Just another day in Paradise

M and I decided to make a quick trip before I leave for the UK. The choices were the Maldives or to one of the beaches down-south. The idea of doing the journey to the airport 3 times within one week was not too appealing to me, plus the fact that we left organising it a bit late, so we decided to try out the relatively new Amangalla resort in Galle, and set off yesterday morning.

The resort is beautiful, set within the walls of the Galle Fort and next door to the old Dutch Church, which has also been restored recently, having received funding from the Dutch government. We had a relaxing afternoon at the hotel, and enjoyed the pool, and other hydro-therapy facilities, as well as having the complimentary tea and scones on the verandah! Our room was decorated in beautiful old colonial furniture with a huge window overlooking the port. We decided to leave the exploration of the old fort and its many beautiful buildings for today.

However, this morning, we were abruptly awoken by the sounds of windows banging, and it felt like our whole room shuddered. At first I thought one of the other guests had left their window open and a thunderstorm had begun, after the 3rd bang however, M decided to go investigate. We could also hear people running in the corridor outside our room. He thought it was a large piece of furniture that had fallen, however within minutes of the 4th bang, we discovered that the bangs were in fact, the LTTE suicide bombs going off in the fishing boats in the harbour, less than a kilometer away and within view from our window. The blasts themselves were not that alarming, it was the subsequent intermittent gunfire that went on for the next 2-3 hours that was a bit surreal, and at one point the proximity of it all made us wonder whether they'd actually manage to get to our hotel as well?

The hotel staff moved us to another room, which was more towards the inner courtyard rather than facing the docs, and we spent the next few hours there waiting it out until the army finally contained the situation and a curfew of sorts was called. We decided to cut short our trip and return to Colombo as soon as M's father and driver got to Galle.

This hasn't been the first bomb to go off since I got to Sri Lanka, however, it has been the closest. The bombs themselves were not that scary, however the sounds of the gunshots will remain with me for a long time to come, it really brought home the fact that we are living in a country that is at war, and the civil liberties that we take so much for granted are always under threat.

Pictures from HK-KL Trip 2006

Pictures from our trip are here.

nei ho ma from Hong Kong

Even before we could get sad about Preeti's swift departure from Colombo, M and I jetted off for a quick 2 week break (from our break) to Hong Kong.

We've been here just under a week now and are both quite impressed by the amazing skyline, and I can't get over how high all the buildings are. It is also very very clean in comparison to London or New York, or as M put it, it looks like a larger version of Canary Wharf!

My cousin took us to a market, where I had to step aside each time after I'd selected things to purchase, since I couldn't keep a straight face while she haggled with the vendors (I guess I've got a long way to go before I can shop like a pro in Asia!).

We also managed to catch up with some friends who've moved to Hong Kong from London and Tokyo! It's so great to see some familiar faces after being a newbie in Colombo for the past few months...

Am waiting for a clear evening before I can post some pictures of the pretty night-time skyline, or even a daytime shot of the harbour!

Little England...

As Preeti is only here for a short while, we decided to take her to the heart of the country to see the picturesque hill country... some pictures courtesy of P Jha!

Sister Act Part 2...

Preeti finally arrived in Colombo for her very short visit this morning!

Day 1
As with all the other times that M and I have gone to receive her at the airport, usually at Heathrow, after her many sojourns to her various backpacker destinations and GAP years etc, we were late... her flight arrived on time, and even though M had given her a long list of items to buy from the duty free shop, she was out within half an hour of landing, while we were still on the way there!!! But she said she was kind of expecting us to be late since it was 8am, and I am not really a morning person ;-)...

After much debating between M and I, we took her to the Gallery Cafe for lunch, which I think has pretty decent, if somewhat overpriced food, but a beautiful building and a great setting to just relax and catch up - which is what I wanted. M's reservations were that the service is slow, (in this instance it wasn't too bad), and that in an article a couple of months ago there was some controversy about how the maitre de had been rude to a couple of Indian patrons and said that their-type were not welcome, but I don't necessarily think he meant Indians as such, for why would they have Indian Butter Chicken on their menu? Maybe the guests had been particulary difficult and annoying to deal with???

