On the evening of our first night here in Colombo, we had been invited to have a traditional meal with the Sri Lankan family of a friend in Brisbane. As we left our accommodation we got caught in a huge thunderstorm and typical tropical downpour, so our three-wheeler (tuk tuk in Thailand) from Mount Lavinia to Galle Face Hotel was certainly an experience! Our driver had to put the little covers up on the sides so we didn't get saturated - although it was only mildy effective in it's intent. After about 30 minutes, we travelled about 7km (I said it takes a long time to get a short distance here, traffic is madness) and arrived at the iconic Galle Face Hotel, which was conveniently located (and much easier to explain where to go to the driver) across the road from aunty Shirani's apartment.
We encountered a bit of a problem in that the rain was absolutely teeming down, probably some of the heaviest rain I've ever seen, so walking the 200m across the road (we forgot an umbrella!) was impossible, but thankfully a kind three-wheeler offered to take us across the road to save us getting wet. This wasn't before we got to check out a little bit of the Galle Face Hotel, which was absolutely amazing. There was a Sri Lankan wedding happening and people were dressed beautifully. I must say, regardless of size and age, a Sri Lankan woman always looks amazing in a sari. I hope that I can possibly get a sari for myself (I may just wear it randomly, like to mow the lawn or something..) for back home in Australia.
We arrived at Shirani's apartment while the storm continued on loudly, and we were greeted by the most amazing woman. It was hard to believe she was 68 years old - it seems that all Sri Lankans appear much, much younger than their actual age. We got to hear the stories of their family, see photographs and learn about her life growing up on a tea plantation in the highlands of Sri Lanka. Unfortunately her husband had passed away many years ago. Shirani's apartment was magnificent, very large and filled with beautiful memories from her two daughters and grand children. One of her daughters Jo--jo (a nickname) and her husband arrived and we all sat down for a beautiful meal.
Andrew and Shirani
The amazing meal that was prepared for us. Top left was a sweet egg curry, top right was a spicy beef dish, bottom left was a potato curry and bottom right (which was my favourite) was a coconut dish. Delicious!
This was absolutely beautiful!
Andrew, Shirani and I
To top off our lovely dinner, Shirani gave us some Sri Lankan ice cream, which was beautiful and creamy. As a rule I've learnt that dairy products don't really taste the same as they do back in Australia, in fact most of the time when ordering ceylon tea here in Sri Lanka we are given creamer for milk.
Anyway, to top off the ice cream Shirani poured a little treacle over the top, which was delicious but very sweet. She explained to us that Sri Lankan's have a sweet tooth and to prove it she shared one more beautiful gastronomic delight - a jelly like fudge made from boiled molasses which was filled with cashews (grown in SL). Wow. No really.. WOW. Andrew does not have a sweet tooth as a rule, but was devouring this stuff like a kid who had just tasted sugar for the first time. It was incredible!! I cannot remember how to pronounce the name of it, but we are going to have words with our Sri Lankan friend back home, Vivienne and find out if we can get it back in Brisbane. Just thinking of it now is making my mouth water! We had some great conversation at the table, and as you can imagine it always went back to cricket. Everyone is a tragic here and I think Andrew feels completely at home for it.
We shared some gifts we had brought with us from Australia, to say thank you for the generous hospitality that we had been shown and said our goodbyes. When you travel, you very rarely get these kinds of opportunities and we are extremely grateful for this to have been arranged for us - so we must say a huge thank you to Vivienne Abeywardena back home in Brisbane.. thanks Chooti!
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