Category Archives: Good To Know

Guest Animals At Your Next Tea Party

Next time you have a tea party, don’t forget to invite your friendly neighbor gorilla, monkeys, squirrels, dogs, cats, parrots or rats because apparently like us, this fine bunch can’t wait for their tea time either.

But seriously, do you really think they could all make the guest list? or not? let’s observe shall we?

Yes, a gorilla at a tea party would be nice and I think this one with his chilled cool demeanor would make a lovely guest for sure.

But would this cute little monkey be on the list?

Whoa! Okay that would be no, most certainly not.

Seriously, little fierce psycho monkey, you need to calm down! geez…

Moving on, I think you should really invite the cats because they’re just so cute and look so funny drinking tea

and dogs too!

and how about a parrot?

Oooh and let’s not forget your friendly hyper squirrels.  Here is a really brave squirrel diving into a cup of tea in front of two dogs!

I never really thought about horses, but why not? Might be a little messy to drink out of cup for them but this one definitely gets bonus points for trying.

I seriously don’t know about the next guest and quite honestly I was a little surprised to see this but regardless I now know and must accept that people have rats as pets, rats like drinking tea and NYC is NOT the only place on this planet where people have pet rats and where at least one dude out there likes to walk around with a rat on his head (no joke) and apparently people in UK dig rats as well phew! (Sorry didn’t mean to go all Henry James long sentence on you guys but seriously rats drinking tea?)

Alright they do seem to love tea and they are kind of cute so why not?

Any other animals you would like to invite at your tea party? 🙂

My Tea For The Moment: I was recently at the Crumbs Bake Shop and I can’t remember the exact name but I think I had the Genmaicha Green Tea, the one with the brown rice blend. In any case, I really enjoyed the flavor and it went well with the cupcakes.

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Drinking Tea Living Life

An enlightening short film that I came across a few days ago

So like I say don’t worry, drink chai!

My Tea For The Moment: Regular black Lipton Tea made with boiling water and some fresh mint leaves.  A friend of mine served me this once and I’ve been a fan of it ever since that day.  Thank you friend!

How To Do The Pizza Dance!

So do you think the purpose of the pizza dance is to workout as you eat your pizza?  Or is it to distract the person you want to steal the pizza from? Regardless, I’m thankful for the detailed dance instructions!

Could this be the next macarena dance sensation for the weddings and parties? It definitely has that annoying addictive potential.  Here you can see how you and your buddies or fellow stranger pizza dancers would appear dancing with a pizza slice in a group.

Like it? Alright then get to it and start your pizza dance practice today! 🙂

My Tea For The Moment: If i could I would make some iced tea right now but I’m trying Twinnings Pure Camomile that’s made with pure golden camomile. I personally really like this particular brand.  Just give it a try the next time you’re not feeling well or coming down with a cold. Just add a little honey and you will be on your way to some nice relaxing time.

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What NOT to do to your fake cat!

One thing you should never do to your fake cat is? Yes, you got it? Ah…okay no, It’s not beating it sensibly or senselessly for no reason or talking to it.  What you should never do to your beautiful Persian Himalayan fake cat is put it in the dryer! That’s right, unless you want your cat to turn into a mutated lamb cat and use it as a topic of discussion for those awkward silent moments with guests when you really have nothing to say.  So as much as you would like to (MOM, are you listening?) Some things are just better left dusty, seriously.

WHY YOU DO THIS TO ME?

Speaking of pets, do you ever wish you could have a two-way communication with them? Now this time, I mean the real ones. For example, maybe you wanted to know why Billy the goat was eating all your print? Seriously goat, aren’t newspapers in enough trouble already? Or maybe you wanted to know why Percey the cat has gone morbid and is now bringing dead creatures into your house, or why the crazy raccoon is stealing your door rugs at night?  This could go on forever and I’m sure you guys have a list of your own.  In any case, I think I’ve found something that might help us all out.

