Day 356

How on earth did time fly by so fast?

One year already? 

I'm awake at 2am half packed and realized that this blog needs it's final post. 

The past month has been pretty crazy. Sinhala New Year meant a lovely extended weekend. I did one final trip in Sri Lanka. I went on a completely unplanned trip with the interns from work. Four girls from Bangalore with an extremely limited Sinhala vocabulary, but ready with our backpacks, sunglasses and cameras. :) We took the bus to Dambulla. Visited the Kandalama hotel- Geoffrey Bawa's crowning piece of work. The hotel was stunning. Nestled on the side of the hill, 1km in length and split up on 7 levels with breathtaking views of the Kandalama tank and Sigiriya rock in the distance.

We managed to make it to Sigiriya by evening and climbed up and down before sunset. The heat was torturous, but the view was totally worth it once we got to the top, drenched in sweat after 1700 steps. 

New year weekend meant that the towns were desolate, shops and hotels were all closed. We had to skip out on Anuradhapura and were lucky enough to get a bus back in the thunderstorm. 

All my pictures are on my camera. I don't know why I didn't take a few on my phone. But I do have two to remember the funniest incident of the trip. Between Kandalama and Sigiriya, our auto ran out of petrol. The driver deserted us and went off on a cycle with an empty bottle. We were left in the middle of nowhere for what seemed like forever. He did eventually return on a motorbike with petrol after we had attempted moving the auto by ourselves. (Tanvi might just kill me for posting this picture)

The following weekend, Cheryl, Andre and I got haircuts. It was a fun day with lots of posing.

Work has been the usual. Alternating between busy days and not so busy ones. Rainy afternoons with coffee and good music followed by wet muddy journeys home. 

I had to get sick at least once in this country. A few days of fever and being stuck in bed with no voice and no appetite and in between them- dragging myself out of bed to go to church and preach! 

The final few days in the country meant winding down with work, finishing off all last minute things in the few days before I left. I hate goodbyes- farewell surprises and last meals and final fun days with my new friends here.

I visited Geoffrey Bawa's Colombo residence on my last day- beautiful house with such intricate details in the house design, the interiors and the exquisite furniture- all so perfectly fitted together. Perfect way to spend the last day.

I should probably finish packing. 

Goodbye Sri Lanka- couldn't have asked for a better year- The people, the beautiful beaches and mountains, the food and a great work experience. 

:)

Day 331

I've had quite an eventful past few weeks. One of the highlights was definitely a big trip with 4 of my friends from college. 

We've been planning a big girly trip for ages (have been discussing it all through college) and it finally happened. The many hours of planning over google hangouts, the 101 changes to the itinerary and many pictures of beach clothes trials at home and then they were here. 

It was the craziest of all itineraries- 7 destinations, all possible modes of transport, places from beaches to the city to the mountains across the country in just 5 days. 

It's kind of hard to summarize. The first leg of the trip covered the south western coast- the beaches, Dutch fort and Geoffrey Bawa's hotels in our luxury van. 

After a day in Colombo, we set off to the East coast on the overnight train and spent a glorious day snorkeling with the sharks off Pigeon Island. Once we got back we immediately left by bus to the mountains in Nuwara Eliya to cool off from all that sun and humidity in our very own cottage with a fireplace.

(Shall save all the exciting details for the exclusive blogposts once I have time to sort through my pictures) 

Aside from the actual site seeing and traveling we spent a good amount of time taking pictures of ourselves and talking endlessly and making monkey faces in the mirror with face packs on :)

Another highlight from the past few weeks is all the music and drama! Last weekend we had our Easter musical. All those choir practices are now over, sadly, but it came out really well. We had another musical programme in the evening for which we did a hand mime with white gloves and UV lights- enough reasons for a super weekend. 

And then the ultimate highlight (and probably one of the highlights of the whole Sri Lanka year)-- the three of us auditioned for roles in the Colombo version of The Phantom of the Opera. 

Only a few of you or less will actually get why this is a highlight. It is the greatest musical of all time, the craziest set design and the most amazing score ever and The Workshop Players were going to stage it. Now, I knew that I wouldn't even be here in October for the performance, but even being a part of the audition process was exciting enough. 

