A recent email from a fellow expat residing in India highlighted that I haven't written a blog post about Sri Lanka's gorgeous beaches. Shock horror... but it's true . How could this be? I guess it just fell between the cracks, which is a little strange seeing as I'm a true beach lover! Well, I've decided to rectify this oversight immediately as I've indeed visited and stayed at quite a few
Retirement is commonly defined as the point where a person stops employment completely. We generally associate retirement with a certain age group, like over 60 years old (or over 70 years depending on the official retirement age prescribed by governments). However, retirement (or semi-retirement) is possible at any age depending on your outlook and goals, finances, courage and wisdom.
Belated Happy New Year to my regular readers and new visitors of this blog. I hope 2015 has begun well for you and good opportunities are unfolding. FYI, for those who have been wondering, I am still alive and kicking in Sri Lanka . Over the recent festive season I was away from the island visiting family and friends. What was supposed to be a few weeks holiday turned into more time away as I
I was at a social gathering recently and one of the main topics of discussion was the state of play with regards to dual citizenship applications in Sri Lanka. The interested parties were mainly expat Sri Lankans (who had either relinquished their Sri Lankan passports in order to obtain a foreign passport or who were born abroad and have never held Sri Lankan citizenship) and other foreign
Hurrooo! I'm back after a little hiatus - busy with work and travel so I've been a little absent from blogging. Hope life is tripping along nicely wherever you are! I thought I'd kick off with another installment of "An expat in Sri Lanka" as life is never dull on this teardrop isle and there are always stories to share ...
There's no better way to start off this installment of "An expat in Sri Lanka" than to tell you about my new found alternative remedy PEENAS OIL. Now, now readers and friends... before you freak out on me, it's not what you think. Get your mind out of the gutter people Though, got to say, funny name! If you ...
One of the things I quite enjoy about traveling (somewhat randomly at times) around this teardrop island is discovering new and amazing places rich in history and sometimes off the beaten track. A word of warning, "off the beaten track" usually entails trekking through the forest, potentially getting a little lost, working up a sweat, and inevitably (after all that ...
It's been a busy year thus far and I've found less time to blog than last year, but my mailbox via email, blog comments and facebook continues to receive a steady influx of correspondence. If you're wondering, I do appreciate the contact, questions, comments and feedback. And, I try my best to get back as quickly as possible with some helpful advice. Of course, I'm not the fount of knowledge on
On a wet and gloomy day in Kandy, I did one of the Three-Temples Loop as an outing with friends. These temples are some of the legacies of the Kandyan kingdom. There are actually at least two Three-Ttemples Loops around Kandy, including Embekke Devale-Lankathilake-Gadaladeniya and Gangarama Viharaya-Degaldoruwa-Galmaduwa Gedige. We visited the former trio of temples, which are situated about
I was fortunate to be invited to attend the Randoli Perahera on Esala Poya last Sunday. It has to be said, there is something quite special about poya days in Sri Lanka. This one felt auspicious seeing as I was right amongst the thousands of pilgrims, guests (including the President who viewed it from a special stand at his Kandy residence), and travelers from far and wide to be part of the full
I've been traveling out of the country this month, so I've been more reflective than usual on my expat life in Sri Lanka. My recent post on "Turning Lankan", probably gives you a fairly good idea about some funny things that have been happening. Luckily, I haven't felt any pangs of "expat fatigue" this year, of which I blogged about ...
A rather startling, but somewhat happy, thought came to me as I was travelling outside of Sri Lanka recently. And this particular thought was about turning into a local Sri Lankan i.e. going native! I know I know… you're thinking, "What the heck is she talking about?" Well, although it sounds a little strange, I think I'm going native and ...
June is proving to be a month of dramatic changes in the weather. Was it only a couple of months ago where I was reading and voicing concerns about the drought conditions across the island? I guess I should have fallen back on the local belief of heavy rains (or floods in some cases) expected 45 days after the Sri Lankan New Year. And, the rains have certainly come! I've been enjoying more
My mailbox has been inundated this year with emails from across the globe, largely from women who are either interested in or are about to embark on a longer stint in Sri Lanka. So, this post is largely going to focus on what it is like to be living as an "expat woman" in Sri Lanka and my thoughts on any perils ...
Last year I wrote quite an extensive post on "Reflections on Vesak in Colombo" so I feel like I don't need to rehash that blog post. If you haven't read it before and you're interested, then please feel free to read the post. In the weeks leading up to Vesak, I've spent more time in and around Kandy. The Kandy ...
This post is dedicated to a special friend of mine who has a very unique relationship with mosquitoes. It's not love, nor is it aversion. It's more like an acknowledgement and agreement to live in relative harmony with these blood-sucking critters. Rather than obliterate these insects he finds weird and crazy ways of catching them live and evicting them from his home! It's genuinely funny to
It seems to have been well over a month since I last posted on my blog, and I'm probably overdue for another installment of my Expat in Sri Lanka blog post. I've been a tad busy over this past little while logging a lot of miles between Colombo and Kandy. It would appear I'm getting more used to it, and it adds another dimension ...
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You cannot say you've received the "full Lankan" experience as an expat unless you've had a run-in with Sri Lanka customs officials and a juicy story to share. Well, I have more than a couple of those, so it's a good time to start sharing. And while I'm doing that, I have some funny stories from friends to add to the mix too When I first ...