Milk tea has become so popular ever since it arrived here in the Philippines. It has become the ultimate favorite drinks of many and is considered a “comfort drink”. Who can resists its creamy, delicious and refreshing taste? It is such an indulgence indeed!

In this blog we are going to focus our review on Matcha Milk tea. This flavor may not always be on top of the list of many milk tea lovers but this is definitely one of the healthiest flavor I must say. Matcha is especially associated with having health benefits because of its high antioxidant content and is labelled as a “superfood”. So for those of you who are health conscious and at the same time can’t resist the refreshing taste of milk tea, then matcha milk tea is for you. 

To help you choose which brand is the best and worth-trying, well this review might help you. Please note that in this review we made sure that all brands have 50% sugar to be fair. Of course we don’t want our milk tea to be so sweet.

Macau Imperial Tea (Cream Cheese with Matcha Milk Tea)

Macau Imperial Tea is widely known for their Cream Cheese and Oreo Cream Cheese flavor milk tea.  But out of curiosity we tried their matcha flavor milk tea and I promise it will never disappoint you. Of all the brands that we have tried their version of matcha milk tea is definitely the best. The matcha flavor and the creaminess blends perfectly. I don’t know how they made it tastes so good. I am sure that even those who are not fond of matcha because of its bitter taste would still love their matcha milk tea.

Chatime (Matcha Red Bean Milk Tea)

In their version, the matcha flavor is quite strong and it has a “sugary sweetness”. What I am trying to say is that the sweetness doesn’t come from milk. It may not look like it has a strong matcha flavor from the outside because of its color but it has strong matcha flavor when you taste it.  It’s not creamy and I would say it’s not something that I am looking for in my matcha milk tea.

Happy Lemon (Matcha with Rock Salt and Cheese)

It has less matcha flavor, it’s creamy and sweet. I love it because it tastes really good and I like the combination of flavors, although I find it a little bit sweet for a 50% sugar on it. Maybe next time 25% sugar would be perfect. But overall their version of matcha milk tea is a winner!

Fiftea (Matcha Milk Tea)

Fiftea’s version of matcha milk tea is not creamy but it has a “real matcha” flavor. Among all of them it has the strongest coIor and the strongest matcha flavor.  I actually like it, although it is not creamy, it still tastes good. A thumbs up for me. I would recommend this to those who are health conscious and is watching their sugar intake. You won’t feel any guilt if you’ll have this one.

Gong Cha (Matcha Milk Tea)

Gongcha’s version of matcha milk tea has a “not so matcha” flavor. It is also not creamy. It tastes plain and nothing really special about it. Overall it’s something that I would not prefer.

We also have a video for this. Check it out.                        

Milk teas are one of the most popular drinks now a days. It is loved by people from all walks of life. Well of course, who doesn’t love milk tea right? It’s deliciously refreshing and perfect for a treat!

We are also fond of Milk Teas. Whenever we go to the mall or somewhere, we always find time to buy something to drink, specially milk tea.

In fact, in our previous blog, we have written our reviews on some of our favorite milk teas here in Davao City. I would say that our favorite milk tea shops so far are Macau Imperial and Chat time.

In Macau Imperial Tea, we always go for the Cream Cheese flavor while in Chatime we always order their Thai Milk Tea.

Last year, we have found out we can make our own Thai Milk tea in the comfort of our own home. It only not lessen our expenses because as we all know milk teas are not cheap specially those known brands but it also allow us to satisfy our cravings since you can have all you want and you can also enjoy it with the whole family! And don’t worry about the taste because believe it or not, they have the same taste with those in a commercial tea shops. 

Since it is quarantine days because of the pandemic, this homemade Thai Milk Tea is perfect to share to everyone.

Please note that in this homemade Thai milk tea, we have recommended some brand (not sponsored) but of course it is still up to you if you use the same. For us this brand gives us the perfect taste we are looking in a Thai milk tea.

Main ingredients:

1.    Chatramue Brand Thai Tea Mix

As of the moment, I'm not sure if these products are now available in the supermarket. But as far as I know, you can buy it online like Lazada and Shoppe.

2.    Cowbell condensada (condensed)

We have tried other brands, but this one will give us the exact taste as those in milk tea shops

3.    Nestle Fresh Milk (green color)

We all know that fresh milk is packed with essential nutrients, which is good for our bodies. 

4.    Ice cubes

To make our milk tea refreshing.

5.    Coffee maker

We will use this to brew our tea.

6.    Sago/Tapioca

For us to achieve our dream Thai milk tea just like what we see in the stores, we can add sago to spice up a little bit.

