Shawn Smith’s web ninja life

Since returning from Japan, I’ve been drinking green tea regularly. I even wrote a blog about it

My tea adventures have brought me most recently to Ann Arbor’s TeaHaus, a tea store with more than 200 varieties of tea. They work with a German vendor (so you know it’s good … haven’t you  heard of ShamWow!?!).

In fact, 28 of the vendor’s teas were among the best teas in their categories at a 2008 world tea competition.

If that’s not enough to impress you, head over there and talk to Andrew about anything related to tea. He’ll gladly take some time and explain just about anything you want to know on the subject. And if you want to stay for a while, they have some seats where you can relax and chat.

Here’s my quick tour:

Andrew also turned me on to a in-cup tea strainers. I had been using a French press for tea, but as he explained, French presses continue to steep tea even if the press is pushed to the bottom, which leads to a bitter, high-caffeine last cup.

Here’s the new strainer I got:

If you’re interested in tea, check this place out. Other places I’ve had luck is Cafe Japon, who’s owner is a certified tea expert and the Crazy Wisdom bookstore.

In case you were wondering, I found TeaHaus by searching “best tea ann arbor.” Good job on your SEO

I love a good burger, and Ann Arbor certainly has its share of unique burgers to choose from. Want the classic, go to Old Town. Want the quick and dirty, try Blimpie Burger.

But if you’re interested in a burger that’s delicious in a place you wouldn’t expect to find one, check out Cafe Zola’s Kobe beef burger.

If you haven’t been to Zola, here’s what the dining room looks like:

I admit I was very skeptical before ordering the burger at Zola. I have only eaten breakfast there, but my co-workers say the Zola is able to get the burger right. So I gave it a shot.

Although the dining room was pretty full, we didn’t have much of a wait for getting our food. Here’s what the burger looks like:

The end result? I really enjoyed the burger. It came with a mayonaise sauce and pineapple to put on the burger, which really gave it a nice tangy taste.

I was more than impressed that Zola could pull this off, since I’ve only known them as a breakfast place, and one of my favorites at that.

I also did a quick video on Zola’s menu, but I didn’t want to embed that here. Check it out if you’re interested.

And if you haven’t been to Zola’s, and you like crepes, try this place out for real. The crepes are awesome! And so is the fritatta omelete

Looking for a super friendly Chinese/Vietnamese restaurant with good food? Try out Paradise Restaurant on Eisenhower Parkway in Ann Arbor.

I had heard from friends this place was good, and it might just be the best Chinese food in the entire city, Kyle and Amanda say. I haven’t eaten enough Chinese in the past 5 years to really make the call.

I will say the wonton soup was fantastic, and the kung pao chicken didn’t skimp on the peanuts (thankfully). The portions weren’t as huge as Gourmet Garden on Stadium, and my combo meal came with fried rice instead of regular white rice.

One thing I did notice, the patrons were mostly white. Usually, I would expect more Asian diners in an Asian restaurant. Here’s the video from inside:

Give it a try if you haven’t been there before. The staff is very friendly and it’s not too expensive.

It’s been about three years since I’ve worn glasses, but I’ve needed them for a long time. After doing some Google searching and reading reviews about Ann Arbor optometrists, I decided to visit Ann Arbor Optometry, headed by doctors Christina L. Curcione and Jennifer M. Sortor.

Nikki and I booked Dr. Curcione because of her web reviews, and we were really happy we did. Curcione allowed us to be seen together and was very friendly. She had a great story about how the practice came together that is truly inspiring for anyone looking to start out in business.

Without further adieu, here’s my new specs:

I have to admit, my eyes hurt for the first day of wearing my new glasses. The change to being able to actually see was straining. I adjusted in about a day and my vision makes me feel like I’m seeing things in HD

I’m not going for contacts since I’m scared to touch my eyeballs, plus, I look pretty good don’t I?

My second visit to Dimo’s gave me a chance to try something truly special, the #13 (I think ). Their hot pastrami sandwich is a dish that’s been missing in my heart for years – after all, I was vegetarian for 5 years up until recently.

While sometimes bordering on the pricey side, Dimo’s piles its food baskets with tons of edibles.

Order a sandwich and you’ll be lucky to eat half of it. The hot pastrami I ate cost about $8, but I was able to save half of it for a second meal. Sandwiches usually come with a bag of chips. I don’t usually eat those so we skipped them on this day and stuck with our french fries.

Choose from a variety of bottled beverages or get one included with their daily lunch special.

Once you order, you get to pick a seat and wait for your order to be called by the friendly staff. But don’t pick up the wrong sandwich or you might get yelled at, and that’s part of the fun.

Here’s a look from my recent trip:

While walking to my co-worker’s car yesterday, we were nearly blinded by the huge fluffy snow that was falling. While this wasn’t the first snow, it was one of the more picturesque snowfalls I’ve been able to capture. Check it:

We were working pretty hard on Election Day when we heard screaming emanating from the streets. Chants of “USA! USA!” bounced around the office, sneaking in through our open windows.

So I ran to the street to get some video so you could see it

Isn’t that so awesome?! Check it out:

Another video:

See more of my Election Day videos.

I voted, everyone! Kyle (brother), Andrew (roommate) and I got in line at Ann Arbor Pioneer High School at about 6:30 a.m. The polls didn’t open until 7 a.m., but the line snaked through Pioneeer’s halls with about 200 people by the time we arrived.

Many people were sitting in chairs, and the guy at the front of the line got there at 5:30 a.m. because he had to work at 7:30 a.m.

The lines inside the school’s gym were a mess and I thought ‘if this is what it’s like in Ann Arbor, today’s voting is going to be a catastrophe.’ But luckily I was suprised by relatively smooth voting on Election Day.

Here’s a video report of me after voting. More videos of Election Day and me!

Hope you all had a great Election Day. Go Future!

I took my brother recently to the Washtenaw County, Michigan Obama campaign office in Ann Arbor to register to vote. Kyle has never voted in an election before and I urged him to finally accept this glorious civic duty and get registered. Here’s the video of Kyle getting registered: You might be hoping for a better look at the Ann Arbor Obama. Well you’re in luck. Here’s a quick scan of the room:

Nikki’s company hosted its first ever company fair at the Saline fairgrounds and Nikki was kind enough to invite me along. Think of it as a fair with 1800 people, 600 kids, all the free fair foods you could get sick on, a mechanical bull, a climbing wall, carnival games, blow up climbing things and a beer tent – because that’s what it was!

Here’s some of the videos:

Get a look at the fairgrounds

I eat one of 1,500 corn dogs

Nikki milks a cow

See more photos and video of Nikki’s fair at my Flickr