Global Tea Time

Singapore Yesterday we got about 6 inches of wet, heavy snow, so today we head for warm, exotic Singapore. Okay, I actually wrote this post a couple of weeks ago, but when I was deciding what to post today, I liked the look of this one. The only thing I really remember about Singapore is that chewing gum was illegal there back in the 90's. At least according to my junior high literature teacher. She passed through Singapore on her way to Malaysia. At some point during her trip she discovered ,much to her dismay, that her daughter had stashed some chewing gum in her purse. At least that's the story we heard. Either way, she didn't get caught, so that's why I say that chewing gum was illegal there in the 90s. Singapore is the second smallest country in Asia. It consists of a main island, along with several smaller islets. All told, its area is slightly larger than 3.5 times the area of Washington DC. While it was once covered with rain forest, only a small portion ...

Indonesia Today we travel to the land of Ceylon tea. So what are we making? An herbal tea!  I realized this disconnect after I had done my research. Indonesia has always been a bit of a favorite for me. I like art, and textiles, and batik. I remember wearing a draped piece of batik as a skirt in college, and one of my classmates was so excited to see it. She was from Jakarta. My favorite island has always been Sulawesi because it looks like a calligraphy "K" with a long leader stroke. Many years ago, there was a vendor at the county fair who sold fair trade goods made by a  family in Indonesia. I think they lived on Jakarta. I have a couple of sarongs from them, and my favorite home decoration (that I named Sulawesi).  I'm not sure what kind of bird this is, but I'm guessing it is a water bird given the length of the legs, and the fact that it lives on an island. So, let's sit back and learn a bit more about this country . Indonesia is on the equator, a...

Vietnam Since we visited Cambodia last week, I decided to visit its neighbor Vietnam today. While there have been some negative relations between my country and Vietnam in the past, it is a place that is special to me. The first friend I made at my new high school was a girl from Vietnam. She had lived in the states for 2 years when I met her, and she was 2 years older than me. She didn't talk about her home country much, and I could tell that she missed it. She had older brothers and sisters who were married with children who stayed in Vietnam, and only she and her little brother came to the states with her parents. I remember one of my new classmates asking if I was having my friend teach me to speak Vietnamese, and they were quite puzzled as to why I was hanging out with her when I told them no. Apparently it never occurred to them that we would talk to each other like normal teenage girls. The culture that she came from also meant that she was one of two kids in my school wh...

Cambodia Now that we're finished with the African continent, we move on to the topsy-turvy world of Asian teas. Nowhere embodies that more than Cambodia. Why you ask? Let me just say that there is a bath towel in the list of supplies for today's adventure.  First, Cambodia . Cambodia is next to Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. It was once home to animals like rhinoceros, and elephants, but it doesn't sound like they live there now. Most of the population is rural, and over 60% of the population is under age 30.  I couldn't quite believe my eyes when I saw the videos for today's tea, but I had to try it. I think this one falls under the umbrella of party trick tea (along with the layered tea from way back when I was exploring Persian tea). Like I said earlier, I had a bath towel out for this one, along with a tray with a lip on it, an extra cup just in case, my brewing glass, and one of my Turkish teacup saucers. Since the video looks like they were using gre...