View of the towers

Beautiful orange coloured orchids

The dragon fruit (looks more like a fish than a dragon though)

Toll gate coming up!

The opened dragon fruit

Cultural Dance

View of the National Library

Music

Colourful cultural dance

Strange Meetings

On Saturday, the strangest thing happened. There was I feeling a bit blue and on my way to a SLAAPS meeting when the bus stopped at the halt after Ambagaha junction. Amongst the rush of people getting in, I noticed a lady who looked a bit like my Aunt Lotus, get in. I started to offer her my seat and then noticed another girl doing the same. The lady declined (very strange…. most people would plop into the seat without any appreciation or thanks). A couple of minutes later she got a seat. We both looked at each other several times and smiled and coincidentally both happened to get off at the same place – town hall. Since she was behind me, I gave her a bit of a helping hand off the bus. She held onto my hand.

We then got talking and exchanged telephone numbers when she suggested we keep in touch. Having parted I suddenly realized that there was a bounce to my step and that my heart felt so much lighter for the smile and touch of another person reaching out to me in genuine friendship.

The Splash 2005 – Otters Dance on 24th of September

The dance was held at the Colombo Plaza and I was invited! The driveway to the hotel was beautifully lit up in fairy lights and at the entrance of the ballroom stood a photographer who invited every couple or group who entered to pose for a picture.

Wine and hors d’qeuvres were served in the lobby before everyone was requested to make their way to their tables. There were sweet little bags in black with the theme of an otter couple in the Titanic pose in silver, as entrance gifts for the ladies. The gents received telephone indexes and souvenirs in the same theme colours, while the backdrop to the stage was a giant replica of the otter couple.

The bands Gypsies and Pearl were playing that evening. Both are wonderful bands. They also had Corrine and Ronnie Leitch perform guest spots. I like Corrine, she has a dynamism all her own and I envy her pert figure. I felt though that she should have done a few English numbers, cos she did some baila and left. Ronnie Leitch followed suite … all baila and some of his usual slightly off-colour jokes and comments which have long ceased to be funny. I feel he is best suited for stage shows where he has the crowd in fits of laughter. Faizal Bonzo was a co-compere. There was the usual scotch and wine at the tables. For the first time I tasted the cinzano limetto …. I liked it!

Dinner though was soooooo disappointing! They served it at around 12.00 and had such a small choice. There was rice and noodles and a vege lasagna and a few accompaniments No meat or cheese salads, no soup, no breads, no cold cuts. Hmmm guess the organizers picked the cheapest menu! Still I had expected better food from the Colombo Plaza. There was bread pudding….. yes I kid you not….. bread pudding, a trifle of sorts and slices of nice chocolate cake and choc/vanilla/strawberry ice-cream with fruit for dessert. Quite disappointing. For me the highlight of dinner time was the availability of the photographs. What lovely souvenirs they were. It was the first time I had been to a dance where such personal souvenirs were given.

They selected a Splash Queen and they had a baila competition which tired out both the competitors and the spectators, so loooong drawn out it was. I’m so glad that SLAAPS has done away with selecting of a queen. It makes the ‘also-ran’s feel quite bad. One of the selected ladies was at our table, and all of us were cheering her on. Very pretty she looked dressed in a lovely white Kandyan saree – striking was the word for it…. She was the only one in white. Anyway, I think her evening was rather spoilt. Of course the girls they did select were absolutely beautiful and deserved to win. But I felt a bit sorry for the girl at our table who determinedly tried too hard not to look disappointed!

I remember being to one dance where the selection was such gross favoritism that it had the audience screaming in protest. The presentation went on and I’m sure the poor winner felt small. I remember that one of the ‘contestants’ happened to be a model and a beautiful one at that. She was overlooked despite the cheering by the crowdand she WAS by far the prettiest. We felt they may give her at least a runner up place…. But no! The winner was a tall, rather hunched, dark homely looking girl won the prize, perhaps by virtue of being one of the organiser’s daughter!!! The first prize was a ticket to a destination in Europe and mutterings were that they wished to keep the winner within their group***!!??

