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.
A Wander Down The World’s Longest Pier
Spring has sprung in the UK and the public’s mind has turned to sitting on beaches and having barbecues. Personally, beaches don’t really do it for me and I’ve never really understood what the big deal is with cooking outside, but it’s hard to argue with the more comfortable temperatures and the bright blue cloudless skies.
Luckily, the above average weather conditions have coincided with a week off work, so I’ve been looking for ways to occupy my time. A few weeks ago, I was planning to go abroad (perhaps Berlin or Switzerland), but time ticked by without any decisions being made and consequently, prices went up. Europe doesn’t have the same appeal as it once did. I’ve conquered much of Western Europe and while Eastern Europe beckons, it doesn’t have quite as much gravitation pull on my wallet than Asia does. I’m planning on revisiting Asia later in the year, so I’ve decided to ditch the idea of a short European break this week and save my money to splurge on rice and bubble tea later.
As part of my time occupying activities, yesterday I visited Southend-On-Sea. The town is like any other British seaside resort though it is trying to modernise. The seafront is actually rather nice, though it’s still blotted by amusement arcades, terrible cafes and shops selling sticks of rock, novelities and “fancy goods”.
The big draw for visitors to Southend (or Saaaff-end as residents call it) is the pier. At 1.34 miles (2.16 km), it is officially the world’s longest pleasure pier. It’s so long, a train runs its full length to ferry passengers from one end to the other (though it was closed on our visit). Again, Southend Borough Council are trying hard to smarten the pier up and make it more of a destination. Construction is underway on a multi-purpose cultural centre at the pier’s head which will include accommodation and cafes. Before that opens, there’s very little to encourage people to make to trip to the end other than to enjoy the ambiance and to tell people you did it.
So, here I am telling you I did it and here’s a photo to prove it. There are more photos on my Flickr stream if you’re interested.
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.
Oh Snow! Another Winter Photo
One more won’t hurt, surely!
Little England In The Snow
Bedfordshire, United Kingdom
Winter Finally Arrives In The UK
It’s been a strange winter in the northern hemisphere. While some regions have been hit by major chills and heavy snow, other places have basked in unseasonal warmth. One such place is here in the UK where mean temperatures in December 2011 hit record highs. Finally though, winter has arrived overnight with heavy snow affecting most of the country.
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.
