UPDATE : Gong Cha Malaysia has opened another outlet in The Gardens Mall. Click here to read more.

I was not a big fan of bubble tea… initially. The sight of flavoured powders and pre-mixed cordial juices didn’t attract my attention at all and usually, they can’t replicate the authentic taste of a real bubble tea that I had tasted in Taiwan.

Gong Cha Malaysia

*photo from Gong Cha Malaysia Facebook Page

But that was then as my perception has pretty much changed when I first had better tasting ones without any artificial flavouring in it. My interest grew stronger as my friend recommended me to try out Gong Cha Bubble Tea when I was in Singapore not long ago. Since then, as they said, the rest is history.

Gong Cha Bubble Tea Malaysia

For the uninitiated, Gong Cha originated from Kaohsiong, Taiwan since 2006 and has become one of the prominent players in bubble tea industry. The fact that they have multiple chains in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Philippines and Singapore pretty much speaks of its famous brand itself and has garnered a pretty large fan base. Regardless of the location, the queue was pretty long when I bought a cuppa in Singapore.

Gong Cha Bubble Tea Malaysia

And now, Gong Cha has expanded again and set their foot firmly on Malaysia’s sole. With its first outlet in SS15, Subang Jaya, Gong Cha is ready to gain more fans as well as serving their existing loyal customers who had tried them in other countries.

Signature Green Milk Tea With White Pearls
Signature Milk Green Tea With White Pearls (RM6.90)

One particular drink that set them apart from other bubble tea shops / brands is their Signature Milk Tea. Although many have proclaimed of their own version of ‘signature’ series, it is theirs (Gong Cha) that had me hooked to it. Unlike the normal bubble milk tea, Gong Cha’s Signature Milk Tea has something special to it. After all, they are the originator of such special milk tea.

Gong Cha Signature Black Milk Tea With Pearls
Signature Milk Black Tea With Pearls (RM6.90)

The combination of their specially made creamy smooth fresh milk foam on top of the freshly brewed tea works amazingly well. With a choice of black, green, Oolong or winter melon brewed tea, my personal favourite would be the Signature Milk Winter Melon Tea with bubbles (or pearls to some quarters). The taste of winter melon tea is refreshing while the ever savoury taste of fresh milk foam introduces a slight salt-ish side to the drink which hits the spot nicely. A bit of sweetness and saltiness makes the drink rather interesting… and addictive at the same time.

Ways to drink Gong Cha Signature Milk Tea

Besides that, Gong Cha made it all more interesting to have a go at their Signature Milk Tea. There are three (3) ways to indulge it; to drink it from top to bottom, bottom to top or to mix them all and drink it as a whole. Each ‘technique’ will produce a different experience and it’s up to individual’s preference on how they would like their drink to taste like.

Gong Cha Bubble Tea Malaysia

Other than their Signature series, they are also known for white pearls. Unlike the normal black pearls, these white ones are low in calories, carbs and what’s not which makes them a healthy option… especially for those health freaks. Besides that, they are of different texture which requires a little more bite to it. Nevertheless, they are definitely moreish just like the black pearls.

Gong Cha Bubble Tea Malaysia

I’ve not tried all of their drinks in the menu yet but those two that I mentioned in this writing gave me sufficient reason to visit them over and over again. Checkout their Facebook for more updates… or even better, head over to SS15, Subang Jaya for an awesome cup of authentic bubble tea!

Address :
3, Jalan SS15/7,
47500 Subang Jaya,
Selangor Darul Ehsan,
Malaysia.

Business Hours : 12PM – 10PM (Mondays – Thursdays) / 12PM – 12AM (Fridays – Saturdays) / 12PM – 11PM (Sundays)

Map :


View Larger Map

GPS Coordinates : 3.076227, 101.590415




March 28th, 2009 · 2 comments · Categories: Travel

Though it has been over 4 months since my trip, I’ve finally get to finish up about my visit. I’m pretty sure my colleagues were relieved after reading my Day 15 & Day 16 post. LOL.

Taipei 101

All in all, it was a kick-ass trip I’ve ever had in a long long time. Though we did not have any solid itinerary at all, I’ve got to say that it went really well. This trip provides wonderful memories as it was all about being in different environment in a different country. Besides, it was all about foods and valuable experience that I’ve tried and gained which I will not trade for anything else.

Steel

Great companies during holidays means a lot. And I am glad that great friends were with me throughout this trip. Seriously, nothing beats an enjoyable care-free holiday with people you are comfortable with. Though there were moments which we stressed upon; i.e. ‘rapid financial depletion’, I have to say that I enjoyed the trip thoroughly. Oh yes, the ‘rapid financial depletion’ part is another experience which I will not forget and that part itself somehow prepared me for my future holidays; that is to always have extra cash in hand (or credit card, if any). You will never know when shits happened.

