In Tokyo, living a Travelife, I decided to organise a private tea ceremony at the Chinzanso, one of Japan’s most famous luxury hotels.
I did this just to relax and purposely slow down my usually never-ending Travelife.
After all, the tea ceremony is a social event, but it’s really all about achieving inner peace, calm and joy.
EVEN THE WEATHER’S FINE
It’s been a pretty comfortable summer in Tokyo so far — and without the oppressive heat, it’s so easy to appreciate the rituals of a Japanese summer.
I took this video while taking a walk in the gardens.
So yesterday, as part of the rituals of summer, I arranged for a private tea ceremony at a historical tea house on the beautiful Chinzanso estate.
Sen no Rikyu is the father of tea in Japan.
TRAVELIFE WITH US
To start things off, I had to go through a routine of cleansing to enter the tea house. So I washed my hands at a fountain right outside the tea house.
Even the tea bowls used were chosen with thought.
The scroll for the ceremony yesterday said something about a chance meeting of significance, that is never coming again.
In other words, it’s best to live a never-ending, and never-endingly eventful Travelife…
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The tea ceremony mistress gave me a lovely sweet resembling fishes in the sea |
I was given a sweet that was again chosen carefully just for the occasion.
It was a jelly-like sweet that resembled an aquarium, and when I looked closely, there were fishes “swimming” in it.
This sweet was chosen because we were having the tea ceremony in the middle of summer, and looking at fish in water gives people a feeling of coolness.
The sweet for the tea ceremony was purposely very sweet, supposedly to take away the bitterness of the matcha green tea.
Meanwhile, I try to have matcha whenever possible, as it’s supposed to be loaded with anti-oxidants.