Its so cool to have the first visitor from my family with us ;-). Preeti was suitably impressed by our new home, and by the fact that we now have food in our fridge unlike London - I think the most telling statement was when she told my mom, yes Ma they actually eat properly now, not like in London - where they survived only on take-outs!!!

We ended the first day with some dinner at the Galle Face Hotel, at the Sea Spray restaurant which is a great way to spend the evening listening to the waves washing in against the walls...

Chalk & Cheese

Opposites attract is an often used phrase, however what is it that makes people stay together, after that initial attraction changes into something more long-lasting and permanent? So it makes me wonder what it is that keeps two people together day after day, year after year?

M is definitely the neater/tidier one out of the two of us and is borderline analy-retentive, but I probably have bouts of anal-ness that I think must have rubbed off from him over the years! In any case, the most recent event that has sparked this blog entry is that in an attempt to be caring and helpful (I'm sure the intentions are noble), M decided to draw me up a blank time-table for the week, breaking the day up into 2-4 hour slots, so that I can note down what I'm eating at what time. The idea being, that I can keep track of the portions of fruit and veg intake I get daily! But then this is also the same guy who when he wants to make a point of how I'm not pulling my weight, sends me an Excel spreadsheet listing the things on our joint TO-DO list that he's completed, vs. the ones that I still have pending... But you've got to give it to him for being persistent in his goal to constantly improve me ;-). Most of the time its quite amusing and endearing, but on occasion I think he crosses the line. Even at the moment I think I must have at least 10 emails in my inbox from him with links to on-line calendars/to-do lists, self improvement sites, and exercise sites!!!

Anyway, despite all these foibles, we're still together and I am sure my lack of interest in tidying up and keeping things at right angles must drive him mad too!

Coffee at Crescat

At the time it seemed like a good idea to go for an after dinner coffee and dessert so we headed of to our favourite Cinnamon Grand for a post-dinner coffee.

The lobby was buzzing even more than usual, since it happened to be the evening when the South African team was heading back home post their decision to return due to security concerns...

We had a some great desserts and coffees and just as we started to relax, the band decided to start singing, which would be ok if it were background music, but the way hotels like to entertain their guests in Sri Lanka (and much of the sub-continent) is by having live bands in their lobby areas playing blaring music, so its good enough to put an end to all conversations... after a while, if you go to the same place often enough, you tend to hear them sing their same repertoire over and over. So as we were listening to ABBA numbers and some UB40, we were really entertained by some of the hotel guests who decided to get up and dance. I wish I had my camera with me, it was definitely a performance worthy of google videos ;-), not just the dancing, but the attire of a wife-beater and knee-length shorts, amused us to no end.

Just as we were leaving we managed to see the entire South African team, who were being interviewed by the press before they boarded their team bus to leave. Unfortunately, there was some sort of road block, and we were forced to wait over an hour before Galle Road was opened up to vehicles again. The SA team managed to leave after a 45 minute wait once they kicked up a fuss, but following their departure, there was another 30 minute wait before we could finally get home... next time we'll stick to having dessert at home I think ;-)!

The wretched rain...

...alas the clash between the Lankans and the Indians has been postponed for yet another couple of days. The triangular series has now become a bilateral 3 match series instead. The only silver lining on this cloud is that all 3 matches are to be played at the SSC which is a stones throw away from our house rather than Premadasa which I hear is at quite a distance away...and even if we can't get tickets (which I am certain won't be the case...) we can always go to the members bar and watch the match from the comfort of the a/c and a ready supply of beverages and eats!

Tea with Sanath, Chaminda & Murali

If the heavens are kind and the rain is kept at bay, then we are going to watch the first game of the Unitech Cup at the Premadasa Stadium this afternoon, to watch the clash between India and the home team and favourites Sri Lanka.

