Christmas in Waikiki

I usually write about reverse culture shock themes, or running, when I'm back here in Hawaii.  We moved here 3 1/2 years ago, mostly so our kids could experience the US education system, and Keoni is half a school year away from graduating high school.  Kalani has experienced middle school for the first time this year, a big change from earlier elementary / grade school experience.  This won't mostly be about them; they would just as soon stay anonymous online, so even mentioning them breaks form.

Christmas has been nice.  I guess I've not experienced a Christmas here in nearly 20 years, back when Eye and I went to grad school in the University of Hawaii (at Manoa), where we met.  It would've been 19 years ago now.

It never feels completely like Christmas in the tropics, related to the winter expectation, but that's familiar in Bangkok.  There mostly malls and hotels decorate, and office buildings put up some token lights and a tree.  You don't hear the Christmas carols there, but that music does play around here, in Honolulu stores.  They put up lights as a city display, in two different places; that was nice.

I could add, about the kids, that we are terrible at observing holiday traditions in both cultures, but did ok for pulling together some token gifts this year.  Kalani's favorite gift was something she said that she wanted, seeing it in passing, an inexpensive karaoke system.  It's tiny, so small the speaker and microphone would fit in a woman's purse, but the function is decent.  It can play music through a bluetooth connection; the technology is mature enough now.  And it was so inexpensive; people buy coffee drinks for almost as much.

Keo's favorite gift was probably an above average quality headphones set, and he also got a Lego car set, both things he had mentioned wanting.  They were surprised; we usually drop the ball.  We didn't do much else for observance, walking around Waikiki some that day, but it was nice, spending time with family, even cooking basic meals.

Maybe adjusting to local culture, or the US version, went better this time, since I was last here 3 months ago.  For whatever reason I don't need any adjustment time back in Bangkok, in Thailand, but here it feels a little strange for the first week or two.  

Of course we are living in a tourist resort as a main residence area (for us), so that part is unusual.  I did that back in Colorado for a decade or so, in a different life phase, in a ski resort, in the Vail Valley.  It didn't seem so unusual then.  Lots of vacationers were visiting, but then it takes a lot of locals to support that particular industry.  Here resident locals might seem a little less integrated, since there isn't an isolated resort community; Waikiki is within a city of half a million or so people.

One part I always struggle to place is the emphasis on consumption, in local culture, to the extent it makes sense to call it that.  On vacations that seems relatively transparent, that of course you go there to eat special meals, to participate in special events or activities, and it all keeps costing money.  As a local there's a lot you just aren't doing.  Of course I don't miss whale-watching outings or luaus, but everywhere you go everything you see is oriented towards a tourist spending money.  

Even with the ocean right there, which you can experience for free, people rent or buy beach chairs or snorkels, or hire guides to take them places they probably could go, like to go snorkeling.  At least the tourists do visit the beach.  Surfing they couldn't do on their own; plenty take lessons for that.

Tourists don't always do much with the beach theme though.  A chance earlier life-phase contact visited in the Spring and her family seemed to barely see the beach, for doing guided outings to different places.  It seemed odd.  Seeing Pearl Harbor makes sense, or a waterfall somewhere, but the Polynesian Cultural Center doesn't really accurately represent Polynesian culture.  It's ran by Mormons, so it's like a Disney version of cultural summary.  

My Thai family loves that place, so it's not all bad.  Fire dances and whatever else are fine; there would be some historical basis for all of it, even though it also surely includes plenty of interpretation.  Any cultural summary would be like that, so I don't intend that as a unique form of blame.  It would be touchy summarizing "white American" culture, since half of what I valued in the late-middle of the 20th century might seem politically incorrect now, things like Thanksgiving, or pledging allegiance, that form of indoctrination.

This branches a little further into my own musing, not about local experience, but lots of this consumption-oriented tourism ends up dividing people into economic categories, more than they really need to be.  It's not about a intentional, central guiding "them" causing that, it evolves organically.  If you can spend $400 to 500 on a hotel that's who you will be surrounded by, and if you need to seek out "budget" alternatives it's a different class group.  Activities, and all sorts of other offerings, will naturally divide out from there.

