Purgatory

I’m not entirely sure what was going through my mind when I booked Europe 2.0. Literally Europe 2020 (hah). Mostly it was OMG FLIGHTS ARE THAT CHEAP AGAIN?! AND MY FRIEND IS GOING TO BE THERE AT THE SAME TIME!? WELL OKAY.

So I booked my flights sometime late-last year and then just didn’t really think about it again. A little bit of “it’s ages away”, with a lot of “I’ve done it before” thrown in for good measure, meant the weekend before I flew I literally had no idea what I was packing or what coat I would use for the weather.

Thanks to Mum, though I’m sure I would have done this that weekend anyway, I went shopping and found everything I needed at once. Excellent review for Kathmandu gear here, and their sales rack! 😍

My first flight was Wednesday night to Australia, to connect to my main airline carrier Etihad for an Abu Dhabi – Amsterdam itinerary. The flight to Aus was OK, 3 hours, nothing to write home about. I waited in Brisbane airport for just under three hours thanks to my flight being a little delayed. It was the flight to Abu Dhabi that killed me. 14 hours, overnight flight, dark and cold and dry and awful. I attempted to wait the longest amount of time imaginable before checking to see how far we’d gotten, thinking at least 6 hours had passed – it was only 2. Straight tears. The flight itself wasn’t too uncomfortable for how long it felt I’d been there, but by golly.

I met a couple girls at Abu Dhabi airport when we got off the plane and were in customs lines, and discovered we were all heading to Amsterdam on the same connecting flight. Even better, our seats were next to and behind one another! So the (what comparatively felt like the shortest flight in the world) 7 hour flight went by like a breeze as we chatted intermittently and saw some amazing views from the window.

I stayed in an Amsterdam airport hotel for the night, with airport transfers and transport being so, so easy there, to give myself a break from the 33 hours of travelling just for before carrying on to my final destination of Copenhagen. The stay at Ibis was just what I needed to refuel to be ready for Denmark. Even in the cold, dark, Winter…

Regards, Alex

Tea Total Review – May

I know, I know. It’s nowhere near May. Have to be honest, starting a new job and getting ready for the second semester of university took a little more of my time than anticipated. In the midst of it all, you’d think winter would be a perfect time to drink all the teas, and it is! But it’s also a great time for going to bed early and sleeping loads. So here’s my May lot of tea reviewed mid-August.

First I tried the White tea, goji Berry and raspberry with Jess. This was amazing. I’ve tried a white tea before and think I wasn’t a fan of it, but I’ve gotten better at brewing the different types of tea and this was scrumptious, very light to drink.

Lemon balm and verbena revive was a subtle flavour, I brewed for a relatively short time – only two minutes – as I wasn’t sure on the smell whether I would like the flavour. I was pleasantly surprised but wouldn’t rush out to repurchase. It’s very much like a green tea with the lemongrass as the main component.

Pure organic Egyptian chamomile was actually the last one to try because honestly, I was dreading it. I know I dislike chamomile and while this tea was actually a lot nicer than previous chamomile I’ve tried, I still personally don’t like the flavour.

Pure organic peppermint was an interesting one. It smelled just like a peppermint gum fresh out of the packet, which both scared me and piqued my interest at the same time. It doesn’t really taste like anything except maybe a light, warm green tea as you’re drinking it. However the fresh mint that spreads through your mouth afterwards is quite pleasant. I do have a licorice and mint tea that I’m a big fan of, so I feel like the aftertaste of this was leading me back to wanting that.

Ginger lemon kiss was subtle, and really easy to drink. I was really dubious of lemongrass teas as my previous attempts at trying lemongrass infused flavours (EG cakes, ice creams) have been lackluster. The ginger was light and mixed well with the lemongrass to create a subtle herbal tea.

Extra strength black. Now this one, I took this one to work. It was so full of flavour and gave me that extra strength you’re really after when you’re sitting at a desk. I loved it and would order it again.

I’m catching up on my remaining teas over the next couple of weeks so I’m looking forward to a mouthful of flavours!