None other than the Sri Lankan medium paced bowler Chaminda Vaas got our tickets for us - which was pretty cool. I was sent as chaperone to M's cousin Shiv who made friends with Chaminda, Sanath and a few other of the Sri Lankan squad while they were in Holland earlier this year. We decided to have a coffee at the Taj Coffee Shop instead of looking like groupies in the foyer while we waited for Chaminda to get there with the tickets. He joined us shortly, for a tea, and Sanath was also there a few minutes later. The waiter who up until then had been taking his time to bring our order, suddenly perked up and speedily brought our beverages. A short while later the famous Muttiah Muralitharan also appeared and said hello, Sanath calmly introduced him as Murali (as if we wouldn't recognise that toothy grin anywhere!). I guess living in Sri Lanka does have its upsides, since I can't imagine ever having a chat and a coffee with any of the Indian cricket team, what with their iconic status in India, which is quite mad about hero-worshipping their cricket players, who are akin to the bollywood stars! Considering their achievements in their chosen profession, they were all very polite and down-to-earth! However some poor Indian tourists looking for a picture with Sanath were curtly and politely refused by him saying they were in a "meeting", which I guess made Shiv and me feel important for those few seconds, although I felt a bit bad for the little kids who wanted to get a picture, and it was amusing to watch them persist with their desire to take a picture by sneaking photos from the pillar behind where we were sitting.

I also spotted Ajit Agarkar while I was there, but didn't want to go up to chat with him.

The whole experience was a bit surreal and like I was telling Shiv later, I'd love to see the Indian team but I think I'd be too start-struck to actually be able to speak to them! In any case we've both decided to hang out as groupies at the Taj so we can catch some more of the players.

As we left, I wished Chaminda & Sanath luck for the match, obviously pointing out that I would be rooting for the opposition ;-)...

Watch this space for some photos if I get round to it... M told me to play it cool and not take any pictures with them, which looking back at those poor Indian tourists, I'm glad I didn't pull out my camera!

Home Sweet Home!!!

After leading a nomadic life for just under 4 months, we finally moved into our own place!!!
The moving in was pretty much handled by M and his cousin as I wasn't able to help much at all with the heavy lifting etc. In fact we spent the first night sleeping with all the boxes still half unpacked in our rooms... luckily we managed to find some help after the first couple of days, and the place finally looks like home, although I have cheated a little by just putting things into wardrobes without organising them, but I guess that's the next challenge!!! I even managed to cook my first meal here on Saturday!

been a bit lame with the blogging recently, but that's mainly because nothing much has been going on that's new, as well as the fact that we've been away from Sri Lanka for the first time since we got here in May to Bangalore for about 10 days... and despite the fact that it is the supposed Silicon valley equivalent in India, believe it or not, I didn't have access to the net during my entire time there...

Anyway, it was fun, great catching up with my cousins and it also made me realise how much I was missing bihari/indian style cooking. For the less discerning, I know you may think rice and curry all tastes the same, but I beg to differ. So I think I ate more than I have done in a long while, and I totally agree with Appu di that she makes amazing paratha's (well they're definitely the best I've ever tasted ;-)).

As this was my third trip to Bangalore I wasn't much into sight-seeing, so M was sent with one of our cousins to see the sights, I couldn't beleive that the guy who finds some of the most amazing museums in the world boring... (and beleive me I've dragged him to quite a few) actually went to the museum in Bangalore!

The weather in Bangalore was a welcome relief after the heat in Colombo! Highlight of the trip was my niece Aakriti's 14th birthday party - check out the chaat!

Happy Anniversary!!!

Just wanted to wish a very Happy Anniversary to Amma & Thatha... 35 years, and still going strong.


Also, a special thank you to both of them for actually spending this special day apart, just so Thatha can help M & I to move into their house here in Colombo!!!

Thank you both, and hope you have a good celebration when Thatha gets back to Geneva!

weekend in the hill country...

