Weekend Foodie Chronicles – 4

A few days back, when I was whatsapp-ing with her, she said she missed my Foodie Chronicles. I myself missed writing this and I told her that I will soon post one. Thank you for reminding me, GB!

I have been churning out some new dishes in my kitchen. I say new because, I haven’t made them before though the same cannot be said of eating. I feel more inspired to cook something new these days. Much as I have always enjoyed cooking and experimenting, I have to admit that the repertoire of the ingredients is wider and encompasses a representative from different parts of the world. Yes, from something as simple as pasta to something as exotic as saffron, I am stocking up a lot in my kitchen. My kitchen. I have begun to feel proud and carry that pride everytime I am grocery shopping. I choose my items carefully, reading their date of manufacture, their expiry, googling on my tab to see what I can make out of them, sometimes adding them to my shopping cart on a whim, sometimes getting carried away by bloggers who have made scrumptious dishes out of them and mostly because they look tempting.

That’s how ragi mudde happened. One of the staple diet of people of Karnataka (and apparently Andhra Pradesh as well), we used to get to eat this once a while on Sundays for lunch. Sundays were chosen because we could eat our meals hot and I guess somehow there are certain things you must eat on a Sunday. I line up some recipes for a Sunday(or saturday) because somehow I feel Sunday deserves it the most. Well, sadly, this did not happen on a Sunday. I made this on a wednesday ( on labour day). I so wanted K to taste this and couldn’t wait until it was Sunday. Ragi mudde with drumstick and sambhar onion (that’s what we call shallots) was made. And what a meal that was! I must have scooped half a ball off the pan when making it.

Valentine’s Day was spent at home this year. We went out for dinner on Feb 13th because that is our proposal anniversay. So, V-day at home couldn’t have been mushier what with chocolates, home-made pasta, mango madness and a surprise cake at night!

Somewhere amidst all this, I made raw banana puLi and cabbage dal (This one was purely out of laziness )

And as I write this, I have just had a lunch of rice, jeera moong dal and spicy baby potato that I picked fresh from the little Indian store near home. And boy, what a fantastic lunch that was!

There has been a lot more cooking happening. Sometimes I get so obsessed that I spend hours in the supermart and end up reaching home late and order a take-away! But that time I spend choosing my ingredients at my own pace – I cannot tell you how happy and alive it makes me feel!

While I go figure out tonight’s dinner, tell me what’s happening in your kitchen

Labrador National Park (Project National Parks/ Reserves and Project Brunch, Singapore)

A few weeks back, K and I went to the Labrador National Park. We have taken it upon ourselves to visit every national park/reserve there is in Singapore and trek every trail as long as we are here. If you haven’t noticed, there is a page I created for this in my header as Project National Park/ Reserve of Singapore.

K and I are also huge fans of brunches. It also just falls in line with our love for excessive and obnoxiously long hours of sleep over weekends. Why I say obnoxious is because, we sleep so late into the day at times that we need all day brunches in Singapore. Yes, we sometimes break our fast at 3 P.M. And then I was like, “Hey! Let’s do this. Let’s go to all brunch places.”. Nobody would need coaxing because with waffles the colour of gold and pancakes that melt in your mouth and egg benedicts that mean sunrise in your world, nobody would want to miss brunches here. Hence, Project Brunch.

It was just nice that we got to kill two birds with one stone when we went to Labrador National Park. We first devoured nature and then promptly settled for something more human except that the food was ambrosial.

Saying that the weather was amazing will be an understatement. Though a bit humid owing to the beachy locale, we loved being there truly. Spotting random turtles on our way was a bigger plus. If you are here, then I would highly recommend these walks. And honestly, this is what I love about Singapore; not those big malls, though I like them a fair bit too.

We spotted a beautiful cafe (Can you believe I missed the name?) and immediately wanted to try their brunch. It started raining pretty heavily and we could not have found a better place to sit and savour the food. A place where the rain and breeze ever so gently caress your love for life, peals of laughter from a nearby table where girlfriends are meeting up for a surprise birthday party and egg scrambled. And K, ofcourse.

Honestly, I could do with 4 day weekends.

Voices.

You know that feeling of feeling like you are nothing?  Like, absolutely a nobody,  accentuated by “loved” ones reinforcing the point ?

