milk tea galore

as much as I like living at the heart of Ortigas Center, I cant help but appreciate this fad that is called "milk tea" and how it has plagued my affluent Filipino-Chinese community in Greenhills. This Wilson Street stretch is now which I dub thee the "milk tea" stretch for you can find a couple of milk tea places. If my 4-days in the house memory serves me right, there are 5 milk tea places on this stretch and three more hiding around the adjacent streets.

to give you a background, I LOVE MILK TEA! my best memory of Hong Kong, circa '95, is being lost in one of those alleys with my family and eating mediocre noodles but drinking the best milk tea known to my young palate. i fell in love that first time, and since then milk tea has been my crazy drink next to bitter black coffee (stress buster drink) and Blue Moon draft (damn, I love you!).

as i type this blog, i am drinking a green tea yakult from one of the places on the stretch. I am thankful to these business owners they decided to place two out of five within walks reach from our building. in my 4-days inside the house rest, i went to both places and both have enjoyed it. so now, where am i headed? i'll try to compare these five (plus plus) places or maybe give some recommendations to anyone who wants to visit them.

(1) Bubble Tea- still my favorite place. I've tried almost every drink known to man (or lifted from the menu) from this place. may it be your cold bubble tea or the hot milk tea, you will really like it. I've recommended this place to a couple of people and they share my glee for this place. The taste exudes some sophistication as you can taste milk and tea in every sip. Just how I like 'em.

***favorite/s: Royal Milk Tea and Jasmine Milk Tea- Hot or Cold it doesnt matter, though I prefer both drinks hot and without the sweetener.

(2) Chatime- I havent tried the Chatime chain on this street but what could be the difference if you've tried Chatime in MOA and Galleria? For some reason I dont have much to say about Chatime except I really like their Taro Milk Tea. I've tried a couple of drinks there and its either too milky or too bland. I always get 50% sweetness level and the variation on taste on some drinks just doesn't do justice. Still Taro Milk Tea (which I got from MOA branch) was really the best Taro there is. There is TARO my friend. Something you just look forward to having when you order a Taro Milk Tea.

*** favorite: Taro Milk Tea- have I not said enough?

(3) DEC (Diao Eng Chay)- I believe they have one too. Its been a while that I went inside that place and bought a drink but I know they have one. Not as much variety as the other milk tea places as DEC is a Chinese deli and not a drink place. Either way, when you need a fix for milk tea or any drink or any food, this is a place to visit.

(4) Tea Tap Cafe- Located at the old site of FPJ for President meetings restaurant (aka. Barrio Fiesta in P. Guevarra), Tea Tap Cafe has given meaning to my life of being away from Ortigas. Why? Its a cafe! and it being a cafe is a good news for me since I can have a new place to hang out at or be alone or study or do some work. Seriously, I went in and I just wanted to spend an hour looking around. Its a great niche for all cafe lovers out there. Plus you come over for MILK TEA! I've only tried one milk tea so far and it was a good one. Matcha Green Milk Tea (however redundant that sounds) was good. Its all the right flavors, purely "matcha" for some weird reason (seriously i cannot justify what purely matcha means, but it tastes so great a Japanese tea to me). Then there's the food. I tried Takoyaki balls that was pretty soft than chewy for me but the taste was terrific than most I've tried. Now here's the other thing. They've got frozen yogurt too (courtesy of Simple Life) and it was wow! you get only one type of frozen yogurt (no fancy chocolate or vanilla or cheesecake), but the taste is simply in all the right places (for me at least). I dont like my yogurt too sweet or too sour, and this changed my palate in eating frozen yogurt. JUST RIGHT! plus the day that i visited them, they had their yogurts 50% off so instead of paying a 100 bucks for yogurt with choco morsels, i paid 50. *wide smiles*

*** favorite/s: Matcha Green Milk Tea and FROZEN YOGURT!!! (and the ambiance, and the cat accepting the tips. argh! too cute!!!)

(5) Share Tea- as i type this, I just finished my second Share Tea drink. My first one was the Green Tea Yakult. It was Ah-Mazing! I am having a hard time describing it, but to me an Ah-Mazing drink usually lets you into all the tastes that you need to get. i tasted that green tea taste and the yakult taste and to me thats all i need to get satisfied. My second drink is the Hokkaido Pearl Milk Tea. I found out as I typed this blog post that there are other places that has this drink but Share Tea has the description which made me try it. It said "milk tea with caramel and toffee" and as I tasted it, with less sugar of course, I can taste that caramel and toffee sweetness. yummy! Though I dont think I'd like to get another serving of Hokkaido for a while. I'm not too fond of sweet milk tea's. I like my milk tea to be a drink and not a dessert, so between the Yakult drink and the milk tea from Share Tea, I choose the Yakult drink right now. I will be back to try other drinks though.

