Coffee Academics (Hong Kong) - Wanderlust
O, Wanderess, Wanderess
When did you feel your most euphoric kiss?
Was I the source of your greatest bliss?
- Roman Payne
The familiar flutterings of wanderlust has begun to stir up inside of me.
Without fail, after some time has passed, I find myself replying to my friends' inquiries about work and life with a restless "I just want to shake things up." It gets harder to sleep at night as I think about all the things I should be doing and how I want to do none of them. I long to feel the tingling of anticipation that comes when I buy a plane ticket and see the little, black date of my departure. It's hard to explain this feeling of "wanting to shake things up." I've tried to express it once or twice before, but it always ends up with me shaking my hands in mild frustration as I say again, "it's like all the things clashing inside of me and I just want to run away." But the words don't come out quite right; it's not really running away from something, not really running towards something either.
Wanderlust sneaks into my heart and gets under my skin at funny times. Sometimes I feel perfectly content with my life and the way things are going, but I just can't stand still for another moment. Then the times when friendships are feeling a little fragmented and I am resigned to the fact that I can't hold onto everything at once.
In those moments, I wish the world would pause and stay as it all is. I wish cafe owners would freeze in the middle of pouring the coffee and musicians would stop in mid-note. I wish no one would notice that I had left and no one would expect me to return. It's those times I know wanderlust isn't the answer, but I can't seem to rid myself of feeling the desire to escape anyway. I haven't quite yet pinpointed why it comes to me like this.
There are those people who seem so content to simply be who they are, where they are. The people who can grow roots and who you can rely on to always be there. I admire them and am baffled all at once. What does it mean to stay in love with one place forever? How do you do that? I have a whisper in my mind that somewhat disquiets me when I care to listen; it says to me that I'll never find those answers at the top of the tallest mountains, or at the bottom of the deepest sea. No matter how far I wander or how long I vanish, I'll never find those answers somewhere else.
As I pondered wanderlust and fought my urge to book a ticket to anywhere tomorrow, I looked over the photos from a cafe hunt I did at the end of 2018. This place is The Coffee Academics.
The Coffee Academics has branches in Hong Kong, Singapore and China. Maybe one day I'll visit in the other countries as well, but this one was in Hong Kong. It's a cool, beautiful spot among a chaotic city. The ceilings are high, the decorating is heavy but not overdone. During my trip to Hong Kong, I remember feeling somewhat disoriented as I made my through the crowds and facing just how busy Hong Kong is.
The buzz of people talking is comforting. So many conversations happening around you, and your only obligation is to feel them instead of to listen. I was traveling around Hong Kong with my friend Wayne, who's long hair distracts you from his good, common sense and dry humor. Cut it, please, I said. He shrugged in a non-committal way.
It's nice to have friends like him. Every time I travel somewhere new, there is always at least one place that resonates with me and makes me want to return again one day. In Hong Kong, I saw a lot, tried a lot, tasted a lot, and enjoyed a lot. But if I were to return once more, I hope that The Coffee Academics would be there to welcome me.
I’d like to have a few serene days like that; perfectly satisfied with going nowhere.
Eert Coffee is not very visible; the cafe is located in a side alley off a backstreet where a few other cafes and restaurants are, quiet in the afternoon. Look upwards to the second floor and you will see the signature, slim bamboo trees shading the main window of the cafe.
I spent a few hours here at opening; people trickled in and out, friends, couples, a family with one child, while I remained here alone.
Watching people and sipping my tea, I felt the satisfying restfulness of solitude. I thought to myself, wouldn't it be nice if I could simply do this forever - think, appreciate and just be. Of course, my natural inclination to run and fight and be contrary sometimes struggles with the art of solitude and quiet rumination; I often find myself trapped in the cycle of constant occupation to avoid thinking about what I'm really doing.
I must also highlight that we are not meant to be alone; not always. In solitude, the best can come out but also the worst. Finding that beautiful balance though, well, there the secret lies in loving solitude. Eert Coffee is just right for making that place where solitude feels like a friendly companion.
An original Cafe Hunter post from 2019