I have betrayed one of my favourite coffee shops for another, which is closer to where i am now living. Of course it's lucky that this one is situated to be most of the time on my way out or on my way home, but if there was one I prefered I would make the extra walk. There is no need though as this has become my new favourite. The overall experience is just of a higher quality - the coffee excellent (admittedly I've only sampled their flat white, and their longer coffees look like they're in cups just a bit too big), the space is great because you get to see the bakery (sourdough bread worth buying) and the Swedish china is beautiful. Peter's Yard is near enough to the library that I can take books out for a few hours and have a coffee rather than sitting in a low-lit study pod.

Another nice detour home involved browsing the shelves of my nearest Chinese supermarket. It's funny how suddenly foreignness in terms of packaging makes food so appealling. Little squares of dried noodle dinners look like so much fun! It made me want to be a kind of kooky oriental enthusiast who eats with chop sticks all the time. Then I remembered all of these mini meals have about 50g of MSG in them, so I forgot about all the exciting colours and looked for something else. Then i found plain MSG in a packet.

I asked the woman behind the desk if they sold any tea - had been craving something light and green but wasn't holding out much hope that I'd find anything better than from my favourite Postcard Teas. She pointed me in the right direction, and I am happy to say I walked out with two of my favourite kinds. 'Special Gunpowder' Green Tea comes in a fantastic cube box with a white paper bag inside. In chinese it's called zhu cha which means bead or pearl tea. I've just learned that the English name for it possibly comes from the Mandarin term for 'freshly brewed', gang pao de (sounds familiar..?) That made me laugh..but unfortunately I think the real etymology is the more boring explanation of the rolled up tea leaves looking a bit like gunpowder pellets. My other purchase was some Genmaicha, a Japanese tea with roasted brown rice.

Now I can enjoy my new teapot, one of the best presents I've received lately. I took this picture spontaneously in my appreciation for my tea situation. Please excuse the ridiculous juxtaposition of this and the beginnings of my crocheted grocery bag (!) and some radical feminist article I had to read for my art history course...