Just got back from a weekend break to Nuwara Eliya (also known as the little England of Sri Lanka). It took us 6 hours to get there, on some pretty bad roads for the last two hour stretch, I was grateful it was dark, so we couldn't see how steep the slopes were on the sides of the roads. We stayed at a real Tea Factory, that has been converted to a hotel, which looks on majestically to rolling hills of tea-plantations. It was quite quaint, and the whole of Nuwara Eliya really brings home the influence and impact of the Raj! There's the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club, which has a public footpath running through it, which means that you often get some nutter running through the footpath and getting walloped on the head with a golf ball! M & B spent the morning golfing, or attempting to golf...I think they played 9 holes... while I enjoyed the view and listened to my iPod...
We then drove through the town, which was swarming with bus-loads of day-trippers from Colombo, all buying the brightly coloured monkey-caps and sweaters that were on sale on the road-side (it was seriously not monkey-cap weather, rather more like a pleasant English summers day... but I guess the locals find it cold...).
We had high-tea in the afternoon back at our hotel, since (luckily) none of us were appropriately dressed for the very posh, very Colonial Hill Club which is a members only establishment, where gentlemen are expected to wear dinner jackets and there is even a separate gentleman's only bar... the Orange Pekoe tea was excellent, although the food took a good hour to get to us, and was a far cry from cucumber sandwiches or indeed Sri Lankan short-eats, and poor Bush had to wait an hour for his Fanta... even though we asked about 3 times...
Anyway, the return journey back was far more pleasant, and shorter by a couple of hours since we left late morning and made it in good time to Colombo...
I think Nuwara Eliya is a perfect weekend or mid-week break from Colombo, for a spot of golf, some great tea, as well as to experience the high old days of the Raj ;-)...
Pictures to follow (when I bother to upload them)

resident status...

It's very easy to visit Sri Lanka since they issue 30 day visit visa's to almost all nationality passport holders, so as my first month was coming to an end, I had to get my resident's permit. It took us (I say us, when actually it was poor M who did 99% of it) a total of 4 trips, each of which took several hours, to see first the CONTROLLER of Immigration & Emigration, then his deputy, where we had to wait outside her cubicle for about an hour while people with badges calmly pushed into her room ahead of us. When we finally got to see her, she was unable to grant my visa as we didn't have all the documentation. The next two trips frustrated M no end, as he went on his own, only to be told that the computers were closed (err... then why can't they switch them back on???), anyway, I now have a 2 year resident's permit to live in Sri Lanka, and this was when we had used our contacts to go to the top guy to start off with, gawd knows how the common people cope ;-).

queue jumping...

having lived in England for at least the last 18 years at a stretch, I guess I've become kind of accustomed to queuing. Brits love to queue, just look at Wimbledon ;-), where I can proudly say, I too queued in my youth and got into watch some amazing matches. But coming from a country that loves queuing, one of my pet peeves is queue jumping... I really have a problem with that. Queue jumpers annoy me to no end...so its been a bit of a challenge adjusting to the way things work here in Colombo, (and before all the Lankans start biting my head off, yes I am sure its pretty much the same in my country of birth: INDIA...). People push-in everywhere, and the thing is that no one seems to mind, whether its the driving, where people cut each other off from the left/right/centre anywhere really, or if you're in some simple queue at a store or anywhere...

Anyway, I decided if I couldn't beat them, I'd definitely have to join them, so here I am jumping queues at any opportunity I can find!

P.I.M.P. my ride...

so as we wait to move into our home, I've just been pottering around while M has been super efficient in finding out the best gym in terms of proximity and facilities, yoga classes and hiring us a car before we actually buy one. Speaking of cars, I feel I must post a picture of our hire car here, yes you may well wonder with me why in heaven's name did M decide to trade in his beloved Porsche (I'm convinced he loved it more than me ;-)), for what can only be described as the P.I.M.P. mobile, replete with neon strip-lights and darkened windows!!!



