July 10, 2021

My dearest,

Remember when you first arrived in Bangkok and haven’t brewed filter coffee in some time, be it with your old French press or our Clever Dripper, which came later?

But I’m not there to brew coffee for you so you have go at it on your own for now.

It takes you a few attempts with me guiding you – how much water, when to stir, what to do when the draw down is too slow – and then you’re all good. Knowing you, you probably brew a better cuppa than me already.

So it becomes a daily ritual. We mirror each other, one us brewing coffee in KL and the other in Bangkok.

When it comes to your beloved crêpes, however, I’m not having any though, be it your staple of peanut butter and banana or my personal preference of Nutella with extra Nutella. If there’s anything I am having on the regular, it’s chicken rice from my usual stall.

You know this because I tell you about what I eat everyday, the way you share stories of your daily meals with me. This is what couples do, even when they are living in different countries; perhaps more so.

So you crave crêpes in Bangkok and I have my takeaway chicken rice in KL. And we both enjoy our coffee, wherever we find ourselves.

I am here and you are there yet we always have something to share.

So I listen to your stories and I marvel at your pictures – of freshly brewed filter coffee and peanut butter banana crêpes – and I am never bored of them for it is you who is sharing them with me. For it is you.

Yours, ever and always.