At least people can still dress casually regardless of what context they end up within, and nature is still available to everyone.  Not a very natural version of it though; it is an intentional limitation, that tourists are steered to stay within either Waikiki or other appropriate areas.  In online discussion groups it's taboo to mention anywhere else.  I remember someone mentioning my favorite local beach, which isn't too far out of the way, and someone commented that they don't even tell their local Honolulu family members about that, never mind tourists in a broad Facebook group.  There are many more isolated places locals would never mention.  Not that it matters so much; going where lots of other people go instead is comfortable, and easy.

This reminds me of a discussion about tourists being airlifted from a popular local hike, which is definitely no secret, the Koko Head Crater hike.  It's essentially a set of stairs up an old rail line.  We've went up it twice, and to me once was already enough, given that context and theme.  If you get injured along the way it would be problematic getting yourself back down.  Of course locals were blaming people for not knowing their limits, which seems a little unfair to me.  How could someone know how they would react to hiking up over a mile of stairs, at a conventional steep incline?

It's a different story not knowing your limits about swimming in an ocean current, even within 100 meters of the shore.  Once you panic everything changes, and your danger level doesn't match what you might normally expect.  Once Eye and I were caught in a fast current just off a beach in Kauai, and she panicked, and even though she's normally a very strong swimmer it was all she could do to stay afloat.  The irony is that she can't sink in the ocean; salt-water makes you more buoyant, and when we would see sea turtles she couldn't swim down to get a closer look.  So out we went.  

A surfer girl was passing, and read the situation, and put Eye on her board, and she and I pushed her straight back in through that current.  Ordinarily the worst case is that you go out 100 to 200 meters and swim back in (a different way), but right there who knows.  We were at the "corner" of that island, and maybe we really would've been caught in a broader current, and headed out to Australia.

Enough of that tangent.  Tourists are safe and sound in crowded Waikiki beaches, in luaus, and overpriced happy-hour beach bars.  They sometimes feel an inclination to get out and see "the real Hawaii" but that's always a little contradictory, a tourist wanting to go somewhere tourists never go.

in a Waikiki McDonald's; a nice touch, the decoration

Homelessness and drug use

It can be hard to avoid touching on these darker themes when discussing US culture, but instead of adding more general perspective here I wanted to share a couple of unusual related experiences.

Of course I see mentally ill and drug-affected homeless people in Honolulu on a daily basis; it's almost not that big of a deal.  Until you are out late somewhere you shouldn't be, and then it is.  But we recently passed through one part of Chinatown, a sort of rough part of downtown, at mid-day, and saw two sets of people using drugs.  I see people smoke weed about a dozen times a day, but this was something else.  Two guys had a blowtorch and glass pipe of some kind; I guess that's crack?  Right in a crowded plaza space too; kind of strange.  It was a full-sized construction use blowtorch, along with elaborate glassware, straight out of a chemistry set; surely they could've used a smaller and functionally equivalent set-up.

We walked on to a bus stop where a guy was selling some sort of drugs, and one guy smoked some right there.  Off foil; I'm not sure what that means.  It was really something, seeing people walk up to buy drugs, and one guy smoking some.  He didn't react to doing the drugs all that much; that part was a little anti-climactic.  It all seemed normal enough to them, as if that bus stop was just their space for that kind of thing.  I guess it had good customer foot traffic?

It changes things a little seeing it, versus just knowing that's a part of where you live, and what those people are doing.  I don't mean "those people" in some sort of generalizing, negative sense; homeless people would surely all have different stories they're living out.  But at least a half dozen people are living that life, based on what we saw with our own eyes over the course of a half an hour or so.

Honolulu wouldn't be ok with tourists seeing that; it would get cleaned up in Waikiki.  Which reminds me; they had an extensive "spread Aloha" neighborhood watch sort of program before, maybe even back in the spring, and that's not going on now.  Maybe it's cyclic?  There are a few places that homeless people set up camp within 3 blocks or so of our house, with mats and bedding and such.  We don't live far from the zoo, for people familiar with this area.  I don't mean the sizeable encampment area by Paki park, or the outposts by the library, or the edge of the golf course, all within a 5 minute walk of the places I am talking about.  Over in Dillingham road there are whole homeless encampment villages.

