Of Tea and Ice Lychee Tea ...

KL is a 'hot' city. Sometimes, the weather is so hot you can hardly open you eyes. You kind of walk with your head down most of the time to avoid the heat. It's quite dangerous to walk that way though because you can't really see what's coming in or behind your way. It's ok if you bump into some people occasionally, but what if the wrong people, the types that can snatch your handbag, bracelet, necklace or yourself away, bump into you? So, probably, we should start walking with umbrellas, or big hats (the mexican type probably) more often, or better still with big sunglasses the Victoria Beckham style. Hmmm ... not quite fond of sunglasses though, because they remind me of Mrs Beckham!!!

While you're waiting for a taxi in the blazing sun, probably you start thinking of cold drinks, anything cold. I realise these days, while 'sunbathing', I keep thinking of ice lychee tea. Cold, fresh with some lychees and of course tea, especially from the mamak stall we (me and my partner) frequent almost every working day. The tea comes in a big glass which probably costs us about RM4 or RM5 (I don't really know because I don't 'meet' the cashier), but it's so delicious. It's actually more delicious than lychee syrup.

I've always like tea, and coffee of course. Compared to coffee, particularly instant coffee, tea is much cheaper, especially if you buy it in the loose form. The uncang ones are more expensive, but can still be considered cheap. You can even get much 'below the par' price if you buy the 'cap masjid' type, the almost 'hancur' one which is flavoured with syrup, pandan, or whatever and which color is so dark, it's almost red. But funny, it's actually so delicious and many people in kampungs like it. In fact, teh tarik is also tastier with the 'cap masjid' tea.

Tea always reminds me of Grandma. In Ramadhan, Tea O was our 'wajib' drink during sahur. We drank tea without creamer or milk, that has always been how most people in Terengganu drink their tea until these days. After eating our rice, we would drink our tea. Grandma prepared the tea in a stainless steel pot. It was not very sweet, because she knew I didn't like it very sweet. Usually, for me, she would pour half of the glass with the already prepared tea and another half with plain hot water. She knew exactly how I liked it. That reminds me of how 'manja and mua' I was at that time. I would sip it until the end of sahur time ... hmmm ... still remember how delicious it was, the taste, the smell. But of course tea at that time was just a cap masjid one, not the fancy types we have these days. And there was no Ice Lychee Tea either.

One ramadhan here in KL, I tried making tea the Grandma style, but somehow, the taste was not the same, the flavour, the smell was different although I made sure I used the cap masjid tea and the right portion of water ... then I realised, I couldn't and will not forever get the same tea I drank when I lived with Grandma, because obviously Grandma was not here ... and will never be here anymore. Things aren't and will never be the same. Al-Fatihah.