| This is a friends only journal :) |
[14 Jul 2004|12:50am] |
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| DAY 19 - JULY 31st 2002 |
[01 Aug 2002|01:57am] |
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Our final day in Kandy. On our way home we checked out the elephant Orphanage. Aww! We were there for the feeding of the babies and also bath time. We ended up spending 3 hours by the river watching the large animals.
We then drove back to Dim's house and had dinner. Later on a Catholic Priest came to bless the house. Again, I think Isi would have gotten a kick out of it. It was all a bit too scary for me.
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| DAY 18 - JULY 30th 2002 |
[01 Aug 2002|01:57am] |
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Today we travelled another 3 hours to Kandy where we stayed at the 5 star Earl's Regency Hotel. You guys should all go here its aces. For lunch we went to the Tea Factory Hotel and saw how tea is processed etc. The Tea Factory Hotel is an actual 18th Century factory which was converted to the hotel in 1994. Here we met the front of house manager, Sam, who had only been at the hotel for a month and was already bored out of his mind. We made friends with him as he showed us around the hotel. He's got gorgeous eyes... light brown. Hmm. He's moving to the Hilton this week (down the road) so we might go see him. Haha.
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| DAY 17 - JULY 29th 2002 |
[01 Aug 2002|01:56am] |
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We left home at 6:45am and travelled 6 hours to Nuwerelia. Man it was shit cold up there! 2000m above sea level. I actually had to wear jeans and a sweatshirt. Pschh! We stayed at St Andrew's hotel which is really quite old. Nice place though.
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| DAY 16 - JULY 28th 2002 |
[01 Aug 2002|01:47am] |
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Woke up relatively early this morning and my family and I went shopping. First we went to ODEL (huge shopping store) and I bought a skirt, shirt and bag. Then we went to ARENA (another huge shopping store) where I bought a Roxy t-shirt and another red top. We had lunch at this restaurant called "In Fashion" very GAIA meets Starbucks meets Central Perk. Odd right? But no, seriously. This place is chic yet intimate with great food and d?cor. I wouldn't mind owning it!
We then went to this household goods store because my mum wanted to buy some odds and ends. We then debated whether to go to the Millennium Park (huge shopping mall with restaurants, bowling alley, pool house, go karts) but we didn't have time.
We got home and I packed for our Kandy/Neurellia trip tomorrow. I got changed and we went to P and Dim's house. My mum wanted to go this huge Buddhist temple that we go to every year. She made her little prayer tray herself containing coconut, sweets, pineapple, oranges, traditional food, incense and money.
Dim then drove us to the temple along with this other lady (family friend) who knows all the prayers. The visit was interesting, but a bit rushed. It was already 8pm when we got there and we knew Dim was both hungry and tired from being at work the whole day. We got back around 10pm and had dinner.
Dim kept making so many jokes tonight, and just being all around very sociable. I told him about my corn operation and he was like "are u crazy! No anaesthesia?!" Such a great conversation starter, my corn. Then my sister reminded him the time when he and his friend made me really mad because they wouldn't let me watch an MTV music video. "Hanson right?", he asked before dissolving into a great wave of laughter. Yeh, watch it Dim. I'll get you back for it. Anyway, he promised to take us out to Millennium Park next weekend.
Tomorrow I'm going to Kandy and Nuerellia with my family and Dim's parents. Should be fun. Will take lots of pictures. No computer so I'll have to remember what we did to be able to write about it later.
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| DAY 15 - JULY 27th 2002 |
[01 Aug 2002|01:43am] |
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Even though my foot was hurting I managed to go to the gym today which was kinda fun. Missed the old routine, to be honest. I played lots of scrabble today and won my sister many times - in fact, all the times.
My mum, sister and I had lunch at the Taprobane restaurant in the hotel which was ace. They make very good food. And there was this gorgeous English/Sri Lankan lawyer around 25 I reckon on the next table. Oh my god. So freaking good looking - and add the accent?? Ahh, I melted like the cheese on my baguette. I place him high up there with Michael Owen. Hmmm yum.
