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Showing posts with label tea ceremony. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tea ceremony. Show all posts

Wednesday, October 4, 2017

Green Tea and Crumpets!

Well sorry to let you know but this story contains no crumpets whatsoever. It was just a ploy to get you here.
I'm hoping it will spark interest with people that have twisted minds (and turned on by crumpets). I'd hoped it would be have the same pull as for those people looking for the words "SEX HERE" (I should note I always auto respond YES PLEASE).
I fear now that perhaps it would only work on the Brits, as they all have a appreciation for CRUMPETS (or is that just a stereotype?). Let's hope its not, and someone is actually reading this (and I mean anyone, there may be some money in it for you if you are. On the other hand there may not be. Its more likely to be the latter).


I hope there is no tobacco in that pipe or this is going straight to the SPCA.

No this blogpost is about Green Tea and Crumpets which is like oil and water, they just can't mix (unless of course you want to use detergent to emulsify it. As everyone knows, detergent is attracted to both water and oil molecules. If you don't know that, that is your science lesson for today).

As you know (or I hope you do), tea is an important part of Japanese culture. I want to say green tea only, but maybe I should just say tea in general. Vending machine everywhere serve it, restaurants, a person's house, office etc. Essentially everywhere ("dokodemo" which means everywhere as the cute character Doraemon says when he throws out his magic door that can take him to anywhere he wants to go).
The traditional tea ceremony called "Cha no yu" also serves it, though that one is bitter, and is not my cup of tea. Ha! That's a word play, not my cup of tea and its about a cup of tea. MWAHHWHHA why am I so funny with word play? I should seriously consider taking up rap. Though personally I never trust "white privilege" kids rapping about the hard life on the streets and living in the ghetto. They should be rapping about how their MacBook stopped working, and why their sweater gots a tear in the elbow (ya gots not got). Maybe about their Starbucks Venti (Italian coffee words brutal) being too hot. Cause that's too legit (to quit). I think I just stole that from a real rapper.... moving on.


I was lucky because I lived with a host family, so I was lucky to experience the changing seasons of teas. Different ones are served at different kinds of year just like the weather. Barley tea called Mugicha is served in summer. Its nice, especially when served cold from the fridge. My hostfamily liked to serve it with ice, so it was extra yum yum. I don't know how long you are supposed to leave it in the plastic pourer, but I found mine was mouldy or nasty when I made it myself after I was living on my own (like a bigboy at age 25). I left the teabags in it, perhaps its supposed to be removed and not big in the fridge while its still hot.


Naturally I do the Jedi way. I'll say I'm a natural, Yoda didn't even train me.



Winter, when its cold and depressing was served with a nice ryokucha (green tea) at my school. Tea ceremony and Starbucks served MACCHA (powered green tea, Starbucks one is super sugary).
A lot of the Sushi restaurants we went to served konacha (leftover junk green tea). Its like the low grade tea cause its bits and pieces of stems, small leaves, leftover leaves whatever thrown together. I liked it the most (cause I'm lowgrade I assume), and best of all its free (also a bonus) at most restaurants.

A lot of the Chinese restaurants served Oolong tea (also here in Canada at most Chinese places) or Jasmine cha (flowery one).

I always felt like I was surrounded by tea and I liked that. I also enjoyed all those maccha flavour candy, like Kitkats or other snacky snacks. Luckily lots of sugar to make up for the bitterness.


Seems to be a little upset, I suggest we get some now. Guessing she must be British. What is she a Queen (on TV she is LOL).

I read a few studies that said tea is a great drink for health due to the catechins (antioxidants). Most varieties have less caffeine than coffee. Interestingly monks like it cause it keeps them awake during the meditations (but to me Nirvana is sleep, so I would skip the tea).
There are some studies that seem to indicate that green tea helps with weight loss as one of the extracts helps the body to burn fat. I've always wondered why the Japanese are so thin compared to Westerner's. I don't think that's the only reason, but it may contribute to it.

I remember bringing some really nice green tea back from Japan. I gave it to my grandparents and told them this is the good stuff (not cheap for once), so enjoy it.
I found my grandmother drinking a cup that was an unrecognizable mud colour. I asked her what she was drinking, and she informed me the nice tea I bought her.
Nice tea has become mud, like that movie Slumdog Millionaire when the little boy jumped into the outhouse toilet hole (gross). I asked my grandmother why that colour? She said I added a lot of sugar and cream. Sugar and cream I thought? I've never heard of it with green tea, unless its maccha, and unfortunately for her, this wasn't maccha.

I figured at this point as might we well offer her a crumpet to go along with her not so green tea anymore, but then again, she's not British.


This seems highly inappropriate and funny. I should have given this shirt to my grandma instead of the tea.




