Hooked on a Veggie Feeling

After two glorious days at Cinnamon Habarana with my in-laws, we are BACK with a vengeance to lose the extra pounds (yet again). Of course going to a hotel on full board means some amazing food and variety that you just can't say NO to (like blue cheese!) - and Cinnamon is by far NO exception. The continental food was tops and so was the Sri Lankan food. Habarana itself had a beautiful weather, a lot of rain and everything was so green, fresh and lush. Loved it.

So being back and not really in a mood to eat meat (since I binged on so much at the hotel) - I just pottered around and made this...

I used a whole-wheat Prima flat bread (available at Keels/ Cargills), slathered some french onion cheese spread (from USA but you get versions here.. mad expensive though) and topped it up with a salad of cucumbers, red cabbage, tomatoes and a dash of Italian salad dressing (not creamy, just olive oil, herbs, vinegar). In hindsight, onions and a little balsamic vinegar would have been an added yum - but what the hey.

I've been thinking of ways to "sexy"-up vegetables... it seems that chicken has been a staple for us and you tend to eat so much of it in many forms - like fresh chicken/ meatballs/ sausages/ kieves etc. So I've been trying to stop the Hub's liking for it. I personally think its the most unhealthy meat (if you must eat meat) anyone can have - only because broiler chicken is just so unnatural and full of hormones and things. Oh check out my internet-learned Pothola-dhaal curry I made for tomorrow's lunch.

Anyway, its a quiet Sunday evening with Hub at an office seminar. Snack done - off to do some work!

Ta!

Kaema Sutra (Everybody calm the F down)

So Jacqueline Fernandez (I'm a fan) has opened a new restaurant Kaema Sutra at the Independence Square arcade with the overseeing of Dharshan Munidasa of the Nihonbashi and Ministry of Crab fame. When I initially heard of it, the name stuck and I thought, hmm pretty clever and cute actually. I was also pretty excited about a restaurant which claimed to serve high-end Sri Lankan food. If you really look at it, Colombo (I'm only taking Colombo here) has a few good restaurant serving local food, namely Green Cabin (Great hoppers, very small curry dishes), Akasa Kade and Raja Bojun which serve an OK but extensive buffet. Better places would be Ape Gama (authentic villagey experience, pricey but great food as always- thanks Cinnamon!) and perhaps Semondu (I love!), which serves up Asian Fusion cuisine with a lot of local ingredients. I also found HVN (Casa Colombo) to have interesting dishes using local fare for a very decent price.

So where does Kaema Sutra fit in? Perhaps its a place I would take my business partner from abroad, or a very good friend, whome I'd like to have a taste of Sri Lankan food with an interesting experience thrown in. This is why I don't get the negative hype people are stirring up about the place.

Firstly, my MIL was tut-tutting the name (Kaema means food in Sinhala, its a play on Kama Sutra, the ancient sexy book) saying "Kaema Sutra... wena namak aththema nadda? Hamuduruwanta liyumak liwwoth mona wei da danne na"... I actually have no idea which 'hamuduruwo' she was talking about but I really wanted to let her know that HEY, you know what...I've been the temples in NEPAL (Where Lumbini, Buddha's birthplace is BTW) where there are ancient and intricate carvings of the Kama Sutra all around it. (HERE) So really, the Sutra has been around for centuries in this region and its really nothing to be too ashamed or all OMG about right? -.- In fact, I applaud our ancestors from India who wrote about the great and fun ways of doing it. Clap clap clap. Thank you for that.

Plus, again... I have no idea why Sri Lankans are so frigid about sex man. I mean, its not like babies are born by thinking about them, and its the FIRST things people ask about AFTER the wedding so SUCK IT. (No pun intended.)