Where am I going with all of this?  Nowhere, I guess.  It's a real issue.  That's not news to anyone living in any US city.

We always had a few homeless people around, 20 years ago, when I went to grad school here, maybe a half dozen or dozen you'd always see in Waikiki.  And many in other parts of the island.  But the numbers are different now.  I'm not the right person to shed light on what it means, the causes, or how to resolve it.  Of course I feel worse for those people than I do for myself for experiencing it, for being caused to see them.  

Having my kids be around relatively unstable people is a third thing; I also get it why people see it as a real issue beyond the aesthetic part.  In general not much violent crime is adjoined with homeless issues, but some it.  I've always discussed most themes with my kids, so talking about what drugs are and how they destroy lives is normal ground for us.  People smoke weed every 100 or so meters in Waikiki, so you get limited exposure to that other part of it everywhere else.

I should close on a happier note.  I met with online tea friends here this stay; that was a highlight of the trip.  They were here for the Honolulu Marathon.  I run, but I've never ran in an organized race, at least not since my teens, when I did run cross country and local 10ks.  I've been off running for half this stay, due to a minor tendon tear, and have been happy to get back to my normal route over the past week or so.  It's a fantastic place to run here, around Diamondhead.  It's a great environment for lots of reasons, and purposes.  The positives vastly outweigh the negatives.  I've been swimming even more, seeing sea turtles regularly, on a 200 meter route out in a lane from a local beach.

in Foster botanical garden, in Chinatown

with pineapple ice cream, sort of

gardening; we have two small boxes at Kalani's former school

One of the first photos from this visit, of Christmas decorations at home, from Kalani, our resident artist.  She made them for everyone, listing their favorite color, cat, and food, and Christmas wishes.

each cat's favorite cat was themselves.  I'm not so sure about that.

2014 Shou Mei white tea, 1995 Shui Xian oolong

 

iTeaworld 2025 New Year Tea Gift Set (Year of the Snake Edition) - The Collection of 10 Aged Teas

1995 Shui Xian Oolong Tea

1998 Tie Guan Yin Oolong Tea

1995 Aged Phoenix Dan Cong

2003 Sheng Pu-erh Tea

2003 Shou Pu-erh Tea

2008 Double-Steamed Liu Bao Tea

2014 Shou Mei White Tea

2014 Zheng Shan Xiao Zhong Black Tea

1998 Jasmine Green Tea

1980s Fu Brick Tea

Listing for $75.90 for 100 grams, it's hard to determine relative value, given that this range is a bit rare.  It also depends on quality level; older teas aren't always pleasant, and didn't always hold up well to storage inputs.  These did; I'm including the product information after doing the review notes.  76 cents a gram is probably fine for good quality teas in this rare a type range.

Let's get right to the review then.

a slightly better look at the dry leaves

Review:

2014 Shou Mei:  this is nice.  It's not as intense as it will be for rounds after this, even though I brewed it for nearly 30 seconds, but it's started nicely.  A warm spice aspect stands out, and richness of feel, and depth.  Honey-like sweetness is pronounced.  Other warm tones might include pastry, like a danish tastes.  So far no dried fruit is standing out, but this includes most of the rest of the range aged white teas typically might.

1996 Shui Xian:  that's interesting.  On the one hand there's a much stronger age-related flavor than is typical in just about any tea version, aged books or furniture or whatever.  I've been drinking a lot of aged tea lately so that's familiar, in different forms.  Then other warm range is more like leather, or even towards coffee.  Only the long-faded remains of a probably initially high level of roast remains.  A dark caramel flavor aspect is promising; that might pick up.  Strong and dark mineral tones ground the rest.

It doesn't integrate as well as it might, but then this is only an early round, and some aspects tend to "burn off" within a round or two.  It's not very musty.  One part of that aged furniture or books range includes a little funkiness, but it's moderate for this being a 30 year old tea, and this being the first round.  It's not sour either; that could easily creep in, depending on storage conditions (included dampness).  This was stored fairly well.  It will be interesting to see how it evolves.  Of course it's a bit "stronger" than the white tea, in terms of intensity, but the other version has greater depth.  All that could still shift though.

