PGSM Character: Naru Osaka Sera Myu Character: Sailor Mercury Also Known As: Chieco Kawabe Nicknames: Chie, Chieco, Mameko, Rakkyo, Becchi Birthplace: Tokyo, Japan Height: 165 cm (5'4") Weight: 42 kg (92 pounds) Measurements: 80-56-80 cm Birthday: 02-24-1987 Astrological Sign: Pisces Blood Type: A Hobbies: collecting Hello Kitty goods Skills: Singing, dancing Dream: to be a singer Favourite Food: Any sweets Favourite Song: "In My Room" by Utada Hikaru Company: Theatre Academy Official Website: Chieko's Room
Chieko has been in the entertainment business since she was 12 years old. She has appeared in dozens of magazines and DVDs, and is a regular in the magazine "Love Berry." She currently has several CDs out. In 2000, she was selected to play Sailor Mercury in the Sera Myu musical dramas. Chieko is now an undergraduate majoring in law.
Chieko Kawabe (河辺 千恵子, Kawabe Chieko?) is a female J-pop singer, model, radio host and actress. She was born on February 24, 1987 in Tokyo. She is a graduate of Toshima, Tokyo.
Starting at the age of twelve, Kawabe played the role of Ami Mizuno/Sailor Mercury in the Sailor Moon Musicals, or Sera Myu. She started in 2000, in the Fan Kansha event for the 2001 musical, Transylvania no Mori, Kaiteiban. She continued for a couple more years, appearing in five musicals total, finishing with the 2002 special musical, 10th Anniversary Special. During these musicals, she appeared in some of the more special musicals, including the Death Vulcan special revue show, the second half of the musical being an entire musical revue showing, and the first Sera Myu DVD, the 2002 10th Anniversary event. She also appeared as a musical guest for the next Fan Kansha, performing signature solo song, "Drive Me the Mercury" with the next Mercury actress, Wakayama Manami. She appeared again in the Sailor Moon world as Usagi Tsukino's best friend, Naru Osaka in the 2003-2004 live action series, Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon.
Two years after her role in these musicals, Kawabe set off on her own, releasing the single "Be Your Girl" on April 27, 2004. This single took off successfully, with the song 'Be Your Girl' becoming the ending theme song to anime "Elfen Lied" and her other song, 'Hoshi ni Negai Wo' being the end theme song to Otogizoshi. Since that initial release, she has had off and on success, releasing a few more singles. Her next single, Shining, was released on November 24, 2004. This single took fairly well also, with her songs Shining, Cry Baby, and Quiet Riot. This single brought Kawabe closer into the pop scene of Japan, more so than her previous album.
On January 25, 2005, the single Kizunairo was released. This contained the songs Kizunairo, I Can't Wait, and Hidamari. Notable for this single, is the song I Can't Wait, the theme song to the Japanese version of the show Lizzie McGuire. Shortly after this, was the release of her first, and thus far only, full album, Brilliance. This album has eleven songs total, some of which were from previous albums, but nonetheless, this album was quite popular and proved Kawabe's talent and musical skill. This was followed by the single "Candy Baby" in July, 2005.
Almost a year passed before any more releases were made, but in April, 2006, Kawabe released another single, Sakura Kiss, which had two songs, the song 'Sakura Kiss' being the theme song to the new anime, Ouran Host Club. The single was semi-successful reaching #71 on the Oricon 200 and charting for 6 weeks.
Currently Chieko is a weekly host on a popular radio station in Harajuku and has returned to the modeling world. There has been speculation of Chieko releasing more music in the future because of promotional messages and images on her Japanese blog.
On August 08, 2008, Kawabe and TV producer Masato Ochi filed for marriage. Kawabe addressed this matter on her blog.
Tea is an infusion made by steeping processed leaves, buds, or twigs of the tea bush, Camellia sinensis, in hot water for several minutes, after which it is drunk.
The processing can include oxidation, heating, drying, and the addition of other herbs, flowers, spices, and fruits.
The four basic types of true tea are black tea, oolong tea, green tea, and white tea.
The term "herbal tea" usually refers to infusions or tisane of fruit or herbs that contain no Camellia sinensis.
Tea is one of the most widely-consumed beverages in the world, second only to water.It has a cooling, slightly bitter, astringent flavor. It has almost no carbohydrates, fat, or protein. Tea is a natural source of the amino acid theanine, methylxanthines such as caffeine and theobromine, and polyphenolic antioxidant catechins (often referred to as tannins).
The word tea came into the English language from the Chinese word for tea, which is pronounced tê in the Min Nan spoken variant. The British English slang word "char" for "tea" arose from its Mandarin Chinese pronunciation "cha" with its spelling affected by British English arhotic dialect pronunciation.
Types of tea are distinguished by the processing they undergo. Leaves of Camellia sinensis soon begin to wilt and oxidize if not dried quickly after picking. The leaves turn progressively darker because chlorophyll breaks down and tannins are released. This process, enzymatic oxidation, is called fermentation in the tea industry although it is not a true fermentation: it is not caused by micro-organisms, and is not an anaerobic process. The next step in processing is to stop the oxidation process at a predetermined stage by heating, which deactivates the enzymes responsible. With black tea this is done simultaneously with drying. Without careful moisture and temperature control during its manufacture and thereafter, fungi will grow on tea. This form of fungus causes real fermentation that will contaminate the tea with toxic and sometimes carcinogenic substances and off-flavours, rendering the tea unfit for consumption.
Tea leaf processing methods (Simplified)
Tea is traditionally classified based on producing technique:
White tea: Un-Wilted and unoxidized
Yellow tea: Un-wilted and unoxidized but allowed to yellow
Green tea: Wilted and unoxidized
Oolong: Wilted, bruised, and partially oxidized
Black tea: Wilted, crushed, and fully oxidized
Post-fermented tea: Green Tea that has been allowed to ferment/compost
It is said that tea was discovered accidentally by emperor Shen Nung back in 2700BC. After a large meal one day, he was relaxing in the garden with a cup of boiling water. On this occasion, some leaves from a nearby tree fell into the cup unnoticed and he consumed the drink. He enjoyed the taste of the tea and the pain relief of the drink so much, that the cup of tea was born.
The first tea used in England came from China, and it wasn't until the 19th century that tea growing spread to other countries and indigenous tea was discovered in Assam. The UK is the largest importer of tea.