Weekend Foodie Chronicles – 4

A few days back, when I was whatsapp-ing with her, she said she missed my Foodie Chronicles. I myself missed writing this and I told her that I will soon post one. Thank you for reminding me, GB!

I have been churning out some new dishes in my kitchen. I say new because, I haven’t made them before though the same cannot be said of eating. I feel more inspired to cook something new these days. Much as I have always enjoyed cooking and experimenting, I have to admit that the repertoire of the ingredients is wider and encompasses a representative from different parts of the world. Yes, from something as simple as pasta to something as exotic as saffron, I am stocking up a lot in my kitchen. My kitchen. I have begun to feel proud and carry that pride everytime I am grocery shopping. I choose my items carefully, reading their date of manufacture, their expiry, googling on my tab to see what I can make out of them, sometimes adding them to my shopping cart on a whim, sometimes getting carried away by bloggers who have made scrumptious dishes out of them and mostly because they look tempting.

That’s how ragi mudde happened. One of the staple diet of people of Karnataka (and apparently Andhra Pradesh as well), we used to get to eat this once a while on Sundays for lunch. Sundays were chosen because we could eat our meals hot and I guess somehow there are certain things you must eat on a Sunday. I line up some recipes for a Sunday(or saturday) because somehow I feel Sunday deserves it the most. Well, sadly, this did not happen on a Sunday. I made this on a wednesday ( on labour day). I so wanted K to taste this and couldn’t wait until it was Sunday. Ragi mudde with drumstick and sambhar onion (that’s what we call shallots) was made. And what a meal that was! I must have scooped half a ball off the pan when making it.

Valentine’s Day was spent at home this year. We went out for dinner on Feb 13th because that is our proposal anniversay. So, V-day at home couldn’t have been mushier what with chocolates, home-made pasta, mango madness and a surprise cake at night!

Somewhere amidst all this, I made raw banana puLi and cabbage dal (This one was purely out of laziness )

And as I write this, I have just had a lunch of rice, jeera moong dal and spicy baby potato that I picked fresh from the little Indian store near home. And boy, what a fantastic lunch that was!

There has been a lot more cooking happening. Sometimes I get so obsessed that I spend hours in the supermart and end up reaching home late and order a take-away! But that time I spend choosing my ingredients at my own pace – I cannot tell you how happy and alive it makes me feel!

While I go figure out tonight’s dinner, tell me what’s happening in your kitchen

Labrador National Park (Project National Parks/ Reserves and Project Brunch, Singapore)

A few weeks back, K and I went to the Labrador National Park. We have taken it upon ourselves to visit every national park/reserve there is in Singapore and trek every trail as long as we are here. If you haven’t noticed, there is a page I created for this in my header as Project National Park/ Reserve of Singapore.

K and I are also huge fans of brunches. It also just falls in line with our love for excessive and obnoxiously long hours of sleep over weekends. Why I say obnoxious is because, we sleep so late into the day at times that we need all day brunches in Singapore. Yes, we sometimes break our fast at 3 P.M. And then I was like, “Hey! Let’s do this. Let’s go to all brunch places.”. Nobody would need coaxing because with waffles the colour of gold and pancakes that melt in your mouth and egg benedicts that mean sunrise in your world, nobody would want to miss brunches here. Hence, Project Brunch.

It was just nice that we got to kill two birds with one stone when we went to Labrador National Park. We first devoured nature and then promptly settled for something more human except that the food was ambrosial.

Saying that the weather was amazing will be an understatement. Though a bit humid owing to the beachy locale, we loved being there truly. Spotting random turtles on our way was a bigger plus. If you are here, then I would highly recommend these walks. And honestly, this is what I love about Singapore; not those big malls, though I like them a fair bit too.

We spotted a beautiful cafe (Can you believe I missed the name?) and immediately wanted to try their brunch. It started raining pretty heavily and we could not have found a better place to sit and savour the food. A place where the rain and breeze ever so gently caress your love for life, peals of laughter from a nearby table where girlfriends are meeting up for a surprise birthday party and egg scrambled. And K, ofcourse.

Honestly, I could do with 4 day weekends.

Ta – da !

Hi peeps!

A couple of weeks back, I showed you a sneak peak into an Origami project I had undertaken.