*** favorite: Green Tea Yakult

Along that other street, there's Serenitea. Everyone knows Serenitea. It re-defined milk tea and started the "fad" of this new generation (one which strayed away from Zagu and Quickly, and made things a little expensive.) Serenitea can be the Starbucks of Milk Tea's (dis/agree with me?) but it does have good teas. I've not visited this place in over a year and the last time I remember ordering the Royal Milk Tea there. I liked it, but it tastes like any other Royal Milk Tea without the unusual kick to it. Being a fan of Bubble Tea, yes, I say I like Bubble Tea's Royal Milk Tea better than Serenitea's.

The other one I can think of is near my brother's school. Its called Pao-Pao (I forgot the other name before it) or the place where kids from Xavier and ICA go to to drink some tea and hang-out. They have relatively cheap drinks and food (perfect for these kids) and so the taste is one thats mediocre (talk about Quickly value). I dont have a fave drink though.

There's another one on another street before getting to Pao-Pao but that I haven't tried. Its also a small place with cheap drinks, and I'm not sure when I'll be able to try it.

There are other places with "just milk tea" like North Park and the Formosa Bakery (I heard they have one), then I think Taibun Bakery also has it, but they have it as just one of those drinks available. Needless to say, I haven't tried any of them.

So if you plan to visit me here at home, I can take you to all these places, but based on this post, I think you know where I'll take you. =)

$$$ I suddenly remembered that I didn't get to add the other tea place thats pretty popular to mankind (or some of us). Happy Lemon! though really i wouldnt want to count this as a purely tea place coz they have the "lemons" as their prime drink, but they too have milk teas and that rock salt cheese thingamajig (i havent seen that word in a long time). I've tried a couple of drinks such as the Malt Milk Tea, Roasted Milk Tea, Cocoa with Rock Salt & Cheese, Crispy Cocoa Milk Tea with Brown Sugar Jelly, but the best of them all is this one.... Lemon Honey with Seaweed Jelly! Make it a 1/4% sweet and explore the yummy-ness of Lemon with some honey and the taste of seaweed jelly. Its the most refreshing drink since mint cocoa.

***favorite: Lemon Honey with Seaweed Jelly

Cocktales

I'm an absolute sucker for desserts and drinks, and this time, it has brought me to the perfect place to get it. "Cocktales" is located at the fifth floor of the SM Megamall Atrium, in Mandaluyong City. It was recommended by a couple of lifestyle shows and websites, and after walking around the nearby Megatrade Hall for a business fair, "Cocktales" was the best place to hang out and satisfy your curiosity.

It was a small space for a hang out place, yet it was designed to be posh and a little fancy. The mall provides free wifi and the signal is pretty good at that area. You walk up to the counter and you are offered a menu of their items. There are pastas, sandwiches, and warm plate snacks. Then of course their main items: Desserts and Drinks.

Drinks vary from Hot Drinks and Cold Drinks. Cold drinks are further categorized between stirred and shaken. Since I am trying this place alone, I decided to order a drink and a dessert. And so they say "STRESSED is DESSERTS spelled backwards.", and I was utterly stressed with what to order. I flipped the menu several times and landed on the most interesting ingredient: LYCHEE. Thus I ordered a Vanilla Lychee Margarita.

SO they thought that I was not looking for a "drink". When choosing your cold drinks, you can also opt to have a "virgin" or spiked, and at 230pm, they thought I would want my drink without any alcohol. But by the looks of it, you would think that taking out the alcohol would be a good choice anyway. Vanilla flavor, milk, lychee, and lychee extract mixed with crushed ice. As much as I enjoyed the drink, I realized that my second order was not necessary. For one, The margarita had a scoop of vanilla ice cream on the middle, and second, mixing milk to it, thus creating a thick consistency makes it eligible to be a dessert by itself. Saying that, I would say yes that I did order a dessert, and its called Mango Bananarama.

picture courtesy of Cocktales' website The lady asked me if I wanted the dessert to be shared, and since I'm alone, I said no (of course!). Mango Bananarama is a mix of mango slices, banana slices, tapioca balls, and rice balls on crushed ice with milk also. It was truly wonderful to the taste, except its not good when you previously downed a margarita. What I did was to have it wrapped instead, and went on to go around the mall. After two hours, I got to taste it with its ice melted and mixing with the rest of the mixture. The fruits and chewy balls were still delectable though, and the amount of dessert was not good for only one person! Thus I was able to bring home some.

Price wasn't too bad for a working middle class, yet other people might be held back with going into this dimly lit with nice modern furniture place. Also, the location was pretty secluded for a new place like this. Though on second thought, if you want to chill out anyway, would you go to a crowded location. My other problem though was the service staff. The smallest table that they have was beside the counter, and so that's the spot I chose to sit down and write some notes from the business fair. Every moment that they can, they ladies were singing loudly some tunes and talking to each other about their personal lives. The girl on the cashier was singing a song while assisting getting a customers change while the customer was in front of her. Call me conservative, but I think that's not how you entertain us.

Overall, because of what they can offer, I am certainly going back to this place. Next week maybe I can head out here again after a sumptuous lunch, but that is another story for me to tell next time.

