Four Legged Love

Meet Shadow, my 12 year old man dog.

I still remember the day we picked him up. He was the cutest fur ball I’ve ever met in my life. My usual dog-hater brother took a particular liking towards him, even likening him to a soft rug that someone might accidentally wipe their feet on.

From being a champ around the house he has sort of resigned to living mostly in the back garden. That’s mostly due to me. I just don’t have the time, for him. It makes me feel extremely guilty. And it breaks my heart, when he trips over things, when he wheezes, when he looks at me pleadingly for some of my precious time.

12 years is a long time to be friends, even if it’s a dog and human relationship, but Shadow has taught me a few valuable lessons in life.

Responsibility.  Daily feeding rituals. Playing, walking and talking. Baths that means severe teeth and ball cleaning. Vets that cost a pretty packet. Illness that requires vigilant medicine administration. Shit that needs to be be shoveled!

I remember feeling the weight of his limp body when the Vet sedated him for a surgery. It was the weight of my love. I could have easily have given him away, for someone else to take care of him when I couldn’t find a house that would accommodate him, but I didn’t. He is my responsibility.

Adapting. Shadow is a firm believer of that. He has moved to as many houses as I have, all without a single fuss. He’s also the kind of dog who eats anything that’s given to him, and if he doesn’t particularly like something he’d move it aside and eat the rest.

He listens. He understands. That my nephew is a tiny human. My brother doesn’t like him jumping on him, so he patiently waits for him to be head tapped, or fed, or spoken to. That if we’re not at home the neighbour would come around and feed him, and that Deane is my  special someone.

Always happy, even during painful ear infections. This dog will always be my best friend.

I really do have a lot to learn from this almost human Shadow!

Past To Present

Twenty Thirteen. People welcomed a new year. People partied. People did what people do.

I, slept through it all, like most times. I don’t really understand the need to ring in the new year with such pageantry. All it reminds me of is a year that’s over. I am not a regretful person, I’m just a person who doesn’t see the point, of most things.

Twenty Twelve. Such a wonderful year, pretty much like every single year. I learnt to be a wife, a new co-worker and embrace the newness of things marriage brings with it. It was surely enjoyable, and sometimes disheartening. My new job isn’t all what I expected it to be. Am I unhappy? No. I’m not the type who sits and cries in the corner. I man-up, roll my sleeves and take charge. That’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m looking for little things that make me happy, and get me off the bed on weekday mornings.

Deane played a risk. He wanted out of the company he was working for. It started becoming something he didn’t want doing, and he was working harder doing it. An offer came his way, with a lot of bullet point risks. It really wasn’t exactly what he was looking for, but it was new, and new meant exciting.

He quit.

The risk turned deadly.

He lost.

I was sound asleep the night he got to know. He labored on the entire night in misery, and put on a brave face the next morning. I didn’t guess a thing, just that he hadn’t got any sleep, but I’m the wife of a tech guy, these things are pretty normal. Later on that day he blurted it all out. My panic button didn’t kick in. I mean I generally would react with my foot in my mouth, gnawing at my toe nails, while spewing a major list of terms and words  that are not in my everyday vocabulary. Yes, I am, sometimes, that. Bad! I didn’t panic. My first reaction was ‘why didn’t you wake me up, and tell me?’ I was slightly annoyed that he didn’t do that. We’re in this together. Together. But I understood the dilemma of a newly married husband who wants his wife to have the perfect life. For once I told him that it couldn’t all be bad, maybe something will work out. I was positive, only because I know him well enough to know that he will find his way out. I respect him, sincerely, even though I’m terrible at showing it. The weeks dragged on, we got our action plan in gear. We worked. We informed our families, they were understanding and supportive. Things moved on, and the risk eventually paid off in a different way. Deane, along with a few others batted on and formed a company, making his bucket list dream come true. It came sooner than we expected, but in a good way. Things are hard, you know the usual dilemmas of getting a company running and off the ground, but it certainly is rewarding.

He’s happy, we’re happy.

Twenty Twelve and marriage taught me one hugely important thing.

I can achieve what I really choose to do.

It has made me open my eyes to taking the plunge, without fear, but with nervousness.

TwentyThirteen will thrust its hand and grab some of our candy. I am also certain it will return it with a few biscuits as a peace offering.

Now, perhaps is the time to write my book. And also fulfill another big dream on my bucket list. Any guesses?

Happy good year, folks.

Hundred And One Celebrations!

We survived one whole year, as a couple. That counts for a celebration, maybe even a few! Anniversaries are pretty big around my household, it’s almost a tradition. Deane, who has dropped pagan celebrations has wholeheartedly adopted the idea, after all he is the kind who likes making a fuss over a party.