It’s almost as if nothing goes right. You are desperately wishing that it all goes fine but it doesn’t. On the other hand, things only seem to NOT happen in your favour.

You want to please someone but you just can’t. Not that pleasing someone is your priority but if that someone means a lot to you, it makes a world of difference.

You try, try harder but you only seem to go the other way. More looks and more stares. More glares as well. Tears run down your cheeks but you feel angry at yourself with every passing moment. You wish you could make the tears stop and not be such a weakling and the next instant you actually like to cry because it is your own way of letting out. Silent muffled cries.

You hate the silence. You can feel smirks. Some even dare to be sympathetic. Their audacity is apalling.

And then you have this realization that you are not really trying. You have tried but not really been at your best.  And what follows is a whole conflict of emotions – the why, the how, the what, when are all at war with each other screeching and vying for your attention.

When you fail to realize what went wrong. And why? Why were comparisons even made? Aren’t all of us different?

How desperately you wish all this was not true. All was a dream. Everything. Every little thing. Just wake up and resume to be the “awesome” one.

But things don’t stop like that. You need to work. You need to get up, dust off your pants and start new. Get back to being yourself, the happy self where you don’t fight others. You don’t fight yourself either. You just do what you have always wanted and do it the best way you can.  Ofcourse you can do it. Who can’t?

I could almost feel and hear the inner voices as she parked her wheelchair with a teary face but fiery eyes.

The Joy Luck Club

What. A.Book.

Mine was a different cover  that am unable to find online.

The Joy Luck Club is written by Amy Tan. She is one author whom I wish to read more from now on. I loved the way she has intricately woven the stories around 4 Chinese immigrants in San Francisco who form a mahjong club called the Joy Luck Club. They wish to leave their dark past behind and spend good times with each other while playing mahjong.

Having been in Singapore for a while now, I am intrigued by the Chinese culture. Some aspects fascinate me and no doubt, it is a very vibrant and rich culture. They have a big system of beliefs and understanding some rituals is enlightening to say the least. If you are curious about knowing people from different parts of the world, how they settle in and try to blend with the locals when they move, the conflicts that arise between them and their kids (who are born in a foriegn place), how they try to hold onto their beliefs and fervently wish their children would feel as proud of their culture as well – then, read this book. For everything else, read this book again. It touched me in a very different way and I cannot put that in words.

The story is about 4 mothers, all of them Chinese immigrants in USA. The first section is called “Feathers from a thousand li away“. This section introduces the story and the Joy Luck Club through Jing-Mei Woo who talks of her mother who was forced to flee from Kweilin during world war, leaving her twin daughters behind. She marries another man in USA with whom she has Jing-Mei Woo, the one who introduces the story. Jing Mei-Woo’s mother is no more and Jing-Mei Woo finds herself face-to-face with her mother’s long secret wish – re-uniting with her twin daughters back in China. This section of the book also talks of the other 3 mothers of the club and a story each from their past.

The second section is ” The twenty six malignant gates” talks of the relationship and incidents between the 4 mothers and their daughters during childhood. The emotions come across so beautifully in such subtlety and it is hard to not get carried away.

The third section is “The American translation“  that deals with the daughters as young adults all having problems, conflicts and confusions of their own.

The fourth section is “Queen Mother of the Western Skies” where the mothers talk of how they had faced equally confusing and challenging situations in their time and how they solved them or overcame them. There are instances where you feel like the characters are talking to you because it is so beautifully portrayed. The mother-daughter relationships bring tears to your eyes and you just wish you could meet them all. The final chapter is about whether Jing-Mei Woo finally meets her twins or not.

It is a beautiful poignant tale that lingers long after you have closed the book. While I had to sometimes turn back to get my character names right, I enjoyed doing it actually.

Just one thing. Maybe it is not a great idea to pick this one up when your mother is thousands of miles away.

All work and no play # 1

It is World Autism Awareness Day today. A day to not just remind ourselves that we are unaware of many many issues surrounding autism and be aware of them, but to do something about them as well. To be more proactive.

Awareness is often used with a powerful connotation. People use it to signify something, often with reference to “need of the hour” strategy. But awareness is not awareness if one doesn’t do anything about it. Autism is not  the “they are special” or “they are different” or “they are unique” part and making grand speeches. Being aware of autism entails something much more simple: acceptance and zero discrimination; creating a mutually conducive space; Providing a little bit of support if needed and if one can. And if one cannot, then refraining from discouraging others who believe they can.

