Eating is a Verb I Know

We arranged for a three-wheel to come to take us downtown this morning.  Actually, we arranged for two.  Jay’s father and younger sister went after we did.  Jay had given money to make some new purchases.  The plastic chairs for the breezeway were getting a little ratty and the garden hose needed replacing.

I knew of the business called APICO from a long time back.  I associated the company with rubber mats and foam mattresses.  The one in Minuwangoda still sells these basics, but on this trip we also went into an APICO Supercenter.  One in Negombo had an amazing collection of household and vehicle items, and even had a food selection that competes with the local supermarket chains.  It’s not quite Walmart but it surely is a new trend in Sri Lankan retail.

Jay and I went in the other tuk-tuk.  We went first to the Internet Cafe.  We were going to have all the photos from both my xD card and younger sister’s new SD card put onto a DVD.  That way they could look at all the photos we took on our trips on the TV.  Unfortunately a few minutes after arriving, the power went out.  The whole town and area lost electricity.  Occasionally this happens for a few minutes so we waited about 15 minutes.  Still nothing.  That’s one task saved for tomorrow.  We also went to the large Co-op Supermarket to pick up some special items for the house and even a few food items to bring back to Vancouver.  The generator backup kept the coolers and cash registers humming.

We returned home before the chairs and others.

I love hanging around the kitchen here. Most of the day is spent making food and whatever’s left seems to be the time for eating it.  I could easily loose count of the time I hear the Singhalese word for eat in a day.  Portion sizes are now too large here though, not only in this house but in restaurants also.  I noticed more and more obese people here.  Sri Lankans used to be a healthy lot.

Sticking to the same topic of food, today, the oven opened for a rich fruit cake.  Jay always keeps a fruit mixture with nuts and spices in the back of the refrigerator at home.  Before coming here, he packed a huge jar full of it.  Some of this is in a great smelling cake with a golden brown top.  Of course the multitude of Sri Lankan curries I have been eating defy words.  Thankfully, I’ll have a few more weeks before I have to step on my bathroom scales but after a month I can already see the results of all of this in the mirror!