White Tea with Gojiberry and Raspberry

Lemon Balm Verbena Revive

Pure Organic Egyptian Chamomile

Pure Organic Peppermint

Ginger Lemon Kiss

Extra Strength Black

Tea Total Review – April

Aloha fam.

Typing this nearing the end of May, I look back on a month of change and growth.

I started a new job three weeks ago, which was a big deal for me. My third full time job ever! I also celebrated my birthday, and it ended up being a great weekend of breakfast being made for me by Pete, and Belgian Beer Cafe always being a treat.

Of course, I drank a whole load of tea.

First up, a flavoured black: strawberry and cream. All I can say is OMG. The smell was AMAZING and I was totally sure it would be one of those strong smells but subtle flavours, and then making it like a regular tea but without sugar it tasted like.. A black tea with a strawberry and cream lollipop dissolved in it. This was delicious and I’m on the brink of buying myself a pouch… but I have so many pouches now…

Second to try was Coconut Pina Colada. Again, this one smelled divine. The Coconut is delicious, smooth and creamy, and the pineapple scent comes through. The flavours as you drink just rehit all those palettes. I had my friend Bex try this with me, as someone who loves cocktails, and she also adored this fruity number.

Next up was the Green tea Berry and rhubarb. Nervous as always with green tea, I thought this smelled promising. It smelled like a fruit tea which I commented in my last post as being probably where I see myself heading in green teas. My first taste was pleasant, however I didn’t brew it correctly and it quickly went off the rails. I don’t like rhubarb, typically, so I think this took me by surprise how okay it was at the start and now I know the correct brewing process for green tea I wonder if I would pick this flavour if it was on offer in future. Jess (a green tea drinker) gave it a go and it got a thumbs up from her.

The berry and rhubarb green tea has a smooth and fruity finish.

The subtle floral hints and the berry blend is perfect for both seasoned and first time green tea drinkers.

-Jess

Coming next was the Formosa oolong Gaba. Yuuuuummmmmm. A black tea, though with higher concentrations of Gaba – an amino acid which is said to help decrease anxiety, improve mood, and aid sleep. Gaba tea has to have at least 150mg of Gaba per 100g of tea to qualify. The flavours in this were a delicious black tea when made my usual way, as well.

Second to last is the Rooibus Vanilla and Blueberry. I felt the additions detracted from the rooibus flavour. I couldn’t tell if the vanilla was too subtle or too overpowering for this one, which could speak more to my palette than the tea.

Last up, Lemongrass, Lime, and Ginger. I’m a big fan of ginger when it’s in sweets, but if not combined with sugar I’m always dubious of whether it’ll be good. Another one I tried with Jess, both her and I were rather pleasantly surprised by this one. The flavours were subtle and came together harmoniously.

All in all, an interesting exploration of tea this month. Next month is set to have a lot of herbal flavours!

Vanilla Strawberry and Cream

Coconut Pina Colada

Green Berry and Rhubarb Sencha

Formosa Gaba Oolong

Rooibus Vanilla and Blueberry

Lemongrass Lime and Ginger

Tea Total Review – March

My first month and my first set of six teas to try.

March was an interesting month, to say the least, and as I type this nearly halfway through April, this entry follows a resignation, and preludes a new beginning in May.

Resigning from a company I’ve been at for nearly 5 years was not an easy thing, but in a lot of ways it was made easier by feeling like the right thing. I only hope my new colleagues will accept my enthusiasm for tea with as much grace as my old friends.

I received my first delivery from Tea Total in March. While also containing the six teas I was to try, it also included a glass tea pot that I had honestly had my eye on for a while.

The first tea on the menu was Otago Summer Fruits. I already loved this tea, having a container of it at home. So what better way to test my new pot than with the tried and true. I described this tea in my previous post, as it was a flavour I already enjoyed. Needless to say, if you’re after a fruity tea and love the flavours New Zealand offers, Otago Summer Fruits should be your first try.