Once we chose which roles we could try out for, we struggled with difficult tracks and the horribly difficult vocal ranges required that we almost chickened out of going. But, for the sake of having fun, we went to audition for the ensemble cast. 

To summarize the few hours we spent there- insanely talented people, super energy, fun vocal exercises and some scary ballet lessons-- and the three of us got through the auditions to be part of the ensemble. Not just general singing ensemble, but (believe it or not) singing and dancing ensemble!!!

We came back singing all the songs and walking with pointed toes. It's just really sad that I can't be part of it. Oh well. :(

So, my year here is coming to an end. A few more weeks to enjoy this lovely country. Probably only time to squeeze in one more trip. :) More about that coming soon. 

Day 307

300 days in Sri Lanka already!!! The end of my year is actually in sight- happy/sad feelings.

My posts are so spaced out that I'm not even sure what I've been doing. Work is as usual. Busy work days alternate with fun days with the work people- potlucks, ice fights and lots of laughter usually at someone's expense. We visited the architecture exhibition recently, but dinner after was probably more exciting than the exhibition itself.

The past month, I've spent two Thursday evenings at the Good Market. It's my favourite after-work-chill spot. Mostly because of the really awesome cake at the Butter Boutique- those humongous rich decadent slices have never fallen short of amazing. Water's Edge Park is also so beautiful at night; the breeze, the grass and the lights on the water. One time, the four of us lay down on the grass and watched the stars till we were chased off. 

Church has been fun the past month too. Easter programme practices means more singing and more acting! We've been practicing for a hand mime too which reminds me of all the mad practices with the AY gang in Bangalore. 

Last week my parents and uncle were here. It was so nice to have them visit again even though I couldn't take more leave to travel to Kalpitiya with them. Sunday morning, a few hours  after they landed, we left for Mirissa to go whale watching early in the morning. 

Despite the sea sickness and the harsh sun, watching the whales break through the surface of the water to breathe was a thrilling experience. The 50ft giants barely surfaced, but we were able to watch parts of their backs and tails for a short while before they dived back into the deep. Most of them, we watched at a distant, but a few were really close. One of them even swam alongside our boat about 10m away. We could see the dark outline of the whole whale below the water. This was definitely one of the highlights of Sri Lanka. I was so awestruck, I forgot to take videos. Here are a couple of pictures that my Dad took. 

Next week, I have visitors again. Four of my classmates from college are visiting for 5 days. Lots of traveling, lots of pictures and plenty of girly gossip time coming up. :) 

Day 276

Sadly my posts are beginning to become once a month entries. 

We have two new people at work this month, so the office has a bit more life. Busy work days alternate with days to appreciate mid morning hot cinnamon tea and pink Tabebuia trees lining the gardens of the Kelaniya temple. 

This month's getaway was to a retreat centre in Bokkawala with the church family. We spent 3 lovely days tucked away in the hills with a schedule packed with plenty of fun things. From the sessions, the music, the walks around the area, campfires, lots of picture taking and laughing; the few days was perfect for fellowship with people and with God. 

The building we stayed in was quite interesting. The circular radial plan of the retreat centre was once a hospital. The rooms and dorms we occupied were once wards and clinics. The main corridor enclosed a fish pond in the centre opened to the sky and others formed double height courtyards framing mountain vistas at the ends. 

The weekend finished faster than I hoped and sadly have to begin a new week with another bout of post-trip depression. 

Day 258

Need to quickly write before January is over. 

Happy New Year. I'm still writing 2013 everywhere and a month has already flown by.

The first two weeks were busy with routine work-home-work-home. Then the weeks after were quite different.

My parents and brother were planning to visit me and the buildup of excitement as I counted down the days started early. With a week long holiday to plan, I researched hotels and travel itineraries by the dozen. 

The week before they arrived, I had a site visit to the south east of the island. Set inside the Kumana National Park, this project would had the most beautiful surroundings. As we scaled the site, we could see elephants on the other side of the lake, a couple of jackals and so many species of birds. Our ride into the centre of the park was well into leopard territory.

We spent the afternoon and rest of the day at Arugam Bay- a beach well known for its surfer waves watching fishermen sort through the evening catch. 

