6th Nov
On the way home from our Landrover Camping Trip, we decided to make a short detour up into the bamboo groves for a visit to my favorite spot in all of Taiwan – we usually just refer to it as ‘the mountain’ – a dead-end farmer’s access in a natural bamboo forest that overlooks the valley I lived in before the 9/21 (1999) earthquake hit the area.
26th Oct
We went camping with my friend Billy and his Landrover club a couple of weeks ago at Tien Shr Farm in central Nantou. They have a pretty nice camp area set up, with lots of shade trees, but since we arrived pretty late in the afternoon we had to pitch our tents out in the open. That turned out to be a good thing – we were far enough away from the main buildings that it was much quieter for sleeping than it would have been otherwise. Read the rest of this entry »
23rd Oct
We recently had a 3-day weekend here in Taiwan for the ‘Double Ten’ (Oct. 10th) celebration of the ROC national day, the equivalent of the US 4th of July. A friend of mine, Billy, is a well-known 4×4 driver and Landrover mechanic, and he invited me to join their Landrover Club for a camping holiday in central Nantou. Read the rest of this entry »
16th Oct
After letting my new teapot soak for a week in the toilet tank (see Pot Cleaning Part I), I took it out for inspection and a good scrubbing. I found a very soft scrub pad (Scotchgard brand) that touts itself (in Chinese) as ‘safe for teacups’, so I’m giving it a go. So far it’s working very well. I start my cleaning by rinsing the pot several times in hot water. Then I fill it with hot water and let it set until the water is just warm (5-10 minutes), and then repeat several times. The hot water helps open the pores of the clay (just like skin), making it easier for odors to escape.
The second phase is to scrub the pot gently inside and out with the scrubbing pad and a mixture of toothpaste powder and warm water. I’m using a Chinese brand, but it’s much the same as denture cleaning powders used in western countries.
After the scrubbing, I rinse the pot again several more times, then put it back in the toilet tank for another week. With this pot, I repeated the procedure 3 times over 4 weeks, and am now using the pot as a replacement for the one in my travel set that got broken a couple of months ago.
28th Sep
Well, I wasn’t planning to post about this typhoon – we’ve had a busy season this year, and they’re starting to get a bit old. Besides, this one was predicted to hit Kaoshiung (on the south west coast) and then move on into China.
Unfortunately, it veered north, and the center of the storm is currently (Sun 9/28 6pm) passing through Taipei county, and we have massive amounts of water leaking under our front door. The photo at right is 2pm, and you can still just see a bit of Taiwan between the outer band and the main cloud wall.
28th Sep
I brought my New Tea Pot back from Miaoli, and was quite excited to show it off to Aliang. He felt I got a good deal on it, but noticed a strange smell, which he guessed to be from brewing pu-er tea in the pot. He suggested I give it a thorough cleaning before putting it to use on my oolongs and Tie Kuan Yins. We discussed different ways of doing this, and I finally decided to try a new method that Aliang has been experimenting with.
21st Sep
I recently bought a new teapot for my travel set (the former pot cracked from a slight jar – the case dropped about 3 inches – after previously surviving falling and being dragged behind my motorbike at 30mph, falling out of a car, and being kicked and bumped repeatedly). I was in Miaoli visiting Aaron, and he mentioned a local tea shop nearby. When we went to the shop, the first pot he picked up to show me fit perfectly into my set, and ended up being the one I bought. Read the rest of this entry »
14th Sep
Last week saw a new arrival in the tea room. Aaron emailed to say my water pots were finally ready, so I went down to pick them up and drink some tea. They turned out better than I expected, and I’ve spent the last week getting used to it and experimenting with my water. Read the rest of this entry »
12th Sep
Well, I was going to skip posting about this typhoon because it didn’t seem like a big deal, but it suddenly swerved (literally6 90-degree turn) into us, and is probably the largest & strongest typhoon to hit us in a couple of years. Seems we always get a good one about the same time the US does. Read the rest of this entry »
5th Sep
I got started in tea through Chinese calligraphy, and now I’m finally getting back into some brushwork after a few (too many!) years off. One of the great things about tea drinking is how well it fits in with other activities – reading, painting, watching TV, playing chess, even blogging or web surfing! I find it really helps focus my mind, as well as stimulates my creative impulses. Last Saturday I dusted off my brushes and tried to shake off some of the rust, and of course the Teaboy wanted to help out a bit! Read the rest of this entry »
