Seafood

Being in Sri Lanka and not eating Seafood is just like being in Pakistan but not exploring Lahore. As being said in Panjabi "jiss nay Lahore nai waikhia wo jamia nai". Same could be said for "O jinn nay Ceylon may seafood nai khai wo jamia nai" :). So, we went to Mount Lavinia, a tourist district just south of Colombo on Galle Road as there are many good hotels and restaurants there that offer fresh seafood right on the beach.

So we chose to go to Mount Lavinia hotel, a grand hotel built since Colonial times. They have a fish market concept just, you go there and choose your own seafood items, from lobsters to sharks and from cuttlefish to crabs, everything is available. We selected deep-fried medium sized prawns and cuttlefish curry with fried rice for our dinner. Cuttlefish is the speciality in Sri Lanka and its delicious in taste. Don't go on its original shape otherwise you can't enjoy it. Its flesh is white in color and it tastes similar to mushrooms. Pictures of original cuttlefish and grilled one is attached herewith.

So all seafood lovers specially anwar bhai and rashid uncle are invited here. One more thing, dry fish including bombil is quiet common here. Nearly every lunch in my office cafeteria has dry fish. So all bombil lovers of our family are invited here :)...

Trip to Bentota

Diary of a Vagabond

Trip to Bentota,
Saturday 8 November, 2008.

Images link: http://flickr.com/photos/54723740@N00/

Our first outdoor trip in Sri Lanka was arranged by the department colleagues to famous west coast of Sri Lanka. The West Coast of Sri Lanka is most developed and most tourist-oriented. Hundreds of European tourists head for the West Coast to spend the sunny winter in the warm and golden sand beaches. The West Coast from Negombo, North of Colombo to down south at Galle is backed by the rows of palm trees leaning over the golden sands with the fine highway running parallel to it. One can find hotels and guest-houses of all sizes and standards throughout the West Coast.

Our destination was Bentota, a beach resort 70 kms south of Colombo where he have booked the company owned guest-house. All the towns on the West Coast including Colombo are connected by the famous Galle Road. It is therefore, one can find all the major markets along this road which creates heavy traffic during the daytime, specially weekdays.

Although the distance was just 70kms, but it took us nearly two hours to reach there. We passed by some famous towns like Kaluthara, famous for its Gangatilka Temple, the largest temple of Sri Lanka and the river “Kalu Ganga” or “Black River” whose expansive mouth is crossed by a long bridge from where there are tempting views of calm waters and thickets of palm trees inland. Beruwala is another town that we passed by. It is the oldest muslim settlement of Sri Lanka.

Our resort borders the railway line that goes the southest part of Sri Lanka, known as Dandra. Crossing the railway line, and now you are in the rows of palm trees creating a heavenly atmosphere. After passing by the palm trees, now you are at the golden sands beach where the crystal clear waves of water are waiting to embrace you. Our resort was right beside the five-star hotel Taj Exotica, therefore, there were lots of opportunities to cool-off the thirsty eyes :).

We came back to our resort where Cricket was being played. They were playing Cricket with a tennis ball but without tape as here in Sri Lanka there is no concept of playing Cricket with tape-ball. I told them how fast paced tape ball cricket is and I have promised them that next time I ll coach them how to make a tape ball. After Cricket and lunch, we had a little nap and than we were ready for sea bath.

Here in Bentota, the sea waves are quiet high. I watched live surfing for the first time and I can understand why all the western people are so crazy about it. Standing on a one or two metre long board and riding over a craziest wave is a daring experience. The weather was quiet pleasant at the moment as there were thick dark clouds on the sky warning us from the upcoming thunderstorm.

It was just before maghrib that we moved back to our resort and it is the time when I really observed it. The guest-house was full furnished with AC rooms, TV lounge with a dining table and the 26” TV with cable, neat and clean bathrooms with proper lighting facility. The guest-house roofs, walls and floors were made of expensive wood which creates a comfy atmosphere. It has a wide balcony with sofas and chairs where we had dinner and karaoke later on. We were served egg burgers with “halal” chicken drumsticks as my colleagues were unsure about chicken sausages. There were “all” kinds of beverages as well.

