Cafes have mushroomed in Singapore in recent years. Every time I opened up my Instagram, there are bound to be a few friends that I follow who are posting photos of their cafe food and coffee art.
Which leads to me think, what is keeping this cafe culture alive? I always love the comfort of my home and it just didn’t make any sense to me to spend hours in a cafe, or go around cafe hopping. My curiosity got the better of me and I decided to make a trip to a cafe to investigate this little case of mine.
Dressed in my stars printed boyfriend jeans, a pink sleeveless tank top, and a pair of New Balance sneakers, I deem myself casual and relaxed enough to fit in the cafe crowd. I headed off to my destination equipped with a laptop, a kindle, a notebook and a pen. Not forgetting my camera and phone, because it is the in thing to Instagram my coffee art and all day breakfast isn’t it?
1.45pm: Already did a google search before I left home and shortlisted some cafes that offer free Wifi. I picked one and headed to my destination and found a fantastic corner seat with a great view and swing chairs. I was quite surprised that the cafe was pretty crowded for a weekday afternoon.
1.50pm: Lo and behold the power of social media. I checked in on my Instagram earlier and my secondary school senior knew that I was around the area. She messaged me on Facebook and came over to look for me for a short catch up! How awesome! I asked her about cafe hopping and she told me that she can cafe hop as many as 3 cafes a day! That is how powerful the cafe hopping culture is I guessed.
My senior from secondary school.
2.10pm: Ordered a cup of Flat White for myself. Just next to me were two Japanese girls who were there before me. They had apparently finished their drinks long ago and were sitting on the swing chairs chit-chatting. Sitting diagonally in front of me was a young man, sketching the surroundings on his sketchbook. Not the typical good looking man, but his artistic nature definitely increased his charms. A mother and her secondary school daughter were sitting at the table on my left. They were both indulged in their iPhones and only looked up occasionally to chit chat.
2.20pm: I was starting to get a little bored and started noticing the soothing music that was playing in the background.
2.35pm: Two teenage girls walked into the cafe, ordered a drink and a cake each and started working on their laptops. Looked like they were doing their school work.
2.40pm: Mummies gathering! A few mummies with their kids gathered. One of the little boys wanted to join me on my swing chair since there were only two in the cafe. Of course I agreed!
3.15pm: Spotted the two teenage girls taking a break from the school work and doing some online shopping on their laptops. How nice it is to have a friend help you to decide which dress is a better buy.
3.20pm: An OL looking lady settled down and ordered a coffee, opened up her laptop and started working on it. She was on the phone and through her conversations, I am guessing that she came here because she was in between appointments. Sorry I didn’t mean to eavesdrop but it was a little loud. Oops.
3.45pm: A couple came in to have some coffee and cakes. They were holding hands as they were having their food. Didn’t stay very long though.
4.10pm: The two Japanese girls left. Its 2 hours and 15 minutes since I sat down and they were already here before me. They were chatting all these time. I guessed gathering and catching up with friends is one of the main activities going on in here.
4.15pm: Sketchbook guy left. I should update that after he finished his sketches, he went on to read a book. I really wanted to take a look at what he was drawing but I was too shy to ask!
4.20pm: I decided to open up my laptop to start writing this post instead of putting my notes in my notebook. Made a mental note to myself to remember to look up to observe the surrounding. And I think I should order one more coffee and a cheesecake.
5.00pm: Time to pack up and continue my work somewhere else. I want to avoid the after work and peak hour crowd that will be coming in for sure.
That ended me playing Sherlock Holmes for my little investigative adventure at a cafe. I was intrigued by my observations. Whenever I visit cafes, I’ll either be having my meals or chit-chatting over coffee with friends. I have never noticed what others do at cafes, especially people who goes there alone. Total time spent here — 3 hours 15 minutes.
And right at this moment, two other teenage girls came in and took the seat of the two Japanese girls who left a while ago.