MOONLEAF-ing

                When it comes to food tripping, University of the Philippines, Diliman has one of the most diverse and wide array of variety – from Mang Larry’s Isaw, The sidewalk store's Siomai, Pancit Canton, and now to the latest trend, TEA. The more famous Tea House within the UP Diliman campus is MOONLEAF, located in Maginhawa street, Diliman Quezon City.

                One night, on August 10, 2011, at 9:30 in the evening, we, the CHAR girls (yes you read it right. It includes me) arrived at Moonleaf to have a taste of this sensational tea house.

             The place was filled by customers – young and old alike, students and teachers, simple and sosyal people – to the point that even the chairs outside of the main café were all occupied. It was more crowded inside but the atmosphere was that of a homely yet classy aura. You could hear the lively chatter of customers, talking to each other, sharing stories, discussing stuff. Actually, I was a bit surprised that it was jam-packed, considering it was a Wednesday night, the middle of the week. It just goes to show how popular this place has become.

                We made our way through the crowd, turning here and there to get to the line, which by the way was long.

Me and my Caramel Milk Tea

You know this process in Starbucks where one of the staff behind the counter asks for your name then they write it on your drink’s container? The same process goes for Moonleaf. We had this crazy idea to change our names while we were there. So the names we gave were not our real names. Just for the night, I was Hazel and the char girls were Rian, Sam, Jen, and Khai. Next time, I think I’d name myself Mariel Rodriguez. Hahahahaha. Just kidding Ate Ma! :))

After we ordered our drinks – Caramel Milk Tea for me, Wintermelon Milk Tea for Khai, Sam and Jen, and Pearl Milk Tea for Rian – we looked for a place to sit down.

Thankfully, the costumers in a table near the counter had already finished drinking their tea and were already leaving. We occupied their table. 

Readings are forever, forever~

We studied the notes we brought along and chatted with each other while waiting for our Milk Teas. When our fake names were called, we stood up and got our drinks. We sat down again and tasted our own Milk Tea, and then we tasted each other’s Milk Tea.

Changed Identities

   The Caramel Tea wasn’t too sweet, which is a good thing for me since I’m not really a big fan of sweet stuff. The sweetness was just enough to counter the bitter taste of the tea.

   Rian’s Pearl Milk Tea wasn’t exactly to my liking. It was too strong for me. But if you’re really into tea but would like something mild, I would suggest you go for Pearl Milk Tea since you could really taste the tea in this drink. 

               But of all the Milk Teas we ordered that night, I liked Khai, Sam and Jen’s Wintermelon Milk Tea the best because the flavor was just right. The sweetness wasn’t overwhelming but it blended well with the tea.

We're having so much fun!

                Like every new experience/adventure with the char girls, we took pictures – of our drinks, our selves, solo shots, our readings and so much more. We reviewed the pictures and laughed over the goofy ones and exclaimed over the good shots. In the middle of this fun, a lady who just entered caught our attention. There was nothing overly fashionable about her but what made us stare at her were two things.

1.   

      1. She was beautiful and; 

      2. We knew her

Me and Megan Young

            The lady was no other than MEGAN YOUNG, a famous TV personality.

I for one was really amazed that she was there. It wasn’t exactly the usual kind of place that you would see a TV personality in. Of course, I didn’t want to let that picture-taking opportunity pass. Jen and Khai had the same idea so we begged Rian to ask Megan Young if we could take a picture with her. Fortunately for us, Megan gamely agreed. She posed wacky poses with each of us. It was one of the highlight of the night.

After we thanked Megan for being so friendly, we went back to our table. I was so hyped up that I couldn’t write the next chapter in my story (Paper Roses) that I was supposed to write that night. The four char girls were also already tired so we decided to go home. Besides, it was already almost 11pm.

It was a lot of fun and definitely, this won’t be the last time that I would be going to Moonleaf. In fact, the char girls are already planning to make this a weekly habit, our bonding time.

             Well what else can I say? Let's all be healthy, let's all drink tea!