Time to show you the almost done kusudama ball. I say “almost” because I am yet to find some elegant beads for the thread ends before it goes on my inspiration board. Or maybe K’s study. His “study-o” can do with some colour.

The fella needs to dry up a bit. But I am so excited. What I love about origami with glue is the opportunity to stick fevicol all over my fingers and then peel it off slowly, one layer at a time, occasionally closing the mouth to avoid drooling. Don’t understand that? Ah, in that case, don’t even try.

The flowers were ready long back. So when the omelette soaked in the curry, I finished gluing them together. It does need some patience but as long as you have fevicol to peel off your hands, there is peace.

I probably should have waited until I added the beads. Impatience is not a good trait (not always). But knowing that still doesn’t stop one from showing off with a squeal of delight, does it?

Savouring Sri Lanka: Kandy tripping 5

We really did have quite an eventful and rich day what with the elephant orphanage at Pinnawela, poo-paper factory, spice garden, tea estate and good food !

The last stop for the day was the much famous Buddha’s Tooth relic temple at Kandy.

The last of the sun’s rays were touching us as we walked our way towards the temple. While we waited with bated breath to see the tooth relic, what really charmed us on our way as we walked to the temple were these beautiful birds, in solo poses as the epitome of grace and splendour.

When one sees so much beauty around, there is a very huge chance that she/he gets emotional. It brings out something so powerful that you feel miniscule and close to nothingness. You only need to look around to feel it. The walk proved it.

What a joy it is to live in your own world! To be untouched by all the commotion, to maintain your purity, to waddle by the still waters, to not even worry about your next meal, to just go on as if you are the king!

It may not be too much of a , what we call “practical” thingy ! We do live in a flock. And yet, there is such a strong need to maintain one’s individuality, to not get carried away, to be visible as a person and not just a herd, to be appreciated for who you are and derive happiness out of the same fact. Not hard, at all.

You may laugh at me for saying this or probably even agree – It is not hard to believe that basic instincts are just so similar. Sometimes, the instinct in an animal other than man may be more symbiotic. Everytime I have seen the monkeys, I have witnessed atleast one symbiotic relationship. There have been instances when the males have dominated the females. But there is a lot of camaraderie otherwise. I see mummy monkeys carrying their babies and all that motherly instinct, babies clinging onto mothers as they jump from roof to roof or tree to tree, monkeys helping each other out with a tough nut and monkeys in love. The more I see the fine motor and manipulative skills of the monkeys and chimps, the more the similarities I find. So much so, that I love watching them (from a safe distance).

Watching monkeys reminds me of my visits to my maternal grandma’s place where monkeys flourished like crazy. Dried mangoes for pickles, friums, dried chillies and even clothes were not spared. We would get worried if everything was in order. Monkeys of all shapes and sizes would jump over the roofs right above our heads and we  just used cupped palms over our head as protection. Such wonderful days they are!

Lost in thoughts, we finally reached the temple. It is not really a large distance. But when you have thoughts travelling faster than light, and so vividly,  you need to jolt yourself out of your reverie and enter another pleasant world. A world that belongs to everyone and still your own.

The temple is beautiful and has a lot of adjoining structures. Photography came with a price and yet some areas are restricted, which is very understandable. Also, once inside, there are signages that request people not to face against the Buddha in a way that has your back towards the Almighty. Very pleasantly, we did not find anyone flouting this rule.

The walls, the roof and everything has a story to tell. We would have loved to get lost in the stories. R was our guide who told us stories of important events when we came across paintings. But honestly, that is never enough. I think if one can find someone who can narrate the entire pictographs there, she/he must go for it, especially if they like stories and history. K loves history while I love stories. So this one was interesting.

I don’t know how man can make such perfect symmetric designs. I am not sure if they used an apparatus or mould, but I have seen artistry done with the eye and finger and a fertile mind. I don’t think any mould, stencil or copier can beat that.

There are quite a few shrines inside but the place where the sacred tooth is kept is not allowed to be photgraphed. We saw a large number of Buddhists clad in white in the temple. Very pious, very peaceful looking, they added to the ambience in a beautiful way.

Be it a temple, church, mosque or any devotional place, you cannot help but feel inner peace. One may see God everywhere and define Him/Her in different ways but somewhere along, I believe, that the purpose of a sanctum  is to feel peaceful and content.