The problem with this dance is that they just did NOT want to stop! The raffle draw was at 5.30 in the morning. So we danced on till morning. Sun was streaming out when we left the hotel, after Udesh insisted on having two whole helpings of kiribath served for breakfast. It was nearly 7.00 when I got home!

Spoons

On Thursday, we decided to make use of the voucher I had won at the Hilton Secretaries bash. The voucher was from the Spoons valued at Rs.5,000/=. I usually have a horrible feeling when using vouchers of any nature after my bad experience at Le Palace. Anyway, having booked a table for two earlier on, Sunethra and I walked in at about 1.30 both ravenously hungry.

We were led to a table and a waiter introduced himself as our waiter for the day, helped us select a four course meal and discretely merged into the background.

The food was excellent, beautifully arranged and obtrusively served. It was my first visit to Spoons and an enjoyable one it turned out to be…. one I would certainly like to repeat.

Once again Hilton comes up trumps.

The stunning view from the Communication Tower

Spinner-Genting Highlands (We actually went on this!!!)

Sri Lankan Airlines - for those deserving travellers!

The flight back from Malaysia was HORRIBLE. Too bad Sri Lankan Airlines for treating your clients as if they are a nuisance. My first grumble was that you could not summon the stewardesses. I tried the ‘stewardess’ button, but nothing worked. Then one gentleman a ahead of me called out ‘madam madam’ several times to be quite pointed ignored by the ‘hostess’. Desperately he stood up and beckoned her. This she could not ignore but came with raised eyebrows and a supercilious look on her face. Goodness, what has the hospitality trade come to? I don’t know what the gentleman needed, but he seemed to need it pretty desperately. I don’t think he should be judged by his nationality or dress. Too bad Sri Lankan Airlines too bad!

I also noticed a lady who wanted some water for her child. She kept pressing the ‘crew’ button, to no avail; she then started waving the feeding cup around hoping to gain attention. No such luck. Finally her husband stood up purposefully with the cup in his hand. Then and only then were they attended to. I think perhaps the white colour of his skin may have helped at that point, cos had it been an Asian I presume the gent would have had to find the water himself!

Requests for a drink of water and an extra bun met with cold indifference. Oh I was politely told they would be right back but they never were. Was it that they were understaffed???? Well, that certainly is not MY fault.

This is not the first time that I have experienced discrimination because I am a Sri Lankan flying Sri Lankan Airlines back to Colombo. For some reason the outgoing crew is always much much nicer and more ‘genuine’. I’m afraid I feel that the service of ‘Sri Lankan Airlines leaves rather a lot to be desired.

Farewell Malaysia... Hope to see you again!

Got up late. Lazed around, bathed and got ready to get back home. Kumudu had ordered a cab which was to pick us up at 10.00. We took some pictures and then all too soon it was time to leave. Packed ourselves and our luggage into the limo and were soon on way to the airport on our way home.

Another tip for those doing duty free shopping at the Malaysian Airport. Do NOT buy your stuff from the so called duty free shops before you cross the barrier guarded by security personnel. Those are ‘regular’ shops.

There was this place called the ‘Choc Stop’ where we had a bit of a bad experience. We bought some chocolate because we wanted to finish off all our coins and little notes. So we put all our change together and then added a $50 note to cover the price of it all. The ‘lady’ at the counter gave me $2 dollars change and went back to her books dismissively. Fortunately I handed the money to sister who was doing the transaction and she realized we had not got the balance from the $50 (which was $40!!!!). Cunning huh? Giving the change to the person not involved in the transaction. All the other party would see is that balance is being tendered. When my sister queried about the balance from the $50, the ‘lady’ took the money from the register and gave it to her with no apology. Later looking at the bill we found that she had not indicated on the bill that we had given her a $50 so that the only balance recorded officially was the $2. Future travelers beware; I get the impression that this is a regular scam, so experienced was the person at the counter and also the damning evidence of the bill not showing that a $50 had been tendered. Where do you reckon the balance goes (since it is not registered in their cash register)?? The people behind the counter know their customers are leaving the country and can easily be taken for a bit of a ride, if they are not vigilant.

