Antique Alive

Mother of Pearl Cigarette Case with Koi Fish and Lotus Flower Design

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 09:21:00 +0000

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Mother of Pearl Cigarette Case with Black Dragon Design

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 07:41:00 +0000

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Zippo Mother of Pearl Cigarette Lighter with Four Noble Beings Design

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 07:23:00 +0000

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Zippo Mother of Pearl Cigarette Lighter with Patchwork Design

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Fri, 17 Jul 2015 06:50:00 +0000

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Zippo Mother of Pearl Cigarette Lighter with Row Boat on Lake Painting

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 08:08:00 +0000

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Zippo Mother of Pearl Cigarette Lighter with Tiger under Pine Tree Painting

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 07:55:00 +0000

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Zippo Mother of Pearl Lighter with Cafe Terrace at Night by Van Gogh

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 07:43:00 +0000

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Zippo Mother of Pearl Cigarette Lighter with Starry Night by Van Gogh

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 04:46:00 +0000

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Zippo Mother of Pearl Cigarette Lighter with Double Dragon Design

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Thu, 16 Jul 2015 03:22:00 +0000

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Are you still not using purse hanger at cafe or restaurant?

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 08:27:00 +0000

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Mother of Pearl iPhone 6 Case with Geometric Line Design

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 07:57:00 +0000

Mother of Pearl iPhone 6 Case with Geometric Pyramid Design

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Thu, 02 Jul 2015 07:34:00 +0000

Mother of Pearl iPhone 6 Case with Horizontal Stripe Design

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 09:50:00 +0000

Mother of Pearl iPhone 6 Case with Geometric Pyramid Design

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Tue, 30 Jun 2015 09:12:00 +0000

Mother of Pearl iPhone 6 Case with Geometric Cube Design

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Sun, 28 Jun 2015 15:33:00 +0000

Mother of Pearl iPhone 6 Case with Geometric Triangle Design

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 10:19:00 +0000

Mother of Pearl White iPhone 6 Pastel Orange Geometric Checker Skin Cover Case

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Tue, 23 Jun 2015 02:29:00 +0000

Antique Alive: The largest collection of mother of pearl accessories

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 16:08:00 +0000

Learn about Korean Traditional Music

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Thu, 23 Oct 2014 02:26:00 +0000

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Diverse and rich, Korean traditional music expresses an optimistic spirit that transforms sorrow and despair into excitement and delight.

Black Jade Necklace and Earrings with Floral Design

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Fri, 03 May 2013 01:04:00 +0000

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This rare black jade necklace and earrings are elaborately carved into a three-layered flower of intricate beauty. It's created by the master of jade sculpture in Korea, Ju-won Jang. The richness and depth of the color adds a wonderful mysteriousness to this beaded jade necklace and earrings. Wearing a natural jade, known to hold the energy of both heaven and earth, ornament near one's heart expresses the sophistication and style of the wearer while positively affecting human energy.

iPhone 4 4S Hard Carrying Case with Mother of Pearl Black Zebra Design

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Sat, 22 Sep 2012 15:35:00 +0000

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We can create your own business card holder with your name or company logo with unique mother of pearl design. The elaborate adornment with the iridescence of mother of pearl design will make it an impressive personalized item for you. The embossed lattice pattern on the backside and inside surface, which helps prevent slipping, adds beautiful panache to this business card holder. Please send us your name or company logo as a jpeg or gif file.

Personalized Custom Business Card Holder with Mother of Pearl Design

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Tue, 18 Sep 2012 07:16:00 +0000

Dado: Korean Tea Ceremony (How to Drink Korean Green Tea)

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 16:18:00 +0000

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There are three famous tea gardens in Korea where the best quality green teas are produced. The gardens are located in Boseong, Hwagae, and Jeju. The gardens in Boseong and Jeju are large and usually produce industrialized green teas. This herbal green tea from the Hwagae is cultivated on privately owned tea gardens located on the southern slopes of Jirisan Mountain, the most remote area from civilization in Korea, and are handmade, therefore producing more delicate teas which are of course, more expensive. Instead of the large breath taking plantations, the tea gardens of Hwagae are smaller in size and the tea trees lay closer to the ground and grow naturally, and are therefore also called "wild green tea."

How Korean Green Tea Different From

While internationally Chinese and Japanese teas are more widely known, Korean green tea is very different from them. And unlike black teas, which are fermented and oxidized before they are dried and shaped, Korean green tea is heated on an iron pot within a few hours of being picked, then rolled by hands and naturally dried in the shade. This allows for the tealeaves to infuse clear light liquids, which have a delicate and subtle flavor.