A few days later I was counting down hours to the airport pickup. The 6 days of traveling the country began early the next morning. We visited Yala National Park (even managed to see a leopard), drove up the southern coast to the Dutch fort in Galle. We spent one day back in Colombo before we set off North to the perfect beaches of Kalpitiya. 

The morning boat trip to watch the dolphins in pods of hundreds was one of the grandest things I've seen. Lying over the front of the boat while dolphins crisscrossed arms distance away and watching the spinners do somersaults and flips in the air was just amazing.

We had a rather embarrassing yet fun kayak ride into the ocean at sunset- capsized over and over again before we had no other choice but to swim back to shore. 

We ended the trip on another high- snorkeling in Sri Lanka's largest and most living coral reef- bar reef. The variety of colourful fish and coral was breathtaking despite choppy wave and turbid water.

And now it's back to mundane. Always the downside of traveling- saying goodbyes and getting back to normalcy. 

It's been quite a brilliant start to the year, I must say. :) 

P.S.

I sent my poor dying laptop back to India. Maybe it might be revive there. Until then Fudge Together will continue to be sort of dormant. :( 

Day 230

It's the last day of 2013 and what a year it has been! 

Christmas was grand. Had so much fun. The Christmas musical at church came out well. The week after was a mix of sleepovers, get togethers, lots and lots of cooking, movies, presents. It was great to get a few days off for the season. 

In order to eliminate post Christmas blues, we went on a grand trip up into the mountains of the Uva Province for 3 days. Hiking with the breathtaking scenery, clear air, clouds and pine forests  and train rides through the mountains was a perfect trip. Couldn't have been a better way to complete to year.

Alas, my laptop needs some repairs. Have to rely on phone posts and phone pictures till then. :(

My New Year's Eve will be spent at home with movies, pizza, cake and finishing up my year end blog post. 

Here's a picture from our breakfast picnic. What a view it was!!

Day 196

Sooo I've had such an eventful past week but have been unable to post. My laptop cable burnt out and haven't been able to use it. :( 

Two of my friends from Bangalore came to Sri Lanka for a week long holiday. Time went extra slow that Friday waiting to get home and pack up and catch the train to Trincomalee. 

We spent three glorious days on the East coast; beaches and more beaches, snorkeling in clear waters offshore Pigeon Island, the colourful coral and aquatic life with an occasional black-tipped reef shark swimming by. Our lazy walks on the beach led up to moonlight dinners in fancy hotels. We watched crabs and snails brought in by the waves and counted dead jellyfish and pufferfish washed up on the shore. 

We met many interesting people, ate lots, laughed lots and if I get carried away with all the descriptions, I'll have nothing left for a big feature post on my main blog. 

I was back at work the following week and back into a busy usual schedule. 

December is almost here. Bring on the carols! 

Day 185

I've had a really exciting week so far and it's only Thursday.

Sunday morning started off really early. I was at the bus stop at 5:30 in the morning way before sunrise. We got on a rickety rusty bus that took us up the really windy roads to Kithulgala. Any longer and my stomach may have just given up.

Breakfast was at a tiny travelers pit stop after which a pick up truck from Ceylon Adventure Sports picked us up for the last leg of the trip. 

We walked over tiny pathways through the trees and bridges over streams to the site by the river. The ten of us geared up and got into 2 rafts. The water alternated between calm steady level areas to rocky steep rapids. It was great fun trying to battle the currents. I'm sure our efforts were very feeble and our guide took control of the raft most of the time. 

At one point we all got off the boat and climbed the rocks at the side of the rapids and plunged 12 feet into the white water. I wish I had jumped again. At another calm stretch, we jumped into the water and floated downstream with the current. 

The view was breathtaking. All around us the forested mountains loomed over the river, some peaks partially hidden in the clouds. The river meandered between them creating multiple vistas at ever turn. After we got back to base, we swam in the cold water for a while, sitting in the rocks with the rapids massaging our backs. The clouds gave way for light rain soon after. Mist covered the view with a hazy filter. Really wish I had a waterproof camera.

A hot shower, big lunch and the lazy afternoon afterward went by fast and soon we were on another rickety rusty overflowing bus on the way home in a thundershower. 