There is a fine line between knowing and being aware, you see. Even if you impart this awareness to one person around you, you have been proactive to some extent. And that, makes me want to do my bit today.

There has been one loooooong post for long in my drafts that I have always wanted to share. I somehow wanted to write it very effectively. I wanted to wait until the moment when it would make an impact. I couldn’t have been more foolish. So many days wasted. Without much ado, let me share some of my thoughts in brief and supplement it with technical terms as well. I plan to do one post a month for 4 months under this section where I will talk about play and how it shapes a child/adult’s communication and behaviour.

I am sure that many if not most of you, have played some game or the other. Hide and seek, hopscotch, tic-tac-toe, monopoly, chess, thief-police, bingo, pictionary, treasure hunt and even an experimental “hypnosis” are a few of them. Sometimes, we may play unknowingly, like trying to stack a few objects one above the other, doodling, playing with food on your plate (not a good thing to do though), trying to make footprints with wet feet etc. To me play was when you are having fun. Little did I then know how powerful play can be.

Imagine a game of hide-n-seek. There is a team involved (under normal circumstances), there is turn-taking on who hides first, there is counting (where it is normal to skip tens of numbers), sharing (2 kids may want to hide behind that small shrub), eye contact and so on and so forth. There is a huge range of skills that a child develops subconsciously. There is so much of language being thrown around in context that children pick up words at the speed of the fastest bullet train when they play. I learnt counting through this and not because my kindergarten teacher made me write each number in that checkered pag, 100 times. I knew what counting was because of the game. It somehow made more sense that way. I learnt the concept of hiding and seeking through the game.I knew I had to wait for my turn to count. If I did something out of turn or context, it would go against the game.

So, you see, a simple game of hide-n-seek that signifies fun, actually stands for more. All those little games we play in our grandparents’ places mean something more. And it all points to one thing – All work and no play does indeed make Jack/Jill a dull boy/girl.

One of the first things I ask during case history is always this – “Tell me what the child likes to play”. And by the time the parents answer, I pretty much know where I need to begin. If the parents tells me that their child is playing, I feel overjoyed. I know that there is something right happening. And I know that things will only get better if this is encouraged.

But what play is good play? Are there types of play? How do I know if my child is playing the right type of play if any? Can I introduce play deliberately? All this and more in my next monthly post.

 

 

A sneak peek

A sneak peek into an interesting Origami project I have undertaken.

And I need to fold quite a few of these. Alrighty ho!

Straight from the sketchbook – 1

K recently got me this beautiful, classy and abso-gorgeous-lutely awesome Moleskine sketchbook. I have with me a stash of pictures from web and some really inspiring photos that make me want to reproduce them right away. This li’l birdie that I re-created says hello.

Ingredients: A happy mind and the ever friendly pilot on Moleskine.

Sorry, I am really bad at noting down sources. But it is a work in progress. Thank you, source!

Savouring Sri Lanka: Kandy tripping 5

We really did have quite an eventful and rich day what with the elephant orphanage at Pinnawela, poo-paper factory, spice garden, tea estate and good food !

The last stop for the day was the much famous Buddha’s Tooth relic temple at Kandy.

The last of the sun’s rays were touching us as we walked our way towards the temple. While we waited with bated breath to see the tooth relic, what really charmed us on our way as we walked to the temple were these beautiful birds, in solo poses as the epitome of grace and splendour.

When one sees so much beauty around, there is a very huge chance that she/he gets emotional. It brings out something so powerful that you feel miniscule and close to nothingness. You only need to look around to feel it. The walk proved it.

What a joy it is to live in your own world! To be untouched by all the commotion, to maintain your purity, to waddle by the still waters, to not even worry about your next meal, to just go on as if you are the king!

It may not be too much of a , what we call “practical” thingy ! We do live in a flock. And yet, there is such a strong need to maintain one’s individuality, to not get carried away, to be visible as a person and not just a herd, to be appreciated for who you are and derive happiness out of the same fact. Not hard, at all.

