one constant in my Sydney life for the last 12 months, that has not let me down, is a good cup of coffee, it has lived up to its promises to keep me alert and twitchy throughout the day.
Where I work in North Sydney, I have about 20 decent coffee places to choose from within five minute walk and I’ve tried most of them. The one I’ve zoned in recently for the last couple of months is Campos. Is it the branding, banter or the beans, not sure, but it draws me back every time. And what I’ve noticed is that I was not the only one, I can see on my floor alone there’d be around 20 people every day strolling around with the nicely branded green campos cups.
It was a shame seeing all those cups going in the bin every day, so couple of us (thanks Jo), decided to collect them and make something fun out of it. You may ask why collect empty coffee cups? But who needs why when you have caffeine. So off we went. In last couple of weeks I’ve collected around 40 or so Campos cups, mostly mine and Jo, but couple of other colleagues (thanks V, Ilana and others) pitched in as well. As my desk was starting to attract more and more confused looks I decided to create something fun out of it (to make a point) and then switch to more environmentally friendly reusable cups to get my daily fix (no worries, still with Campos).
Here are couple of the images, the title photo is just the Campos tower on my desk covering my laptop, then I did some more arty look here and finally asked my office gangster Dru to make some mess, so he did. What do you think?
Posts Tagged 'coffee'
Campos experiment
Published May 11, 2012 Life 2 CommentsTags: love, mindshare, coffee, sydney, campos, north, daily fix
Hello Coffee, Goodbye Wheat
Published February 1, 2010 Life 3 CommentsTags: coffee, diet, experiment, food, Life, london, no, wheat
My month of obstination from coffee is over, and I’ve had 3 double espressos this morning already (just kidding, it’s only 2). The first sip was magic, the smell, the texture, the froth on top. Aghh, I think this vice will stay with me, but now at least I know I can do without it if I choose to, junkies should try it. Actually it was easier than I thought, no convulsions or anger parades, just that continuous tickling of the left ear, is that normal?
February is no wheat month for me, which means no cookies, no bread, no pasta, no beer, no noodles (except rice noodles), no breakfast cereal, no couscous, no porridge, no pies, the list could go on. That damn grain is everywhere.. that is why it’s so exciting. I’m not wheat intolerant, so no biggie if trace of it creeps in, but in general the aim is to cut it all out for a month and see how my diet changes and body responds. I already did my first wheat free shopping, it makes you think and come up with new dishes and ingredients instead of relying on the usual suspects.
I’m an addict
Published January 19, 2010 Life 4 CommentsTags: addict, caffeine, coffee, january, Life, no
My name is Ivars and I am an addict. OK, not that kind of addict (that’s just to get your attention, cheap, I know). I am addicted to coffee, so on Jan 1 2010 I stopped using it, along with all black teas, coke (sic!), energy drinks and anything else that contains caffeine.
The plan is simple, every month I cut out one of my addictions, for a month and monitor how I’m coping with that (and others around me). You could call it a little experiment. So the January is no coffee month, because I like to take the bull by it’s horns, as they say (do they?). I don’t smoke and drink only moderately, but I did use to have 4 double espressos a day. I know, I’ve been a bad boy.
So how do I feel 18 days in? Not bad, been subsiding on hot chocolate, green and peppermint teas and juices. This is for sure the longest ever period with no coffee intake since I was 12 and got hooked on that brown stuff. Any side effects? I started to doze off at 10pm every night, way early for usual me (12:30am). The low point? My knowledgeable colleagues at work today pointed it out that green tea in fact contains caffeine, lots of it, bugger. Will switch to cup-a-soups.
13 days to go, in my coffee free world, then in February it’s time for the next culprit to face the consequences, can’t tell you yet, but it’s a big one, getting excited already.
What about you, any addictions to fight?
Kosovo
Published September 17, 2009 Travel Leave a CommentTags: coffee, crime, kosovo, pristina, safety, suv's, Travel
Welcome to the newest independent country of the world – Republic of Kosovo, it is just a baby still, hardly 18 months old, not yet a fully recognized UN member, but set to become one in near future. It is surreal how things work on this side, the contrasts are everywhere. One moment I’m walking down the slum and column of military police cars are rushing buy, the next I’m siting in exquisite restaurant eating steak that is just as good as in any of the world metropolis, but half the price. It is a place of extreme contrasts and it took my be surprise, as the other Balkan countries offered much tamer experiences than expectations I had about them before visiting.
First off the bling – Kosovo probably has the second highest ratio of luxury cars per citizen in Europe (after Monaco). The black market here is way bigger the the grey or official one. There are latest BMW, Audi and Mercedes SUV’s on every corner, literally. You are what you drive.
Second – the unfinished buildings. At first I thought its just a big construction boom after independence, but apparently, as wise local explained to me, it’s more to do with property tax. None of the buildings are ever really finished, as then you need to pay the tax.
Then my favorite subject – coffee. You can not go wrong with it in any of the establishments here, Kosovo probably serves consistently better espressos that most cities in Italy, the homeland of coffee fanatics. And the best thing is that it will cost you 1 euro max, or between 50 to 80 euro cents in most places.
Finally, the myth about safety – based on my last two days here and after talking to some locals, I’m pretty sure that my survival rate here is considerably higher that living in South London. Foreigners rarely get into trouble here. Things have changed dramatically in last 10 years and unless you try to steal some business from local mafia, you are extremely unlikely to get hurt. Over and out.
