Finally! After many weeks of planning to join this awesome community and failing, I am now here to share some of my memorable coffee moments - thanks to the Coffee and Coffee Shop Moments Posting Contest initiated by 
So, hello, fellas, it's me Arlyn. A self-professed coffee lover. I'd not call myself an addict but I can say that my day isn't complete without a caffeine kick.
Though it is my first time here in the CCC Community, there have been several instances that I have shared here in Hive my love for coffee. I mean, coffee is life, right?
But I know that you know that coffee is life-r when shared with good company.
Pre-Pandemic Coffee Dates
These days, my only coffee companion is my husband. No coffee shop - but only some nicely brewed coffee in the morning and early evening after he comes from work.
Before that, my constant dates were my "Weekdays Gang", called so because we do not wait for the weekends to get together and enjoy each other's company. We connected more frequently after having moved to different jobs - barring work commitments and distance.
There were times when we would start our escapades with a late lunch that would drag on to dinner, and then coffee. On a work day. Don't ask me how I did that on while on a 9-6 job. I find ways. 😜
We do not have a favorite coffee shop. My friend does a great job finding these hidden coffee shop gems in the city so when we get together, we would normally try these out upon his recommendation. One of them was The Chocolate Room which was actually just around my neighborhood but I wouldn't have tried it there on my own. That was actually a fun night - lots of catch up since one friend had just came back from a trip from S. Korea, and then the hilarious reaction of the other when coffee art on her cappuccino did not come out as expected.
No price for guessing which one was hers:
There would also be times when we would go chasing freebies like this free frostino at Costa . Can you imagine the stares we'd get as a group of five comes and each gets a free frap then stays at the coffee shop for several hours until closing time? But hey, don't get me wrong. We also pay for our coffee sometimes, but at a discounted rate. Thanks to Emirates perks at Costa courtesy of my friend. LOL. Still, we would stay until they close down at midnight.
Lately (as in towards the end of 2019 before the pandemic broke)
we found places where we could stay beyond midnight. These coffee shops also offer shisha (a waterpipe for vaporizing and smoking tobacco) so my two smoker friends (bad, bad, bad) didn't have to excuse themselves out to smoke. We would sit outdoors to enjoy the chilly desert winter, a nice cup of coffee, and a few rounds of tong-its.
Of course, no bets were involved because it is actually illegal to gamble here in the UAE. It was just for pure fun and really just to keep the conversations going. We'd do so until we part ways at 2AM. One friend would still have to drive back to Dubai, over 120 kms away from Abu Dhabi.
Pandemic is a biatch.
Since the pandemic broke, we never had the chance to get together again. There were travel restrictions where those who would come to Abu Dhabi had to show a green QR code to pass the border. That has recently been lifted so our Dubai friends can actually come visit here in Abu Dhabi without border checks, but coffee shops are limited by green QR codes too. So basically, even if they are able to come, we still won't be able to hang out our favorite restaurants and coffee shops like we used to do.
I miss my crazy friends. I miss exploring different coffees and coffee shops with them. I miss losing in tong-its. I miss the laughter, rants and banters about anything.
Then again, I am thankful to have had these memories with them and I look forward to making more memories with them in the future.
This is my entry to the Coffee and Coffee Shop Moments Posting Contest .
