Even as I was/am enjoying my sencha, matcha, and wakoucha, I still can not resist the urge to get more new tea. I’ve been eyeing some of the teas from What-Cha since Northern Teaist introduced the site to me, and when I heard that their Georgian teas were back in stock, I decided to buy… Read More Tea Review: Malawi Bvumbwe Peony White Tea from What Cha
I can’t quite remember who recommended this so if you’re reading this, thank you!! While The Maker of Swans was somewhat frustrating in its lack of information about the magic system, I still enjoyed this well-written tale very much. The Maker of Swans is a strange book. There are words, beautifully written words, and a… Read More Book Review: The Maker of Swans by Paraic O’Donnell
After drinking the Hokumei, I learnt that Hiraoka-en also created a black tea. I was particularly interested in the tea because it’s bug-bitten, the way Beauty of the East is. So I wrote to NPO法人 埼玉農業おうえんしたい to ask if I could buy a packet to try, and they very kindly sent me a packet to sample… Read More Tea Review: Santomi Black Tea by Hiraoka-en
You may remember that I read The Gate of Sorrows and reread Brave Story recently and absolutely loved it. Well, a friend happened to own a copy of The Book of Heroes, the prequel to The Gate of Sorrows, and she lent it to me so I could decide if I was getting both books… Read More Book Review: The Book of Heroes by Miyuki Miyabe
I think I found this book from its excerpt on The Guardian and honestly, I’m glad I found it because this book managed to do what Murder by Candlelight tried to do but failed. Murder by Candlelight tried to use five accounts of murder to reveal the history of why we’ve fallen in love with… Read More Book Review: Savage Appetites by Rachel Monroe
I may be done with all my sencha reviews for the Sayama teas, but that doesn’t mean that I’m done with all the teas I got from these farms! One of the farms, Okutomi-en, also produces matcha and since I finally have a matcha bowl and whisk, I decided to get some to try! From… Read More Tea Review: Sayama Matcha from Okutomi-en
You may or may not remember that last year, I backed and received Forgotten Yorkshire Folk and Fairy Tales compiled by Andrew Walsh. I really enjoyed reading the tales, most of which were new to me, so when I saw that Andrew had another collection of forgotten tales out, this time focused on Lancashire, I… Read More Kickstarter Book Review: Forgotten Lancashire Folk and Fairy Tales by Andrew Walsh
Now that I’m done with the Sayama Tea Series reviews, I thought it would be interesting to take some time to pause and think about the way that I write tea reviews. While I haven’t been reviewing tea for very long, the way that I’ve written my reviews have slowly shifted over time. This is… Read More Tea Discussion Post: What makes a good tea review?
Disclaimer: in Singapore, the number of cases diagnosed daily has dropped since our lockdown/Circuit Breaker. Things are slowly opening up and I am writing the post in the context of a society that’s in pandemic mode but also trying to find its way back to normal. If you’re living somewhere where COVID cases are still… Read More Mental Health Monday: The Pandemic is for the Long Term, When can I act Normal?
I’m feeling pretty proud of myself for being able to read two books in a row for the A Year with Christie 2020 challenge! It used to be pretty hard to find the right book in the NLB, but I’m finding it a bit easier nowadays. Sad Cypress starts with a trial: Elinor is on… Read More Book Review: Sad Cypress by Agatha Christie
