A cup of tea is a cup of peace.

Hello Everyone, sorry for not uploading any new article in the recent days...My workload has increased and so forth I have less time for leisure..Nevertheless, I will try my best to upload articles ^^

Last Thursday, the director of my department Prof. Hsu invited me for lunch and to have some tea afterwards. I was in heaven when he suggested me to eat in a sea food restaurant :) He made me try  different kinds of dishes...the cuisine was quite similar to Japanese gastronomy food. But like Prof. Hsu says, it is Taiwanese food in a Japanese style. I started by enjoying a succulent miso soup with some fresh raw fish called "sashimis". Then I had some grilled squid, I think this was really a revelation. At the first bite, the squid just melted in my mouth, wahoo.

During the meal, I got complimented about my chop-sticks handling skills...He was very surprised and happy at the same time about my chop-stick skills. To be honest with you, my parents are extremely fond of  Chinese food, and since I am little have been taught to use chop-sticks...Here my team mates call me the chop-sticks master haha....I like this title ^^ Jokes appart, I tried to eat with the chop-sticks in a different way, I decided to eat my meal in Taiwanese style...tough job!! I tried to hold the chop-sticks properly but they said there was too much tension in my hand and I needed to relax ^^

Anyway, I really enjoyed myself during this delicious lunch...gosh I eat too much ^^ Then, we took a taxi and we headed to one of the oldest street of Taipei to have some tea. Tea is a real art in Taipei, it has to be perfect : the right temperature, the right number of leaves...etc

As we got to the "Tea Shop", we entered in a well maintained building mostly of wood. As we got the menu card, there was very little choice for tea...but there were the finest :) I decided to go for some Taiwanese tea, the Huloong Tea. Being a big amateur of teas, it was a great experience for me as I enjoyed the environment and the environment of a nice cup of tea (actually more than just one cup ^^). The icing on the cake was the fact that all the savouring of the teas were accompanied by Prof. Hsu explanations about the different teas. He explained to me the different ways to brew tea, and the manufacturing process of tea. I was really attentive as he was explaining each variety of tea and the virtues of each of them.

 Huloong Tea :

 

It was an other experience that marked my stay in Taiwan. Especially the knowledge you can get from the different things I see or taste or feel. Tea is not just some random leaves brewed in hot boiling water..it's a real art to make the perfect tea to get the right flavour.

Until then,

Bai Bai (Bye Bye) 

PS : A new article is soon to appear about my visit at the Tapei Zoo...and the cute pandas ^^