When I first came to Hong Kong I was wondering why there were so many coffee houses in the city. I thought that as an Asian country, Hong Kong citizens would prefer drinking tea instead of coffee.
So why did I see a Starbucks or the Asia Pacific competitor Pacific Coffee on almost every corner of the street?
It was a little while later when I figured it out, when I actually became part of the so called "Coffee House" generation.
Most of you know by now that I spend a reasonable amount of time behind my computer for work, to communicate with my friends and family abroad, or to write for my blog. Sitting behind the computer is for me no problem, however, doing that at home every day gets quite boring.
Sometimes you need a little change of environment, and especially a good couch (mine is awful at home) and some fresh coffee. So where to find a place that meets these requirements? Right.. Starbucks or Pacific Coffee.
These coffee houses have popped up like mushrooms in a forest, and can be found on most street corners and big shopping malls. When you visit one here in Hong Kong, you will notice they all offer comfortable couches, relaxing music, and free wifi. And since they opened, they are attracting more and more young people who not only come there to have a chat and drink a cup of coffee, but bring their laptop, study books or even portable DVD players, and stay there alone or in groups until closing time.
I've seen people studying, doing work on their laptop, watching movies, skype with their friends abroad, sleeping (for 3 hours), having meetings and even do babysitting. The coffee house seems to be another house extension that I was talking about in my earlier blog post. Certainly most people stay longer than 3 hours, and therefore occupy half of the cafe while only drinking one cup of coffee,ice tea or frappucino.
I assume it is due to the fact that the Hong Kong houses are quite small, and that it sometimes may be hard to find a quiet place at home, if you are living with your brothers, sisters, parents and grandparents in a 70sq. meter apartment. Therefore a "quiet" coffee place with your own couch can be quite comfortable.
Typical Example: On the left a couple watching a movie, On the right a guy doing his work on his computer |
The girls at the counter already greet me by the name, (which one cleverly remembered from my credit card). "Welcome back Mr. Andersen, do you want the regular today"?
.. Sigh.. "Yes please!"
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