2 days later and I had another day trip. This time to the south of the island to the lovely Galle fort. I was meeting up with a friend from primary school in England. We had kept in touch all these years and had only met once in between about 10 years ago. She was in Sri Lanka for a few days on a Asia tour with two of her friends.

I took the really comfortable bus direct to Galle and met the ladies at the Pedlars Inn Cafe. The courtyard house converted into a cafe with it's yellow walls, antique mismatched furniture, blackboard menus and smooth jazz music was a perfect setting for the late morning catch-up.

We strolled the cobblestone streets and walked along the fort walls. The ocean was blue and so clear. We walked into the 19th century Gothic All Saints church. We walked in and out of the boutique stores with souvenirs and hand loom clothes and pottery and knickknacks. 

We had a huge traditional feast at Lucky Fort Restaurant with a large variety of curries with generous refills. More wandering around and shopping and catching up on so many years of news continued in the afternoon. We ended the day with gelato from the Pedlar's Inn.

With two splendid day trips this week, I can't really ask for more. But, two of my friends from Bangalore will be landing in a few hours and then we will be off for three days to Trincomallee on the East coast. 3 days of sun, sand and ocean. :)

Day 176

Had such a lovely weekend nestled between some busy work weeks. 

We set out early Saturday morning for Lakpahana Advenstist School, about an hour from Kandy. Midland driving is just as beautiful as driving along the coast. Mist blanketing over forested hills, clean crisp air that you can take deep breaths from and windy roads that put my stomach in unease. 

We were visiting the school as part of the AYF team to do a programme for the students there. The setting of the school was beautiful; nestled in between completely untouched mountains. The day was great- the morning service, activities in the afternoon and in the evening. It was hard to keep up with the enthusiasm of the children. 

We stayed over in Kandy with some friends. Loved their hospitality, their house, and the view too. Built on an extremely steep site, the entrance at the top and the rest of the house divided into many different levels going downwards with large windows at every landing with no limits to the Kandy scape.

The next day, we visited the Trinity chapel. Definitely one of the nicest structures in Sri Lanka so far. It's such a rare thing to find a church that is built with local architectural influences as apposed to the standard Gothic references that most churches in the early 20th century mimicked.

Completed in 1935, the church was constructed with 50 monolithic stone pillars sculpted by local Kandyan craftsmen that supported a steel trussed tiled roof. Loved how the breeze moved right through the space. A chapel like this really didn't need biblical sculptures or paintings to add to the sanctity. 

I found some pictures online of elephants hauling the pillars up to the site- here

I wish I had my camera. I will have to visit again to take pictures. Posting some that Nen took. 

Day 150

I took a bit of a break from blogging.

After my Mum left things got a bit busy at work. Deadlines and such. My aunt was here for a week too and then in the middle of things, I knocked out 'update blog' from my schedule. 

Rewinding time a bit to when my Mum was here. We spent a day in Kandy. We visited the Temple of the Sacred Tooth and the rainy weather actually made it so much more beautiful. There was some sort of baby dedication day and hence were plenty of families with little babies at the temple. Was quite lovely.

All roads in Kandy lead up to the lake in the centre. We loved the scenic drive through town and around the lake. Apart from the temple, the other thing on our 'to-see' list was the British Garrison cemetery. People would probably consider us a bit morbid, but I have this thing for epitaphs (my Mum does to).

The cemetery tucked behind the temple complex and a little walk uphill had a little under 200 graves going back as far as 1817, dotted between Frangipani trees. Apart from the many depressing child graves many from the same family affected by various epidemics, there were some interesting ones too. One in particular was the grandson of the author of the hymn, 'Abide With Me'. The three of us after many failed attempts and tonnes of giggling sang the hymn at his grave. :) 

Here's another that caught my attention: He was the 7th and last recorded death of a European killed by a wild elephant.

We ended the day watching quite a grand display of Kandian dances at the cultural centre. We were treated to a variety of performances from graceful peacock moves to the contrasting energetic masked dances of the spirits along with drums and tamborines and balancing poles and the grand finale of fire breathing and hot coal walking. 