Other than that, we had a nice and relaxing weekend away from the city at the beach in Beruwela. Been to my first yoga class, which was on the roof terrace of an old house! And went to watch the England vs. Trinidad & Tobago match at the Library bar, which was fun for the last 15 minutes, when the goals were scored. Football fever is on here too, and you find bunches of expats glued to the large-screen tvs across the hotels! I didn't feel far from a pub in London, when the fans started singing 'it's comin' home....' ;-).

Foreigners Only...

So after one week of searching, and looking at over 25 houses, we have come to the realisation that the colonial house of our dreams doesn't really exist in Colombo anymore. Most of them have been converted to high-end restaurants, or cafe's or spa's. And people who do or may have the few remaining of these properties available, advertise them annoyingly in the papers stating: FOREIGNERS ONLY! The main issue is that the landlords in Sri Lanka don't want to rent their properties to Sri Lankans. Some come right out and say that they only want foreigners, by which they mean only WHITE skinned people, so the fact that I'm British or that M is Swiss/Sri Lankan doesn't help. I had never thought that I would face racism in the sub-continent, but the fact that 50% of the available properties are out of our hands because of the colour of our skin, or because one of us is Sri Lankan is quite frustrating for us. I'm sure if this had happened in the UK or anywhere else in the world, it would cause an outrage... but well, when you are in Rome...The reason they don't want to rent to Sri Lankans is that the law here is totally on the side of the tenants, which means that landlords are weary of people just staying on in their properties and never vacating them, and with the fact that even the authorities will not support them.

We will persevere, and if nothing else works out, we have the very generous offer of M's parents, who have a house in the heart of Colombo, just the small matter of getting rid of the current tenants ;-). Although, I think even Thatha has only ever rented his property out to the British High Commission!!! Oh to be a foreigner.

Hello Colombo...

and SJ-F has finally made it to Colombo. Yay!

We got here after a 10 hour long flight, welcomed by the downpour of monsoon showers!!! It was great to come home to our own little annexe at the Goonewardene's, who are very kindly putting us up, or putting up with us ;-).

After a very restful sleep with the sounds of just crickets, we woke up early to the singing of a jack-fowl!!!

Day 1 in Colombo was quite eventful, we went to do admin things such as get local cellphones and a bank account etc. We went to the branch of a local bank where M had already opened an account almost a decade ago, when he was doing an internship here after his first year at LSE. To re-activate it he had to sign some docs, which they promptly told us didn't match the signature on their records...we were really impressed by the level of security, when they showed us on screen which signature we had to re-produce ;-)! After that it took 5 people to complete a simple exchange of sterling to sri lankan rupees for me... I was made to go from the upstairs counter, back down the stairs and to 3 different people before I could receive my fx - that is how they ensure employment for multiple people I guess...also a good lesson for me to become more laid back a la the Lankans!!!
The cellphones were acquired fairly swiftly and I can't get over how cheap it is... only 2.50 for monthly line rental and 1p a text, even internationally!!!
Other than that we spent the afternoon looking for cars (fairly unsuccessful ;-), followed by some house viewing, which wasn't so bad - in fact we saw a place that I absolutely loved, the location is Colombo 7 (which I am told is the equivalent of Chelsea here in Colombo!!), and the best part was that the living room leads on to a semi-covered patio area, and there are two large trees and several plants, so its as if your living room is a part of the garden. However, since luckily we're not both impulsive people who'd just say, quit our jobs and relocate to a new country or something, we decided to look at some more places before making an offer on this house... but I really hope we get it, wish I had taken my camera so that I could've posted them here!

Goodbye London....

I still can't believe that after just over a decade, my tryst with London will be over! It will always remain very close to my heart, as this is where I've spent the most memorable part of my life thus far, and it also holds so many special memories, from my days at the LSE, meeting all those new friends, who have now become life-long buddies, and of course, meeting M, my first (and only job) at GS, getting married, etc, etc.

The last four years have been especially fun as my li'l sister has also been in London and that has meant that I've always had at least one semi-permanent house-guest and also lots of fun hanging out!