I came across Google translate for animals one day and my first reaction was, well of course that’s exactly the kind of thing I need 😉

okay sheep = funny 🙂

I know you’re thinking, could this really be? Well why don’t you observe the date for the video very closely and you’ll get your answer! Hahaha well it was fun while it lasted 🙂 Now please stop wasting time and go back to work.

My Tea For The Moment: I had some Jasmine Pearl tea at Koryodang café located in Korea Town recently and it was great.  I know it’s kind of hot for tea but it was actually really nice and cool inside so I thought why not.  If you’re looking for a good place to meet up with friends or have a snack then definitely check this place out.

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What’s Your Favorite Snack With Tea?

Assorted cakes and teacups laid out on table, outdoors, close-upSo what kind of good snacks do you like to have with your tea?  I have a long list but some favorites include cookies, scones, any thing on a toast especially if it’s black tea or regular Chai.  Oh and tea rusks! The ones that are round in shape.  I don’t really care for the flat kind.  I grew up calling them “papa” for singular or “papay” for plural and I always laughed when I heard someone say I want a Papa since a lot of people call their dad Papa hahaha, yeah I still crack up! I’m not sure if that’s just my family thing or specifically a Karachi, Pakistan thing, but It’s always been Chai Papay for my family and I.   I’m glad a lot of the South Asian stores carry them here so you can actually try them out.   They are so Yum especially if you put jelly and butter or margarine on them! They’re just the perfect snacks with Chai.

My Tea For The Moment: I feel like I need some energy so I’m going to try Yogi Tea’s Green Tea Energy. Let’s see if it really revives my body since I still have a lot to do.

Fortune Cookie’s Wise Instructions For The Day

Hello my friends! Hope you guys are having a great post V-day, Monday and oh of course a very happy Presidents’ Day!  So I was sitting there and day dreaming, having some tea and eating a fortune cookie when I looked down at the tiny piece of paper for a vague cookie prophecy because that’s what we all like to do.  Ha, and just like always a very special cookie message indeed, “The first step in making a dream come true is to wake up!”  Hey how did you know I was? Well, I wasn’t really dreaming you know…whatever Fortune Cookie, you’re weird.

Naturally to wake up and gain some energy,  I ate another one! And got the following message, “Your energy returns and you get things done.”

Woah! Now how did you know that Fortune Cookie?  Creepy, are you like the thesis police, have you been sent to remind me that I need to get back to work?   By the way, Fortune Cookies are not bad with tea at all.  Definitely a nice light snack to go with your delicious tea.

On another note do you need a good laugh?

Then check out the following:

The Muppets: Beaker’s Ballad

and the following list of songs and their descriptions.  You’ll have to click on the images in the bottom of the article.


My Tea For The Moment: I recommend trying out the White Peony tea at Radiance Tea House and Books.  First of all it was such a lovely find in the midtown area and the service was great too. As for the tea, It was really nice and light with this subtle hint of sweetness.  If you need something to eat with your tea, order a platter of Mochi.  You can choose 5 pieces from 9 flavors and they’re all Yum. My favorite from the five that we ordered was Green Tea, Black Sesame and Mango.  I’ll have to try the other four flavors next time!

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Largest Book, Egg Watcher, and Tai Shan the Panda!

Hello everyone!  So here’s some interesting random stuff that I came across.  If you want to read the articles or explore the websites in detail, just click on the images.

First we have the World’s Largest book display!  It’s like 5′ (tall) x 6′ (wide) and requires six people to lift it!  This 350 year old Klencke Atlas was apparently presented to King Charles II by Dutch merchants and placed in his cabinet of curiosities! This will be one of the main highlights during this Summer’s big exhibition on maps by the British Library.
A few things that came to my mind as I saw this.  First, I want to know what else was in that cabinet of curiosities?  Giant pen? Oooh a magnifying glass to read the giant book?  A dinosaur?  Who knows maybe there were giant sized gems? or Aladdin’s lamp? Okay i know that it’s not a ‘Giant’ cabinet of curiosities but still. You know, I think I would love to have my own cabinet of curiosities! How fun! Although If i made such a cabinet in my parent’s house, they’ll most likely declare it as trash and sent every item to Purple Heart.  Seriously sometimes I wonder if they think they are a trash or a recycling center.  Second, I was thinking wow what If I really had a giant book as part of my decor? What are the chances that it will fall on my guests? or heck, on me?  Then I’ll be really living inside the book 🙂 Imagine trying to swap such a book.  Back then maybe you needed a buggy or a Donkey cart, today you’ll most likely need  6 men and a truck to move this piece of art!  I find it cool how the Kings supported publishing back in those days.  If nothing at least books were a status symbol! Could we say the same today?

