Last week was kinda tough. I had lots of things to deal
with, lotta places to be at... And I was all over the place... I’m talking Minhang, Pudong, Gubei, Qingpu,
Jiading... Never used subway as much as last week... But yeah, I survived and I’m back to talk to y’all... Btw, last week you went kinda
crazy on my blog... My stats went up like a motherfucker... So whatever made
you do it... Kudos!
On
Thursday, I went to Jenny’s Blue
Bar (at Donghu Lu) for couple of beers, and then continued to
this Parrot spot for some espresso cocktails which were kinda bomb. On Friday,
the Lithuanians organized a movie night at their place and it was great. Our
little group is getting bigger. What started out as a group chat of the two of
them and me, is now about 12 people so the crowd is definitely expanding. We
played this Mommy movie by Xavier Dolan – and it
was awesome.
Now, couple of months ago, I went to this vegan fest and I
met this lady who runs the ifVegan restaurant in Jing’an. About a week ago, she invited me to another spot they
have, which is close to Xinzhuang. It’s
called Knowing and it’s a vegan tea/coffee place. She wanted to introduce me to the traditional Chinese
tea ceremony. So there I was... On Saturday, riding my bike towards broadening
my tea knowledge.... The place is quite amazing... They have tons of tea and
coffee to choose from, they have many vegan sweets, it has a nice little
Chinese vibe, and it might be the first vegan place I’ve seen around here that has not been really discovered by
expats... It’s a bit outside of the center and it’s also not listed on
Happpycow... So pretty local feel....
The ceremony itself is crazy... Now, I’m gonna try to recall all the info
I received during that but there’s good
chance I fuck it all up... So if you really wanna know what’s what... You know... Fucking
Wikipedia that shit or something... You have this main plate with three items. Metal
filter, glass jug, and this cup with a small plate underneath and a lid on
top... This is where you start - you put your tea in the cup and after that you pour
the boiling water on it... Tea comes in this small bowl whose sole purpose
is to provide the tea and then it can be put away... The small plate under the cup
represent Earth and the lid represents Heaven... The cup itself is you... That’s where the important shit happens...
Tea comes to life... So... You let the tea come to life whcih takes about a minute,
and then pour it the jug through the filter (something like a conscience – determining what is important and
what is not), using the lid as a barrier so your tea leaves stay in the cup and
can be reused. The jug is being referred to as a “fair jug”. Cause
when this is done, the color and taste of tea is stabilized and no matter how
many people share it, they all get the same shit... No difference, everyone is
equal...
When this is done, another three items come to play.
Everyone has a three-piece set for personal use. Another small plate (in our
case in the shape of a leaf), with one slimmer and one taller cup, and another one
which is shorter and wider. You make sure that your leaf base faces left...
Cause you know... Heart, life, all the good stuff. First, the tea is poured to
the taller cup but it stays there only for couple of seconds before being
redirected to the short one. Now, it’s
smelling time... You spend a good one or two minutes inhaling the inside of the
tall cup. If the tea is good, you can smell bunch of different tones and layers – and they change as the cup gets
colder. I honestly had no idea tea has so many different angles... Once you’re done with that, you proceed to
drinking... I wanna stress out that both cups are very very small... To finish
one serving, you only need three small sips... You make sure that the first sip
goes through the tip of your tongue which amplifies the sweetness, the
second one goes through sides of your tongue so you can enjoy the full taste,
and the last one goes through the back of your tongue so the bitterness
raises... And you drink it with both hands, raising the cup to your eye level – this shows respect. Now, the taller
smelling cup represents male element (taller, stronger), and the shorter one
represent female element (shorter, more to ground, that’s where you actually taste the thing). And you can reuse
the tea bunch of times during which the taste and smell change. We drank one
serving of the tea for about 4 hours... It was great... Almost like some kinda
meditation... And because the lady is awesome, she even gave me some vegan mooncakes –
traditional sweets connected to the Chinese Autumn festival which is about to
start. They usually contain eggs but hey... If you got a vegan plug, you’re good...
In the evening, I met up with couple of my peers and we hung
out at the Xiangyang Park till about midnight. Just some beers and good
vibes...
And well, I just got back from the stadium (got joined by a friend from
Montenegro for the first time), it’s a
beautiful day outside and we got another week ahead of us. So take care,
motherfuckers!
Highlights:
- Noname – Room 25. Amazing project. And Dizzee – Don’t Gas Me. Fire.
- Gin. Our fam got a new dog back in the Czech Republic, and it’s gorgeous. So Gin... Welcome to the team!
- Was told I look like Ronaldo by a Chinese guy. Well... I guess I do...
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