I really need to finish sorting through the pictures from this trip (as well as the rest of the South African trip ones. sigh)

Her trip was so short, but still really enjoyed 4 days with my Mum- talking, watching movies, cooking for her, shopping and showing her around Colombo.

Other highlights from the past 2 weeks:

1. We have an oven and a blender. The mothers visits came with many gifts of which the oven and blender were the most exciting. So far, we've already baked apple pie, cinnamon cookies, apple crumble and chocolate cake. Fun times ahead.

2. The church picnic. We spent quite a nice Sunday at Hanwela with the church gang. How I've missed swimming.

3. Choir practices. I love that we get to start Christmas excitement early by researching Christmas music for the choir and the play. So much fun.

Speaking of music, I've decided to start a new post type on my other blog to feature new music that I come across. Here's the first one of the series: New Music 01

Day 113

The other day I got to Kelaniya Temple (where I change buses on the way to work) a bit earlier than usual, I walked through the temple complex. 

One day, I will take my camera along and properly check it out. The best time to visit temples is in the evening, when all the lanterns and candles are lit.

Day 104

100 days already! More than a quarter over?!! This is going so fast.

The past week has been nice. More fancy cooking at home. Last week's cuisine was Mexican. We made burritos with home made tortillas, soya mince and kidney bean chili, salsa, sour cream and salad. We also made cheese stuffed deep-fried jalapenos. What we used wasn't actually jalapenos, but it tasted really good. I spent a lot of that evening with my hands soaking in cold water because cleaning those chilies had really burned my skin.

Over the weekend, we went for a trip. Was pretty unplanned because we only decided to go late on Friday evening.

I've always loved road trips and this was a super fun one.

I managed to get the hang of the camera thankfully except for pictures in low light.

As usual, I have a lot of pictures and lots to write and this time had to split the post into 2 sections.

I managed to finish part one today.

Southern Escapades (part 1)

Day 90

Hello to routine- work, home, cooking, a movie maybe and bed.

I still have so many pending posts from my South Africa trip, but sadly haven't managed to finish any. Last week my laptop crashed. It's five years old and has been though a lot, so it's probably just old age, but I was determined to fix it. I went through website after website and read through too many laptop forums that went way over my head and I managed to get it to some form of working condition. Unfortunately my graphics is a bit conked and all attempts to save it have so far failed. All hope is not lost (yet).

I had to edit pictures blindly and then check them on my phone to make sure the quality was good. My laptop makes movie watching very vintage now.

I did manage to finish one post about driving though South African countryside- Yellow Buildings, Canyons and Macadamias

Today got to go on a site visit two hours away from here to Kitulgala. This little town set in a rainforest up in the hills is known for the sets of the 1957 movie The Bridge on the River Kwai. I remember watching this movie about 14 years ago with my Dad. 

We stopped for breakfast and lunch at the local rest house and had the most beautiful mealtime view. The river, the forests and the clouds moving over the mountains.

The site we visited was set alongside a waterfall of one of the tributaries of the main river. Each chalet was barely 15m from the edge of the water. The surroundings were very overgrown with ferns and moss of all types covering the forest floor. Rubber and teak trees formed a canopy over the site making the rain fall unevenly over us. 

Unfortunately this was a site visit trip and not a holiday. I would have loved to walk downstream or possibly jump in for a swim or even better- raft down. Kitulgala is known for white water rafting. Definitely cannot wait to do that while I am here. The setting was so perfect, it seemed almost a crime to have a steel/concrete roof over your head. A tent would be so much cooler.

The coolest thing I saw at the site was a really interesting mushroom- Phallus indusiatus or the stinkhorn or the fanciest of names- the orange veiled lady mushroom. At first I thought it was a mushroom growing through some plastic mesh and only when I looked closer did I realise that it was a part of the mushroom. Now I wish I had gotten close enough to smell it's distinct odour. It's not a very common species, but is known to grow on extremely wet forest floors.

They say you can't visit Kitulgala without taking at least one leech back with you (my boss's words) and I stuck to tradition and left the site with a little black bloodsucker on my leg. Thankfully I found him fast before it got fat and ugly. Blahh.

Day 71

Today has been a bit of an adventure.

