Not much to write about today- but man am I bored at work and I need something to do...

Had the pork I made the other day for lunch- still great, and I am not sick of it yet even though this was my 6th or so pork sandwich...

Having some green tea now- I think tea is something that maybe a good number of us don't appreciate fully. Maybe it's because all we think of when we talk about Starbucks is coffee (though i just had a great apple cider and caramel drink there yesterday...). I also think that because many of us just buy the generic tea bags (Lipton comes to mind), we are generally turned off by tea as something a little bland (this green tea I am drinking is pretty god awful in fact- picture chewing on a stick, thats what it tastes like..).

I really started getting into tea (though I am by no means an expert, just someone who appreciates it) when I took a kung fu class back in college. The instructor had us have a tea break after stretching and before we started training. I had never been much into tea before, but after a while (of trying not to grimace while sipping) I started to really get it! The smell, the various flavors of tea (I love the strange roots and herbs you can drink), and the relaxing feeling you get while sipping- allowing the steam to waft into your nostrils, and clearing your head..

I started drinking tea while studying, and found that it really helps you to concentrate- giving you a nice caffiene boost without making you jittery like coffee does, and calming and relaxing you instead of giving you tons of restless energy. Maybe it's more of a mental thing, but it works for me!

Find a local tea shop if you can- one near me has hundreds of various blends, from classics like green tea, oolong tea, etc. to more exotic flavors like blueberry, rose petal, mango, and hundreds of great tasting great smelling teas I have never heard of before.

You'll need a tea ball to hold the loose tea in while steeping it - I try and find one that is large enough for a large cup of tea, but isn't too hard to open/close. Also you don't want to have large holes where tea might escape!

My favorite now is a really dark black tea, with pieces of red fruit mixed in. The tea is a deep red color and has a nice flavor that isn't too sweet and fruity- but has a nice sweet flavor and a great aroma!

By the way I never add sugar or milk to my teas- I feel it takes away from the natural flavor, rather than complementing it like in coffee. Honey would be OK though if you feel the need to have something.

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By the way, I found this great site about honey: http://www.beeraw.com/

I never really realized how much variation there is between different varieties of honey! This site reminds me more of a site that sells fine wines- from the way they describe the honey to they way they package and ship it. I have really wanted to sample some of their stuff for a while now- I just haven't gotten around to actually ordering any (and they are on the pricey side- not great when I can't afford rent...)