Christmas is way over but...

You can say that in a way, I got my Christmas present early.

Earlier in the month of December (on the 9th of December to be exact), one of my friends came excitedly at me with a piece of good news which kinda stunned me at first. I mean, I didn't expect to win it but...

I won. Like, got in as a finalist for the SGMA Anime Award (Writing competition section) organized by Cherry Credits (kudos to the MA crew for holding this writing and art contest!).

Up till now, when Melissa, the content producer for the popular mobile game - Million Arthur (which Hubs and I are both still currently playing regularly and which we had cosplayed from recently for AFA haha!) contacted me just this morning regarding minor edits done to my short snippet of a story of "Emmanuel the Healer", it still feels kinda surreal in a way haha!

But, I'm sure looking forward to the upcoming finalist works showcase at Jurong Library on 8th Jan because I want to see how Emmanuel looks like when he's being given form to by the finalist artist from the art contest section. That, and I want to meet the artist who drew him too haha!

Another sorta "early" Christmas present was this tea from Coffee Beans and Tea Leaf (I got it from the Marina Square bistro branch). Eversince I bought my first two teas (Cherry Blossom and Vanilla Ceylon, if I recall correctly) from their E-Hub branch, I became a somewhat die-hard CBTL tea fan haha!

If I'm to recommend, Hubs's love their Earl Grey tea to bits because it's strong but yet delicately balanced at the same time. Just the way he likes it for his somewhat unique palate ha! Cherry Blossom is a cherry blossom flavoured sencha (like ok, duh), which people who don't like cough syrup (I'm not talking about the usual brown codine laced suppressant, but the glaring magenta pink Fedac) would definitely stay clear of it.

Estate Darjeeling, on the other hand, is surprisingly on the strong tasting side, which took some time for me to get used to it because my palate's already spoiled by Whittard's Darjeeling (which is close to tasting like water). First Flush Darjeeling (their organic series) is not so strong as compared, and is accompanied with a pleasantly sweet grassy tone which is not too over-powering either.

Vanilla Ceylon is just plain delicious because well, who doesn't love vanilla ya? Haha! That and it has a caramel undertone which balances it out just right. Swedish Berries is tangy, but not too sour that it bites your tongue. Anniversary Blend (laced with yummy acai berries) is my usual order at CBTL (unless they run out of it) and I have to say that I enjoy every cup of it because of its light-tasting nature with an equally as light overlay of addictive berry sweetness.

Although yes, as you can see, CBTL does very well at their tea mixes, but, there is one which I am not particularly fond of after giving it a shot. That Pomegranate Blueberry one is awful, or maybe I am just not a fan of fruit or vitamin teas. I can't taste a hint of pomegranate anywhere and the blueberry flavor was just so overpoweringly sour that it cemented my mouth shut for at least a good five minutes.

That aside, there is one particular tea which I had been wanting to get my grubby hands on but it was like gone just within less than a month after it was first released. Their "Gunpowder Green" tea is the one I'm talking about here and I really, really hope they bring back this limited edition collection soon!

So anyway, back to their Christmas tea series, I was actually hoping to ferret out a tin of Gunpowder Green (but yet again, a futile attempt) at the Marina Square bistro branch when I happen to catch sight of these two pretty dark sapphire blue and bright siam red tins - "Winter Dream" and "Peppermint Stick".

Once I saw the "Winter Dream" tea is cinnamon-flavored, it was like "SOLD!" and ta-da! I got it the next moment (since I just got my pay from my part-time work as a receptionist at the Japanese school which I am currently studying at now ha).

Excited to try it out, I had it brewed the very next day. The first thing which struck me was how similar the tea bag looked like to that of the Swedish Berries, because you can see them in their chunky and grainy goodness, unlike that of the other usual tea bags with pressed or rolled tea leaves.

First sip and what will register in your brain almost immediately is, "Cinnamon tea." Not very unlike the Twinings's Velvety Vanilla Flavor Chai Latte, though, the cinnamon packs a much heavier punch here and it's actually quite akin to taking a bite out of a festive cinnamon flavoured fruitcake.

I didn't brew it another time because one brew is honestly quite enough. That, and I only finished half a cup before I called it quits because it was honestly getting too heavy and cloying at the end.

I guess for a person like myself, whose tastebud range from light to medium, this tea is a little too heavy for my liking.

Though ok, the cinnamon is good, but still.

Well then, for now, back to TERA on my sorceress! Just ding-ed 50 and I'm like, "Phew FINALLY!!!" I had been crawling so long from Level 48 and running through countless runs of Golden Labyrinth and Akasha's Hideout (supposedly dungeons eligible to Level 48 and above, but my experience bar was still moving just as painfully slow...), before I finally ding-ed in one of the Golden Labyrinth runs.

Feels good to finally clean out the bank and don on the Level 50 gears and equips which were (fortunately) acquired when Hubs run me through both dungeons on his Level 59 Elin Reaper.