You may laugh at me for saying this or probably even agree – It is not hard to believe that basic instincts are just so similar. Sometimes, the instinct in an animal other than man may be more symbiotic. Everytime I have seen the monkeys, I have witnessed atleast one symbiotic relationship. There have been instances when the males have dominated the females. But there is a lot of camaraderie otherwise. I see mummy monkeys carrying their babies and all that motherly instinct, babies clinging onto mothers as they jump from roof to roof or tree to tree, monkeys helping each other out with a tough nut and monkeys in love. The more I see the fine motor and manipulative skills of the monkeys and chimps, the more the similarities I find. So much so, that I love watching them (from a safe distance).

Watching monkeys reminds me of my visits to my maternal grandma’s place where monkeys flourished like crazy. Dried mangoes for pickles, friums, dried chillies and even clothes were not spared. We would get worried if everything was in order. Monkeys of all shapes and sizes would jump over the roofs right above our heads and we  just used cupped palms over our head as protection. Such wonderful days they are!

Lost in thoughts, we finally reached the temple. It is not really a large distance. But when you have thoughts travelling faster than light, and so vividly,  you need to jolt yourself out of your reverie and enter another pleasant world. A world that belongs to everyone and still your own.

The temple is beautiful and has a lot of adjoining structures. Photography came with a price and yet some areas are restricted, which is very understandable. Also, once inside, there are signages that request people not to face against the Buddha in a way that has your back towards the Almighty. Very pleasantly, we did not find anyone flouting this rule.

The walls, the roof and everything has a story to tell. We would have loved to get lost in the stories. R was our guide who told us stories of important events when we came across paintings. But honestly, that is never enough. I think if one can find someone who can narrate the entire pictographs there, she/he must go for it, especially if they like stories and history. K loves history while I love stories. So this one was interesting.

I don’t know how man can make such perfect symmetric designs. I am not sure if they used an apparatus or mould, but I have seen artistry done with the eye and finger and a fertile mind. I don’t think any mould, stencil or copier can beat that.

There are quite a few shrines inside but the place where the sacred tooth is kept is not allowed to be photgraphed. We saw a large number of Buddhists clad in white in the temple. Very pious, very peaceful looking, they added to the ambience in a beautiful way.

Be it a temple, church, mosque or any devotional place, you cannot help but feel inner peace. One may see God everywhere and define Him/Her in different ways but somewhere along, I believe, that the purpose of a sanctum  is to feel peaceful and content.

If you like stories, here is a little bit of what R shared with some extra details quoted by wikipedia. What surprised me was how connections between India and Sri Lanka are so strongly etched since times immemorial. The painting talk of stories of how Buddhism was brought to Sri Lanka from Odisha, India. Possessing the tooth relic was considered to bring victory to the owner and many wars were fought for the same before it finally came to Sri Lanka. Just watching those paintings and listening to stories is very enlightening.

What you see in the above painting is the story of the tooth relic being handed over to the king of Sri Lanka.

You should have see how overjoyed K was when he heard Kalinga being mentioned over and over again and stood pretty transfixed at the spot.

The temple has a small building  next to it that houses the taxidermised Maligawa Tusker – Raja.   Captured in the jungles of Eravur in 1925, he was later purchased by a gentleman and donated to the temple. Raja carried the tooth relic in the gold casket for about 50 years and was later recognized as a national treasure and later when he passed away in 1988, he was taxidermised. Reports state that this is the first time a tusker has been taxidermised. The love that the people had for Raja is evident by the entire section donated to him.

When we were walking back to the car, I spotted this.

I cannot tell you the kind of joy I felt. It has been put up bang in the middle of the street in a pretty prominent place and accessible as well. Don’t these little acts of common sense and sensitivity brighten your day?

After a very happening day (I took 5 posts to write about this one day), we walked back very quietly, the water looking resplendent and maintaining a dignified calm bang in the middle of a touristy place.

We could see  schools of fish right below the surface – big ones! And yet, our photography was not able to capture it. Lets blame the lens okay?

When we cast one long, wishful look before getting into the car, we saw the beauty that was Kandy. And yet, we knew there is a lot more to it. A lot more that may not be touristy and yet extremely beautiful. And splendid – like a candy.

We waved a small goodbye, while this guy/girl seemed least bothered about our arrival and departure.

P.S. Thank you for joining me on my trip to Kandy! For now, I shall take a break and get you some tales from Orissa. And later, we can enjoy and relive Colombo together. Deal?