How to Brew a Cup of Korean Green Tea

There are a few prerequisites to a good cup of green tea, and everything from the quality of water and tea, and the temperature of the water, to when the tea is added to the pot, or how long the tea is steeped, can influence the final result.

When preparing tea for drinking, oolong teas are made using hot water, while that used for black tea should be virtually boiling. The water used for green tea should be much cooler, never more than 80 degrees Centigrade (176 degrees Fahrenheit). For high quality green tea, it is important to steep the tea in water that is about 50-60 degrees Centigrade (122-140 degrees Fahrenheit). This is to suppress catechin and activate the amino acids that are the key to green tea's refreshing taste. Generally, low grade quality green tea (most of tea bags) should be steeped in water that is heated to 70-80 degrees Centigrade (158-176 degrees Fahrenheit); this is lower than other teas, so as to minimize its bitter taste. If the water is too hot, or is allowed to remain too long on the leaves, the finest taste is lost and the bitter elements emerge. When preparing tea, add 50 cc of water (it should be boiled and then cooled to 50-60 degrees Centigrade) to 2 grams of tea per person, and let it sit for 1-2 minutes before drinking.

In order to prepare green tea in Korean way, we use a tea set usually consisting of a tea pot, three or five cups that are smaller than the English variety but larger than the little Chinese ones. In addition there is a large bowl for cooling the boiled hot water, with a lip for pouring the cooled water into the empty pot. The water in this large bowl is also used for warming the pot and cups before placing tea.

How to Serve and Drink Korean Green Tea

Dado is a Korean word literally meaning "the way of tea" or tea ceremony or more loosely etiquette involved when formally drinking tea. At first the different steps may seem complicated, but it does not take long to master them and to drink tea, alone or with others, to become a part of life. When one experiences this ceremony, one can fully understand that this ceremony is not for a show, and not that complicated and rigid as Japanese one, as Koreans feel that it is very important to remain natural while drinking tea together, although dado was also developed to help meditate and cleanse one's mind of needless thoughts. It is a way to enjoy all the pleasures the tea gives.

The process of pouring water and placing tea into a teapot is known as tooda. The placement of tea, depending on the order in which the water and tea are placed, can be known as upper placement, middle placement, or lower placement. In upper placement, the water is poured and then the tea is added. In middle placement, the water is poured halfway and then the tea is added, after which more water is poured. For lower placement, the tea is placed first and the water is then poured on top; this method is deemed more appropriate in the winter. In the summer, upper placement is preferred, whilst middle placement is suitable for the spring and autumn.
The first serving of a new batch of tea is poured directly into the cups, a little at a time, back and forward three times until the cups are filled, in order to spread equally the stronger tea that emerges from the bottom of the teapot. No water must remain in the pot, or it would develop the bitter taste that is so undesirable.

Korean green tea is usually drunk holding the cup in both hands. The first step is to view the color of the tea, the second to inhale its fragrance, the third to taste it on the tongue, the fourth to follow its taste in the throat, and finally there is the lingering aftertaste in the mouth to be enjoyed.

The water for the second and following cups can be a little hotter than that used for the first. The leaves having softened, the water needs to stand on them for only a very short moment, and then the tea is poured into the lipped bowl, which is passed around people serving themselves directly. This avoids passing cups back and forward. Ordinary green tea will usually have lost most of its flavor after serving three times, but very good tea may be used to make four or five rounds. The used tea leaves can be employed in a variety of ways: in cooking, in bathwater or as a hair-rinse, or to remove the smell from a refrigerator, etc.

Green Tea Health Benefits

Green tea has high contents of vitamin C, catechin and amino acids, all substances that for many years have been known to be great for your skin. Green tea is also a low-calorie drink and would be helpful for those trying to lose weight. Recently, "Yale University researchers detail the body of evidence linking green tea to better heart health and a lower risk of cancer (Reported by MSNBC)."

Korean Wooden Wedding Geese: a means of nonverbal communication between the married couple

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 15:33:00 +0000

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The wooden geese are used even after they got married. They are used as a means of nonverbal communication between the couple. If the female goose turns her back as in this picture, it means the wife is sulky and doesn't want to talk to the husband.

Korean Wooden Wedding Geese

noreply@blogger.com (Antique Alive) — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 15:12:00 +0000

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A couple of wooden geese is used in Korean traditional wedding since they symbolize a happily married couple who remains faithful to their partner their entire lives.