Kopi tarik is 150 calories a glass, and before you say 'aiya that's nothing lah', just think about how many you drink in a day. One kopi tarik with breakfast, one after lunch, maybe one in the afternoon because your colleague belanja. That's 450 calories from drinks alone before you've even looked at your nasi. The calories here are almost entirely from the condensed milk. We're talking about 40g of the stuff per glass, which is 120 calories of pure sugar and fat. The evaporated milk adds another 20. The actual coffee? Ten calories. So the drink you think is 'just coffee' is mostly sweetened milk with a coffee flavour. To be fair, these numbers are ballpark estimates because there's no standardised recipe at the kopitiam. Uncle behind the counter pours by feel, and some hands are heavier than others.
The variant you order makes a massive difference. Swap to kopi O (black with sugar, no milk) and you drop to 45 calories. Kopi C, which uses evaporated milk instead of condensed, sits around 90 calories. That's a 60 to 105 calorie saving per cup just from changing how you order. If you're the type who drinks three coffees a day, switching from kopi tarik to kopi C could save you 180 calories daily without giving up your kopitiam habit. Kurang manis (less sweet) shaves off a bit more too, since the uncle uses slightly less condensed milk. None of these changes feel like dieting. You're still at the same table, same kopitiam, same uncle. Just a slightly different order.