My favourite lines – 6

I am so enjoying my train journeys. Being located far from work, my journey entails travel by 2 trains, one cute LRT, a bus and ofcourse some walking. Don’t feel sorry for me (though I often say this at length to garner sympathy). I get to meet and hear some of the cutest conversations. Sometimes, I wonder how on earth does a little mind conjure such lines!

Overheard in the train early morning:

Little girl in lemon yellow: Why mommy? Why?

Poor mommy: Because teacher will give you.

Little girl in lemon yellow: But why mommy? Why teacher give me?

Poor poor mommy: She has to see it first and then she will give it to you.

Girl in lemon yellow: But why mommy?

This “why mommy” series went on till they reached the destination. The mommy spotted a small part of ankle was red/sore and asked: “What happened here? Why is it red here? Is it hurting?”

The girl in lemon yellow: (shakes her head and gives a sigh) I don’t know. Don’t ask me so many questions.

I almost fell off my seat. Yeah right, you little one.

—————————————————————————————————————–

I am not a fan of travelling by aeroplanes. Much as I’d like to fly, planes are not my thing. I get scared and am this puissant creature whenever there is turbulence. But I love the views from up above. And conversations surrounding it:

Little cutiepie boy in a spiderman tee: Wooooooow! It is so bright bright, sparkling down. Wowoowwowow! Mummy dekho dekho (see see) - so many sparkling lights.

Mummy: Haan beTa (son). So beautiful…..

Little cutiepie boy: Why no light thaaat side? (pointing to a dark reagion. We were flying over Malaysia)

Mummy: They don’ t have lights there. So, it is all dark.

Little cutiepie boy: Toh phir (then) we will give some lights, hai na (isn’t it) Mummy? I don’t like dark dark. I like sparkling sparkling.

Oh, you li’l one! I hope that’s exactly what you go on to do with your life

There are so many of them. I always make a mental note to write them down but forget to.

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 3

The last I told you was of us visiting the small cottage industry where elephant poo is made into paper. After an awesome visit to the elephant orphanage and the paper factory, we moved on with our journey.

One the things that strikes your mind whenever you hear Sri Lanka is definitely its spices. I had heard of them and when R mentioned that he will be taking us to a spice garden we got pretty excited. Visiting a farm or factory or just about any enterprise is just so exciting. I have come to realize that this is something I enjoy a lot. So much so, that everytime we travel or consider travel, I look out for small social enterprises or a speciality fruit farm. I wouldn’t be lying if I said that, more often than not, there always is something of this sort to go gape at.

Travels are full of unexpected stuff. You can’t really complain coz’ that is what makes them so appealing. Well, in this case, we just kind of bumped into an unexpected spice garden that had nothing of interest. A poor guided tour by someone who claimed to be an Ayurvedic doctor was not something we looked forward to. I clicked umpteen pictures of this tour in the hope that it will turn interesting but alas!

You know that the spice garden is not really a garden when someone points to a bottle of jasmine “extract” (we wouldn’t know if it was an extract or essence) and says, “This is jasmine.”

You also know that this is not a spice garden when in the end, they just set up a small shop of all the oils and offer a free “sample massage”. Alright, alright, I did get the free sample done but honestly, we were quite dejected. We do try our best to see every little experience as fun and in this case, we just ended up making fun of the whole visit to a garden that wasn’t.

K pulled R’s leg and said that this was a funny trip. We were pretty hell bent on visiting an actual spice garden and so, R being the sweet chap agreed to take us to a bigger and better place. Once again we got pretty enthusiastic at the prospect of seeing a garden but tried to keep our expectations in check.

It is amazing how sometimes, first impressions can be so wrong. Sometimes you meet highly talkative and extremely confident people who claim to know pretty much every thing there is to a subject and then you meet really humble people who greet you with a smile, make you feel welcome, call themselves a student and amaze you with the way they handle the whole process. And this is the feeling we walked out with after the second spice garden tour. We met one of the most humble and also learned guides here.

That’s him with the vanilla pods.

This young guide quizzed us, spoke to us animatedly, teased  our knowledge of medicinal herbs, put our olfactory senses to test by asking us to smell an extract and name the source and kept us super entertained!

