Tried "Onezo" at SM Bicutan

There's a number of new cafes and milk tea places at SM Bicutan. Onezo, located at the top level of building B across the food court, opened a few months ago. 

We finally tried it today. I got Okinawa milk tea, Miggy got panda milk tea and Sweetie got his usual oolong tea. I usually get less sugar for my milk tea, but the order taker said, "Di pwede yan". She seemed to be going through something so I just ordered and left the boys to finish their order and pay. I already had a bad experience at Mercury Drug and didn't need the additional stress, so I sat down to wait.

We got our drinks for takeaway since we had to go home to water the plants. Anyway, I found the Okinawa milk tea too sweet after I took a sip on the way home. I added more ice to water it down. Miggy said the sago was soft and the MT was okay. Sweetie's oolong tea was just okay too. 

I guess we'll be sticking to our usual.

#BeKind #StaySafe

Tealive Now Open in Dona Soledad

Sometimes I feel the universe is conspiring to bring all my favorites near me! Tealive is one of my favorite milk tea places which I frequented whenever I visited Kuala Lumpur. 

I discovered it at KL Sentral. I usually got a room there because it's close to the office and after work I'd walk around to get some takeaway. Tealive had a stall near the escalator, so it's easy to spot. I'd always buy some and match it with whatever dinner I'd get for takeaway. 

They opened also in Singapore during the pandemic, but wasn't too accessible for me. I was so happy when a friend told me they also opened a branch in the Philippines. There was one in my city, but bit far. We would order once a quarter via Grab (delivery fees are expensive).

Anyway, I'm so stoked! Tealive now has a branch near us. If our village wasn't enclosed it would be walking distance from our home! Ah well, always good to have an excuse to go out. They opened last April 2 (quite obvious we rarely go out!). Ahhh, time for me to finish my drink and sandwich!

#BeKind #StaySafe

Homemade Thai Style Iced Tea

We found a bag of ChaTruMue at Daiso. Promptly bought a bag so we could make our own Thai milk tea at home. I watched a few videos to see which would work best for us. The idea of mixing milk and condensed milk seemed like the best option. 

I didn't have the usual materials used to steep the tea traditionally, so I just used Sweetie's tea pot. I steeped 30 grams of tea with 750 ml of hot water. I let it steep for a few minutes and then let it cool. While waiting for it to cool, I mixed 1:1 of milk and condensed milk. I put it in a milk pitcher so we could use the leftover for coffee the next day. 

I made 2 glasses of milk tea for me and Miggy, the rest Sweetie drank as tea. It's pretty potent at 10 grams for 250 ml. If you don't want the kabog just use 7 grams of tea. We liked though how sharper the taste was compared to buying ready-made from restos. Here's a short video of how I made it:

*Tip: it's a good idea to mix a small can of condensed milk plus an equal amount of milk into a small milk jug. You can store it in the fridge. Just make sure to cover it and finish it within a week. We used it with coffee and it tastes like Spanish latter/kopi. No need for sugar :)

Missing Toastbox

Lived in Singapore for 10 years, but I feel I wasn't able to fully appreciate and see all of it. I was so busy with work and was always traveling, I only got to really stay there without leaving because of the lockdown. Spent most of the time at home during the lockdown, but that was when we started to enjoy going to the park. 

The thing I miss most in Singapore is Toastbox! I used to drink teh peng almost everyday. I loved pairing it with toast and eggs. Today Sweetie brought home some milk tea from Nanyang. A friend told me it was the Toastbox at SM Aura. I was so excited to try it because it's been 8 months since I've had some. 

The first sip brought back happy memories. I regularly had it as dessert with Cherry after eating lunch. We'd descend from the 37th floor to buy at the food court. The crew would always ask me every time why I looked like a local and how come I couldn't speak Chinese* since I had Chinese blood. Well, when we moved to MBC the Toastbox was too far, so we'd normally go to Gong Cha or Starbucks. 

Toastbox was also a must visit place whenever we had friends over. It's where the TeaCompletely crew would always hang out whenever Koyah Drew was in Singapore. I wanted to visit all Toastbox branches in Singapore and was about to do it, but Marv went back home so I lost my Toastbox buddy haha. Didn't get to continue since we had to avoid going out for safety. Good thing it was easy to get some Toastbox goodies for delivery. 

Glad Sweetie was able to bring home some milk tea. It tastes a lot like my favorite Toastbox teh peng. Too bad it's far from where I live, but maybe I could get some at least once a quarter.

 *I tried studying, but I couldn't figure out the intonations so I ended up studying Nihongo instead.

#BeKind #StaySafe

What Did One Bubble Tea Say to the Other?

We visited the Bubble Tea Factory here in Singapore last year. It was a beautiful Saturday when the boys decided it was time for us to do a fun activity. We had to wait awhile before visiting TBTF since lines were always long. Our long wait was over and we finally got to visit. 

The Bubble Tea Factory is a place put together to celebrate bubble tea. Everything in it was cute and instagrammable. We went around to take photos, participate in the games and drink some free bubble tea (provided by Gong Cha). 

Here's some of the cute photos we took during that day -

CB//183 #StuckAtHomeDay/213 #WFH125 #StayHome #BeKind