Rubenerd

I’m more of a Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf guy, but I always loved coming to the Starbucks in Berjaya Times Square, this massive shopping centre in Kuala Lumpur that among other attractions sports an indoor roller coaster. The shopping centre, not the Starbucks.

But the lack of a roller coaster doesn’t detract from the majesty of this place. It’s one of the only split-level Starbucks outlets I’ve ever been to, with a second floor seating area that puts some airport lounges I’ve been in to shame. The lighting is subtle, the seats are comfortable, and you feel like you’re walking up Titanic’s grand staircase to get to it.

Coming back here now after a decade, it’s now a Starbucks Reserve outlet, so it’s even more plush. The nitro coldbrew coffee is decently satisfying in a Guinness way, but the mistake coffee hipsters make is thinking Starbucks is a coffee shop; it’s a lounge and relaxing respite from the bustle and heat that you rent by buying coffee. And this is one of the better ones in Kuala Lumpur.

I wish I made notes of where earlier Rubenerd blog posts were written from; I’m sure many of the posts from 2007 were from this one spot. As were many of my earliest FreeBSD VMs, but that’s for another post.