Small talk, big dreams fill coffee shops

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, West Kalimantan

At least one ubiquitous American-based coffee shop chain ought to be interested in establishing its upmarket coffee shops in the city of Pontianak, where the people really seem to have an affinity for coffee and mingling.

In the fairly large city -- about a sixth of the size of Jakarta -- various types of coffee shops have sprouted up all over and most are packed with customers night and day.

Finding traditional Pontianak coffee shops, however, is not as easy as finding one of the big name-brand coffee shops -- that seem to be everywhere in Jakarta or Singapore -- due to their simple cloth banners and their undistinguished interior design.

One way to find such shops is to look for the letters "WK" preceding the name and stenciled on the banners. WK stands for warung kopi -- literally, coffee shop.

Most coffee shops in the West Kalimantan capital serve, of course, coffee and other things such as tea and local sweet cakes. Some also serve beer as well.

Most of the shops use coffee powder from large tins bought from local coffee factories. Although the coffee powder they use is not a famous brand and does not come in fancy packages, the coffee tastes delicious.

And the prices are very reasonable too. For instance, customers can get a cup of tasty milk tea for Rp 4,000. A cup of coffee also is also offered at between Rp 4,000 and Rp 5,000.

By shelling out only Rp 5,000, for example, a customer could sit for hours one of the plastic seats in the warung or in front the street.

The shops are packed mostly with men.

"Women don't seem to feel comfortable here. Besides, it is weird for Pontianak people to see women frequenting coffee shops," Afuy, a Pontianak resident said in a coffee shop full of men.

The only women who regularly can be seen at coffee shops are the waitresses or the owners.

Another quite interesting fact is that the waitresses often seem to dress to entice the male customers so they stay longer and buy more.

"Years ago, there was a very popular 24-hour coffee shop here. The name was Warung Kopi Aloha. The wife of the owner served the coffee at nights while the hired waitresses served in the day time," Hermansyah, a coffee shop enthusiast explained to The Jakarta Post.

"Many customers frequented the shop at night to see the wife. She was quite a looker," he added, grinning sheepishly.

The coffee shop, he added, was closed due to a management problem. The shop has been replaced by a fruit shop.

The closure paved the way for other coffee shops to become the most popular.

"The most popular now is the Melawai coffee shop, located next to Melawai optician store," Hermansyah added.

"We come in groups, buying one or two cups of coffee, but sit for hours, talking," he said.

Afuy said he rarely lingered in coffee shops because it was a "useless habit" for people who had nothing better to do.

But Hermansyah offered a different view.

The shops were a place to broaden the network of business or politics, he said. People could talk about serious topics as well, he added.

"And most importantly, we talk about the future," he said, smiling. "We talk about our dreams while sipping delicious coffee."