Tea ceremony

Today a friend of mine invited me to a tea ceremony. 
It was opened only today for the beginners (like me).


It took place at the "Tonogayato" garden where the land belonged to the creator of Mitsubishi a looooong time ago. Then he gave it to the government and it becomes the 3rd most beautiful Japanese garden in Tokyo :

When we arrived they served us a cup of Macha (Japanese tea), the REAL one :

Performing the tea ceremony is really difficult, you need utensils (folding fan...), a specific way to dress (kimono with white socks...) and of course HOW to drink the tea.

I sat at the most important place, just next to the teacher so I was the one who starts eating the sweet.

I've never been so stressed by eating something. Of course you have a way to take the sweet, to put it on the fold paper, to clean the chopsticks you just used to take the sweet and give the plate to your neighbor. Eating the sweet itself was another challenge...

You also have "rules" by drinking the tea. For example when you take the cup, you turn it twice on the right before drinking the tea.

Then when you finish drinking, you comment the cup itself "ooh, the cup is really well made". 

But it was an amazing experience, I was really lucky.

This is the room of the tea ceremony:

Old Japanese tobacco pipe :

Hehe

Do you want some tea ? :

 At the end we walk in the garden and I agree, the garden was really nice to visit :