And then, I get an email listing out the prices of the hoppers (apparently Rs. 200 each?) and thambili (Rs. 200) and a few derogatory sentences saying "Oh, so THIS is Jacky's new "place" where rich people eat Rs. 200 hoppers and feel good about themselves)... You know, maybe this is why Sri Lanka will probably take decades to reach the level of economic success as Singapore. Its the blatant NEGATIVITY. Yeah, so maybe Rs. 200 is a little pricey for a rice flour based dish that you can find for 1% of the cost a a smaller kadei by the side of the road. But then again, you ARE paying for overheads/ labour cost (is that a kadei man you see behind the kitchen? No.) and ambiance. And you really don't need to step into the place if you don't think you can afford it right?(For example, I still haven't gone to Ministry of Crab but I'm hoping to! I suppose its like an aspiration, and I don't really want to put down the place saying Oh, the ever so rich Mahela and Sanga are serving roast paan and crabs for prices that are sky high. Instead, why can't we just appreciate the hard work the two have done (on the field and off) and be happy that our little city has a few good restaurants which have even been ranked in the Miele Guide (giving this dumb country better hype than what our politicians ever create in the long run)?

I also think Jacky has worked her @ss off in the Bollywood industry (NOT an easy shell to crack)...she's a household name in India and its an honour that she should invest her hard-earned money in creating a restaurant that serves local delicacies to those who can afford it. We should be happy. Anyway that's what I think. Haters gonna hate Jackie, but seriously... I know this is the last thing people in this country should be worried about [lack of water in the dry zone/ BBS & ethnic tension/ Malaka in politics (say what)] but really, such negativity. People should seriously calm the fuck down and chill the fuck out.

I love REAL hugs

Aside from the ones given to family and good friends, real hugs are pretty hard to find. You have the peck on the cheek while holding the shoulders kind of hug, the check to check kiss-half hug, then the half-hearted hug, then the worst one, the awkward hug.

I recently met a musician friend of Hubs at La Fiesta and after a bit of nattering we said Good Night and he leaned in for a goodbye hug. He then wrapped his arms around me and hugged me with a delicious warm kind of hug that lingered on for a few moments and then let go. NO, this isn’t a Casanova kind of guy or a great looker (lol) and Hubs was just next to me. I also want to add that I hardly know him and only as Hub’s friend…and he stepped back smiling and left me a nice-warm-hug-afterglow-awww feeling. Then his brother I didn’t know very well at all waved at me and said Good Night and I did the same. Then he did an awwww-shucks shrug and suddenly hugged me too. Both boys are so skinny with the longest arms and wry-crooked smiles but the hugs! Oh my Lord, took me by such surprise! So so warm…maybe it runs in the family or something.

I mentioned this to Hubs who nodded in agreement. Its then that I decided to give proper hugs to people I meet. I know I might come across as a little weird and  I wouldn’t do it with office people…but in general, friends… people I haven’t met in a long time…children…pets…I’m going to hug them properly and disseminate the ‘warm’ kind of lingering hugs. It really makes the world a better place.

J

 

eurgh! Valentines day!

Just like christmas, new year, mothers day, fathers day and now Valentines day!! Life has become so commercial!!!

WHY!

No one will know. I think its because no one has time to really say how much they love one another!

Valentines day doesn't really need to be about your "lover" it is everyone and everything around you!!!

Why can't we just love! unconditionally! unrestrained! uncontrollably! EVERYDAY!

 

END of soppya** post!

ta

Happy weekend! xox

Good Times at Dilmah t-Lounge

Time spent at the Dilmah t-Lounge (DTL) is just pure pleasure. No this isn't some sort of paid post (though Good Times would LOVE to get into that! Teehee)... I just really love the place.

Starting off with the little things...it's Valentines weekend apparently and the place was already decked up with little classy touches of rose, red and pink. I anyway love the interior of the place to begin with, and the promotional themes stick to being creative and classy at the same time.

The food! The last time we went, Hubs tried the chocolate crepe which was much better than the Pani Pol crepe I had sometime back. Really crunchy and chocolatey and great.

. . . did I mention that the service rocks? No? Well, the service rocks. I love the ladies who serve the customers and they are so friendly and good to go with anything really. We also got really good, soft, almond sponge cake on the house. Yay!

