Matcha

 

Matcha is ground powder that’s used to prepare certain types of green tea. It also has other modern uses in dessert, but it’s mainly used in tea. Powder tea, Matcha, was developed during Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty. Later on, the Chinese methods of preparing powdered tea were transported to Japan in 1191. Furthermore, preparation, serving, and drinking of matcha as hot tea is embodied within the traditional Chinese and Japanese tea ceremonies. Additionally, through Zen Buddhists, the preparation and consumption of powdered tea were made into a ritual. Matcha or powder tea is made from shade-grown tea leaves. Matcha is very high in theanine and caffeine. The mixture of these two substances is supposed to account for the calm energy people may sense from drinking matcha. Powder tea is prepared differently from tea leaves or tea bags. It’s made usually with water or milk.

 

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The Amer Fort In India

The Amer Fort was built in 1592 and is known for its artistic Hindu style. It’s also known as the Amer Palace. The fort was constructed during the reign of Raja Man Singh, the Kachwaha King of Amber. The Palace is broken into four main sections each with its own entry gate and courtyard. First section, Diwan-e-Aam or the “Hall of public Audience is where the ruler meets with people of his state and listen to their problems. Second section, Diwan-e-Khas or the Hall of Private Audience is where the ruler meets other rulers and his generals. Third section, Sheesh Mahal or Mirror Palace is where some of the ruler’s family and guests lived. Fourth section, Sukh Niwas is where the royal family women, including mistresses, lived. Furthermore, In 2013, the Amer Fort was admitted to the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.

 

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The Forbidden City in China

The Forbidden City in China was built from 1406 to 1420, and it consists of 980 buildings. The Forbidden City covers over 180 acres of land. It was built to serve as an imperial palace. It was the Chinese imperial palace from the Ming dynasty to the fall of the Qing dynasty. It served as the home of emperors and their households, in addition to the ceremonial and political center of Chinese government. Traditional Chinese palatial architecture was used as the main style in constructing the city.  In 1987, the Forbidden City was declared a world heritage site. Additionally, the UNESCO has listed the city as the biggest collection of preserved ancient wooden structures in the world. In 1925, the Forbidden City was turned into the palace museum. Now, the palace museum has over 14.6 million annual visitors, which makes it the most visited art museum in the world.

 

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Japanise Tea Garden

On Saturday, March 25th, I visited the Japanese Tea Garden located in Golden Gate park. The garden is not very big, as I imagined. However, it is well designed. The garden has a small pond that contains koi fish. The garden has native plants and flowers imported from Japan. Furthermore, the garden features religious figures such as Buddhism. After walking around, I headed to the tea house, where I got some Japnese tea and ice cream. The garden was very peaceful and calming. Nevertheless, as I mentioned I went there during the weekend which I do not recommend because it gets very crowded on days like Friday Saturday, Sunday.

• These are pictures I toke when I was there, please enjoy the pictures.

Silk in China

China is the birthplace for silk. The history of silk in China is dated back to over 6,000 years ago. There many stories about how Chinese came to discover silk. One famous story is that the wife of the Yellow Emperor Huangdi was having tea beneath a mulberry tree meanwhile a cocoon fell into her cup of tea. Then, she saw that the cocoon has a white thread. This made her to realized that this white thread can be used as weaving thread. From that point on, she started to learn about silkworms and teach her people about it.

Nowadays, silk in China is largely produced in the south of the Yangtze River Delta. There are three brocades that are manufactured with exceptionally high-quality silk materials. These three brocades are Sichuan Shu brocade, Suzhou Song brocade, and Nanjing Yun brocade.

 

 

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Porcelain in China

 

Porcelain was invented in China about 2,000 years ago. Porcelain is usually made with a specific type of clay called kaolin. Kaolin sometimes includes in ingredients like glass, bone, ash, quartz, and alabaster. What is really fascinating about porcelain is that it can withstand the changes of temperature, and it will last for centuries with care.

In ancient China, porcelain was used in everyday use, such as vases, plates, and cups. Furthermore, porcelain is also used heavily in art. For example, these two vases in the picture above are from the early 1800s. This pair of Chinese vases is painted with figures and Chinese poems in gold. This pair is at a price of $18,000 from 1stdibs.com

 

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Human Trafficking in Vietnam

Human trafficking is considered one of the major problems that Vietnam is facing. Traffickers in are targeting young girls who are from poor villages. Girls are usual taking across the border to China. These young girls are usually sold as brides in China. As a result of the chinse one child policy, there are not many girls in China to marry.

CNN meets with five 14-year-old girls saved by the Vietnamese border police as traffickers were about to take them across the border into China. The traffickers traveled with the girls about 300 miles. The police caught them before crossing the border to China. The trafficker is a neighbor from the girls’ village. The girls went with the trafficker willingly. The girls did not understand the consequences. The girls are laid to and promised $600. They are also told that they can get back to Vietnam. However. in reality, girls who find themselves in China will never return.

 

 

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The World’s Best Sushi Restaurant

 

Sukiyabashi Jiro is a sushi restaurant hidden in a basement attached to the Ginza Metro Station in Tokyo, Japan. The restaurant designed as a bar. The restaurant is owned by the sushi master Jiro Ono who started working in a restaurant since he was seven. Later on, Ono became a qualified sushi chef in 1951, and in 1965 opened his own restaurant, Sukiyabashi Jiro. Sukiyabashi Jiro accepts only reservations, and in order to make a reservation the wait is usually a month until the next available reservation. Dining in that restaurant costs about $300. Japanese prime minister Abe and president Obama dined there in 2014.

 

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Trans-Pacific Partnership

The Trans-pacific partnership is a trade agreement between Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, the United States and Vietnam. These countries represent 40% of the world economy. This trade deal will enable these countries to establish rules to protect the environment and minimum wages. Also one of its main aims is to reduce or eliminate tariffs among the twelve countries. However, there are other crucial sides of this deal that will affect particular groups. On group is the small family farmers in Japan. If this deal is approved, then these farmers will have to compete aginst American agriculture corporations. Nevertheless, the US had already withdrawn from the TPP, which means that such a deal is unlikely to happen without the U.S. being part of it.

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Ceylon Tea

A tea plantation near Nuwara Eliya in a medium altitude area

Sri Lanka is a very small country, yet it is considered one of the major importers of tea. Sri Lanka first encounter with tea plant was in 1824. The British brought a tea plant from China to Ceylon and it was planted in the Royal Botanical Gardens in Peradeniya for non-commercial uses. However, later on in 1867, James Taylor, a British planter, established a tea plantation and that marked the birth of the tea industry in Ceylon. Nowadays, Sri Lanka is world’s fourth-largest producer of tea. Tea production in Sri Lanka is one of the significant sources of foreign exchange for the country. Naw, Sri Lanka produces nearly three hundred thousand tonnes of tea.

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