Next on the list is this cool EggWatchers site that I came across.  With their help watching boring eggs boil will never be the same again.  Basically they present you with an egg timer that will entertain you while your eggs get boiled.  So you give them your egg preferences and it tells you exactly how many minutes it will take to cook your egg.  During that time, they hook you up with a cool video that is equal to that exact cooking time.  When the video is done, Ping! Your eggs will hopefully be ready. This way you don’t have to stare at the boring eggs and get bored!

Lastly, I would like all of you to join me in saying goodbye to Tai Shan the cute panda who will be FedExed to Chengdu, China soon. Not in a box of course but a large steel crate.  Tai Shan my cuddly friend I hope you have a safe and happy journey! Enjoy your bamboo, fruits and cookies! 🙂

You can listen to his story and read related articles at NPR.

My Tea For The Moment: I tried out TWININGS of London’s Fujian Chinese Pure White Tea. This has a very light flavor strength to it.  I think this one tastes the best if steeped only for one minute. The first time i let it steep for over 3 minutes and it killed its delicate smooth flavor.

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My First Bubble Tea!

Bubble TeaYes, I finally tried Bubble Tea!  I don’t really know why it has taken me this long but I’m happy to inform everyone that I really enjoyed it.  This great occurrence took place at  The Saint’s Alps Teahouse in East Village.  I tried out the Green Milk Tea and it was great! At first I was a little confused as to how you order them, I was wondering if you would say, could I please have it with the bubbles? or the balls? but thanks to my friend I didn’t really make a fool of myself and said it rather properly as in, could I please have it with the tapioca balls? Actually “pearl tapioca” like their site describes it would have been better but I’m sure you’re saying who cares!? Hey, I say it’s good to know! Oh and speaking of sites, you should know that Saint Alps Teahouse site is actually the Hong K0ng one. So don’t be surprised if you see crazy high prices because those are actually in Hong Kong Dollars!  As for the tapiocas that I tried, they were chewy and didn’t really taste like anything to me.  I’m sure they vary from place to place?  Has any one of you tried them?  Yes? Then tell me your Bubble Tea story! 🙂


My Tea For The Moment: Just keeping it simple and drinking STASH’s Organic Premium White Tea.  It’s nice and light and goes perfect with the post ugly weather day!

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Video

The Return 2010!

Hello hello, what’s up!? And I’m back!  First I need to apologize for my long break. I was so exhausted after the finals that I had to go in hibernation.  Granted I wasn’t planning on going away for that long but hey that’s what happens when you hibernate in a cold place with lots of snow!  I know, I know it wasn’t like I was hibernating out doors in an Igloo but still it was kind of like that and on top of that my muse went to hibernate as well. It’s not exactly back yet but since all the action starts today as in the new semester and craziness. I’m hoping it will return quite soon.

So hopefully everyone had a great break and a really happy New Years eve.   Before we move on, I just want to mention some future blogging plans.  Since this is my last semester and I will be extremely busy working on my thesis project, I might not be able to blog as much. I will try to blog at least once over the weekend.  In any case, I’ll see how the semester goes and if I find that I can do it more often then I sure will.  Plus, it also depends on how much you guys want me to keep writing.  So comments are encouraged!

I thought maybe I should start by sharing some of my hibernation period highlights. Some fun stuff I watched, ate and drank.  I might not be able to mention everything in this post but I’ll try to do them in my future posts if possible.

