Design challenge, day 29, travel to Kyoto for some tea

When I was little, my grandpa bought this movie from a discount bin called My Neighbor Totoro. If you haven’t seen it, the story starts with a family moving into a ‘new’ home. It’s old, rickety and to me, full of charm. I fell in love with the architecture, the shoji (those Japanese sliding doors covered in washi paper) and how they might make you feel like you were barely separated from what was outside.

My Neighbor Totoro led to my becoming a semi-otaku and an interest in some day visiting Japan.

On top of that, during my early twenties I became obsessed with tea so Japanese tea ceremonies are also on my list of things to experience.

 

Have tea in Kyoto

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/geraldford/3079701360/

Design challenge, day 7, the tea is silent.

I’ve managed to get through seven whole days of designing something every day. I’m honestly not sure if I’ll be able to keep this up, but I’ll try.

I found this image on http://unsplash.com/ and saw the quote somewhere. The combination reminds me of when I used to really take my time to set up my tea, to steep it properly, make sure the water was the exact temperature it should be for the type of tea. And I really remember these moments to be silent. There’s something about the ceremony of it that takes you out of the world and holds you in that moment. (Or maybe I’m too in love with my tea.)

Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world. ~T'ien Yi-heng

Rainy Day

It’s raining here and I’ve decided to do what seems like a cold winter day kind of thing to do: knit and drink hot tea. (And for some reason I felt the need to share.)

My favorite tea cup

I was thinking about my collection of tea cups (mugs, really) and wondered if, like me, anyone else had a favorite in their own collection.

Numi Chocolate Puerh

This is my favorite tea cup. My mom bought this for me in the kind of shop that makes me squeal because every shelf is covered in something cute. The little reminder to “SMILE!” and the panda bear that’s on the bottom of the inside are the details on this cup that make the tea inside that much more enjoyable. It also holds a whole lot of tea–doubleplusgood!

What does your favorite tea cup look like?