So a word of advice to those wanting to buy duty free from KL; wait until you cross the barrier guarded by the security people and then you are in ‘duty free’ territory. How I wish someone had told me that earlier!!

Did some more shopping in the ‘proper’ duty free shops where they accept credit cards with no percentages taken for using your credit card. Took an aero train ride to our departure lounge and boarded our flight to get back home.

Day Eight we spent in Genting Highlands

Today was the day we had scheduled to go to Genting Highlands. We found a better way of doing it rather than through the normal tour booking through hotels. You need to get to KL Sentral, look for the Genting Highlands counter and then book from there. It costs only 25RM which includes the coach ride to Genting Highlands, the cable car ride, and the rides to the outdoor theme park. I thought that was about the most fabulous offer I had seen in KL.

Kumudu came along with us to KL Sentral and saw us onto the coach. We had a lovely long ride though the countryside to the Genting Highlands, to the cable car place, and then a long long cable car ride which by far outshone the ride to Santosa in Singapore. What a fantastic panorama spread below us while far above I could see this range of mountains whose tops were lost in the clouds. What a thrill to find out that was where were were going! Up into the clouds. Fantastic! I enjoyed the ride up.

Having landed on terra firma, we set out to explore the rides open to us and what a large number there was. We started off on the spinner which swung us up at roof level. I closed my eyes (in sheer terror of course) and then imagined I was flying! Lovely. That ride finished all to fast. Got off on wobbly legs and wobbled over to the double Decker delight which was a carousal. Sat on an unenthusiastic camel that wouldn’t move. Then went inside to see what rides we were missing! I don’t think we missed too much.

We went on the Mine Train which thundered its way echoing through the tunnels before bursting back onto the platform where adventurous souls awaited their turn.

We took a ride in the mini train which took us around the park and then got onto an antique car which took us the same way. We then did what was for me the most difficult of all , the corkscrew rollercoaster which once we were captive strapped in, took us all over the place including upside down with all of us screaming wanting to be let off (at least I wanted to be let off!).

After that I wanted to sit in a teacup for a soothing ride. I think the guy who was manning it liked the look of us and gave us an extra long ride! May have looked in need of soothing after our scary topsy turvy ride!

We used the peddle boats and had a wonderful time peddling across the little lake. I wanted to go on the motorized ones, but there was always such a crowd to get in that I was discouraged. We went up in the flying jumbo, the mata hari, and ‘experienced’ the space adventure which was supposed to give you the feeling of what happens when you get into a rocket or space craft! Not in the least impressive. Then we had a look at the space shot. I was NOT getting on that one! It was a tall tall post around which 12 people were strapped in and then lifted right to the top (I don’t know how tall it was, but I couldn’t see the top, it was lost in the clouds), and sent plummeting down to earth. I would have died of sheer shock had I got onto that one. No way… absolutely no way!

Walked around the shopping mall after that and went back to kumudu ‘s for a dinner of thosai hot off the griddle accompanied by a delicious chicken curry. Then off to pack for taking off home tomorrow.

Day Seven in Malaysia

We had asked the hotel concierge to book the Batu Caves tour yesterday, so having got up well in time, we were ready and waiting when our guide came to pick us up on time! We had muuuuuch better crowd on the tour this time. Both parties were picked up from the same hotel. There was a family from Zimbabwe and a mother and daughter duo from California. What fun we had. We visited the chocolate factory (the chocs are rather mattish and gummy……. not very nice) the leather factory, a batik factory, we saw the ‘famous’ rubber tapping demonstration. What a laugh that was!