Shou Mei #2:  richer and deeper in flavor and feel.  Still, this conveys what is positive and limiting about aged white tea, even though it's a pretty good version of one, type-typical and pleasant.  Flavors are nice, and feel is rich.  It balances well.  Sweetness is good, and it's clean in effect.  Then it's also a bit limited in intensity, in a couple of senses.  There is no astringency edge to offset the rest, only a rich feel.  Flavor is positive but the range it spans is limited.  To me this would be a nice tea to drink a few times, maybe even a half dozen times, but I wouldn't want to have it once a week for months.  For me basic black teas and my favorite young sheng range I would appreciate over and over.

I drink aged white tea when I fast; along with shou pu'er it's gentle enough to be fine even if you haven't eaten for a few days.  In that context it's nice experiencing any flavor, and any eating related process, even just drinking a tea, or tisane.  

Related to changes maybe the bread range has expanded a little in this, tasting like a sourdough sticky bun.  That's good, but the rest of the range is still limited.

Shui Xian:  this picks up depth too, and "cleans up" a bit.  The aged effect is still present, but the mustier side of that--which was already limited--drops back.  A spice note stands out more, one that's hard to place.  It reminds me of different parts of a favorite Chinese bean and dried fruit desert, served with ice, mixed together, like Chinese date and candied lotus root.  

I just saw this in a local Japanese grocery store, the day I posted this

This is interesting, and pleasant.  It didn't seem to fade over those years, but I'm getting the sense that this won't last, that it's already hinting towards fading from being brewed, under one minute of infusion time in.  

This range of tea isn't really familiar to me.  I've tried aged Wuyi Yancha, but never over a decade old, as far as I remember.  This is holding up for intensity better than I would have expected, and the flavor range is clean and pleasant, complex in a novel way.  Caramel or toffee sweetness does hang in there, along with earthier range that's hard to place, warm mineral tones, and dried fruit depth.

Shou Mei #3:  about the same.  I brewed that a little longer, maybe 45 seconds instead of just under 30, since there are no concerns about too much intensity or harshness related to both.  Brewing it strong will drop the infusion count, but I'll probably stop taking notes here anyway.  It's not transitioning, not changing.  

In terms of interpretation of flavors if you think about dried fruit when you drink it, one more flavor that tends to emerge in aged white teas, it does taste a little like dried raisin or date.  Not much, and part of that is probably a bias in "looking for it," but it's a little like that.

Shui Xian:  this did transition; an interesting bark spice aspect picked up.  Cinnamon is the one bark spice we are familiar with, but there are others.  For nearly 20 years I was into tisanes, before exploring "real tea," and I tried a lot within that range over that time.  It's odd that I don't bring it up more here, but that was a long ago, and it didn't work to commit a lot of the flavors and experiences to memory.  When I moved to Thailand 17 years ago I tried out some herb teas here, but explore more coffee, and then tea.  

I could struggle more placing a flavor list for this tea at this stage, or describe it fading some over a few more rounds, but I'm not going to.  For pushing these teas, using such long infusion times, the infusion count will be low, maybe at only a half dozen, and they'll be a lot more faded than normal by the 5th and 6th round.  I'd have a chance to list a new flavor aspect for one or both, but the main story has been told already.

I will also mention that on the next round a brandy-like flavor aspect seemed to pick up, something that had been present before then, but that was clearer at that point, easier to put a label on.  Again the white tea changed less.

Conclusions:

Both of these are good.  I would've expected more storage issues, and limitations, but these didn't express those much.  These two styles are limited, in relation to each tea style having a different character, and only covering so much scope.  Young sheng pu'er expresses crazy intensity, and fully aged sheng pu'er trades that out for other flavor range and complexity.  These are interesting, and novel, and not similar to either of those ranges.  Neither is in a range I'd want to drink a lot of the time, but they're both very positive experiences.  The "daily drinker" theme is always separate from other exploration range anyway.

I can't really say that the Shui Xian is completely type-typical, related to not being that familiar with such aged Wuyi Yancha.  It's more intense than I expected, and complexity is good, with novel flavor range expressed, which I did expect.  I might've expected more flaws; it's nice to be wrong about that.

