Alright. I'm not sure if anyone would be interested to know about my obsession on Starbucks, especially their merchandises. Spent too much on money on their merchandises here in Singapore and overseas. I could go broke because of my purchases. Hahaha.... Anyway, I'm just gonna pen down my story here, if you are interested then read on. Hope won't bored you peeps.
HOW DID IT STARTED?
It all started when I worked at NUS in 2012. I was a part-time student at SIM so I needed a place to be alone for my revision during my lunch hours. At times, it was hard to find a seat and the students in campus had so many activities going on (noisy) so had to spend a little more to sit in Starbucks because though still noisy but better than canteens. Not that I'm rich but that was my lunch already and not everyday man.
Here were some of my Instagram posts on Starbucks since 2012 that I screenshot to show you peeps.
There were food and drinks...
And drinks only at times...
Then food and drinks again...
And there were drinks yet again...
I guessed some drinks and food were limited time only so you won't see them now in stores. Their food menu changed according to the occasions like Valentine's Day, Singapore's National Day, Halloween, Christmas and so on.
WHY I LIKE STARBUCKS?
I like the ambience, especially when they play jazz music. Sometimes I just wanna chill out on my own, with a drink and surfing the net with no disturbance (when I'm not chilling out alone). At times, I will bring Mister along and he will also be seated quietly and surf the net. No need too much small talks, just chill.
And the locations of our Starbucks stores in Singapore play a very important part too. Let us not talk about the usual stores at malls, but those like Starbucks Katong (in a heritage building), Fullerton (the iconic waterboat house now closed) and so on. Not just the architectural building itself is Instagrammable but when you are seated outdoor, some scenery are priceless.
HOW I GET THE MERCHANDISES?
I followed them on Instagram and would always be on a lookout for their updates. And once I saw something that I wanted, would go to the nearest Starbucks first thing in the morning before I headed to the office. That was mainly in Singapore.
Oh ya... I followed other countries Starbucks accounts for their latest updates too. So that when I travelled, I would look for Starbucks (part of my itinerary) to look and grab their merchandises that I fancy or sometimes when time permits, would stop for a drink to enjoy the ambience of Starbucks out of Singapore.
If there were items I liked but someone I knew would be travelling there, I would shamelessly asked for their help to buy and paid them when they were back.
And lastly, some were Christmas gifts (most of the time). They would ask me what I wanted rather than anyhow buy.
PART OF MY STARBUCKS COLLECTION
So let me start with some of my country's collection where some countries might not have.
1. Starbucks Singapore
In my opinion, these were the most expensive stuff that I would ever spend at Starbucks. It was their collaboration with Precious Moments (if I'm not wrong). Too beautiful not to miss, although I did thought of the price. No regrets for these 2 purchases. They were now in my display cabinet instead of the box.
If you knew me well, I also like Nanoblock and so these 2 sets of Starbucks Nanoblocks were not to be missed, by me at least. Cased them in display boxes bought from Daiso to prevent dust collection.
Okay these 2 Christmas mugs from many years back and am certain you could do a Spot the Difference game here. I loved Christmas as always, way more than Lunar New Year (not because of ang bao giving) as it was just so boring as age caught up with us. Now I'm already looking forward to this season in less than 3 months time. Dear Starbucks, don't disappoint your fans ya. And don't bring out previous year stocks to sell too.
I suggest you do a year end warehouse sale for your fans to clear old stocks maybe? Probably I can find some old collections which I want so mucj to make it a full set.
Some of my plates, trays and lunchbox from Starbucks that I didn't intend to use yet. The lunchbox was bought by my bro upon my request because it was the Circuit Breaker Period in April 2020. Memorable. Won't forget when it was gotten. NEVER!
I collected these few tumblers. The blue kitty tumbler was my birthday gift many years back from my bro. The white one with penguin was a Christmas series few years back, if I'm not wrong was a present from my ex-colleagues. The rest were my purchases. Vera Wang collaboration (1st on the right), Changi Airport theme from Jewel Changi outlet only (if I'm not wrong) and so on.
