15:45 hrs,
Makati City, Philippines
As I was blearily contemplating mixing either a cup of Maxell's or SanMig's 3-in-1 instant coffee or just brewing myself a pot of either Chai or some good 'ole oolong ginseng I stopped to ponder if I should distrust tea leaves from China.....the news station was again running the Sanlu milk scandal and all the affected products from it...
It is dark and dreary in the middle of the afternoon...thanks to the weather we have been having, and with another typhoon on the way...well, I was feeling out of sorts. I needed to sip something bracing and hot while doing my work and going through hundreds of emails....and...as I reached out for the coffee sachet, the tv station I was tuned into suddenly blared out about a Filipino artist doing her works in instant coffee.
Wow!!
Although the colors are in the sometimes somewhat drab (for me at least) realm of brown, they were beautiful! They were eye-catching! The Filipino artist is Sunshine Plata...and I am really proud of the creativity that is inherently built into the Filipino gene. *puffs like a puffin*
Not to mention, it is a cheap medium too
One of her works, which is a favorite of other people, entitled "Fairy of Sorrows".Do check out some of the links I found while googling her name:
http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSSP17573720080826?pageNumber=2&virtualBrandChannel=10003
http://misteryosa.com/blog/sunshine-plata-coffee-painter/
http://thismakesmyday.blogspot.com/2008/08/sunshine-plata-coffee-painter.html
Hmm...I wonder what would be next, orange juice? milk? squid ink? avocado seed?....
Meow Cat. I've always liked coffee over tea or juice. And this post about Pinoy's unending creativity thru Ms Plata is really sunshine to me in this otherwise drab afternoon. Let's just call it "Art in a Sachet".
ReplyDeletegreat tagline Chito! I wish I'd thought of that...
ReplyDeleteI love the smell of coffee..but am a tea-drinker...however, ang sarap mag timpla ng kape with lots of milk in it...*sips and burns tongue*
the art is beautiful. sepia in appearance but the brown tones well played.
ReplyDeletei take my coffee black with sugar. seldom i add fresh milk. and i never used creamer. i simply don't dig the creamer taste. i'm a tea-drinker, too. teh tarik, green tea, earl grey would be my choices. juice. nahhh not really. though i do take juice if not from concentrates. i'd rather have fresh fruit juice and can be blended with veggies.
Ganda nito Cat!
ReplyDeleteyes, di ba?? di ba? ganda-ganda....maybe the paintings would smell good too!
ReplyDeletemaybe I should start saving coffee grounds and pasting them on paper (like what we do in elementary wherein we paste sand on paper to make paintings too hehehe)...
ay Helene..sa akin its more of milk with coffee yata...hahaha! I look forward to drinking teh tarik one of these days...I don't want to pre-empt anything (cross fingers) baka December daan ako Singapore...
ReplyDeleteI've taken to dalandan juice lately...even making myself a drink at 12:30 am *burp*
check with Meann. they are planning to come over in S'pore this December daw. booked na yata flights nila. baka magkasabay pa kayo. mas masaya.
ReplyDeleteNice art work, Cat, will check her out.
ReplyDeletenaks!
ReplyDeletetara Cat, sabay na! di pa booked helene...
ReplyDeleteawesome! cge, I was planning to check with PAL this week re Dec 20 or 21 na flights...mauna ang flights para sure na aabot ako dyan...am so happy na naging ok na till jan 4 ang aking off this december..himala...pero am going to go back, God willing, to the Philippines and spend New Year here..its more important for us kesa Christmas..hehehe
ReplyDeletewhat dates kayo Meann? cge, taralets!
ReplyDeletethanks Jack...hope you will find more samples of her work..
ReplyDeletewow type ang ganda...
ReplyDeleteAng ganda :)
ReplyDeleteGaling talaga ng Pinoy, pero bakit instant? Naisip ko lang para mas Pinoy ang dating sana ground coffee, gaya ng kapeng barako...hmmmm ang bango :)
I prefer coffee in the morning, juice sometimes and I know it sounds boring, but I drink lots of H20, or at least as much as I can. Tea in some afternoons with Ron (he takes 1 mug a day), I like the green tea with roasted rice :)
I was thinking watercolors....but coffee.
