Tea time is Quality time

Feeling down? Had a rough day? Whatever it is, we all look forward to tea time. A cup of hot tea, coffee or milo is sure to lift anyone’s mood. Even if you have been having one of the best days of your life, tea time is the clincher and if done right, will probably make that day extra special.

Here in KL, tea time can probably be considered a pasttime, nay, a hobby. Old and young alike meet up with acquantances in Mamak shops, Kopitiams, at home or actually, anywhere at all that is possible. I myself once had tea with some buddies halfway through a jogathon. We were running past a little stall packed with people and decided to stop for tea seeing as we had no chance of winning. After all, the health benefits of tea were a good reason to stop too ( we finished the run by the way ).

Watching movies, going overseas and reading books seem to imply that people need a reason and fixed time to have tea. Usually it is when you are depressed or it is to be taken in the evening as a light meal. In Malaysia though, everyone will tell you that a reason isn’t needed when it comes to tea time. Just look at Mamak shops and Kopitiams like OldTown for example, they are run 24 hours a day because and only because, there is a high demand for the menu anytime of the day.

You wake up and need a kick start to your day, get a cup of coffee or tea. After a nice lunch, you drink a cup of hot beverage sometimes. Mid evening, you take a break from work and have a cup of choice drink either alone or with a couple of friends. An hour after dinner, a cup of tea or coffee just hits the right spot and ends the day on a good note. Anytime of the day, a business meeting looms and a place has to be decided on; these Mamak shops and Kopitiams are often the first choice that comes to mind. If these shops got a commission for every business deal or idea that is achieved during one of these drinking sessions, Malaysia would have so many more millionaire food stall owners.

Moreover, tea time is so simple to organise if it ever comes to that. Say you want to host a party for some friends who just came back from overseas or you simply want a meet-up with some buddies, all you have to do is prepare coffee and tea, lay out some biscuits and kuih-muih and you are done; easy to prepare, delicious to savour and great for catching up. When a friend is feeling down in the dumps after a bad break up or he just got laid off from work, he will not be so broke as to say no to a 1 Ringgit cup of tea.

Although our country isn’t perfect and there are lots of problems, the one thing I truly am grateful for to be living in KL is that this habit of drinking tea or coffee anytime and anywhere has been infused in me and the fact that KL is a city that never sleeps really helps. If I ever go to a foreign country to work or study, the main thing I would miss is probably this wonderful Malaysian habit of tea being great for anything. Afterall, a family that eats together stays together. The same goes for tea time, no?