Lighthouse

The stroll (or trekking) in Taroko National Park. The buzzing city of Taipei. The hilarious moments we went thru. The weirdest food we had in Taichung. The crazy moments we did when we were at Alishan. The torturous moment during Day 2. These were a few that I fondly remembered of. But, the best part that I love the most was our stop at Kenting. The scenery is just breath-taking. Before I forget, we defined ‘backpacking with style’ in our own way…

Beef Noodles

Honestly, this trip did burn a huge hole into my savings. The amount of money I’ve spent in this trip was well-worth and it was the highlight of my year 2008. Though my colleagues thought I’ve eloped as I did not tell them about my sudden long disappearance, this trip was my well-deserved break which I had been longing for since I started working. By the way, as of writing this post, I am still single and unattached.

Taroko Gorge

So, do head over to my Flickr if you want to view pictures I took during this trip. If you are interested in very detailed journal of this trip, head over to my friend’s website.

I’m so looking forward to my next holiday… which I don’t know when and where.




March 23rd, 2009 · 2 comments · Categories: Travel

Day 15, the second last day in Taiwan, practically. We assigned it as shopping day. Though we, as in my friends, bought some souvenirs along the way, we didn’t buy much as we needed to keep our luggage (or backpack) weight in check. Besides, we assumed that we could get most of the souvenirs in Taipei itself.

Sogo

Our first stop was Sogo shopping mall. It is somewhat similar to the one you see in Malaysia, but it is way bigger. The purpose of us going there was to get some Taiwanese delicacy biscuits. As usual, we skipped our breakfast and so, we had our brunch in the shopping mall itself. There was a mini food court which sells quite a lot of food.

Beef Rice

Not knowing what to eat, by looking at the picture and with rough identification of words, I ordered some beef rice meal. It turned out pretty good actually. The meat was juicy yet tender while the black pepper sauce was good. I have got to give credits to them (Taiwanese) for knowing how to cook beef meat properly. After our meal, we looked for that particular booth which sells the biscuits we wanted to buy and we spent more than NT$5000 in total just on the biscuits.

List Of Shops

At about mid-noon, we left the building and headed back to our hotel. We didn’t go anywhere else as we had to put the biscuits in the room. We can’t be carrying them around, anyway. There were lots of shops around our hotel area. So we figured that we might be able to get some souvenirs from these said shops. But before the ‘shopping’ spree, we took a short rest in our hotel room.

Street of Ximending

Throughout our stay, we didn’t have the chance to stroll around Ximending, or at least around our hotel area. We only been through 2 streets and that’s only because we had to use it to get to the MRT. So, that day was our chance to see and feel how it’s like to be in Ximending during busy hour. Besides, we need to get to our souvenirs too.

Street Of Ximending

The streets were very busy from day till night. All walks of life were on the streets minding their own business. Young kids in school uniforms, older generations with proper attire to the hip and trendy looks of teenagers were all there. I wouldn’t say it was a cultural shock to me. Fashion in Taiwan (or at least in Taipei) somehow resembled to the ones in Japan. The way they dress and their hairstyle is similar to those you normally see in Japanese TV shows.

Red Building

I actually told my friends that the were lots of Hello Kitty in the shops. Let it be stickers, soft toys, stationaries and etc., they were literally everywhere. Don’t ask me why. There were shops that sell branded goods and there were ones that sells non-branded ones and not forgetting food outlets too.

Band Performance

At times, the streets of Ximending were so lively that there were live performances. Let it be day or night, there were people performing according to their own specialty which attracted quite alot of viewers.

Risotto Signboard

We strolled quite a while before we went for our dinner. After a numerous lookouts, we settled for this shop. Its speciality was risotto. Yes, of all places, my first risotto has to be in Taiwan.

Risotto

I ordered mine which was risotto with bacons. The taste was quite alright. Not too creamy/starchy yet not too bland. But I’m sure there are better ones out there. The only downside was they served in small portion, which I think they should be in the first place. However, having said that, risotto should normally be served as starters instead of main course. Not satisfied at all, we headed back to TGIF for another round of food. Haha.

Starbucks

It was pretty late at night when we finished our second round (of dinner). However, the day was not over. My friend managed to coax us to visit Starbucks for the last time. And off we went to the nearest Starbucks which was located opposite of our hotel. We chatted quite a while before we called it a day.

7 Eleven

On the next day, we woke up early. As early as 5am because there will be a cab waiting for us at 6am to pick and send us to the airport. IIRC, we paid approximately NT$1200 for a van (with driver, of course). The photo above is the last photo I snapped before we left for the airport.