As 2010 draws to a close, it is time to look back and contemplate about the past twelve months. It has been a year full of surprises - good and bad - for us, but the good far outweighs the bad. The Christchurch earthquake gave (and still gives) us a good rocking, but encounters with […]
It’s that time of the year again: people fill their shopping carts at the local mall with loads of one-way plastic gifts to live up to social expectations. Giving is such a wonderful thing, but giving on cue at Christmas time has lost most of its charm - at least for me.
Giving and receiving […]
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve attended two wine and one whisky tasting. While I am not too knowledgeable about either, I do enjoy a good glass or dram. And organized tastings with experts are a great way to learn and get exposure to things we don’t usually consume. With this post, I want […]
We often have people inquire about the best tea. It always makes me smile, since the term ‘best’ usually refers to a different definition of best, depending on who’s inquiring, or rather what the motivation of the inquiry is. I tend to think of this issue as the Quest for the Super Tea.
Some definitions of […]
The term wabi sabi describes a philosophical concept essential to Japanese art. The term is often used in its original Japanese form since there is no adequate English translation.
In an aesthetic sense, the concept of wabi sabi generally refers to the beauty of simplicity, imperfection, asymmetry, etc. But the concept can be applied to all […]