If you like stories, here is a little bit of what R shared with some extra details quoted by wikipedia. What surprised me was how connections between India and Sri Lanka are so strongly etched since times immemorial. The painting talk of stories of how Buddhism was brought to Sri Lanka from Odisha, India. Possessing the tooth relic was considered to bring victory to the owner and many wars were fought for the same before it finally came to Sri Lanka. Just watching those paintings and listening to stories is very enlightening.

What you see in the above painting is the story of the tooth relic being handed over to the king of Sri Lanka.

You should have see how overjoyed K was when he heard Kalinga being mentioned over and over again and stood pretty transfixed at the spot.

The temple has a small building  next to it that houses the taxidermised Maligawa Tusker – Raja.   Captured in the jungles of Eravur in 1925, he was later purchased by a gentleman and donated to the temple. Raja carried the tooth relic in the gold casket for about 50 years and was later recognized as a national treasure and later when he passed away in 1988, he was taxidermised. Reports state that this is the first time a tusker has been taxidermised. The love that the people had for Raja is evident by the entire section donated to him.

When we were walking back to the car, I spotted this.

I cannot tell you the kind of joy I felt. It has been put up bang in the middle of the street in a pretty prominent place and accessible as well. Don’t these little acts of common sense and sensitivity brighten your day?

After a very happening day (I took 5 posts to write about this one day), we walked back very quietly, the water looking resplendent and maintaining a dignified calm bang in the middle of a touristy place.

We could see  schools of fish right below the surface – big ones! And yet, our photography was not able to capture it. Lets blame the lens okay?

When we cast one long, wishful look before getting into the car, we saw the beauty that was Kandy. And yet, we knew there is a lot more to it. A lot more that may not be touristy and yet extremely beautiful. And splendid – like a candy.

We waved a small goodbye, while this guy/girl seemed least bothered about our arrival and departure.

P.S. Thank you for joining me on my trip to Kandy! For now, I shall take a break and get you some tales from Orissa. And later, we can enjoy and relive Colombo together. Deal?

Savouring Sri Lanka: Kandy tripping 4

After the elephant orphanage,  elephant poo-paper factory and the spice garden visit, we moved on.

The advertisements of any tea beckon to me like few do. There is a freshness and green aura about these ads that leave me feeling energized after watching one, even if I cannot have tea that instant. Naturally, tea estates and tea factories rank high in my list.

Initially when K and I planned this trip, we wanted to stay in a tea estate. We were not bothered much about what star accomodation it was.  We just wanted to stay in the estates, I wanted to pluck tea leaves and fling it into my basket with elan and sing and gossip with the ladies who work on the plantation. Ah well, it did not happen this time. So, we wanted to atleast visit a tea estate and see the beauty for ourselves. R was more than willing to take us and after a hearty meal, we found ourselves at a tea promotional centre and small cottage industry of sorts.

 

As soon as entered, there was a winding stairway that led us to this sitting area. We were just seated a little behind these chairs as the manager of the promotion centre spoke to us of Ceylon tea and the tea-making process. He mocked the use of tea bags saying that they are nothing but tea dust and the least flavourful by-product of the entire process. We had a great time learning the process. Since it was a powerpoint prsentation, there really wasn’t much I could capture.

Visiting a real tea factory where the process happens right before your eyes is something. But I guess, something of this sort was better than nothing. Moreover, we watched videos of a real factory in full swing as well. While they served us some amazing green tea and jaggery to go along, I admired the beautiful attires of the ladies who worked there. The prints were so detailed and they had such grace about them.

Often, I have watched tea estates in movies and always wanted to be there. I still have that longing. To smell a new tea leaf, to walk amidst the aroma of coffee beans is a joy inexplicable for a tea-coffee lover like me. There used to be a time when I would shamelessly gape at people who would turn down tea/coffee. ” Really?” was written all over my face. That was once upon a time. While I still try my best to advertise coffee and tea, I don’t bug people anymore. And definitely, no more gaping.

Being a promotional centre and a very small cottage industry, they only rolled and dried a small quantity of tea leaves across the area. I stooped silly and tried to get a whiff of the magic called smell of tea.

Being a promotional centre, a small sale was expected. However, they were very endearing and definitely did not impose the purchase. The colourful packaging and souvenir tea packages were vey pretty. We ended up buying a few boxes of green tea leaves grown on their farm. And trust me, they are amazing ! Everytime K or I brew some tea, the whole home smells of it and it creates such a positive energy.

