A Grey and Windy Day

Day 064:

 

My Last Entry this Winter from Sri Lanka

Day 137 - I'm writing this before noon on Sunday. We will head to the airport at around 4:00 pm. (The airport is only about 20 minutes from the house.)

  A picture of CMB International Airport taken during a previous trip.

I've mentioned the following quite a few times over the last few weeks. Sorry to bore you if you read regularly. 

We have a 4-hour and 30-minute scheduled flight into Dubai on Sri Lankan Air. We have to wait approximately four hours there for a 2:00 am departure on an Air Canada plane. It is a direct flight to Vancouver and lasts 15 hours and 50 minutes. That should put us into Vancouver a little before 7:00 am on Monday. 

Today promised to be a long one!

Forth and Back

Day 136 - This is our last full day in Sri Lanka.  We will be heading back to Canada tomorrow afternoon.  It should be an uneventful trip and a relatively quick adaptation to another summer in British Columbia.  Even though there will be a lot to do when we return, I'm looking forward to it.

I love how we get a chance to live in many different environments.  So many people's experiences seem to vary so little.  Tonight we'll be in Sri Lanka.  Tomorrow we'll be trying to get some sleep on an Air Canada flight.  Then, on Monday, we will have a whole day in New Westminster and then go to bed there.

This is an AI-created image I just saved and it doesn't represent a specific location.  However, I think it does a fairly good job of representing the lower mainland of urban BC.

  

Odds and Ends

Day 135 - The day started with my favourite Sri Lankan breakfast. Hoppers are like crepes with crispy, thin edges and a thicker, chewier center. They are cooked in a special pan and done individually. Consequently, making them takes a lot of time and effort. 

Hpppers can be eaten as any meal but the one on my plate has an egg in its center too. This egg hopper was perfect for breakfast. We eat these with bananas. We also eat with palm sugar cubes and onion/chilli paste. I appreciate that Jay's sisters made them today.

   

Later in the morning, we went to Minuwangoda town. Jay stopped at a bank. I bought my prescription medicines at a pharmacy because drugs are much cheaper and of equal quality. We also stopped as we passed a barber and I got my hair cut. The price was Sri Lankan Rupees 500, so with the tip of 200 it came to around CA $3. Jay luckily found that he had to change his watch battery. Here, his Birks watch was back running in minutes for less than a dollar and a half. Lastly, we walked in the supermarket and got some gift teas. After all this island was Ceylon until independence from Britain. We used the PickMe app to go and return in different tuk-tuks.

   

Other activities today included copying all the photos and videos from Jay's younger sister's phone. As well as storing them on an old laptop, I put the recent ones with old images on a 128 GB memory stick. 

Just now, Jay got our boarding passes. Our first segment is on Sri Lankan airlines and they allow check-in 48 hours before the flight. It is one less thing to do on the last full day here.

Dubai Changes

Day 134 - Today one of the most interesting things that happened was Jay burning a few old suitcases, some back from Saudi days in the 80s.  They'd been stored in the covered shed in the back but the plastic, metal, and cloth materials had deteriorated.  They would never be used again.  They made quite a bonfire and a fair amount of smoke too.

I have been in contact with a real estate agent in Dubai to check out the current situation.  I have been wondering about getting a winter apartment in that part of the world.  It is a fascinating city and has morphed into something quite unique and, in fact, spectacular.  In 1991, when Jay and I went to work in the city, things were so very different.  It's like they've compressed development time four or fivefold.

 

This scanned image was snapped over thirty years ago. I'm proud to have had a hand in making it a globally important city by working for the Higher Colleges of Technology for five years in the early 1990s.

On Sunday night, we will be in DXB for around four hours but only in airport transit.

Yum!

Day 133 - This number represents how long our winter trip has been so far. I just noticed that it started last Halloween and will end on St. Patrick's Day. Our trip home will take 24 hours and 45 minutes, with 4 hours in transit and 20 hours and 45 minutes in the air.  That's a lot of numbers.

     

We celebrated another important number today.  Jay's sister Kanthi was born the same year as me.  However, she's about four months older than me, and today, she turned 65.  

