Pina Colada flavoring with colored bubbles, please

The latest phenomenon...BUBBLE TEA!! (well, ok, it's been around since the 80's...)

I was introduced to this delectable delight in the middle of July of this year, and I have been a fan ever since!

I remember that first visit to Bubble Island in AA...I walked in the door, and was instantly fascinated. So many choices! Did I want tea or juice? Hot, cold, or blended? Cream or fruit? Small or Large? Some Mochi ice cream on the side? Blue, pink, green, purple, or orange jumbo straw?

However, the toughest decision of all, by far, was what sort of "bubbles" to add. They're actually called boba, and they're pretty much giant tapioca balls of about the consistency of soggy gummy bears. A strange and alien concept, I know. Only the Asians could think it up...and think it up they did! Bubble tea apparently originated in Taiwan and was sold in tea stands in front of elementary schools. I am forever indebted to the inventor.

The experience of drinking your first bubble tea is one of the most unique you will ever have. You first taste the sweet goodness of whatever flavor you have chosen...and then a strange slurping sound occurs, and you end up with a marble-sized blob in your mouth. One of my friends described it well: "it feels a little like you're drinking frog spawn." After recovering from the initial shock, you realize that the little bits of goo aren't all that bad; in fact, they're rather delicious. The intensity of the flavor is somewhat dependent upon whether you chose black or colored bubbles, lychee jellies, or mango stars. I, personally, recommend them all (a word of warning to the wise: black bubbles may be a little much for neophytes).

If you haven't had the opportunity to sample this ambrosial delicacy, then hop into your preferred mode of transportation and high-tail it to your nearest big city or Asian centre. You won't regret it...though in all honesty, you might.

The First Step is Admitting the Problem

My name is Laura. I'm 21 years old, and I have a confession to make: I love Asian food.

I don't just like it...you see, it's not as simple as all that. No, I must tell you that I love it with a passion that would make Michael Phelps' will to win look like a mere propensity for the sport of swimming.

This is not a new whim for me, not by any stretch of the imagination. No, I've been an adorer of all-foods-Asian for a long time now. However, it is true that my devotion to the cuisine of the East has of late been more intense than ever before. You see, earlier this year I made the decision to become a Vegetarian. With this decision, my meal choices became somewhat limited. Except within the Asian realm, that is.

In chapter one of the book of Genesis in the Bible, it is made quite clear that humans were not created to eat animals. Instead, nuts, grains, and fruit were the way to go. Since then, our diet has been rather corrupted, due to the lack of vegetation after the Great Flood. After studying this for a time, I came to the conclusion that it might be a good idea to reclaim the original diet and drop the cancer-causing flesh altogether.

This was not an easy transition to make--not by a long shot! Everywhere I went, waiters and waitresses would give me that incredulous, dropped-jaw look whenever I said, "hold the meat, please." Everywhere, that is, except the Asian restaurants.

At the Asian restaurants--whether Thai, Chinese, Japanese, Indian, Korean, Filipino, or Pakistani--the servers never even blink should I request tofu in the place of chicken, extra eggplant instead of beef. This is the sort of treatment that has endeared me all the more to Asian food.

I have not even begun to speak of the delicious flavors that have made a fanatic out of me...




...but that is for another blog, another day.