Tea, these days is available in flavours that outnumber one’s strands of hair. Trust me. There is blackberry, plum, chrysanthemum, apple peach, blueberry, citrus, ginger, ginseng and what not! All this is apart from the red, black, green teas. We did not buy any of these flavours though. We just stuck to the original estate grown ones.  Not the ones that are flavoured and imported from somewhere to Sri Lanka.

Finally, on our way back, we got to see what we wanted to for so long.

I cannot share the obscene number of photos I clicked there. A few ladies came to me along with kids, especially an elderly lady and requested for a photo. You know that feeling when someone asks for your autograph? Okay, I don’t know either but it probably matched the feeling I had, in intensity. Feeling flattered, I asked K to click a snap of hers and mine together. K gave me a mischievous smile and clicked. While I pondered the reason behind the smile, the lady stretched her palm and said, “Money. Money. Photo money”

All the big temples I constructed for myself in that past one minute, out of elation for having been asked for a photo, vanished! We gave her some money. All through the rest of the walk along the estate, I just meekly smiled at the 20 -30 more elderly women, children and teenagers who asked me for a snap and walked unabashedly.

 

Savouring Sri Lanka – Kandy tripping 2

In my previous post, I shared about us going to the elephant orphanage at Pinnawela.

Along the little colourful lane inundated with local artisans vying with each other to sell their colourful leather and fabric, there is one elderly gentleman who stands in front of a very very modest looking house-like structure, distributing hand-outs. He came to us, handed out the flyer. K looked at it and exclaimed, “You will  like this!”

Upon seeing that we were interested, the man told us that this is a small cottage industry that makes paper out of elephant waste. Imagine paper as a by-product of animal waste! We were thrilled. He offered us a tour for free!

As soon as we stepped in, we saw a girl sewing pages together to form a book, sitting by the side of the verandah. I cannot tell you how ecstatic I felt when I realized that I will be spending a few minutes with one of my most favourite things in the world – paper!

A cheerful lady clad in a muklti-coloured kurti came to us and said that she will take us around. We followed her.

They had small little workstations that were set up in the order of the paper-making process. She first took us to a table where they had a pile of elephant poo. No need to gross out because all the leaves and fibre they eat is pretty much what comes out.

They just sift through and make sure they are using only the fibre and no other foriegn object is present. Once they are done with that,

they submerge it in water and some added solution in a big trough for a few hours. The pile becomes damp  and soggy and is crushed nicely to form a paste.

Once it attains this modge-podge kind of consistency, they run it through the press and lay out the damp sheets to dry.

They make coloured paper as well. To make coloured paper they use dyes and colour the fibre from stage 1 with the colour.

And then, they soak it and run it under the press and get coloured sheets.

You know what they say about a coconut tree, the kalpavriksh? It is such a noble tree that every part of it has a use. I have read poems where poets advocate man to be like a coconut tree in life. And that was my first thought when I went through this process.

If the process looks simple, it is because it is! And precisely why we must advocate use of such paper. The paper has a very vintage, handmade feel to it, lovely for making bookmarks, cards, sketching, making calendars, diaries, envelopes – so much!

After the tour, we went to their sale area where they had several products on display.

We did buy a 2013 calendar, some sheets of paper and a travel companion. The big diaries are beautiful and pricey as well. Some of the binding is of whole cinnamon stuck together as the cover. The book smells heavenly !

If you are wondering whether the place would be anywhere close to a stinkpot, you cannot be more wrong! It is well maintained and you have to remind yourself that is is best-of-waste. Well, not waste anymore, really!

When we went to India, K kept telling my MIL how I have elephant dung in the bag in which we got some gifts for her. It was hilarious to see her cute expressions. We teased her by putting some of this paper next to her and then going on the greentouch.

But seriously, this was one amazing learning for us! We took their contact numbers before leaving. Eventually, we did spot a few shops selling this paper but watching the process was ultimate!

Let’s go on and see what more excitement Kandy held for us! So long!

Devouring at Pita Pan

Scrunchilicious!

That pretty much sums up all the sound you will hear as you bite into this heavenly goodness. Other than the mutually understanding om-nom-nom-nom and mmmmms ofcourse.

