Снова в СССР / Back in the USSR

Last Saturday night I decided it was time again for a trip to Tunes in Hoboken. I love Tunes because they have a pretty big selection of $1 CDs, and I think you know by now that I'm addicted to music. Anyway, after sitting in traffic forever and paying way too much money to a bunch of jerks* to park in their shady lot, we got to Tunes... about 30 minutes before it closed.

After finding a bunch of CDs I wanted I decided to look through the vinyl section, as I recently acquired a record player**. Of course I looked for some cool Beatles stuff, but then I looked under Paul McCartney. Then I saw it. The Russian album. Снова в СССР. Was this the 1994 international re-release? Nope, this was the original 1988 LP only available in Russia. The album jacket? All in Russian. SO AWESOME!



Some Background Info
In 1988 Paul McCartney released this collection of old school rock & roll covers with the intention of it only being available in the former USSR, since for so long the Beatles' music had been banned there. In 1991 it was re-released internationally because apparently everyone outside of Russia wanted to hear it too. In 1994 it was released on CD.

By the way, "Снова в СССР" translates to "Back in the USSR".
The cover art was done by Linda McCartney.
On the international re-release they spelled it wrong (СНОВА Б СССР) and used some Cyrillic letters that look like Latin letters to spell Paul's name. Evidence:

A Few Personal Notes
I loved this CD as a kid, and remember listening to it on the way to a family vacation in Ocean City, MD.

My aunt's cousin was living in Russia in the early '90s and was nice enough to bring back a copy of the original LP for my dad. I'm not sure where that copy got to, but I'm pretty psyched to have my own original copy now. And for only $8!

"Crackin' Up" was my favorite song on the album, and you should go listen to it on last.fm. :)

Footnotes
*The jerks at the parking place in Hoboken earned $0 in tip money because the one guy almost ran my friends over with my car. Way to go, winner!

**As for my record player... it doesn't work. Apparently the motor in this one is on the fritz too. Great. I'm going to go steal my dad's now. :)

Quakake!

Another installment of "What? This is really a town name?!", Pennsylvania.

To begin, I've never been to Quakake. I've driven very nearby, but never stopped. Honestly, until writing this blog I wasn't even quite sure how to pronounce it. Quay-Cake? Quake-ache? Qua-ka-kay? So many fun possibilities! I think it's really Quake-ache.

Despite me having no idea how to pronounce it until today, this word has existed much earlier than today! It appears in the names of several things in northeastern[ish] PA. What kind of things, you ask?

• A Town
• A Railroad
• A Creek
• A Lake

• Probably other things Google isn't telling me about
  

Really? Tell me more!
Ok.

Quakake, The Town
Quakake is in the northeastern part of Schuylkill County. Its status of U6 tells me that it's pretty much in the middle of nowhere. A quick look at a map proves my theory!

View Larger Map
Sure, it's 12 minutes from Hazleton, but... it's Hazleton.

A look at that map will also reveal a pretty cool looking rail system! Which brings me to...

Quakake, The Railroad
Well, it used to be the Quakake Railroad. Then they went bankrupt and became the Lehigh & Mahanoy Railroad. According to the Wikipedia article, the tracks have been abandoned for several decades, but since they're still on the maps I wonder if they're still there? Maybe I'll find out one day.

Quakake, The Creek
It's a creek, and eventually meets up with the Lehigh (from the west). Not much else to tell you here...

Quakeake, The Lake
Yeah. It's called Quakake Lake. :) It's pretty funny looking too!
It's about 20 minutes from Quakake, PA.

What does it mean?
The coolest book ever tells me the following:

A corruption of Cuwenkeek, "pine lands". Cuwen-hanna would signify, "pine stream".

So there you have it, kids - Quakake.

Kim's Kitchen

Since I like to eat and I can't seem to decide what to write about lately, I have decided to do some restaurant reviews! Fantastic, right?!

Last Thursday night I was in the area, so I figured I'd stop by:
Kim's Kitchen
5842 Main St (Rt 309)
Center Valley, PA
[map]
[One source told me this was Coopersburg, but it's really Center Valley.]

Oh, and I first heard of this restaurant via Beyond Scrapple.

I stopped in and asked what kind of Korean food she had on the menu. I was pleasantly greeted with several options and samples! My samples included:

• bean sprout soup (verdict: TASTY!)