2. Starbucks Taiwan
I got them through my one and only Taiwanese friend. This Taipei 101 mug was already not in store but he went beyond to get for me at Starbucks office in Taiwan. I couldn't thank him enough because this pandemic caused many countries closing their borders. The only way was to know someone that could help you get them. No regrets spending on these 2 mugs. They symbolized my favourite place on earth.
Nice right? You could see those sky lanterns from 平溪天灯节 or go Shifen to release one with family and friends too (on the left mug), and on the right mug which was Christmas series you would see Alishan train and the 女王头 from Yeliu. Those who have visited Taiwan would know of these places.
These mugs were only available at Ximending Starbucks outlet and it was convenient for me as I usually loved to choose hotels in Ximen. You walked out of your hotel to food and shopping already, plus near the train station. Why not?
On the right side was bought on my last trip in Sep 2019 with the Mister. And that stupid pandemic hit the world. The black mug was with the help of my ex-colleague who went in Feb 2020 before travel was banned in our country. How lucky am I! Too much to be grateful of during this pandemic period.
The 'You Are Here' collection. To be honest, who would have bought an ornament instead of a decent mug if possible? But the truth was that time I couldn't find any so I just grabbed whatever I saw. Kind of waste money but anything for Taiwan.
3. Starbucks Japan
My very 1st purchase from Starbucks Japan was when I went for a trip to Osaka with Mister and my parents. Before that trip, I didn't have any Japan collection. So now I have it. My parents thought I'm crazy, kept going to the different Starbucks we happened to walk past.
4. Starbucks USA
Anything from America would be with the help of friends who were either there for work or holidays. Damn it I wanna go America myself and not relying on friends to get a piece of Starbucks for me. I would love to go Chicago because I watched too much of Chicago PD, Chicago Med and Chicago Fire. Marked in my bucket list.
Oh New York City reminded me of Home Alone 2. I wanna go there. And my ex-colleague gifted me the mug from Seattle, the first Starbucks store. The logo was so different from now. Thankful for that because it was supposed to be her own collection from her USA trip.
5. Starbucks Malaysia
Johor Bahru has been the favourite spot for Singaporeans because it was just across the Causeway border of Singapore and Malaysia. Usually went there for food, shopping, beauty services, hair cut or visiting places of interest. I wonder how long till we could once again go Johor for a day trip.
These were just part of my Malaysia's collection. Especially like the one I gotten from Starbucks Reserve. Nice and unique. Thanks to my bro for spotting this. And then a Genting Highlands mug. I didn't really like going Genting because of the long distance ride up from Singapore and nothing much there too. Shopping, gambling and food.
RECENT THOUGHTS
I'm not sure if I'm the only one who felt that since the pandemic started in 2020, their merchandises didn't attract me anymore. My last purchase probably plates. And their collaborations with some brands weren't my type too. Too sophisticated or artsy that I didn't know how to appreciate it. I asked my ex-colleague who was also a Starbucks fan if she bought any stuff recently. Answer was nope. You see. I wonder if they have changed designers or creative directors, or wanted a different target market? Their designs were so attractive and nice last time, although couldn't compared with those from Starbucks Korea or Japan. Well... no offence but all these were purely my guess and thoughts.
Anyway, I still go for a Hot Chocolate fix at Starbucks once awhile (sometimes ice blended drink, Latte or New York Cheesecake), though I started to head for Coffeebean more already (my fav from them would be their breakfast deal, Mocha Frap, and Hot Choc).
Over the years, Coffeebean's improvement on its marketing and merchandises were rather obvious now. Just look at their breakfast set for 2. Went once with my bestie for their breakfast. So worth it. And I got their Mickey Mouse teapot set from my bestie as Christmas gift last year and thereafter, they have Winnie the Pooh teapot set which I must buy!
I think now the factors that will determine which coffee house to go will be their spread of food items and their merchandises. Honestly the ambience at Starbucks win but still, the mentioned factors matter.
Hope you enjoy this post and probably more to come on my obsession of other stuff to share with you peeps. Cheers.
Disclaimer: All the above were paid by writer. Not sponsored post.