"A dream can come true"

Monday, 星期一 Full court press to work many activities here in the US. I fly out Tuesday and will be off-line for a few days.
Sunday, 星期天
Got with Robin around 9am, worked to around 1pm. Made good progress. 75% of the roof is shingled and made a good start on trim details. I’m looking forward to seeing the completed house when I get back in April .. No pressure Robin.
Back to my place, finished a few small projects and kicked back about 6pm.

Saturday, 星期六 Hannah met Robin (wife) and myself, for morning refreshments and a good chin wag.
It’ll be a couple of months before we see each other again. Hannah and Frank are off to Europe, 歐洲, and a few weeks on the east cost with family and friends.
Don ended up all day in the office .. such are the pressures of customer deadlines.
I managed to help Robin (friend, English actually) on the play house build, called it a day around 6pm.
The twins, along with Michael and Ridge had a fantastic day at Disneyland, .迪士尼樂園.
"A place where a dream can come true" Michael. aka capt' "Mike Sparrow"
Ridge and Heather ….

The boys had a good time, a little nicer than ShenZhen

TGIF

Friday, 星期五, Blue Sky, White Clouds, beautiful morning.
6:00 am, 上午六點, breakfast meeting with a couple of long time friends.
Made arrangemnets for some joint weekend projects, show up when ever and help do what needs doing.
Robin is building a 10’ x 8’ play house for his two kids.
Don and I signed up (again) to help .. will work for Tea.
I’ve got a few chores around the house before I head off on Tue.

Eight of us, family and colleagues met for lunch, at the Crystal Jade restaurant in Irvine.
Very good restaurant, owned by a Hong Kong couple, great atmosphere and diverse menu.
It helps having a local HK girl as a friend and we order “not on the” menu dishes.
Dim Sam, and family style dishes along with Pu-erh and Jasmine tea.
Both Michael from Szechwan and Ridge from Harbin enjoyed the food.

Saturday,星期六, Andrew and Heather will take Michael and Ridge on their first visit to Disneyland. So they had fun talking about that.

No tea at home !!!!

Thursday, 星期四, what a contrast in weather, overcast with rain in the afternoon.
No time for tea at home this morning. Fast paced morning, managed a few brews of Pu-erh in the office.
Unfortunately these were utilitarian vs social in nature.
Anna stopped in for the first brew and the day vanished from there.

Anna in the center, Julia left and Rita on the right.  
“Lot’s-O-stuff” to get done between now and Tuesday. MLC is starting to wake up from CNY.
I plan to be in Chang Ping on Thursday, March 1st. around 10:30am.
I anticipate March will just be a blur, but, we take the journey one step at a time 一步由一步.

"Tea for two" "茶為二"

Wednesday 星期三 .. What a beautiful morning, cool clear air with bright sun.
Robin and I started our morning with two delightful brews of Pu-erh and I had a smooth, aromatic Tieguanyin. I used Robin’s favorite Yixing pot to brew the Pu-erh and a small Gai-wan for the Tieguanyin.
Today we have 4 visitors from China in the office. This provides a greater opportunity to build relationships around the tea table. My US office, seldom used, is more tea shop than office.
We start the morning with Pu-erh and a time tried and proven Formosa A-li Shan Oolong.
I enjoy using a large Gai-wan to brew Pu-erh and have a range of well used Yixing pots for the various teas on the menu.
Part of the fun is the wonderment on the faces of our Chinese visitors at seeing Gung Fu Cha set up in an “American office” . 

Where did it go ?

No matter the calendar used, January (一月) passed in a flash and February (二月) is soon to be a distant memory.
January in Dongguan and Taipei, just evaporated, long work days interspersed by great times spent with friends, drinking tea, buying tea and telling tall tails.

While in Taiwan, along with a couple of friends, we drove over to Ping Lin to visit the tea museum. A must visit when in the Taipei area (30-40 min drive) very pleasing drive with plenty to the fill the senses. A bonus was at this time of the year and mid-week, we had the place to ourselves, well almost.

Let the tasting begin ... (Mr. Yen and Matt)

What's in a Name ??
 

One Project in Process ... Now Complete !!

February, spent at home with family, friends and many projects. Fortunately tea is omnipresent and keeps us on an even keel.
Pu-erh is our family’s tea of choice, each liking variations in preparation, mainly brew strength. All are agreed on the quality aspects of “Good Pu-erh” but enjoy our personal biases.

You can never have too many Yixing tea pots !
A fair amount of home space is dedicated to all things tea.

Along with Pu-erh, we enjoy select quality teas; Taiwan (Formosa) Oolongs, Tieguanyin, Jasmine and flower teas.
I am truly spoiled, having trusted friendships with plantation and tea store owners, giving me direct access to the teas we all enjoy.
These relationships have been forged over time and have stood the test of time.

March will be spent in Southern China, with a few days in Taiwan and Shanghai.
An addiction to; tea with the associated social and meditative befits is a blessing, especially as I spend approx. 75% of my time in China.