Me: “So it’s pronounced ‘Cité du Vin’?” (mangling the pronunciation) Friend: “The ‘in’ is said like you’re smiling” Me: “I’m not sure that I want to smile when I’m speaking French.” And that, my friends, is why I prefer blogging. At least when I write out the names of the museum, you can read it… Read More Visiting Two Wine Museums in Bordeaux
Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have ever found this book, let along read it, but when Mamapan (aka Hanfugirl) asks you to read something, you read it. And I’m glad she recommended this book because I never realised how many women have been unfairly classified as prostitutes throughout history. As the title makes it clear, Freewomen, Patriarchal… Read More Book Review: Freewomen, Patriarchal Authority, and the Accusation of Prostitution by Stephanie Lynn Budin
Red wine has never been my drink of choice. If I were to nerd out over a drink, it would be tea (and you have seen me write essays on tea in this blog) and if I were to choose a wine to drink, it’s most likely a white wine or a rose. So why… Read More A Tea Lover Goes to St Emilion
I’ve been listening to the Dark Histories podcast as far back as 2018, so for Christmas 2021, I decided to treat myself to a copy of Dark Histories Season 1! I only got around to reading it this year, but the year is still very young so I consider this book to have jumped most… Read More Book Review: Dark Histories Season 1 by Ben Cutmore
I’ve been hearing good things about Lonely Castle in the Mirror on Instagram and I’m so glad that I read it because it is amazing! Honestly, I was captivated from the first page! Lonely Castle in the Mirror is a touching fantasy about the power of community. Kokoro has been unable to go to school… Read More Book Review: Lonely Castle in the Mirror by Mizuki Tsujimura
Hi friends! It’s time for another SustainabiliTEA profile and today, we’re going back to Japan to talk to Yutani Tea (their Japanese name is 城州ゆたに山口製茶処), who is on Instagram as Ohbuku Valley. I spoke to Yamaguchi-san (山口), who was born in Yuyadani (湯屋谷) in Uji, Kyoto. His family has been making tea for over 300… Read More SustainabiliTEA: Yutani Tea
“He will need to learn that love is a skill rather than an enthusiasm.” The Course of Love, Chapter: Infatuations I’m not going to give you the whole story of how I found this book, mostly because it would involve me talking about how I clicked on a clickbait video title and ended up looking… Read More Book Review: The Course of Love by Alain de Botton
It’s the first day of the lunar new year!! It’s rather weird to be ‘celebrating’ it so far from home, but I spent a good part of the morning doing virtual visits so I have at least seen part of my family. This will be a short post, because my brain is still tired from… Read More Happy Year of the Tiger!
I chanced upon Longing and Other Stories when I was browsing NetGalley and since I like Japanese culture (this might be a bit of an understatement), I decided to request this book! I’ve not read anything by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki before, so this evocative work was an interesting experience for me. Longing and Other Stories is… Read More Book Review: Longing and Other Stories by Jun’ichiro Tanizaki
I have been drinking the teas sent to me by the NPO Agriculture Support Team in Saitama and I noticed that they’ve started producing teas made with the yabukita cultivar, which I didn’t see when I bought the teas from them last year! The yabukita cultivar is actually the most common tea cultivar in Japan,… Read More Tea 101: the Yabukita cultivar
