Tea for Breakfast - Optimum Rebound Cereal

Forget Froot Loops! Banana chips, almonds, and Matcha green tea--all USDA Organic, I might add--make Optimum Rebound by Nature's Path anything but run-of-the-mill granola. (Sorry about that!) Puns aside, the banana makes for a quaint sweetness, not too strong, while crunch and chew is provided by the tried-and-true nuts and raisins. And then there's the puffed Kamut, which apart from having a way awesomer name than every other grain in existence, tastes better than the rest too. Add it all up, and then top it off with organic green tea. Why don't they make more cereals like this?

PS. Best enjoyed with Silk Soymilk, trust me. I would know!

Flowers in the Grass - Ranong Green Teas

Flavored green tea is a boon for those who don't relish its strong toastiness, but still want to get the health benefits of the stuff. Still, I believe green tea is an acquired taste, and shouldn't always be buried under Honey-Lemon, Blueberry, or Ginger. How about just a whiff of Jasmine or Chrysanthemum? Thai brand Ranong Tea has made just that--delicately scented green teas in four flavors, so you'll definitely find a sip to suit you.

ps. Another completely unrelated, but hilarious, Wiki tidbit from my research. While checking out my novel's setting (Osaka, Japan) I came upon the Hanshin Tigers, a very Red Sox-like baseball team (and I root for Boston, so no hate mail!) complete with its own curse, called 'The Curse of the Colonel'. The funny part is, the Colonel it refers to is the KFC dude, no less.

As with many other underachieving baseball teams, a curse is believed to lurk over the Tigers. After their 1985 Japan Series win, fans celebrated by having people who looked like Tigers players jump into the Dotonbori Canal. According to legend, because none of the fans resembled first baseman Randy Bass, fans grabbed a life-sized statue of Kentucky Fried Chicken mascot Colonel Sanders and threw it into the river (like Bass, the Colonel had a beard and was not Japanese). The statue was never recovered. Thus, the Tigers are said to be doomed never to win the season again until the Colonel is rescued from the river.

In 2003, when the Tigers returned to the Japan Series after 18 years with one of the worst records in the Central League, many KFC outlets in Kōbe and Ōsaka moved their Colonel Sanders statues inside until the series was over to protect them from Tigers fans.

You wouldn't think baseball would have such an occult side to it, huh? With due respect to the Tigers, all I can say is there's probably a very unhappy whale somewhere, suffering from indigestion and dreaming of a cup of Tazo Green Ginger.

What kind of Tea are You? - Quizilla's Concoction

What kind of tea are you?

Hot herbal tea: A spa for the soul.
Take this quiz!

These net-quizzes are the worst--blogthings.com takes a bite out of my work ethic, to be sure--but don't you want to know what sort of tea you'd be?