Second was a Green Tea. I have never been a fan of green tea, tasting mostly like grass to me, but up to try a flavoured one to see if my tastes could be swayed, Joyce and I gave the Feng Shui a go. I thought to share this flavour with a Green Tea drinker as to get her opinion on the matter, considering mine is all but moot. Where I found it mostly drinkable, it was still too Green for my liking and would prefer stronger flavours of raspberry and pineapple to overpower, but that’s essentially asking for a fruit tea at that point. Joyce enjoyed the tea, saying it was mild and light, a standard green tea with a hint of the carrot, pineapple, papaya, and raspberry flavours coming through.

Rooibus tea is one of my newest favourites to drink. My friend Janneke introduced me to it a few years ago and I took a few years to realise it didn’t have to be a “treat at Janneke’s house” as I, an adult, could buy it for myself. A Spicy Chocolate Rooibus tea was sent for the tasting, and oh my was it good. A strong rooibus, for sure, but something more for an after dinner treat with the cinnamon flavours coming through. A true delicacy and an interesting try as I thought “what on Earth could they do to Rooibus tea and keep it delicious?” I also enlisted the taste buds of my friend Ash, thinking surely a South African would consider the flavouring of their tea a blasphemy, but it got a golden tick from her too.

Next up on my list was Smooth Rangitoto Blend. A new black tea I had yet to try, and something that smelled absolutely divine when I opened the packet. Vanilla wafted up out of the tea leaves and I salivated. Vanilla is, perhaps, one of my favourite flavours in this world, and I can’t understand why people use vanilla to explain bland things. This Assam leaf tea is blended with pure vanilla pods, not oils or essences, to get the best of the rich, silky, velvet flavours. This tea was so good I went and bought a pouch of it. I typically take my tea with one sugar. The vanilla is sweet – not overpowering, but I take half a sugar with this blend.

The last two on the list were last for a reason. I was skeptical to try an orange flavoured tea, as orange has got to be my least favourite of the common flavours of things. However, true to form, Tea Total’s Flavoured Black Blood Orange tea was delightful. Mostly a black tea, the orange had very low undertones which added another element to the tea without overpowering it. It was still smooth, as ever, and very enjoyable.

The last tea to try was Earl Grey Cream. Earl grey can be a devisive tea, many feeling strongly against it. However, my father is a big lover of earl grey and so depending on which parent was making the batch that morning, I grew up enjoying both gumboot and earl grey. It has admittedly been years since I enjoyed it truly, preferring to buy my own english breakfast blends, so I was nervous trying it again. The Earl Grey Cream was smooth as it was tasty, full of Earl Grey flavour and spiked with vanilla and caramel. Do you need three guesses as to why I liked this one?

A very successful first month of tea trying. I have received my second delivery for April’s samples and will be trying another green tea. Hopefully I can find someone else to share with now Joyce has left the country, and I will be back with more reviews.

Regards,

Alex

Links to the teas reviewed:

Otago Summer Fruits

Green Tea Feng Shui

Rooibus Spicy Chocolate

Smooth Rangitoto Blend

Flavoured Black Blood Orange

Earl Grey Cream

Tea Total Brand Ambassador

Hello, hello, and welcome to my newest post in a series of lost connections. I come to you out of the bleak no-posts void to inform you all I have been made a brand ambassador for Tea Total!

Tea Total is a boutique tea shop based in Albany, Auckland, that I have been rather fond of for a few years now. They offer in-store tasting sessions, online shopping, and tea wares as well as their own unique blends.

A big thing that drew me to Tea Total was the sample packs you can buy. You can order individual samples, or you can order a “Little Tin of Tea Samples” for $15 and receive a tea caddy and 6 sample bags of tea of your choosing. Each sample bag has 2 cups worth of tea, depending on your strength preference, and is a great way to explore the flavours.

I have long been an avid drinker of Otago Summer Fruits: a fruit tea that is full of my favourite apple, peach, apricot, beetroot, cherry and strawberry flavours. It’s sweet but not sickening, and strong but not overpowering. I have also had a craving for Grans Berry Garden lately which was a birthday present last year. A fruit tea, however much richer with the multiple berries coming through.

However, I really fell in love when I tried their Smokey Russian Caravan. There I was, sitting around thinking “why on Earth would anyone mess with a good, black tea?” It seemed crazy to me. But, when I read the description “this tea was famous for the smokey smell of the campfire it would absorb along the journey [on camelback from China to Moscow]” I knew I had to try it.

