Cute Stores in London China Town and Trocadero

Cute stores? Are you looking for cute stores in London? Trying to find that cute, kawaii gift before Christmas or for someone's birthday...? Well then, here's just a small summary of those that I know of around China Town and in Trocadero... There's not many really. They're all in one area. Unfortunately I wasn't allowed to take pictures of the ones in China Town (but I did take a couple before I was told not to!! No infringement is intended here!!).

So the main one in China Town is called "China Market 中市". There's 3 entrances. One's on Charing Cross Road. The other on Newport Court and the third one is near the car park. It's like a mini mall of different stalls selling very, very cute things to bags to touristy stuff. I love it. There's so much Hello Kitty stuff, stationary and other quirky cute things that girly girls like. ^_^ Miss Pinky tagged along when I was taking these pictures and saw all the Pink Hello Kitty mugs, and she wanted them!! Hah!!

China Town Market 中市 ... See the Hello Kitty toys in the window? ^^

I took this picture from outside the store!!!!

Mr. Panda - this is inside China Town Market

There's more stuff around the corner... I love this stall!!

Entrance from Newport Court

Entrance in China Town

Address: 55 Charing Cross Road, Leicester Square, London WC2H 0BL

The next stores are in Trocadero. There's actually one store missing. It's been taken over by another store, which is not so cute. It was a Chinese store that sold a lot of stationary and panda toys, clothes and bags... Aww... It's a shame that's gone!

Tokyo Toys!! ^^

However, in replacement of that store is Tokyo Toys! I actually forgot about this store!! They sell a lot of toys, T-shirts and manga... Check it out!! ^^

Address: Ground Floor, Trocadero, 7-14 Coventry Street, London W1D 7DH
Website: www.tokyotoys.com

And the final cute store that I know of, which is one level above... It is actually quite tricky to get to because you can't really see the stairs. So once you see Claire's Accessories, go around the corner to the right hand side, you will see a set of stairs and then you will see this store... 

Mosaic House in Trocadero

Mosaic House - I took this picture from the outside

I love this store. It's similar to the stalls in China Market, but a bit spacious! You can also find an entrance on Rupert Street if you can't be bothered to go back into the main part of Trocadero...

Address: Trocadero, 7-14 Coventry Street, London W1D 7DH

If I get a chance, I will go and found some more cute stores around London!!

Check out my posts on Forbidden Planet and Artbox too!! :D

p.s. Forgot to mention Tiger UK and Wing Yip's New Time City store!!

Bubble Tea in a Chinese Supermarket!

In Taiwan they are famous for their bubble tea which has suddenly become popular in London China Town. When I first tasted it in Hong Kong I think I had either a coffee or a tea version with these big pieces of jelly (tapioca pearls) and a big massive straw which is specially made for these drinks!
Well, as well as some café places in China Town which make them freshly for you, you can also get them in supermarkets!
I found these in Yang Guang Supermarket 阳光超市... Authentic bubble tea!! One vanilla and one that looked like coffee but was actually tea... There were only a few flavours available, but it also seems like they are trialling them out. They cost £2.80 each. A little bit expensive, but it's worth the try! ^_^

One vanilla and one tea

Heheheh, I've just noticed that's there's a spelling mistake in their lid above. They've put "puality" instead of "quality". ^.^

Big tapioca pearls!

 I actually almost choked trying to get those pearls up the straw!

Big straws for the pearls!

You can also get tea and coffee versions in cans, but they will have smaller tapioca pearls.

Update 21/07/2012
If you want a really fresh bubble tea, then go to this place Boba Jam on Shaftesbury Avenue. I have tried it before, and it's great!

Update 09/08/2012
Here's the can version...

Yeo's Soya Drinks

A few weeks ago when I went to China Town, I came across these drinks in New Loong Fung Supermarket 新龍鳳行 (san lung fung hong). They are soya bean drinks from Yeo's, which I have never tasted before... And by the way I spell soya with an "a", the word just doesn't look right without an "a"... ^_^

Green bean and Black bean soy drinks

Have you ever tasted a black bean flavoured soya drink before?... Yes I have, but it was Korean, very tasty and alcoholic! The green bean soya didn't taste that special (as I'm not a green bean fan anyway). 

I definitely recommend the black bean soya drink... I can't remember the cost. But give it a go!

Update 23/06/2012 - they cost 39p per carton! There's also a red bean one, but the supermarket ran out :(