20 Dollars in China Town

I walked around Chinatown for a bit yesterday and picked up some snacks at one of my favorite bakery's and some more stuff at the local grocery.

My first stop was Bao Bao Bakery & Cafe where I grabbed some coconut bubble tea. Part of me is definitely embarrassed for loving such a trendy and childish beverage but coconut bubble tea is god damned delicious. Bao Bao however is not my favorite place to get pastries, I've actually found a lot of them to be lackluster and the service can often be a bit abrasive. One thing they can do right though is create some horribly cute cakes.

These are better then flowers if your girlfriend is mad at you.

The next stop was my favorite bakery for actual baked goods and not childish tapioca pearl concoctions. Hing Shing Patsy has been my stop for red bean buns, lotus buns, moon cakes and jin deui since I moved to Boston. There is something about the complex flavor and only mild sweetness of lotus or red bean pastes that I really enjoy. I have found Hing Shing to be the most consistent and the best priced of the Chinatown bakeries.

Not my amazing photo (click for owners flickr)

Moon Cakes are slightly expensive but delicious

The final stop on my trips to Chinatown is always the grocery store, Cmart. While I would love to eat fresh pastries everyday they sadly don't stay fresh much longer than a day or two. So I am forced to pick up more processed treats to carry thought the week. I don't really know how I discovered it but I have been addicted to aloe vera drink's for the past 3 or 4 years. I think it may also be the fact that the level of sweetness is still mild compared to other juices or sodas, and tastes great without that sticky teeth feeling some soda's and juices leave behind.

I'm seriously addicted to this stuff. It may be a problem
I dare not mix it with booze.

Everyone who comes to my house grabs a bag of these, I barley even get to eat them.
Although it's probably a good thing.