Well, I was hooked. This tea is the most delicious black tea I have ever tried, and while it remains my favourite it branched me out into exploring flavoured black teas and my world is alive with the taste of tea.

Currently my collection stands at: a bag of Ginger and Lemon flavoured black tea, for when I’m coming down with a cold; a bag of Smokey Russian Caravan Blend; a bag of Otago Summer Fruits; a bag of Grans Berry Garden; and a healthy mix of sample bags.

With this new role as a brand ambassador, I will be getting 6 new teas to try every month. I am seeking to share each sample bag to get opinions from others, and I am going to do a monthly review post of the new flavours to post here, hopefully enticing you to try something different too!

If you like the sound of something, let me know! Ordering online with my code gets you a 20% discount.

I’m looking forward to this!

Regards,

Alex

Podcast Club – Part Two

As mentioned in my previous post, Podcast Club, true crime podcast Casefile is all the rage. In my head anyway. I did however mention the one other true crime podcast that has captured my attention, and that is Crime Junkie.

Crime Junkie was found by me in a desperate attempt to get my true crime fix when I brought myself completely up to date on years worth of Casefile episodes in a short month, and craved more stories. In my desperation, I became a Crime Junkie.

The show is two friends who love true crime stories. Run by Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat, their gimmick is two long-time friends telling each other a true crime story, interjected with questions and gasps, just as if you were there having a coffee with them.

I was slow to start, but didn’t hate it from the first listen, which I have most other highly recommended podcasts due to either their formatting, presenter or presentation. Ashley does most of the presenting, with Brit coming in with questions to further the story. While sometimes you can call out the obvious scripting, and of course most of it would be scripted for the show, it’s endearing to hear the two go over how awful the police or the public had been for certain cases.

Their focus remains largely American, but due to this there’s only been a couple of crimes overlapped by the Australian Casefile show.

Another plus that this podcast holds is the regular tips for keeping yourself out of bad situations. Regular catch phrases pop up, as well as their recommended “If I Go Missing” folder, a list of accounts and passwords of things usually tied up in the waiting game of warrant and information requests the police would ask for should you go missing.

It’s a really unusual format, but I’ve stuck with them and am almost entirely up to date. It’s definitely not something for everyone, and is really, really different from how Casefile is presented, but is a good option at the other end of how you’d like your dose of true crime.

Be Weird. Be Rude. Stay Alive.

A thick winter scarf completed mostly during my listening of Crime Junkie.

Regards,

Alex

Have a listen on Spotify, and most other major podcast hosts, including Patreon.

Podcast Club

I’m not usually a fan of the Australian accent. Overall, something about it just grates me. I have family in Australia, whose accents go mostly unnoticed to me due to years of conversation, but mostly I just can’t stand the twang of it all.

In saying that, you may be surprised to know that my favourite podcast is hosted by an Australian presenter. I found Casefile on recommendation from a good friend, who also happens to be the one who taught me to knit. I was seeking to try a true crime podcast, and to keep myself busy while I knit away my weekends.

I actually think being Australian based is working in this podcasts favour. When I was sampling a few other true crime podcasts, most of the episodes stuck to their homes’ area. Casefile does post a fair amount of Australian crime, but also a large number from all around the world.

It has a great story-telling theme to it, following the events in a chronological order with a great sample of different types of crime. Robberies, murder, serial killers, bombers, as well as mass-shooting. It also keeps the mystery alive, occasionally following a more theatrical way of telling the facts by keeping the culprit out of the obvious for a while. There is also a healthy mix of solved and unsolved crime, including a scattering of updates on previously unsolved episodes.

Casefile is, to me, my flagship podcast, and is definitely the podcast that sold me on podcasts being a good thing. It led to me finding a bunch of Roman history podcasts, one (only one) other true crime podcast in a completely different format that I’m keen on (post to follow) and a great series by How Stuff Works under their Stuff To Blow Your Mind banner, Black Holes. The link will take you to episode 1 of 3, and it’s a great series on the basics of the black holes.