So this last week in London has been fairly hectic packing up and moving out of our lovely home. As well as catching up with as many of my friends as was physically possible, including attending Moody & Jyoti's wedding, which was cool cos I got to hang out with my Bankside buddies, that's the thing with your university friends, they really make you feel 21 again! I guess that's one advantage of marrying your college sweetheart ;-) - we never quite feel old!

So with tears in our eyes we bid a fond adieu to London - take care of it, it's a beautiful place on the days it's sunny!

packing up

for those of you who had to go through our moving in saga to Bywater Street, you may remember we had the dream team working for us back in October!

Today we have to make to with just M, myself and the sri lankan packers - it's 9.50am and still no sign of them. M and I are being equally productive by sitting on our pc and laptops respectively, rather than organising or sorting the packing - rationalising this by saying that we can't do anything until they get us the boxes!

When the packers finally arrived I was in super-charged mode, while M's energy was flagging, since we both woke up mega-early! We had a short visit by my sister who helped me out by taking many of my winter clothes, as I shan't be needing them in Colombo ;-). The packers finally left at 10pm, we had all given up by this stage, and there is a small amount of stuff that M and I will have to sort through and drop off to them.

big girls don't cry...

after a week-long of festivities for Bittu & Paul's weddings, we finally said goodbye to everyone in Wales. It was a tearful good-bye, and I guess it finally struck me that I wouldn't be seeing my friends and family for a long time now.

I was quite sad leaving Ma & Papa, and Ma and I alternated crying. I reminded Ma of the times she used to send me to boarding school when I was young, and said it would be like that, but that didn't seem to help.

In any case, I will be seeing them once more on Monday before we leave for Colombo on the 30th!

the big Indian Wedding

As my friend's wedding is coming up, it leads me to think about what it is that makes weddings special. I think apart from the actual marriage of the two individuals involved, a wedding is a celebration of this union, and also an opportunity for close family and friends to congratulate and join the couple in these celebrations. While I'm sure all weddings are special to the couple involved, I don't think I've experienced anything more fun than a good old Indian wedding! I think Monsoon Wedding gave a pretty good insight into Indian Weddings to the world at large. They are chaotic, colourful, noisy affairs, and an opportunity to get together with all your family and friends. The pre-wedding celebrations can last upto a full week, with events such as the sangeet, mehndi, haldi and then the actual ceremony itself. I think it's all of these events that really lead up to the big day and help generate the feeling of celebration for the bride.

Having close family and friends around helps to create the atmosphere of what makes a good old Indian wedding, and throughout the week, there was plenty of dancing and singing in the build up to the hindu wedding on Thursday! Merthyr did us proud again by holding the rain at bay during the actual ceremony, just like on my wedding day!

Despite her reluctance to put on a lot of jewellry - I think she looked amazing on her hindu wedding day! and I think Paul was a great sport all through the ceremony, even showing Bittu up by touching the panditji's feet while she just stood there!!! After, what was a very long day, the four of us (Bittu, Baby, Preeti and me) were spending the night in Bristol, it was like old times when the four of us just hung out in her kitchen drinking tea and reminiscing!

The next day was the grand finale at Orchardleigh, with the church ceremony followed by the reception. The ceremony was short and sweet, with beautiful readings by Sreeti and Tana. The whole week was lots of fun, and also a bit exhausting, and we can't believe it's over! Here are a couple of pictures (I'll add more to photosite/flickr later).

Bittu's Wedding (part 1)

After an 8 hour drive from Amsterdam to Wales, we got here for the first part of Bittu & Paul's wedding extravaganza.

To give you a bit of background, I've known bittu for over half our lives now, and well, she's the kind of friend, that even if you don't talk to or see that often, you just have so much history, that each time we catch up, it's like an un-interrupted continuation of our friendship from wherever we left off.

Anyway, the Sangeet was a super-duper success, with an abundance of food, drink, and dancing.

So this one is dedicated to my piya-tu girl!

on to Holland...

We arrived here in good time to enjoy kottu-roti made by none other than Sada Mama himself! Generally enjoying the good food and company of the Sadacharan's.

