Early morning Sun, long shadows

Xmas morning, the sun was an early riser, a beautiful start to an enjoyable holiday.

Two of the boys get silly before lunch: Cameron arrived just as we started to eat.
Andrew came by about 2:00 .. Heather in Hawaii joined via phone …

Old Friend .. recent find

Rummaging through kitchen cabinets in search of the tea travel buddy I brought home over a year ago …. for Robbie to take on the dive boats.

From the back corner this cup emerged.  A gift from a colleague at Printronix, in 1986, I had just returned from Singapore (the first of a 5+ year assignment) .. Long story short, I was talking about my trip with one of our software engineers, next day she brought in this cup-with built in strainer. It has remained unused all this time. So Xmas day will be its debut, thinking of friends around this small world of ours.

喝茶 hē chá Drink Tea

 

Days gone by, The British Raj

From the mid 1850’s to 1947 …  The time of the British Raj in India.  A great many words and expressions have found their way from Indian culture into the every day lexicon of modern Britain.  

What brought this about is one of the cups I have in my office:  Good old Camp Coffee,  A Truly unique product of Scotland.

 

I’ve had this small mug for over 40 yrs. How time fly's when your having fun,  the sole survivor of a set of four.

Ho Ho Ho

Thx to Manjit for the e-card.

New Record

A bike built for Nine .. Note: this is a Bike TAXIEvery day its not unusual to see Scooters and Motor Bikes put to Herculean tasks.  Nine is a first for me, not the strangest but a definite eye popper.

A bicycle loaded with more than its share:… Dongguan City– Da Lang town

Early present

Andrew came over Saturday afternoon bearing gifts.  He and his girlfriend had a new spaniel puppy .. (sound asleep)I got an enlightening gift :   Yixing teapot, A hand-carved tree with four depictions of the Buddha.  One hopes  this will promote meditation and enlightenment.

Just Tea .. more tea

More presents for Robbie.  A banner year for Robbie in terms of: Diving, Computing Horsepower and Tea.
I’m guessing this batch of goodies from Da Xia will round out this year (in tea terms)  Kevin, my US-China mule, returned with multiple pounds of Jasmine (Robbie’s favorite)
And this note from; Da Xia, thanking Robin and I for sending her a gift.

Tea and Sympathy

Xie Xie Ni Jeff returning from Taiwan .. with a gift of:  Ali Shan High Mountain Oolong Tea.   Saturday we had a party with; Sean's fiancée, her family and long time time friends; Linda, Kerry and Katelyn Shimizu, and Robbie’s dive buddy Ruth. Twelve of us, good size group for a, very rainy day, get together. (See Facebook for pics)

So on Sunday morning I entered our tea room and saw the aftermath of; 4 hrs of tea and tall tales, I immediately  felt sympathy for our downstairs Maid, who had to clean this up.

Wait!!  its Sunday the maid’s day off  .. and I have to put things to right … Five pots, 4 Yixing and one glass pot, endless cups and fun times were had by all.  For the record, these are the main teas we drank throughout  the day:

花茶  Hua Cha Flower Tea

鐵觀音 Tie Guan Yin

普洱  Pu erh

老烏龍茶  Aged / Old Oolong

茉莉花茶  Muo Li Hua Jasmine

Friends in WuXi

My collogue Kevin made a quick trip back to WuXi this week.  Many thx for delivering a gift to Da Xia  .. looks like cold weather as moved in ….

Da and her brother in the family tea shop
Da Xia and Kevin, now we know why my nick name for her is: Xiao Da Xia.

I have to share Kevin’s note to me: …
John,
        Here's some pictures of my visit.  She was very exited to get your gift.  She's really sweet. She wrote you a note I'll give you when I get back.
Kevin