Some Things Come from Our Garden

Day 29 - Jay likes to cook. Sri Lankan food is a cuisine that requires a whole lot of spices and all fresh ingredients. He makes do in Canada. As there's a huge Asian presence in Vancouver, much of what he requires is available. The rice and curry format is still a major component of what he creates.

The Spice Trade was a much larger part of world history than many people realize. Europeans established themselves as world powers because of things that grow here and in Southeast Asia. The balance of power shifted as empires sought control of such lucrative items. These facts help to explain why Sri Lanka has clearly defined periods of rule by the Portuguese, Dutch, and eventually the British. Consequently, these cultures left culinary imprints on the foods eaten here too.

I can clearly see Jay is happier cooking while here in Sri Lanka. Having access to all sorts of spices and fresh produce at bargain prices is the key reason why. Clearly, we eat better during our winters in tropical places.

The Archives

It will take us three flights and a bit more than 20 hours in the air to get to Sri Lanka from here. We head to YVR tomorrow evening. We are making a two-night stopover in Kuala Lumpur on the way though.

I did find this photograph shot during one of many Sri Lankan visits. This was my very first time on the island. Jay and I haven't changed much so you might find it hard to believe this was taken 33 years ago.



We were definitely at botanical gardens; however, there are five, well-known ones in Sri Lanka. I'm fairly sure this was Hakgala, which started as a tea cultivation experiment in the 1860s. The area is 7100 ft above sea level in the mountains near Nuwara Eliya. Interestingly, legend suggests this site was called Ashok Vatika in the ancient, Indian epic of the Ramayana.

The Internet of Things

We picked up our new, Hyundai KONA Electric in April as soon as we returned from Kuala Lumpur. I didn't put much mileage on it this summer. We were out of town for at least four separate weeks. The only longer trip was over to the Okanagan. I think the vehicle has around 3,000 km on the odometer today.

Of course, Kimchi will be able to chill this winter too. To stay warm we're going to Sri Lanka and Malaysia for five months. Of course, unlike previous vehicles, I will be able to check up on this one wherever there's an Internet connection.

I Value Variety

In one week and a few hours, we'll be heading to the airport. Our plans for the winter started months ago but it's finally getting close enough to taste.

Our YVR departure is in the early hours of the morning on the 31st. Our first flight is to Taipei and takes closer to thirteen hours than twelve. Our layover is one hour and twenty minutes. Then, we take the second flight to Kuala Lumpur. That only takes about five hours putting us into KUL at 11:50 am on Friday.

We are staying two nights near Masjid India right near the KL city center before continuing on to Sri Lanka. Our last leg will take about three and a half hours in the plane but only one hour on the clock because of the time-zone differences. We should land at the Bandaranaike International Airport at around 9:30 am on Sunday, local time.

Of course, I'm excited to get back to Sri Lanka after seven years. Life will be different than it's been during our British Columbian summer. I loved walking through the nearby park today. The trees looked like fall but so did the light itself. The temperature was around 10°C at noon.

I value the variety of my life.

Generating Additional Stats

Our new family doctor is young. He just finished training and he's returned to British Columbia to begin his career in medicine. Our former doctor was our age and that was a huge advantage as he knew what we were experiencing. However, like us, he retired.

The kid we have now doesn't need bifocals and probably has only had a few hours of lessons dealing with geriatric subjects. Yet, the fact this guy won't retire while we are still walking the earth more than makes up for a little lack of experience.



Yesterday morning, I saw Dr. Huang in order to extend my prescription medicines. The office, blood-pressure checks often come in a little high. I would blame the machine he uses, but it is more likely because I find it hard to relax there.

I told the doctor we'd be away for five months. He suggested I buy a blood pressure monitor, so I could give him some long-term data from a home environment. Cool! A new device? I'm all in on gadgets.

When we were uptown today, I picked up one at London Drugs. Of course, it had to be one with Bluetooth capability, so we can track the daily readings on my phone. The unit is small enough to lug along this winter. Now, I'm sort of looking forward to producing a rather detailed report when we get back in the spring.

A Whole Different Era

We are starting our winter with a three-month stay in Sri Lanka. By the time we leave, I'll have spent a total of well over a year on the island. Of course, my time has been spread out over many decades. In the photo above, I'm with Jay's grandmother. We were on the front veranda area of the same house in which we'll stay this winter. I'm pretty sure the image was taken at about this time of year 32 years ago.

Life is a story, actually MANY stories.

One of Our Winter Destinations

This is not a recap of my day; instead, it is just something I watched for two minutes of it.