To kick off our one year, we went on a proper dinner date. A single rose, a white gold pendent, a proper leather wallet for Deane, and an expensive dinner made me feel like a real giddy girl. Since I didn’t know anything about dinner plans it was a nice surprise to find myself seated at the Ministry of Crab. I love crab! I was absolutely thrilled to be there, even though I was terribly worried about the impending bill. The bill although being Rs.10,000 was worth every single penny. The crab was delicious, and we were stuffed.

Then a week later we were off to Trincomalee. Our initial plan was to go gallivanting somewhere abroad, but unfortunately things took a turn and our finances became tight. Trinco, at this time of year isn’t on its best behaviour. The famed seas are pretty restless and quite dangerous. Yet we were going, since Deane has never been there, and I went there last during the war, so there wasn’t a great many things I could see. We booked Jungle Beach, and since it was off season we were able to get a Jungle Cabin for Rs. 20,000.

We left the car at home and decided to book Exporail. It was an overnight ride, so it seemed a pretty good idea. The return journey only cost us Rs.7000. Now on the day of our adventure, the local railway authorities launched a strike. No trains, hellava bloody thing! No what? Exporail did a fantastic job by getting us a van, and even sending a steward who accompanied us all the way. We were impressed!

The van ride wasn’t bad, but we were pretty tired. So it was a little impossible to be all thrilled about arriving there to an empty railway station at 3 in the morning. And since we were ahead of  the scheduled hotel time, we decided to visit Koneswaram. I’ve repeatedly heard that from the top of Swami Rock on a clear and calm day you might be able to see the ruins of the ancient temple that was pushed down from its foundation. I was excited! We made the long walk from Trinco town into Fort Fredrick. It’s currently used as an Army base. The Fort is in need of a little love and attention, but the beautiful old buildings still remain, and if restored this place can look like the Galle Fort, even better. The walk to Koneswaram leads you through herds of deer and peacocks.

Right at the top you find the temple. I tried in vain to catch a glimpse of the ruins, too bad it wasn’t such a great day. The view though was beautiful.

Then we made our way to Kuchaveli, where Jungle Beach is located. That’s some 23 kms away. It cost us Rs.1300 by tuk-tuk. Once we got there we were in for a surprise. They upgraded us to a Beach Cabin. Awesomeness.

Our Cabin

The view from our Cabin

It was terribly luxurious, and we were lapping it all up. The food there was also really good, so was the service. We highly recommend it, and the beach is secluded.

They kindly let us stay as long as we needed and didn’t hassle us to move to our next hotel. We took our time, and then made it to Chaaya Blu where we going to spend the rest of our time. We booked on Agoda, so we paid something like Rs, 10,000 for b&B. On arrival we had to pay for lunch and dinner buffets, and that didn’t seem so bad. That was until we actually went to claim our buffets. The food is terrible! Really. Really bad.

The rooms were ok. Small, but alright. The beach is alright too. At least its safer here to sea bathe. We did do a walk along and found a mix of dead and live fish.

He’s dead!

Alive!

This guy was alive and we tried to get him to go into the water. I think he was there to die! Poor fish, I felt incredibly sorry. That was when Deane captured me coming back after trying to help. I love this photo. It’s just so real!

Chaaya Blu does have this one awesome feature. Two chairs at the end of the deck. Romantic when you have a nice chat about the vast starry expanse. I felt at peace, and mighty thankful for everything. The train ride back wasn’t glamorous.  In fact it was simply just awful. The tracks, or the compartment, I cant tell which wobbled so bad that it took an effort to simply stay in your seat.

To finish off our celebrations, we threw a party. Seriously. It was a sarong party, because I’m a firm believer in creating a tradition, a tradition of themed parties. We enjoyed a range of hoppers, arrack tea, which to be quite honest wasn’t that great, and chocolate mousse.

All in all it was a jolly good year. Hope you had a fantastic one too.

Cheers…

Burp!

#Images all mine. Do not distribute without my permission.

Three Things We Need To Talk About!

# 1

Whatever the hell happened to me!

Work happened in bucket-loads.

Deane risked it! That means we had no car. Then we borrowed a car. A whole nother story, for a nother day!

We house hunted, then we were told we could stay for nother year!

Work happened,again.

#2

My parents celebrated their 34th anniversary!

Wowee. Celebrations were a must. Always is a must for anniversaries, so we went Down South.

#3

T20 World Cup and Hambantota.

Where do I start? On what should I rant?

Well as you know our grand dreams of watching a final match, and winning it were dashed to bits! We were so close, yet so far after the 10th over.

