Life changing stuff

For as long as I have lived in this neighbourhood, I've always wished that there was a bubble tea store near my home. Bubble tea (aka "pearl tea", as we usually call it in Australia -- I've become too Americanised lol) isn't really anything new, and as you might already know, it was invented in Taiwan back in the 1980s. It's been pretty popular around the world for many years now. For some strange reason though, when I first arrived in Korea back in 2007, bubble tea seemed pretty much non-existent and I always had to wait until I visited home to be able to satisfy my cravings. Odd, right? I mean given that Korea is so close to Taiwan and all the other Asian countries, like Hong Kong and China, where bubble tea stores are a dime a dozen.. In fact, it was only about late 2011 that bubble tea began to catch on and all these chain stores suddenly started popping up everywhere. (Before that, I could have counted the number of bubble tea places on my fingers -- and trust me, I'd already visited most of them as part of my futile attempts to hunt down decent bubble tea in Seoul.)

Anyway.. As I was saying about my neighbourhood.. There's only one place nearby that does bubble tea, but it's pretty craptacular. It's actually a waffle cafe, so good quality bubble tea probably isn't the highest thing on their agenda. The flavours are limited and the pearls usually come out hard, and in completely inadequate quantities.

Then last week, right across the street from the front entrance of my apartment, I saw this:

Coming soon... A bubble tea store!! >:D It's like all my prayers have been answered! Haha.

Admittedly, this isn't my favourite chain as it's a bit pricey compared to others (and we all know what a cheapo I am :P), plus there isn't that much variety on the menu... However, considering that it's literally right in front of my apartment, I'll take what I can get. Yes, I can literally look out my window and see into the store, that's how close it is to my building. >:D Muahaha.

Funnily enough, the place used to be a Calvin Klein underwear shop (as you can see from the picture). When Harry, Jaclyn, and Iain were here, we would walk past and always check out the store to see if anyone was in there, all the while musing over who in this area of apartments, office buildings, pubs, and business/gentlemen's clubs would actually have any sudden need for expensive, designer underwear. As it turns out, I guess nobody, since the place has shut down.

Anyhoo... For now I'm keeping my eye on this bubble tea place (no seriously, I'm like looking out my window every day and inspecting for progress in the construction) and I am greatly looking forward to its timely opening. >:D Hurrah!

Now, if only a Taco Bell would open up in my area.... If ooooonly... Hehehe.