• homemade dumplings [the sauce was great, and I normally don't even like dumplings!]


• some fresh honeydew melon and strawberries


• a cookie!

I ordered a wrap version of bulgogi (marinated beef and onions), brown rice, kimchi, and she threw in some kind of scallions. All of it was delicious! There are various non-Korean options available for the less adventurous, but I'll definitely be returning to try her other Korean dishes. She also does catering for events and such.

Also, aside from the awesome homemade food, you can't beat the service: helpful and friendly!

And here is the cover of the Korean menu.

Doesn't it make you hungry?!

Yellow Submarine

I want this. It is now your civic duty to purchase it for me. :)

Twiggy Tea?

Back in May I went to Vermont to visit some friends. Kate & Chris were awesome hosts, providing an excellent weekend of fun which included a picnic on North Beach / Lake Champlain, a stop at Cabot Creamery to sample cheese, an epic drive up Burke Mountain and hiking around the peak, tasting the brews at several Vermont breweries, a few stops at yummy places to eat in Burlington, and other awesome things. One such stop was at a place called Radio Bean.

Radio Bean seemed like a great place, mostly because they had [free] live music on a Sunday night! Then we ordered beverages and things got disastrous. Chris ended up with some kind of burnt/smoked/gross coffee* and I opted to try Kukicha Twig Tea.

According to Wikipedia, Kukicha is pretty amazing. They throw around phrases like "uniquely flavorful", "mildly nutty, and slightly creamy sweet flavor", and "rich in natural tannins". I find this intriguing because the tea I had that evening tasted like tree bark. Nutty? No. Creamy and sweet? No, and no. Imagine a log that has been in a campfire for an hour or so, steep that in some mouth-meltingly-hot water for a few minutes, and VOILA! You have tea!

I understand that steeping tea for too long, or even at too high temperatures, can turn the tea bitter, but this was a bit ridiculous. Perhaps at some point in my life I'll get up the nerve to try this again... Otherwise, Radio Bean seemed like a cool place.

*According to some, this type of coffee is quite common in Vermont.

2.5 Song Commute

First off, no one commented on my last post requesting info on cool stuff to do in FL, so I'm now forced to follow through with my threat: maps. Lots of maps. They're coming. Beware.

[Drastic subject change]

I woke up this morning to a beautiful day.

View from my bedroom window.

Usually I opt for something energetic to wake me up and get me psyched, but today I opted for some relaxing music for my 10 minute commute to work with the windows down. 2.5 songs is probably a more accurate measurement than 10 minutes.

My first song of choice for my 2.5 song commute? "Some Things About Me" by Steve Poltz. Since he's awesome, you can download it here. I first heard this song at a show at the World Cafe back in March. Good times, fun show, I love this song.

My next song in my 2.5 song commute was "Impala", also by Steve Poltz. This song is pretty cool, and I particularly like the lines:

Everything today is so high tech
Why can't we just park by the lake and neck

I don't remember what the .5 song was, but who cares. I had a great commute today. :)

Miami / Fort Lauderdale

Greetings to my hundreds of readers! [I've counted each of you at least 75 times.]

In a few months I will be going on a family vacation [what, seriously?] to Fort Lauderdale, FL. Of course, Miami is a much less... old... location, so I'll be spending some time there as well.

I'm planning on doing some fun biking in parks and along waterways, potentially a day trip to the Everglades, and possibly visiting Key Biscayne because it looks pretty. Having never been to Florida, I ask:
Where is the fun stuff?
What are some must-see sights?
Which are the best restaurants for a cheapo who wants good food?

If you don't give me some good info I'll post more maps! Ha! I know, it's all part of my evil scheme.

More Local Map Excitement

I'm sure you're all thrilled that, yet again, I'll be blogging about some random maps and local stuff I find interesting. Heh. Sure. Anyway, I was going to blog about some really good tea I recently purchased, but I don't have the photo with me at the moment, so I'm going to blog about that later. Stay tuned! For now: local geographic features!

If you Google something about movie tickets and your zip code the first couple of sites listed are probably hello[yourtown].com. Judging based on the mass-produced [not to mention shady looking] URL, I've always refrained from clicking on these links. What could a site called hellobethlehem.com contain that I could possibly care about? Oddly enough, today I stumbled across some cool map mashups on that site. Who knew there would be something interesting on a site called hellobethlehem.com?! WHO KNEW?! I think this slightly interesting find is much more interesting when considering the source!

