December 23, 2010

Tea and Friendship


Ever since I became part of the tea world I have begun to gain new friends. Those who like tea, those who sell tea, those who live for tea etc. Teaopia, Davids Tea, Majesteas, Tsaa, Tao Tea Leaf etc etc etc. People online have become my friends.
There is something about tea that makes us feel cared for. The warmth of a quality Oolong wraps us in a warmth that only can be done with friends. I am going to begin traveling for tea in the comming year.     
     My goal is not only visit Montreal (I wan to do my Masters there) but New York (again), Seattle, San Fransisco and perhaps Hawaii or somewhere else I have not been yet. But the first two are deffinate, even if it is only for a few days I can not wait to be there. If I plan right then perhaps late in the year or in 2012. I hope to be in Taipei, out of North America for the first time before my 30th birthday. I hope that I have a few people to go with me. But I know with all these pase experiences this will become real.

Again.... It's funny what a little scare and a fire will do to a person. Brach out people. There is alot of tea out there for all of us to experience. Let us share a new cup with a new friend.

Merry Christmas Everyone~
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December 20, 2010

Tsaa- Tea Shop

After a long day at work I decided to try out a shop I saw while apartment hunting. On the Danforth only steps away from Chester Station was this adorable shop. If there had not been tea things in the window I would have passed it off as a regular cafe.
Once I was inside I was welcomed by a warm atmosphere and a wide selection of food and drinks to choose from, not just tea but bubble tea and different coffees. A fire place and a wide selection of tea ware which was featured not only for purchase but as art as well.
My first cup for the evening was a Yunnan Gold Superior which I enjoyed along side a grilled chicken and veggie sandwich. It paired quite well and balanced out the meal. After while reading ( I,Lucifer) I had another cup but of Phoenix Mt. Oolong Tea. Out of all the times I have had a high grade tea , this is the second or third time that I experienced "tea drunkenness".
Tea drunkenness is the best kind, it relaxes the body from the inside out. Slowly it warms you, feels almost like hot flashes but it creates a full feeling in the stomach. Eventually it spreads and your head feels light the same that happens with true drunkenness from alcohol.
After finding a tea that creates this effect I have reserved this shop for those long days when I need a little release from the world. With the holidays coming I plan on visiting this week to relax and get back to things. I dislike being angry at people who come in looking for tea or tea ware because they are comming in large numbers and sometimes manners are gone. If you work in retail, especially one that is part of a large company (or growing one), take a moment for yourself to refresh get back to those times where helping makes you feel good. Because, helping should feel good~ Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays everyone <3


412 Danforth Ave.
Toronto, Ontario
647-347-8720
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December 16, 2010

Working hard

It's been a long year and the new one bring me a show. In Febuary I am haveing some peices in a group show with other Alumni. Putting things together is on it's way. I hope to post progress sometime before or after christmas. New place, new work, new year, new job (same one since June), new friends and just a new outlook on life. Things are looking up.
Anyhow, just wanted to update for those of you who follow me as well as for myself to look back on. This is where things will truely start. Wish me luck and help push me forward towards my goal. A masters of fine art, a job at a university, a family to come back to, friends to fall back on and a warm home to keep my little boy safe ( My cat Shuuhei and any children I might have).
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December 13, 2010

Cigars, cigarettes, cloves......?

For the past year or so I have been smokeing. Not only cigarettes but cloves but cigars that are usually flavored. I quite enjoy the taste of them and how they interact with tea when I and enjoying both. Just like right now as I write. Sipping Sumatra Highland Oolong and smokeing a clove cigarette, they just strangely go together. Clove cigarettes are called Kretek which actually originate from the same country as the Oolong.
The mind seems to focus more when you smoke , if it were not for lighting up a kretek I would not have decided to write about this at all. When I first was introduced to tea to the level I am at I stumbled across the The Mandarin`s Tea blog and found that he smoked cigars along side his tea. At first this seemed outrageous to me, as time passed I have developed respect for this practice.
I don`t have a room that is just for tea, instead I have a single room which not only fuctions as my bedroom but my tearoom, office, studio, lounge, and library. I make do, especially since I just moved to my new place. This evening is the first time I have had such a pleasurable expericence of both smokeing and drinking tea. I am a tea novice still, I have much to learn. we all learn slowly, but one thing I do wonder if if smokeing will kill my taste for tea like so many I have read beleive. Or does my eating meat etc effect this. Who knows. Personally it has not changed a thing. The one thing that has is my mood from day to day. For all I know tommorow I will not have tea when I return from work but perhaps I will have a coffee (Oh noes!).
What kinds of things do you have with your tea?
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December 8, 2010

STOP!!....Breath.........Rest?




It's Christmas...or rather we all feel the looming need to buy things because of the consumer aspect of this holiday. At work we have begun to feel the full force of the buy buy buy aspect. Everyone is moving so fast that I even find myself in the same mind set as I was when working at 7-11 all those years ago. It is getting hard to give full quality service when people are in such a rush. Buying green teas and jamming them into those tinny little infuser ball just hurt every time I have no chance to educate them on the tea.
Coming home to my little kitten (7 months~) and brewing a cup of tea seems so laborious that I have turned to tistanes that I rarely brew. Then I also take out paper tea filters to further the simple process of brewing. Never have I been so exhausted that I just wanted to relax, not think about work, customers ( I still love you all), looming debts, etc. It is very hard in our society to just take a moment to create a nice little setting and enjoy ourselves.
This past Sunday I spent the morning at a little cafe for brunch and partake in a tea brewed in those little infuser balls. Strangely it was satisfying. Just to not have to think about anything but watch all these people rush past the front window long the Danforth.
So after all this. I encourage you to take a moment be it only one or perhaps 15 minutes. Relax, make something for yourself and don't worry about how it "needs" to be brewed. Brew a tea and just relax in the simplicity a moment in time <3





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