Wonderful Words from a Good Friend

I haven’t had time to blog much lately as I have been really busy but just wanted to share this with you today. Dale Mahon, a great friend of mine, wrote this out of the blue on his phone on a train journey from Colombo to Hikkaduwa. It’s poignant, poetic but most of all brings to life imagery  in words. Simply stunning:

“Looking out on coastal seas vibrating train and shaking knees, some on seats and some who stand, a beggar begging, a singer chants, “wade wade” sellers pushing through the crowd, the wheels making noise like a marching band.

Different stations as we stop, more get on, it feels just like a cattle truck, oceans blue and golden sands. In between ramshackle huts that people call home, some with families, some alone.

Palm trees blowing in between washing lines, polythene fences and regi foam, 5 star hotels as we pass the rich, poor people looking at mobile phones, carpenters working beside the track, coconut toddy tappers on ropes so high, waving hard as the train goes by.

Couples are courting between the rocks, not to be seen with umbrellas up, many people in a confined space, no expressions can we see upon their face, chewing betel, pushing past, chucking litter on the track so fast, not a hassle that we can see, and for them this is not a pain, just a usual trip on a Sri Lankan train.”

©Dale Mahon 16/03/2013 Colombo to Hikkaduwa 1430 express

Dale Mahon is the owner and  Manager  of Asian Jewel Boutique Hotel in Hikkaduwa.

Sri Lankan Train Journey

Daily Life on a Sri Lankan Train

Cricket Fever hits Sri Lanka like Never Before

The Sri Lankan captain celebrates the semi-final win

Oh boy I’m nervous and I’m not even a massive cricket fan. Sri Lanka are playing in the final tonight against the West Indies in the ICC World Twenty20. For all you non-cricket fans out there click here for a bit of background.

Now normally I only get excited about Holland in major football games, sometimes Arsenal (my favourite English Premiership team) and very rarely other sporting occasions, such a memorable Wimbledon final – this is one of them. Not only are Sri Lanka (my adopted home country) the hosts but they are in the final and the country is on edge tonight.

The match starts in exactly 1 hour and 10 minutes. Families are already at home in front of their TV screens or at a neighbours place if they do not have one. The kids are adorned in the blue shirts with the yellow font Dilmah tea sponsors proudly claiming “Sri Lanka Cricket” and their favourite cricketers number on the back. In the bigger cities there are some large screens for the public.

Expats in my village are gathering in pubs and bars but mostly this is a friends and family affair. People are still buying food, tuk tuk drivers are touting for business off the bus loads of Russians that keep being dropped off at the 5* hotels, old men are in the bookmakers very much as normal, housewives are cooking rice and curry, but there is an undertone of excitement everywhere. Women and children visit the beach much as every other Sunday but they are slightly more animated and stopping to speak to everybody that they meet.

There is none of the garishness that you would see in Europe if the country was in a big football final, no flags everywhere, no houses painted blue (Holland take note haha). I know life will go on as normal tomorrow regardless of the result. BUT there is something, it may not be so palpable where I live but I am sure there is a great vibe in the capital tonight. Cars will be hooting their horns, fireworks in the streets. I wish I was there. I am not so I will have to go with the subtle nervousness that the locals are feeling here and try not to cry if we lose.

It’s only a game after all. Or is it?

Good luck Sri Lanka. Buddhu saranai…let the game commence…

Windies vs. Sri Lanka ICC World Twenty20 Final 2012

Sri Lankan Vegetable Soup

My blogging has become a bit sporadic of late, there are two reasons for this:

1. I have started a new job which is taking up a lot of my time in training and well…”actual” work
2. I haven’t been in the greatest of mind sets over the last few weeks, it’s personal so I’m not going to broadcast it all over the web but  I’ve taken a few knocks – still onwards and upwards…

Because of these two quite large life events I haven’t been eating as I should (and like t0). Specifically point number 2) has made my appetite disappear to the point where I would be sitting in a restaurant, looking over the menu for 30 minutes, only to order a beer whilst my friend ate copious amounts of food. Not good, especially when I need energy for my new job.

So what on earth can you eat when you are not hungry but you know you have to eat? The answer as most of you will know is soup. It is healthy (if made fresh without additives & MSG). I’ve got a few recipes up my sleeve for soup but I thought I would start with the famous Sri Lankan vegetable soup. It beats the Western varieties for taste and not only does it help bring back an ailing appetite (something to do with the added ginger and pepper I believe) it is also fantastic for colds and flu.

