"cc" > wrote in message >...
> Hi Space Cowboy,
>
> > I see the Chinese characters. I see the Japanese character for KIN
> > but nothing for PUER (at least the MS CJK unicode set is free).
>
> It's not in "characters" but in katakana, the phonetic writing Japanese use
> for foreign words (the second character of puer is not in the standard
> Japanese fonts, they can't input it). To see it an additional set of fonts
> is needed. You can probably live without it. That writing is necessary if
> Mike wants to see the frequency of the puer+kin Japanese pages on google.

I understand why Western alphabets can't incorporate ideograms. But I
thought using a bad example that McDonald's in Chinese or Japanese was
itself an ideogram that didn't require change. For those without
unicodes or font sets and normal newsreaders you could capture a
graphic picture of the window and whittle it down with an editor
(reduce size) to show the ideograms of interest and include that in
your posts. Unfortunately Google usenet will filter out any graphics.

> > I'll also take the
> > picture from the recent Tie Guanyin post and see if I can find that
> > particular brand with it's sexy leaf. If I can't find that brand I'll
> > try some other expensive version and see after all these decades it
> > was my wallet causing the dislike and not my tastebuds. My local tea
> > vendor got some expensive TG I like about $10/100g YOWZER!!! I've
> > been converted and damn the 5th infusion tastes like the first ;-).
>
> I have never regretted buying teas that were relatively expensive or even
> frankly not in my means. It's sure a good product, storage, freshness, and
> everything has a cost. But that makes a real difference in the cup.
> Especially for Oolongs that have been mass-produced in abysmal quality. That
> can be night and day.

For the past two years I've been buying 'expensive' teas from a local
tea shoppe that opened nearby. It boasts a 100 different teas but I
enjoy the banter with the retired British engineer owner. The last
trip he showed me how he removed the plunger arm on French presses so
the strainer in now part of the lid. I will admit I enjoy his oolongs
which are my absolute favorites over anything I can buy in the ethnic
stores. But I still enjoy my 'cheap' teas and there is nothing better
than commercial blends from Britain. I just finished a cup of
'expensive' Dimbula and I can't say it is worth the price of a 'cheap'
Dimbula. I think pricing in tea is supply and demand. Tea is like
oil it should be cheap and when it isn't I feel there is a cartel
somewhere. In this case I clean up at his sales. He didn't like his
Java teas but I do. They're very strong so a little goes a long ways.

> I've made a strange bargain in Chinatown-shopping. I've found at a discount
> store Lotus tea in a nice wooden box (with "cha" or "tra" ? pyrograved in
> Vietnamese calligraphy). It was a old, I knew it, it didn't cost more than
> an empty box. When I opened it, it looked like and tasted like unflavored
> cheap black tea, no lotus flavor. Forgot it, but last week I intented to
> re-use the box for pencils, so I gave a try to the leaves in cold infusion.
> There was a little miracle : in cold water, the leaves take back their green
> color and flavor and the lotus fragrance is also revived. It's very
> refreshing. Great for this season.

I've got some 10 year old Lotus Blossom so I'll give it a try. From
the beginning I never liked it hot so I'll try it cold. This is the
reason I love Usenet so much. It is give and take with people around
the world. It's not a lifeless WWW url.

> Kuri

Jim