For more information, you can visit their website http://cocktales.multiply.com/

My Pan De Sal

My Pan De Sal, originally uploaded by Margeeboo.

my wishes were fulfilled by having my own pan de sal on my saucer this morning. pair with butter, and nothing could go wrong. i drank coffee too. it was simply amazing having a good breakfast.

though this is not what im blogging about.

beneath my sheer joy to eating pan de sal, i received a message from my friend. i hope you can all help me in sending prayers as he goes for his surgery today. the past two months has been a lot of doctor's visit for him. between an appendectomy, ablation, and now this irregular heartbeat problem that he has. i hope and know things will be fine, and i do hope that his next doctor's visit will tell him that he is fine as ever could be. wishes, luck, love, and prayers Magic!

How Sweet!

 http://www.mymms.com/
http://www.mydovechocolate.com/selling/index.asp?pi=2
http://www.hersheygifts.com/Default.aspx

but nothing beats the tasty one!!!

chocoholic

i found out today that they have Royce Chocolates in Manila now. waaaah! i want one!!!
as of now, it just re-ignited me to have this battle between my taste buds and my brain.

its here again!

http://www.baltimorerestaurantweek.com/

its either my BP or i hit my head too hard

if you watched the game, i dont need to tell you why my head is spinning right now. i think tho i hit my head too hard during fourth quarter when i slapped it with my hands. both fear, frustration, and glee, the whole game ate me too much.
Ravens win, 13-10. Luck? part of it. but oh well, lets see more next week!
God bless the Ravens.

PS: the BK commercial made me crave for some greasy cheeseburger. seriously.

Post-Christmas Posts (1)

Do you still have some ham?
I am stuffed right now, but there are lots of ham available. i like eating ham. i eat ham and cheese sandwich, cook the ham bone then mix beans with it, cook ham bone and mix pasta with it (soup), ham and pasta salad, ham and fried rice, ham and hot white rice, ham wrap, mashed potatoes with ham bits, Caesar salad with ham, ham omelette, eggs benedict, chicken cordon bleu, ham casserole, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. (most of all, i like ham with hot white rice and a sunny side up egg).
here is a list of what you can do with your holiday left overs, if you cannot find it appetizing, then maybe heat it up and celebrate the UK Boxing Day.
http://ukfamily.co.uk/lifestyle/food/recipes/celebrations/Christmas-recipes-leftovers.html

where to Go? What to Do? (4)

vacation + food = awesome! or in any case, good food is like the highlight of any trip, besides the scenery. these were lifted from the Best Cheap Eats of 2008 for Orlando. will Hotdog Heaven be heavenly at all?

Where to Go? What to Do? (1)

 not the Choose Your Own Adventure kindda fashion, but more of Travel Channel's Samantha Brown's suggestion page. I'll try to do this from today until Saturday. This is like the guide to some little stuff i like to find out in any other place. this time, its Florida.

so what great way to start it than to find an article called Where to Find A Great Chocolate Shop. sound interesting? i bet it is!

Takoyaki

Takoyaki, originally uploaded by kaoko.

Takoyaki

i must say that i should stop watching those Japanese series. its making me crave and be hungry.

can anyone look for Italian series instead? coz i can make pasta anytime... i think.

Nope. No Baltimore or DC

 Rameniac 

Representing CA, NY, IL, WA, and HI. no MD.

but not this advice

 How To Dress Up Ramen Noodles With Peanut Butter 

im not that hungry for this.

maybe i should take this advice

Make Your Own Ramen 

damn! im hungry now. im craving, and im absolutely hungry.

Black Forest from Red Ribbon

 i hate my friends for reminding me how good Red Ribbon's Black Forest cake tastes like. i just hate them!

google: ramen

 The Official Ramen Homepage 
Nissin Ramen
Ramen Recipes
my theory is that Bob's Noodle House, though not japanese, is the nearest to satisfy the ramen craving.

to add: what better way to celebrate this craving by watching this!

Fat Free Milk vs Whole Milk

i bought fat free milk coz i want to drink more milk sometimes, especially at night when i dont want to eat a lot but then i get hungry at 12 mn. when u are used to drinking whole milk, fat free doesnt appeal to your palate. the usual chunk in ur tongue that whole milk gives is not there coz fat free is like visibly white water (as opposed to clear water). it doesnt taste much unless u heat it up for 20 seconds in the microwave. but why did i choose fat free milk? besides that it is good with coffee, it is 90 calories per serving compared to Lactaid's 150 calories per serving.

Choco-holic

this is for me the best link in Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Chocolatiers

chocolate usually gives me headaches when ive had too much, but today having a headache has not stopped me from thinking of sending myself some Max Brenner chocolates. i filled out all the details, and it was just up for one button, SHIP, and i retreated. i dunno why.

Kaoko of Kitchen Cow made a different chocolate-y experience post when she described her Royce Chocolate experience. i was wanting to get that melt in your mouth chocolate too, just that, do they ship it here in America? nevertheless, my top question is: can u help me understand this page?

ooh! i want you!!!

Taro Milk Tea by Bubble Tea, originally uploaded by karlaredor.

im jealous. i want a milk tea with or without the sago!!!

hot dog before the ball game