Now that the weather is darker and the days shorter, our upcoming winter has started to seem more imminent. We've had air tickets for months already. Our first two legs get us to SE Asia again. We picked up those roundtrip tickets through Taiwan for a mere $CA 700 on EVA. Then, after a few nights in Kuala Lumpur, we'll continue on our way to Sri Lanka for three months. (In the reverse direction, we'll stay for several months based in KL too.)


Our flights between Malaysia and Sri Lanka are on the flagship carrier of the country, Sri Lankan Airlines. I liked this two-minute promotional commercial I discovered on YouTube today. I think it is trying to show some aspects of the culture which its flight attendants bring onto the airplane when they come to serve the customers.

Grey Views from Balconies

I suppose if given the choice between a bit of cool, damp weather or breathing in the hell from BC wildfires, we'd chose the former. I can't say I'm a big fan of the summer weather we've been experiencing so far though. The last several days prove my point. Yesterday, I had the apartment lights on at 10 AM and this morning was rainy. British Columbia is still beautiful even when the weather's not.



At least we know we will not be spending the gloom of winter at home. We're off to Sri Lanka in November for three months. After that, we return to our other balcony view during the months of February and March. Today, we re-booked the same Airbnb studio we had last year. We might see an afternoon thunderstorm in Kuala Lumpur, but we can count on the temperature being over 30°C every day!

Planning for Winter in June

I find the process of our planning for winters fascinating. It is an organic technique spread out over many, many months. Of course, we start with a very healthy lead-in and tend to purchase broad items such as flights first. Then, we continue to add particulars as the time nears. The last details happen in real time as the activities unfold. (I wish I'd known about the field of logistics as a course of study when a teenager thinking about possible career options.)

Today, we filled in some intermediate details and added flights and a hotel room to next winter's plans. It's not all that many months until our October 31st departure date! Apparently, last winter's experiences are colouring our current decisions. We realized we have a favourite part of Kuala Lumpur and wanted to spend several in-transit nights in our familiar area. For Jay and I that means being right in the thick of things.


Masjid Jamek: At confluence of Gombak (left) and Klang (right) Rivers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. - January 2019

So, It'll Be My Ninth Visit

Jay and I have been talking about spending part of our upcoming winter in Sri Lanka. We already have air tickets to Kuala Lumpur as Jay found a really good early-ticketing deal. Flying around Asia is easy and always pretty cheap. Of the 72 countries or territories I've visited, Sri Lanka ranks among my most favourite. I had a suspicion that of countries in which I visited but never worked, I may have stayed there the longest.

Located south of the tip of India, Sri Lanka is just a bit larger than the US state of West Virginia but is among the most biodiverse in Asia. We can spend time visiting with Jay's two sisters as well as trips to see some of the amazing geographical variety. It has been six years since I was last on the island and my visits have not equally spread out over the years.


On a trip to Ratnapura, Sri Lanka in 2004.
At nearly 60 years old, it is beginning to get difficult to remember many specifics of our copious number of world journeys. I decided to figure out the number of times I've been to the tropical country and the total length of time spent there. I am thankful that I've been typing data into my eJournal and images for nearly 16 years. I was able to sort through the most recent four visits. I had also mentioned the other four early trips.

Here's my resulting chart showing I've been in Sri Lanka eight times for a total of 10.25 months:

Year of Visit	Month(s) Spent
1986	0.50
1987	2.00
1988	0.50
1991	0.25
2004	2.00
2006	1.00
2009	1.00
2012/13	3.00
Total Months	10.25

I am looking forward to pushing the total time spent in Sri Lanka to over one year of my lifetime.

We're in the Air So Much, You Can Call Us Major Toms!

It's Thursday and I slept nicely in our bed last night. We were tired from our five-night, whirlwind trip.

I've got to add the missed posts from our recent New Hampshire experiences. Lots of pictures were snapped and some text was written; it's just that none of it got posted online yet. Meeting up with my sister was a great experience and I'm happy we got a chance to fulfill one of our father's final wishes by scattering his remains in a favourite spot of his.

It seems like Jay and I are just getting used to Pacific time again. Yet, we've already got the first stage of our winter plans solidified. This happened because Jay is great at checking travel sites and getting deals on flights. We've picked up some return flights on a reputable airline to SE Asia for less than $US 570 each. Honestly, that's a hell of a long way to go for the price. We enjoyed flying EVA Airlines last winter, so using KL as a base and going back through Taiwan seems a no-brainer.