And a fresh change of scenery is sure refreshing after being stuck in the chilly and snowy mountainous terrains of Westonia for such a long period of time. I gave up on the main quest halfway in Necromancer's Tomb because one, I'm too over-leveled to queue for it and two, I can't stand seeing icy white snow and listening to the frigid winds roaring ever so fiercely by my ears for the umpteenth time.

So yes, booyah and hello to Ostagarth - where the capital of the Castanics, Castanica stands looming majestically over a dark, sinister and charred landscape! What quests awaits me here, which will eventually lead me to the chained main quests in Golden Labyrinth and Akasha's Hideout hmm?

I could only wonder haha!

Before I pop back into TERA, make a guess as to what is the next tea I will be reviewing? Definitely not from CBTL because that would be just too predictable haha!

Twinings: Straight from the UK

Say, have any of you ever experienced those cravings which comes right after you watch your fave gourmet related variety programs? Being a food lover like myself, I just had a lovely meal at my favourite United Square Tamoya branch on Saturday. Kama-tama udon craving just hit me square in the face after watching Dotchi no Ryouri Show - a Japanese food variety program which features two food heavyweights (usually their cultural dishes of course) pitting against each other, with 10 guests on the show being faced with the choice of choosing either. The dish with the majority of the votes wins, where winners eat and losers watch the winners eat, simple as that for the rules of this rather "strict and gruelling" food variety program.

So while happily slurping on my piping hot udon, Jade Sis passed me the loots I requested from her bro just a month or two back. Her bro's studying law in UK at the moment and these loots you see here, are the Twinings tea variants only available within the UK - Rose Garden, Nutty Chocolate Flavor Assam and Velvety Vanilla Flavor Chai Latte.

Before I go on, a big thank-you to Jade Sis's bro! Thank you so much for bringing back these teas which I had been wanting so badly after I saw them on Twinings's website.

The first time I came across the tea caddy versions of Twinings tea was at Mediya, where their tea selection was like, awesome. Like, really really awesome because the brands they carry are so much more varied and vast as compared to NTUC or Cold Storage (or their Finest equivalents for that matter). I mean, I saw Twinings's Liquorice flavored organic mix amongst the BOH's Seri Songket series (THEY HAVE THE LYCHEE AND ROSE FLAVOURED ONES HERE OH MY GOD) and other tea brands which I have not seen before so, just how cool is that eh???

And then, sitting right there under my nose was the tea caddy version of Twinings's Lavender Earl Grey, depicting that of a slender and elegant lady figure clad in a royal purple and lavender floral gown embossed on a sleek ebony black tin lined with trimmings in Twinings's signature colour of gold brass. It was beautiful, but I didn't purchase it there and then because I am never a lover of lavender flavored tea. I mean, I'm ok with lavender scented candles, bath salts, soap and shower foam, but as a tea, it just turns me right off man.

Convinced that there might be other flavors available for this tea caddy version, I went poking around Twinings's UK website and tada! I found the rose flavored version and decided I just had to have it because well, rose tea lover here hehe!

Just like how Twinings would have it with their tea caddy packaged teas, they will always have the traditional paper packaged version packed snugly inside the tin (20 tea bags for this version). It was the same type of package treatment with their anniversary tin version - Lady Grey packed in a special 100 tea bags paper package, which we bought from United Square's Cold Storage.

By the way, for Lapsang Souchong lovers, you guys and gals might wanna check out United Square's Cold Storage because they offer the pretty rare Twinings's Lapsang Souchong.

Anyway, back to the Rose Garden, the scent from Twinings's rose tea is extremely distinct and assails your nostrils even before the paper package packed within the tin is opened. Their individual tea bags, on the other hand, is an art to behold by itself as a canopy of fine dark chocolate coloured tea leaves dotted with pretty and delicate rosaline pink rosebud fragments.

Which, will kinda mislead you into thinking that this rose tea is going to taste equally as strong as it smells. But, no, it tastes exquisitely light with just the right amount of rose accent. Not to mention, its light amber colour will delight you to no end as it did to me hehe.

And, as light-tasting as it is, the rose accent doesn't diminish at all that quickly even after 3 brews.

The Nutty Chocolate Flavored Assam was next on the list on the very next day (because I make it a point to drink tea only once per day). This 12 pyramid tea bags packed tea was a total hazelnut praline (as stated on the package) and milk chocolate buffet experience.

Strong scented, which becomes a very dark amber liquid like manuka honey once immersed in 80 degrees or less steeped hot water, it turned out to be the perfect companion and delightful accompaniment to my Chocolate Classico from Four Leaves Bakery (Bugis Junction branch, S$3.80).

I would advise taking a sip of the Nutty Chocolate Flavored Assam tea first before taking a bite of the velvety and moist Chocolate Classico, as the resulting combination is a wholesome chocolate-y experience with a soothing after-taste.

Mama mia mon ami! Simply perrrrfffeecctttooo!