. . . and my favorite favorite FAVORITE drink at DTL would currently be (I say currently because I used to consume insane amounts of Green Sencha with Lemongrass and Mint till recently) the TKT or the TinKiri Tea. OMG. That's all I can say. O - M - G. It's like frothy heaven in a cup. Sure, you can make perfectly good TKT at home but NOT how Dilmah makes it!! Plus, it comes in the cutest double layer glass...super classy looking and doesn't heat up the glass at all.

and you know the best thing ever?

I managed to convert hub into a TKT fan! Whoohoo... bwahaha....look at the face of appreciation!

DTL is a refreshing change to the many coffee shops popping up everywhere (Gloria Jeans, Cocoon, Hansa, Coffee Bean and the many Baristas)... and I hope they will continue their superb work.

There's a great article on the crisis in the tea industry in this month's Echelon (again, not paid advertising lol!)...which talks about the high costs of maintaining plantations and the dearth of workers. The industry will definitely have to look into innovative ways to keep it going... would be such a waste otherwise. We definitely DO have the best tea ever and it's so great to take a box to friends abroad and see their faces light up... I guess that's what Dilmah does right...bringing a centuries old quality product into the 21st century and making it super hip.

Kala Pola 2014

I always try to make it to the Kala Pola, organised by JKH because its a really good place to appreciate good local art and maybe even pick up a thing or two :D I also like taking pictures of art which really catches my eye, amidst the copies of Senaka Senanayake, George Keyt and the likes. 

Like this one, done by the Junior State Champion. I thought it was adorable if a little macabre! 

But what creativity of the little one!

I'm sure the theme for the middle school children was death as there were two death scenes that won prizes! This was by far the most stiking...probably her/his achchi amma's death. Awwiee...look at the expressions of the family!

I also love modern and this was no exception. It stuck out amidst the usual 'nice to see' art 

and is truly unique.

A beautiful balletina made of nuts and bolts.

Kinda funky I thought!

Another cat! lol!

A large while mural with a very thought provoking, simple drawing I thought...

This was a beauty! The pink just popped out of the canvas and I can really see it being on a large bedroom wall or maybe even a hotel! Wish I had  the money and space to invest in it! :'(

Screen print art, very hip on a simple brick wall?

Beautiful Buddhist art of all shapes and sizes! :)

And finally... the artist's own depiction of himself in Edvard Munch's 'Scream'! 

Kind of what I'm bottling up these days, haha!

Kala Pola is an awesome event I look forward to all year! Till next year peeps! 

xo

Dee

Oh what a bootiful Wedding (s)!!!

Its been weddings galore really... from December till End of January (for now) and I'm really tired!!! But nevertheless, which girl hates a beautiful wedding!?! but the entire year is filled with weddings of good friends... what is a wedding really, other than 2 people embarking on a mysterious adventure of discovery... and us, their awesome friends making it a night to remember


So I decided to take pictures like the little godaya that I am... and put it up...

First off, wedding 1... This happened in December 2011 though, but i always wanted to put pictures up of this wedding... (simple little thing) XD

Church decor,  just flower petals lining the isle...

 

They also had a poruwa... again quite a simple deal... The Bride wanted all decor in white...

  The bridesmaids wore Orange/Tangerine cotton silks with 4 different coloured pallus...

Wedding 2 : was in December 2013, IT was the most beautiful wedding I had been to (SO FAR) in my life!!! The wedding was at the brides home and under a marquee, while little bulbs sparkled like stars. The detail and thought that went in to this wedding was amazing!

These little mini vases were hung on the walk way to the garden...

The bar was under mango tree, and had these chandeliers shown in the picture below all around it... so breathtakingly beautiful....

Little cocktail tables around the bar..

The high table.... You can see the maid of honour practicing her speech!

The table decor... <3

The other was of a homecoming, of a very close friend.  The theme for the decor was set as Origami cranes, you would see us at office daily, making little colourful birds and hiding it under our tables just to make sure to look as if we were busy! :'D


The table decor...

>>> the photo prop-station

The photo-prop backdrop

The entrance decor and the sign boards... so colourful and so unique

The ceiling at stables - park street mews

My friend lets call her T, went overboard wanting to make sure her husband knew they were now and forever officially H-I-T-C-H-E-D!!!

THE end... for now!!!