%Arabica, McKinley

The day before our visit was super rainy so I was expecting at least a little rain that day but… Hello, Mr. Sun. I was looking forward to a cup of hot coffee so I suggested the very good Arabica coffee for my and J’s morning date (lol we were just doing some docs). He got his usual hot coffee, but I was suddenly not in the mood to I got myself an iced mocha. Iced mocha??? Wth, watyu doin’, May???

I’ve had the Arabica coffee before, in a bottle and to-go cups. And since their opening in Manila in 2018, it’s just now that I got to actually dine and enjoy a cookie and coffee inside a branch.

This branch has permanently closed as of January 2022

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Hey there! My name’s May and you can view more about me here. I travel a lot for both work and leisure. Thanks to being an auditor and a content creator and, of course, to my love for travel, I barely feel I’m actually at work when traveling. And if I’m actually off work, I usually am with friends or family, discovering places and trying out new food. I’m juggling three jobs – the two mentioned + being a single mom. You think it’s easy? Of course not! But what glues me together is my passion and love for these three. More about my story here.

I love sharing what I know and how I do things, so if you haven’t read these yet, visit the following pages to view:

As you know, since the work from home situation, I’ve been trying to balance my stay at home and outside so I can make time focusing on my ~very~ demanding job. Not complaining! I love my job, it’s just that I need time and space vs the chores and being a mom staying at home. And as much as I feel guilty leaving my three-year-old girl with her tita taba and tito bubuy and lolo daddy and wowa, I also need at least a day or two per week to actually focus my 8-5 for work without unrelated breaks for doing some house chores.

“It’s just money, you’ll earn it,”

“Do not prioritize your job instead of your kid, they only are kids for some time,”

Exactly why I am trying so hard to juggle my two roles. I know I won’t notice but few years from now I need more money for highschool, college, and more to keep my kid up-to-date with the resources she would need for her studies. I know it’s a cliche movie scene, but two days per week is just what I am asking. So please, don’t judge me. Especially if you’re not a single mother, the family’s provider, and a dreamer.

But before this blog ends up to my life updates and dramas, let’s get into the thing I was supposed to share – coffee.

There are three Arabica branches in Manila as of date of feature. One in Ortigas and two in BGC.

J needed some help on some documents he will need, and I needed some space that day, so we went out. I searched for coffee shops nearby and finally decided to visit %Arabica McKinley branch honestly because I am out of options already last minute. Lol (I knew I needed to update my cafe directory! I’m sharing my Notion page in this blog soon, so visit my blog more often! :p)

Unfortunately, I’m not sure if the same with other branches, but this branch does not have their guest wifi available that day (or maybe throughout the COVID season). I knew they were allowing guests to connect to their wifi before so I thought our stay would be more productive. Plus, to control the crowd, they reminded us hat we have only 30 minutes to stay inside and enjoy (with pressure! kidding) our coffee. Which I understand, I mean SB does the same this season. But I really appreciate cafes who let their guests stay longer especially when they ordered snacks or coffee that could be better enjoyed in a slow pace.

The overall experience is still nice, though. After a while, we went window shopping for books and I suddenly felt a lot better. What about a little book haul from the 13th month?

Arabica has three branches in the Philippines as of feature. We have visited the branch at 257 McKinley 7th Ave, corner 25th St, BGC, Taguig. You may follow their social media for more updates, Arabica Philippines on Facebook and @arabica.ph on Instagram.

How about you?

Have you been to Arabica yet? Or do you have recos on the perfect cafe for remote work or remote online study? Let me know your thoughts!

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