We saw different types of ginger, nutmeg, jackfruits, vanilla, peppercorns, banana plantations (red bananas, robust bananas and what not!), eucalyptus trees, a couple of mango tree, mint etc etc. Now, this felt like a  garden.

Sometimes you know stuff subconsciously. I mean, most of us are aware of the fact that many herbs are medicinal and that there are plants where every part has an application. Then there are ambrosial flowers that have your soul waft in the divinity. Yet, when you see all of it at once, you are awed.

We truly felt like having visited a spice garden. The mixture of all the best smells in the world was tantalizing and we felt heady at certain parts of the walk. One could just be in the biggest dilemna trying to decide what he/she wanted to follow – the refreshing mint or the heavenly cinnamon. I felt like I was the mistress of spices and fantasized myself prescribing the various magical spices to those who came to me with desires and troubles unspoken of but felt.

They did run a small educational class thingy after the trip where they spoke of the benefits of different extracts and their use (I have a copy of it) and then encouraged us to ask questions. We had a very good time looking at the various medicinal herbs and thoroughly enjoyed the learning. By the end of it all, we were taken to their own shop where these extracts are sold for reasonable sum of money. We did not think a lot before buying anything because this was a Govt. aided nursery and run by Ayurvedic doctors. We got a few bottles of vanilla extract that we later shared with our parents and some red banana extract. Even though we were interested in the various tailam for K’s grandma, they were not available in below 75 ml bottles (that are flight friendly) and so had to sadly give them a go.

Recently, both our parents called us to say that they liked the vanilla extract and it lends a great original taste when used in halwa and kheer. So yay! Not that much can go wrong with vanilla anyways.

Having had a very good tour, we were both extremely hungry. R seemed to have been very hungry as well because he was waiting for us  and the minute he spotted us, he gestured “Shall we eat?” eagerly, relieved to see that we were out at last. It was almost 3 P.M. While R drove us down to the restaurant, we spent all our energy talking about Sri Lankan food and sports. Very soon we found ourselves getting out the car and walking into a totally quiet restaurant with absolutely nobody around. R said that it was well past lunchtime. Now, that got us worried about the availability of food but we soon saw a central area that had an all-vegetarian buffet just waiting for us to devour.

The restaurant overlooked an open green space and we just went and made ourselves comfortable.

R told us that their speciality as a raw mango curry. Now imagine someone talking of a tangy dish when you are already drooling for food! We kind of helped ourselves to big heaps of pretty much everything.

And that, my dear buddies, is a piece of heaven.

For the next few minutes, nobody spoke. No plans were made. Only om-nom-nom-nom-mmmmm and crunch seemed to be the sound in the cool, sweet  air.

P.S. Coming up next is a visit to a cottage tea industry and tea estate

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!

Savouring Sri Lanka – Kandy tripping 1!

Staying in a wonderful resort puts you in a comfortable lurch and yet there is this paradox of choice. Do we stay in the resort and spend every minute unaware of what is happening around and just respond to the call of the sea? Or pack your bag and hit the roads?

In the first part of this series, I told you immensely captivated we were by the resort. If you have no clue what am referring to, please read this.

The night we arrived, we had already booked a trip to Kandy that cost us 14,000 LKR for a one day tour. We really wanted the best out out of this trip in terms of going out and getting to see as much as we could as against the trip we made to Kuala Lumpur where all we did was eat, sleep, relax, fight for turns to play in the bubble bath and shop.

With the impending trip to India that would would soon prove to be very hectic owing to a family wedding, we still decided to take the plunge.

We never regretted it. And the 14000 LKR though sounded a bit on the higher range, was quite okay given the fact that R, who drove us everywhere was also a seasoned guide and very well versed with local habits.

After breakfast, we just prepped up last minute and set off with R. Even though R had showed us the luxury van from a distance and said that it had a TV inside for us, I did not really bother much. Who needs a TV when you want to gobble up all the sights in front of you?

But I saw what he meant by “luxury”. The seats were extremely comfortable, very well maintained with a good aircon given that it was extremely hot and ofcourse, there was the much popular TV. We would have enjoyed the ride in a rickety bus but it kind of helped in the scheme of things that we had a lot of travel coming up in the days ahead and going on smooth rides was a plus. A big plus.

