While cruising in China during the summer of 2015, I saw this native wearing this shirt which is my personal contribution to Oblivious People in Asia Wearing Racy English T-Shirts.
Of course origami from Starbucks is not going to be your typical folding paper. Instead, origami from Starbucks looks like this.
Starbucks Origami is a personal drip, single serve coffee in a foldout packet. Assemble the packet above a cup, pour in hot water, and get fresh brewed coffee. Convenient, fast, easy cleanup, kinda fun, but just average tasting for me anyways. The Veranda light roast is a little too light, and I should have used hotter water. One Origami packet filled half the pictured mug. Still though, this setup feels more authentic than using instant coffee crystals.
I picked these up in Hong Kong, but they were originally released in Japan back in 2010. I haven’t seen Starbucks Origami in any American stores, and I don’t think I will with the availability of Starbucks VIA Instant.
More pictures of the Starbucks Origami.
Seemingly, no matter where you go a Dew is a Dew is a Dew. Even in China, I knew this drink was a Mountain Dew (even with the hyper-neon bottle).
Being stuck in South Korea in the Incheon area for a day wasn’t such a bad situation afterall. There’s enough to keep you occupied, and the Incheon Airport itself is huge with many shops to pass the time. Of course there has to be a Starbucks at an airport, especially in Korea where Starbucks has flooded the market and infiltrated the Korean culture. But being in an airport, the queues for Starbuck fluctuated wildly. When I passed by, there was a line ten deep. However others in our group reported no lines at all.
Compared to the Summer Frappuccino push in mainland China, the juicy Macau, and the blueberry items in Hong Kong, South Korea Starbucks was promoting the Fizzio lineup. Yup, the carbonated Fizzio drinks were front and center.
Yuzu Iced Shaken Tea, Yogurt Juice with Mango Jelly, Lemongrass Tea Lemonade, Sweet Orange Black Tea Lemonade? Yup, all fizzified by the Fizzio machine. Looking at the dessert case, my guess is that chocolate pairs well with carbonated fruity teas?
As a snack for the plane ride, there’s packaged pear.
Had I more space in our luggage, I would have bought mugs from South Korea – a lot more colorful and decorative than the selection in China.
I think I need to return to South Korea one day and do more Starbucks exploring…
While stuck in South Korea for a day due to plane problems, I saw this at the Grand Hyatt pool side snack bar and didn’t know what it was. What was this candy cane shaped item?
Turns out, this “candy cane” is actually upside down and is supposed to be oriented like the letter “j.” Called Jipangyi, this is an ice cream cone where the ice cream is injected into the j-shaped cone. With this shape, spilling ice cream is supposed to be reduced at the cost of looking strange, eating this tubular treat.
Play-J ice cream! The new shape of ice cream is now available in NYC! #jscream #???????? pic.twitter.com/dvKR6W0w3J
— playjscream (@PlayJscream) April 17, 2015
This cone isn’t limited to Korea however, as the fad has caught on in New York thanks to the Play-J food truck. I should have YOLO-ed the moment and jammed a Jipangyi in my pie hole because what happens in Korea stays in Korea…
One block away from BP International in Hong Kong is a seemingly small Starbucks location on Nathan Road. Once you enter however, you’ll see a Starbucks about twice as big as regular shops. There’s the front window section which is typically sized. Then there’s the coffee bar. Then there’s the back seating area that’s almost as big as the front. All in all, a deceptively big store (for a Starbucks).
Blueberry seems to have been the flavor profile for Hong Kong. No blueberry drinks per se, but lots of blueberry pastries and baked goods. I would have gone for a slice of the blueberry cheesecake but just got a Ristretto Bianco instead.
There was a cool, multi-paneled wall art illustrating coffee plants that nearly stretched across the length of the entire store.
Interestingly, ordering at Starbucks is relatively simple. I guess the lexicon of Starbucks and coffee is universal. Of course, all the drink names are known by the baristas. When I asked for non-fat milk, the worker replied, “Oh, you mean a skinny.” One small change I learned was “no whip (cream)” is just “no cream.”
Oh and hey, Starbucks is celebrating 15 years in Hong Kong. There are a several promotional items for this event tagged #HAPi15th (not sure why the capitalization is as such). Here’s a color-changing #HAPi15th mug.
While in China and Hong Kong, I noticed a few different menu items at local Starbucks. One of these items was a Ristretto Bianco drink. Not knowing what it was, I ordered it. After a few sips, I thought to myself, “flat white.” Sure, enough, Ristretto espresso shots and foamy makes for a flat white, but I didn’t look for the decorative artwork.
Anyways while I enjoyed the familiarity of a Starbucks Flat White, drinking a hot drink and walking in the humid Hong Kong climate wasn’t such a great combination. Thankfully the air is cold and crisp at BP International.
Our Samsonite luggage took a beating on the many HIChina15 plane rides. So much so that one wheel’s outer covering was lost, and the other is starting to split. I know you can replace the roller wheels so I searched Amazon for “samsonite replacement luggage wheels.”
I don’t understand why, but here is part of my screenshot of the search results.
I’m afraid to look further…
Before you enter the casino area at the Venetian Hotel in Macau, you need a boost to fortify your gambling frame of mind. No better way than making a stop at the 24-hour Starbucks right next to the casino entry.
A good sized location but not huge, but no matter if you’re just going to down your caffeine and get back to gambling. Free wifi for 30 minutes using the code on your receipt. Had too much caffeine? Detox by drinking fruit juices instead, and don’t forget that when using cash, your change will be in Macau’s pataca currency.
A few more pics on Flickr.
Before heading out for our #HIChina15 tour, I looked up Starbucks locations near our hotels. Luckily, one of the newest Starbucks flagship stores in China is at the Kerry Center. This two story location features a very unique interior design with coffee bars on both floors.
It’s here I sampled the Discover a Sip of Summer promotions exclusive to China. Being late in the evening, I opted for the less caffeinated Summer Berry Italian Panna Cotta Frappuccino. As you can expect, this drink is sweet, and the panna cotta layer was akin to drinking a boba or jelly drink. Kinda distracting sucking up a chunk of jelly when you’re not expecting it. And yes, it was very berry-ful tasting.
For those who are fearful of drinking the water in China, don’t worry. This Starbucks location offers up filtered water from a stone basin.
Check out a few more pictures of the Starbucks Kerry Center location.
The kickoff to our family trip to China, Macau, and Hong Kong was marred with the threat of MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome). Planned months in advance, this trip was going to happen and unfortunately, the outbreak of MERS coincided with our #hichina15 travel plans. Flying on Korean Airlines, there was a short one hour stop over in Korea, transiting to China.
These N95 rated respirator masks
Really, it’s HyperFr3sh with the number 3 replacing the letter “e” but you know what Nike means.
Kinda interesting looking, but I passed. Not a fan of that fat heel look though I like that tropical motif. Available in Hong Kong right now and supposedly coming to the States in July.