She worked hard to help create the delicious coffee cake to celebrate her special day.  The whole family here knows how to cook.  I'm glad the talent rubbed off on Jay too.   If I had to choose the best though, I'd have to say 'elder sister' is the winner!  There are always so many layers of taste in her use of Sri Lankan spices and ingredients.  That's what helps separate true cuisine from ordinary food.

Afternoon Iced Tea, Indeed

 

Day 132 - The temperature continues to reach 33° or 34°C daily. It seems warm but I have to remember that in a week our nightly temperatures will probably dip to 6°.  I'm sure I'll fondly look back at the climate in Sri Lanka. Why are people frequently jealous of what others have, even when it's as fickle as weather? 

Orange You Happy to See Me?

Day 131 - The hot weather continues. During the first few months we were around, there was rain daily. Now we've not had any for more than a month, although we were away for some of that. It means that we must stay hydrated. In Sri Lanka there are all sorts of fruits one can make into juice. Even this old favourite with a green-skin type of orange.

 

A few more pieces of next winter's itinerary have fallen into place.  We head home on a fifteen-hour and fifty-minute direct flight from Dubai next Monday.  Yet, it now looks as though we'll head back to the DXB in the opposite direction in November 2024.

We're planning a meet-up with the sisters, and hopefully family friend Nazeer in Dubai.  After less than two weeks they'll be returning to Sri Lanka but Jay and I will be flying to Mauritius and Reunion islands for a month or so.  Then, our plans, at this point, include a cruise to South Africa and a few months there.

I like that changes can take place but we'll just adjust and resume, much like a GPS recalculates if the original route is ignored.

Baked in a Banana Leaf

Day 130 - We welcomed Jay's elder sister back to the house today. She'll stay here during our last week in Sri Lanka. She arrived with lunch for us and Nazeer's family too. They were packed lamprais packets from Perera and Sons. She put in an order and picked them up on the way here. 

For more information read this Wikipedia entry on Lamprais.

To Town and Back

Day 129 - We're getting along towards our final week in Sri Lanka.  Going from the house into town is just a few kilometers but we never walk.  The Airport Road is always busy without a lot of space along the sides.  Actually, more than the danger is the fact we have become somewhat lazy.  It is very easy to order a rideshare tuk-tuk via an app.  To have a guy meet us at the gate and bring us to the center of town costs about $US 0.75 which includes an extra tip.  Of course, that price is for the two of us, so it's under a dollar each for us to go and come.

We have started to collect a few items at the market we can bring back to Canada.  Jay picked up some spices which are fresher and cheaper than in Canada.    We also bought a lot of items to use during the upcoming final week here.  Ice cream is one item that comes to mind.  In this heat, it also necessitates the use of a six-or-seven-minute tuk-tuk ride home.

Just across the street from the supermarket is the present business location of a family friend, Nazeer.  He runs a phone shop.  He often visits and helps out Jay's younger sister here at the house.

Travelled 140 KM North Now

 

Day 128 - We caught our last glimpse of the hotel's pool while waiting for our PickMe rideshare car to pick us up at the Coral Sands Hotel. We'd eaten our last of four, large buffet breakfasts shortly before. At 9:45 am we headed to the Expressway to return to Minuwangoda.  It was an efficient but less exciting journey. We got here just a few minutes after noon. 

It still feels really hot but we don't have the humidity of the southern beaches. We've only a little more than a week of our stay remaining.

From Home to Hikkaduwa

Day 124 - We set out at 10:15 in a Pick-Me ride share. As the house is only around eight kilometers from the airport there are lots of drivers willing to do large trips. We wanted to go down the coast towards southern Sri Lanka. Specifically, we'd booked at the Coral Sands Hotel in Hikkaduwa for four nights.

It was closer to three and a half hours for the trip although we chose a route that wasn't the quickest. However, we did enjoy the trip as the driver went through places we'd never been. We'd only seen the large, national Parliament Building in pictures. Although it was opened in 1982, neither of us had actually driven close by. Of course, after passing Colombo, we headed to the old Galle Road rather than the newer Expressways. We saw Kaluthra Temple Dagaba after quite an absence.