When we started off, R played Sa Re Ga Ma Pa re-runs of the children’s challenge. I have watched every episode of it and watching it and listening to some of favourite singers amidst so much of greenery made the yester-years come alive.

One deal that K struck with R before we commenced our trip was – “You must take us through the local roads and skip highways. Even if the roads are not so roady.” And R executed that to perfection by taking us through small towns and narrow roads making a journey of 1.5 hours, a 2.5 one.

Along the way, we saw a lot of private pineapple forms. Now, I have never seen a pineapple except on my plate or a grocery store. I had never seen how a plant looked like. Frankly, I don’t think I would have noticed it keenly if R did not tell us that there were indeed pineapples undeground. Quite sad, I know.

We were overjoyed to see rows and rows of these pineapples along the way, in different private farms - like pineapple pit stops. On our way we  crossed paths with little children wearing clean white and blue uniforms to go to the nearest convent, their hair oiled and pleated and white canvas shoes polished to perfection holding each others’ hands in the distant narrow kachcha road forming an ant-line.

While R went on and on about how he loved Indian music and likes Shammi Kappor and the Khans and Rishi Kapoor and the little tit-bits he knew of them, we caught a bit of movie and music outside our windows as well.

Sri Lanka has a lot of greenery. No second word about it. What held my attention was its proximity to Kerala when it came to the number of coconut trees. There were coconut trees lining the streets. And when they did not line the streets, they snuggled and some elbowed their way and grew amidst their other green friends.

You know the kind of games people play when htey udnertake long roadtrips? Like, who gets the maximum count of a red house or the number of green lamp-post etc. You could never play that with coconut trees for sure!

While churches are very popular in Negombo, because it is  predominantly occupied by Christians (according to R), we surprisingly never spotted churches along the way. What we did spot was this temple!

What is a road trip without tuk-tuks? There were many of them. But what is worth noticing is that even though some parts of the journey were tricky given the narrow lanes (we chose to do it, remember), the roads in general were well maintained for the part we travelled.

I am so used to seeing black tuk-tuks with a bit of yellow/ ivory on their snooty nose that this blue guy stole my heart!

All along the way, we spotted many many of these puffed/air blown toys being sold. R said that they are usually here but given that Christmas was approaching, they stayed for longer hours and came by more consistently.

Before we knew it, we had arrived at the elephant orphanage at Pinnawela, our number 1 of the list. Deeps (who has written her experience at the orphanage here) had told me that “this place is something” and so did the resort guys. We were happy to be there finally!

The concept is simple. they adopt elephants that are orphaned unweaned elephants from the wild when they are abandoned by their family/mother. Also, sometimes, elephants get injured either by manual activity or by falling into ravines or getting infected by a parasite. So these elephants (sometimes babies) are nursed, tended to and cared for by the Govt. authorities.

Listening to R tell us about this itself was so moving. We were touched and strongly feel that this is a great initiative – an elephantine one at that!

When I look back and think of the elephants I saw and said hello to, I can’t help but feel a tinge of hurt and regret about this little guy you see above. There is this stable where a few elephants were chained and fed. Some were not even chained but the mahouts were all there. So, this li’l chap, he refused to come to me. There is this option to feed them and I stood there with all kinds of juicy sticks and he not only not came to me but also ran away from me. I took this pretty personally. The mahouts laughed and said he is a bit cheeky that way but I refused to be consoled. I stood there for 20 minutes in the hope he would change his mind, but all he did was -

run from one end to the other making me lose weight. And you thought you could entice them with food. Little fella, I’m going to never forget you and if needed, I will come again just to make sure you eat from my hands.

K ofcourse interpretted this in convenient ways that did not help anyway. Sighing, we moved to the next stable.

The big handsome guy above had suffered from paralysis and the left front limb was affected pretty badly. You’d think it deterred him in some way, but no! He swung his trunk, heaved and huffed and snatched some fresh leaves from his friend.

But the most beautiful part was how the mahouts handled all this. I did not see anyone being rude or hostile. While they had to be a little dominating to maintain control, they fed them, laughed with us and made fun of the elephants. I think their spirit was a big take-away for us. Apart from the wonderful gesture on part of the Govt, that is.

