ode to all the vanilla snow bubbles

i never mentioned it here, but the 20th was my childhood boba shop's last day. i wanted to reflect on my memories with it a bit. 

the memories are a bit fuzzy, but i had my very first boba drink from this place. it was my sister's favorite. she drank chocolate snow bubbles with boba, and gave me a vanilla snow bubble one day. i was either 3 or 4, so i likely wouldn't have had the boba in my drink yet. but i loved the flavor.

in early-mid elementary school i tried different flavors and combinations. strawberry or mango snow bubbles with tapioca, or almond snow bubbles with rainbow jelly. i always wanted to try their jelly juice, but never did, because i knew from looks alone that it would irritate my throat and my parents would never let me go back after, lolz.

at some point in late elementary school, though, i settled on one specific order: a large vanilla snow bubble with tapioca, and chicken lumpia. when something good happened, i'd get it to celebrate. when i was feeling low, i'd treat myself to it to help myself feel a little better. and since it never changed, the owners even remembered me for it, lolz. it probably also helped that i used to get the drink (not always the lumpia with it) every week for a while, until the pandemic hit and i stopped going as often. so, i've only been going a couple of times every month since then. the pressure of going every week on the same day was getting a little awkward, anyway.

it was interesting to watch the place evolve. different coin gacha machines, a display of miniature figurines that disappeared at some point in freshman year, changes to the menu. different furniture, different cup and lid designs, etc. etc...

and then, in the beginning of april, my friend sent me a photo of a sign they had recently added to their front desk-- that they were closing in two weeks. at first, i was shocked. they'd been around for so long (22 years in fact)-- what happened? what went wrong? but of course, after such a period of time, it's only natural to want to move on to better things. and rather than see something they built and maintained for so long decay, why not end on a good note? really, 22 years is a long time for a boba place to be here. if i remember correctly, they were the oldest to still be in business in my town. 

for that, i will always be grateful.

on that final day, there were no gacha or claw machines. there were only chairs and tables, and all the old posters. the menu, still intact, and all the sticky notes left over from past employees, used as markers on their own drinks. fireflies by owl city played, and while it's never been an owl city song i've fully enjoyed, it reminded me of being 3 or 4 and trying their drinks for the first time. it was from this shop, the exact same drink i've always had all these years, which my sister watched me try while her owl city ocean eyes cd played in the living room.

it was full-circle, is what i'm trying to say. if i wasn't sad, i'd have laughed about it. and it's sort of weird-- now that i think about it, isn't snow bubble a rather 2000s-esque name? i dunno. it sounds fun and cool, in the specific 2000s naming conventions way.

i realize now that it's a little ridiculous to have so much affection a business, and to have held so much (somewhat selfish) stock in ideas of my future with it, but i'm ultimately very happy that i have these memories. and i have the logo from its cup displayed with the rest of my boba cup garland, and all the old membership cards. perhaps i'll make a nice collage with them. 

sotd: fireflies by owl city

p.s - i remember. when i graduated high school, i was hoping i'd be able to return to this place after graduating in college as well, to celebrate al my school years being supported with them. ah well. it's just how things are sometimes.