Savouring Sri Lanka: Kandy tripping 4

After the elephant orphanage,  elephant poo-paper factory and the spice garden visit, we moved on.

The advertisements of any tea beckon to me like few do. There is a freshness and green aura about these ads that leave me feeling energized after watching one, even if I cannot have tea that instant. Naturally, tea estates and tea factories rank high in my list.

Initially when K and I planned this trip, we wanted to stay in a tea estate. We were not bothered much about what star accomodation it was.  We just wanted to stay in the estates, I wanted to pluck tea leaves and fling it into my basket with elan and sing and gossip with the ladies who work on the plantation. Ah well, it did not happen this time. So, we wanted to atleast visit a tea estate and see the beauty for ourselves. R was more than willing to take us and after a hearty meal, we found ourselves at a tea promotional centre and small cottage industry of sorts.

 

As soon as entered, there was a winding stairway that led us to this sitting area. We were just seated a little behind these chairs as the manager of the promotion centre spoke to us of Ceylon tea and the tea-making process. He mocked the use of tea bags saying that they are nothing but tea dust and the least flavourful by-product of the entire process. We had a great time learning the process. Since it was a powerpoint prsentation, there really wasn’t much I could capture.

Visiting a real tea factory where the process happens right before your eyes is something. But I guess, something of this sort was better than nothing. Moreover, we watched videos of a real factory in full swing as well. While they served us some amazing green tea and jaggery to go along, I admired the beautiful attires of the ladies who worked there. The prints were so detailed and they had such grace about them.

Often, I have watched tea estates in movies and always wanted to be there. I still have that longing. To smell a new tea leaf, to walk amidst the aroma of coffee beans is a joy inexplicable for a tea-coffee lover like me. There used to be a time when I would shamelessly gape at people who would turn down tea/coffee. ” Really?” was written all over my face. That was once upon a time. While I still try my best to advertise coffee and tea, I don’t bug people anymore. And definitely, no more gaping.

Being a promotional centre and a very small cottage industry, they only rolled and dried a small quantity of tea leaves across the area. I stooped silly and tried to get a whiff of the magic called smell of tea.

Being a promotional centre, a small sale was expected. However, they were very endearing and definitely did not impose the purchase. The colourful packaging and souvenir tea packages were vey pretty. We ended up buying a few boxes of green tea leaves grown on their farm. And trust me, they are amazing ! Everytime K or I brew some tea, the whole home smells of it and it creates such a positive energy.

Tea, these days is available in flavours that outnumber one’s strands of hair. Trust me. There is blackberry, plum, chrysanthemum, apple peach, blueberry, citrus, ginger, ginseng and what not! All this is apart from the red, black, green teas. We did not buy any of these flavours though. We just stuck to the original estate grown ones.  Not the ones that are flavoured and imported from somewhere to Sri Lanka.

Finally, on our way back, we got to see what we wanted to for so long.

I cannot share the obscene number of photos I clicked there. A few ladies came to me along with kids, especially an elderly lady and requested for a photo. You know that feeling when someone asks for your autograph? Okay, I don’t know either but it probably matched the feeling I had, in intensity. Feeling flattered, I asked K to click a snap of hers and mine together. K gave me a mischievous smile and clicked. While I pondered the reason behind the smile, the lady stretched her palm and said, “Money. Money. Photo money”

All the big temples I constructed for myself in that past one minute, out of elation for having been asked for a photo, vanished! We gave her some money. All through the rest of the walk along the estate, I just meekly smiled at the 20 -30 more elderly women, children and teenagers who asked me for a snap and walked unabashedly.

 

Savouring Sri Lanka: Kandy Tripping 3

The last I told you was of us visiting the small cottage industry where elephant poo is made into paper. After an awesome visit to the elephant orphanage and the paper factory, we moved on with our journey.

One the things that strikes your mind whenever you hear Sri Lanka is definitely its spices. I had heard of them and when R mentioned that he will be taking us to a spice garden we got pretty excited. Visiting a farm or factory or just about any enterprise is just so exciting. I have come to realize that this is something I enjoy a lot. So much so, that everytime we travel or consider travel, I look out for small social enterprises or a speciality fruit farm. I wouldn’t be lying if I said that, more often than not, there always is something of this sort to go gape at.

