I mean it’s truly sad not to be able to see her tea making “dances” (although she stopped making it herself several months ago). But most of all, I felt especially sad to see her little mom-and-pop shop turning into a less-character corporate franchise, à la Fantasy Tea. The price has gone up too.

Well, maybe this is inevitable… But still, I can’t help but have this great feeling of loss… even if it’s just for me.

I think people have selective memory, very selective I should say. I seem to have many memories from my childhood which I have no idea why I should remember. One of them is my dad telling me that I lack observational skills. Since he knew that I used to say I would like to become a scientist, he wanted me to notice things around me. The thing was, most of the things that he pointed out was “natural” things, especial of flora (seasonal flowers and trees). I definitely had no interest in them. I guess it’s because I grew up in a crowded city where there were plenty of things to excite me other than the nature.

Instead, I liked to observe people and their behaviors. I think it started with my mom. I’ve always been close to her and one of the first things I learned was to “read” her. Also, I think I sometimes “used” her as my laboratory of human responses (I know it sounds bad, but hey, it’s not my fault that I had no siblings :p).

Anyway, I think the preamble is getting a bit long (I think it might be longer than what I wanted to say originally…). So, it’s not all the time, but I like observing people, how they act and react. I guess it’s just not me that’s doing it, but I often notice certain things that some people do fascinating, something that is different from my behavior or even some of my own behavior that I haven’t yet noticed.

So, there is this tea shop in Cupertino Village (an Asian shopping area in the Bay Area) called TenRen’s Tea House (I was told that TenRen is a Taiwanese company which make pretty good tea bags). It’s one of my favorite place to get a cold pearl tea (you know what it is, if you are a fan ). They also have thousand-year eggs (or was it hundred-year…), but I have yet to try them.

Beside the tea, probably the biggest reason that I frequent the shop is the owner lady there who also makes tea (I think she’s the shop owner). The thing I noticed was that she had particular “movements” for whatever she was doing (pouring teas, putting and getting things in and out of microwaves, shaking teas in the shaker, taking a sip of the mixed teas, grabbing things off the shelves, etc.).

She does it so methodically that I can almost see “art” in her movements and tea making. I am not saying that the tea there is the best in the world or anything. It’s just that I find it interesting to see how one can use one’s situation to one’s advantage.

Well, reading again what I wrote above, I don’t think what I wanted to say didn’t come out well. Well, if you are in the area, try visit her shop and appreciate the art of tea making.

By the way, CNN had an article about this type of tea.