What is in your cup?

[CRussel]

A bit of Highland Park 12 Yr. before going back to put in an hour or two on this chapter.

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by CRussel

A bit of Highland Park 12 Yr. before going back to put in an hour or two on this chapter.

Followed by a bit more of Talisker Storm after I finished the chapter!

[mahtin]

Not Bulwer-Lytton, is it?

[CRussel]

Originally Posted by mahtin

Not Bulwer-Lytton, is it?

Hardly. Deploying and Managing Active Directory with Windows PowerShell is the working title. And doesn't that just trip off the tongue?

[kindlekitten]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

Ice water after my walk .... an Ardbeg slushie planned for later on ...

Have things calmed down on the home front?

[cromag]

Third mug of tea on a slow, but still productive, afternoon.

[Stitchawl]

Good morning, everyone! While riding along the Burmese border yesterday, we discovered a high mountain village that, surprisingly, was mainly Chinese! Most of the signs in town were written in Chinese characters. And... being high mountain, and being Chinese, they were growing lots of tea! Small family run tea factories in shop houses, with leaves picked by the local hill tribe folk. That's one of the pickers standing with her basket on her back. So this morning, I'm drinking "Xing Yang" Tea Factory's version of black tea. They scooped it right out of the big drier inside the shophouse for us, still warm. We didn't buy quite as much as the guy on the motor scooter, but I've enough to last me a while. Half a kilo for $6. Not a bad cup of tea!









Stitchawl

[CRussel]

Wow, Stitchawl. Just wow! One of the few things I eat or drink that I haven't visited up close and person. Even saw coffee growing in Kenya. But didn't get near any tea plantations (and frankly, Kenyan tea isn't anything special).

[treadlightly]

Wow that's a lot of tea!

[cromag]

First mug of tea for the day.

[Stitchawl]

Good morning, everyone! The tea plantations we are going through look sooo different from the ones near our house in Japan. There, the rows were neat and manicured, and the leaves harvested by machine leaving the tea bushes smooth and even. Up here along the Burmese border, the tea is picked by hand so there is nothing smooth or uniform looking along the rows, themselves wiggling along the mountainsides.

There is a LOT of tea and coffee grown in Northern Thailand/South-eastern Myanmar, managed by the indigenous Hill Tribes (Karen, Lahu, Lisu, Aka, etc.) who in the past made their living growing opium poppies in these same plantations 40 years ago, and there are still quite a few acres of poppy growing in the more remote areas. But there is a reason you don't hear much about Hill Tribe coffee or tea. It's just not nearly as good as the more popular brands. Locals buy it because it's very cheap. Tourists buy it because it makes a nice souvenir.

The tea I bought, while tasting good, doesn't deliver the full-bodied tastes found with teas sold by the East India Company, Taylors of Harrogate, or even Twinings. This morning I'm drinking the tea we bought from the "Xing Yang Tea Company" and as a black tea, it falls somewhere just above Lipton's "Yellow Label" and below "Twinging's" Ceylon teas. Not bad, but not a tea that I'd write home about.

Time for one more cup of the stuff, then it's time to get back on the road, and head home. It's going to be a very wet day though... It's "Songkran!" The Thai New Year's celebration. Thais celebrate it by throwing water at each other... and everyone who passes by. It's a five-day nation-wide no-holds-barred water fight!. 'Sawasdee Pi Mi!' (Happy New Year!)


Stitchawl

[CRussel]

A mug of Murchie's Prince Charles Blend tea. Not really to my taste, I'm afraid -- to "malty", which I think means too much Assam in the blend. Going to pour it out and brew something else.

[kindlekitten]

I remember your water pictures from last year. Hopefully you got some nice ones this trip

[cromag]

First mug of tea for the day.

[Stitchawl]

I'll light the fire, you place the flowers in the vase that you bought today.
Staring at the fire for hours and hours while I listen to you
Play your love songs all night long for me, only for me.

Come to me now and rest your head for just five minutes, everything is good.
Such a cozy room, the windows are illuminated by the
Sunshine through them, fiery gems for you, only for you.

Our house is a very, very fine house with two cats in the yard, life used to be so hard,
Now everything is easy cause of you and our la, la, la

( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZtJWJe_K_w )

Good morning, everyone! Home again and happy! Wonderful road trip followed by a day of maniacal water throwing combined with the comforts of home equals a great big smile on my face! I have a big mug of East India Company's "Assam" tea in my mug, and am just about ready to go visit the Food Lady for some breakie stuff. Home is comfortable!

Originally Posted by kindlekitten

I remember your water pictures from last year. Hopefully you got some nice ones this trip

I have hours and hours of video to edit, between what we shot up along the border country and the day spent celebrating the 'Songkran' New Years holiday. The water madness goes on for two more days but most expats stay home after one day of it. It's just too much! I'll use the time to edit the videos and put together a short YouTube entry. Also need to catch up on my reading... Even though I brought my reader to lunch with me yesterday when I went out, the noise from two bands playing side by side and one directly across from them, all three playing different songs at the same time made reading impossible. There are times that I'm VERY happy to be quite deaf, so it was the bass pulsing through my body that caused the problems!


Stitchawl