R then announced that we would be going to the elephant bath. It is nothing but water-play or a baby-bath, we soon realized. See these little fellows here -

These are babies. One is 7 months old and the other is 3 months old. The 3 months old guy was having one whale of a time in the water. He refused to stand up at all. He swam or did something like flap his little limbs (not so little actually) and his trunk, made bubbles, tried to grapple, made funny moves and totally lived it up in style! We loved this so much that we must have taken tens of snaps each.

And then we met the oldest elephant at the orphanage who is also blind but can sense through other modalities. When we visited, this majestic one was sick and yet I found an elegance and stature that I can’t place in words – like aging gracefully maybe.

Now we went to the actual elephant bath. You know the kinds where the elephants trumpet and then go in a line straight out a school assembly – just like that!

We followed, through the streets, blinded by the sudden rush of colours, hand-made items, leather goods, people and ofcourse the hot hot sun that gave us a permanent squint.

As soon as you go this nearby river, Maha Oya, you will see why the elephants were so excited!

It is so hot and humid that all these guys need is a water bath. And with a tub as big as a river and company for play, who wouldn’t? While some got submerged inside the river, cooling off, the rest pretended to test the waters before joining their friends.

I have no idea why they did this, but I was fascinated. It was almost like the right elephant followed suit. They were in that position for a while though. Some new form of sun-bathing, I suppose.

There is another big reason why they love the bath and seem unperturbed with so many onlookers around. If you can make your way up to one end, you get to buy bananas from an elderly genetleman there for 100 LKR a packet (had about 6-8 bananas) and feed them. They were not just fed, but over-fed (though am not sure iif such a thing exists). Everyone there wanted to feed them, take snaps and capture the right moment.

As K found it hard to position himself at a vantage point, I teased this guy with the banana (I was running short even though we had 2 packets) and finally gave in. If I had prolonged further, you would have seen the picture of me struggling to come out of his huge coiled nose.

We did the same for K  and R. It was absolutely fun watching other people   feed them endlessly with more and more bananas that they gladly accepted with no shyness whatsoever.

I loved looking at those two snuggling. The little one was high on pampering and attention seeking for itself.

And then when the mahouts start gathering them all up (ya right! as if they could), they go back in such orderliness that it definitely teaches us a thing or two.

K and I are very very glad that we went here. The majestic elephants, the lush greenery, goose-bump inducing line of mountains around and more than anything, the wonderful gesture of restoring the elephants to health, safety and happiness (you really should see them bathe) was awe-inspiring. I will strongly recommend this place. I have heard that Coorg has a similar  elephant camp that trains captured elephants but I have never been there yet inspite of staying so close to Coorg. always happens, eh? Sigh.

Following this, we headed onwards to an extremely fun place that I cannot wait to tell you about in the next post!

So long!

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

Reporting live from Kuala Lumpur – 3

How I slept! I have no clue when I slept off last night.  I woke up to the melodious alarm at 7:00 A.M. After such a lovely breakfast yesterday, I waned to make sure that I do not miss breakfast and wake up in time for it. I think, if someone were to make me breakfast everyday, I’d happily wake up early to eat. On the other hand, if I were to wake up and make breakfast, I’d rather spend the 30 minutes in bed, snoozing away gloriously.

As usual, K was sleeping soundly. In that regard, he is super consistent. I don’t think a sumptuous breakfast can entice him even a wee bit. Not when he is sleeping like this. Anyway, I assumed my role of the pest and tickled and pushed him off the bed. I feel sorry for him. Like, majorly sorry. Most of the time. I try my best to be the gentle bride. But my wickedness often wins the round. Poor him!

And then, K said something that made me feel that the sky was falling! He said that we must skip breakfast and sleep off nicely. Now, even if he was making a joke, how cruel could he get! I couldn’t respond out of shock. I don’t miss breakfasts. And definitely not when Hilton makes them for me. Breakfasts with waffles that have vanilla sauce on them are mandatory in my life. Sigh. K tried to persuade me into it and promised huge rewards. I was at my defiant best. When I threatened to cry, he laughed and said it was all a prank. How easy it is to play such cruel, wicked, evil, malicious pranks on a poor soul that asks for breakfast in the morning.