I got a note telling me that I have a package at the post office. Was quite curious (read nervous) considering no one has my address except the Sri Lankan immigration.

Got to the post office only to find out that I have a letter to say that there is a dutiable package waiting for me at the main post office. I feel like I'm on some treasure hunt. It better be worth all this hassle. If the person who has sent me a parcel is reading this, please tell me what it is. It'll make filling out those forms a lot easier. My boss said he's not coming with me to pick it up in case it is drugs. :P

The whole day was nice as usual. Working in my cool office while listening to Radiohead and David Grey and eating yummy Thai for lunch. 

I got a bit carried away at work (sometimes that happens) and forgot to leave on time. The buses are quite infrequent from where I work because it is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. After 5:30 in the evening, the buses come every 45 minutes! When I finally got on, the driver decided that he wants to drive home instead of the assigned route.

I jumped off in the middle of nowhere to walk to the next stop on the parallel road. I was fortunate enough to overhear 2 other equally annoyed passengers walking behind me who I assumed were deciding to take an auto rickshaw home (I assumed anyway, don't know any Sinhalese to know for sure). They seemed like decent, non-creepy people, so I jumped in with them. 

I was quite content that I managed to save the money (rickshaws are pretty over priced. Much worse than Bangalore) and happily jumped off and didn't realise that I dropped my phone on the road till after I got home.

I really didn't expect to get it back, but searched the cracks in the road and the gutters nonetheless. Some shady guys watching us search finally handed it over. Battery is mangled and pretty much lifeless. Probably the effects of being run over and in a puddle. The phone is battered and bruised and minus a memory card. But I think it'll live with a new battery and some cellotape.

Phones and me have never gotten along. Sigh. 

Proof of damage. 

Day 70

I've been putting off updating this blog even though there have been things to write about.

It was Poya on Monday and we had a nice extended weekend. My first Bangalore visitor was here in Sri Lanka for a short visit and I got to take him around Colombo. Well, there isn't much to see in the city, but we walked around Beira Laka and then to the pretty Seema Malaka temple on the water. There was a long fancy perahera (Poya day procession) around the lake and through the city, stopping traffic everywhere. Lots of fancily dressed up people dancing, but was a bit lazy to take pictures. 

I took some pictures at the temple, but the lake was a horrible algae green and spoiled the look of the Buddha statues. So, black and white it is. We then went to the coast and did another walk from Dutch Hospital down the Galle Face along the beach. 

Dutch hospital is one of my favourite places in the city. It's an old Dutch hospital building which is converted into shops and restaurants. I love the courtyards and the ambience in the evenings. I was back there again Tuesday evening at the Heladiv Tea Club. I really enjoyed the chocolate fudge cake that I ate, but I think it was the dim lights against bright yellow walls, the old wooden window shutters and the concrete tables on the stone paving that  makes me love the place. Will take the camera along next time I visit.

The tropical monsoon weather has been particularly crazy the past few days. I got terribly drenched on my way home yesterday, despite having an umbrella. I was slightly tempted to ditch the umbrella and run through the puddles. But they might not have let me on the bus. Even this poor cow was trying to get out of the rain. :P

I did a bit more experimenting with food today. Made some Thai curry. My mum makes Thai at home and this was my first time trying it out. It didn't come out the same as hers. I lacked some ingredients, but still tastes pretty good.

The weekend is almost here. Woohoo! :D

Day 64

It took me a while to count up to today. 

I made so many plans to post here regularly  I even wrote a few drafts on my iPod to post as soon as I was in range of a WiFi connection. But alas, things got busy in a good way and then I forgot all about the blog and when I did, I decided to just wait until I was back.

Anyway, it was such a super super trip. The journey back was exhausting. The lack of sleep during the congress and the annoying travel back from country to country, airport to airport- How sick I am of planes! finally got the better of me and I now have a bad cold and am still a bit sleep deprived. 

I went back to work yesterday. I was gone for two weeks, and clients have completely changed their minds about what they want. Sigh. Nothing new I guess.

The weekend is here and I even have Monday off. Almost went on a weekend trip, but I think what I need most right now is some rest. Also need time to sort through my pictures and finish off all the blog posts.

