San Nicolas | Tribeca Coffee

Written and photographed
  • by
  • Vhincci Subia
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  • A cozy-and-comfy break after a cheap-and-cheesy day!



    Practice. It entails a lot of hardwork. Patience. Sweats. Then, most of it, murmurs. Grumbles. And complaints.

    Graduation. Exciting as they say. And I must say, "Yes! I'm excited!" Didn't expect to be as exciting as this. Well, excitement goes in a higher level for health sciences students, like us, nursing students, with two graduation - the clinical and the mass. 

    First stop, is our clinical graduation. Aside from those academics, lectures and school activities, we are also winding down our Related Learning Experience (RLE) activities in the clinical. Duties in the ward, operating room, delivery room; caring for our patients; practicing head nursing - all of these are finishing off, coming to an end with this ceremony, the clinical graduation.

    In order to come up with an exceptional program and to observe some formality, we are to practice then all the parts of the program. From the graduation song, the university hymn, the processional, sitting, standing, taking a bow and a lot more. Now, this is really tiring.

    First day, I didn't attend the said practice. The next day, I tried to attend the practice. And Oh Lord! We were placed under the scorching sun. There's no venue for the practice. Just in the ground. In the open parking lot. In a brown-colored fine soil covered area. Dusty. And eeew! What do they want? To serve us hot, smoked and grilled on the graduation? This is not a cooking show! It's a not a competition either! So why achieved perfection? We're doing our best. And this is enough!

    P.S. The audio. The sound system sucks! Annoying. Irritating.

     
     

    After that mind-numbing practice, I and my two girl friends decided to take a break. To wind up! Oh Yeah!

    Let's go to Robinsons Ilocos. It has been a year and few months, I think, when we had this true mall in Ilocos. And as if it was still the same the day they opened it to the public. Few choices and few choices. That's all! Why won't they build one like Mall of Asia, Mega Mall or Robinsons Ermita (Mla)? Ilocos Norte can afford that. I am sure. Oh! com' on. Marcos, please...

    Frustrated to find some great stuff. We took our snacks. Shawarma. Hmmm.

    Then, we went to 365 plaza. There, we opened the clear transparent door. Of a coffee shop.

    Coffee at early night? Caffeine. Not perfect at the moment. But I loved the experience. Our experience in Tribeca.

     
     

    You may have heard it's name, being famous. Well, it came from Manhattan's most charming neighorhood, Tribeca.

    Tribeca in New York, is a neighborhood of cobbledstoned streets, world-famous restaurants and historic warehouse buildings converted to multi-million dollar lofts. (About) Its name is a portmanteau composed of the words "Triangle below Canal Street", and is properly bounded by Canal Street, West Street, Broadway, and Chambers Street. (Wikipedia)

    Now, Tribeca in Ilocos Norte, is a coffee shop serving the best coffees in Ilocos Norte. It is not related to the Tribeca in New York or to any coffee shop. Not a branch. But perhaps an original idea of the owner inspired by the real Tribeca place.

     
     

    Tribeca is expediently situated at the right side of the national highway when going north, beside McDonald, few steps away from Robinsons Ilocos, with minutes-to-travel neighbor Laoag City Internatonal Airport and the Fort Ilocandia Resort Hotel. It is located at Brgy. 1 San Franciso, San Nicolas, Ilocos Norte, as part of 365 plaza, a center complex.

    They have a great menu. They offer expresso, hot coffee, cold coffee, frappes, pastries, pasta and sandwiches. 

    Coffees include Cafe Americano, Cafe Latte, Cappuccino, Cafe Mocha amounting from Php 75 (Regular) to Php 150 (Upsizefor real-hot coffees and Php 100 for iced-cold coffees .

    My favorite expresso based blended desserts, their coffee frappes, include Mocha Caramel, Cookies and Cream, Choco-Macadamia, Chocolate Mint, Hazelnut and Black Forest, for Php 110-120 (16 oz) and Php 125-135 (20 oz). Kids frappes (Caffeine-Free) are also available.

    They also have the best BTS (Better Than Sex) cake and their talk-of-the-town blueberry cheesecake, for Php 98 and Php 120 respectively.

