Ginseng Oolong

More than a year after I bought this tea set and ACTUAL Chinese tea from Beijing(when I went there on a tour with my school) I have finally used it for the first time. I bought the tea and teapot as a gift for my mother and once the Ginseng Oolong tealeaves started to brew, all the memories started to come back; the hustle and bustle of China, the smog filled skies, the seahorses on a stick, the cheap gimmicky Chinese souvenirs, the Chinese french fries and just the general atmosphere. In particular it brought back the memory of the Chinese tea ceremony I went to with other students from my school. The ceremony was just so relaxing and beautiful and was held in this small room with ornate chinese drawings covering the walls,glass table and chairs. We tasted all these delicious teas and they told us all these interesting facts about tea in China such as the fact that you're meant to drink tea out of the miniature cups in three sips - which is very hard when it is boiling hot! Plus at the end we had the opportunity to buy things from the tea store next door which sold all these handmade clay teapots. I specifically remember one which looked similar to a pumpkin and another that had three life-like clay frogs attached to the outside.

It's school holiday time at the moment and I've been inspired by the lifestyle section in our local weekend newspaper to get fit and healthy before Christmas as they're having a 6 week week get fit/healthy guide. I try to eat healthily but I just find myself pigging out when I haven't organised meals and I definitely don't do any exerecise so there is most certainly room for improvement. I think what's really going to help is filling in this health contract that you have to re-write each week where it states what your goals are and you have to sign it at the bottom. I'm also going to be writing a health diary where you record how you're doing each day and how you can improve. I'll let you know how it goes once I get into the swing of things :)