We spent an hour over this. And then, we hurriedly got dressed and I galloped to the dining area. The first thing I checked was waffles ofcourse. In that lovely spot beside beside the huge batik poster and potted plants, I could see the most endearing sight of the morning – golden waffles beckoning to me to taste them all. Every one of them. I flashed a victorious smile, K gave up any last bit of hope he had and we chose our seats. This time we sat right opposite the waffle counter, for obvious reasons.

I ordered my normal coffee and K ordered a latte. I looked around and could see the hockey team there. I was hoping I could see them today as well and yes! They were all very much there. But, their outfit was different today – a bright and lovely orange! And they seemed so happy. I wonder if they won yesterday’s match…. They are such a talkative bunch, I tell ya! They go on and on, all at once and suddenly I can hear words and jargon and the crunch of honeystars and the clinking of spoons in their yoghurt glasses and the om-nom-nom-noms. They must feel so one ! I love love love love watching teams in uniforms.

Breakfast was spledid! The menu was pretty much the same as yesterday’s with some additions: they had super soft banana walnut cake , my comfort food of dal tadka and fluffy medhu vaDas. The waffles were amazing smelling of awesomeness. The iDiyappams were warmer today and I was lucky to get a fresh batch ! It was all just like yesterday and yet, I was so enamoured by the spread. I spent a long time trying to choose what I wanted. Between the porridge, pooris, baked beans, noodles, potato masala, dal taDka, rice, fried rice, bee hoon, the never-ending varieties of bread, cakes, yoghurt, fresh fruit juice, salads, cereals – I was lost. But let me proudly announce that I did come out victorious.  Hilton, I can’t tell you how much I love you for that awesome spread you have everyday on the dining table and that lovely curvy spread on your face as well

After a lovely breakfast, K and I watched some news on TV. One of the cab drivers had cheerfully told us that KLCC is the place to go to for shopping if we are interested in brands. Oh well, we decided we would give it a try. I mean, we don’t usually turn down such suggestions.

I am so glad we went there. I am not sure why K wouldn’t agree – he got such amazing trousers there! I shopped at Zara and other factory outlets and walked out proudly holding all those bags. Let me admit it honestly. I love shopping. I don’t even wish to be otherwise. I do have my moods and sometimes I want to shop only footwear, sometimes I want to shop for grocery, but the underlying commonality is that I usually like to shop. I am proud of my consistency.

There was some small scale fashion show happening inside the mall. Our camera’s battery was running really low, but K being K  wanted to capture the pretty girl he had sighted. Sigh. So, he rubbed the battery, made it come alive and clicked just one.

He managed to click 2 snaps of this model. By the time he could “capture” the other “cutie” (as he called the next model), the battery conked off again!  I felt sorry for K, really.

We had a light lunch of mini burger and lime soda and decided to return to the hotel for a nice nap.

We had seen that the Petronas Towers that KL is famous for, is right next to KLCC. So while K rubbed the battery and tried to charge it a bit (Yeah, his undergrad is in electrical and electronics engineering), I squinted in the sun.

When K managed to “charge” it a bit, all the way tsssking that it was not good for the battery’s life, I was just too happy that we will have atleast one non-food picture from our trip

What ensued was this:

and lots of different angles and poses. I am so amazed that the battery lasted so long. What with K not being satisfied with any snap I clicked of his, and commenting on the lack of “crispiness”, the battery did very well, I must say.

We came back to the hotel and and slept blissfully. But on our way back, we chatted endlessly,  talked out head off with the friendly cab driver and I got over-awed by this huge metallic ball right at the end of our corridor -

We slept for 2 full hours and then headed out to the pool. I loved this day – it had sleep, travel, food, shopping, togetherness, laughter, water and photography, and ofcourse, the awesome breakfast (that must have signalled the start of such an awesome day). We did not do anything adventurous or explore any sport or have a packed tour. But, I loved the way this trip turned out. We spent most of the time lazing around and that is something we hadn’t done on such a mega scale in the recent getaways. I am glad we did what we did.

As usual we came back hungry from the pool. But we were smart. We ordered room service from the intercom service near the pool, about half an hour before we left. So, when we returned, we were greeted by this:

Some awesome multi-grain buns,

Rice and mushroom fry,

Yummilicious onion rings that I couldn’t get enough of !

and K’s egg noodles with prawn.