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| DAY 14 - JULY 26th 2002 |
[01 Aug 2002|01:43am] |
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Caught lots of Zs that I had missed out yesterday, which was ace. I read a lot of my book - Man and Boy by Tony Parsons - today. Good book. Very interesting. Had a look at the pictures from yesterday - also very nice. Will post them later. Promise!
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| DAY 13 - JULY 25th 2002 |
[26 Jul 2002|01:31am] |
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Urgh. I woke up at 5 bloody AM this morning to attend P's "house warming" ceremony. I didn't really sleep that night so it was almost as though I'd been up all night. So anyways P's dad came to pick us up this morning to drive us to the new house. We were the first to arrive! Amazing. Then suddenly out of the blue... Lanka (Dim's fiance/ P's soon to be sister-in-law) and her family appeared. Keep in mind this is someone who I didn't quite like upon first meeting her. Grr. It was implied that she would not be joining us but... grr.
Eventually everyone arrived and they set out these clay pots and a statue of Jesus Christ. Isi would have gotten a kick out of today's events haha. So something like 6:35am (a very auspicious time apparently) they entered the house - "officially".
They then performed this very traditional act in the middle of the downstairs living room. They started a fire around some bricks and then placed a clay pot full of milk. The idea is that milk and honey represent prosperity, so when the milk boils over the clay pot it's sort of like saying "may you house be filled with milk and honey".
P's mother then sprinkled the milk all over the house. Personally I thought they'd feed it to P's baby! Haha. Then the house was blessed with a pot of smoking incense.
P then came around holding a tall glass of water on a tray. I thought it was drinking water so I almost took the glass to my hands. But what you had to do was touch the glass to bless the house. My dad said that the water was sent over by P's brother in law from France. I cannot remember the name of the place, but it's where the Virgin Mary was supposed to have been seen. Apparently there's a spring in the cave where the Virgin Mary was seen, and this water is from there.
Then came the lighting of a huge - how can I say it in English? I'm not sure. Basically there is a tall gold candleholder, with tiny clay dishes holding oil and a piece of thread. Everyone lights a thread for good luck. I got to light one! Hehe aces.
They then brought in all the furniture. First they set up the dining table and served breakfast. This was around 7:30am. Very traditional food which I love.
It was a very cultural event. I was there when they lay the foundation stone and blessed the ground to rid it of say past ghosts or spirits that may be on the land - and now I was there for what they simply call the house warming.
Aces!
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| DAY 12 - JULY 24th 2002 |
[26 Jul 2002|01:29am] |
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We went to dinner at my dad's friend's house this afternoon. Dad's known this guy since the time he was in the Law College. They stayed at the same Catholic Hostel. That's scary innit? My dad went to a St. John's equivalent when he was at university.
Dinner was nice. The guy has a daughter one year older than me and a son around 22 years old. They're quite nice people. Told us where to hang out and stuff, which was cool. We got home around 11pm. Not much else happened today.
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| DAY 11 - JULY 23rd 2002 |
[24 Jul 2002|02:35am] |
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Much the same today. Didn't do anything terribly interesting. Woke up. Watched The New Guy. Got dressed. Went out to the Taj hotel where all the criketers are staying (it's down the road). Visited St Andrews church. Made me think of home. Made a mental note to get some coffee. Try beat Phil's East Timorean coffee. Walked back to the appartment. Went to the shopping mall. Bought pasta. Came home. Made pasta.
Then mum started watching the ... hmm... I don't know how to call it in English. It's basically this really religious (Budhist of course) ceremony that happens once a year in Kandy (where my mum is from). The walk starts from this very old temple (I'm going there next week) and goes on for about 4 hours. The 'high priest' of the temple carries the tooth of Buddha undeneath this temple shaped dome. It's all very exciting. My mum watched the whole thing. Sigh.
Okay I'm a bit drugged now (still taking my cough medication). Nobody seems to be on MSN anymore? Or is it just me that goes online at 2:35pm?
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| DAY 10 - JULY 22 2002 |
[24 Jul 2002|02:30am] |
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Slept in a bit longer today and had a long brunch down at the food court. Had some nice Chinese food and bought lots of food from the supermarket. We then shopped around the mall and went back to our hotel. I then took my cough medicine (yes the bugger is still around) and went to bed.