    The place defines what a cozy-and-comfy break is. They have relaxing dim-colored lights and comfortable sofas with their brick-styled wall. It is also a wifi zone. Fashion, home, lifestyle, nature and travel magazines are also available to read for free. Chocolate bars and snack crackers are available at the counter. And Oh! Lollipops too. The staffs/servers are also very approachable and accomodating. The coffee shop conveniently opens in the morning and closes midnight or later.

    Wow! What else can I say? This place made my dream, of having my own coffee shop, to live again.

    Fun and photographs...









    20 comments:

    Through The Lens said...

    Nice blog :D very lovely
    Best greetings from Denmark :)

    www.mycameraslens.blogspot.com

    Kim, USA said...

    At last na ka pag follow na ako, been trying to figure this out for days hehe. Thanks for the visit!!

    Vhincci Subia said...

    Thank you for dropping by Through The Lens! Have seen your blog. Great photos! :)

    Vhincci Subia said...

    Manang Kim. Thank you for the visit and follow... :)

    youth_in_asia said...

    Love the back story. I was going to ask if it was based on Tribeca in New York. I stayed there just a few months ago, actually (Ave. of the Americas). Wonderful area.

    Glad you found some time to relax with friends and grab a coffee. To be honest, I am a big fan of a coffee or two before I go out for the night. The caffeine boost can keep you moving.

    Peter said...

    Very interesting Blog - love TriBeca- thanks for you comment too!

    Vhincci Subia said...

    Jon. Haven't been to Tribeca in New York so I can't say if this coffee shop is really based on the avenue. As well as, I haven't talked to the owner of the place, but for sure, he/she have this fondness to Tribeca in New York...

    Yes, I'm glad we had the time and I have them as my friends too... :)

    Vhincci Subia said...

    Thank you Peter! You're welcome to visit anytime. :)

    LV said...

    Congratulations on your graduation. I trust you find what you really are looking for in your career. My sister is a registered nurse. I could not be one. I am too tender a heart. Looks like you and friends had a good time regardless. Enjoyed learning about some of the places you have been.

    Vhincci Subia said...

    Thank you LV! :)

    Yes, we had a good time. We're happy, after four years of busy days, we are now graduating... :)

    emmanuelmateo said...

    are you here at ilocos right now?well i've been there.. that place is so relaxing talaga..naimas ti makan.jeje

    Crazy Life of a Writing Mom said...

    You take THE BEST pictures! Now I want to go get coffee with my friends ;)

    youth_in_asia said...

    Vhincci, thanks for the comments on my blog. You asked about color isolation. I usually do it one of two ways. The first (and easiest) is to just use Adobe Lightroom to set the saturation on each of the unwanted colors to -100. It takes a matter of seconds. That's what I did with that photo. The only red in the picture was on the tower, so I set the saturation on all of the other colors to -100 (which gives you a grayscale look) and left red at 0.

    Now, if I have a LOT of a certain color (say Red, like red leaves on trees and a red ball) and I only want a tiny portion to be in color (the ball), I use CS5 to edit it. It's still simple. Basically, make two copies of the same photo. One in color, and one completely black and white. Open the color version of the photo in CS5 and create new layer on top of the color one using the black and white photo. Then simply use the eraser tool to "erase" the portion of the black and white photo where the ball is (or whatever object you want colored). Then you'll have a black and white photo with only the section you choose in color.

    The lightroom method is easier, but sometimes the CS5 one is necessary. I think you can do it with freeware like Gimp if you don't use photoshop.

    The Write Girl said...

    This is an interesting read. I enjoyed my visit here. Thanks for your visit on my site :)

    Vhincci Subia said...

    Emman. Yes, I'm in Ilocos. I stay here. :)

    Vhincci Subia said...

    Thank you for the compliments Elisa and The Write Girl! :)

    Thank you for the reply Jon. That is so nice of you. :)

    Christian | Lakad Pilipinas said...

    Looks like a good competition for starbucks ah

    Vhincci Subia said...

    @Christian - To date, Tribeca is the best coffee shop in Ilocos Norte. Kasi wala pang Starbucks dito. But in a month now, Starbucks will be opening in Laoag. So, there will be a competition talaga.

    Anonymous said...

    san naman source mo jan?

    Vhincci Subia said...

    @Anonymous - About that Starbucks thing, I'm sorry... Starbucks didn't open in Laoag as I've expected.

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