The DJ who's not a DeeJay

My overhead compartment at my office desk is all tea!

I love tea. I actually prefer tea over softdrinks.

I used to drink a lot of bottled fruit juices and teas but since a lot of them contained a lot of sugar, I cut down on my manufactured tea consumption and switched to hot tea where I could control the sugar intake and choose what kind (brown, coconut, splenda or none at all).

Since then, I've tasted a lot of teas from different countries (thanks to all who've been giving me different tea flavors to sample too!)  I actually have over 25 different flavors in the office.  Having tasted a lot of teas (and boiled lots of water in the process), I present my Top 5 Favorite Teas.

1. English Breakfast tea - it's your all around tea, so breakfast is not the best term to describe it.  But it does have that kick that you'll most likely need in the morning so I guess that's why they call it such.  It's also one of the most popular complimentary teas you'll find in a hotel room.
2. Jasmine tea - I actually don't like flower-based teas.  This is the exception.  Jasmine tea doesn't taste anywhere near a flower.  Its light and mild flavor makes it easy to consume more than a cup.  If you have a tea pot of this, don't be shy to get a refill.
3. Oolong tea - Whenever I'm in a Chinese restaurant, I won't think twice on ordering this as my drink. This is one tea that doesn't need any additional sweetener to enjoy. This is best taken before and after meals as it would bring your taste buds back to normal.  No matter how full you may be after a hefty meal, an additional cup of this tea won't make you any fuller.
4. Blackcurrant tea - I actually liked the tea line of berries (strawberry, blueberry, raspberry) until I tasted this one and instantly preferred this over the berries.   Its grape-like flavor is good if you prefer a stronger taste for your tea.
5. Mint tea - I'm a fan of any mint-flavored candy (peppermint, spearmint) and so this tea flavor was no-brainer for me.  This tea leaves a fresh and soothing taste and sometimes feels almost as if you just brushed your teeth.   

Last January, I was invited to attend the launch of Google Street View Philippines.  Unfortunately, I had work that day (I regret actually not going).

Since its launch in January 2014, Google Street View, which has been popular for making it so much easier to virtually tour streets and places in the U.S. with this technology, brought the same technology to the Philippines.  For the 1st time, Google Street View capturing tools were going to capture Philippine streets and lcoations.  The Google Street View car started going around taking imagery to attach to Google maps.  And in places where the Google Street View car couldn't fit (think eskinitas and other terrain that a car couldn't traverse), there was a backpack version of the Google Street View device where a person could just strap the backpack and walk around capturing the same imagery.

It was only this morning that I actually saw one in action.  Well I don't really know if it was recording at that time, but I did see the Google Street View car going around.  It entered the Skyway from Bicutan in Paranaque City and exited somewhere around Magallanes in Makati City (I think).

I was keenly interested if it was travelling at a constant speed so it could capture images.  However, with the 60kph minimum speed limit, I figured it would need to go at least that fast.  Funny that it sped up, then slowed down, then sped up again.  I was thinking maybe it was taking instructions from a computer telling the driver to go faster or slow down similar to taking a panoramic shot.  But anyway, it was just nice to see the actual Google Street View car on the road and in action. If you've seen it elsewhere in the Philippines, post a comment and let us know where you saw it.


Related articles:

• Google Street View Philippines launched
• Mabuhay, Street View Philippines!
• Google Street View Car in Marikina

Since this blog has been up for years, let's do something different.