Let me tell you WHY I find the rubber tapping demo a laugh. The vehicle is stopped by the side of a little ‘garden?’ which has all of about 2-3 rubber trees (I kid you not!). The tour guide then takes out a knife and carves a line in the already mangled tree trunk to show a thin trickle or seeping of ‘rubber’ milk and that’s it! Yup…. That’s it… the famous rubber tapping demo!

Anyway, finally we got to see the batu caves, which was the main reason why we took the tour in the first place. There were 220 steps to reach the lime stone caves. Various statues of Hindu deities dwell there, with Hanuman guarding the exit. There were loads of monkeys running around the caves unafraid of humans who were invading their space. The thing is the place is so very commercialized, you don’t get too much of a chance to appreciate the natural beauty of the limestone caves. On the way back we stopped at another batik factory where the family from Zimbabwe bought a lot of stuff and then it was back to the hotel.

We had arranged with Kumudu to go to her place that afternoon, but we needed to have our lunch, which we did at the Magu Shopping Mall just across the street. The food was clean and the atmosphere great, though it was a bit pricier than the normal places we had frequented. We managed to get a couple of pairs of shoes for dad and then back to the hotel we went. We were advised against leaving to Kumudu’s area, as there would be heavy traffic, so we walked around ‘our’ area a bit more and then took a taxi to Kumudu’s place. Being in the traffic was so frustrating, especially since the taxi meter keeps ticking away regardless of whether you are moving or not. We ended up paying one and a half times the price Kumudu had mentioned.

Casa Vista was a beautiful set of condo’s and Kumudu had made her home beautiful and cozy with samples of her art framed tastefully. After a warm welcome and a look at KL lit up below us, we had dinner and went off to sleep. She had made chapattis for us as a change from the usual Malaysian meals. Kumudu always was a good cook! There was chocolate mousse for dessert too.

Day Six in Malaysia

We spent a long long time looking for Su’s watch. We practically turned over ecerything in the room. Finally it turned up in her dressing gown pocket!! We left the hotel at around 10.30 a.m. after the usual breakfast. We walked to the win towers, but the tickets were over. People thronged the building and its environs. We took a few pictures and then decided to visit the Communication Tower. We paid 15RM each for the visit and were escorted every step of the way until we reached the observation deck. A fantastic view lay spread at our feet. Panoramic! Guess it would have been better in the evening though if we could have managed to catch a sunset and then the Malaysia put out her night lights. There is a free shuttle bus from the foot of the hill that leads to the tower. Thank goodness for that. A trudge in the hot blistering sun would NOT have been welcome. The air conditioned coach with a courteous driver certainly was welcome.

From there we went to Jamed Majeek in Little India and shopped. We tried a dish called Nasi Goren Kampung at one of the large shopping malls in Little India just across Petaling Street. Walked back to our hotel, first stopping at Giants were I discovered they had the Arnotte’s mint chocolate biscuits. I love the stuff.

Oh and the most horrid thing happened at Giants Mall. There was this man who persistently followed us around. Every time we turned a corner there he was, eyes practically on stalks. We walked in and around the supermarket, and just couldn’t shake the fellow off. Finally I walked up to one of a coffee shop and asked to be directed to the Mall security personnel. Once the security guy was pointed out to me, I purposefully walked towards him…… I was certainly going to complain. I remembered our guide from one of the tours commenting on the harsh punishments for rape. I hoped that harassment of this sort would be discouraged too. I’m probably right. I didn’t have to actually complain to the security, just the sight of me walking up to the guy sent our stalker racing out of the Mall, all across the street ignoring the blaring of horns of the cars racing past. Phew!