Wednesday late morning/early afternoon was spent at Keukenhof. The myriad varieties of flowers was just astonishing. The weather was perfect, sunny and not too hot. Although the gardens were pretty spectacular, my wish to re-enact all those bollywood films (think dekha ek khwab in Silsila), remained unfulfilled, since the tulip fields weren't in full bloom, but we'll save the dancing between the tulips for another visit ;-). Incidentally it was also our 9 year anniversary on the day, which predictably M had forgotten - he thinks I spend way too much time remembering too many dates, and that now we should only remember our wedding anniversary instead.

Got up early this morning, to see the famous Dutch flower auction - pretty impressive, and the first time I've seen a reverse auction - once again the sheer amount of flowers are a sight to be seen, and bring to home that the Dutch people take their flowers very seriously. Something else to note, was how little the flower distributors pay for each rose (as low as 9 euro cents a stem) compared to what you and I end up paying at a florist (especially in central London!).

Some pictures

the need for speed...

...continuing on the German autobahn, I was able to experience M's need for speed by driving at (yes you'd better believe it...) 203km/hour. It was fun, albeit for a couple of seconds, but I guess you really have to be a type A alpha male to find the experience exhilirating. In the meantime, I just envisaged us being the European version of Bonnie & Clyde, or more aptly, Bunty aur Babli ;-).

driving in Deutschland

After a very restful stay in Eysins with Amma & Thatha, lots of yummy food, chats and fun, we departed for our short stay to Köln. Amma got up mega early to pack us some bites (cutlets and patties, as well as some rice packets ;-).

The sun was shining, and we were zipping across the Industrial heartland of Germany, which doesn't have the rustic appeal of the French countryside, nor the picture-postcard views of the Swiss countryside. Despite this, M was loving the German autobahn, especially when we got to the speed-limit free section of the motorway. I now know why the Germans make the best cars - they actually let you drive them to the limit!

We finally got to Köln at 4pm, as the primary purpose of this visit was to meet up with Hira, we are staying at the same hotel as her, which was quite lucky since it is very centrally placed, and right next door to the famous Köln cathedral, which took over 600 years to build!

Swiss riviera

Our sojourn in Europe continued, with a leisurely drive through the Swiss mountain pass of Simplon, across to the Lake Maggiore, had a lazy lunch at the small lake-side town of Cannobio, followed by stops at Locarno, Lugano, Como and Bellagio. Bellagio looked stunning with the dusk sun shining on the yellow-stone buildings. we took the ferry across the lake from Bellagio to Mennagio and then drove back to base-camp Geneva!
pictures to follow...

Sister act...

It was my sister's first trip to Switzerland, and we had a great time showing her around places and hanging out, including celebrating M's birthday!

The usual scenario when the 3 of us hang out, is that Preeti and M gang up on me, however, I think she was so mesmerised by the stunning locales, that there wasn't too much of that this time ;-).

It was also a bitter-sweet realisation, that it would be a while before we'd be able to hang out together like this again, so looking forward to her month-long trip to Colombo in December, watch out for Sister Act part 2!

Some pictures from her trip:

Cannonball Europe 2006

We got off to a great start on our Cannonball Run Europe 2006, with me snoozing and M driving his Porsche, (trying to emulate his hero Tom Selleck out of Magnum P.I.), zipping across the French motorways. We were making good headway, but alas, that was in vain, as I was suddenly awoken by sirens, as we had been copped for speeding at 195km (122mph), joining the ranks of Eric Clapton, Jenson Button, and Montoya (although M looked distinctly worried when he got pulled over, as he thought he would have to spend the night in jail at that speed).

Of course we were both giggling like school kids as we thought we were in an episode of Dukes of Hazard.

