A cup of tea?

I used to hate drinking hot tea and whenever I went to restaurants, my parents would know that I needed a glass of ice water. But about two-three years ago, I tried it, probably while eating dim sum with TMV, and found that it wasn't too bad. It made my stomach feel a lot better if I had just gorged on a giant platter of food. I still can't really handle drinking something so warm, so I always have to wait about ten minutes for my cup to become lukewarm, but once it reaches that perfect temperature, tea is SO GOOD.

I love green tea, but I think part of that is just from being bombarded with the idea that "green tea is a miracle food!" It's very Americanized Chinese, I feel. Something more Asiany that I like is barley. It was one of the first teas I had, and Alvin served it to me my senior year in his tea house. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it, even though the idea of drinking barley sounds kind of bizarre.

Now, when I go over to Caroline's, she always makes a pot of tea. She does it the real way, although still American, with pots and everything. She even made one where instead of leaves, she put in this large, very pretty flower. It tasted really good. My favorite flavor from her place is something with lychee, but I'm also pretty satisfied with a Lipton.

I think tea is so delicious now! I drink it if I know I'll be staying up late at night. I'm looking forward to those cold, rainy days, so I can feel cool drinking a warm cup of tea while studying (or more likely, watching shows online).

Unfortunately, I think this tea is not keeping me awake that well. Caroline and Paulo surprised me by coming over, and I had just started getting in the mood to study, but instead we talked for two hours. HAHA My tea leaves aren't working as well, since this is like the fourth cup I've refilled. I will try studying a little more, and then maybe I'll have to call it a day.