I write this after a sumptuous meal. I feel full and happy. We will be going back to Singapore tomorrow morning. By this time tomorrow, I will be on my bed at home. I love vacations. And I love the feeling of having to go back home to my bed and my favourite window.

I have had a lovely time with K. This is one vacation that we will never forget. It has been a true vacation – no sight seeing and absolutely not moved a muscle. Great food, amazing people, heavenly pool and bath and cherishable togetherness. Thank you God!!!!!

 

KL, you have been good. Promise me that you will stay this way. Okay?

P.S. That brings us to the end of KL tales, for now! Thanks for joining me on this ride

Reporting live from Kuala Lumpur – 2

I can’t begin to say how awesome this morning was. After bugging K and sleeping off at around 3:30 A.M., I had this inkling that I may still get a sound sleep. And why not? I am on vacation!

Sleep soundly I did. But, I amazed myself by waking up at 6:00 in the morning. I struggle to wake up at 9 on saturdays. I love my sleep. And I have a partner who lives by the same motto. Atleast on weekend mornings. But I woke up at 6:00 A.M.! I was so shocked that I tried to pat myself to sleep so that I don’t “not-sleep”, you know! Alas! The harder you try to get something, the more elusive it becomes.

I pushed the curtains aside to see how KL looks in the morning. I saw some guests by the pool. I felt really envious that they could step out into the cold waters in the wee hours. The city looked so beautiful. So hazy, yet beautiful. I couldn’t see beyond a certain point because buildings seem to grow like coconut trees, just a broader version. I loved the haze that formed when I breathed on the glass. I spent some time writing words, letters and quotes on it.

And then I got back to bed. I looked towards my side. K was sleeping like a baby. The evil person that I am, I couldn’t let him sleep. So lets just say I put the peacock feather, water bottle, T.V. remote, aircon remote, pencil and paper to good use. K pleaded me to go away and promised extra shopping in return. Well, if he insisted on extra shopping, how could I say no? So, I just let him be and went to brush and get fresh.

I must at this point write that the first thought I woke up with, was breakfast. I was getting curious-er and curious-er about what would be served for breakfast. We had been told that breakfast was served until 10:30 A.M. And it was already 7:45 A.M. So, I shook K, sat on him and threatened him (Yes, I agree with you. He is indeed very lucky to me as his wifey.) Anyway, he got up. He asked me to do sit-ups and promise to fetch him everything for a week (like T.V. remote that lies 5 cm aay from him, water bottle that lies 7.5 cm away from him coz’ he is the epitome of laziness). I gave in and thankfully, we were all set by 8:30 A.M. or so.

I wanted to take snaps of the breakfast but it being the first day, I was a bit shy. I haven’t seen anyone taking snaps of breakfast so far. And somehow to carry the DSLR all the way down because K’s phone was out for service, didn’t seem very appealing. I mean, I wanted to enjoy the spread.

The breakfast was amaaaaaaaaaaaaazing!!!!!!!!!!! I could smell it as soon as we got out of the elevator. It is easily one of the best spreads I have had. I loved it because they were sweet enough to have vegetarian counterparts of Japanese, Korean, Chinese and Malay dishes wherever possible. I loved it! I want to write down as much as I remember from today’s platter:

1. Waffles ( These are the best waffles I have had, like the bestest!) – I’d go to Hilton just for this. Served with vanilla syrup/strawberry sauce/blueberries/soaked peaches/ soaked apples. I had two of them. And beat this! They were made hot hot right in front of you by an extremely cute staff. Ofcourse, K loved them – the waffles served by the cute lady, both, in the reverse order.

2. Bread (all the varieties you can imagine)/biscotti/ buns (wholemeal/white/raisin/fruit) – Yummy but why on earth would I eat so much bread when there was such a big spread?

3. Butter – flavoured and the usual salted/non-salted. I loved the herb and garlic.

4. Awesome omelette – I was on a self-imposed egg ban until the last time we vacationed. This time, I wasn’t and so you should have seen me gushing and giggling as the egg gurgled on the tava. The omelette-man (who was super cute!) even gave me extra cheese. Not cheesy!