Onward.
Here are my favorite mashups they have:
Lehigh Valley Islands
Lehigh Valley Dams
Lehigh Valley Lakes
Lehigh Valley Gaps
I realize a lot of the points on these maps are outside of the Lehigh Valley, but what are you going to do? I'm a bit surprised/impressed that they show the names of some of those random islands in the Lehigh River!

In closing, hellobethlehem.com is apparently not the virus-laden website-o-death I assumed it to be. And yet I wouldn't be surprised if tomorrow the site fulfilled it's spammy destiny.

Ward Maps [Allentown and Bethlehem]

One of my job functions requires me to know which ward of a city an address falls within. After obtaining a few paper maps I decided that there might be some random other person in the universe looking for a ward map for Allentown, PA... so I mapped it all out in Google Maps! Now I can easily search for an address, load my custom map overlay, and find the ward. :) While this originated because of my job, it very quickly became more hobby-related than work-related. :-P


View Larger Map

Notice the odd shape of Ward 17! Crazy!
And I'd really like to know what is the deal with Ward 0, which is one triangular block within Ward 8. Any ideas?

Here's one I put together for Bethlehem:


View Larger Map

Yay :)

Village of Burnt Cabins

Pennsylvania is known for having some peculiar municipality names, probably the most famous of which is Intercourse, PA. But this blog isn't about Intercourse. It's about Burnt Cabins.

Yep, that's right - Burnt Cabins, PA. I've had the distinct pleasure of passing through this place several times, the most recent of which I was able to take this picture (from a vehicle moving 40MPH)!


[from my old flickr free account shhh.]

So... where exactly is this place?

It's in Fulton County, PA! More specifically (from Wikipedia), "it's an unincorporated community in Dublin Township, Fulton County, Pennsylvania, at the foot of Tuscarora Mountain. It contains U.S. Route 522 and I-76."
And since no one really cares where Fulton County is, here is a map:


[If you're reading this on Facebook: The map doesn't import correctly, so click "View Original Post" at the bottom to get to the actual blog.]

Fulton County is also the home of Licking Creek Township, which is another awesome PA place name.

So... why is it called Burnt Cabins?

Around 1750 settlers moved into the area and Native Americans were less than thrilled about it since they still owned the land. They voiced complaints to the Provincial powers-that-be, and action was taken in order to keep the peace. The settlers were labeled as trespassers, told to vacate, and their homes were then burned to the ground.

Today there isn't much in Burnt Cabins, but there is a still-functional historic grist mill, a Pennsylvania Historical Marker, and some trees.

For more information, check out these sites:

• Euro-Americans Begin To Settle In Bedford County
• Pennsylvania Land Records - A History and Guide for Research, Pg 62

Photo Recovery

Whether you've accidentally deleted files or you have a corrupt drive or memory card, most people eventually find a need for file recovery software.

At first glance you'll find TONS of shady software with iffy guarantees about what they'll actually recover (not to mention a pricetag that you'd probably rather ignore). Being a fan of open source software, the photo program I tried was PhotoRec. Here's what happened:

• Background info: I accidentally deleted about 25 photos on a 1GB SD card.
  
• PhotoRec: I installed and ran PhotoRec, which recovered all 25 photos very quickly. I quit the process after I saw it had recovered about 40 files, but it was clearly going to keep recovering old data from the card. Impressive!
• Here is one of the photos I recovered, taken by my friend Jen:

Seeing how well the recovery went on this card, I decided to put PhotoRec to the test.

• Background info: An 8GB CF card that I have has been less than reliable. About two months ago it appeared to be working fine and I took over 500 photos on it while on a trip in UT/AZ/NV... only to get home and not have my computer recognize a single file on the card. All 500+ were corrupt. FREAK OUT. At this point, I just REALLY wanted those photos, so I headed over to a local camera store and shelled out $100 for them to do a data recovery. They were able to recover all of the files from my trip, as well as a few from before my previous format. Now $100 poorer, there was much rejoicing for actually having those photos.
• Also note: After their file recovery, the store formatted the card and returned it to me.
  
• PhotoRec: I decided to get that CF card out of retirement to try PhotoRec. Although I didn't feel like waiting all 4 estimated hours for a full recovery, I ran it for about 30 minutes and was impressed with the results. It recovered photos from my trip, the ones that Dan's Camera had already recovered, but what I found more impressive was that it was able to recover TONS of photos from before that trip. The card had been formatted at least twice since those photos were taken!