Procedure:

Cook the sago/tapioca separately.

1.    In a boiling water , add the sago/tapioca.

2.    Stir the tapioca lightly so it doesn’t stick to the bottom.

3.    Simmer it for about 8 to 9 minutes. It is best to taste it so you would know if it is cooked already.

4.    Drain the water from the cooked tapioca and rinse it into a running tap or cold water.

5.    Our tapioca is ready. Set aside

For our Thai Milk tea:

1.    Put water in the coffee maker, but just make sure that it wont pass through the label of the coffee maker.

2.    Add 2 tablespoon of Chatramue Brand Thai Tea. You can add more if you want a much stronger tea flavor.

3.    Put the freshly brewed tea into a pitcher and mix the cowbell condensed and fresh milk.

4.    Stir it well.

5.    Put some tapioca in a glass, add your Thai Milk Tea, then add some ice cubes.

6.    Serve and enjoy.

So that's it! Your own version of Thai Milk tea. Enjoy it with your friends and family.

Restaurants all over Davao City have been popping out like mushrooms over time. Some make hype in social media. Others through word of mouth. Indeed, this business is tough and never easy. Competition is real. One that is making noise recently are steak houses.

We have found this new steak house, Calve Steakside unexpectedly. It was a Monday afternoon when our friend craves for ramen and she happened to hear from another friend of a newly opened Japanese restaurant in town. Saiku Ramen Restaurant was all over Facebook that time for their unique and stylish photo of food that they offer. And so we decided to go to this place to to give it a try even though the location is quite far from the downtown area. If you are going to look at it on Google map, it says that it takes 19 minutes going to this place via service car. Beacause it was peak hours, 5PM in the afternoon already, this 19 minutes has become an hour—arrrgh! Traffic congection at its finest.

On our way to Saiku Ramen Restaurant , we have passed by other Japanese restaurants and it says it was closed. And so we just ignore it and continue with our journey. When we arrived at the place, we are disheartened to know that it is also CLOSED. None of us knew that most of the Japanese restaurants are closed on Mondays. When I searched it on google, it says that the reason for some Japanese restaurants closed on Mondays is that, weekend is the busiest days of the restaurant, so they give time for the employees to have a break. 

But there’s a good thing about it, besides this Japanese restaurant there’s an open restaurant called Calves Steakside. With that, we decided to try it since we are already there. We learned that Saiku restaurant and Calves Steakside has the same owner.

The restaurant has a good ambiance and cozy interior. They offer a high quality food and service. Their steaks are all so thick and juicy. Prices are reasonable. Though I must admit that I’m no expert when it comes to steak reviews, here’s what we can say on what we ordered.

Flat Iron Steak

This is one of their best seller. The aroma is so tempting that you couldn't resist to take a bite of it. This steak is so savory that you would stop and enjoy its taste.

Pork Steak

Usually, when it comes to steak, we always go for beef.  But this pork steak gives you a different perspective when it comes to steak. It has a juicy and exquisite taste. Added with a bit of sauce on it makes it perfect.

Chicken Fillet Steak

These four pieces of grilled chicken thighs are the best so far—a must-try when you are planning to go to this restaurant. You can never get over once you’ve tasted it.

Cream of Mushroom Soup

It is creamy and tasty.  Has perfect saltiness. We just love it. 

Mashed Potato

You’ll also love the taste of this mashed potato. 

It was guaranteed that this pretty small restaurant with a lovely ambiance offered delicious food without scratching your head with their price.

Overall this accidentally food tripping we had turned out to be one of the best food experience.

A place for snorkeling. A marine sanctuary with a white sand beach.

It is a small island with some families living on it, but they manage to preserve the marine life in the place.

A beautiful strip island located in Pungtod island.

One of the white sand beaches in Panglao and has no vegetation on it. Purely white sand. The only thing that you can see is the seller's food stalls in the area. Yes, there are vendors on this isolated island, where you can buy some of the fresh seafoods that you will definitely love. They will cook them in front of you, and you can eat right after. You can also buy water or soft drinks for refreshments.

As for us, since we are already late for the bee's exploration, we just roam around and saw an ice cream stall. I found the ice cream interesting because the cone is made of cassava. Interesting, isn't it? And they have a variety of flavors which you cannot usually taste from the commercial ice cream that we used to. I choose kalamansi flavor. For me, it has a perfect taste of sourness and sweetness. And oh, let's not forget the creaminess that brought life to their ice cream. I would love to go back and taste the other flavors as well.