BRISBANE ROX

Brisbane, AUS - I em so eggcited I ken hardly tipe. C? My copy editor friends are probably grinding their teeth reading this. Haha, suckas.

Anyways, I AM HELLA EXCITED. I arrived in Brisbane about 2 hours ago and found boba approximately 1 hour ago. Since then, I've been on a tapioca high that I have no intention of coming down from. A timeline would probably sum up the last hour better than sentences right now (I know, and I'm supposed to be a reporter, right? Oh, the shame.), so here goes:

• 4:20 p.m.: Leave hostel, walk 15 steps to the right, spot sign for pearl milk tea (PMT), flip out.
• 4:21 p.m.: Walking into restaurant, see patrons with cups w/fat straws. Flip out more.
• 4:22 p.m.: Find out restaurant just sold out of tapioca. Am crestfallen.
• 4:22:30 p.m.: Walk next door into another Chinese restaurant, see sign for pearl milk tea, continue flipping out.

Note the yellow sign for milk tea on the door

• 4:23 p.m.: Start chatting with adorable elderly Chinese couple who own the restaurant. Grandmotherly lady makes my PMT and insists, in true grandmotherly fashion, that I get it hot instead of cold. Charmed by her cuteness, I relent.
• God, I'm tired of writing "p.m." over and over.
  
• 4:24-4:45 p.m.:

1. Couple asks me if I'm from Shandong, because Chinese people from Shandong are tall.
2. Grandmotherly lady asks me if I'm 18. Forgive her because am still charmed by her cuteness.
3. Not believing that I'm 23 (Being an Asian girl under age 30, I look 15, welcome to my life), couple asks what year I was born, and what zodiac sign I'm under. (1985, Year of the Ox, and god why would I lie, is this a bar?!)
   
4. Chat about their time in Brisbane (immigrated 30 years ago from Hong Kong).
5. Chat about China, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Canada and other places w/ lots of Chinese people (this is what Chinese people do, and about all my limited Chinese vocab will allow me to do).
6. Chat about how tall my parents are (this is also what Chinese people do when discussing height).
   
7. Realize that hot PMT really is better than cold PMT. Grandma was right.

Cute Chinese couple, owners of Yee Foong (HK BBQ restaurant)


Boba

Oh right, the boba. Sorry. The tea is quite good. She really took the time to brew it and mix in milk and sugar. The tapioca is VERY soft, softer than I usually like it *that's what she said* and has a strong ginger flavor, which I REALLY don't like (and is weird). Still, I just couldn't get over how friggin cute they were, so really, it was all good. Brisbane rox.

Reef to Boba (R2B)

Cairns, Queensland, AUS - Cairns is sweet not only because you can do cool stuff like swim with turtles at the Great Barrier Reef, but also because you can do cool stuff like swim with turtles at the Great Barrier Reef and THEN GO DRINK BOBA.

That's right - after a relatively painless search about town, I found Onigiri Cafe/Omu on the second floor of Orchid Plaza, an indoor shopping center with mostly Japanese and Chinese food counters and trinket shops.

Boba briefing:

• The milk tea is decent, but not spectacular. It has a strong tea flavor, which I like, but is a little bland. Or maybe I've just become so accustomed to gulping salty seawater that I've forgotten what sugar tastes like.
  
• The tapioca is inconsistent in size and shape. Some are smaller than others, and some are lopsided. Some are even clumped together, presenting a challenge for the weak sucker.
• There aren't enough balls to last you through the entire drink. Btw, Michael Scott is apparently the name of a local Kuranda artist who makes colorful glassware.
• Overall, I'd recommend dropping by Onigiri Cafe/Omu if you're ever in Cairns. I'd also recommend dropping by Cairns. Ha.
  

Boba tidbits:

• Onigiri and Omu both mean "rice ball" in Japanese.
• The cafe opened in 2004.
• The owner is from Japan.
• The atmosphere mimics a mini-Asia, with lots of Japanese and Taiwanese high school students hanging out. (At least, they appear to Japanese and Taiwanese, judging by their hair. Then again, we all look the same, so you can imagine my confusion. -____-)

This is a 3-foot sign that I totally walked by w/o noticing until I asked the noodle shop next door where I could get bubble tea.

Vegan balls

Chicago - Oh you dirrty. But no seriously, vegan boba - look into it! Argo Tea did, and they've come up with a quirky twist on the traditional tea drink, using coconut gelatin instead of tapioca. (Tapioca, like Jello, apparently contains bone marrow extract or something equally appetizing.)

Okay, I went to Berkeley and not even the nuttiest nutjob in the Capital of Weird came up with vegan boba (that I know of), so I was pretty impressed.

The gelatin cubes have the consistency of firm Jello, and are like tiny bursts of fruity juiciness when you bite into them. The tea itself (I tried mango and my friend had the coconut) is light and refreshing. Overall, a very pleasant summer drink to top off a very pleasant summer week in Chicago.

Just when you thought I had nothing left in my boba arsenal

I don't think I've ever posted the following DIY boba instructions. It's not groundbreaking, but I threw it together for a presentation a while back (um, don't ask) so I figure someone other than me should benefit from it. Knock yourself out and let me know how your boba turns out!



I'll be in Australia for the next month, so look out for updates from the land Down Undah!

The world's going green

I just had the greenest green tea ever. I think my stomach lining is the color of Kermit the frog covered in mint ice cream.

News

The good news: My work is about 50 feet away from a Happy Donut that serves 20+ varieties of $2 boba.

The bad news: The nice grandmotherly lady behind the counter takes about a week and a half to make one.

I mean, I love old people. They play a mean game of backgammon and tell the best stories about what it was like having a president that read books instead of comics. But damn.

What the world is missing: drive-thru boba. The first presidential candidate to suggest this will get my vote. Unless it's McCain. Haha...



It would probably be a Democrat though, no?