Sri Lankan Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:

• 50g leeks, sliced
• 50g carrots, sliced
• 50g green beans, chopped
• 50g cabbage, shredded roughly
• 1 or 2 tomatoes, diced
• 2 small potatoes, cubed
• 1 or 2 sticks of celery sliced
• 50g red dhal (mysore)
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 inch piece of ginger, grated
• 2 cardamoms
• 1 sprig curry leaves
• 1 piece of rampe or lemongrass
• 1 tsp raw curry powder
• 1 piece cinnamon
• 1 tbs crushed black pepper (I also like to add a few peppercorns more but it depends on how hot you like it)
• 1 tbs tamarind paste
• 8 to 10 cups water
• Salt to taste

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients except the tamarind paste. (NOTE: you can fry the garlic and ginger first if you like)
2. Bring to boil over to a medium heat about 1 hour (if you have time…it can be eaten after 30 minutes but I prefer it cooked well)
3. Add tamarind and adjust salt.
4. Simmer another 10 min. on low heat.

Sri Lankan Vegetable Soup

New Things I Learnt About Colombo – August 2012

Firstly I say sorry to my followers – I have started a new job which has kind of taken over my life so I haven’t been blogging much. Do not worry I’m not giving up blogging or sharing recipes, just bear with me whilst I get settled into the new routine.

I thought it would be interesting to share with you my experiences of Colombo. I have been visiting this city for 7 years and BOY has it changed AND BOY is it changing still.

I lived in Dehiwela for a little while on and off in 2006/2007, in a company apartment and loved it. It had sea views but was small and cosy and local enough to be home for me…nothing posh or special but the flat remains in my heart because it was from there that I got to know the real Colombo rather than just passing through and stopping at tourist spots like  Odel’s and Majestic City.

Anyway, after my stays there I always thought I had the authority of Colombo knowledge when people asked me about it once I was back home in the South. How wrong I was and still am.

I don’t think I have ever seen a city change so fast so quickly. Every time I go something changes, new buildings arise out of nothing, restaurants and bakeries that I used to frequent have disappeared, yet more streets are one-way and don’t even get me started on the traffic lights. I think even the real Colombo residents don’t know half the time.

So today I met a good tuk tuk driver “friend” of mine and  asked him to take me and my friend to the Old Dutch Hospital (from Punchi Borella) so we could have some lunch and a drink before getting the bus back home. He didn’t have a clue where it was (!!), so he stopped at Colombo Fort  Railway Station to ask for directions – I more or less knew where the place was but he wasn’t listening. We ended up being overcharged by him but he claimed it was because he had to stop and ask directions. Ripped off by somebody who I trusted. Damn this didn’t bode too good….lesson learnt. A tuk tuk friend in Colombo is not the same as a tuk tuk friend in my home town, Aluthgama.

The Old Dutch Hospital – nothing to fault it really. Beautiful building, wonderful restaurants, cafe’s and bars. IF YOU CAN AFFORD IT. Since when did Colombo become London?? We had a drink but skipped lunch. Sure we could afford it but we were in the mood to go home by now. I guess I would have to go back on a Friday evening to get a buzz. Tuesday lunchtimes = dull.

Finally – last Colombo lesson learnt – if you’re only going a short distance (i.e. Old Dutch Hospital to Bus Station)…get a bloody metered tuk tuk. The one outside quoted us 200 rups. We ignored him and got into a lovely old uncle’s metered tuk tuk and he took us where we wanted to go for 100 rups and spoke brilliant English whilst telling us a quick story of his Burgher youth – bargain.

Some good, some not so good, such is life. But don’t stop changing Colombo – it makes you more intriguing and fun to visit. Photo’s to follow soon.

Sri Lankan Men in Tourist Resorts – you either Love them or Hate them

Sri Lankan Men in Tourist Resorts – you either Love them or Hate them.

Sri Lankan Men in Tourist Resorts – you either Love them or Hate them

Hikkaduwa Ford; melted many a heart in his life

This is one of my rants. Forgive me if any of you take offence…I am just saying it how it is. Also note I am with one of these Sri Lankan men who grew up in a tourist resort, so I probably fall into the former category of actually seeing them in a good light. 6+ years and we are still going strong. Don’t get me wrong – I could quite happily kill him sometimes but fortunately we know each other well and can generally sort shit out (the day after, sometimes 2 or 3, haha).

I’ll get back to that in another post but firstly in case you have just stumbled on this post and know very little about Sri Lanka – *ONE WORD OF NOTE* – do not let this put you off coming here for a fantastic holiday, even if you are a single female travelling alone. The country will welcome you with open arms but I hope this post may make just that little bit wiser about how you go about your day-to-day holiday adventures.

Unemployment is a big problem in this country, not because it is absurdly high, but because there are no social security measures in place to aid these people. A problem the Government needs to address – but that is for another post as well. So if you have no job, you have NOTHING. Lots of people get small unreliable work in the agricultural sector which is weather dependant and where they get paid not by the hour, or day, or month…NO but by what they actually bring to their SUV-driving boss in his posh house. If the weather is shit, they go home with nothing to feed their kids. Add to that fishermen and masons (brickies) who are usually self-employed and don’t have the correct HR systems in place to safe-guard them should their work dry up or if they are unable to work because of illness or disabilities.