My Youtube Channel, wearing red tights and jumping around as Deadpool (but I say Dadpool to avoid copyright. Smarter than I look!)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NwwCyK_ZPA


Other funny stories from this blog 


My blog about everyday life (not Japan related/ and maybe less amusing )



My Youtube Channel (makes no sense just like my blog)





Sunday, July 31, 2016

Green Tea with a chance of love (meatballs)

OK, Green Tea with a Chance of Love ..... or Meatballs?
Either one could be good, whatever comes first, I suppose.
The intent was to sound like the title of the movie "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs", but I couldn't quite find a smooth sounding title so I stuck with this one above (rough, like a 5 o'clock shadow).

On a sidenote, I love to rub my 5'oclock shadow over smooth skin (even my baby loves it, till mom see's his red skin and asks why he has a massive rash, I just tell her it might have been a swarm of mosquito's (ideally without Zika). You didn't think I would say it, but I did. ZIKA! Its the equivlant of saying "LORD VOLDEMORT!". Until he shows up I'm going to keep saying it (which might be soon based on the windy sounds I've been hearing, could just be natural but probably not, I'll assume its supernatural to be safe).
I always try to insert some relevant news in the blog (I was going to make a joke about athlete's in Brazil for the Olympics but Lemi Levoto's mom already did that. Read the news if you don't know the lastest celeb gossip people).


Not Japan related, but weather related, no meatballs in this forecast.



As you may or may not know there is a whole sh$tload of different kinds of green tea in Japan.
Just like Pokemon! (another relevant tidbit of information in the news)
In Canada we might just say green tea to mean every bleedin' type. I've been pretending to be Irish recently and add 'bleedin' to some sentences. My 'bleedin' brain. My 'bleedin' socks. Literally they are not bleeding (that I'm aware of). Might explain the fading colour of my socks though (bleedin' dollar store brand).


One of the really popular types of tea is matcha (Green tea, which is usually a powder when served properly in a tea ceremony).
There are also "goodies" aka treaty treats that are matcha but they are (bleedin') delicious and sweet. Real matcha is quite bitter and frothy. It looks nice in a cup, but when you taste it you probably want to spit it out (I did twice during a tea ceremony. I imagine the person doing the ceremony was like ungrateful mother fuc$ken devil comes to my ceremony, spits out my deliciously/ ceremonially made tea and returns it more frothy than before and expects me to clean out spit from the cup.
Regardless of their opinions I always got a smile and a please come again at the end (while they were probably thinking, if I ever see you outside of this ceremony ideally I push you infront of an oncoming train. I never want to see you again, never come back even though I'm pretending I want you too. If the world ends and it comes down to only you and me, we are not going to repopulate this earth together, I rather it ended. That the whole of mankind suffers due to your unbelievable gestures and tea spitting.


Long Island Ice Tea. That's a dry joke, its not even bleedin' funny.


Japanese people have a great skill in that even when things are going bad or they hate your soul (like completely), they will give you a smile and a thank you. I bleedin' love it.
Imagine how many difficult situations could be deal with. All you need is a smile and a thank you (or an apology even though you didn't do anything wrong). Puts people off guard and creates a harmonious environment (known in Japan as WA).

There is an expression in Japan "Ocha shinai?" Won't you do tea?
And that means literally means "Won't you do tea?" but actually means, why don't we go to a tea house, drink tea and gaze into each others eyes. Hope some sparks fly (like a Nicholas Sparks movie THE NOTEBOOK!), then see where the nearest love hotel is. I thought it was funny, so I used that expression a few times (even though I had a g/f. I thought it might break the ice). Its a pretty dated expression and these days its more likely to be a Starbucks down the street, their matcha filled with sugar/ milk and never ending whip cream. YUM YUM!  I never spit that one out.


Coffee has become pretty popular these days and you can buy it heated (yes heated) from vending machines pretty much anywhere (probably even on Mt.Fuji but I'm not 100% sure, I've only been to some smaller mountains and they had it at the top). Fuji they might be worried of putting one there since next volcano blast its gonna melt the machine (but it will get that coffee real hot!)

The proper way to say tea shop is "Kissaten" written in Chinese characters as 喫茶店.  My Japanese teacher (white guy) told me he used to try to buy a coffee during the 1980's in Tokyo and he had to pay about $10 per coffee so that word kissaten was easy for him to remember, since it was "kiss a ten goodbye". LOL.

My ending sentence is the same as my beginning one, not smooth (like a tree's bark).

Mama always told me I wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed (like a bleedin' rubber hammer),



Looks so nice, but it tastes like sh$t! Add sugar like Starbucks and do not spit back into bowl. Trust me I know from experience. You may still get a smile (of hate).

My Youtube Channel, wearing red tights and jumping around as Deadpool (but I say Dadpool to avoid copyright. Smarter than I look!)


Other funny stories from this blog 



My blog about everyday life (not Japan related/ and maybe less amusing )



My Youtube Channel (makes no sense just like my blog)



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