Now I have met a lot of people who don’t like some foods – “yeww fish – it stinks”, “urgh beef last time I had it, it was still bleeding” – my favourite way to serve steak actually but that’s what folk say. I have stopped eating as much meat as I used to. Mainly for the reason that the ...
Unlike some other staple Indian breads, which are unleavened and made from durum wheat flour, or atta, fluffy naan is made with all-purpose flour and yeast. Traditionally, the dough is slapped against the chimney wall of a clay tandoor oven and baked over wood fires, however, we can now easily make it on top of the cooker. It tastes best hot and ...
You know all those stories about eggs in excess being bad for you because they lead to high cholesterol? It’s all rubbish. The nutrition and especially the diet industry have in the last few years done a big u-turn and we are now told that fats do not make us fat after all, and eggs are in fact a superfood. ...
Happy Poson poya day! Mihintale: where Buddhism was introduced in Sri Lanka. A special place during Poson poya. Today is a full moon day (poya) and in the Sinhala Buddhist calendar it celebrates the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BC. It is a festival of great historical and religious significance and is celebrated island-wide, second only to Vesak. I ...
For my non-British friends I am basically saying what can somebody do when you hit a big obstacle in life or are confronted with a sad sad moment – it could be a death of somebody close, it could losing that job application you thought you had in the bag, it could even be not finding those shoes you saw ...
I have been in love with three Sri Lankan men. I am still friends with all. But there is a seriously sad and pathetic undertone to how these guys live. I can see it clearer when I am home, in Haarlem. The constant demanding of money is tiring. Not from the first I must add… he is now settled in ...
Except for the bit about children, I can very much relate to this. EAT SLEEP EDIT REPEAT Note: I agonised over whether I should share this post at all, especially on my work blog – but I decided it is better to talk about these things. I also stressed over what to call it, but decided anything else would be ...
Firstly I say sorry to my followers – I have started a new job which has kind of taken over my life so I haven’t been blogging much. Do not worry I’m not giving up blogging or sharing recipes, just bear with me whilst I get settled into the new routine. I thought it would be interesting to share with ...
Dutch is a difficult and challenging language that has some odd unexpected surprises, such as phrases from other languages and extremely difficult spelling. Dutch & Other Languages You may be surprised to learn how many Dutch words are borrowed from other languages. French used to be considered the height of elegance in the Dutch-speaking world, leading to a lot of ...
This is This is life, or so we thought This is the new normal, so they say This is seeing friends, from afar This is watching TV, religiously every day This is saying it ain’t me, I’m ok This is saying stay away, I’m ok This is thinking, will it stay this way? This is hoping, will my family be ...
Going to the vegetable market is always fun in Sri Lanka. It’s pretty much pointless to make a shopping list for me because I never stick to it. I can be convinced that I’m going to buy potatoes, onions, cabbage and tomatoes but what I’ll actually come home with are sweet potatoes (the normal variety were small and the sweet ...
Now unless you live in Sri Lanka, I am 99% sure that you will have absolutely no idea of what I am talking about except for the prawn curry bit. Basically, Sri Lanka has had some “issues” with island-wide electricity supply since Sunday the 13th of March when the entire country was without power for around 8 hours due to ...
Excellent perspective on sexist issues in Sri Lanka today. three sugars in my tea. For a country that won’t shut up harping on the fact that it elected the first female Prime Minister, Sri Lanka sure can’t stand to see a strong woman hold her own without giving into some innate need to tear her down. A strong, opinionated woman ...
This is the third and final instalment of my trip memoirs to the Sri Lankan Tea Country and staying at Ceylon Tea Trails . The other two blog articles can be read here and here, where I talked about winning the Sri Lanka in Style prize, the wonderful Castlereagh Lake area (near Hatton) where we stayed and the breathtaking scenery and flora. Now ...
Excellent blog post by a volunteer about the good and the bad of the relief efforts in the recent floods & landslides to hit Sri Lanka. As Indi brilliantly put it “Sri Lankans are actually amazing in a crisis, but if we were organized we could actually be effective.” three sugars in my tea. Endless lessons have been learned in ...
Today is Vesak Poya (full moon) Day. It is probably the most important festival of the year in the Theravada Buddhist calendar. Buddhists commemorate the three most important events that took place in the life of Lord Buddha on this Vesak Poya Day (always the first full moon in the month of May). First is the day Siddhartha Gautama was born, which took ...
Before I came to Sri Lanka I wasn’t a fan of lentils. On the few occasions I had tried them in Europe and the Middle East they were prepared in a generally bland and tasteless way and during my one experience of eating dhal with Indian friends of mine in Kuwait, the dish practically blew my head off (Goan food ...
A new document was created and published earlier this month that offers descriptions of linguist roles, i.e. translators, interpreters and terminologists. A BIG THANK YOU to the five professional associations and the industry professionals (see at the end of this post for the names) who worked on and supported this project, which is a valuable resource to all linguists and ...
Well you may remember that I am quite a football fan….I enjoy cricket too but only when Sri Lanka play. So today I am on a natural high – we have the Sri Lanka & England Test series during the day and late at night the Football WORLD CUP! Work Shmork…..my eyes are fully glued to the TV for one month. ...
Below is the full text of the speech by King Willem-Alexander during the National Remembrance on Dam Square in Amsterdam. I’ve decided to translate it properly as I have fuck all else to do and I can’t sleep, and can’t keep bugging people. And it needs to be read. And translation is what I do. It was a touching speech. ...