19th July 2005 – Day 5 in KL

Got up late despite of wake up call at 6.45 a.m. Rushed through breakfast and ended up being picked up only at 9.00 a.m. Grrrr. The tours or at least Tour 51 is NOT one I would recommend. We were picked up at the hotel by car and then taken to the Information Centre. Then we had this long wait and the tour that was supposed to start at 9.00 a.m. only took off at 10.00 am. That too, after much fuss and indecision about which bus the various people had to be loaded onto. Since there were about 7 of us for the Malaka tour, they put us into a gray van. After sitting around a while, another man came, off loaded us and put us into this ramshackle old van. What an inauspicious start off. Finally we got onto the real ‘tour’ it was about a two hour drive to Malaka with the guide doing very little ‘guiding’! Almost everyone was soon bored enough to fall asleep.

There was a couple from Australia, a lady secretary also from Australia and a very amorous couple from Saudi Arabia. As an aside I may add that I thought us Asians are conservative where our affections or rather demonstration of our affections are concerned, especially in public and I had heard that the Arabian countries are much more so. Maybe things are changing, for certainly I saw no such conservativeness where these two were concerned. Surprising too since the lady was all covered up in black with only her eyes showing through the veil. The veil of course came askew very soon in the excess of their demonstrations!!!! Raised eyebrows by yours truly!!

Then the guide woke up to say we were entering Malaka. Of course all of us perked up in spite of the weather. Our guide was optimistic that the rain would blow away, but sadly enough his prediction did not hold true. It only cleared up when we left Malaka – or perhaps we left the rain in Malaka for the sunnier climes of KL.

I don’t know whether it was the rain, or whether all tours to Malaka are a bit of a wash out – but for seeing another city – it was rather a waste of a day.

Anyway, we were shown a picturesque Portuguese village, a fishing village, a beach or rather, mud flats which passed as a beach. A curious thing was that most of the houses, especially the older ones, were built on stilts. The guide’s explanation was that it was a precaution against snakes and also to make the houses ‘portable’. What a sweet idea. You dislike you neighbourhood or want a change of scenery, you just pack up your house and literally move house!!!

We were shown a Muslim cemetery, where the tombstones over men were pointed and those over women were flat. Then there was the Chinese Cemetery which is built so that on certain days, the relations come and spend the entire day with their dead loved ones.

We also saw St Peter’s Church both the old and new and the place where his body was kept. The old church is in ruins and it was quite a dicey deal climbing up the stairway in the pouring rain balancing ourselves and our umbrellas.

We were given 45 minutes to visit the old church. Just below the church was a museum which I would have loved to have visited. Our guide never told us about it. As usual Sunethra and I wandered over (rather too late though) and discovered that the intriguingly shaped building was a palace/museum. The entrance fee was only 2RM. I’m sure the stupid guide could have let us go in out of the rain. Everyone would have appreciated that! My friend Kumudu told me that the museum was quite worth a visit. Of course this she mentioned after we came back, since she thought it would be included in the tour!

Anyway, after that we were taken to a lovely Chinese restaurant for a typical Chinese lunch. It was a lovely lunch indeed with water-melon for dessert and green tea to wash it all down with.

To finish off the tour, we were taken to the Jonkers walk in China Town and given half an hour or so to explore the rustic streets and mysterious Chinese shops. There was also a beautiful Chinese Buddhist temple to see.

After that we all piled back into the van and were driven back to the hotel. As far as tours go, it was rather disappointing cos’ we didn’t get to see much, perhaps partially due to the rain. Perhaps another tour operator may do better?

We had a brief rest and then visited the Sogo supermarket to do some shopping. We bought dinner at a hawker street place. It was a nice dinner of Spicy rice and chicken and soup (I can’t remember what it was called though) the owner was sweet! He went through a great deal of trouble doing a demo to show us what would go into the meal. We had him pack it for us to take back to the hotel to eat in comfort. We finished it off with peanut ice-cream from our forays into the supermarket. Today was a nice day cos we were not too tired out. We watched a bit of TV (the TV channels in the hotel need to be looked into – there’s quite a bit of snowing and only one or two channels show programs in English) and then went off to the land of nod.