In one sense I think aged white tea can be over-rated, but then preferences do vary, so that only works in relation to my own preference.  The same applies to well-aged rolled oolong; it's interesting, and some people love it, but I don't really, since it usually just picks up warmer tones and tastes a little like plum.  

Until someone tries a type-typical version they wouldn't know what they like or don't like, which is the whole point of this kind of sample set.  In these two cases it achieved its intended outcome; these were interesting and pleasant versions of these types.

Barbote Nepal white tea

I'm reviewing the second of several types of teas passed on by that Nepalese producer, Narendra Kumar Gurung, owner of Barbote teas.  The golden needle version was nice, and an earlier round of Spring teas were great, so this should be more of the same.  I tend to like white teas most from Nepal, since they're generally very distinctive, flavorful, and intense across all aspect range, not as subtle as some types and versions of white teas can be.

Review

The brewed tea leaves looks a bit green; this may be less oxidized than the last version (or my memory of it).  I might've confirmed how harvest seasons work out there and included when this was produced, but didn't.  It seems best to just relate an impression of the tea.

My initial impression is positive; the tea is warm, complex, sweet, and very pleasant, with reasonably good intensity.  The earlier version really hit you with citrus and light mineral, even more intense, but there's something to be said for depth and range of aspects in a tea version, and subtlety.  There's no judging a tea based on one sip so I'll ramble on across a few infusions.  This will brew a half dozen, at least, since I'm preparing it Gongfu style.  At a guess it will give slightly better results made that way, versus Western style, but brewing it both ways would identify that better than guessing.

The light mineral from the earlier version is still present, flinty or like limestone versus "warmer" minerals.  It's perhaps just less intense.  This version doesn't seem quite as sweet; it's more subtle, with less distinct aspects filling in additional complexity.  That includes flavors along the lines of wood or grain, but I'll try to break that down further in the next infusion.

The tea is transitioning, or maybe just infusing more completely, more fully saturated after an initial round.  Some vegetal scope fills in that might overlap with green tea character but none of the astringency or grassiness common to that range is present; interesting.  Beyond the light mineral floral tone is the strongest component.  That seems to trail into a mild fruit, towards strawberry jam or marmalade.  It's a cool effect, that much going on in those ranges.  It compensates well for the later harvest version losing the intensity of the earlier one.  The flavors are very clean, well balanced, and well integrated.  It's "good" tea.  Good is all relative, it can mean different things, but the quality level is apparent.

It's odd the way that the tea is so green with edges that are so much darker, surely a by-product of a processing step's input.  I won't speculate further about that, comparing it to whatever else or guessing about the aspects input, just pointing it out.

Citrus seems to be picking up in this infusion; it's more like I remember the last version.  Anyone  who loves that distinctive mix of light mineral and citrus in Nepalese whites wouldn't be disappointed.  This is essentially the profile that seems standard to me.  Citrus is bright, towards lemony, maybe without actually tasting exactly like lemon, or only a little.  It's not that far off how I'd imagine the zest of a mandarin orange would taste.

Perhaps not surprisingly those oranges aren't called that here in Thailand, only referred to as Chinese oranges.  For all I know there could be variations of small, sweet types of oranges in China; that's kind of how that tends to go.  There are lots of versions of papayas, mangoes, and pineapples here, without English translations for almost any of the types, as far as I know.  I just bought a "Holland" papaya; that doesn't seem to be an original Thai name for that one.

This review seems to amount to random observations about flavors versus a comprehensive description.  I'll try to round out more about general character next round, an overall impression.


Warmth picked up a little.  I think part of these transitions is that slight variations in infusion strength allow the tea to show off different aspect range; very light and brighter elements come across more, slightly heavier and flavors seem to warm and deepen.  It's an interesting effect.  That would seem to get lost in preparing the tea Western style, but I can't be certain there isn't some other benefit on that side.  Maybe even brewed to moderate strength for 2 to 3 minutes complexity would seem greater, for example.  I doubt it, but messing around with approach and parameters and testing it out is the only way to tell.