PhotoRec doesn't have the most intuitive user interface, but the program works very well. The download also comes with TestDisk, which looks like it could be a useful tool as well, though I have not tried it yet.

Not only does PhotoRec work well, but their logo is cool too!

Maps & Bikes

I like maps and bike rides, so why not combine the two? This is the beginning of a probably too detailed project! :)

Check out my map below, featuring bike/walking trails in the Lehigh Valley! You can click on any trail and it'll show you my comments and maybe some links. I'm also including lots of landmarks and other such notes, which will display some photos I've taken along the trail when you click the icon.

There are only a few trails right now, but that will change. Once I have this a bit more detailed and polished it will go into the forthcoming maps section of my website... but for now... it's blog time!


View Larger Map

I might expand this to include trails in Jacobsburg Park and Lake Nockamixon if I'm feeling ambitious! ...but we'll see about that later.

//EDIT//
08/26/09 - Updated to include Jacobsburg, Nockamixon, and Lock Ridge Park!

Giant Robots Taking Over Bethlehem?

Only kinda...

A scene for Transformers 2 is being filmed in/around the blast furnaces of the former Bethlehem Steel! Of course, that means it's photo time for me. Sadly, most of the robotic awesomeness is CG and thus not present... However, the lighting crew did an excellent job and the blast furnaces look awesome!



As far as I know, they're filming 4p - 7a, Mon-Thurs this coming week. And if you're Asian, they're looking for extras! If you're just walking/driving around observing or taking photos... watch out for the security guards. They like to hassle you even if you're on public property.

EDIT:
The Morning Call has two articles, and some blog has photos (scroll down to see the set).

Nearly Forgotten: Calypso Island

I was looking at Google Earth today and noticed something labeled Calypso Island in the Fountain Hill-ish area (zip code 18015). I found this interesting because Calypso Island was removed a long time ago. Anyway, the label is on Brighton St, the particular location for Pennsylvania Lines LLC, according to public records. This is the company that owns the railroad lines through there.

So, a little bit about the mostly forgotten Calypso Island! I found this on a few older maps, as well as in a book or two. LV History sums things up pretty well:

• Calypso Island was a beautiful resort located on an island in the Lehigh River near Fountain Hill. The island was named for the beautiful sea nymph in Greek Mythology by State Representative George Henry Goundie during a Fourth of July celebration in 1869. Pleasure-seekers enjoyed the thirteen acres of natural grounds and the pleasure boats of every variety which surrounded it. Illuminated water carnivals took place on summer evenings. Transportation to the island was provided by the Calypso Transportation Line. The Lehigh Valley Railroad purchased the island in 1902 and removed most of the island to use as filler for construction of its rail line.

Here is a photo of a painting from 1832, and another from 1850. These photos represent the island before the so-called 'resort' was put there.

According to the following map* from 1855, the island was referred to as Upper Island.

To aid railroad construction, the company 'removed' this island just to fill in the area between the island and its main land, thus making a more direct path for the railroad tracks. This can be seen on the following maps:

1892 Map*:

2008 2019 Map:

The island was just West of the tip of Sand Island, and is likely the reason Brighton St is so curved. In comparing the historic maps and the current map you'll also notice that almost all of the street names have been changed considerably. But the railroad track junction and Hill to Hill Bridge are the same! It is also interesting to note that the smaller islands to the East noted on the historic maps are still visible in satellite images, though apparently not notable enough to make it to most maps.

I'm sure that wasn't nearly as fun for you to read as it was for me to write. Oh well!

*These maps were found at the Bethlehem Area Public Library.

Virii!!

Coolest 'computer virus' I've seen in a while:


First off, you have to agree that it's a fun idea! They're marketing it as computer virus art. But what makes a virus a virus? The replication? The infection or malicious intent/outcome? The fact that the receiver doesn't really want it and receives it unexpectedly? I tend to think of this more as a cool application than as a virus. Thoughts?

Also, I know that "virii" isn't really officially accepted as the plural of virus, but I like it more than "viruses" because it's more fun. Wikipedia has this to say:

• The form virii would not have been a correct plural, since the ending -ii only occurs in the plural of masculine and feminine words ending in -ius. For instance, take radius, plural radii: the root is radi-, with the singular ending -us and the plural -i. Thus the plural virii is that of the nonexistent word virius. The form viri would also be incorrect in Latin. The ending -i is normally used for masculine or feminine nouns, not neuter ones such as virus; moreover, viri (albeit with a short i in the first syllable) is the plural of vir, and means "men."