ReplyDeleteon the clip I saw, what I only was able to catch was her mixing coffee in a little bottle..could be satchet, could be ground coffee yon na kapeng barako :-)
ReplyDeleteI never could imagine myself before taking coffee and juice in the mornings..one after another...but it doesn't seem to bother my stomach..so ok rin...
ReplyDeletethe best talaga ang water, water, water...although I have to keep on boiling here coz its too much hassle going down to get water from the water "atm" machine in the other building...
I heard during the short tea workshop I attended, that white tea is better over green tea...mas maraming anti-viral properties ang former...
How about Cafe Art?
ReplyDeleteWhy not?
ReplyDeleteI've heard of black tea and green tea. What's white tea, plain hot water?
ReplyDeleteWell, some people would think white tea would be hot water lang :-)
ReplyDeleteActually, it is the least processed form of tea, made of tea buds and select leaves which have been steamed and dried. Because of its minimal processing, white tea contains more nutrients than black or green tea.White tea can only be picked for a short time each year, making it rarer. The buds and leaves are then steamed and slowly dried. Unlike black or green tea, white tea is not rolled, and only slightly oxidized.
I just remembered.. puro instant coffee pala ako...wala akong percolator or coffee grounds after I drink coffee.
ReplyDeletebagay din..
ReplyDeletei saw this feature too and loved her work
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cat.
ReplyDeleteoh, btw, those tea in bottles (and I will refrain from naming names) are not really as "healthy" as those which you brew yourself from tea leaves...
ReplyDeletefrom the tea seminar I had, I gleaned also that yung mga tea bags? ehek...e sa mga tabi-tabi/extra-extra lang yan when they do the leaves...parang tea dust na yon ;-)
ang galing - from Chito's friend with the ballpen works, to coffee works...
ReplyDeletee kung may patience nga lang ako, I will use the avocado seeds I have to make a painting..hehehe..stick figures nga lang...
I usually use the avocado seed to mark some of my clothes with my initials...
cool. let me know your flights, so our sched will match. for us, we haven't planned anything yet so far. i definitely want to see you here. if okay sa iyo cowboy cowboy Cat, you can stay in our humble place. i would like sana to invite also si Meann but she'll be bringing her whole family, they may not feel comfortable. di sila kakasya sa study room :(
ReplyDeletethough if Meann will go alone with you, kasya kayong dalawa here.
book it na ;)>
ReplyDeleteMeann... i want sana to invite your whole family to stay with us. kaya lang you may not feel comfortable. maliit yung isang room.
uber-cool! thanks Helene...pero baka naman kc makaabala...ako naman kahit saan as long as may pagkain...ehem, as long as its safe I mean...pwede mo akong i-tuck in sa anong crevice or hole ..*Helene throws Cat out of balcony after catching her raiding the ref 5 times a day*
ReplyDeletenaghahanap na ako ng oras and kung anong airline...dinig ko kc may Jetair (?) which baka ok rin after PAL...looking towards Dec 20 or 21 na schedule...
I wanted to see the changes kc in Singapore and esp during December para maiba...
Ngayon ko lang din narinig ang white tea, thanks cat, makahanap nga ... :)
ReplyDeleteno problemo, Cat. sincere invitation yan. if nga lang okay kina Meann siksikan, why not have the whole family here din. kasi when my mom, bro-in-law, sister, nephew and a friend came together, they stayed here but yon nga lang, yung iba sa sofa tulog :)>
ReplyDeletethere's also flight Cebu Air Pacific, JetAir, Tiger Airways (Clark ang airport) aside from the usual SIA & PAL.
i normally take SIA. but last trip i took Cebu Pacific. seats not bad. though no food. so you bring your own sandwich if you want. though Cebu Pacific & Tiger Airways will land you here sa Budget Terminal not at Changi Airport. JetAir sa Changi Airport.
Thanks for the idea! I just might do something like that!
ReplyDeleteThat's delicious!
ReplyDeleteWhere do you buy white tea na ok?
ReplyDeleteI like the brown hues and the details of the work. =]
ReplyDeleteHow come they don't stain the water, I mean give coloring to the water? I thought that any leaf, when boiled, will impart some coloring. Or is this simply a marketing thing?