A more complete summary then:  citrus and mineral stand out the most to me, at this point, although interpreting that sweetness and flavor complexity as floral range instead would be reasonable.  Mineral isn't quite as bright and light as I remember in the spring version; it's a bit warmer, towards a different kind of rock.  Feel isn't thin but this type of tea doesn't have as much feel-structure as some other types; it's not as full and round as oolongs can be, or as complex in feel as sheng range goes. 

Aftertaste experience is also moderate; it doesn't leave your mouth quickly, but isn't as drawn out as for some other tea types.  It's a generally flavor intensive experience though, which works well enough for my preferences.  The flavor has good complexity and depth beyond that.  An underlying tone might be grain or wood, or to me closer to a warm, neutral tone flower type, like chrysanthemom.  The overall flavor is so complex that a bit of dried fruit might join in with the rest, but those more pronounced aspects stand out more.


I let the next infusion run a bit longer, adding jam to bread since I'm having this tea with breakfast.  There is a simple tip for how to only taste the tea when tasting along with food: drink a couple of sips of cool but not cold water in between food and tea.  For more taste-experience precision skipping the food is better, while still cleaning your palate along with that using the water, but even for a tea blogger tea can be an integrated part of the rest of life, not something set aside for some functional or ceremonial form and context.  Or it can be that; someone could be wearing special clothes sitting at a special table in a special room instead; it's just up to the person.  For getting the most out of tasting for review detail keeping background noise and distractions to a minimum is critical; even turning down the music or turning off a television program makes a lot of difference.


Brewed a little longer the mineral tones emerge stronger, and citrus drops back.  Sweetness still gives it balance but the overall effect is different.  Even the citrus shifts from a bright lemon to a richer, heavier orange peel, or maybe relates a different kind of orange.

I brewed the tea a few more rounds and it's not finished yet.  Later infusions stay positive but longer times draws out more of a woody aspect, which works ok with remaining citrus and mineral.


On a different topic, the subject of tea blogger bias came up recently.  Is it clear how much I liked the tea, where it stands in relation to others, and what I see as its limitations?  To me it's good tea; a good version for the type, in a style I personally like.  I liked the spring version just a little more for being more intense, and maybe slightly sweeter, but after a few infusions of transition this isn't so different.  Related to other Nepal white teas made in a similar style it compares well; it seems above average.  Then again the versions I've tried were all fairly consistently positive, which could just relate to the luck of the draw.

The main limitation seems to be that the style might not be for everyone.  Flavor intensity (or even flavor aspects range, what it tastes like) is positive, but feel is a little thinner and aftertaste a bit less pronounced than for other tea types.  It's a set of concerns that applies to black teas in general too; they're often pleasant in flavor but might give up overall aspect range to oolongs or sheng.  Not to shou / shu pu'er so much, it seems to me, but even those can be very rich and full in feel.  Mostly the taste range just might not be for everyone.

It would be hard to judge that (trueness to type, quality related to the rest of the same range of tea versions) without direct comparison with a good version of a similar Nepalese white tea.  Not necessarily tasting them together, but using that as a benchmark.  Those seem more consistent than oolongs, sheng, and even black teas seem to me; most I've tried were quite nice.  Someone could drink only below average woody or cardboard tasting Wuyi Yancha for years, or only younger sheng that tastes bitter and a bit like kerosene or snuff.  Yiwu would tend to be floral and sweet instead but even for teas from that broad area drinking only the lowest cost versions might naturally turn up the worst examples.  From what I've experienced of Nepal white teas in this style versions being pretty good is normal.

Other business

I never really did include much of a "Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!" section in a post.  I hope that you have had a great holidays and end of the year, leading into another positive and interesting year.  Of course 2018 had some glitches to work through, on the broader scale of events, but sometimes people go a bit far with the negative spin.  The world we had known is continuously ending, and some aspects of present reality are typically a bit messed up.

It's been a busy week here; lots of Christmas details to work out, three trips to a local play area, a good bit of tasting, and the normal errands never stop.

As usual I mostly just want to share pictures of my kids; they are the center of all I do.  Tea works well as a hobby for me to have an interest and focus beyond the work and parenting role but they still mean the most to me.

Christmas with family

an Elsa doll; Santa knew what she wanted

the Funarium, a Bangkok play area

their favorite gift

my view from the final edit too

we usually travel now, and add more activities this year instead