Yes I drink tea scalding hot. Yes it burns my tongue. Yes that hurts. I started drinking increasingly hotter tea and beverages while in China. I remember the first few times I was travelling in China and leaving half a pot of hot tea or water whenever I left the restaurant or cafe. So I ventured on ones of the most ardous training, that of the tongue.

I do not think I have ever really burnt my tongue. My dad apparently split his tongue once when he was exerting too much effort, and my mom has a Frankenstein tongue. My tongue is pretty normal, except that is has undergone this secret training and now I can handle almost all hot beverages. So long as I do not spill anything on myself. Because that still hurts.

The training has not been easy and I have half-burned my tongues probably quite some times in the process. Even now it is not fool proof. There have been enough situations where I burnt my tongue. And then I could not see anything either because of the condense on my glasses. Double trouble.

It is quite satisfying to be able to down hot beverages quickly. I cannot handle any alcohol so no way to impress anyone on that front. However, tea cups can be the same size as spirit cups and they keep refilling your cup in China for both beverages (something I miss a lot for the tea). So you will see me sweating, drinking and running to the bathroom in a bar, just like everyone else.