Bubble Tea

I've never had Bubble Tea before and I happened to be passing a Bubble Teahouse on my way home from buying oil, so I decided to stop and try some. You see, one of my resolutions this year was to do a bunch of stuff that I've been putting off doing for years, and I've been curious to try Bubble Tea for a long time now. It was about two-thirty in the afternoon and the place was quite empty, the one employee sat at a table in the front window of the store, staring forlornly at the world, poor guy.

The menu was extensive. I ordered a Coconut Milk tea, lord knows why. It took a considerable time to prepare, so I sat at the table in the front window and leafed through an issue of e-Week. The employee arrived with a large plastic cup that had been sealed on top, and a bucket of huge straws. Huge as in diameter -- probably half an inch or so. I quickly understood that I had to take the straw and plunge it through the plastic covering on the cup.

I can't imagine what I was thinking, but I took a sip before really examining the cup. I don't know what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what I got, which was a mouthful of an ultrasweet milky liquid with a few doughy spheres of something -- the "bubbles" -- mixed in. I found myself masticating and swallowing. Certainly not objectionable, but what the heck am I eating? I didn't know there would be chewing involved!

Examining the bottom of the cup, I saw a disturbing layer of these brown globby things. I sucked one up and spit it out into my hand to get a better look. Again, not objectionable, but... well... who thinks of stuff like this?

I drank/ate about half of the concoction when I realized that I was actually getting full. No wonder it cost $4, it's a goddamn meal. I was also getting nauseous -- I used to drink Dr. Pepper by the litre, but this is much more sugar than I can handle. I departed the bubble tea house and went to Ezogiku and had some real tea.