At 6pm we went down the road to the famous Galle Face Hotel. It was opened in 1864 and has had tons of famous people visit. The hotel is nice. The style hasn't changed and it's well kept. We walked around the beach for a while before heading in for dinner.
My sister and I had this amazingly delicious spicy crab. Hmm! I miss having like a full crab where you have to break the shell to get the meat. Usually they get all the meat out for you. Pssch!
We then got back to our apartment and my sister and I watched the Star World Monday night line up. Friends, Queen of Kings, Dharma and Greg and Everybody Loves Raymond. I then took my cough medicine again and we watched About a Boy. That's a good movie. Really want to read the book though.
Oh yeh the other day I was up late watching the National High School Cheerleading Championships on ESPN. Man when I watched Bring It On I thought it was a load of bollocks but you should see the standard of these teams! Amazing. Oh and last years champions were the squad from Union High School, Tulsa, Okalahoma. Haha. Just thought I'd throw that in for good measure.
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| DAY 8 - July 20th 2002 |
[21 Jul 2002|02:14am] |
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Today P's husband came to pick us up from the hotel and took us to their house for dinner. This was no ordinary dinner. Dim's girlfriend/fiance and family were over for dinner. We were here when P's husband was over with his family but that was different. I like P's husband. Dim's fiance, Lanka, on the other hand... oh my bloody god. I hate her! I cannot stand her! I spent what, 5 hours with her and I almost tore off my arm just so I had something to throw at her! And what's worse is that she has a twin sister! Though I didn't actually talk to her twin, the fact that there are two of them just bites my bubble. Grr. And they're so tiny! You thought Kylie was tiny? Well guess again! She's shorter than me and as skinny as a rake! Grr.
Today I found out about Lanka and Dim. Basically about 3 years ago, Dim took his sister, brother in law and mates to this hotel for the weekend. This is when he met Lanka. THREE YEARS AGO. Hello! He could have mentioned it to me you know? Geez Louise. Apparently his parents didn't know and he was bugging his sister to tell them and yeh eventually they found out. My mum knew for ages! Usually she tells us everything. Apparently last year mum wanted to see who she was so Dim took her to meet Lanka. God.
Haha oh by the way, my mum is so na?ve. She doesn't think anyone we know drinks or smokes. It's hilarious. I mean... I get away with it right? So anyways Lanka with her big ugly mouth said "aunty, the only reason Dim is in love with me is because he was drunk! You should have seen them! 27 beer bottles! Drink, drink, drink! Smoke, smoke, smoke!" Haha you could have cut the bloody tension with a knife! Dim's sister was sort of standing there uncertain of what to say. Then mum quite carefully said "But... Dim doesn't drink!" She didn't even get started on the smoking. We're still talking about it now. It's quite funny.
Oh well. I just don't know how Dim could have stood to be with her for 3 years. 3 bloody years. I couldn't stand to be around her for 3 hours. If he marries her... I don't know how I can stand to be around them anymore. I just cannot imagine.
Oh and one more thing. Here's a little conversation with Lanka before:
Lanka: [to my sister] do you have a boyfriend?
My sister: No
Lanka: [a very condescending tone] Aww Darling!
Lanka: [to me] What about you?
Me: No
Lanka: [a very condescending tone] Good.
Bloody hell woman. What do you mean good? Shit man she's like younger than my sister yet she thinks she's like the queen of the world? I could seriously STEP ON HER! She's that small! And bloody hell woman, we've been in that house all our lives... she comes one day and she's trying to rule the world. Man that woman really annoys the hell out of me... and it kills me that Dim's going to marry her. Urgh.
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| DAY 7 - July 19th 2002 |
[21 Jul 2002|02:13am] |
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Went to this huge shopping mall this afternoon with Dim. That was fun. Bought white a few skirts. They sell labels like CK, FCUK, Atmosphere etc. Quite cool. Got home, had dinner and watched television until around 1am. Managed to watch Almost Famous which is pretty good.
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| DAY 6 - July 18th 2002 |
[21 Jul 2002|02:13am] |
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Was still pretty sick this morning so just slept in late and drank lots of local cough remedies. Seems to be working! We went to the hotel for dinner and I had some Penne which was almost as good as what we had at GAIA.