5. Baked beans – I always eat this. No idea why, but I love baked bean s for breakfast.

6. Stir fried veggies – Brocolli, cauliflower, carrots, zucchini and cucumber. Simple and classy!

7. Aloo masala - Aloo and masala – how can anything go wrong?

8. Pooris – the kaDak types and I loved them!

9. Idiyappams – I know, right? I had a couple of these as well.

10. Chutney (4 types – mango, tomato, coconut and corriander), sauces and all!

11. Fried rice – I did not have this.

12. Fried bee hoon – I did not have this either.

13. Hashbrowns – crispy, golden, perfectly potato, crunchy on the crust hashbrowns. I can’t wait to eat them tmorrow again.

14. Sushi – many varieties. I had the one with raw mango (a modification I guess) - yummmm!

15. Fresh garden veggie salad – Maybe tomorrow?

16. Fresh fruits – honeydew, pineapple, watermelon, apple, pear – Loooove!

17. Yoghurt in uncountable flavours – plain to blueberry to mixed fruit to what not! Blueberry was awesome.

18. Any type of drink – yo ucan order lattes or capuccino or anything! I settled for the usual coffee because I get a big kick by mixing my milk and adding sugar and making it the way I want. K loved his latte though!

19. I can’t even count the sausages and all the other non-vegetarian dishes. I want to ask K to help me write them tomorrow here. But there were a looooooooot of non-vegetarian dishes.

20. Nasi lemak – the Malay coconut-flavoured rice usually eaten with chicken. I did not try the rice either but I plan to tomorrow.

21. Cakes – cup-cakes, fruit cake slices, plain cake – phew! I couldn’t eat them - I was so full

22. Muffins – chocolate and blueberry. I didn’t spot vanilla and banana though.

23. Fresh fruiot juices – there was this juice corner and they would make any combination of juice for you. I wanted to try banana-pineapple for the fun of it but settled for green and red apple. I must say, the tanginess of green and the sweetness of red was a fabulous punch!

24. Porridge, corn-flakes, choco-flakes, honey-stars etc – I usaully have honey-stars but somehow did not today.

I think there is some hockey event going on here. I saw tall women in hockey outfits representing Australia here. They were all present for breakfast and we were right next to them. Some of them grabbed an apple and discussed the game. Some of them were discussing recipes for baking. I don’t know how to express this, but I loved the fact that inspite of all that diversity, the uniform united them. It was a joy to see them all lift their hockey sticks and walk out together as a bunch, a team. Little acts like them tying a ponytail high up or discuss how one player’s uniform is too short (in a naughty way!) – I find all that so endearing and motivating! I really had to stop myself from going and sitting at their table.

By the time we finished our breakfast, we felt like loosening our belts. I tell you, the secret to a great day is in the breakfast. We felt so good that we headed to our room and slept for an hour. We usually do this and it is so satisfying.

We woke up so fresh. Suddenly K ran to the shower and said “Mine!”. I was flabbergasted. Here I was secretly plotting a 2 hour sojourn in the lovely bathtub and K just jumps in and books the place. Needless to say, we fought. We tossed a 50 c coin. Nothing went in my favour. K got it. I sulked. I called the “magic” number (that’s what they call room service) and asked if we could rent a DVD. They sent a DVD list but we had watched most of them! And the others were in other languages we did not follow. Not knowing whether to feel happy or sad, I started browsing local sight seeing.  

All this while, K was cooing and gooing and praising how the temperature of the water is just so perfect and how he feels sorry for the other person in the room and all that.

I knew how I could take badla and all! Firstly, I booked the bathroom. And then, I chose to go to Petaling Street, Chinatown and Berjaya Times Square as sightseeing for the day. These were both the kind of places you’d go for shopping and make-hubby-wait while you choose a bag, put it back, tour the entire street and come pick the same bag –  kind of trips. Hah!

K was now shouting that his fingers are all wrinkly and it is probably time to come out. 1.5 hours. And they say that girls take forever.

Finally, the king came out of the bathtub. He declared this to be one of his best baths. History repeated itself and we were finally set to leave.

It was around 2:30 P.M. or so when we left for Berjaya Times square. All that bath made us hungry (inspite of the heavy breakfast) and we went to Nandos. You know they love chicken when you are greeted by this!

Seven days without peri peri makes one weak!

Protect the earth, it is the only planet with chickens.

