Trying the first store and learning business with a cup

I was rushing to catch the next mass celebration but I was still late. The next celebration is more than an hour wait so I thought of doing my groceries first and finding somewhere to wait for the next mass. That was when I remembered this tea house which I passed by during my previous visit.

This promotional tarp is displayed beside the entrance to the left. I wondered what flavor and cup size it is for but I can not avail of the promo so I did not bother to know.

I left my grocery bags on the chair of the first table to the right by the entrance and went straight to the counter. A guy greeted me as I approached. I just smiled back and looked at the menus in between us.

This menu right in front of me has sandwiches and other snack bites.

I looked at the next menu to the right beside the first one and I saw bread sticks.

"I came for tea. Why am I greeted by sandwishes and breads?" I asked while still staring at the bread stick menu.

The guy over the counter laughed.

Then I turned my attention to the menu on the wall, next to the bread sticks.

"There you go, ma'am. You're on the right menu."

"Oh, okay. So what do you recommend?" I can't figure what I was looking at. I know there are tea options but the details were not registering.

"You can try Okinawa or Dark Choco, ma'am. What's your type, tea or frappe?"

"Tea. And let's try the dark choco." I had the Okinawa at Moon Pekoe Tea last time so let's have something else.

A woman in black came out and asked cup size and sugar level of my order. I ordered for the medium cup and zero sugar. But then I had a second thought. I wonder if the dark choco maybe bitter if it is pure cocoa so I asked.

"Ah, wait... Won't the choco be bitter if there is totally no sugar? Or is your tea powder already mixed with sugar?"

The guy answered, "maybe it will be safe if we put even a little of sugar."

"Okay, ten per cent then."

Then I took a photo of the menu overhead. I noticed the black motif.

I asked how long have they been in operation. The guy answered.

"About three months already, ma'am. Why, is this your first time to be here? Ah, so we should serve you something really good!" He asked and answered directly to my unspoken answer to his question.

"Yes! My tea should really be good so I will come back." I laughed.

While my tea was being prepared I went out to take photos from the front of the store. When I positioned my phone, a woman in mustard blouse was standing over one of the tables and exclaimed.

"Wait, ma'am! I don't want to be included in the photo!"

"Ah, why not? You should actually pose in there!" I motioned for her to go back but she laughed and continued to come to my side, away from the camera len's reach.

"Ah, I can't take photo including the name on the roof." I thought I whispered but she heard it.

"Ah yeah, no. It's too near." She answered on my right.

"Unless I take one from across the street." But I did not want to cross.

"Unless you do panoramic shot, ma'am." She said while looking at my camera. She was seeing how much the lens can cover.

"Why haven't I thought of that?" I asked myself.

"Ah, not like that." She said again. I was holding the phone upright then suddenly tilted it.

"There! Like that!" She meant the landscape orientation.

I did a couple of vertical panoramic shots while she was following my camera movement. On both shots, she was saying "There, nice! Except this one." She pointed at the head of the motorcycle blocking the "Buy 2 Take 1" promo. It's fine. I can not move it.

After the shots, I asked her.

"What is Chabee Cup? Is this a franchise or what?"

"Not yet a franchise, ma'am. But we are working on it. We will actually be opening the second branch soon."

Ah, I am talking to either the owner or one of the owners. And she's cool!

"Second branch? So this is the first. Where are you opening up the second one?"

"Terminal one, at the arrival area." She meant at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport or NAIA.

"Nice!"

While we were talking outside, along the sidewalk, the guy from the counter came out carrying my cup of tea with the straw and pieces of table napkin. I laughed.

"Wow! I haven't even paid and you're tailing me with my tea!"

The woman laughed too. "Ah, that's why ma'am. You're being chased." She meant I'm being chased for my payment.

I went in and occupied my waiting table with my tea. I am not sure of the content of the cup but I first thought it seems smaller than the ones I had in other stores. Then I looked at it again. I think it is the same. My impression of it to be smaller couled be effect of illusion because of the curved side to the bottom of the cup. All cups I had seen have straight diagonal line to the bottom.

I was about to punch the cup seal when I held my hand in the air. I can't just punch at Happy without taking a photo.

"Oh, 'my name is Happy.' That's cute."

The woman was already at the counter and the guy took the table right in front of the counter. "These couple must be the owners of this store," I thought.

No matter what, I had to punch Happy. And as usual with my previous experienced with me teas, this one is very sweet. The 10% seemed 110% to my standard.

"Ah, it's so sweet. I should have went on with zero sugar earlier." I said to no one but the guy certainly heard it. He seem so surprised and turned to me.

"Yes, it is so sweet. I don't even taste the bitterness of the dark choco that I was 'afraid of' earlier. Next time, I will really have zero sugar. " I re-emphasized the sweetness.

"Oh, so you're really not into something sweet. I put creamer to that ma'am."

"Not if it just really tastes like sugar. But yes, I appreciate the creamer. It somehow puts something nice to sweetness and not just plain sugar." I thought.

The guy left, came back with this electric fan and fixed on towards me.

"Ah, thank you! I thought I was starting to sweat." I thought.

Then the woman in mustard came out and occupied the table to my left. While sitting down, she asked.

"Let me asked you, ma'am. Would you prefer that this area is closed with air conditioning or just open like this with the fresh air?"

I did not want to comment on it since I arrived but now I am being asked. There goes my chance to speak up and my privilige to provide inputs.

"Well, we are in Metro Manila where it is hot by default so for me, I'd rather have it enclosed with air conditioning. It is just okay now because it is already evening and not so hot."

"Yeah, and we are not yet in summer time." She agreed.