On Hambantota. Deane managed to score tickets to catch the game in Suriyawewa, and he insisted we go because he wanted to check the hustle and bustle of the ghost town out there. So we loaded into the car and went a driving. The roads were awesome. They were wide enough for our mini car and a herd of 100 buffaloes. I wish I caught that on camera, it really was hilarious. This is exactly what you see when driving past the Hambantota district.

Barren land, barren land, shiny sparkly building, buffaloes, more barren land, barren land, salt factories, oooohh shiny building.

 

I wish I was only kidding! It really is a ghost town. Then the stadium. Looks impressive, with a major design flaw. Apart from the grand stand, the other stands are completely roofless. We understand that it is in the dry zone, but one must be aware that it would at least rain once in a blue moon. The weather gods did find it all very funny, they laughed so hard they eventually cried. And we were drenched, because there simply wasn’t anywhere to duck under! Also where are the blooming toilets!!

We lost that match too, thanks to the downpour, which turned up 8 months too late.

Sadly we made our way back to the hotel in Tangalle. We stayed in this little place called Suwaya Villa. 

Nice, and purse friendly. One thing to watch out for is the road, our dinky car found it really hard to navigate the beaten path. Attempt in a vehicle with good ground clearance. The drive was worth it simply for this stunning breakfast.

Damn those were the best pancakes I’ve had.

After that delicious break-y we were off to meet my parents in Matara. On route we stopped at Hummanaya Blowhole. We finally made it to the hole after weaving through houses, and people selling fried fish.

It wasn’t worth the trouble. Then we visited the Dondra Lighthouse.

Would have been cooler if we were allowed to go right to the top. Unfortunately, we have to get clearance from the Navy base or something. Next time. Since Dondra is the Southernmost Tip, we took a picture.

Now we need one at the Northernmost point. Trip anyone?

Next stop the Star Fort. 

 

The authorities have done it up from what I remember as a kid. Good on the old Star Fort.

That’s it from me, for another 234 days.

Have a great Monday, yall!

 

Tips On How To House Hunt Successfully (In Sri Lanka)

It hasn’t even been a year. Though it sure feels like it. That’s probably because we have gotten comfortable at this house. One absolutely wonderful way of making sure that I’m positively right is by switching off the lights and working my way towards the kitchen.

Guess what? I knew exactly where the steps where and avoided the crazy tiny ridge in the tile that makes everyone trip. Sure enough, we have gotten comfortable and made this our home. So it is kinda rude for someone to shake us and make us leave. Well that’s life when it’s on rent!

The reason for us to leave is sorely ours. The owners decided to jack up the rent by 50%. Crazy much, I tell ya, and not worth it. This brings me to the point of this post. I have pretty much lived most of my life as a travelling gypsy. My parents believed in giving us an all rounded view of life. So they kept uprooting us every 2 years, just when we got comfortable. Trust me when I tell you that my life was indeed fun, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. I digress…where was I?  Oh yeah the house hunt. A few things I’ve learned about house hunting that I shall impart to you if you are considering giving your home on rent or simply trying to find one yourself.

1. Decide on which area you want to live.
2. How many rooms you want, and whether it’s an upstair, downstairs or the whole house.
3. Buy the papers (Hit Ad, Sunday Observer) if you can on a Saturday or early morning on Sunday.
4. Quickly mark all potential possibilities and call.
5. Ask as many questions as you can about whether the property has your requirements.
6. Go see the ones you think are the best fit. This should be done sometime around 8 am.
7. Target to view the houses in the priority area, the rest you should do after.
8. Once you think you found it, immediately pay an advance.
9. Prepare to pay a year’s deposit. That’s your rent money x 12.
10. Haggle with the rent. If you think what they’re asking for is absurd, tell them that. If they’re not budging and it’s not worth it then walk away.

 

Few things you should know.

1. Owners are big ethnicity and religion freaks. Sinhala households prefer Christians, burghers and of course Sinhalese . The reason is because they assume that they are neat, orderly and generally trouble free tenants. Of course the same applies to Tamils households wanting Tamils and Muslims wanting Muslims. You get the drift.
2. Try and figure out whether the owners are in it for the money, if they are please don’t take it. You know why. They will keep increasing the rent at intervals. How do you recognize a moolah greedy owner?

• They will insist on a year’s advance (if rent is Rs.20,000 upwards) Generally the rule of thumb is if the rent is on a lower scale (Rs.15,000 and below) they will ask for a year’s rent. Anything more = greed alert. They try to make money by putting the advance into a fixed deposit and earning out of that as well.
• Almost all houses come with 2 year contracts, if yours is signing for a year. He means to increase the rent.

 

You’ll get the drift once you get in the game. What I have found generally is that people want to give their homes to good parties, and they will inquire about your parents and what they do for a living, and what you do for a living and all sorts of things. Get on their good side. Smile, be polite, tell them how well you will look after their home, and make certain you show that.