Almost more than a month back, before we went for a vacation, I got really hungry. Now, that is not saying much since I am usually in that state. Like after wiping off the last strand of my spaghetti now, I have my hands buried inside a box of grapes.

The point is, it was one of those days. K and I sometimes meet up for lunch whenever we can afford the entire hour for it between work. So, I went to this place where he works and we decided to go to Pita Pan very near to the place where he works. I had never seen the restaurant before and somehow I thought K meant “Peter Pan”. I was super excited to meet Peter Pan and rehearsed my hellos even.

Turned out it was not Peter Pan but Pita Pan. The sadness I felt was washed by seeing the word pita because I looooooove pita. I love how you can pocket those guys and fill ‘em up like crazy kangaroos, only more delicious. I think. Hmmmmm.

Located at The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, this restaurant serves 100% vegetarian (well, okay, they serve eggs but well, they’re eggs!) and exotic Meditarranean cuisine. That’s what they say. And trust me when I say it – They can’t be more right!

With their own salad bar, pita pockets stuffed with delectable delights, mouth-watering shakshukas and some really zesty refreshing beverages, what more can you ask for? A longer lunch break perhaps!

They have a modest seating space but the view outside compensates for it. So do the friendly staff who will tell which sauce is spicy or what goes better with what and other such technicalities if you are interested. If the weather is good, you are in for a bigger treat! We loved sitting by the side overlooking the museum and water. The weather was gorgeous. As gorgeous as the pita pockets we had.

Since K and I were both ravenous, we decided to go for pita pockets greedily stuffed with everyone of those goodies. you can choose from falafels to hummus to pickled gourds to in-house olives to coleslaw to juicy whole cherry tomatoes to rich- in- fibre but crunchily good greens to anything! The whole selection is so colourful and so nutritious. Don’t forget to add some generous dollops of their extremely flavoursome tahini or amba sauce for some pizzaz!

We chose to make it a meal which is why we got french fries and ice-lemon alongside.

What makes these so good is that there is a variety in the texture and colour brought about by the stuffing that explodes in your mouth. And the best take-away? A whole lot of nutrition. Get a close-up view:

It even has corn! I feel overjoyed when I can spot a range of colours in my food – I have come to believe that it signals a lot of nutrition and taste. Even better if I can have a lot of it raw.
I love salads for that reason. But I can’t have salads alone and feel good or full. So stuffing them inside a pita pocket or like a Calcutta roll works great for me.

This fella looked so colourful and crunchy on the outside that I wanted to have the pita and keep it too! It was definitely a thing of beauty and it kind of hurt inside to bite into it. But once the flavours infused inside my mouth, there was no stopping. Sorry, Pita. You were just too tasty.

Oh, the French fries were neglected totally that day. Can’t blame the poor guys.

P.S. I must add that this makes for a very filling meal for me. I think the 3-4 falafels they add inside is one reason. So, making it a meal is not really necessary.

Roadtrip to Kuantan – Day 3

Heylo all,

Does the title sound familiar? I totally understand that “Erm, errrr/ ain?” look on your face now. I have been so lousy and not shared the final day of the Kuantan trip with you guys at all. And somehow, this fact has been on my mind for so long and I just cannot seem to write more of my Sri Lankan vacation until am done with this one. Let me be fair and provide some context here for what did on Day 1 and Day 2.

This was the highlight of the trip for me because we got a chance to visit a Batik cottage industry there. I am not sure if I can call it an industry because there were just 4 people working there and it was a family consisting of father, son and couple of young guys who were helping them. And you know what we did? You know? You know?

We made a little handkerchief for ourselves! K and I have safely tucked them away and we definitely don’t plan to use them. Frame them, maybe!

I think I will let the pictures do the talking in this post. Umm, majorly, I mean. Grrrr, I noticed that deflated bubble, you people!

When we entered the cottage, we were greeted by a spacious hall with very few batik clothes on display and there was no one around. Like, not a soul. After exploring for about 20 mins, a slightly elder gentleman who seemed very kind and helpful came to us and introduced himself as the owner of the place. We did not even ask him to show us around. He just asked us to follow him for a small tour. As we entered the backyard, we were greeted by hundreds of these -

and some more!

I told you!

Alright, I’ll spare you. But I was just so awed at those moulds. There were so many of them. They shared that they had discarded many recently and so they had few moulds at that point in time. Those moulds had some really intricate patterns !