"Yap. Just try to imagine how hot it can get by then." Our regular temperature range at day time is 25°C - 27°C. It can get higher than 30°C in summer.

"Okay. I think I will do that, to make a survey from our customers. So that is one-zero," she said. One feedback to have the area enclosed with air conditioning and zero for the other option.

"Ah, so I'm the first one you asked?"

"Yes. I will get more feedbacks from now on."

That's very good sense of customer service!

"Do you own this place?" I asked. I wonder what it is to me but somehow I got comfortable making conversation with her.

"We are renting this one. We will also be renting the one at terminal one."

"So how much will be your franchise cost?"

She beamed at the thought of the franchise.

"None yet, ma'am. It will depend on what our consultant will advise us."

"Maybe you can give me an idea now? Even at least an estimate."

"Ma'am, give me your number and I will let you know when it is ready."

I have been asking for the sake of conversation but when she asked for my number, "why not?" I thought to myself. That is for the possible business opportunity. Maybe I can diversify from IT and real estate (and Steem?).

"It's fine. I will be passing by here from time to time. Maybe I will drop by again to get some news."

I turned my attention to my drink. She went over the counter and inside the door behind it. I stood to pay for my tea to their crew.

"Let me pay now as I might just run anytime. At least I have paid already when I do that." The crew was smiling. She was wearing black shirt which I thought is her uniform matching the motif of the menus.

When my cup was about half full, the woman in mustard came out and asked if I want more tea to dilute it if it is really sweet for me.

Wow! I really admired the sense of customer service. While I love the idea, I declined. I want to avoid looking for a place to relieve my bladder in the middle of mass celebration later.

She came and occupied the table in front of me. We continued chatting.

"Are you from here, ma'am?" she asked.

"Just one of the nearby villages around. Why don't you know the place? Where are you from?" I asked her back.

She mentioned a place where she said they are renting their place. It is few villages from here.

"We used to stay in Project 6 but then we decided to rent here nearby because the trip is so tiring every day." Project 6 is in Quezon City which is north of Metro Manila. We are in the south.

"Wow! It seems you've been traveling from north to south every day. Why? Are you working nearby?"

"We work at the airport." I wonder who are "we" but that answers my unspoken question as to why they chose the airport for their second branch.

"Is this a family-owned business?" I asked again.

"Just us. My partner and I." She pointed to the counter but their crew is the one over there. She meant the guy who went inside a door behind the counter.

"But you know what? There are already many of you having the milk tea business along this street." It was not a threat but I was just stating facts.

"Yeah, there are already seven of us!" she exclaimed.

Now she got me. I said many competitors but I did not know that there are seven of them. I thought lesser.

"When we started, we were just the fourth milk tea shop here. Now there are seven of us." She emphasized.

She continued, "The very first two tea shops here are the small ones."

Yeah, I know those two.

"Briel and Froo Tea," I said.

"I am not sure of the first one. What is it?"

"Briel." I answered then spelled it out. I also described its interior.

"Okay, then here came Bon Appetea." She answered.

"That one, Bon Appetea is enclosed and fully air-conditioned," I thought.

"After that, there is this InfiniTea near the city hall but it is just a kiosk."

The city hall is few blocks away from our location. It was last December 2018 when I stepped in front of it so I do not think that InfiniTea was already there back then.

She continued her counting of her competitors, "then there is the one that opened up near KFC."

I frowned and wondered, "is there a milk tea shop near KFC?" KFC is near the highway at the start of San Antonio Avenue.

"There is. That Moon Pekoe Tea."

Moon Pekoe Tea is already going further inside the avenue from the highway and I was not considering it as near KFC but okay.

"Ah, Moon Pekoe Tea! Yes! The one sharing the stall with Misuta Gyoza." Then I described the interior too.

She looked at me. I guess I just revealed to her that I have been going through each of the milk tea houses around.

"The latest one is that one near BDO. The 'Thirst Day'." She concluded her counting of her competitors.

I thought I heard Thursday.

"Thursday? Of all business names, why just a name of a day?"

"It's thirst," she emphasized.

"I see." So that is Thirst Day. Something that I can try maybe next time that I pass by here.

She knows the competition which tells me that she is also studying the market out there. That is how a business should be ran!

We were having a good chat when a group of customers suddenly came in. She excused herself.

"It's okay. Go ahead." I answered as she was already standing and went over the counter to help their crew.

"Ah, these people came from the church. The mass celebration is over. It's time for me to go for the next one," I thought as I started gathering my bags. I wanted to say "thank you" to her or at least anyone of them but everyone is already busy. I just uttered my appreciation to myself and got out.

Looking back from right outside the store, I wished I can exclaim my appreciation from there but still, everyone is occupied.

One thing that I love about businesses is when the owners reach out and hear their customers. Even if they mean business by socializing, it still makes a big difference from customer standpoint when business folks establish rapport.

One thing that kept me thinking when I left the store is the opportunity for business. Now that needs more thinking...

The price of the milk tea? Why, I haven't bothered.

On my way out to the highway after the mass celebration, I spotted Thirst Day in the area as that Chabee Cup ownerhas described.

"I'll try what you got to offer next time," I thought.

Chabee Cup
137 San Antonio Avenue
San Antonio Valley 1
1715 Parañaque City
Metro Manila
Philippines

---

Restaurant Information

Chabee Cup

Unit 2, Alvias Building, San Antonio Avenue, San Antonio, Parañaque, 1700 Metro Manila, Philippines

---

Trying the first store and learning business with a cup
This post participated in the Tasteem contest Beverages with friends

What is Tasteem?