Cheers!

Here’s Mike and Marg trying their first bubble teas ever over at the even more authentic Chinese Mall called Yoahan Center. We decided to take them there for serious bubble teas at the Juice King after shopping at the Japanese Bookstore and the little craft shop. Marg had mango and orange with black tapioca pearls AND coconut jelly. Mike had coffee, milk & tea with black pearls only. Both newbies to bubble tea gave it a thumbs up.

Because we all seemed curious about the chewy balls in our drinks – I checked them out. They are indeed made of tapioca. They are just a bigger version of those little balls we see around here that are used to make tapioca pudding. And they are black because “The black pearl includes sweet potato, cassava root and brown sugar, which add the black color.” I have to admit, the first time I tried the tea, I didn’t like the pearls – the texture was a bit odd and it made me nervous to slurp the big pearls up in the fat straw. But, after a couple of teas, I got used to it. And it didn’t hurt when my buddy, Catherine, told me the pearls are good luck (as she learned from her Chinese husband) and that was the deciding factor in my liking them for sure.

I didn’t have a coconut jelly in my bubble tea, but Cynthia just loves that. It has the texture of gummy bears and is made of coconut meat and milk. I’ll try that next time. Today my fresh watermelon bubble tea with black pearls did the trick. Maybe next time I’ll try cantaloupe.

More photos of the day after the jump…

This was the crew from Mission’s first time on the Canada Line. Please note: the guy in the suit behind them? Not part of the crew. Mike and I met them at the Abys-mall in Burnaby, hopped the train from there and made 2 transfers to get to Aberdeen in Richmond.

Those poor guys had to drive in all the way from Mission. It took them about an hour and 30 minutes to get to Burnaby. I’m sure they were bushed by the time they got home tonight. Even with the long trip in, they seemed to enjoy the train ride – not having to worry about parking or dodging more traffic. Marg called it “a great addition to the city”. It didn’t hurt to have a good weather day, either.

I think we’re all in agreement – a good day was had by all. And we bought up piles of stuff at the Daiso. Unfortunately they were all out of paper underpants – both mens and womens, so that was a huge disappointment. But the bubble tea took the sting out of that situation.