After dinner we enjoyed with karaoke. Although most of the songs were in Sinhala which I couldn’t understand but being said that music has its own language, so I enjoyed with them as well. I was asked to sing Indian songs so I chose to sing famous song “Chayyan Chayyan”. They danced on it and later on mix one of their own song after which they sing in chorus “Chayyan Chayyan”.

It was a good experience of having get-together with department colleagues who were there with their families. Every body seems to be taking care of each other kids and families, and everybody enjoying like they are all from one family. It was so successful that now they are planning for a trip to Nuwara Eliya as company has guest houses there as well.

About Sri Lankan Food!

About Sri Lankan Food
I am pretty sure that the best meals in the whole world are from Pakistan and specially from Karachi. If you are used to of Pakistani food, it would be much difficult for you to accept any other food. So what about Sri Lankan food? I won’t say it is similar to Pakistani food, although in some respects, it is. Sri Lankan food is more spicy, less oily, roti less food. Whatever food you order at a restaurant, there must be some bowls of chutneys along with the main course.

Rice is must in lunch. By the way, their rice is also different and it is not like the Basmati one that we use in Biryani. By the way, Basmati Rice is available in super-markets but it is really expensive.

They can make all types of meat but chicken and fish is more common. At most of the places, the meat is halal as most of the butchery business is being run by muslims but it is always recommended to ask before ordering any meal.

The best thing that they make is lentils (daal). Be it any kind of daal, you ll find it according to your taste buds. Their masalas are much better in aroma and in taste and in fact cheaper than Pakistan as well.

The best Sri Lankan food to try is String Hoppers. String hoppers are like namkeen sawayyan that is taken with a curry just like we took roti. Than there is another item to try known as only hoppers. Hoppers are slightly crispy papar like stuff shaped in the form of bowl and have something at base. Most common is the egg hopper where a fried egg could be found at the base of hopper bowl. You have to eat an egg along with its bowl. Hoppers are available in other flavors as well like fish, chicken, spicy, vegetable etc.

Life in Colombo

Diary of a Vagabond

Colombo, Saturday 1 Nov. 2008:
Life in Colombo is slow, not fast like we used to have in Karachi. People tend to wake up early. Normally, I leave home for office at 8 AM, and at this time, except wine stores, all other shops are open. Similarly, it is hard to find any shop that is open after sun-set. Night life is literally not present here. Right now, it is 10:30 PM while I am writing this email and my apartment is on one of busiest roads of Colombo and I could hardly hear the noise of vehicles passing by. I am just thinking about the night life in Karachi, where on the weekend, some roads must have been choked with traffic by now.

People usually respect the time and most of them are on time. I have observed this in my office as well as with others whoever I dealt with. Late sittings are not common here. Load shedding is not a South Asian problem anymore. I asked my office colleagues regarding this and they literally could not understand what I am asking. Than I asked them about the power cuts and they said they used to have it in 90s but not now. Roads although by max in two or three lanes of width, but they are in good condition, and most of the time, I have found people obeying the traffic laws.

Colombo walls are free from all sort of khattati. May be, as there is no Amil baba or Sanyasi bawa present here. Surprisingly, I haven’t found any huge, ugly and life-threatening bill boards here. Bill boards do present here but they are small in size and do not pollute the look of the city. Cigarette and Alcohol marketing is banned here.

Although, inflation is quiet high here, but people still tend to make a smile. In fact, smile is the common gesture throughout Sri Lanka and it shows the friendly nature of them. Begging is not common. The only place you find beggars is the mosque J. Another surprising fact is that Sri Lanka is a country where you can proudly say that you are from Pakistan as they respect Pakistan. This is due to the reason that Pakistan had helped their Army a lot in their fight against the Tamil Tigers.

Rests of the problems are similar like Pakistan. Sri Lanka is also fighting hard to maintain its currency value and foreign exchange reserve. Just on the last trading day, its rupee value depreciated 1.5%. Oil costs are considerably high here and they haven’t brought it down. People blame the government for that whereas the government has their own reasons. By the way their annual budget is due next week.
Indian influence is visible on their media but not in their culture as they have preserved their language and their strong commitment with the Buddhist religion as nearly 69% of Sri Lankans are Buddhists out of which 95% Sinhalese are Buddhists. 95% of Muslims here speak Tamil.