When the going gets tough, the tough gets more peri peri chicken.

I was glad that there was pita-wrap on the vegetarian side. I was glad because there was something vegetarian other than boiled corn and french fries.

They have different types of peri-peri sauce ranging between mild-very hot. I chose hot (grade 3/4) and actually liked it! It was pita stuffed with grilled veggies and peri peri sauce. I had corn on the cob for sides and loved it! t was light and perfect.

And K ordered this!

It was a medium portion – grilled veggies and some chicken. But he did not complain. He was hungry and so enjoyed it. At this point I must share that he ate a bit of my corn as well.

When anyone leaves, all the waiters will shout out a “Bye bye! See you at Peri-Peri sooon!”. Gosh! I was so blushing when they shouted so loud. We shouted back as well. It felt good.

We roamed around trying to locate a bookstore I wanted to go to but never could find it. No stationery shops either. I just bought from coin pouches made of batik as souvenirs in bright colours.

(Sorry for the image quality. Just to give you an idea)

And I bought those Afghan pants where the waist has lot of sequins in bright colours. Oh, they so comfy and trendy at the same time!

By the time we roamed about the place it was like 5:00 P.M. we spotted a donut place and bought 6 donuts and went back to Hilton. Now, who can keep a box of donuts and not open them? So we opened ours.

Presto!

See those beauties! The one without the hole – looks can be deceptive. It is filled with strawberry jam and with the first bite, the juices were oozing out. K chose it and I had no idea it would turn out so good. so we have strawberry filled donut, almond topped on vanilla cream donuts, nutty donut (with cashe and roasted peanut pieces strewn over) and gool ol’ plain sugar donut. We finished 4/6 already today!

There is something I have come to realize about myself. I enjoy plain things a lot. Like, I love plain donuts. I love plain bread toast. I love plain coffee. I love plain eggs. This does not mean I do not enjoy accessories and garnish. I very much do. But I find a charm in plain things – eatables, garments, home decor, footwear etc. And I feel K also concurs to a major extent. He loves plain dal, plain rotis On second thought, I don’t think I must call them plain. I am probably referring to the the original form. The form that is untouched. Metaphorically, I’d liek to think it probably is symbolic of something pristine. Simple and elegant.

Or maybe I am thinking too much into it. I do enjoy waffles with hundred sauces on them. Approximately, I mean.

We rested a bit, watched some news and set out to Petaling street in the night. This is more of a street shopping place. I was just hoping for a book street or so but didn’t find any. There are streets filled with all brands under the sun – bags, perfumes, cosmetics, shoes! We did not buy anything. We just roamed around, took in the smell of the chestnuts, watched the lady make satay, the myriad colours of various drinks, the lanterns, the traditional outfits, the batik handloom, the happiness on the salesman’s face when he strikes a good deal, the happy customers who were carrying like 5-6 big bags of purchases and the elderly men who sat with their children at street corners.

We checked out a happening DVD shop where they had all soaps and complete series. They usually have a small outlet and give you a catalogue. Once you choose what you want, they go to the secret godown and get the DVDs for you. We saw a few tourists there as well. we did not buy anything. But it was a fun trip. They even advertise for the soaps. Like one guy comes to me and tells me, “Ma’m. Gossip girls very nice. We have all seasons.” I just smiled and said “Oh nice.. sorry, no thanks. I’ll just look around.”  But he was quite insistent and showed one of the character’s poster also. I don’t know why but I think I will never forget such little incidents.

K and I spoke to the guys there. Some were from Bangladesh and they said that they work elsewhere in the morning and work here at night. “So, when do you sleep?”, we asked. “In between sometimes”, they said. We were amazed.

We returned to the hotel. It was amost 10:00 P.M. That meant we had an hour before the pool closed. We left for the pool and had an amazing time! K taught me to swim (with my feet on the ground coz’ the water is like 1.2 mts deep) and we watched the little kids do all kinds of stunts while I flapped my hands and acted like a sea-horse with funny movements.

I write this while we await our dinner to arrive. It is midnight and I can’t wait to eat. Water makes me hungry. Talking of hunger, I wonder what is on for breakfast tomorrow. I hear the bell. I better stop typing now. Else, I risk losing my onion rings.

Ciao!