Urban Oasis: Lole White at Fort York Toronto 2015

Urban Oasis is a collection of images of spaces in cities where we can take a few moments to connect with nature, find balance and peace. Past posts from the series can be found here.

The second last Saturday of August was Toronto's chance to have the Lole White event. If you have never been to this event before, it is a yoga event which is dedicated to peace. Thousands of yogis (depending on venue size of course) get together for a yoga session together with that single thought in mind. Trust me it is well worth it to go at least once my first experience brought me close to tears, as the energy from everyone with this single thought was so powerful.

Unlike last year which was held inside the ROM (and in the evening rather than the morning), we got packed up in the wee hours of the morning to get to Toronto by 8am or so. The view while we waited in line for the gates to open was breath taking.  It felt like I was called to this space as it was so close to the Exhibition grounds which was gearing up for Warrior's day (which always falls on the first Saturday during its run). It was very nostalgic as when my Grandfather was alive we would go on that exact same day every year with him. So for me it felt a little more emotional than it usually would.

Once settled in (and picked our spot on the field) we relaxed a bit. Ahem.. I mean went shopping at the pop up shop. I really wish they had sunglasses there as I left mine at home (aka was too sleepy to remember them). A lovely volunteer offered to take our picture to remember the event. By the way if you look at last years photo, we are pose quite similar to then (how does that happen?).

The wait till the event started was well worth it. In front of my Mom and I was a lovely lady who used to come into Teaopia when I worked there. It was so touching that she remembered me. When the event ended I ensured to say goodbye to her before we left the grounds. I hope to run into her again in the future (ah Teaopia).

   Overall the event was very uplifting and set the right tone for the rest of the day. I almost forgot how unique it is to practice yoga and meditation in the morning rather than latter in the day.
   I hope you check out this event (or one near you, by the way there is a free one in New York City at Central Park tomorrow ).  If you want to find out more about the event check out their webpage at the link below. Till next time everyone.

Lole White Tour Website / Twitter / Youtube

Urban Oasis: Loring - Wyle Parkette

Urban Oasis is a collection of images of spaces in cities where we can take a few moments to connect with nature, find balance and find peace. Past posts from the series can be found here.

Urban Oasis: Village of Yorkville Park

Urban Oasis is a collection of images of spaces in cities where we can take a few moments to connect with nature, find balance and find peace. Past posts from the series can be found here.

Lole White Tour 2014

    Toronto peace event lead by Grace Dubery, "Peace is the quiet space we create in our hearts through our breath and that we hold in stillness with our smile". Thank you Lole for organizing such a beautiful heart moving (it was hard not to cry) event. I can not wait for next summer for Lole White 2015!

1:10 till 1:13 I am the one being looked at by another participant (Aka. my mom)

Secret Teatime:Tea Bowl Making

       In October I went over to Secret Teatime's studio in Scarborough. I had signed up for their fall Chawan workshop and was eager to try my had my ceramics. We started with an overview of the history of tea ceremony up till present day and covered the shapes of a tea bowl. Helen treated us to seeing her perform
       It was another great Saturday with Secret Teatime. Our group each made a chawan (tea bowl) the first day. Before we met the next Saturday, Helen and Sorlie glazed and fired the works. They were then presented to us during tea ceremony.
      For the first section we had usucha (thin tea). It was very interesting to see the difference between Urasenke and Omotesenke, the latter being what Helen was using. The biggest for me is the "snapping" of the fukusa before folding. The whole style was beautiful and had little intentional sounds that were absent from Urasenke.
        Back to our bowls, I was very pleased with how my chawan turned out with the glaze I choose. I depicted a buddhist flame on the shoumen (front of the bowl) and a fox inside it. I choose these two symbols as I find them together in images from shrines in Japan. Also, Inari's symbol is a fox. To me these fit together and worked very well as a piece.
       As Sado is a life long learning process and I have been enjoying practice with the new piece. I enjoyed my time at the studio and the company of Helen, and Sorlie.