One done today--

One Random Day in Ethiopia

Day 42

I'm home! Barely 6 weeks in Sri Lanka and I've already come home for a short visit. The main reason for this is that this trip is in in transit to a really awesome 2 weeks that I will be spending in Pretoria, South Africa for a youth conference on community service. 

I was so unsure of everything falling into place because of the difficulties with getting my visa sorted. I finally only picked up my passport and visa this morning. Talk about last minute!

I went into work in the morning. I probably glanced at the time every 2 minutes waiting for lunchtime to leave. I had to wait for ages for the bus to fill up and leave on the way back. How time slows down when you want it to hurry.

Please hurry up and leave!

The waiting lounge was like starters to being back in India. Loud chatter and plenty of pushing and shoving to get into the plane, almost as if their seats would get taken if they didn't rush in. There was a big group of elderly women on the way back from what seemed like a little excursion to Sri Lanka. One of them had misplaced her boarding pass which led to a very frantic tension in the group, delaying one of the shuttles to the plane. Airports are the best places to people-watch!

Please hurry up and take off!

The plane took off over the lovely Negombo coast just as the last few colours of the sky sank into the horizon. I always chose an aisle seat. But on these short flights, I can ignore the claustrophobia and enjoy the changing landscapes from the plane. Taking off at sunset over a coastline is beautiful. City lights and a few dotted lights from ships on the shimmery water. Most of the flight was over the clouds, except for one very brief moment where I spotted the coastline of India as the clouds moved over for a bit. Landing over Bangalore city lights is the warmest feeling. You know you are back in India, when even before the front wheels of the plane hit the runway, seat belts are already off and people are pulling out their luggage and cramming the aisles. 

What's extra nice about this short trip is that it coincides with my Mum's 50th birthday weekend. My grandpa and uncle are also here and it's nice to have a house full. 

I really don't know how often I will be able to update this blog from South Africa. But there will be plenty of exciting posts when I am back.

Oh! In my last post about Paradise Road, I wanted to post a picture of the lovely bowls I bought for my Mum. But first of all, they were all wrapped up so well in bubble wrap, didn't want to have to repack just for a picture and secondly, my Mum reads this blog, so didn't want to spoil the surprise.

Here they are. They are so beautiful. Locally made and hand painted ceramic serving bowls. 

Day 36

This was the upholstery on the seats on the bus this morning. These Sri Lankan's travel in style. Torn and old, but style nonetheless. :D

This week went by so fast, I actually lost track of the days. The week ahead will only be busier. Excited.

Day 29

Four weeks have passed already. So fast!

I've always associated moss on buildings with decay and age. The last bit of my commute to work is a walk through a little residential area far away from the city centre. Moss grows over walls and staircases and the result is far from old and dilapidated. In fact it's quite the opposite. The moss lets the building breathe and coexist so perfectly with the plants around. 

Friday evenings are my time with music. Here's one I listened to today.

Day 21

My 'normal' kind of week is almost over. Have two new people at the office and will have two more soon. So it'll be fun working with more people at the office.

Bus commutes, work and more work while frequent short showers create random patterns on the glass, going through playlist after playlist on 8tracks, quiet lunchtimes and hoping it will stop raining while I travel back home. I've been missing my 2mbps internet. Had to watch Game of thrones bits at a time. 'Buffering' is such a horrible word. Ugh. And to make it worse, it was such a useless episode. Also had to watch the French Open matches by staring at live updates of scores online. Who would have ever thought I'd miss TV?!! Catching up with the Bangalore crowd in the evenings while fighting mosquitoes- Sri Lankan mosquitoes are tiny, but their bites are worse than the Bangalore variety (so hard to catch them!) That has been my week in summary and probably of many many more weeks to come.

Been cooking too- didn't try out any new vegetables this week. Made Egg Fu Yong for the first time. Somehow wasn't quite the same as what we used to make at home.

Stringing beans was strangely fun today. (Yes, I know it's a weird thing to find fun) I loved how the stings curled up once pulled off the beans. 

Yay for Friday tomorrow! Bring on the weekend, and maybe a more exciting coming week (otherwise I will have to resort to more uninteresting food pictures) :)