On the other hand, the Velvety Vanilla Flavor Chai Latte is another pleasant surprise altogether. The vanilla taste is very mild and the tea, on the overall, tasted just like a traditional cinnamon gingerbread man. Which, suits me just fine because I love cinnamon haha!

As compared to the two other types of tea featured in this post, this particular tea type's teabag is exceptionally heavy and sinks upon contact with the steeped hot water. Not to mention that the colour of the tea is the darkest amongst the three.

Credits to Twinings UK

I know it's going to take me some time to drain my current modestly sized tea stash, even with the addition of these three new teas, but I can't help being drawn to another set of new tea on their website already. Caramel! Another of my favourite! I'll be sure to order this next from my friend's brother haha!

Impra Rose Tea

Alot of backlogs in my mind and finally, I have the time to settle down to type them all out.

Room packing isn't exactly my favourite, there's loads to be re-arranged, cleaned, re-categorized and discarded.

In other words, we had just recently re-arranged our room layout and up till now, half the room still looks like a total war zone.

That is, until we save up enough to purchase our new furniture which we had our eyes on since our scouting trip at Tampines IKEA.

So, taking a break from packing for now, since there's a visible and clear walk space for us in the room (unlike when we first started turning our whole room upside down a few weeks back).

Impra Rose Tea, anyone heard of it before? I first came across it at Suntec Giant a few months back and decided to try it out since its rose tea packaging looked kinda interesting.

That, and it's cheap. Like, S$3 for 20 teabags.

They do have other flavours too - Earl Grey, Apple and Blackcurrant. Seems like the apple-flavoured tea is the popular one since it was almost to the point of being sold out when I first chanced upon this brand.

Had to pick up another box today since my supply at home was running low, so just opening it up to show everyone how it looks like on the inside.

Literally, 20 teabags neatly stacked together. And that label on the teabag? I find it looks awesome. Must be the typography design.

And of course, as a matter of habit from avid tea drinkers like myself, I allowed the steaming hot water in my mug steep for like say, 5 to 10 minutes before adding in the tea bag. I'm always very particular about temperature because most of my tea (usually I order hot beverages outside as I cannot take cold items due to my sensitive lungs) gets burnt miserably whenever I order them at food establishments outside. I don't want to count how many times my hot milk tea got burnt at MOS Burgers.

I'm not saying that you must get it right with the temperature for the first time, but it does take some trial-and-error to know when the water is ready for the tea. I still burn my Hubs's fave - Twinings Lady Grey every now and then when I'm not careful.

Or when I am just plain tired.

Once you drop the teabag in, the beautiful dark chocolate colour comes out almost instantly. I usually drink my tea without milk and sugar at home, so for this rose tea, the taste of the black tea isn't so strong that it overpowers the rose essence.

Or vice versa for that matter. Which, is why I like this brand of rose tea so much after trying it out for the very first time because of its well-balanced nature.

And the taste still remains just as balanced even after the 3rd brew (my habit to drink at least 3 brews from the same teabag)

Rose tea is like my fave tea next to the Solomon Seal (I'll do up a review on that once I get my hands on a new box of supplies, since I'm only left with ONE teabag at home), which are teas considered suitable for women's health. Like the Solomon Seal, rose tea helps cleanse the bowels and urine tracts, where drinking it regularly will help greatly in soothing monthly period pains.

I was once a urine tract infection sufferer and yes, after drinking rose tea, it's only normal for one to visit the toilet quite often as it helps in purging the undesirable waste out from the body. Now, not only my urine tract infection is kept fairly under control, but my monthly period pains have also lessened quite significantly.

Check out this article on rose tea and rose oil from Health Digest! I always visit this page for health tips and natural remedies, and most of them really helps! Sound advices indeed!

衡心小部落格角落 ・ 帖文第一章

第一帖文终于上线了！耶！

看了小百合与酷勒客的部落格以后，想想也该是时候重新设立自己滴~

在不同网站设立了这么多部落格以后， 最终还是选择回Blogger （终究最熟悉的嘛）。本想试试痞客邦（PIXNET）滴， 但因那里的部落格以华文居多（因为是台湾网站），不知我这参杂华英日的写法适不适合，所以最终还是打消了念头，索性搬回来了Blogger。

嗯，这次会以Cos制作的作文与活动报告为主题，当然生活的小点滴与游戏报告也会写这么一点点吧，哈哈！

那，嗯，就在此停笔吧。我还得努力为魔术之派亚瑟王的双龙珠刺绣（目前为止还在缝前面的，真的有够要命的说）赶工呢。还有，十二月初有大形活动，已答应我组的魔德莱特了（而我也放过她两次鸽子了，实在是对不住啊，技术之场亚瑟王这次会很努力滴！！！）。所以虽十一月有校内日文中级大考与十二月初的全国日文鉴定考要准备，我还是会在同一时间尽量赶完服装的小细节与武器的。

大家拭目以待吧！先丢个每日水果照让大家过过瘾先，哈！