After 20 minutes at the local police station, and a 1 month driving ban for M in France, I timidly took to the wheel of the beast (as I like to call it), and went on to complete the remaining 400km stretch till we reached Switzerland, handing the baby back to M, who I am sure was praying for us as I flung the car across the zig-zag country roads to get to Geneva! I think I made many a motorists day as they all got to overtake the Porsche, including a Renault Twingo ;-).

part 2...DC

On to DC... I think I spoke to soon, looks like we brought the rain with us, but unlike in England, the April showers here are what you expect them to be - a mild relief from the humidity and not the spitting kind of rain we get back in London...Enjoying hanging out with Hira in DC, good to catch up and generally drink umpteen cups of tea...and eat American food, plan is to get OBEZE (as M puts it) by the time we leave, which makes me think that the getting healthy plan for COLOMBO is going to be all the harder. M is keeping us entertained by spending most of his time chasing dell for a laptop.

Also watched INSIDE MAN, missed the start as was too busy wondering why they were playing chaiyya chaiyya during the credits, pretty impressive that Bollywood has made it into mainstream hollywood!

Sunny USA... part 1

Before the big move we decided to do a quick trip to visit my cousin and sis-in-law in the States.

The sunshine was a welcome relief after London's poor excuse for spring! This was my second visit to the mid-west, which is apparantly more than for most people... The mid-west is well, v. flat and the land of malls and bargain shopping. So I pretty much spent most of my time at the malls marvelling at the excellent bargains I got on footwear... if we have nothing else, I will at least have a shoe collection for people in Colombo to envy ;-).

Good byes...

...it's always difficult to leave the old and start with the new, however, I never believed that the same could be said of work...

...I mean, for me work was something that you do because you kind of have to, everyone has a job, and you work, and you work hard and that's normal. It's not like you're supposed to enjoy it or love it or anything, it's kind of like medicine, you know you have to take it cos it's good for you, but you don't necessarily like it...

although I think there were some days that I probably did love it...so today was my last day, after 6 years, 7 months and 13 days to be precise, I left my firm today... and much as I may have moaned to my friends about it, I think there was some part of me that was sad...probably due to the fact that one of the most important things for me at work, was the people - and I feel that I have met some tremendous people in my time at work, and that is probably what I'll miss the most! The banter and the daily conversations with those people...

It was a lovely send-off, and I feel I must share the poem that my friends and colleagues wrote for my send off:

There once was an Indian girl called Smriti
Who knew everything about spice
I'm talking about our positioning system
Although her curry is also very nice

There once was a welsh girl called smriti
Who liked a good glass of wine
Its said she has her own account at Brodies
Is that why she struggles to get in by nine

There was a cool dancer called Smriti
That's smriti, smrithi, smrits to us all
Her bollywood moves at the christmas party
Were once the cause of her great downfall

There was a lovely girl called Smriti
A colleague and a mom to every friend
She took off for a new life in Sri Lanka
Before PACE drove her round the bend

So this post is dedicated to my colleagues and friends who I've bid adieu to... in the hope that we meet again in sunnier climes!

Itinerary before Colombo...

14-Apr to 20-Apr: visiting the Singhs in Chicago
20-Apr to 24-Apr: visiting Hira in DC
25-Apr to 28-Apr: pit-stop in London (need to pack up the house and move... may involve bribing the junior jhas to help out again...)
28-Apr to 13-May: driving trip around Europe: Geneva, Italy (Lake Como), Cologne, Amsterdam
13-May to 20-May: Wales (Bittu & Paul's wedding celebrations)
21-May to 30-May: around London, (Tony's 30th, Moody & Jyoti's wedding), last good-byes...
30-May: fly to Colombo!!!

First Entry!

As most of my friends & relatives know by now, I have recently resigned from my job after 6 and a half years, and decided to leave London, and move across continents, to the beautiful tropical island of Sri Lanka.

So the purpose of this blog is two-fold - one so my friends and family can find out about the interesting (or not) things going on when I am thousands of miles away, and secondly, just to provide me with a journal, of what I expect to be one of the most interesting phases in my life.

Our schedule for the next couple of months before we reach Colombo is a bit hectic, so there may not be a second entry for a while...so if any of you want to know where we are, I will add our itinerary to this site too ;-).