Nuts about Tea

Walnut made from Zisha Clay. Looks like the real thing.

Tea Tea Tea.
Walked into my usual teashop on Sat and was welcomed by the manager and all other regulars there.

The manager was serving some hk customers, so naturally she pushed a cup to me.

tea looks clean and clear.

I took hold of the tea cake and carefully inspected it. It had the traditional Zhong Cha wrapping and the label says yr 2004, 7542. Whooo.. the famous 7542 recipe which has a whole bunch of followers. Well, this tea cake can be yours at $120.

Looks decently stored.

even the spent leaves look complete, fat and juicy.

I will go home and ask my piggy bank. ROAR!

From An Ant's Point Of View

This is part 2 of the package! The reversal ring.

its supposed to be a cheap way of doing macro without paying the price of a macro lens. Isn't that just invented for people like us.

The trick is to reverse mount a lens, which I used my 50mm f1.8, together with the twin ikea lights I got earlier.

As the article says. "You Lose the Camera’s Brain so Use Your Own"
I reversed the lens, locked the thing in and set the cam in orang-matic* mode and then mounted the thing on the tripod.

It is not easy because I depended heavily on the autofocus. I moved forward and backward numerous times, and sticking my eye at the viewfinder to get the focus. Got real tired and took a rest, wanting to give up.
Suddenly I remembered that my camera allows me to shoot via lcd screen. Long Live D90! It was much easier later. i took the photos using my lcd live view while holding a light in my left hand to adjust the lightings.

Finally i got this! The earphones in macro!

WA. BIG

and a really small keychain!

this image not that sharp.

So happy with the previous successful shots that I quickly bring a piece of tea to test. Was wondering how to squeeze the subject into the tiny frame.

For once I think compact cameras are real good. They are cute, tiny, fits into your pocket, and they can do macro at no cost. They can take shots like this easily.
Macro lens for DSLRs are not cheap. You can try this trick using the reverse macro too.



Wanted to celebrate by making a brew. But it was past midnight and my eyes are getting crossed.

I think i better save up to buy a autofocus nikkor 105mm VR at S$1360. Might be able to save my eyes.

*orang-matic - full manual.

A Date with the Sun

I always had a love-hate relatonship with the sun. I prefer a bright sunny day to a gloomy rainy day anytime. I was eager to try out my polarised filter, and I thought of Labrador park immediately. There is some math involved.

Simple equation.
if A = Labrador Park = in the West
if B = Sunset = in the West (Sun rises in the east and sets in the west)
Since A = B,
Labrador Park = Sunset!

Its a hot day for photoshoot. News said its 34 degs. Pure Madness.

I thought I saw an oasis. Chey.. its a motif on the floor.

The beautiful sky managed to compensated a bit for the heat.

Photoshopped a bit to make it look like a watercolor painting. No no not HDR.

No. not HDR

Quickly sunset please. I want to go home!

And I saw a big cruise coming over and its getting bigger and bigger.

Here comes the Big thing!

No, its not a terrorist attack. The cruise is still in the water. Its just trying to get into the dragon's gate to berth at World trade centre.

Wa lau it looks like its banging into the coast.

Macro using my kit lens without flash. Not that nice but its my first attempt. Make do. Make do.

Don't know whats this flower. Anyone want to contribute?

This cat is my new found hero. Did anyone tell you that its 34 Deg today?

stone-grilled kitty

That's PSA, West Coast Port. Nice!

Going home to shower.

Take care, sun. You are running a fever today. I visit you some other day.

This is my first attempt at product shots using lighting effects.
Bought 2 lights recently and eagerly tried it out last night. Its really not easy to adjust. Lightings is really a art on its own.

Dayi Jia Ji Tuocha 2008

Sheng of the Day - 2008 Da Yi Jia Ji Tuocha, 100 grams

Sheng of the night actually, drank it before going to bed last night.

Da Yi Jia Ji tuocha 2008, 100 grams

I got this tea earlier this year. I seldom see Menghai 100 grams tuocha. Usually I see Xiaguan tuocha, and Menghai Bings instead.

After collecting of some 2001 Xiaguan tuochas in yr 2003, I have kind of shifted my interest to bings. I think that the tuos take much longer to oxidise and mature than bings due to its tight compression. Many of my bings of the same era tend to display more changes then these tuos.

Holding this tuo, I carefully examined it and found that there is a double wrapping. Inside this usual brown packing is a thick white paper. I wonder if this tight security will make the tea even harder to mature.

Opening it up, I am overwhelmed by a fresh scent which is trapped inside the paper wrapper. I held the thing carefully with my both hands and smelled it like a drug addict for a while. Shiok! The leaves look clean and fresh too, rather loosely pressed for a tuo. There is even a nice neifei inside the tuo. Sweet! 90 marks for presentation! Menghai rocks.

Wanted to use 5 grams for this session. The leaves somehow got quite broken after prying and I decided to put less. 4.8 is a good number. I went ahead to set up my gear and start boiling my water.

The tea was made with quick infusions not lasting more than 5 secs.

The soup is bright yellow and resembles some oolong tea. The tea is full and infects the whole mouth, refreshing with some bitter sweet taste. The bitter wears off quickly and the sweet lingers in the back of the mouth.

It was overall a nice session, eventually stopped at 10 infusions because it was getting late. Shall reduce to probably 4 grams the next time for a softer feel. Will definitely get more of this nice thing.

Nope. this is not a Menghai Bamboo plate. Merely pasted the sticker from my 2008 Menghai 7532.

Revisiting my 2001 Xiaguan Tuo next.

Changi Kelong Walk

Went to Changi Kelong Walk in February this year, was going through my photos and saw this set. It was a tough day walking kms with heavy gear to take photos. Luckily the photos turned out rather ok.

Its a long looong looooooong walk. Its rather humid but luckily some trees provided us shade.

a beautiful jetty

Chalet in such a ulu place? Tell me. Who will come? I think its some rich man's retreat place.

Standing out of the crowd.

Finally Reach the Kelong Walk. Its a long walk. Lucky the sky was blue with little clouds.

eh. Wheres the Kelong?

May I know how to skate at wooden platforms like this?

the merry man

Finally the sunset came. Sky turning dark. The moment that set everyone "Waa-ing"

I love Sunset. Usually translates to "time to go home after work"
No la, its a nice creation by nature.

Digitally enhanced to make the sky more blue.

Os says we will never get this type of sky in Singapore. Haha.

Super tired after this session. Quickly went home and slept it off.

its a not so beautiful day

The sky is blue. Comfortable wind blowing on your face. Trees holding their head up high and feeling proud of their own presence. Life is beautiful. The future is bright.

You start to wonder why the kite refused to fly.
This is a bad omen.



Went home and took out my favourite teapot. I have used it for a while and it developed a shy shine. Have retired it few years ago to move on to other teapots.
On careful examination. I found this.. CRACK!!

No one told me that teapots will crack when it is left alone. Yes it is a rather thin teapot burnt at high temperature. Cracked because its too dry? Or did it commited suicide out of heart-break because I have not been using it for a while?

The feeling is like falling into a lump of shit. And the owner staring at you for doing so. Damn.