Bubbleology, London
A slurpy/chewy taste of Taiwan in London’s West End.
On a pedestrian street just north of Leicester Square in London’s Soho area, behind an unassuming facade is a cafe with a unique offering. Well, unique for London that is. Though bubble tea is massively popular across Asia, particularly Taiwan where it was conceived, ask most Britons what a tapioca pearl is and you’ll be met with a frown.
They, of course, don’t know what they’re missing. And if you’ve never had bubble tea, neither do you. Served either hot of cold, Bubble Tea consists of either a green or black tea base with shots of additional flavour. The list of flavours are endless and can be mixed together according to personal preference. Lying at the bottom of a cup of Bubble Tea are the things to which it owes its name. The bubbles. While even these come in a variety of forms, most commonly found are small black, chewy balls of tapioca that are sucked up the fatter-than-normal straw along with the tea.
The decor inside of Bubbleology is made out to look like a laboratory, while the staff all wear long white coats. The focus here is on experimenting by mixing the flavours together. On my most recent visit, I mixed vanilla with almond and added some lychee flavoured popping boba. Delicious! On previous visits, I’ve enjoyed mixing a variety of exotic fruit flavours together whilst adding pieces of fruit jelly. Fun and tasty!
Not everyone quite gets the concept. While I was chewing away on a mouthful of pearls last Sunday, a man walked in and asked for a latte. He was politely told they didn’t do coffee, though they did do a coffee flavoured bubble tea. He shrugged and gave it a go.
Next time you’re in London’s West End, do as he did and give Bubbleology a try. It’s the variety of flavours and the weirdness of having chewy lumps of stuff in the tea that keeps me going back.
London Switches To Jubilee Mode
This coming June, Britons get a four day weekend to celebrate Queen Elizabeth’s Diamond Jubilee. That’s 60 years of reign over our tiny isles and the Commonwealth. London, as you may expect, has switched to Jubilee mode by dusting off the Union flags and hanging them over Oxford Street and Coventry Street (near Leicester Square). I’m sure more streets will follow and I suspect the flags may stay out since a certain sporting event will be taking place shortly afterwards.
Celebrating the end of Winter the Russian way in London’s Trafalgar Square.
Winter in Russia and its neighbouring countries is a cold, long, drawn-out affair. Temperatures typically struggle at around the minus 10 to 20 mark for a good three to four months. No amount of big, fluffy siberian hats can help keep the chill at bay. So naturally, once March arrives, Russians, Belorussians and Ukrainians are keen to celebrate the arrival of the sun. They do this in the form of a Maslenitsa, an annual folk and religious festival where dreadful music is played and danced to and pancakes and dumplings are consumed.
This weekend, London’s Trafalgar Square played host to its own version of the Maslenitsa and I was one of the thousands that turned up.
At the centre of the celebrations was the effigy of Kostroma, a slavic fertility goddess. Revering her and dancing around her straw-filled being is said to improve soil fertility in the spring. She was at the centre of the first performance on the big stage.
Boss-eyed Bear was also present, though his relevance to the Maslenitsa was unknown. The crowds loved him though, especially when he strutted his stuff to the sounds of “popular folk group” Balagan Limited (our favourite Balagan Limited track is on YouTube).
There were plenty of ways to part with your cash. One stall was flogging Russian satellite tv while almost all the others sold Russian souvenirs and tat. The dolls were proving to be particularly popular.
Of course, no festival is complete without traditional food to try. And no blog post on Here To Geneva is complete without photos of said traditional food. So, here’s what I had;
To start, I had a savoury blini, a crispy deep-fried pancake filled with undisclosed meat. It was tasty, though rather greasy. Those in the UK familiar with Findus crispy pancakes will find them instantly recognisable.
Following that, a steaming cup of Borsch. It wasn’t quite what I was expecting. I’ve had Borsch in the past and it was purple and beetrooty. This though was red and oniony. I’ve since read that there are several varieties of Borsch where the amount of beetroot varies. This variety was heavy on the tomato and onion. It was like watery pasta sauce.
To finish, Pelmeni. These with like little meat-filled tortellini, though the dough was deep-fried and crispy. On top, a squirt of sour sauce that added little to the experience.
In all, it was nice to experience Russian culture for the first time, though whether it’s encouraged me to visit Russia in the future remains to be seen. If I’m promised Boss-eyed bear will show me round, you can book me a room right now.
Russians Take Trafalgar Square
London’s Russian community celebrates the beginning of the end of Winter at the annual Maslenitsa festival in Trafalgar Square
The Journey Begins
Yesterday, I along with 9,999 others, attended an event at Wembley Arena held by LOCOG (London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games). Later in the year, the world will descend on London for the ‘greatest show on earth’ and I will be playing a very small part in its success.
I can’t tell you anymore than this for the time being for various reasons. Rest assured though, when I can tell you more, I will.
Destinations - The Holiday & Travel Show
Yesterday, I was at Earl’s Court Exhibition Centre for the Destinations - Holiday & Travel Show presented by The Times. The entire exhibition hall was full of stands from travel agencies, national tourism bureaus and travel guide/magazine publishers. Some stands were simple affairs while others were elaborate multimedia experiences. Turkey and Argentina produced the most lavish stands. Turkey in particular not only had a massive stand right at the entrance to the hall, but had also laid on a cafe right in the middle selling strong Turkish coffee and cakes.
Everything was being tried to lure in the punters. Russia had an accordion player belting out traditional Russian tunes while Romania was dishing out free wine and bread. New Zealand & Australia had brought with them a camper van, while one of the African tour groups had wheeled in an enormous safari truck, of which you could climb aboard.
There were also plenty of celebrity speakers, wild animal displays, dance and music performances and opportunities to try food from around the world. It was great!
