@hensensho

by Aika Mentari · July 11, 2025

On Coffee from a Stranger, and the Purest Validation

Manning a stand at an exhibition is a marathon, not a sprint. There are long hours, tired legs, and hope that rises and falls like a phone signal. You meet a great many people, but a few of those meetings stay with you for good. Meeting Hensen (@hensensho) was one of them.

They came to our stand at Kota Kasablanka. They browsed. Then they did something we will never forget. They went and bought us a coffee. A Starbucks. From someone we did not even know.

“I Got This Cool Sketch Book”

In the middle of all that, they found a sketchbook they liked. A calm olive green, tied with a contrasting tan leather strap. They held it, photographed it, and wrote a caption both simple and honest: “I got this cool sketch book.”

And all we could reply was: “AWESOME!!!” Because that is exactly how it felt. The whole moment. Awesome.

That coffee was not merely a warm drink. It was a message. A message saying, “I see the effort you are making. I value what you do.”

More Than a Transaction

I reckon this is what separates handwork from mass production. There is a conversation. There is a connection. There is the possibility of a small unexpected kindness that can change your whole day.

We do not know Hensen personally. But through that act, we feel we know them. They are the kind of person who appreciates not only a product that is “cool,” but the people behind it.

That is the purest validation we could receive: an acknowledgement that behind this table and these stacks of product there are human beings, and they are struggling.

And the sketchbook they are holding in that photograph? It is no longer merely a product. It is a souvenir of an unexpected moment of kindness. A reminder that what we do here is more than selling things. It is about building connections.

Hensen, wherever you are, thank you for the coffee. You will never know how much it meant to us at that moment.

Sometimes, while you are looking for a book, you find something more. You may find your own connection here.