Have Me Some Bubble Tea

The worst is over...for now.

With the summer season kicking in, I temporarily left all my academic worries behind and go out with my sister. And when the two of us are out, we always look forward to eating out! And this time, we invaded Bubble Tea at The Block (Romanized Japanese: Tapioka Tii).

The said Tokyo Milk Tea Place has been around for quite some time now but today was the first time that my sister and I decided to step inside to check out what they have to offer.

There's a lot of buzz about milk teas recently. Being a tea fan, of course that's progress. I mean, milk teas are definitely better than sugar-doused drinks pretending to be tea (but hey, that's just my opinion). Due to geographical restraints, the only "milk tea" that I have been drinking for the past months was Starbucks' Iced Green Tea Latte. But today was an awesome opportunity to try something new.

Bubble Tea's shop interior is nice and, well, bubbly. Comfy couch chairs and upbeat J-pop songs welcomed us and really set a general positive vibe for the place. Aside from dining comfort, the interior of Bubble Tea is really ideal for picture happy people (like me and my sis!) which we took advantage of. :)

featuring my sister at Bubble Tea The Block

To start off, I opted to try their large Japanese Green Milk Tea (P125) while my sister chose a large Jasmine Milk Tea (P125). Other kinds of tea-based beverages are also available such as Tea Slushes and Milk Shakes. Bubble Tea offers their customers the option of having some of their beverages either hot or cold. With summer's scorching heat, we definitely both had our drinks cold.

From the first sip, I totally fell in love with my Japanese Green Milk Tea. It's perfect--not too sweet, the distinct seaweed-like taste of brewed sencha and, the tapioca cooked to just-right chewiness (also locally known as pearls) all mixing in my mouth. And while I am totally biased towards green tea (whether its hot or cold), I must admit that the Jasmine Milk Tea tastes so good as well.

Despite milk teas being their specialty, Bubble Tea also offers a wide array of snacks and meals. Sandwich, ramen, donburi, gyoza, sushi, sashimi, pasta -- whatever strikes your palate's fancy with a Japanese twist. My sister and I had Philadelphia Maki-Zushi (P195) and Yakiniku Beef Sandwich (P245). Contrary to what one can expect from a typical drink-specialized shop, Bubble Tea food is DELICIOUS! The servings are generous, newly cooked and tasty.

The Philadelphia Maki-Zushi had 8 pieces of sushi made with cream cheese, salmon, cucumber and mango, topped with tobiko (fish roe), accompanied by a side serving of gari (p

ickled ginger), shoyu (soy sauce) and wasabi. Very yummy, I assure you. Just this is enough to fill one's stomach!

Two sandwiches filled with alternating layers of tender beef strips, cheese, tomato, cucumber and lettuce are the highlights of Bubble Tea's Yakiniku Beef Sandwich. Nicely done potato salad and coleslaw sidings complement the meal, perfect for vegetable salad lovers looking for a variety.

To top everything else, we helped ourselves with a slice of Matcha Cake (P125). The best tea-based cake I've tasted so far, I swear. Who knew green tea and coffee would be soooo heavenly on a dessert? It's a must try!

The staff also gave us a Bubble Tea Loyalty Card which will entitle you to one serving of any large milk tea drink of your choice once you complete all 10 stamps. I'll definitely come back for that free milk tea!

I officially declare Bubble Tea as one of my favorite restaurants. Awesome milk tea, good food, chill ambiance for a reasonable price.

Seriously, Bubble Tea is a perfect place for girl-bonding or a chillax date.

;)

Can't wait for my next Bubble Tea!

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Photo montages in this entry were made using the free Montager iPod App. :)

Bubble Tea official logo was captured from the official Bubble Tea website.

Yet Another Syndrome

Perhaps procrastination is a necessary evil that paves my way towards concentration in order to eventually study for an upcoming exam. And after you read that sentence, I'm sure you thought "Oh, you're procrastinating...again?" or somewhere along those line.

Yep, you guessed that right.

I am supposed to be studying for my Health Informatics midterm exam. :|

*hands you a cookie (pun intended? LOL)*

While I have recently learned that procrastination is one of the symptoms for Passive Aggression, this will not be a sharing about mental diseases. I heard that sigh of relief... or was that disappointment? :))

ANYWAY.

Briefly, I just want to share my current LSS, short for Last Song Syndrome. And this time, it's the song Be as One by the J-pop boy group (band?) w-inds. -- stylized 'winds' and is pronounced in Japanese as 'uwinzu'.

Forgive me if its a Japanese song. It's such a nice song with good melody AND lyrics. Heck, I can even say that this is one of those songs that even if you don't understand any of the words, you'll feel the meaning. I could have included a translation of the song but you know, I'm in procrastination mode so... hehe, you get what I mean. :D

But if you're open to trying out what I mean, I embedded the video from Youtube for your watching/listening convenience. After hearing it, tell me what you think. :D

P.S. Wish that procrastination will leave my side. ASAP :(

勉強しなくちゃいけない！

Love,

me.

Movie: Raise the Red Lantern

Along the process of tidying up (ie. reformatting) my four-year-old laptop, I am starting by removing the numerous sticky notes on my desktop screen.

During the summer vacation, I had the chance to watch the award-winning Chinese movie Raise the Red Lantern starring Gong Li. I just watched it because of Gong Li (that woman is really pretty and talented, I swear). I didn't know anything about the plot but to my surprise, I found myself thinking about the movie's message right after watching it. It was definitely a gothic film. Perhaps dark is the right term? I'm not really sure. But I'm sure that it is a very good film. Somewhat educational in terms of older Chinese culture.

The following are my thoughts that I typed away on a sticky note on my desktop.

"The movie Raise the Red Lantern speaks of the importance given by the Chinese to traditions. It also shows an attempt of the younger generations to break the tradition yet at the same time, hides themselves underneath the said old traditions. The result of such half-hearted attempt will only lead to despair, madness and death. This also shows that in order to fully break away from the 'chains' of traditions, the Chinese women should be firm in their resolve and actually choose which path they want to go. Indecisiveness will only bring suffering not only to one's self but others as well."