Today was first dedicated to hitting the stores. It’s tradition that Jay takes his sisters shopping when back. We hit all the traditional places: House of Fashion, Fashion Bug, No Limit (formerly, French Corner) as well as a number of smaller places.I once thought that brand-name clothes were cheap here due to the garment factories in the free trade zone. Yet, the BOSS, DIESEL, and CK fashions are imported. Still it’s interesting that a Calvin Kline shirt sells for less than $8.00.
We’ve discovered it’s easy to spend on plastic in Lanka. The point-of-sales terminals seem able to process a Mastercard in no time flat. Credit cards can be use used at supermarkets here too. It seems as if all the banks have really been pushing the use of them. This will definitely change how we travel here in the future. Even with the ease of transactions, nobody bought very much today.
Although close to sections of Colombo, it is still tough getting around. The busses and roads can be extremely crowded. There are some very nice wide, tree-lined avenues. When schools get out they are all chocker-block-full of cars, vans, busses, and tuk tuks.
Eventually after getting back and a little rest, Jay and I walked out to the closest junction. Lal’s place is directly in back of the police station here. The closest area has a suitable supermarket, video stores, and lots of restaurants. Life here is a little less bucolic than at the house in Minuwangoda, but it’s a great deal more convenient. I went to an Internet café with DSL. The access was fairly quick. I uploaded a few Flickr photos and added a few blog entries. I hope Google’s spiders haven’t abandoned checking me due to my recent inactivity!
In the evening we had more short eats, drinks, and quite a bit of the six Dominos pizzas that Lal bought. I’ve never been so stuffed! I was seriously thinking of doing something about my weight. After this vacation, I will doubly need to.