Our guide and showman, the son of the owner stepped in to show us along. He cut the cloth into squares,

got ready with the gloves and a smile,

dipped the mould of a pretty flower into hot molten wax,

pressed it so skillfully against the 4 cut squares,

added another mould that said “Kuantan”, below the flower

and fielded the umpteen doubts that we students had, so patiently.

Then came the big moment. Each of us was given a brush and asked to dip it in hot molten wax and write our names above the flower. Ofcourse, I raised my hand and went to do it first. Here’s K doing his bit

There was this small little stove, pretty small for the dimension of the fabric they were working with, where they were melting wax. It looked like a kitchen stove and the wax was just the size of a huge block of butter.

Once the wax is in the molten form, they use the specialized tools with varied tips to create patterns on the fabric. I found this entire process so creative. The tools reminded me of calligraphy nibs as well.

I get hyperactive when I see pens, pencils, paper, nibs, plain fabric – the whole thought of filling it up with whatever you feel like enthralls me like crazy! And imagine them doing it everyday – so lucky-licious!

Once they are done with the wax imprinting, they let it set in a bit, dip it in a solution ( I forgot the composition) and they set it out for drying. This according to them is crucial for the stage when the colour seeps in, in the appropriate places. They had a lot of patterns out for drying.

Let us now go back to our little masterpieces. So we had basically imprinted the patterns using the seals on the cloth. Thye did not put it out for drying as these were more of keepsakes. The owner of the place and his son immersed them in a solution cum dye and presto!

However, the wax pattern still stuck and the dye obviously did not get underneath that. This was intentional because we wanted the patterns to be white against a blue background. In order to get rid of the wax and let the colour set in, they dunked the hankies into a boiling brothy thingy that was a mix of some chemicals as well.

After that, they submerged it in cold water and let hang out to dry

While our precious ones were drying, we went for another tour of the sale area.

I have seen men in batik shirts but it was cool to see how they were made right from conception to final product! You can see O getting into the patterns. K admired everything at a distance, totally unwilling to try any of them.

They did not have a lot on sale that day. The owner shared that they were recently back from an exhibition where they sold a lot of their fabric at wholesale prices and in bulk to garment makers. This family basically makes only yards of batik cloth and have one tailor who makes traditional outfits out of this fabric in small quantities. But their main business is selling the cloth itself to other garment companies who convert them into bed spreads, outfits etc.

L and I got ourselves big batik pouches. The boys toyed around with shirts, sometimes pretending to be interested but never considering buying any. We let them be and went to check on our dearies. There they were all sunny and dry and waiting to be tucked away in our pockets.

We thanked them all profusely for the lovely experience. I totally love visiting arty places. Design excites me. And something like this inspires me. Imagine a small family of 4 churning out yards and yards of fabric. When asked if they are happy doing this, the owner said that it meant everything to him but he wasn’t sure if his son feels the same way. We could feel the tinge of sadness in his voice when he said how everyone is going away from traditional forms of art, into the cities and then get caught up with life. He said it bothered him to even think of an art disappearing from the face of earth only because people do not appreciate it enough to pursue it. I found my voice in him when he said all that. While art is something that is ubiquitous, the traditional forms need a lot of reinforcement and perseverance on part of man to survive. And there is so much beauty and inspiration in these forms that one cannot imagine any form to just dwindle away.

We wished them well and promised to come back to visit them when we visit Kuantan again.

We set off on the road trip back to our resort, all the while clicking away.

I love the happiness I experience when I upload our little memories for my desktop as wallpapers. I always used to ogle at the resplendent images on default in any PC. Going on these roadtrips fills my cup of happiness to the brim and we are really thankful to be able to appreciate the beauty in every little grain of sand in such proximity.

Road trips – So fun. So good!

With that, I wind up the Kuantan road trip series. And now, I can peacefully resume my Sri Lanka tales. Phew. Feel 5 pounds lighter.

Savouring Sri Lanka – Delighted by the resort!

Sri Lanka is one place that was on cards for a few years now. My cousins and I used to plan a trip to Sri Lanka whenever we used to have a group chat over Skype. We’d feel goosebumps at the prospect of finding one common time to meet for some reason that wasn’t a family wedding. Sadly, it never happened. We did some day trips but Sri Lanka remained a dream.