       If you were to make a chawan what would it look like? Would you use any imagery? There are so many possibilities out there, What would you do? -KAT

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Tea Guild of Canada: "The World in Your Teacup"

      If you are in the area please come out to our event. A wonderful afternoon of tea and treats, what more can you ask for? And if anyone is looking for late Christmas gifts or Chinese New Years gifts, I still have some calendars. They are 20$ and proceeds go straight to the Guild. Please support our group in our quest to teach others about this beautiful beverage!

Tealish- new location

I visited the original location back in second year of University. It was quite cramped but, NOW there is plenty of room to breath. New tea wares to look at and try (I still need a matcha caddy/natsume).  Same colour scheme was kept and they just added rustic warm wood shelving on the wall adjacent to the tea wall. 

           To celebrate I treated myself to a Stone Ground Rooibos Soy Latte. It was quite creamy and I can not wait to try their other specialties. On the way out I discovered a regular from work visiting the shop as well ( this was prior to the Queen and Portland T- Cafe opening).
         The one tea I have from their previous location is their Walnut Ave Sencha. Very nutty and quite creamy. A good balance of unami and nuts. Give them a good look~

Monday - Saturday 10am - 7pm	Sunday 12pm - 5pm

Tealish
728 Queen St W.
Toronto, ON
Canada

Toronto Tea Reviews

     After alot of contimplateing on the direction of this blog, I feel that I need to do regular tea reviews. These will feature Toronto teas mostly, the odd ones will be from Bowmanville.  Once a week I will post a review, from either the shop or from my own desk (while I study Japanese).   I hope to focus on smaller tea shops just because I love them all so much.
   For the first while I may do more than just one review a week, my tea cupboard is full (over 30 varieties). I am hoping to work out a structure for the reviews today at work. I am very eager to start as I have teas from all over the city. Here is a list of shops I have tea from at this very moment:

• Tao Tea Leaf
• Majesteas
• The Tea Emporium
• Pippins (one tea at the moment)
• Maison De Thé (Montreal)
• Lauriam Tea House (One tea, most reviews will be inside the shop)
• Serenity House Tea Society (Georgia, USA- only one tea)
• Nourishtea (Canadian tea company- one tea)
• Tsaa (one tea, some reviews will be from inside the shop)
• Tea Dynasty     
• Davids Tea
• Teaopia (My work)           

     I hope these reviews get new people into all the shops or spark a new love for tea. I started drinking loose leaf after watching too much anime and some health issues which required me to be more aware of my stress levels. Now over 3 years latter, my health is much better and tea has taken over a large portion of my life. In the New Year, 2012 The Year Of the Dragon, I hope to be enrolled in the Tea Sommelier program. I have put this off for too long and next year will be a good year to start this process. Getting to the end my take some time but I am eager to meet new tea friends. 

         On top of all this news, I have joined the Tea Guild of Canada officially. The first meeting is this month and after checking the member list I am glad that I will see many familiar faces.  

    On a quick side note I am hoping to come up with a list of questions I get from customers and have some research posts. This may take some time for me to accumulate a few to look into but this project will be quite interesting. I am not going to leave any question out, simple or as complex as they get. As well my Japanese classes are going very well (began April 5th), I am beginning to find ways to include Japanese into my art (check out Split/Gender). Not just my regular stuff but my tea art as well, stay tuned as these works WILL find their way on to this blog!       