We've passed through Hikkaduwa many times over the years, on trains, buses and vans.  However, the only time we ever stayed in the city was on one of my very first trips to Sri Lanka.  In 1986 we rented a car and we drove to different parts of Sri Lanka.  It was my first time driving on the 'wrong' side of the road.

 

I'm sure we're staying in a hotel that was around during our last time here. In fact, a sign in the front now states they recently celebrated their 45th anniversary. As Jayantha says, "Hikkaduwa was a famous hippy town in the 1960s." Now this hotel offers a breakfast buffet and has 82 rooms. We also paid so that we were able to eat their buffet dinners. Some folks are staying on full board, but we will eat lunches at one of the numerous beach restaurants. Today though, we just popped into a P&S branch and ate chicken and rice.

We walked the beach and got basic bearings when walking both during the day and in the evening after our dinner.  As it's now March, the busy tourist season is nearing its end.  We've seen a large number but now Russians are in the mix.  There are many places in the world where one can get the vibe of a young backpacker-type beach scene.  I have loved them all even though I'm no longer young nor a backpacker.  It does seem nice being back in one of the first that hasn't really developed into something unrecognizable.

 

Morning Low Temperatures Near 24°C

Day 123 - It's Sunday. Next Sunday, Jay's elder sister will come back to visit and stay with us. The following Sunday, Jay and l will be heading to the airport in the afternoon for the first of our flights home. Only two weeks are remaining of our 2023-24 winter journey. 

   

Excursions with the sisters to Dubai, Singapore, and Bangkok surely made this winter a unique one.  We have also taken some local trips.  Moreover, Jay and I have a final jaunt to Sri Lanka's southern beaches this upcoming week. 

But looking back on the winter, I'll remember how easy it was to sit in a chair on the front breezeway and listen to the birds and watch the wildlife.  The whole property would soon be a jungle if not cut back. I've been visiting this house since Jay had it built for his family in 1986. Of course, we've spent many more hours in the Middle East and in the apartment in Canada.  However, this house has always been a home to me.

Contrasting Weather

Day 122 - Jay and I have been thinking more about home as we are due to fly back in a couple of weeks. This prompted us to check the weekly weather forecasts.  Oh my!  

On the left screenshot is the weather in New Westminster, BC now.  On the right, I checked the beachside temperatures in Hikkaduwa, Sri Lanka

     

Rather than cancelling our flights home, we made reservations for four nights at the Coral Sands Hotel in Hikkaduwa. We hope to store enough vitamin D to carry us through the rest of the month.  Sri Lanka has a lot of culture, history, and food delights.  However, for decades people have been flocking to the southern beaches just get grab a little beach time.

Taking Napping Seriously

Day 121 - It's not as though the Internet needs any more cat pictures.

   

I've learned a lot from these two. The weather's hot and they spend most of their time sleeping. I respect that. Even though they cry a lot whenever they're hungry, their laziness has become an inspiration to me.

It's February 29th Again!

Day 120 - I've been adding a number to each of the most recent posts. The number means that we left Vancouver for our winter away about four months ago. On March 17th we will head back. So our winter will be several weeks shorter than many of our post-retirement winters of the past.  

Today, Jay's elder sister went home to Nugegoda. As she came to visit us a few weeks before our recent trip, she'd not been home for more than a month.

   

That is something to remember on Leap Year Day.  I like the idea of a date that only occurs once every four years.  It'd be an interesting day on which to have an anniversary or birthday.  This fact made me wonder what we were doing on the last one.

Therefore, I looked up February 29, 2020, and found an entry titled, Bondo Bazaar.  Ah, that was our one and only time visiting Bangladesh.  We took a one-week trip from Malaysia.  Subsequently, I looked for the Leap Year Day of 2016.  The entry is called, Happiness. That was the winter we stayed in a bungalow on the east bank of the Nile River in Luxor, Egypt.

So for our third Leap Day during retirement, we loaded up a mini Pick Me Ride Share in Minuwangoda, Sri Lanka.