Hope this helps, and happy hunting to you.

Oh if you do know anyone. We are on the lookout for a 2/3 bedroom house. Preferably a separate house, if it isn’t then the ground floor with a garden, because we have an 11 year old German Sheppard. Looking in Nugegoda, Kotte, Rajagiriya.

Happy hunting to us.

Baby Bump!

Not mine. But a lovely couple who wanted their baby bump photographed before they welcomed their daughter.

More on it later. Or once I finish editing all the images.

Opposite Attraction

There’s this wedge of space in between our living room and dining room. I’d like to call it the in-betweener. This is where the owner of our house left us 2 surprises.

1. A cabinet.

2. A pettagama (old treasure chest)

It really was a pleasant surprise. But as we moved on to the 2nd bedroom we were if for a nasty one.

She left us a gigantic full glass china cabinet, ugly as hell!

I yucked at it, and decided that I would deal with it later. For now I’d just make the in-betweener pretty. Here’s a look at the cabinet.

So I used the inside to hold all my pretty cups and glasses. And added a few precious to my heart stuff on top.

I love the painting of New York. What’s not to love? It’s New York, and its got almost all my favourite broadway shows. Deane did good when he picked out this souvenir.

I picked up the silver starfish from Odel. The little model car is from a car museum in Japan, and the little model ship ‘Godspeed’ is the 17th century ship that brought the first English colonists to America. A piece of USA history on our, rather somebody-else-owned cabinet. Finally the radio is from Lexon, which was a parting gift from my former colleagues.

Ah this bowl/pot/whatever the hell it isalso from Odel makes me wanna run my fingers through its grooves every time I walk past. It reminds me of a giant golf ball, but then when I look at it from the top it looks like a broken dinosaur egg.

After touching it a bit, I chuck everything I don’t want lying around, like bills, car keys, wallet, etc. See it does have its uses too. I plan to add a plant into it, and move it elsewhere. Let’s see how that goes.

Now eyes opposite.

Chunky! The lamp is a gift, and it’s from Paradise Road. The runner’s from India, and the poster is a gift from my sweet former boss who went all the way to New York and watched it live! He wanted me to have a piece of the show. I love masks, and I try to get my hands on many as possible, this one is from Unawatuna. Deane bought the Red Indian tomahawk from the USA.

What did you learn from all this? We love USA a little too much

Have a great weekend folks.

 

#Images all mine

 

It WasTime…

Remember the starburst clock?

Well we didn’t get it. But we did get our hands on this curvaceous thing.

Seriously we were sold because it had those thermometers in there. Seriously! At least now we’ll be on time, and if we don’t we can always blame it on the weather.

Life!

Our Wedding Video

I didn’t want a wedding video.

Simply because I hate seeing myself onscreen, like I hate hearing my own voice over the radio. It’s just surreal, that’s why!

Deane wanted one. He almost stamped his foot and crushed my toes. How could I refuse when he said that it was a gift from Dinidu, who was also one of the groomsmen.

This is what happened.

I hope you enjoyed our little bits of happiness, as much as I did. Actually I love it, and I’m very glad Deane forced this down my skinny self.

Dinidu, thank you for your super awesome gift. And Sanjaya for beautifully capturing our day.

Kitchen Logic!

It has been a busy few weeks. In between late night work I’ve also managed to host a mini dinner party last Saturday. I decided that I would cook. So I kept the menu simple. Very basic. All it included was orange vodka punch, pasta like noodle dish, and brownie in a mug for dessert.

My ratings:

Punch – Needed less orange concentrate.

Noodle – Needed better sausages, I used garlic ones.

Brownie in a mug – Win!

That aside. I haven’t yet come to terms with all the food waste. Routinely I have to throw out most of the stuff I’ve purchased. The problem is actually my job, it doesn’t allow me to plan and cook. Hence, when I do my weekly grocery shopping I end up purchasing stuff for the week fully intending to cook at least 5 times. But then I end up having to work late, or there are other social obligations. Due to those factors I miss cooking and the food goes rotten. Then the other waste is all the dry ingredients. Only recently I got to know that unused spices also expire or go musty. I’ve seen it happen. All that into the trash!

Three nights ago I was at my wit’s end. I kept trashing everything I wasn’t really sure of. Then I frantically checked the net  about how I could extend the shelf life. How would I know if stuff’s gone rotten? Because some smell and look alright. Then I stumbled on these videos.

Check it out. It scared the freaks out of me, I think I’ve eaten stuff that I should have disposed. Yikes! Oh well we’ve all eaten from Pilawoos and lived to relate the tale!

How to tell if your food has gone bad!

How to tell if your produce has gone bad!

How to store food in the fridge!