Dear tea friends:
after a long and tiring traveling and flight, I am now to my final destination- Maputo, Mozambque. I tried to type my tea experience whenever I have time during my tour to share with you but didn't get the chance to post. Once I tried through yahoo but it didn't work. So I have decided to post it all together here. Enjoy....
Ripon Maputo, Mozambique
----------------------------------------------------------------- Wonderful classic city, good multi-cultural food with Dutch style and hospitality. I came to this city before for business but this time just having fun, eating and exploring the wonderful multi- cultural Amsterdam. Today is my tea exploring day and here is my experience-
My hotel Renaissance Amsterdam serves wonderful breakfast and I had the best hash brown. The tea came with a pot "Blended Darjeeling". I could tell this is very high grade Darjeeling. I started my tea day with a wonderful cup of Darjeeling and Dutch breakfast. I also had a cup of fresh brewed Coffee- ah it was so good. Renaissance is famous for their Coffee so I couldn't pass it-:)
I always like to explore the local tea culture. My Dutch friend came to pick me up and drove me around. It was very nice to see her after 6 years. When she asked me what I want to see first, I wanted to explore the most multi-cultural area of the city. Though Renaissance Hotel is just in the heart of Amsterdam and very multi-cultural so she offered me to show the Arab-Dutch community who has strong tea culture. The hotel is full of Filipinos stuff and it was nice to practice my bad Tagalong language again. I enjoy the blended culture in any place.
We went to Magna Plaza did some little shopping and then went to this huge Arab restaurant and first time had this different kind of Arab style tea- Ceylon tea with cardamom with sugar cube. My Dutch friend speaks Arabic and have many Arab friends. We meet many people, drank tea with Turkish Apple Hukkha. We chat over politics, culture and tea culture in Arab world. I also had some fresh Baklava and many other unknown Arab sweets.
I always wondered why Netherlands is also named as Holland. This time I have discovered:-
Netherlands means low land and Holland means hole surrounded by water. That's some one told me from the Hotel, interesting. Another person just said- the Dutch people say Netherlands and foreigner calls Holland.
It was very nice to spend some time with a old friend and I also enjoyed wonderful Arab-Dutch hospitality. Tomorrow I am heading to Johannesburg and can't wait to explore South African tea culture. The world is so beautiful and of course the - TEA.
Ripon
02.12.05 Amsterdam, Netherlands(Holland)-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I am in Johannesburg. The whole day, I walked around the hotel area and spend time in different art shops. Me and my family were tired of 10 hours flight from Amsterdam. All I needed- a good cup tea. I had some wonderful fresh Rooibush with my local friends. I wanted to spend three days here but now I have decided to go to Mozambique as soon as possible. I have tried Rooibush before but this is the first time, I have realized fresh rooibush is something special. Except 17 cups of Rooibush, nothing to talk about tea in Johannesburg-:) I will be back soon in Johannesburg and Cape Town and explore the real tea culture.
I can't stop myself to share this interesting experience about Rooibush and real tea-
The whole day when I hang around the town, I have observed an interesting thing in Johannesburg. Rooibush is more expensive then regular black tea. I have checked couple of stores price lists were like this(1 US$= almost 6 South African Rand):-
Tea or black tea 3 up to 5 South African Rand Special tea 5 up to 9 Rand
While I was going from on area to another, I was also drinking tea from different shops and always though the special tea will be something like- pure Ceylon, Darjeeling or.... but all the time, the special tea was- Rooibush. This is my preliminary observation but next time I will do more research about this. Also miss the chance to taste honeybush.
Johannesburg is a wonderful city with many different art from different African nation. Swaziland, Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, Egypt, Morocco etc.etc. have world famous, unique and beautiful art collection. I bought some but want to buy more in future. I liked one African tea set but for my limited baggage situation, I couldn't buy it. Already kids back packs are full with some of my tea and art. The shop owner from Ireland, promised to offer me some better quality tea sets later. Also want to buy African fabrics which can decorate my tea table very nicely. Africa is full of treasure......
Ripon
02.13.05 Johannesburg, South Africa---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ah at last to my final destination- Mozambique. What a beautiful country with many Portuguese style architecture. The capital city(where I live) Maputo is just bank of Indian Ocean. My house is just 10 minutes walk from the sea beach. Though my house is inside a fort style compound which block the view of the wide open sea but the breeze is still there. The house is huge so I have decided to decorate a tea room with African theme, just for me and friends. I have so much to talk about this beautiful Southern African nation but later. My first food in this country was- 6" long tiger shrimp, Jasmine rice with a cup of African black tea blend(Malawi and Kenya). Some interesting people live around us. I can't wait to explore...
Ripon
02.16.05 Maputo, Mozambique-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Today I just got my dial-up Internet connection because the fast, wireless connection will take a month. So I have decided to get this slower connection for now. I can't live without Internet because I want to be connected with my friends and family. My entire tea collection is in the local airport for custom clearance. Right now, I am just drinking my limited collection. I am very happy to be here with a different country and different exotic culture. The weather is very hot compare to Washington DC area but also enjoying the shiny, bright day light after a long time of muggy weather. Haven't seen any lion, elephant, monkey or wild animals yet_:) Well, African cities are much more developed then we think in the western world. Haven't get the chance to explore the Mozambiquean tea gardens yet but soon...... still trying to get rid off jet leg...
Greeting from Africa & Ciao
Ripon Maputo, Mozambique