ReplyDeletethere are branded "white tea" drinks here (in bottles)...they still have color..I mean, it may be called white tea, but it doesn't look like just plain colorless water...if that is what you mean BNK? its just the brew is probably quite light-colored...
ReplyDeleteWhite tea is still derived from the Camellia sinensis plant. Unlike most other varieties of tea, the leaves of white tea are harvested before they are fully opened. The leaves of this tea type are picked from the bush in the early spring before they fully open. There is a very small window of time for the plucking of these leaves and you can usually find the harvesters out in the early morning hours before the sun rises.
The name "white tea" is derived from the fine white hair that covers the uppermost tender buds of the plant. White tea is sometimes referred to as the "Rolls Royce" of the tea family. ;-)
There was only 1 pamphlet per table in the tea seminar I had (Of Tea and Mooncakes post) and it went to our tea master hehehe...but during the presentation itself wherein they went thru the history of tea and the varieties of tea, I found out may season, may parts of the tea etc. etc. pala and pano i-process yung tea.
p.s. mas mahal ang white tea...keysa green tea or black tea cousins nya..
later naisip ko..isn't this like watercolors...
ReplyDeleteperhaps we can use the juice of other fruits or plants which gives color too (ilang beses na ba ako nag laundry na di ko makuha yung stains from the fruits I have been eating)...
thanks! ok lang sofa as long as di ako picture-ran na nag snore and drool..hehehe...anyway, I plan to also visit yung isang college classmate ko who lives with his wife and son in Singapre din so pwede ko ma-distribute stay ko para di ako masyadong overstaying guest ang dating *Grin* mga 8 days ako hopefully mag ikot dyan at di ko naikot ng maayos ang zoological gardens last time eh...
ReplyDeletecge, check ko yung JetAir, though am leaning towards PAL..ewan ko ba, lahat ng flights ko sa Cebu Pacific, may masamang nangyari...e ayoko na during the 3rd trip baka hihimatayin pa ako sa inis...and yes a friend did tell me that if I could stand 4 or more hours na walang food (which she doubted in my case, haha!), I was welcome to try ceb pac mwahaha!
the more the merrier nga!
Mwahahaha. Strike Nth!
ReplyDeleteThanks Cat. Now I should look for white tea and try it. Baka magustuhan ko. I'm not much of a tea drinker but I'll give it a shot. Si Da Boss is into tea more than coffee.
ReplyDeleteyou can sleep sa study room ;) walang problema even if you stay here for 8 days.
ReplyDeleteyou can bring food sa Cebu Pacific if you take that flight. they only sell instant noodles and potato chips. 3 hours ang flight normally. unless smaller plane gamitin then 3.5 hours. i never tried JetAir pa. dunno about their service.
Here's an idea: damihan mo yung fruit stains sa blouse mo para maging tie-dyed effect.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could say "art" ang labas if ganon...baka ma-feature din ako sa news...for being a fruit-case? :-)
ReplyDeleteWhat, a fruit cake?
ReplyDeletehahaha! see, buhol-buhol at kulang-kulang nga pala pagkasulat...I was going for the expression - nutty as a fruitcake...grrr..pagkain na naman....
ReplyDeleteI have no idea where to get the leaves. I tried asking Asian Finds store last week, mukhang wala rin. Hmm...I will see if ever I pass by Rustans or some tea stores if meron and will post here.
ReplyDeletehi Helene,
ReplyDeletecrazy afternoon :-) anyway, I managed to get a last minute low fare from SIA c/o our travel desk here..so yehey, makatikim na rin ako ng SIA kc may corporate rate kami...di na ako mag shopping dyan...basta makaabot lang ako SIngapore ulit..hehehe..
am coming over on Dec 20 on the 8:20 am flight (wala naman yatang delay ang SIA..so ehem)...arriving at 11:50 am, God willing.
pauwi ko, sinagad ko na ...Dec 29 1:25 pm...ewan lang if ma konek ako for a flight to Cebu afterwards but thats the plan...
excited na ako dito..time to diet para Christmas party walang problema hehehe...
di ko pa nakausap ulit si Meann about this..kanina kc I was trying to help Che contact the others in our group to have dinner...dito yata ang beloved ng ating ladyairbus eh..haha, and to think nag sprout to sa PM ni Ella/Marie about Oct 1 na kainan...the more the merrier..