I've been concerned for awhile about reports of toxic food production and what is being distributed and sold to consumers in Sri Lanka. My concerns have heightened in recent months as more discussion has emerged around me over the question of "is there something wrong with the foods we're buying?" - at local markets, at the supermarket, among friends and colleagues, and ayurvedic ...
"Dating is like smoking. When you quit, you can't understand why you started. And when you start again, you can't understand why you quit"Dating is one of those activities that never fails to amuse me. It's that combination of energy and expectation directed at another human being in an effort to connect, that we call "dating". It is also ...
A few weeks ago I was enjoying a funny debate with a few expat friends on Sri Lankan culture, modern society and then some. One of the topics that popped up was "what are Sri Lankans scared of". The list we came up with was a little peculiar. Admittedly, this is an expat view of things, though I do wonder ...
Customer service is commonly defined as the "service provided to customers before, during and after purchasing and using goods and services". It is often said, good customer service provides an experience that meets customer expectations resulting in return business. On the other hand, bad customer service is where the experience does not meet customer expectations potentially generating
My favorite things in life don't cost any money. It's really clear that the most precious resource we all have is time.~ Steve Jobs There is relative truth in Jobs' quote, however the human predicament means we can't live on air alone and though time is precious, it doesn't provide sustenance for us to survive.Sri Lanka has much to offer ...
Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the Kandy Esala Perahera, which was held between 11 to 21 August 2013. I received many blessings and I return from Kandy to share these with you.I've divided the Travel Monday blog into two parts as I have a lot to share with you The first part will give an overview of ...
"What is it really like living in Sri Lanka as a foreigner or expatriate*"* An expatriate (sometimes shortened to expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing.I am asked this particular question quite often. My network abroad, tourists visiting Sri Lanka, locals, expat Sri Lankans, and people I ...
The waterfalls in Sri Lanka... they come in all shapes and sizes: tall, spectacular, gorgeous, breathtaking, tranquil and dip-worthy! I have made some awesome treks (yes, to see some of these you will have to put in some effort!) to view and explore some of these waterfalls, and at some point, I will blog about them all.For this post, I ...
Back in 2013, I started this blog as a way of sharing the experience of living as a foreigner in Sri Lanka. It began small, and over the years it grew with more interest from around the world. It also provided a way for me to give back to the island, and to help others to explore, travel and move ...
I went to see the sinhala movie titled "Siri Parakum" at the Savoy 2 cinema this week with a few friends. By the way, Savoy 2 is definitely not a cinema I frequent on a regular basis because it is quite a pokey little cinema, but my friends had convinced me the movie was well-worth seeing. I didn't realize till the ...
This is Part 2 of my Travel Monday blog on the Kandy Perahera. In this second part, I focus on the actual Kandy Perahera, my thoughts and some of the things I learnt from people speaking with various people. I have both photos AND videos to share! Part 1 can be found at Travel Monday: Blessings from Kandy Esala Perahera ...
Electricity is a hot topic in Sri Lanka right now. In fact, the whole power sector could be generally considered a hot topic here (and world-wide), both from an everyday cost of living perspective (i.e. energy costs make up a large proportion of household and business expenses) and an environmental one.There have been heated debates and protests in Sri Lanka ...
The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that globally the dog population is a tenth of the human population, of which 75% are regarded as “strays”. I read somewhere recently there are approximately three million free-roaming or stray dogs in Sri Lanka. With a population on the island of around 20.3 million (2012 Census), this equates to almost 1 free-roaming dog ...
My first installment of "My Sri Lankan Food Diary: Just an average week of eating" proved to be a very popular read. It seems there are a lot of foodies out there... I seem to be experiencing some interesting moments when it comes to food, so I thought I'd share (yet again) some of my food discoveries, delights and also some ...
“Police are inevitably corrupted. ... Police always observe that criminals prosper. It takes a pretty dull policeman to miss the fact that the position of authority is the most prosperous criminal position available.”~ Frank Herbert, God Emperor of DuneYou can't live in Sri Lanka without having a few stories to tell about the police. Some of these stories are from ...
“You can never conquer the mountain. You can only conquer yourself”- James Whittaker Sri Pada is a sacred mountain (7,360 ft), located in the central highlands of Sri Lanka. It has religious significance to Buddhists, Hindus, Christians and Muslims. As such, it is known by many names:Sri Pada derives from sanskrit and is roughly translated as "the sacred foot", which ...
This week I feel like I'm in Road Trip Heaven (if there is such a place)! For me, it's a little like jumping on the back of a motorcycle, the wind in my hair, and there's nothing but the wide open road all in front of me. Sheer bliss.So here we are travelling by car from Kandy and connecting onto ...
Pola is a big part of the way of life in Sri Lanka. These usually happen on the weekends, but there also established markets in daily operation throughout the island of varying sizes. Going to your local Sunday pola (or marketplace) is a must-do experience. It's a way of learning about local fruit and vegetables, locally made products, getting to ...
“Being happy does not mean that everything is perfect. It means that you have decided to look beyond the imperfections.”~ AristotleI'm often mistaken for a tourist or traveler. To a local this pretty foreign face equals unlikely or not expected to actually live in Sri Lanka. This can be both a positive or negative thing.On the positive, it's fairly good ...
I was very surprised to learn from Google Trends volume index data for 2012 that Sri Lanka was the most savvy (or you could also say, excessive) country to google the word "sex" in 2012, with the highest volumes focused around Colombo. Sri Lanka was closely followed by India, Papua New Guinea, Ethiopia and Pakistan.It made me contemplate the perceptions, ...