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| DAY 5 - July 17th 2002 |
[18 Jul 2002|12:53am] |
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My cold was worse this morning. I could barely stand when I got out of bed. Had lots of chicken soup and slept for most of the day. At 7:45pm I woke up again and my dad, sister and I went for a walk in the mall next to our hotel. We walked around and bought some food and finally sat down in DeliFrance and had some 'dinner'.
We then went to the recreation room downstairs and while my dad watched the criket, my sister and I played Carrom. I beat her, naturally : ) We're in the middle of a scrabble game and my parents are watching some talk show about cricket. Haha. It's all good.
I feel like shit though.
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| DAY 4 - July 16th 2002 |
[18 Jul 2002|12:52am] |
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I woke up today with the nastiest sore throat and one mother of a cough. I cannot believe this. I have not had a cold nor the flu for 1 and a half years and this is when the virus decides to make a come back? God I?m so pissed off.
I had a shower and then waited for my mum to cook lunch and then slept a while again. Then we went to my dad?s friend?s (the guy who came yesterday) house. That was nice. They have a daughter P who is 28 and a son D who is 25. P got married to this doctor guy (who I personally think is minging... but he?s a nice bloke) and D is taking over the family business.
P?s also just had a baby. Well 10 months ago really. So this is the second house we?ve visited that has a third generation. No offense but with the baby around no one pays any attention to me anymore! I used to be the youngest. For 18 years people used to talk about ME when I was little, ME when I came home from the hospital (She was sooo tiny!) and ME when I had to be fed in the kitchen sink. Dammit.
Anyway we had dinner eventually. The baby was up way past his bedtime and just wouldn?t sleep. My flu was getting worse and D was like "Hey! Don?t fall asleep now!". D?s really nice. I remember when he just got out of school and wanted to do nothing but lounge around at home. Oh how things have changed. He?s really fun, just as R is cuz they?re both into loads of things me and my sister are. They know the hippest music, the best places to chill and which movies to watch.
At dinner my dad?s friend told us to come over for lunch on Saturday and there was a small wave of giggles that passed around the table and everyone looked at D. Dad insisted that it wasn?t quite appropriate. Now I wasn?t sure what the hell was going on. All I could think was either a) his girlfriend is coming over or b) his future wife is coming over. What the hell. I didn?t know he had a girlfriend? I was there when P?s husband and parents came over. That was quite boring (for me).
I came home and I was making a soup for my throat when dad said that D?s getting married next year. There goes another one. Out of all the mates I?ve known since I was born, 3 have gotten married, 2 have had kids and one is now engaged. This has happened within the past 2 years mind you.
Now things are slowly changing as people grow older. I feel like I?m being left out. I?m the only one still stuck being a teenager while everyone is getting on with their lives. I remember around 6 years ago... no not even that much... 4 years ago, how we all used to hang out. There were no babies or husbands or fianc?s. There was just us hanging by the beach or the pool or hopping into D?s car and going for rides, watching old movies at the cinema, playing cricket...
Sigh.
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| DAY 2 - July 14th 2002 |
[18 Jul 2002|12:51am] |
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We have a beach room and it looks brilliant outside. Can't wait to go feel the sand between my toes : )
Well today was sorta lax. We woke up at 12 local time and went down to the restaurant for some lunch with Dad. Mum was getting a body massage. On the way to our room we saw our mate R who was going out with Jonathan (his brother in law) to play cricket! How fun. R's about 22 now? Something like that. His twin sisters V and A are 25. So later we went down to their house (they live in the hotel, their dad is the resident manager, been friends with my dad for ages). I can't tell V and A apart. They're identical. So I just refrain from calling them by their name. It?s quite embarrassing sometimes because I've known them since I was a month old.
So we met V's little baby girl. So adorable! She's just turned 1 year. Aww. Then their mum Rita kept comparing me to the little baby. Saying "Aww! Remember when you (talking to my dad) came with her (points at me) when she was a tiny little girl? Now look how they've all grown! We have a new generation amongst us!" It's quite freaky actually. They've all grown up and married etc. Oh you know A's husband Jonathan is like kinda cute. He he. Oh and I like them because they all speak English 24/7 which is ace for me.
