Finally, tea

Alexander McCall Smith wrote about tea in the Guardian, and while I'm not up to his standard of scoffing at manufactured tea, or bad quality tea (because this is what makes teh tarik so good), I like how he elaborates on the advantages of drinking tea. Mmm.

You don't know which tea tastes better until you come here, really. Lipton, while being, of course, cheap and easy to find - 100 teabags in a box in Walmart; I have one in my cupboard and a quarter's gone - is really quite tasteless. You put in condensed milk, and when you don't put in enough, it tastes like a lot of hot water and not much tea, and when you put too much milk, it tastes like very sweet milk with bits of tea and not much else. Hah.

I did bring Boh tea over here, and could tell the difference within the first few cups I had here. Boh isn't as dark as Lipton, but it tastes so much better. I mean, I don't even mind drinking it plain - no sugar or milk - and when I do add milk, at least it still tastes like, well, tea.

They also have sweetened tea in McD's, which quite a few people like, but it's disgusting for me. It's just tea and lots of sugared water, and it ends up tasting like sugared water.

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Haven't continued reading Mieville since I blogged last week. Education is getting in the way of my actually having a life.

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Tea itself isn't what makes it so good - it's what associated with tea drinking that makes it so very much the nice. Mamak, Sunday mornings, late-night surfing, writing at odd hours, afternoons alone with nowhere to go and not anyone to ask what you're up to, the taste of condensed milk when you want something sweet - and tea calms me down. Probably the mamak effect, because I always ask to go out for mamak, no matter how late on a school night, when I'm stressed or restless. And my family always obliges, because they like it too.

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Worked for the first time ever in my life today. At the recreation center. 2 hours a week isn't such a bad thing, really. Pocket money jer. But still better than nothing. And I'm going to get my Social Security soon, so that's good. I wonder how the tax system works here. Don't think my income is taxable though - hell, kids here most probably get more allowance than my pay for the entire month.

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I woke up this morning stressed, thinking I had a lot to do. Ha! I haven't even finished what I wanted to do. Took a nap in the evening, woke up, had dinner, then blogged. Fuck assignments. This is my bloody Saturday night, and I'm going to do what I want.

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Placebo will be performing in KL on the 16th of March. Well, shit. Even if bands do come to Des Moines, I don't have: a) a car, b) life wish to see the bands who do come or c) I'm not even here during summer. Most bands just head to Chicago or the other big cities and bypass this place entirely. It's a nice place to live, but I still prefer KL...

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What should I write about?

What do you want to know?

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The beats from my neighbours' unit - yes, they play music THAT loud - sound like feng tau music.

They're Americans. As American as you can get*.

And I'm listening to Florence + The Machine. Irony, you can has it.

* What, this sounds somewhat racist? But I grew up in a country that has so many racial stereotypes that I haven't heard all the jokes yet! I blame my environment for my racist tendencies!