Kapeng Barako and Vegetarian Coffee

Somewhere along Silang --on km 53 Aguinaldo Highway -- is a quaint shop selling kapeng barako or local coffee. It's aptly called "Kapeng Barako". This is where you can find local ground coffee as well as coffee beans. They also sell decaf beans!

The owners are friendly and you only need to call out upon entering their store, "Kapeng barako please!" so they can prepare you a fresh cuppa, on the house! Now that's service!

You can also find an assortment of vegetarian coffee and "veggiemeat", cocoa tablea and powder, tea leaves, and even freshly picked tomatoes and other vegetables. I was also able to buy a tea steeper for only P150 - this sells for P279 in Robinson's. Oh, and before I forget, you will also find different brands of imported coffee, all selling for just P450. Their secret? They have relatives abroad who send them coffee and paraphernalia, thus the lower prices.

There are no places to sit so just browse around, have your free coffee and be sure to buy a pack of coffee. After all, they grow and roast their own beans, and there's nothing like locally made barako. Since the coffee is grown in their own land, the prices are hard to beat.

How to get there? En route to Tagaytay, make a right on the narrow road right across Discovery Country Suites. Make a right at the end of the road, where Amira's Buko Shop is. Be on the look out after that because the coffee shop is just around fifty meters ahead, to your right. You will also find another coffee place right beside Kapeng Barako which I haven't checked out yet. That will be our next stop.

Meanwhile, if you want to find out what else they sell before heading out to their shop, you may call Ailine de los Santos Dimapilis or Marcial Rojales Dimapilis, Jr. at 0917-738-9982.

CDR King Megamall -- the King of Bad Customer Service

I guess the title says it all -- CDR King in SM Megamall tops my list (for now) of really bad or non-existent customer service.

It is unfortunate that we can get the cheapest gadget and gadget peripherals in this store. Apparently, they do not earn enough profit to train their customer service people. It's mind boggling and downright frustrating!

Upon entering the well-lit and relatively spacious store, you look around and after a minute, realize that there is no system in place. You spot about five uniformed staff walking back and forth behind the counters, busy trying to look busy, while ignoring the countless customers wating in a non-existent queue. And here's what takes the cake...when we and other customers asked what we needed to do, they told us to fall in line! Whaaat??? Uh, last time I checked, there WAS NO LINE!

There was also a marked disinterest, almost apathy, among all of the staff to really attend to their customers' need. CDR King, what is up??? At least a queue exists in their branch in Festival Mall, no matter how long it may be. But their branch in Megamall is the pitts! They ought to pay more attention to their customers and train their staff to do a much better job.

We ended up buying some stuff we needed at another store at a higher price. But hey, that's the price we pay for better customer service.