The Thousands

This summer I started getting pretty heavily into bubble tea. Then I sprained my ankle and any romantic notion I held about actually ‘doing stuff’ slowly melted away. Very soon Genuine Taiwan Pearl Milk Bubble Tea on Moonta Street became my beach. My urban beach. My urban beach that sold lychee/double lychee/peach/taro (whatever that is)/(anything I can pronounce)/triple pearl bubble milk teas.

Bubble teas are almost perfect. The two main ingredients are milk and sugar. You add even more sugary things at the end called ‘pearls’, which is such a beautiful word. They come with pastel coloured ultra straws with little transitional knife ends that break the sealed lid and at the back of the shop there is a professional cup seal sealing machine. Super innovative.

GPMBT is tucked inside the lo-fi womb of the Hong Kong Grocer, and is basically the Empire Records of Chinatown. Take a boy there, get your bubble teas, and drink and sit on the Hong Kong Grocer window seal. Elevate your ankle. Put down your cups and hold hands, whatever.