For reporter, Fantasia has always been more than a pearl milk tea shop

While many around the globe have just discovered or fallen in love with pearl milk tea, I have been drinking boba tea since elementary school.

Pearl milk tea is a common drink in Taiwanese culture. I remember when, after eating dinner with my extended family, my uncle and dad would drive us all to buy boba. And it wasn’t just any random cafe — Fantasia was always our pick.

The store hasn’t changed much since I was in third grade. Located in Cupertino Village, Fantasia is a small pearl milk tea shop with wooden and earth toned decor. The dim lighting creates a cozy ambience. Upon entrance through double push glass doors, a square of sofas and wooden seats lie to the right. On the left side of the shop, bordered by the ordering counter, coffee tables rest on the dark grey floors.

As a child, my parents never let the waiters at Fantasia put real tea in my drink. Instead, I always drank peach-flavored milk topped with a scoop of boba. Our extended family of eight would cram in the right area of the shop, each person taking a seat on the bench or sofas. With our drink in one hand (or two because I had to share with my sister), we would just talk.

The adults always chattered about politics or chided their children, which was often countered by my argumentative cousin and his brother. My younger sister and I, each struggling to eat the most boba without angering the other, would just sit and listen to their mundane conversation.

Although I had never viewed my visits to Fantasia as groundbreaking, I looked forward to them. But as my cousins graduated from high school and left home to pursue college and as my sister and I became busier because of school, our family gradually stopped buying drinks from Fantasia.

Now there are closer, more popular and arguably better tea shops like Tpumps, Teatop or Gongcha. But for me, Fantasia is an experience.

It reminds me of simpler times, when I didn’t stress about tests and my future. It reminds me of home, where all my relatives could talk in one place. I now have to wait for breaks for my cousins to come home to do so. But every time I taste the familiar flavor of peach milk or walk into the casual atmosphere of Fantasia, I feel like I have stopped to sniff the roses and have paused for a moment in my hectic life.

Now, I don’t visit Fantasia so much. But when asked the question of my favorite tea place, Fantasia will always be on my list.