Words are fun. :)

Happy Easter!

My usual photography + photoshop holiday card:



:)

Mashed Potatoes!

Now, everyone knows potatoes are pretty awesome. In high school a friend and I even had something we referred to as the Potato Product of the Day! Mashed potatoes are pretty cool and all, but when you add in Paul McCartney everything gets even better. This is pretty entertaining. And educational*. Educational potatoes. Who knew?!




*unless you already knew how to make mashed potatoes.

Photographers' Rights

As an amateur photographer, I always have my eyes peeled for something interesting to photograph. Sometimes people get bent out of shape when you take pictures, especially when it involves personal property, industrial sites, airports, car wrecks, etc. After a recent experience of mine, I've decided to look into what rights photographers have. I'm not a legal expert by any means, but here are some of my findings:

What you can't photograph:

• Some military locations/operations/facilities
• Anyone with a 'reasonable expectation of privacy'
  
• Example: People in their homes. Even if you're on a public street, people expect privacy in their own homes. Use your telephoto lens for wildlife, not your neighbors.

What you can photograph:

• Anything else

So that means you can photograph infrastructure, banks, items in stores, skyscrapers, airports, people in public places, etc. If you're allowed to be there, you're allowed to take photos. Authorities can question you, but they can't take your film or memory cards without a court order.

One thing to keep in mind is trespassing. You can 'legally' take photos while being illegally on someone's property. So, if you're trespassing, yeah, you're allowed to take photos... but they can press charges for trespassing. It seems that even if you're not trespassing, if you're asked to stop taking photos or to leave and you don't listen it can then be considered trespassing. I'm unclear of the legalities involved in that...

So... what photos can you publish?
You can't publish photos that:

• Project someone in a false light
  
• Captions seem to play a big role in this.
• Disclose personal information
• Example: if someone is holding a legible pill bottle... blur out the text!
• I would think that a minor's identity in a car accident might fall under this category, as well.
  

There is also the issue of misappropriation. An example of this would be using a photo for advertising without the proper releases. Libel also comes into play with projecting people in a false light. This is pretty intense stuff, so it's best to not get involved in it!

Again, I'm not a lawyer or anything fun like that, but this is what I've gathered from various sources. If any of this is incorrect... let me know!

Sources:

• Bert P Krages II, Attorney At Law: The Photographer's Right

• Legal Rights of Photographers

• Misinformation About Your Photography Rights Continues To Spread

Hardcore Cursing, Slovenian Style!

I read from a few sources that Slovenians don't have their own curse words, they just steal Serbian words. I don't know if it's actually true, as I don't speak Slovenian...

From a blog:

• "Three hundred hairy bears. It's the worst curse in Slovene. Apart maybe from `Duck on the lake' and `You are the mother of a chicken'. We don't really have any swear words in the language."

I am definitely going to start using these 'curses'! Awesome!

Anyway, I started looking all of this stuff up because, according to my Slovenian Grammy, chuntaglava = bonehead in Slovenian! This may or may not be true, as my family likes to make stuff up, especially in other languages. Glava = head. But as for that first part, who knows what it means. If it's highly offensive... oops?

My parents are apparently big fans of using foreign words that they think they know the meaning of... but don't. Example: putz [Yiddish]. Not a great thing to have little kids calling their friends! Also, I've heard that dupa [Polish] is more... strong than mom thought...

All of this entertains me.

Blu-Ray > HD-DVD! In Other News... debris!

I find it amusing that HD DVD is now dead... and being compared to Sony's Betamax. :-P Engadget offers the Top 10 Things To Do With Your Now Defunct HD DVD Player.


In news related to my previous post about the Lunar Eclipse [TONIGHT!], there might be some debris... Apparently the US picked tonight as the night to shoot down a defunct spy satellite. Perhaps debris and such will be visible from the West Coast and... parts of Canada? I'm not there, so I don't know.

While We're Talking About The Moon...

