Zumba classes in SL

Went for my first Zumba class last week. It was super fun. Really didn't feel the time go by and was dripping in sweat by the end of it.

Lots of fun people around you, its easy to make friends and have a good time. The music just keeps you going.

But overall I'd say if you want to get in to shape fast and you hate the gym (like me) this is the way to go.............

Zumba!

Decided to try Zumba. Discovered it only a few days ago..........though I guess its been around for awhile.

So I bought a dvd looked cool. Checked out classes, there were two ads actually in hit ads, but the one close to home was the one that interested me most and also because the class schedule is more convenient for me.

So hopefully I will make it to the class tomorrow, at 7pm :-).

Happy that SL beat Aus today in the T20 match. but very sad that Dayasiri lost at the megastar.

Good night!

Decided to start blogging again after a long break............I don't see much people reading my blog which is sad. :-(. But I decided to keep on writing. Writing has always been my passion. I know I'm not great at it. But it helps me to relax. To get my thoughts out, its like talking to someone. Very therapeutic.

I feel like there are these thoughts that are always spinning around in my head. There are lot of things i want to say and sometimes not enough time to say everything. So i guess writing would be the best way to put these down.

SO, starting from today I will blog more! Yippee!

Whale & Dolphin Watching in Mirissa - Dec 2009

Mirissa is slowly becoming a popular hot spot for whale watching. I really feel we should consider promoting this in a very organised manner and develop it to become something Sri Lanka would be "world famous" for.

I went for the second time earlier this month. It was disappointing this time. We didn't see any whales. Whereas last time, I had seen 2 blue whales which was one of the most amazing moments of my life. However we saw plenty of dolphins. They are such agile and fun creatures arent they? they did a their own private show for us. Speeding past, jumping up and dancing

If you want to go whale watching, be prepared for the disappointment of not seeing any whales. Thinking back, I think we should have actually checked with the operator (walkers tours) whether they had any whale sightings recently. I get the feeling we went too early, the season hasn't started yet. Also its a 5hr ride where most of the time you can just see the ocean around you. Can be very tiring, but well worth it if you get to see whales & dolphins.

I was sea sick all through out, it was a really bad experience. I was the only one sea sick out of 15 others on the boat. The annoying thing was that I had taken avomin too, and I thoght it would prevent me from throwing up. I was fine last time. I'm really grateful to the crew, they were very patient and understanding about me throwing up. I think I threw up at least 10 times. Thanks guys!

I went with walkers tours, they have two boats. I feel that the bigger boat is definitely much more spacious, but I feel the smaller boat is faster. I also prefer last time's guide, he was well versed in whale watching and he was a talented photographer as well. So please check for the naturalist, Nishantha if you are going with Walkers Tours.

Will post some photos soon.

Alimankada - a review

I saw the trailer of this movie a few months back and was impressed by the cinematography, and decided it was a "must see" movie. The guy and girl on the bike really did it. I had also read the book and loved it. Nihal De Silva is an amazing author in my opinion. However, the response to the media by Ashan Dias at the premier left me thinking he was shallow with no sense of the character. Which got me a bit worried about the movie..... But I was optimistic.

Convincing my equally enthusiastic colleagues we went to see the movie on 19th Nov.

After 5 mins I knew the movie was a big flop! All the gun fight and bombs at the beginning really spoilt it, and way the driver and female army officer got killed was really pathetic. The captain started shouting and growling to show his superiority and the woman seemed scared about it. Not at all what the book portrayed. The captain was war hardened soldier, strong character yet sensitive, the woman was a LTTE cadre, who would have no qualms killing him.

The movie couldn't bring out any of the sensitivities that we felt in the book. It made it out to be a cheap love story. The lovers seem to exchange romantic looks from the begining, where as they were supposed to be two strong individuals who believe in their own cause and mission, who were thrown together.

The helicopter scene reminded me of an animated cartoon version of tour of duty. This was just one of the many "unreal" situations that were present. Clean clothes, hiding behind trees in plain view of check points, trying to scare a leopard with a six inch knife.

Ashan Dias's words "camping & shit" echoed in my ear during the scenes where they cooked meat over the fire in the jungle. He really didn't seem to have understood the character. Had he ever read the book i wondered.

And the last scene, OMG, why did they have to go to the extent of showing a scene of 9yrs later. I think its a real insult to the intelligence of Sri Lankan of film goers.

It left my friends and me thinking, maybe its a good thing Nihal De Silva is not alive today to see his story turned in to such a cheap movie. A damn waste of a good book!

Trip to Kandy July 2008

My friends and I set off one Saturday morning to Kandy. It was the first time I was driving my car up country. My best friend and I decided to share the driving between us. I thought I would drive the easy part since I wasn't sure of the winding roads closer to the hill country.

For those of you who don't know where kandy is, it is the hill capital of Sri Lanka. Its a beautiful city with a rich history.

We set off early in the morning around 5.30am, I thought that we can get to kandy in 3 hours tops since its only 130km, but it took a very long time. Kept me wondering whether its something wrong with the drivers or car :-). My car is a suzuki swift with a 1300cc engine and auto gears so its not something that can speed fast up the hills. My friend kept complaining how the pick up is bad compared to a manual, yes yes i've heard that story before.



We reached Kandy, but we were not sure of how to get to the city, the exact routes that would take us to the city centre. It was a small adventure finding ourselves to the city AND finding a place to park. Spirits were high and the three of us were anticipating a good holiday :-).



We first went to the Dalada maligawa, also known as the temple of the tooth relic. As buddhists its one of our most sacred placess of worship. We bought a lot of flowes and lamps to offer to the Buddha, but alas we were first attacked by a gang of monkeys. A gang of VERY hungry monkeys who wanted to eat the flowers, we discovered that they love to eat the middle of the flower. We then bought more flowers and went up to worship. We spent sometime at the temple it was refreshing. But then it was crowded and there was a crowd of women who kept reciting verses very loudly which disturbed people. I think people think the louder you recite the better lord buddha will hear you. But i believe in silent prayer. I wowed to my self to come more often to Kandy, since it felt so relaxing.

Our next adventure was finding the hotel where we were supposed to stay. It took us around the "Nuwara wewa", kandy river. It was such a lovely sight. I was thinking how lucky people are to live there and go to school it seemed like heaven.

Drove up to the hotel, first impressions were honestly not good. The hotel looked small, the reception area looked old. But all three of us were very excited by the spa brochure that they had. We were thinking we would definitely go for a massage during our holiday. A porter came to guide us to the hotel. Walking up the flight of stairs my impressions got better, it the dining area was better than the lobby, much beter. Swimming pool seemed small. There was a noisy group of people who had come that day. Playing very loud music, there goes my afternoon nap I was thinking.

We went up to the room, it was nice, the view from the room also looked refreshing. We went down for lunch almost immediately, it didn't offer much choice for my vegetarian friend. But we were enjoying being with each other. It felt good. It was after a very long time that the three of us had come on a holiday, now when I think back the three of us had probably never gone on a holiday together after school. Hmmm............and that was more than 10years ago.

The evening was spent talking about various stuff. It felt really good. Sometimes we are so caught up in our worlds that we think that our problems are unique to us. But when when us girls get together we realise that most of our problems are the same for all of us. We all face it, we all go through it, the more you talk about it the more you feel better.

The next day we went for an amazing massage. We all went for a head, neck, back and shoulder massage. It was truly out of this world. I vowed that I should go for massages more often. Its truly a relaxing experience much healthier than going out for a meal :-).

That was the end of our holiday. Three girls on their own, one of those rare occasions I felt good that we were grown up and independent.