Got tea?

I'm sure you all know a thing or two about tea.  Iced tea is still the most popular drink among the young here in the Philippines.  But the older ones prefer the traditional put-in-the-teapot type of tea, the kind you drink after gorging on fatty food in a buffet service.  And because there's a big portion of the Filipino population that patronizes tea, we now have the moringa tea, corn-based tea, rice tea, and yes, let's not forget the age-old, ever-reliable herbals:  banaba, sambong, and Ernie Baron's pito-pito.

But the Japanese tea is different.  Tea is sacred to the Nihonjins, such that they even have what they call as tea ceremony.  What is it?

According to wikipedia,

The Japanese tea ceremony, also called the Way of Tea, is a Japanese cultural activity involving the ceremonial preparation and presentation of matcha, powdered green tea. In Japanese, it is called chanoyu (茶の湯) or chadō (茶道; also pronounced sadō^?). The manner in which it is performed, or the art of its performance, is called otemae (お手前; お点前; 御手前^?). Zen Buddhism was a primary influence in the development of the tea ceremony.
Tea gatherings are classified as ochakai (お茶会^?) or chaji (茶事^?). Chakai is a relatively simple course of hospitality that includes the service of confections, thin tea (薄茶, usucha^?), and perhaps a light meal. Chaji is a more formal gathering, usually with a full-course meal (kaiseki), followed by confections, thick tea (濃茶, koicha^?), and thin tea. A chaji will likely last at least four hours.

So without further ado, let me show you how we had our own version of the tea ceremony:

Tea ceremony paraphernalia courtesy of Hanami Sensei and The Japan Foundation Manila

This can of green tea can serve for 200 people.  Believe it or not!

Aerial shot of Hanami Sensei's paraphernalia

Nice, authentic Japanese bowl

This is the wooden ladle that the Japanese use for this traditional ceremony.

Here are the sweets you have to eat before the tea ceremony.  These are very sweet to stave off the bitterness of the authentic tea.

This is the cover box for the sweets, courtesy of Hanami Sensei's mother

Nice paper napkins  :-)  very Christmas-sy

This is the very tiny teaspoon used to scoop out the tea.  You'll need only 2 teaspoons per cup to make that fabulous Japanese tea.

I believe this is the pack of mochi balls, another type of sweets for the tea ceremony.  They go well together.  Oishii!

Hanami Sensei + me :  kawaii?  Hai!  Hehehe

And I just can't get enough of the ribbon....

Nihongojins preparing for the tea ceremony...

See?  They look Japanese already in their yukata!

Hanami Sensei explaining about the sweets...

Girls helping out in distributing the mochi....Fair share please

Hanami Sensei doing the actual ceremony...

Stir the tea in up and down motion, not in circular motion as in beating eggs in a bowl...

Lorenzo strikes a pose as the others watch how the tea is being prepared...

Another batch of students prepare their own tea.  Is that a yukata or bathrobe, Ian?  :-)