When K and I were planning our trip to India for my brother in law’s wedding in December, K was pretty adamant about going to the north eastern part of India. Blame it on the wonderful dishes that Vinod Dua (We love that guy!) shows on Zaika India Ka. Somehow, I talked him out of it because I don’t want to do 3 day trips to a place where I want to spend like a week atleast. And then K suddenly shouted, “I know where we can go! Sri Lanka! I’ll treat you to a vacation for our first wedding anniversary!”. Now, when he said that, I’d be lying if I said my mind didn’t drool. That’s all I remember. The next thing we had booked our tickets on a Sunday morning even before our coffee. All this was in September.

Fast forward to Nov 28th.

We flew by Tiger Airways because it is cheap(er) and we did not carry a lot of luggage. The tickets were around 340 dollars from both of us for one way. Pretty okay actually. The flight itself is about 4+ hours and we had a good flight by God’s Grace!!!!!!

K read his “Life of Pi” while I buried my nose in a Michael Crichton. And soon, we heard the temperature of Colombo being announced. That feeling when you land in a place you have planned for so long, I tell ya! It is priceless. We felt euphoric. What made it better was the impending India trip following it. It is always a great feeling to have 2 vacations in a row and then fly back home to Singapore for Christmas and New Year!

Now for the big moment. Cue drum rolls please. There was a chauffeur from the resort where we planned to stay at the airport. And guess what he had in hand – our name in big bold letters. What a way to strike off one thing off my wishlist – to have someone at the airport with my name in bold! We will overlook the fact that he had made me a Mister. Luckily, K remained a Mr. as well. Not all that bad, eh?

This gentleman, let’s call him R, is a smiley bloke. He was as delighted to see us as were to see him. Turned out that he was at the airport for 2 hours waiting for our arrival. The resort charged us 3000 LKR for pickup and another 2000 LKR for drop off. We thought it was okay because we were more concerned about making the best use of our time given the timings of our flights. We hoarded our stuff and started our journey to the resort.

We had booked a deluxe room at Amagi Lagoon Resort and Spa . K booked it on Agoda as it looked good and had good reviews. We chose the location because it is very close to the airport (about 15 minutes drive). It had sea view and the rooms generally looked very neat. Neat? Hold your breath! It is one fantastic place. The pictures will speak for it. We usually look for sea view if the place we are visiting has a sea. Ofcourse.

Initially K and I wanted to stay in a tea estate. But that did not work out because of the short duration of our stay and the long travel involved in getting to the estates. At this point I must mention Deeps. Coincidentally, K and I were planning to stay in the same tea factory hotel where Deeps stayed for a part of her trip. unfortunately, it did not work out. She is one darling to have emailed me so many suggestions and put up with my long emails torturing her for details and help in planning the 3 days trip to a place that deserves more. Thank you so much Deeps! I can’t say that enough as you will see in the subsequent parts.

Coming back to our resort, I must say it went beyond all our expectations. Thank you Agoda!

We reached pretty late at night. So after clicking some snaps of the room (I had to ofcourse!), we had a light dinner of soup and sandwich.

And then, we started exploring our balcony. Every room (the resort has 22 rooms) has a balcony overlooking the sea. This was one beautiful area where K and I spent a lot of time having tea, reading e-books and generally chit-chatting when we were not sight-seeing.

There were 2 wooden tables with 2 chairs each and the farthest end there was a concrete sofa kind of thingy. K and I fought for our turns to lie down there.

We slept off after dinner. But when I opened my eyes in the morning, I pretty much dashed out to see how it looked like outside. What I saw was magical. Trust me, this was one of those mornings I would like to wake up to again and again.

The resort has a pathway leading to the lagoon. The pathway is made of wooden planks used to make railroad tracks in Sri Lanka. They have benches overlooking the lagoon where we can have breakfast, dine or just read a book or stare into the waters, They catch fresh fish from there and cook it for the guests.

To be able to look into the sea and know that someone is preparing breakfast for you to savour it by the sea is one splendiferous feeling.

I cannot share enough of these photos. I used to see this man up and about religiously every single day of our stay at around 6. While we were still in our shorts lazing around and tossing the task of brushing first to each other, he used to look ready and upbeat to take on the day. And everyday he had his camera with him.

I used to look at the different colours water would take across different sections. Infact you can see it above. While it would be orange in one section, the next section would tease me with a light violet that would merge into a grey and then lead to a murky green near the foliage.