After a few hours, my bag was full of brochures and leaflets and my mind full of inspiration and ideas for where to go next.
Destinations continues today and tomorrow at Earl’s Court. Tickets available on the door.
My campaign of immersing myself in the culture of other nations continued at the weekend with a visit to an early Christmas Fair at the Finnish Church of London (or, Lontoon Suomalainen Kirkko, to call it by its awesome Finnish name). There was no hiding the fact that this was a money-making scheme. You could tell by browsing the large supermarket they had set up in the church itself. A medium jar of Cloudberry jam cost £9.50! I’ll let them off though as it was an enjoyable excursion (plus I imagine it costs a fair bit to import everything) and my first opportunity to experience anything relating to Finland.
After balking at the high prices of all the goodies (Moomin-shaped biscuits, rye crackers, dark chocolate, liquorice etc.) I heading for an adjoining tent where food was being served. I passed at the £6.50 sautéed reindeer (I wanted to try it but I couldn’t quite justify the price) and enjoyed a dollop of silky smooth mash with a fat scandinavian-style sausage and rye bread. To wash it down, a cup of Glögi (mulled wine) with a “glog” of vodka.
Upstairs were craft stalls and a cafe where I had to try one of Finland’s traditional Karelian Pies; a rice-filled soft rye crust with chopped egg on top. I enjoyed it for its cultural significance, not for its taste which was barely detectable.
Before leaving, I stopped by a stall giving out free samples of Finnish Pâtés on rye bread (no surprises there). I could have gone for salmon or elk, but I decided upon trying bear. The issue of whether bear meat is ethically and sustainably farmed aside, bear has a predictably strong meaty flavour that is otherwise difficult to describe. It wasn’t horrible by any stretch but I won’t be rushing to Helsinki to buy more of it.
“We expect political democracy. Why not economic democracy too?”
I’m keen to avoid getting too political in this post, particularly as I don’t feel I’m terribly clued up about what the Occupy movement is all about and thus, airing my views about economic equality isn’t going to be useful to anyone. So, I simply present these photos as a way of documenting my visit to the OccupyLSX camp that is currently sat outside St. Pauls Cathedral in London.
I was impressed by how well organised the camp was. As you’ll see in my photos, the protesters have gone to great lengths to make themselves comfortable as well as making the camp as inviting as possible for curious visitors. There were people from all walks of life reading the posters and leaflets, taking photos and listening & engaging in (sometimes heated) debate. It was obvious to me that one of the camper’s aims is to disseminate their opinions. Judging by how many people were wandering around, at least this part of their campaign could probably be consider a success.
As well as in Info Tent where passers-by were encouraged to go in and learn about the Occupy movement, the campers had set up a kitchen and, directly opposite a branch of Starbucks, StarBOOKS a library of fiction books and campaign literature.
While I wandered and snapped, I noticed well-known human rights activist Peter Tatchell posing for photos before recording an interview. He was interrupted part way through by the bells of St Pauls. Despite early nonsensical reaction from the Church of England, it’s now business as usual at London’s most famous cathedral.
If you’d have called me a few evenings ago, I wouldn’t have been able to answer, for I was in Trafalgar Square in London, filling my big, stupid grinning face with Malaysian food.
The most famous of city squares was once again playing host to a celebration of Malaysian food and culture. For one night only, Londoners could sample food from around 30 different stalls whilst being entertained by traditional Malaysian music and dance on the big stage. The atmosphere was terrific, helped largely by the fact everyone was high on Satay, Laksa and Nasi Lemak.
Here’s what I had;
Penang Laksa - Rice noodles in a hot & sour mackerel sauce with prawns, pineapple and garnishes. Delicious and quite unique. Not at all like the Curry Laksa I’m used to.
Satay - Grilled chicken on skewers in a spicy peanut sauce. I loved it before having this serving and if anything, I love it even more now. Amazing!
Roti Punai - An Indian-inspired flatbread, torn, with a vegetable curry gravy. Great texture and really tasty.
Aneka Kuih - A quartet of steamed Malaysian cakes. Kuih Lapis is a rainbow layered, jelly-like cake that is eaten by the layer and made with coconut milk and sago flour. Kuih Bakar is likened to egg custard. Kuih Serimuka has a bottom layer of rice and an upper layer flavoured by pandan leaf. Finally, Binka Ubi is made using Tapioca and Coconut Cream.
And to wash it all down, I had;
- Teh Tarik - I first had Teh Tarik, a strong “pulled’ tea made with condensed milk, in the Arab quarter of Singapore. It was a real treat to see it being made again and obviously an even bigger treat to drink it. The preparation process was as labourious and showy as it should have been.
- Coconut Juice - I was informed before trying this that Coconut Juice is an acquired taste. Not so. It is refreshing, sweet, creamy and lovely.
The year between now and the next Malaysia Night in London is going to feel like an age. Perhaps the only answer to this problem to go to Malaysia before Malaysia comes back to me. Well, alright then, I will!
Hundreds of thousands of cycling fans turned out in central London over the weekend for the final stage of the the Tour of Britain 2011. And I was one of them.
I’ve been going to the London stage for around 5 years and have seen the event mature and grow in stature each time. Having been to the final stage of the Tour de France in Paris a few times and seen how huge an event that is, I can genuinely say that in terms of set-up, London is certainly beginning to rival Paris.
There’s still some way to go before we start seeing in the UK the sort of crowds that turn out in France. That said, we’re heading in the right direction. The Tour of Britain has never seen so many spectators at the roadside.
It was a fantastic occasion, made even better by British rider Mark Cavendish crossing the line to take the win. And I was right there on the finish line to see him punch the air in celebration.