Back to the Tourist sector; all along the coast from Colombo to Matara the young generation has grown up with tourists, even during the war and in the aftermath of the tsunami (different types of tourists, yes, but they still had money to spend). They see tourists as “work” – whether from teaching them how to surf and taking them on proper tours to commission greedy boys that will demand 10% or 20% of whatever the tourist buys in certain shops. I haven’t actually got a problem with these commission “guides”. Why? Because they have no alternative employment, no decent education to speak of BUT yet they speak 4 or 5 languages enough to actually take these holiday-makers to the best markets, the best spice shops, the best gem and jewellery shops AND the best beaches, best local temples, lagoons and waterfalls etc. These guys put in their days work too, usually on foot in the sweltering heat. YES, they will pocket some money on top of the market price of goods but the shop keepers are in on all this and if a lone tourist enters the shop alone and chooses an item which is not priced, the shop will make a 100% mark-up anyway. Most of these “guides” are from poor fishing communities and help their folks, wives or if single, they will buy the arrack for all the others in the evening. They are not evil. If you don’t want their help, tell them to fuck off. They understand and leave you alone. Many have met Europeans who have helped them and their families to build houses and live a better life, some get married and move abroad – surely in my view this is progress for Sri Lanka.

You can of course get ripped off BIG STYLE, but this is usually down to the stupidity of the tourist. Look at Hikkaduwa for example…you go to Mambo’s for a beach party during the season. If you are a young backpacker you may want to get some drugs to enliven your your evening (I am not casting judgements here…been there, done that, luckily I had fun and good friends, including the Mambo boys), BUT sometimes you may get ripped off. Do your research guys, ask around, what is the going price etc. Don’t just get steaming on Arrack and Bacardi at the bar and then decide to score 2 E’s. You’re wasted, you have a pocket full of cash. Any drug dealer in the world will think you are easy prey. BE SMART. Keep your head – I agree it’s not always easy when dancing barefoot on the beach with Techno blasting and you are beyond caring but you wouldn’t lose your head at home so don’t here. The Sri Lankans will respect you more for it.

There are so many bad reviews on the internet about the so-called “beach boys” and “commission guides” in Sri Lanka. Yes it happens, but you can also make them your friends and then these “beach boys” and “commission guides” will look after you and ensure your holiday is safe and memorable. Yes they make some money, but considering they give you the time and advice, surely they deserve it. Add to that the fact that you will see parts of this wonderful country which big tour agencies do not visit and very often you will be invited to their family home for rice and curry – local style. Nothing is better than that plus you will have a friend for life. Respect and be respected.

BE SAVVY, STAY SAFE! And enjoy the paradise that is Sri Lanka! Who knows you might even find true love, whether for the country, a beach dog, a gorgeous smart shy Sri Lankan girl, a clever funny intelligent Colombo guy or a delicious looking cheeky beach boy. Enjoy and love but mainly respect them in their country: Sri Lanka. Your life will never be the same.

Spicy Sri Lankan Devilled Potatoes (Ala Tel Dala)

When I  first came to Sri Lanka in 2003 I have to be honest and say that it took some time for my western palate to adapt to some of the fiery dishes on offer here. The following dish, however, I was instantly addicted to. I adore potatoes and to have them served fried with onions was already a favourite. Add some fragrant spices to that and I was hooked. Here is my own recipe:

Ingredients:

• 500 (1lb) potatoes
• Good sprig of curry leaves (10 to 15 leaves)
• 3 onions (finely sliced)
• 2 tsps hot chilli powder
• 1 tbsp dired red chilli pieces
• 1 tsp mustard seeds
• 1/4 tsp turmeric (Kaha)
• 2 small green chillies (very finely cut, de-seeded if liked)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp lime juice
• Vegetable oil

* some people add maldive fish (dried sprats) but I’m not a fan

Method:

1. Peel and boil potatoes and cut into 1 inch cubes. They should still be firm to avoid getting mashed potatoes later! Drain.
2. Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the curry leaves, onions and mustard seeds until the seeds start popping.
3. Add the green chillies and fry until the onions brown a little.
4. Add the chilli powder, chilli pieces, turmeric and salt and fry for a few seconds before added the potato cubes.
5. Fry the mixture for 5 to 10 minutes until the flavours have merged together and the potatoes have a reddish hue.
6. Finally add the lime juice and serve.

This serves 4-6 people.  Eat it as part of a rice and curry meal.  I also like to smash the potatoes with a fork and slather it in between two slices of buttered fresh bread.  It makes a very spicy vegetarian sandwich.  Enjoy!

Sri Lankan Devilled Potatoes