Toronto’s Tea Takeover- Eye Weekly Article Review

Image Copyright: EyeWeekly

EYE WEEKLY
In the current issue of Eye Weekly they have covered the very evident tea renaissance of Toronto.
Took them long enough to notice the large amount of shops that opened over the last year. They stated that every 6 weeks a new one opened over last summer. One of those being Majesteas just south of my Riverdale home.
Their focus was mostly on Davids Tea, leaving out Tsaa and barely mentioning others (Majesteas, Tao Tea Leaf, House of Tea, Tea Emporium etc). I can understand the focus since Teaopia (My work) has been hidden along the Path inside the Scotia Plaza for 3 years now. The path is difficult to navigate when you are not used to the signs or maps. Only a short mention about David Bellisario, who owns Teaopia, in a single paragraph about his start in Mississauga.
It is nice to start with Davids (Segal)since it was on Queen Street they made their debut, but my location has been in Toronto for a much longer time. I wish the writer had thrown together a small list of the shops and gave reviews of them, as there is little to be seen on the Best of Toronto web page for Tea.
In all, the article was information on the background of Teaopia as well as other tea houses. Especially their starting point as I wish to own a small shop that will be inside my gallery in the future. Or perhaps even talk to either David about having a mini shop with in it (Or any of my new tea friends, any takers?). The options are there, only the future can tell. My question for you is what will happen to all the coffee shops with the tea-boom in this generation?

** Update: Also Teaopia is an older company. Having started in 2005 while Davids started in 2008, from what I have been told.  How will this turn around will the T-Cafe's Teaopia is opening?  So far it is a hit, I have had majority of the regulars come in talking about the service being amazing. (13/10/2011)

No spring but new ware~

My picnic came too early, but this teaware makes all this snow bearable. I was originally hoping to use my cloud like yixing (meant for Tie Kwan Yin) but was not in the mood by the time I got home. I am hopeful that all this mess melts before I get back Monday morning from my parents.
Both these new pieces are from Majestic-Canada Inc. Toronto, Chinatown. I am eager to go back to get a few more pieces but I will need to wait a while before dipping into my tea/tea ware (kinda grocery) money.
After reading the article in the Leaf on tea ware mixed with non traditional ware as well as The Way of Tea, I just needed to give in and get this cup. As for the peacock feather saucer, I needed something for catching the water when I use my yixings. Both beautiful and amazingly affordable. 15$ each can't do any better than that.~

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~

So many teas and not enough space

So I moved to my new place... only problem I am looking at my box of teas and tea ware, and there seems to be a lack of space for both. I am at a loss of what to do to acomidate for such a terrible disaster.
Although the cubords are still drying so for all I know the space is there and I just don't know it yet <3 Work is treating me quite well. I finished reading "The Tea Classic" this evening, which resulted in me wanting to read I-ching to get a better understanding of what he is talking about. As well as get out my Yixing pots and brew up some Oolong tea.
I will try to get somekind of place for my tea ware and find a palce for a tea table area as well. Things are missing. I may need to get my Dad to take me back home to locate some things I require to live in here. My futon being on that list, hopefully he can fix it soon and I can just aquire the folding coffee table I have been eyeing.

Anyhow. I have drank most of the Rooibos "teas" at work and I'm going to be brave and finish them tommorow along with some Oolongs (I think I have one left to try).
      I visited another tea shop in toronto a while back, but before I review it I want to go back for another visit since it has been a while. Look forward to it.

I'm going to turn in for the night. Best to all.

Majesteas: Purveyors of loose tea

Went to my new favorite tea shop in town. It's quite new.They have a small selection of top grade teas to offer. Many of which I have not seen before. This afternoon I tried their Edinburgh Breakfast, other wise known as Scottish Breakfast. At under $3CDN for a pot of tea which consisted of 3-4 cups I was quite pleased. They have been open for 6 weeks so far according to the employee present today.
My Scottish Breakfast was so wonderful I decided to purchase some. This location only sells 100g of each tea in either a bag or can. I choose the latter as It saves me space and it has two lids (a seal to keep it fresh and a pop off lid).

The place is quite small but very cozy and well designed. I can not see why anyone would want to pass up the opportunity to partake in such a pleasant experience. Or at least come to purchase tea ware at fair prices. My first visit I acquired a Yixing sized glass pot at $14.95 CDN. I have already used it so much that I feel I have gained back its price already through excellently brewed tea. If anyone is in the area of Queen St. East and Pape it is before Shoppers Drug mart on the North side when coming west. Please enjoy a sample once you enter.

950 Queen St. East , Toronto, Ontario
T:647-350-4646 E:info@majesteas.ca
www.majesteas.ca