Back

Hello people! Back in Colombo last month. Haven't blogged in about 4 months I see. I think I'll be able to do it more often now that my studies are over!

I must say, now that I don't have the study agenda any more, things seem quite dull and listless. I really wish Colombo had big shopping malls and nice movie theatres. At least could while some hours away that way.

Anyway, I'm happy to be back people. This post has to be short as my laptop needs charging!

Cheerio!

Long Break

Can't believe it's been this long since I've blogged. I see I haven't kept my promise of blogging once a month.

Will be leaving soon for 3 months! Will miss Colombo. Right now the city is festooned with beautiful paper lanterns for the festival of Vesak which is coming up on the 17th of May.

The weather is unbearably sunny and hot. Can't wait for it to start raining.

Some reviews:

The Golden Dragon, Chinese restaurant at the Taj Samudra. Really not that good for the price. We dined there quite a while back. The Lemon Chicken tasted more like chicken with marmalade sauce. The most disappointing dish was the mixed fried rice. I felt I could have done a better job of it, and isn't fried rice basic fare which they should be able to get right? The decor was also a bit disappointing, and didn't think much of the plastic chopsticks.

Well that's it for now. Exams coming up!

This and that

Well the year has been whizzing by. I find myself short of time to do all the things I want or need to do. So, there's not much time for blogging. But I've decided I'll blog at least once a month, so here goes.

Restaurants

New Restaurants tried include The Union Bar and Grill (below the Hilton Residence), The Lagoon, at Cinnamon Grand and Ginza Hohsen,a Japanese restaurant located in the Hilton Hotel.

Ginza Hohsen: Not being a great fan of Japanese food, I was blown away by how good everything was at Ginza Hohsen. The set up was lovely, typical Japanese with a lovely view of the Japanese garden outside. One can watch the cooks in action, something I always enjoy. The food was wholesome, large portions and delicious. I'd love to go back even though it's pricey. Meal for 2.5 persons with just mineral water and no dessert went over Rs 5000.

The Union Bar and Grill: Overall, disappointing, though the prices are a nice range from reasonable to high. Didn't like the quality of cheese they used in their dishes . Service was good though.

The Lagoon: A nice seafood restaurant. You can order fresh fish and decide how you want it cooked. Watching the cooks in action adds to the ambience of the place. Pricey, but overall, worth it.

The New Year

Well 2010 disappeared into the blue, and what do you know so has one month of the new year already. Already been visited by 2 sets of visitors in the new year. I find myself not having enough room to breathe even I get so many visitors. Ofcourse, I love having people who really care about me stay over. But the problem is, more often than not, it's the people who really want to take advantage of your good nature who want to come over. Sometimes, it's people who never bother calling, writing or sending a card. And what's more, people seem to think I'm some sort of travel advisory in addition to a free place to crash in and have meals. I don't mind giving people advice, but would love to get a thank you now and then! I tell you some people just love a free ride!

TUS, The Uniform Shop

While doing reviews, I got reminded of the worst shop I had the misfortune of visiting in Colombo. The Uniform Shop or TUS as they like to call themselves. Situated on Galle Road, just opposite Barefoot, this shop has a monopoly over uniform supply in a lot of the schools in Colombo. In fact they are the sole supplier of uniforms in the school my daughter attends.

On the day I visited recently, I took along some current samples of Daughter's uniforms as I can never remember the size when I would go to buy it from the school (the school stocks limited uniform supplies). In fact, it was only because the school did not have any stock at the beginning of the academic year that I had to visit the shop. I was accosted at the door way by the guard and told that I had to leave the plastic bag with the uniforms at the door in his care. Ofcourse, I was a possible thief, but not this dude. There was no possibility that he'd help himself to some of my things when I left it with him. I explained that I had brought samples to compare sizes. That is when dragon lady, who seemed to be one of the managers told me coolly that in this shop this was the rule, and I had to abide by it. Bags had to be left at the door. If I wanted to I could bring the samples in. Dumbfounded I said, "you want me to leave this empty plastic bag at the door!?" To which she again rattled off her silly rule.

I complied only because I needed the uniforms. Needless to say, the rest of the experience was just as acrid. I wanted one skirt to be tailor made as the ready made sizes did not fit Daughter properly. The tailor refused to make most of the adjustments I wanted. What's the point of having something custom made! They also didn't have most sizes available so I couldn't buy the t-shirts I wanted.

I hope they continue to behave incredibly ridiculously and rudely with their customers so that eventually there are enough complaints to put them out of business.

Restaurant Review: Regina Margarita

Regina Margarita, from outer appearances doesn't scream out Come Eat Here! It's only because I had read rather good reviews about it that we decided to venture all the way to Park Road to try out the place.

Well, the tables were all covered in checkered tablecloths in typical Italian style. The size of the tables turned out to be a bit of a problem later though as the waiters struggled to fit the dishes we ordered on the table. The menu took us by surprise. We were a bit taken aback by the prices. Practically nothing below Rs 900.

The complimentary bread at the beginning was just ordinary. So was the chilli oil on the table. We were expecting plain olive oil and butter.

Among the things we ordered was a pizza marinara without any cheese. The pizza was good, made right in front of our eyes, which was interesting to watch. We also ordered a fettucine with chicken mince and a spaghetti with tomato sauce and basil. Both were rather mediocre, the pasta seemed a bit overdone and didn't blow anyone away.

There was a lady walking around talking to the customers who we assumed was the proprietor. The personal touch was nice, though I was glad we had ordered before she came, as I don't like anyone giving me opinions on my order unless I ask for it.

We could hear someone on another table whispering about the cook having changed. Maybe this was the reason we failed to be impressed despite the wonderful review we had read. Though we may go back to grab some take away pizza.

Tandoor

Restaurant Review: Tandoor

We tried out a North Indian restaurant called Tandoor, situated in the Ceylon Continental Hotel. While the decor is nothing impressive, the food was good.To start with there was complimentary Papad with chutneys. My favourite was the tamarind chutney. We tried the alu gobi, the butter nan, paratha and methi chicken, all of which were good. None of the dishes were too spicy, which is great if you have a small child. The food is served in copper ware which I always like. And the prices were very reasonable. I can totally see myself visiting again!