SO! One thing that I really enjoyed was this South Korean drama that my sister found.  It’s this old drama titled “Full House” starring Song Hye Kyo and Rain. You know the guy from Ninja Assassin.  This was a 16 episode drama done in 2004.   I had no idea how popular Rain was until after I watched this drama and the whole Stephen Colbert ongoing joke with Rain thing.  This was really a fun watch and I laughed a lot. I wish they made all dramas this short and sweet.  Song Hye Kyo’s acting was incredible and I wasn’t really sure of Rain’s acting in the first few episodes, however as the character and story developed so did his acting and ultimately they both ended up doing an amazing job.  They had a great chemistry and I hope they do something else together again soon.

If you’re interested in watching Full House then go here and follow the playlist.  They have it with English subtitles and that is how I watched it.  I wish I knew Korean but sadly I don’t.

Thanks hermana for telling me to check this one out! It definitely cheered me up!

I also got a chance to check out some not so typical Bollywood films.  One of them was Salman Khan’s “Wanted” I was interested in checking this one out because it’s directed by this amazing South Indian dancer, choreographer and actor Prabhu Deva. I think this was the first time that I actually didn’t mind checking out fight sequences in an Indian movie.  Normally you just want to forward through them.  The songs and dances are great and he definitely made Salman Khan look good after a very long time.  I think I liked it because it was very different and had a very stylish feel to it.  So if you’re looking for something different then check out this trailer.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8K6dYer4AA]

Here is a cool song from the movie that i really like!

The other movie that I just loved was “3 Idiots.” Anything with Aamir Khan in it is usually good.  Everyone acted really well and Aamir Khan and Boman Irani should get an award for this one.   I can go on and on but for short, it’s fun from start to finish and really well done so check out the trailer.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2b3hFCIkGLc]

By the way most Indian films come with English and other language subtitles in case you don’t know Hindi or Urdu and would like to rent them out.

And of course I had to watch Avatar, Sherlock Holmes and Princess and the Frog.  Maybe I’ll talk about these in detail in another post but for now I would say Avatar is a visual feast, Sherlock Holmes is fun if you’re open to new interpretations and The Princess and the Frog is really cute.   I basically enjoyed all three of them.  If you have a desire to discuss these in details then we can do that too.  Post a question and we shall ponder upon it!

No hibernation is complete without amazing food and I’m so glad that “Famous Hamburger” opened up a new branch in Ann Arbor, MI. I had some great burger feasts with the family and it was a lot of fun.  If you’re ever in town and are looking for halal burgers or not this is the place to be.  Everyone is really nice and the service is great.

Just look at it!  Ahh i’m hungry all over again! 🙂

I think this is a lot for the return.  I’m sure you guys don’t want to read this long of a post! So until next post, do good and be happy! Oh and a Happy 2010 to everyone! Hopefully it is full of happiness and exciting adventures!

My tea for the moment: I decided to try out Yogi Teas. This one is the Green Tea Collection and I’m specifically trying out the Green Tea Lemon Ginger flavor.  I wasn’t sure about this one by the way it has this strong Ginger lemon smell to it but it’s not as tangy as I thought it was going to be in taste. So not bad.


Cereal Selection and Therapy

If you’re the kind of person who spends endless hours in the cereal aisle because you just can’t seem to decide which cereal to get, then the handy flowchart from “What Should I Eat? Cereal Edition”  is just the handy  guide you need!

Even cereal mascots need therapy sometimes…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj2twApbapU]

So which cereal do you like?  Favorite Cereal Mascot?

My tea for the moment: I’m trying out STASH’s Mangosteen Green Tea.  According to the box, It’s a green tea that “blends naturally sweet and slightly citrus mangosteen  fruit with juicy pear flavor.”  Mangosteen which is referred to as the “Queen of Fruits” in Asia also has a touch of Matcha which is speical green tea used in the Japanese tea ceremony.

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