Sitting at a Starbucks

I know right, sacrilege! The Americanos made with their “blond roast” could best be described as… inoffensive. But occasionally I do make the trip over with the laptop or a book. There’s something about the experience. The wooden tables, that specific pastry smell, the music they play, the whirring sound of the blenders, the hushed Mandarin and Japanese being spoken. It’s as though I’m right back in KL or Singapore in 2008. It’s a trip. It’s amazing to me how much the Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf has evolved over time, but that Starbucks remains so much the same. As I get older, it’s one of the only remaining things that still is. (As an aside, this is why Clara and make a beeline for the nearest Doutor when we’re in Japan. Are they the best? No. But that’s not the point). By Ruben Schade in Sydney, 2026-08-15.