Strand is an amazing place. Many of you know the joy I encountered back in November(ish) when I found an long-out-of-print book called "Let's Speak Rusyn" for $1, thus making Strand one of my favorite places on earth. Well, today I had another adventure in Strand! I found a few cool books, but one in particular needed to be shared. It's called "The Space Tourist's Handbook". Here is an agenda laid out within this amazing book:

Sample Moon Visit Itinerary
Days 1-3 - Travel to the moon.
Days 4-5 - Arrival. Welcome glass of Moon Punch. Acclimation to low gravity. Meet and greet Moon-based support staff ("Moonies"). Short, brisk walk on lunar surface.
Day 6 - Longer Moon walk. Rock sample collecting.
Day 7 - Free day. Send email using Moon computers. Take photographs of the Moon base. Enjoy a buffet dinner with other astronauts. Indulge in savory Moon pies.
Day 8 - Daylong hike to "highlands" and other major craters.
Day 9 - Prepare for departure. Pack souvenirs. Email your photos. Visit clinic for preflight enema.
Day 10 - Departure. Return to Earth.

This is just plain silliness. And I enjoy it.

Lunar Eclipse Time!

Everyone knows eclipses are cool. Therefore everyone should be excited for next Wednesday night! There will be a total lunar eclipse on Feb 20, 2008, and it will be visible [barring crappy weather] from our own backyards in the Lehigh Valley! NASA is awesome and has an article or two telling you all about it, including a photo diagramming the timeline.

Totality begins at 10:01pm EST, and ends at 10:51, with 10:26 being the mid point of the eclipse.

I plan on trying to find a place with not too much ambient light so I can check it out, perhaps bring my telescope, and maybe try to get a cool photo or two. This is the last lunar eclipse [at least visible in North America] until 2010.

So who wants to check it out with me?!

Transliteration (Pertaining to Eastern Europe)

I'm sure most of you won't find this the least bit interesting, but... I do! And it's not like the fact that I'm a nerd is a news flash or something.

Over the past year and a half I've done a lot of genealogical research. This has led me to many documents in many languages! These languages include: Russian, Rusyn, Ukrainian, Hungarian, Slovak, German, Slovene, Polish, and Lithuanian. I don't know anything about German, Slovene, Polish or Lithuanian yet... that's for later. Anyway, most of my research has focused on my dad's family. That part of my family comes from the Rusyn areas in western Slovakia and eastern Ukraine. If you're not looking at Rusyn names... this won't be nearly as helpful, but most of these are fairly constant.

Enough background info, here's a breakdown of a few things that I find fairly common in surnames!


*The H is mostly silent in names that begin with Hr. Stick with silent and you're likely to be closer to how it's supposed to sound!
**In most Slavic languages, Г is transliterated to a G. However, in Rusyn (where names that begin with Hr are common) Г is an H, whereas Ґ is a G.
***This isn't a single letter, it's two. Therefore, no IPA pronunciation.


So, if you know me, you know my last name. If you don't... it has a silent H and a bunch of other stuff non-Eastern Bloc people don't like to pronounce. I'm hoping that this might help people understand how to pronounce fun names like mine! :-P

New blog?! And... tea!

I think I'll use this new blog for random information that I want to share. I haven't really decided yet. I like that I can log in so easily from Google. :)

If I decide to use this blog I want to create a layout for it. You don't care.

Anyway, here is a post that will not be found ANYWHERE ELSE*! Consider yourself very lucky to have come across this blog!

Today I had hyun mi nok cha for the first time in a long time. This is because I used to drink it every day and I got kind of tired of it. But it was good to have it again today, because it is really quite tasty. For those of you who don't speak Korean, [not that I know anything more than some foods and tourist phrases] hyun mi nok cha is green tea with rice.

So, to break things down for you:

• 차 = cha = tea
  
• 녹 = nok = green
  
• 현미 = hyun mi = brown rice
• One thing I've noticed in my [very minimal] studies of Korean is that there isn't much of a standard for transliteration. I've seen "hyun mi" more frequently than "hyeonmi", but I'm not sure which is correct. If you know, tell me!
  

Now, Wikipedia has an article on brown rice tea, but the tea I have is actually a combination of green tea and rice tea. I read that this began, back in the day, as a way for the lower class to make what little tea they could afford last longer. Diluting green tea with rice eventually became quite popular, even with the ruling class! I wish I could find that article so you would not think I am making this up, but no.

So now I should go accomplish something other than writing a new blog. Yay!


*This is untrue. You should still consider yourself lucky to have found this blog.