Photo from SXSW/Austin

For some reason, Blogger is still having major issues. However, I was able to get one photo to load. I'm hoping the issue will be resolved soon so you can see more (the amazing cheese plate, the great performances, etc.). In the meantime...


Delicious Nilgiri tea at The Steeping Room

Travel Day

Flying from Austin to LGA. Flights delayed due to flooding. I wish they had decent tea in this airport!

SXSW (or "South by" as the locals call it) was amazing. Austin is a very cool town. I look forward to visiting again! But for now, it's back to NYC where I will have friends visiting for the next two weeks. Can't wait to have my full tea collection on hand again...

Tomorrow I'll post more photos of SXSW, tea, and food.

More SXSW

So, I am finally ready to post more on SXSW. Unfortunately, Blogger is being weird and not letting me post all my photos. Once I'm on my own computer again, I'll try to remedy that.

I've been having way too much fun here! Between the great shows, fantastic (and, for a New Yorker, cheap!) food, and the gorgeous scenery, I've been having a blast.

Great Music

Slim Cessnic's Auto Club--The name sounds silly, but the band put on one of the best shows I've seen here! They played off of the Southern revival tradition and said things like, "This song is for good country folk like you and me" before launching into songs that can only be described as pure rockabilly fun.

Akron/Family--I saw a full set of theirs with some friends who missed them before. It was fantastic. They wore headdresses, got the crowd going, jumped into the audience, lead everyone on a march outside at the end of the show... Looking forward to seeing them in NYC (they're from Brooklyn) soon.

The 8-Bit Peoples Show--Gameboys and Segas and printers as instruments. Totally danceable. There were some sound difficulties with Anamanagichi (whose album I recently bought and love), but some of the earlier bands made it all worth it. Very cool.













Fantastic Food (and Tea!)



Vegan macrobiotic goodness at Casa de Luse (yoga center, spa, restaurant, etc.)



Genmaicha and an iced tisane blend at Casa de Luse






Foods from the local co-op (Wheatville):
Vegetarian Frito Chili Pie (a veg version of a Southern favorite that I have yet to see grace any NYC menu)
Sauteed greens (also Southern and delicious)
Tempeh taco (with all the local fixin's!)
Cashew-butter cookie





The local hangover cure











The original Whole Foods


One of the two local beers. The other one is Lone Star. Despite Lone Star's extremely cheap pricing and instant hipster points, I prefer Shiner. (Side note: Craft breweries are popping up all over the US. When I travel, I find that drinking local can be a fun way to try new things and stay more sustainable.)

I wish the other photos would load, but here's a taste:
More tea!
My friend Lauren's famous "Egg Goo" (the perfect post-bar snack)

Gorgeous Scenery


Barton Springs--This is an all-natural limestone spring the size of a football field. I went swimming when it was 91 deg F outside. The water is 68 deg F year-round. I can see why the locals love it so much!



Zilker Botanical Gardens bridge


Unlike NYC, Austin has way more birds than just pigeons. Here are some black ducks and grackles (mean but beautiful black and indigo birds)... and some pigeons.



Small skyline, but what a view of it!





Soon, you'll also see:
Tanaguchi (Japanese Tea) Garden
View from The Pedestrian Bridge
Flowering plants (NYC is still mostly barren)
Austin's rad landscaping

PS--Thanks to Steph for all the well-wishing!

SXSW Day 3

More on SXSW... In the last 24 or so hours, I:

Drank tea on a front porch









Drank some green powder beverage that had green tea extract and tasted disgusting (I much prefer the green energy bar that's also in the photo)












Saw a local bed & breakfast's tea offerings












Saw "Austin Tee Party" while waiting in line for an Akron/Family day show









Heard Akron/Family (Great show! Hippie meets hipster. Lone Star beers and a suggestion from the band to stay hydrated.)









People-watched on 6th (this street is SO much more crowded at night)









Drank tapioca pearl (boba) tea (The cup is atop an Onion stand, which you can find at practically every street corner here.)













Bought some cute stockings (If you like cool stockings, check out Sock Dreams. They're AMAZING!)












"Shoe-gazed"









Drank tea and Stella (and ate tasty vegan food and green tea ice cream) at a cute Japanese restaurant (Koriente, right next to Beauty Bar)
















Danced to dirty robot rock for hours at Beauty Bar (the uber-hipster joint in town)









Ate some Israeli-inspired food made by my ex-roommate Yinon and his friend Kelsey (who will start working for NPR soon... cool)












Despite the fact that it is not photo-documented, I will also claim to have:

Seen Dark Meat (hippie jam band merges with high school band and covers ska, punk, and metal favorites)
Seen The Raveonettes (good show, annoying audience... I'll just listen to their recordings next time)
Walked around a lot (even for a New Yorker)
Spent about an hour trying to hail a cab (and explaining to all the non-New-Yorkers that if the "Vacant" light is off, yelling and waving will NOT make the cab magically become vacant)
Slept in abundance

Today I'll relax and drink tea (Makaibari Second Flush at the moment) before catching some shows tonight. It's stultifyingly hot (peak of 91 deg F), so I think it will be wise to take it easy. More news tomorrow!

SXSW Day 2

A few quick updates. Photos and links soon.

In response to a reader question: The tearoom I went to yesterday was Jade Leaves on Guadalupe (or "The Drag," as the locals call it). I'll be writing a full review soon.

Last night I had dinner and talked about web design and NPR with my hosts and their friend. We headed into town and I broke the first rule of SXSW (hang out with people you like to talk with) and opted to break off on my own. I had all the info I wanted stored in maps and emails on my iPhone and in about 1,000 rated songs on my iPod (can you tell I'm a Mac fan?), so everything was great... Except that I left my iPhone at my friends' house and the only show I thought I knew all the details for (MGMT) turned out to be tonight, not last night. Unphazed, I headed to 6th Street to take in the New Orleans-esque debauchery and a bit of Kimya Dawson (the long-time low-fi queen who became über-famous after Juno) and Capsula (a rock trio from Argentina that put on a great raw and raucous performance). Soon enough, I found out the hard way that I am allergic to Austin's abundant cedar trees and, with some breathing difficulty, hopped a cab "home."

At the moment, I'm on a bus downtown to hear Akron/Family. Hoping to catch MGMT and some boba tea after that. Lots of great shows coming up tonight--tomorrow I'll tell you what I heard.

SXSW Day One

Arrived safely in Austin. Got the party rolling last night with my Austin friends and their friends. Today, I:

Figured out the local transit system (which is better than you might guess)
Interviewed Sweet Leaf Tea (based in Austin) about their RTD sweet tea
Saw an art exhibit on growing edibles in your yard (and on sustainability in general... Actually there was an overlap between this exhibit and one I saw in London at The Tate Modern last summer.)
Went out for amazing tea and food with my friend Austin (Yes, his name is Austin and he lives in Austin. He's also a grad student at UT Austin.)
Visited the local food co-op, where they carry tea-kettle egg timers
Bought a gun
Went show shopping
Swang on a genuine front-porch swing
Drank some "tea" soda that turned out to only have tea extract (lame)

Tonight I'm going to some shows. Tomorrow I'll tell you who I heard and how they were (IMHO--I'm a tea expert, not a music expert!), as well as any more tea news I might have.

Off to SXSW...

I'm about to head off to the airport for SXSW! Here are my travel teas for the trip. I'll be updating on music and tea all week. A few things to come:

Visit to Sweet Leaf
Boba Tea
Tearooms
Indie Rock Goodness
Electronica Fantastica