So anyways we all went to the beach and got some fries and Chinese rolls (which are ACE?!) and sat around talking until the sun set! Aww so pretty. I forgot to take my camera down so I missed a photo opportunity.
Later we had dinner at the restaurant and there were some British-Sri Lankan's at the next table. One guy was kinda cute. Heh. No Dutch guy though - sorry long story.
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| DAY 3 - July 15th 2002 |
[18 Jul 2002|12:51am] |
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Woke up this morning around 10am and got ready and packed. Left our suitcases by the door and went to have breakfast. Around 11:30am our hotel van was ready to transport us to the city. We're now staying at the Crescat Residencies which is owned by the Oberoi Hotel. I stayed at the Oberoi the last time we were here. It is an ace hotel. 5 star and newly built. I love it. So anyways this apartment we?re in is just like being at home. Only better.
The guys came online to fix the internet and I was able to put in an entry. The thing is, the internet is really slow because it?s not a cable connection. Well its better than nothing. I had 40 junk mail in my inbox. What the hell? Anyways the guy has just come to fix the cable tv in our apartment. It?s very cool. We've got everything. Oven, microwave, washing machine... haha. I think I'll be doing quite a lot of cooking here!
I washed my hair for the second time today (man salt spray is not cool) and then my sister and I watched Friends on my laptop while my mum hogged the TV watching a local channel.
A few hours ago a school friend of my dad came over to say hi. They were out in the living room talking and eventually started watching Cricket on TV. They have a whole channel dedicated to cricket over here. Cool.
We then went down to the shopping arcade and bought some stuff for the apartment and loads of food. We then had dinner at the hotel which was nice. We took my sister around the hotel because she's never been there. The pool looks ace. Can't wait for a dip. The gym's pretty basic but still cool.
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| HEY : ) |
[15 Jul 2002|03:43pm] |
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I'm alive! hehe. Hmm. Just moved to the city. Very nice hotel/appartment thing. Will put up pictures soon. Net is quite slow. Costs a lot of $$$. Dammit. Okay I should get offline soon. Don't know what we're doing tonight. But I've got stuff written about Day 1 if you want to read. I'll put in an entry later.
DAY 1
The car came to pick us up at 4pm and we travelled to the airport in about 35 minutes. We checked in and went through to 'no man's land' and bummed around in Starbucks. Mmm. Caramel machiatto. We then made a dash to gate 50 and boarded Cathay Pacific. We got the first seats right after Business so there was tons of leg room : )
The plane ride was quite long and uneventful. Two hours to Bangkok. 1 hour in the plane while they cleaned. Three hours to Sri Lanka. On the second half they had about 5 movies I wanted to watch. I fumbled around what I wanted to see and in the end watched nothing but a few sitcoms. Gah! Too many choices. My dad watched Ice Age, my mum watched John Q.
When we touched down, we got a taxi from the Sri Lankan airport and came to Browns Beach Hotel. We always come here because my dad's friends from school is the Resident Manager. But this year he's been moved to the Hill Top Hotel in Kandy (up country, near the tea plantations). Anyways I've been coming to BBH since I was a few days old (spent my first Christmas here). My parents and sister have been coming here for ages.
So we got here at 1am and checked in. Showered Had room service in my parents room. Then we hooked up the laptop and watched Friends. Went to bed at 5am HK time. I woke up at 10HK time (SL is 2 hours back). My sister was still sleeping so I didn't bother getting up. It's 12:15pm and my parents have gone to have lunch or breakfast. Not quite sure! My sister is in the shower.
Our rooms are right below the pool and patio and bar (I'll take pictures). Last night they had this "dinner dance" which was an external party. But man they had good music! Just like our nights out. I wanted to go crash the party (hey we would have done that) but my sister is such an old fogy. Humph.
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| at the airport |
[13 Jul 2002|06:06pm] |
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Stupid keyboard and mouse. Very hard to use. Hmm Starbucks! hehe. Have to leave in 10 minutes in search of boarding gate. Weee. Plane leaves at 6:30pm. Hmm not much else to say. Love digital camera.
Will go back to coffee now :)
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