With all the Milk Tea stores are springing left and right, Macao Imperial Tea's drink selection is…read morethe most hype-worthy! Love the cheesecake milk tea. There is a striking balance of sweet and salty. Packaging is intricately designed. Though the service is slow for there are a lot for app-delivery orders being prepared ahead of us.

AMBIENCE They are at the front left side of Pobstacion Food…read morePark and facing Above Sea Level. Many seats are available since they have six-seater benches from ground to second floor, though I still haven't seen what's on the third yet. BEVERAGE Hojicha was bitter, perfectly iced and super good! SERVICE Server did a super good job! Before my transaction, I found out he took care of a man's cellphone and helmet until he returned to claim them. While buying, he informed me their cups are reusable and can help me save Php10 per next order. Plus, he was very informative about them being the first branch to serve food, noodles to be more specific. Then he also promoted the new Royal Thai Tiger and Black Tiger beverages without rushing through the details. That's just awesome!

My best friend and I carpool so we usually wait in a restaurant or a café for our not-so-punctual…read morecarpool buddies. It's always a hassle because we are usually forced to buy food in restaurants so that we will have a place to stay. Our mentality is if we're going to pay money, might as well spend it on something that we would get to appreciate. While we wait, we usually stay in Serenitea to catch up on school work or just have a quick chitchat. For me, Serenitea is one of the best tea places out there. The place stays true to its name. Serenitea has a very calming and relaxing vibe to it, making it the perfect place for a study date (or just a regular date). They have a wide variety of drinks to offer. They sell both milk tea and fruit tea. My personal favorite is Serenitea's Milo Dino, which is a chocolate drink with powdered undissolved Milo added to it. Besides tea, they also have snacks that is based on Taiwan's famous street food. Their bestsellers include peppered tofu cubes and chicken chops. If you are looking for a place that has a soothing and calming vibe to it, look no further 'cause Serenitea is here!

Serenitea was my favorite hang-out/study place during my summer classes! The place is small and…read morecozy and well-lit, and the music playing isn't too loud or distracting. Plus, the tea is really great! I can't say much for the milk teas because I never really ordered them, but the fruit teas were my favorite! The Calamansi Fruit Tea and the Lychee Fruit Tea especially. They were the perfect cold drink to have during the sweltering humid days of the summer, and at a reasonable-ish price too! I also like Serenitea because their menu is so diverse, there's a lot of variety to their teas, giving you a lot choose from. This is definitely one of my favorite tea places!

Moonleaf was probably one of the "newer" milk tea places that opened in the Teacher's Village…read morearea. This was during the rise of the milk tea place so naturally, I had to go try it out. Years later, I still find myself heading there if I want something creamier than usual. Let me be honest here. I don't really go to milk tea places for the milk tea. I usually go for the tea. My order is usually a flavored green tea if anything. I blame a sensitive stomach and somewhat lactose intolerance. Yet Moonleaf actually gets me to order milk tea. Hear that, Moonleaf? I brave lactose intolerance for you! -Ahem- There's something in the way Moonleaf blends their milk and tea that makes it taste so good. I can't explain it but it's a certain mellowness that I haven't experienced with other branches. My personal favorite is the honey milk tea. The sweetness from the honey coupled with milk is wonderful is you want something relaxing and soothing after a long day.

I am personally going to swear by the original Moonleaf Tea Shop in Maginhawa as the first milk /…read morebubble tea shop in the metro, and certainly one of (if not THE) first to kickstart the milk tea craze all those years ago (which may have ended with the food poisoning and people dying incident). This is the favorite tambayan place for a lot of UP students because (1) it was the closest drinks place to the campus, and (2) they were the first to partner with a UP org to release UP planners. There were a lot of firsts in this place, and I'm glad I was there to see most of them.

And here we have yet another Maginhawa milk tea regular. It's lasted pretty long, too which should…read moresay something. Of all the milk tea joints, Cha Dao and Tea Please are the two places with the most diverse menus so if you're tired of your usual choices, there's always these guys. Where Tea Please has more adventurous flavors, Cha Dao offers more variations. You have your usual fruit teas and black teas and green teas... but they have things like Strawberries n' Cream, Chocolate Strawberry Yakult, Wintermelon Salted Caramel... the list goes on. Be prepared to spend a few minutes looking the menu over, trying to decide if you want your usual or if you'd like to try something new. Whatever you pick though, it's all good. The flavors are there and aren't overpowering whatsoever. I'd say this is where to go when you want something close to your usual flavor but don't want something too foreign. Also, this place is pretty good to hang out with friends but if you want munchies, better bring your own. (Or you could buy barbecue from the Grill Queen next door, your choice.)

Manila had this milk tea craze and everyone went crazy for it. Except me, though. I've never really…read morebeen a milk tea aficionado. It's nice and creamy, yes, but I'm not addicted. We could co-exist, milk tea and I, but if they suddenly disappeared from the face of this planet, I wouldn't notice. Unlike, if that happens to ice cream, I'd go crazy. Cha Dao happens to be near where I live and we'd occasionally grab some milk tea there. Then one day, they were serving Sugarlick ice cream too. Now I'm all "Cha Dao is my favorite milk tea place everrrrrr." PROS: They offer milk tea in a lot of different flavors, and a lot of them are unique Cha Dao offerings; You can stay indoors and enjoy their air conditioning, or at their porch. It's very conducive for just hanging out or doing your stuff since it's peaceful, comfy, and quiet; They have Sugarlick homemade artisan ice cream! It comes in all awesome flavors like Nutty Salted Caramel and Mango Torte. Each scoop fills up the entire cup! CONS: It's not a really good place for snacking. They have some cookies and their awesome ice cream, but they don't have your common café pastries. TL;DR: Come for the milk tea, stay for the Chocolate Cookie Dough ice cream. Stay for the Wi-Fi too.

