Day 031 of Our Winter: Today, Jay and I went to a shop that photocopies documents and prints from PDFs. We are old enough to still like having travel plans verifiable as a stack of paper when we go somewhere for a whole winter.Even though we often check into hotels with just a phone in hand, it's comforting to know that there is a paper version in the carry-on verifying every flight and nights' stay.
The guy printed out about 12 regular documents in black and white and put Jay's sisters' multiple-entry Dubai visas in more impressive colour. He included a few large envelopes for good measure and we paid him the equivalent of nearly a US dollar and a quarter.
Just before going, we realized on missing piece of our winter. We are set to spend a couple of weeks in the Gulf on a cruise and with a week in Dubai. However, we leave on the 12th and that means returning before the New Year. In order to have it a winter we will really remember, something would be required for first hours of 2026! We've been in Sri Lanka for celebrations in the past. In fact, a couple of years ago, Jay and I went to Negombo and stayed in a beach hotel. However, everybody in Sri Lanka knows that the real place to welcome the New Year is along the Galle Face in Colombo, the capital. Thousands arrive alongside the ocean for musical shows and fireworks! So, we bought two hotel rooms just meters from the action on the evening of December 31st. The sisters have never been out on New Years Eve!
In other news, we got to the see new street light come on at dusk tonight. Jay's sister phoned the municipality about the burnt out bulb a week ago. Then the cyclone came and kept electricity crews hopping. As the installer said, this one would be brighter! I think it'll keep the plants growing all night now.
Jay and I will be going back to the Minuwangoda house tomorrow. Jay's sister will join us back there when our Dubai trip gets closer. The house is very close to the international airport and so it makes coming and going from there easy.