Happiness in a cup

photo by Thessa Sandoval

I'm a certified tea lover. Truth is, I used to ignore tea. I have an overly sensitive tummy and when I was younger, my lola (grandma) often told me that drinking tea would do my tummy some good, but I didn't take her advice.

I started loving it when I moved to Canada. Since it's freezing cold there, especially during winter, a hot drink in your hand is a staple. I don't drink coffee and I can't have hot chocolate all the time (because, as I've said, my tummy's ultra sensitive and having hot choco all day will set it off like a ticking bomb), so my last option is to have tea... and that's how I fell in love with it. It's true, love can be learned. Hihi. 

I love it so much now that I would visit the Vintage Tea Room on Locke St. in Hamilton with my friend Ayeza and pay for tea reading afterwards! 

"Tea Freak" image source: downthatlittlelane.com.au

my friend Ayeza and I share the same love for teas

tea reading time!

Moving forward, when I came back to the Philippines, I always look for tea when I go out with friends and they always say, "para kang lola." "The craze here is milk tea," they said. Everybody seems to love milk teas. I tried it and, meh, I didn't like it at all. Lola nga siguro talaga ako (I may be a grandma after all). 

A few weeks back, I was with Seph and Joni, our director and associate producer (respectively), in The Fort to meet the brand manager of a famous make-up brand, some make-up artists, and a model-slash-blogger. We chose this cafe called Kuppa as our meeting place. 

While we were waiting for them, I took a look at the menu and found that they have a great hot tea selection. When my eyes fell on the "Happiness Tea", it immediately piqued my interest. "Mmmmm," I thought, so I ordered one. Joni and Seph got convinced to order it too, since they said they were stressed and needed some happiness in their lives. Haha!

When the server brought us our teas, served in a french press, he told us to wait for the flower to bloom first before we drink it.Watching the flower bloom was such a lovely scene to watch. It instantly perked us up. We were very amazed. Nerds.

When I poured it into my cup, I was kinda nervous that it would taste too strong, or worse, it would taste like grass. I took a sip and happiness spread all over me. It tasted like green tea mixed with the nectar of Santan (the small red flower we used to sip the nectar of when we were kids).

I was literally rubbing my face to my cup like a child. It was true happiness in a cup! It made us that happy that after we've finished it, we were joking, "ay, our happiness is gone." Hahaha! So emo. 

Kuppa Roastery and Cafe is located at 31st corner 4th Ave., Fort Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, Philippines

Call me mababaw because it was just a cup of tea with a flower in it, but watching the flower bloom made me appreciate that we can find joy in even the simplest things. No one had ever invented a magic pill to make humans instantly happy and forget all our sorrows in a snap, but taking joy in small, simple things, plus surrounding yourself with positive-minded people is a much better formula. Being happy should be our cup of tea after all, right? :)