When it comes to milk tea, I've seen it all. Maybe it was because I was hooked during the Manila…read moreMilk Tea Craze phase or because I've been drinking tea since I was in highschool. Either way, I was glad it was more accessible to the general public. When it comes to milk tea though, Simple Line is my go-to place. It's the one place I recommend off the top of my head and it's not just because I've been a customer since my college days (Hi, Simple Line Leon Guinto branch). It's mostly for the fact that it offers such quality tea at such an affordable price. Most tea places charge around 80php to 120php for something that masks the taste of the tea behind milk and whatever flavor you chose but that isn't the case here. When it comes to Simple Line, you can taste the tea and I mean really taste the tea. It isn't unpleasant or grassy but it does have that bitterness you get when you sip freshly made tea from a cup. And believe me when I say that their prices have not gone over 100php. For what you're paying, you get really *really* good tea with so many varieties where the flavors compliment and enhance the tea, not overpower it. Naturally, imagine my surprise when I saw one being opened near Maginhawa. Up until that day, I had only seen Simple Line near CSB but lo and behold, here it was in my backyard. Naturally, I was there during opening week and was surprised to see the same person who made my tea in the Leon Guinto branch on duty at this one. Talk about a pleasantly nostalgic punch to the face. The milk tea craze may have died down just a bit but if it wasn't for Simple Line, I would probably stick to tea bags and hot water at home.

Chocolate Mousse with Pearls. MY FIRST AND ONLY LOVE AT CHATIME. Wala akong ibang naoorder dito…read morekasi baka magselos yung Chocolate Mousse ko. Choz! Hahaha! Feeling ko kasi anywhere may mahahagilap akong milk tea kaya whenever I go to Chatime, inoorder ko yung something na wala naman sa iba or yung masarap talaga sa kanila like yung Chocolate Mousse! Usually tambayan ko dito kapag pagod na mag-shopping TARAY MAY PERA WINDOW SHOPPING LANG PALA HAHAHA One time, nakagawa ako ng blog post dahil nag-oobserve ako ng mga kumakain dito kaya about sa kanila yung nasulat ko. TSISMOSA PALA AKO. Ano bang pinapatunayan ko girl?: masarap at masayang tumambay sa Chatime. Dami ko pang sinasabi eh. Hahaha! Kapag napapasarap yung tambay moment ko syempre may hiya naman akong umorder more than sa Chocolate Mousse diba MAYABANG KAYA AKO CHAR kaya kain ako ng Chicken Chops tapos kapag sobrang gutom may kasama pang Annatto Pilaf Rice yan! Pero the best sa lahat yung French Fries (BBQ yung favorite ko!) makapal siya like my fez hahaha tapos crispy na malambot (hindi ko maexplain basta perfect siya for me!) Favorite tambayan ko at Chatime tapos nakakatuwa kasi nagvavibrate yung pinaka-number kapag okay na yung order mo dito. Sobrang tuwa ko pinag-aantay ko sila tapos pinapanuod ko lang mag-vibrate sa lamesa yung bilog na something! Trip lang bakit ba! Hahaha!

Comfortable chairs. Weird. But somehow, hugs your back and keeps it glued. Of course, can't do…read morewithout Pearl Milk Tea, large, normal ice and 70% or 100% sugar. Love it.

Infinitea was probably the third milk tea place to open up for business in the Maginhawa area. The…read morefact that it chose a spot across the street from Zen Tea made it clear that they intended to secure the spot as competition. Let the milk tea wars begin, then! What Infinitea has over Moonleaf and Zen Tea (Apart from that name pun) is it's rather daunting menu. I have to admit, every time, I always have to take a step back and stare at the menu for a pretty long time before finally deciding on something. It isn't like Simple Line where I know what I want or Zen Tea where I can make up my mind with a quick glance at the menu. I really have to think. Do I want a milk tea? Do I want a fruit tea? Do they have lemonade today? Do they have soda? Should I get an add on? I'm spoiled for choice! Infinitea scratches that itch when you want something specific though. Zen Tea's great but when it's hot (and I mean blazing hot) and a green tea from Simple Line won't cut it, Infinitea is where I go. Nothing better than that Lemon Peppermint when you're two seconds away from melting into a tiny puddle on the ground.

During my high school years (not so long ago, fyi), I liked to go to the Infinitiea branch just…read moreacross the street from our school. I'm not quite sure if it's still there though, because I now go to their branch in Maginhawa. I remember that it was sometimes our chosen venue for group meetings or simple hang-outs. I limited myself to their Ice-blended drinks because, at that time, I wasn't much of a fan of milk tea. Up until now, I still haven't tried their tea-based drinks but I can easily tell you my thoughts on their other drinks. My favorite is the Cookies 'n' Cream Ice-Blended drink. I'm a CnC fan, okay? I like to add tapioca pearls to the drink and, damn, it's sooooo sweet. I'm not really complaining though. I brought this onto myself.

It's always nice to have a cold drink in hand to combat the heat, especially in our country, which…read moreis why I frequently go to I Love Milktea for my quick fix of cool, sweet drinks. I remember that the first time I walked into their shop, I was a bit overwhelmed by the number of flavors they have, both on and off the menu. Their flavors range from the classic Wintermelon to the somewhat unconventional Banoffee Mudslide. One of the things I like about I Love Milktea is that they give you the option to lessen the sugar level of your drink. Personally, I like to keep mine at 75% for Milk teas and 50% for Rock Salt and Cheese Milk teas because going any higher would just be too sweet for me, and this is coming from a girl with a bad case of the sweet tooth. I also like that their drinks are considerably cheaper compared to other milk tea places, with a price range of P35 - P90. I can say that they're all (yes, even the calories) worth a try!