Challenge Accepted [Daily Prompt: Now]

Time flies. Another year has passed. On the last day of 2015, my mum and I spent the morning and afternoon together. And I’m a little embarrassed to say, but the last time I spent quality time alone with my mum was in 2011, when we went to Europe together.

Yup! It’s been that long.

This occurred to me when we came across a llao llao branch at Tampines Mall. Why? Because before llao llao took Singapore by storm, my mum and I had already had a taste of llao llao in the country it came from – Spain.

The year was 2011. We were exploring Europe together and Spain was our first stop. We visited a city called Sitges and were given some time by the Viator tour guide to explore the streets. After walking for close to an hour, we got tired and happened to see a natural frozon yoghurt shop and decided to take it easy and have a dessert before meeting the rest of the tour group.

I remember thinking that it was quite tasty which surprised me as the yoghurt I had before was usually very very sour. llao llao I found was tangy but not too sharp.

It only dawned on me early this year, when I blogged about buskers in Spain and looked through the photographs I took there, that before llao llao became such a hit in Singapore, my mum and I had already tried it!

Then…

And now…

My mum drinks from a fountain of youth I swear! She looks the same! In fact, I think she looks younger and slimmer now!

So anyway, what is llao llao?

llao llao, pronounced ‘yow-yow’, is a natural frozen yoghurt made from skimmed milk. You can either order a cup and add your favourite toppings from the choices available, order a smoothie, or go for a Sanum, which consists of yoghurt, a choice of fresh fruit, crunchy toppings, and sauce.

For the health conscious, 100g of llao llao is said to be 103 kcal, and contains 175 mg of calcium, 20 g of carbohydrates of which 11 g is sugar, 3 g of proteins, 1.6 g of fat, and 0 g of trans fat. It’s also gluten free.

The first shop opened in 2009 in Dénia, Alicante (Spain) and it now has around 150 outlets in 16 countries. Impressive isn’t it. And it’s just frozen yoghurt!

What do you think?
Do you have a then and now photo to share? Have you tried llao llao before? Did you like it?