The Rain in Spain, I Mean Sri Lanka ...

Day 118 - Last night, we went to bed a bit late considering we'd gotten up on Thai time. So, we immediately adjusted to the Sri Lankan time zone.  Singapore was 2.5 hours ahead while our ten days in Bangkok were just 1.5 hours earlier.

   

Right in the morning, before breakfast, Jay's younger sister started watering the plants near the house. There was no rain during the couple of weeks we were away. It's not uncommon because this is generally the driest part of the year in this part of Sri Lanka. 

For a relatively small island, about the size of Ireland, there are many variations in climate and temperature here. Some have to do with elevation.  There are also two separate monsoons one affecting this side of the island and also when another heads into the Bay of Bengal. A large variation in annual rainfall occurs in Sri Lanka. Some areas receive less than 900 mm per year while one section on the western slope of the mountains gets more than 5000 mm annually. 

The plants in Minuwangoda can handle the dry season but Jay's sister waters the plants purely for aesthetics. The plants would pop back into lushness when they get water, but no one wants to look at brown shrivelled leaves during the dry spells.

Christina (Syzygium Campanulatum)

Day 102 - Cats and dogs have been superbly successful because they've glommed onto humans. The population of domesticated animals is vast only because humans ensure their existence. Most of the things people grow to eat wouldn't exist in their present form without human propagation. 

To further this idea, I snapped a photo in the garden here. I've noticed these green shrubs with red tips in many places this year. They seem popular and trendy. Some sections of the median strip of the Sri Lankan expressways have them. This variety can thrive on a lot or a little water. They're tough. I see them as landscaping for businesses and more in people's gardens. The red part looks nice even though they're leaves; not flowers.  Their success comes because people have decided to make it so.

 

A Little Above My Station

Day 101 - Jay and I have done a pretty substantial amount of air travel. Since the 1980s, we've been flying internationally for work as well as for pleasure. Moreover, we often find ourselves on really long-haul routes. For example, next month, we'll be taking two flights to get from Sri Lanka to Vancouver. The first flight to Dubai is only around four hours but our second flight clocks in at 15 hours and 50 minutes.  It takes about the same amount of time if we fly home westward through Asia.

Of the hundreds of hours we've spent in the air, we only flew First-Class when upgraded for short flights in Central America.  Oh, and when I left a job in Damman, Saudi Arabia, I had to leave the country by air. My next job was in Bahrain and I flew there in Business Class!  That is around a 40-minute flight. I smoked cigarettes in those days and the vice was allowed when flying. However, this particular flight was so short the pilot never switched off the no-smoking indicators!

I'm writing this only two days before the start of additional tourist flights totalling nine or so hours. The first segment is Colombo to Singapore. We are taking Jay's sisters for a two-week exploration of both Singapore and Bangkok. We had the chance to do online check-ins on Sri Lankan Air UL 803. To our surprise, the seats they assigned will be in Business Class! Being unaccustomed to the perks when sitting in the front of an airplane, I had to write to a friend who worked as a flight attendant for years. Here's my message:

    

Hey Ed, you know we fly a lot but usually in the cheapest, tiniest seats near a lavatory.

We just checked in 48-hours before Sri Lankan Airlines 308 to Singapore. It's an Airbus 330-300 with a usual 2-4-2 configuration. We all got bumped to the 1-2-1 Business Class with the seating pods.

As folks who only ever see the front of the plane when boarding and deplaning, we need advice. How do we maximize our 4-hour experience up there in the front? In other words, what special things can we do or get? Looking for hints.

Cool Nights!

 

Day 100 - The days are fairly clear. So although the daytime temperatures hit some of their highest, the nights are at their yearly lowest. Even though the daily lows might get down to 12°C in the mountains, it seldom gets colder than this morning's temperature of 22°C (71°F) along the coast.

I'm not trying to provoke a response, but it felt rather cool. After all, life is a matter of what one gets used to.  I didn't put on a long-sleeved shirt when stepping outside, but I shivered a bit. Yet,  generally a little fog forms when it's like this and I like it.