Kopi And Kiosks

It is spellbinding how travelling across new places brings new flavours in your life. One such overwhelming flavour was the taste of Malaysian Kopi, malay for coffee. Being coffee ~~enthusiasts~~ fans, it was the first thing we ordered to fight our droopy eyes upon arrival in Malaysia. As the first sip touched my lips, I knew this would be our constant for the days to come.

We have been experimenting with various coffee styles, outside of regular desi versions of milk-based coffee, for quite some time now. This Malaysian flavour of Kopi was very different from the usual coffee flavours. The mix of lukewarm coffee mixed with bursting coolness of ice cubes, was something we hadn’t experienced before.

It’s been a few months we have been back, but still not able to replicate the enchanting taste of Malaysian kopi at home. We will keep trying though.

We were pleasantly happy with the easy accessibility of our beloved Kopi. Apart from restaurants and food courts, we were able to find it on the roadside coffee trucks and its own kiosks. Kopi Kiosks were small coffee vending machines offering a plethora of variations for coffee enthusiasts. Kopi C for cold-coffee, Kopi S for coffee with milk and so on. These kiosks could be found at metro stations, hotel lobbies, airport waiting areas and many other places as well.

Speaking of kiosks, we spotted a very unique one at KL Sentral metro station. This kiosk was selling books. About two dozen titles were displayed in the machine to let the customer choose the one they wanted to buy and then proceed with the purchase. So cool, isn’t it bibliophiles? A blessing for introverts may be?

We observed a great Self-service system in place throughout Kuala Lumpur and beyond. It was amazing to see many unique kiosks from self-billing counters at food courts to book and kopi kiosks. Airlines like AirAsia are already pushing for self-drop baggage check-in at the airports, charging a substantial fee if you want human assistance for the tasks. For our domestic flights from KL to Langkawi and back, we printed our own boarding pass and luggage tag at one kiosk (which is common at many major Indian airports as well) then weighed the luggage at another one, finally moving to the check-in counter for self-drop. Using the barcode scanner for the first time was an educating experience!

Though a good replacement for redundant tasks, we felt this eliminated many possible human interactions, taking away the possibility of having a glimpse of a country’s culture.

Follow me this April as I take you on a journey through our unforgettable Malaysian adventures, chapter by chapter.