All I wanted to do was bring a book and my iPod and sit by the sea. I did see a lot of Europeans doing that over the days as well. We later were told that the highest percentage of guests at Amagi are from Europe.

When we walked down to the breakfast area, we were even more awestruck. This was breathtakingly beautiful.

There was even a tree house with a table and chair in it for people to dine.

I did pester K to take a lot of snaps of mine inside it. I have always been fascinated by a tree house. I dream of staying up in one with Calvin and Hobbes if Calvin shares his password. This morning was turning out to be beautiful.

There is something about a lonely tree that stands tall and stubborn. And this lonely boat reminded me of something that I couldn’t really place. I began to love this boat, clicking her away everyday and even cheesily named her Nyx, after the beautiful and pwerful Greek Goddess of the night.

And that’s how still and pristine the water was. I love how the shadow of the foliage’s reflection is seen on the water.

At this point, I must tell you that were sitting right there! How awesome is that? We truly felt like we were in the cradle of nature. It takes a good night’s sleep, a breath of fresh air, lots of greenery, untouched waters, a solitary boat, amazing hosts and awesome company to make you feel on top of the world. Oh, and the tree house ofcourse.

The breakfast was super simple and lovely.

There was dosa (Yay!), grilled potatoes, grilled tomatoes, mint chutney, omelette, fried mushroom and dal cooked with coconut, fruits and cup cakes for me. For K, there was all of this and sausages. The dal was very Sri Lankan in the way the coconut and seasoning of curry leaves was used. We loved it. It was simple and with some freshly brewed coffee, it made our day! This was the breakfast every single day and we never ever complained.

If at all we were hungry, we had lots of nature to feast on anyway.

After indulging in all of this, we set out for Kandy – a day tour with R. Oh and what fun that was!

I can’t wait to write all about it. Stay with me till then

Of zentangles, tribal tattoos and some doodling!

I love to doodle. I make patterns because they are soothing and I love to look at a blank sheet of beautiful paper turn even prettier with every trace that I get to make. The whole process is so comforting that I sometimes don’t realize that I have doodled away on a big drawing block with a micron pen. And then later when I look at it, I get amused. Do you know what  I mean?

Let me go on.

For a while now, like a few years, I had this habit of doodling and filling strings of lines with patterns and just “go with the flow”. A few months back I realized that what I was doing was actually a form of art! It is called Zentangle. You can google it and you will be amazed at the patterns you find. I was overjoyed to see that there are so many people who have formed clubs and have actually started doodling with a purpose. Err. I know that sounds funny and majorly oxymoronic but it is true!

And the best part? I had been drawing some patterns unaware that they are some of the patterns that are found on the web as well. It is amazing how there are so many zentanglers out there who have similar ways of doodling. Incredible, isn’t it? And just looking at a pattern will make you want to build on it.

 

 

This was something I made when I was idling in the MRT station waiting for a friend. I love black and white. And I love the way I can just do anything and still feel happy about it. Much as colours add spice to life, I can’t stop loving black and white. It is clear; it is vintage and it is beautiful.

And then I got fascinated with straight lines without using a ruler -

 

 

You can kind of make out that I haven’t used a ruler but that makes it look “authentic”

 

 

Those circles reminds me of one of the first things my mother taught me to draw using a compass I now have a bunch of pilot pens and other microns.

 

Though I love drawing landscape and favourite characters by memory and with some help from the right hemisphere, I cannot draw a lot of caricatures without a model or another drawing as reference. So the above ones are drawn by looking at a model. That yellow guy says “Think before you trash” and I had half a mind to put it up near some dustbins where people seem to throw everywhere except the dustbin. I love drawing these little funny guys who say and convey messages.

And then I started developing this interest in tribal tattoos. I don’t have one but I love tattooing my drawing block and someday someone will be so impressed that I will be doing it on real unforunate people as well!

Some of the first tattoos I did:

 

Sometimes the prospect of doodling without the intention of creating something beautiful (not necessarily) is itself very endearing. Mechanical, creative, engaging and perceptual, all at once, they surely add beauty around. I like art when it leads you to what it wants to be. At the same time, being inspired by something around me is equally stimulating. And that for me is a perpetual mystery.

Let me go back to finish up my inspiration board.