House Of Shabadoo

Hey guys, my sincerest utmost apologies for not updating my tea findings in a long time. I would also like to extend my apologies for this elongated post you’re about to read, not that you’re complaining, as I’m quite confident that you would see this as an opportunity to brew a cup of tea or two. So, if that’s what you’re going to do, it would make my words happy to be soaked up in the reservoir of your mind.

I know I don’t need to explain my absence, but I’d just like to share with you why I haven’t been updating in a while. You see, the year 2014 AD had been a rather sublime year for me and most of the people I’ve inter-acted with. I was doing my final year in college, and things were very hectic, deadlines here, art shows there, family affairs everywhere, in a nutshell, it was pretty rough. But I’m more than happy to say that I’ve made it through college after a 3 year stint. Wow! Big deal. The stepping stone for the epitome of life huh? Now I can get a job, get married, buy a house and have children! Yeah right. Life means more to me than that. I’m sure you’d agree. (No offence to the happily married couples I hope.) Why I don’t see the “epitome” of life as such a big deal, is a story for another day.

The year 2014 AD, as I said was sublime. I met some very interesting people; I learnt new things, formed new friendships. Friendships that actually mattered. Conversations that the universe will cherish. During the roller coaster ride of 2014, I spent most of my time alone, no, I had company, the mundane company of standard tea, from supermarkets (which I absolutely abhor) and of course, the divine company of Nurya Khanyile. (Nurya-Illumination, wisdom of God. Khanyile-Light, Lit :( Southern African) Nurya is a beautiful Taiwanese ginseng bonsai whom I have the best of conversations with and rely on for inspiration when it is no-where to be found, She is the light of my apartment and life.

I recently discovered such and an awesome flea market here in Durban, South Africa, anyone and everyone is more than welcome to sell merchandise there, so it’s not really your typically average flea market. There are mainly clothes there, food, miscellaneous objects, books, art, then there are LP vinyl’s (which I also compulsively collect) There’s nothing like a good vinyl, a good book and an exceptional cup of tea on a Sunday afternoon I tell you . But, on one of my days of despondency, as I had ultimately run out of tea, I decided to take a walk to this market I speak of, and buy some records. Nothing out of the Norm, I found some interesting records, and as I was ready to go back home, I noticed a large number of people concentrated in a singular space, so, I remained curious and I headed over to them to find out what the ruckus was about. Everyone was waving their hands vigorously and screaming prices at the top of their lungs, “must be an auction” I said to myself. While all of this chaos is going on, I’m trying to get through to the front to see what is being auctioned, some people wouldn’t let me pass, they were so fixated on giving me dirty looks, calling me rude, but honestly, I didn’t give a damn. I hadn’t had tea in a week. Truth is, I just wanted to get to the front and actually see with my own eyes what the fuss was about, then leave, I was hungry too! So I did the right and only logical thing, which was to shove myself and actually make it to the front!

After stepping on so many annoyed peoples’ shoes, I make it to the front, Turns out, it was an auction indeed. For appliances and other things not worth mentioning. But on this table, that everyone had been crowding around for the last couple of twenty minutes, lays a mysterious brown wooden box. Silently. A box, I presumed that this was what everyone had been raging on about, “but what, is, in this box?” I ask myself. Usually, I’d wait for someone else or the person in charge to hold and open it, but in this case, I just couldn’t help myself. I turned it towards me, unlatched it and opened it. Any guessing what was inside this mysterious brown box? You probably guessed it! Dear tea reader, what was in this box was something entirely amazing and revolutionary to my tea world.

This box was composed of 9 compartments, each consisting of twelve Sachets of Tea bags, all different types of teas to be precise. I was over the moon! This was such a rare find for me, and I felt like a Ten year old that was locked up in a candy store. I asked the auctioneer what the price was for it, hoping it would be within my budget, as I had already spent a good fortune on LP records, and there were many people there before me as well, so I was really hoping he’d make my day. For a good two seconds, I waited with baited breath for him to say something ridiculous! This was the possibly the longest two seconds of my life, so long infact, that I had already devised a plan in my infinite mind to distract him with someone as I ran away with this jewel, I had also made multiple contingency plans too! Crazy what you can do with two seconds these days. So I was ready and waiting. Jokes! I hope what I said hasn’t made you change your mind about coming to Durban South Africa; it’s a really beautiful place to be. The warm weather, the beach, the beautiful women and drop dead handsome guys (I’m comfortable with my sexuality so). But I digress.

So, after this two second time frame, the man says very quickly “fifty rands” (R50) (he’s Indian, Indians talk fast) the exchange rate is R1=$8/9.
Fifty what! As he was explaining and trying to market it, I cut him. “I’ll take it!” Yes, I was surprised! And I didn’t hesitate. Because that was a bargain from out of space! A once in a life time deal. I was expecting maybe R150. Everyone around me was just as surprised, I remember they looked at me like I was crazy. I must say, I’d never felt like a tea addict until then, but you know what, I still didn’t give damn. I was happily mellow, they were confused. “It’s just tea, mxm” they said. Suckers! Haha!

I made my way back to my nest, first thing I did,(yeah, I know I’m getting predictable, but you know what? I don’t give a damn.)  I turned the stove on, boiled some water, played my brand new second hand vinyl and read a book for the rest of the day. (The tipping point) a book given to me by my design lecturer, who is probably one of the coolest most genuine souls I’ve ever come to know. It’s rated a good book by mainstream media, but it’s a bunch of hogwash if you ask me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a good read, there are some interesting stories and concepts in it. And… uhh, who am I kidding, it’s a terrible book! He stopped reading it half-way. I didn’t listen to him because i’m so stubborn, so I read past where he stopped, hoping that it would get better, little did know. I stopped ¾ of the way, something at the back of my mind told me to carry on, pfft! Yeah, right. Not a chance, I had already wasted a good couple of days on it, so I wasn’t willing to spend any more time on it, but if you’re interested in the ripple effects of life and epidemics of tipping communication scales, then it’s probably the book for you. But In this brown box I brought home with me, there were nine teas, which are not necessarily worth spending time reviewing because they are standard popular teas, however, if there is a tea out of these nine teas you’d like me to review and rate, I’d be more than happy to do it, just because it would be an opportunity to drink tea. Otherwise, I won’t waste our time. These nine teas consist of Chamomile (which my mother absolutely loves), Lemon, Honey & Ginger, Green Tea with mint, Green Tea with Jasmine, Organic Earl grey, Organic Black tea, Celluli Herbal tea, Green Tea and rooibos with added Ginseng. I’ll give all these teas a standard rating of 52.
In conclusion, keep following your tea senses.

Thank you. Fellow Tea lover, for taking your time to read this post, I’ll be back with more, finds hopefully not so long from now.
Peace, Love, Oneness , drink your tea in silence