A baby blanket knitted mostly while listening to Casefile.

Regards,

Alex

Listen to Casefile on Casefile Website, Stitcher, Spotify, or most other podcast platforms.

A Podcast and a Book Club

While I’ve been away, I’ve started knitting. It’s just basic things at the moment, but it’s keeping the fingers nimble and is distracting from the big black dog that sits in the corner.

I’ve found a few podcasts that keep my brain very well occupied. The first one I’ll talk about is The History of Rome (Spotify Link).

As we all know from my blog posts around Europe, I am a huge fan of Rome. I studied the history in high school Classics, and went on to University continuing papers in Ancient Roman and Greek History. The episodes are on average 20 minutes long, and while short and sweet, are in depth enough at 179 episodes that you feel like you get a really good picture of Rome. Their history puts their arrogance on display, but for a kingdom that ruled for 2000 years across multiple era, why wouldn’t they be arrogant?

I was also recommended a book to read while I’ve been away. It’s called First, We Make the Beast Beautiful. It’s a story about anxiety, and the writer, Sarah Wilson’s, journey through it. At first it was interesting to me, and I got about halfway through. Of course, having a gorgeous book to read required I make a bookmark for it, so off on a cross-stitch adventure I went. I do believe the cross-stitch was what I enjoyed most about reading the book, and I returned it half read.

It was a a book that held some really important wisdom and I did enjoy the first half, but I just stopped reading it and couldn’t bring myself to pick it up again. In some weird way it felt like I already knew the rest of the book and had gotten from it as much as I would. That doesn’t make sense, considering I’ve no idea what’s in that second, unread half. I suppose it made sense to me.

I’m now using my bookmark in another borrowed book, Other Minds: The Octopus, the Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness. Peter Godfrey-Smith, a philosopher of science, explores the origin of consciousness and how it seems to have appeared in ourselves, and in other creatures separated by billions of years on the evolutionary chain. I love octopodes, which is probably the main reason I started reading this book, but it’s turned out to be really interesting overall and I’m looking forward to finishing it.

Another book that is soon to be on my borrowed shelf is The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. I’m looking greatly forward to reading this, as a lot of my depression isn’t so much about caring too much – but pretending not to be bothered by things that do really bother me. Maybe this will help me actually not be bothered, maybe it’ll help me cope with being bothered, and maybe it will do nothing but be entertaining, and that’s okay too.

I have a lot of poetry saved to my Amazon wish list, which I haven’t read any of in years and am keen to get back into.

On that note, I’ll leave you with my all-time favourite poem. Why is this my favourite? I don’t know. It just is.

Regards,
Alex

Stealing – Carol Ann Duffy

The most unusual thing I ever stole? A snowman.
Midnight. He looked magnificent; a tall, white mute
beneath the winter moon. I wanted him, a mate
with a mind as cold as the slice of ice
within my own brain. I started with the head.

Better off dead than giving in, not taking
what you want. He weighed a ton; his torso,
frozen stiff, hugged to my chest, a fierce chill
piercing my gut. Part of the thrill was knowing
that children would cry in the morning. Life’s tough.

Sometimes I steal things I don’t need. I joy-ride cars
to nowhere, break into houses just to have a look.
I’m a mucky ghost, leave a mess, maybe pinch a camera.
I watch my gloved hand twisting the doorknob.
A stranger’s bedroom. Mirrors. I sigh like this – Aah.
It took some time. Reassembled in the yard,
he didn’t look the same. I took a run
and booted him. Again. Again. My breath ripped out
in rags. It seems daft now. Then I was standing
alone among lumps of snow, sick of the world.

Boredom. Mostly I’m so bored I could eat myself.
One time, I stole a guitar and thought I might
learn to play. I nicked a bust of Shakespeare once,
flogged it, but the snowman was the strangest.
You don’t understand a word I’m saying, do you?

Welcome Back

Good Evening,

There was a bit of a break between my last post and now. Perhaps an understatement, but a lot has been happening and I’m unsure how or if I should sum it up for you.

I think we should start fresh. Yes? You agree? Great.

Then let’s get started.

Regards,

Alex