Gaga Over Green Tea

An uncle who lives abroad returns home for a visit. The Balikbayan box we got includes a pair of expensive loafers, (I forgot the brand but it was for me) a huge tin can of biscuits (which my mom shared with a bachelor uncle who lives in our old house) and a box full of Green Tea bags for the whole family. The box is actually for my mom. Being a self-confessed coffee person, her brothers and sisters urged to switch to tea instead.

A week after the box of tea bags lay unnoticed beside the tin can of biscuits, I decided to bring two sachets of it to work. One challenge I face every morning is how to rev my head without depending on too much high-energy drink. You see, I had a missed date with Throatie and I suspect the consumption of sugar water before the signs appeared was the culprit. I was warned by a colleague before of the dangers of drinking Cobra, but stubbornness prevailed. Who wouldn't choose a packaged product - conveniently affordable and easy to bring around - over a bunch of dried leaves sealed inside a paper? The trouble of bringing your own mug to work already is a turn-off.

Yet, I decided to try substituting the processed with something more organic. I set the time of drinking just when my eyes become droopy and my focus on the verge of sailing away. Steam from hot water was still rising when I had my first sip. It triggered a panic response from my taste buds.

It hurts.

But the millions of nerve endings stimulated by caffeine kicks me back to blissful wakefulness. The state of alertness was immediately felt, and I was left smiling at the bits of tea leaves floating on the surface of hot water. The perky effects of tea stirred me to research about the beverage. C2 Green Tea had never attained this kind of effect nor its other incarnations easily available in convenience stores.

Research showed that drinking tea is a very ancient tradition. Its roots can be found in China, Japan and India, where different tea ceremonies sprouted from serving the drink. The leaves used to process tea is called Camellia Sinensis. Its exotic name suggests fragrant tea gardens surrounded by rolling hills and vast evergreens.

What caught my fancy was not the tea's proud history or how it was discovered by Kings and Queens of Europe through conquest and exploitation. What I found important was its health benefits long ignored by ordinary people. We know tea because of its derivatives such as Iced Tea. I confess that it used to be my favorite drink. However, the tea I drank was in its purer form. Closer to its essence, I may have found something that could reverse the abuses I did to my body.

Lets ignore tea having anti-cancer properties. Lets also forget that it can reduce the risk of heart disease or it can increase the metabolic rate of a person (yeah baby! Its a fatburner!!) It says it destroys bacteria around the gums preventing halitosis and boosts the immune system of the body. These claims will take effect once tea drinking becomes a habit. What I felt - almost immediately - without the aid of Wikipedia - was a decrease in fatigue which often takes a toll on my personal life after work is done. It must be the thought of going organic. But these days, I feel less grumpy and my attitude towards other people has become more serene.

Tomorrow is the third day of the tea-drinking habit. It will go alongside the workout program to see if the metabolic increase hastens my weight loss target. The box of sachets will last for over a month. After the tea bags run out, we will be on our own. No new supply will be coming from abroad - unless the favorite aunt gets converted to this new religion. In case I would be forced to search the alleys of Binondo, confident that in this brief moment of optimism, new discoveries sparking my interest will emerge.

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