Travels are full of unexpected stuff. You can’t really complain coz’ that is what makes them so appealing. Well, in this case, we just kind of bumped into an unexpected spice garden that had nothing of interest. A poor guided tour by someone who claimed to be an Ayurvedic doctor was not something we looked forward to. I clicked umpteen pictures of this tour in the hope that it will turn interesting but alas!

You know that the spice garden is not really a garden when someone points to a bottle of jasmine “extract” (we wouldn’t know if it was an extract or essence) and says, “This is jasmine.”

You also know that this is not a spice garden when in the end, they just set up a small shop of all the oils and offer a free “sample massage”. Alright, alright, I did get the free sample done but honestly, we were quite dejected. We do try our best to see every little experience as fun and in this case, we just ended up making fun of the whole visit to a garden that wasn’t.

K pulled R’s leg and said that this was a funny trip. We were pretty hell bent on visiting an actual spice garden and so, R being the sweet chap agreed to take us to a bigger and better place. Once again we got pretty enthusiastic at the prospect of seeing a garden but tried to keep our expectations in check.

It is amazing how sometimes, first impressions can be so wrong. Sometimes you meet highly talkative and extremely confident people who claim to know pretty much every thing there is to a subject and then you meet really humble people who greet you with a smile, make you feel welcome, call themselves a student and amaze you with the way they handle the whole process. And this is the feeling we walked out with after the second spice garden tour. We met one of the most humble and also learned guides here.

That’s him with the vanilla pods.

This young guide quizzed us, spoke to us animatedly, teased  our knowledge of medicinal herbs, put our olfactory senses to test by asking us to smell an extract and name the source and kept us super entertained!

We saw different types of ginger, nutmeg, jackfruits, vanilla, peppercorns, banana plantations (red bananas, robust bananas and what not!), eucalyptus trees, a couple of mango tree, mint etc etc. Now, this felt like a  garden.

Sometimes you know stuff subconsciously. I mean, most of us are aware of the fact that many herbs are medicinal and that there are plants where every part has an application. Then there are ambrosial flowers that have your soul waft in the divinity. Yet, when you see all of it at once, you are awed.

We truly felt like having visited a spice garden. The mixture of all the best smells in the world was tantalizing and we felt heady at certain parts of the walk. One could just be in the biggest dilemna trying to decide what he/she wanted to follow – the refreshing mint or the heavenly cinnamon. I felt like I was the mistress of spices and fantasized myself prescribing the various magical spices to those who came to me with desires and troubles unspoken of but felt.

They did run a small educational class thingy after the trip where they spoke of the benefits of different extracts and their use (I have a copy of it) and then encouraged us to ask questions. We had a very good time looking at the various medicinal herbs and thoroughly enjoyed the learning. By the end of it all, we were taken to their own shop where these extracts are sold for reasonable sum of money. We did not think a lot before buying anything because this was a Govt. aided nursery and run by Ayurvedic doctors. We got a few bottles of vanilla extract that we later shared with our parents and some red banana extract. Even though we were interested in the various tailam for K’s grandma, they were not available in below 75 ml bottles (that are flight friendly) and so had to sadly give them a go.

Recently, both our parents called us to say that they liked the vanilla extract and it lends a great original taste when used in halwa and kheer. So yay! Not that much can go wrong with vanilla anyways.

Having had a very good tour, we were both extremely hungry. R seemed to have been very hungry as well because he was waiting for us  and the minute he spotted us, he gestured “Shall we eat?” eagerly, relieved to see that we were out at last. It was almost 3 P.M. While R drove us down to the restaurant, we spent all our energy talking about Sri Lankan food and sports. Very soon we found ourselves getting out the car and walking into a totally quiet restaurant with absolutely nobody around. R said that it was well past lunchtime. Now, that got us worried about the availability of food but we soon saw a central area that had an all-vegetarian buffet just waiting for us to devour.

The restaurant overlooked an open green space and we just went and made ourselves comfortable.

R told us that their speciality as a raw mango curry. Now imagine someone talking of a tangy dish when you are already drooling for food! We kind of helped ourselves to big heaps of pretty much everything.

And that, my dear buddies, is a piece of heaven.

For the next few minutes, nobody spoke. No plans were made. Only om-nom-nom-nom-mmmmm and crunch seemed to be the sound in the cool, sweet  air.

P.S. Coming up next is a visit to a cottage tea industry and tea estate