At the height of the British Empire, India contributed 20% of the world's trade. Now it contributes 2%.

Tea is the 6th most popular drink in the US, but the 2nd most popular in the rest of the world.

80% of the tea consumed in the US is iced.

Tea seeds were brought to Japan by a Chinese monk. It's really only indigenous to China, India and Thailand.

All tea comes from the same plant species. What people do to tea leaves after plucking makes it either green, black or oolong.

A cup of black tea contains about half the caffeine as a cup of coffee.

I should make a list of where in the world people are inviting me to go. I was just invited to Copenhagen, Stockholm and Oslo. Will I go? Probably if there were two of me.

Submitting a big expense form (over $2000) feels similar to coughing up and spitting out a lot of phlegm. In both cases, my system feels a lot better afterwards. I've rid myself of a burden I don't need to carry around. Of something which, if it stays in my system, doesn't do me any good.

Be thankful you don't have everything. If you did, what would you look forward to?

In law, if you lie and don't gain advantage from it, it's not counted against you. If it's ok to lie if we don't get a clear advantage, that would change a lot in society. I think that would be terrible.

Jet lag + beer = nausea

Koreans are 20 times more likely than other people to develop liver cancer.

New York is an ugly town, a dirty city. Its climate is a scandal, its politics are used to frighten children, its traffic is madness, its competition is murderous. But there is one thing about it - once you have lived in New York and it has become your home, no place else is good enough.

- John Steinbeck

It is a triumph of life that old people lose their memories of inessential things, though memory does not often fail with regard to things that are of real interest to us. Cicero illustrated this with the stroke of a pen: No old man forgets where he has hidden his treasure.

- Gabriel Garcia Marquez

You look bemused.

According to a survey, mobile phones are our 3rd most important possession, behind keys and wallet.

But soon our phones will also become both our keys and wallet...

Han Solo - ultimate alpha
Luke - ultimate potential

Contentment is a great virtue, though it may not attract one's attention at first. Those who are truly content are usually quiet about it. It is a pleasure to be in their company, because they are full, peaceful, and generous.

[Forgot where I saw this]

Talking takes us away from the music.

To get something done, give the task to the busiest person.

"Don't play what you know, play what you hear."

- Miles Davis

A blind man doesn't fear snakes.

Idi Amin: You are British.
Nicholas Garrigan: Scottish. I am Scottish.
Idi Amin: Scottish? Ha! Ha! Why didn't you say so?... Great soldiers. Very brave. And good people. Completely. Let me tell you, if I could be anything instead of a Ugandan, I would be a Scot.
Nicholas Garrigan: Right... Really?
Idi Amin: He. Except for the red hair, which I'm sure is attractive to your women, but which we Africans, we find is quite disgusting.

- Last King of Scotland

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations.
Yet mystery and manifestations
arise from the same source.
This source is called darkness.
Darkness within darkness.
The gateway to all understanding.

-Tao Te Ching