Category: News
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Dilmah Certified Tea Master Certificate
Recently, I completed the final practical exam for the Dilmah Certified Tea Master Certificate program via Dilmah’s School of Tea. It was a self-paced, diverse and interesting program which provides great value for money. The final practical exam involved presenting a tea inspired food or drink. To watch my presentation please visit my VillaTempest Youtube…
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Day Seventy of Lockdown
SEVENTY! … … … (or Day Eight of the Third Month) The wind has a fresh breath, it speaks of a new arrangement that we will be let out from lock down, all of Shanghai, will be let out from lock down very soon. Yet we are on the curfew we who have been under…
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Day 3Thirty of Lockdown No News is … no news
Home Testing, again. Being negative on the test, is good. Being negative about the situation, is not. Who is still able to compartmentalize this? Can you? My beloved bread maker, M. Mouli is deceased. recover the dough mix and bake bread in my Halogen oven – my yeast is getting tired. I’ll have to make a…
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Day Twenty Five of Lockdown
Today, more parts of Shanghai go into a strict. 5 Day. lockdown. Much of Shanghai is now under emergency orders, and Quarantine. Key areas no longer have incoming deliveries, except for those authorised by the government. Resources are becoming limited and stretched. Here in Huacao, (we are part of the Minhang region) we have been…
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March 16, 2022
Freedom! It’s a really strange feeling. I am outside, in the street, sitting at a Cafe… and I just want to go back to my apartment.
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Myopia: A Lockdown Journal
I was asked, “Why are your pictures are square, and in black and white?” “They seem so constrained and myopic.” … And that! Is the very reason why. I am on a second floor, on the end of a building. The from the windows is less constrained, myopic, if you like, than it is for…
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March. 8th. 2022 – Lockdown!
Meilingyuan is under lockdown! I was on the Metro and the message came through that all residents needed to return immediately – there’s been a confirmed COVID-19 contact in the compound. As I approached the street, the Delicious Bakery was being swabbed down – the alleged “Close Contact” had been to the bakery earlier that…
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Harrod’s of London open a New Tea House in Shanghai
Well, it’s more than I can “bear.” 🤪 Meet, “Charlie,” the Harrod’s Bear. At first look I thought he was made from watermelon, but no: strawberry compote and sponge. Cute little bugger all the same. You can see him at the newly opened Harrod’s Tea Rooms, in Shanghai’s prestigious and historic, “Cha House.” For more…
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A Chance Introduction to a Founder of Gurung Natural Himalayan Teas
Today I met Manqing Lee, one of the two ladies who founded Gurung Natural Himalayan Teas Initiative, which supports poverty alleviation and empowerment in Nepalese Villages. It was a fascinating talk ranging from Nepal to Australia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Mailand China. I also tried three of their herbal, “Ayurvedic” teas and my favorite turned…
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茶笔 Chá Bǐ – The Tea Pen
Today I launched my Tea Blog under the name, “茶笔 Chá Bǐ – The Tea Pen.” For quite some time it has been operating under the functional name of #TodaysTea but my aim for the blog is for it to be more than just a collection of Hashtag postings. So, What is The Tea Pen? Writing and…