Complaints

Of late, have been having a bad time and just feeling blue.

Yesterday I discovered strange insects in my jar of coriander! H's explanation of it is the humid weather. But my jar was sealed so Lord only knows how they got there.

Oh the frozen foods need a bit of getting used to. Almost all savoury foods are just too strongly flavoured with black pepper. Even well known brands like Knorr have tweaked the flavours to suit the local palette. Basically making all easily prepared foods not very tasty to me which is just as well. There are some things that just can't be found in the supermarkets : like lemons and coriander and ghee (clarified butter) and semolina.

People Passing

After coming to Colombo two of my uncles living in my home town have passed away. One of them this morning. Have been naturally feeling quite down. These people I have seen since I was a child. They were nice, happy, kind and jovial people. With this particular uncle I passed many a day discussing books, life, etc. I know his passing away will also mean one less person my mother can turn to, who is passing her days away, lonely and getting old, missing us. And ofcourse a slice of my youth gone with them, as memories of childhood are inextricably linked with these members of our family.

3am Blues

We've been unsuccessfully trying to make Daughter settle down in her new room. Every time she starts settling down she comes down with a bad cold/cough and we move her back to our bed, and she no longer wants to sleep in her own bedroom. After 2 tearful allnighters, have decided to call it quits and just move her bed back to our room in the morning.

And while we are on the topic of coughs/colds, let me just add that catching 4 bugs in the space of 2 short months is just too much to handle, and feeling quite fed up. When do I catch myself a break here?

We do not buy chocolate here, so here I am, unable to sleep, gnawing on a papaya at 3am. Papayas are nice here by the way. The fruits are very similar to Bangkok's. Weather is also similar possibly. It is constant weather here all year round.

H has been going crazy with his workload here. He continues working late into the night every day even after coming home. So that has lengthened our settling down time even further.

On another front have hired a part time maid, especially with the impending visits of relatives within weeks. Today, I caught her scrubbing down my precious rice cooker (yes the electric part at the bottom!) She can't speak any English. Daughter has a fine time harassing her with questions like "why don't you know English?!"

Today we got caught in a road block because of protesters. The entire Colpetty Junction to Temple Trees was blocked off. Had to take a long detour. As it is everyday we have to pass through a million roadblocks were the soldiers stare at you and try to figure out where you're from before asking for your passport. Road blocks are part and parcel of Colombo life.

Also, seeing a saffron clad monk every day. There are many buddhist and hindu temples around as well as mosques. We hear atleast 4 different azans every day, 5 times. Oh, and noise pollution is quite bad where we live: a train blasts away every now and then, as we live right beside the tracks. Oh, and the rain is constant. Everyone walks with an umbrella. Sri Lnnkan people are also very westernised in clothes and also their work ethics. They never go beyond their job descriptions. They will not work a minute extra or do anything that they are not officially required to do. This can be quite irritating. Oh and there's a Poya every 2 weeks. It falls on a full moon, and is a holiday (but not for H). So that's another day they refuse to work!

Ok, starting to feel a bit sleepy now.

More later.

Hurtling Along

We have moved to our apartment about 2 weeks ago. The days have been chock full of a billion things to do. And also in the meantime, Daughter fell ill (still not completely better) and we caught it off her too. Still not finished unpacking all the boxes that arrived a week ago. Before that it was like a long camping trip. We were sleeping on a mattress on the floor.

Yesterday was the first semi normal day we had. Had a nice evening. Went for a walk to the Galle Face Hotel. Had dinner at "The Verandah" which is a semi - open air restaurant just beside the sea. The food was alright, but the atmosphere was great! They had some harmony musicians. Really nice and relaxing.

Ok, that will have to be it for now. Chores and studies await!

Health Update: Fish

Ok, I've decided I am going to share all new health related information I come across on this blog. So here's what I found out today.

Not all fish are good for you. Some are better than others. Some like farmed Telapia and Catfish, can be down right unhealthy. Others have high levels of mercury which offsets the benefits one gets from the Omega 3 fatty acids they contain. But apparently as you get older the benefits of eating fish far outweigh not eating fish. According to the article by the AARP, the following rank as the top food source of omega-3 fatty acids, the fats believed to protect the heart, brain and other organs:

1. salmon,
2. herring,
3. anchovies
4. Atlantic mackerel—

Also, certain types of fish contain selenium, an antioxidant that may reduce the risk of some cancers and is believed to neutralize the damage caused by mercury. The following are high in selenium:

1. tuna,
2. halibut
3. salmon

Click here to read the detailed article.

Unfortunately, Seer fish, the fish that everyone seems to eat around here, is high in mercury, as it is most likely related to the King Mackerel, one of those with high mercury levels.

Now let's hope we are able to find the healthier options in Colombo!

Teething troubles

Today started off rather gloomily. And to add to the gloomy mood of the day, I have the most annoying toothache! Now who wants to deal with the annoyance of having teeth pulled out within days of moving into a new city? From past experience this is the only thing dentists seem to suggest these days. I applied some Pyralvex to the painful tooth, in hopes it will disappear for a while.

We are yet to move into our new apartment, though luckily we have finally got delivery of the front door keys. The problem is we have not yet got our resident visa paper work completed (a common thing for their to be delays on this front I take it from reading other Colombo blogs). So our shipment of belongings are stuck at port, and we are not being able to clear it! We have paid for this service apartment only till the end of this month, so that means there is every chance we will have to move into an empty apartment with no furniture!

I will have to get busy soon. With studies of all things. Will be doing it from home, but still, been getting goosebumps on how I will manage time to study. I hope I will still have time for this blog.

What else. Oh Daughter says the funniest of things. The other day I told her I will keep an eye out for something and she says "No keep BOTH eyes out". And yesterday I was trying to convince her not to waste her food as God does not like it, and how there are so many poor people in the world with no food to eat. And she has the most interesting set of questions.

1. How does God manage to live in the sky? Can he fly? How does he sit there?
2. How does he know what I'm doing right now? Does he watch me with a camera?
3. Why doesn't he give food to the poor people with his Godly powers?

Ofcourse I had no way to answer any of these questions. Have got quite good at avoiding such tough questions with politician like prowess! But how about you, what would you have said?

Chutneys

We ate at a South Indian restaurant called Chutneys. I'm a total Indian food buff, and Chutneys did not let us down. The portions were very generous, to say the least ( starting with never ending "papars" which were placed on the table over and over again. I ordered a vegetable biryani and Daughter had a Cheese Dosa (which I was also gorging over). The Cheese Dosa was delectable. It came with 3 chutneys or relishes, one the traditional coconut one, one based on tomato, and one the traditional sambar. H ordered a vegetarian thali which came with around 3 dosas (one shaped like a wizard's hat! )and seven or eight relishes and chutneys, and even had a gajar ka halwa for dessert! After we finished, the waiter offered himself to pack up the vegetarian biryani which we couldn't finish off because the portions of everything was more than adequate. Overall, I was in seventh heaven during the meal, and can't wait to go back for a second visit!