Newsletter aus Sri Lanka von Royston Ellis

[Premasiri]

Royston Ellis ist ein englischer Schriftsteller der seit 1980 in Induruwa lebt. www.roystonellis.com

habe Ihn durch unsere Reisen nach Sri Lanka kennen und schätzen gelernt.

erhalte zwei bis vier mal im Monat einen Newsletter von ihm über sein Leben in Sri Lanka und seine Arbeit. Im Einverständnis von Hänschen und Claudia darf ich die Newsletter hier einstellen.

LG Premasiri

 

[Premasiri]

roystonellis.com
17/07/2011


Greetings to readers worldwide of this weekly newsletter about fascinating Sri Lanka.

The North Opens
The government has announced that foreigners no longer need permits from the Ministry of Defence to visit Jaffna and the north of Sri Lanka by road, so on Tuesday 19 July, I set off with hired minibus and some friends for a few days there. More next week.


On a budget in Bentota
Bentota, in which parish I live, was renowned in colonial days for its resthouse at the mouth of the crocodile infested Bentota River and oysters freshly hacked from the rocks for tea. Now there are no crocodiles, only water monitors; no resthouse, only a stretch of mass-market tourist hotels along the beach; and no oysters, but there are occasional mussels.

In the 1970s, as tourism became a business, the National Holiday Resort at Bentota was created. To serve tourists eager for souvenirs, a local family opened the Susantha Batik Factory behind the railway station. In response to demand from tourists, this eventually became a thatched roofed, open sided restaurant with meals on demand.

In 1982, seven rooms were added in a long gallery as the start of a garden guesthouse that, over the years, has expanded into Hotel Susantha Garden with 22 rooms, including two newly built self-catering apartments overlooking the beach.

Its popularity is not just because it has retained its low budget rates but also because of the lack of rules and regulations; guests can eat when they feel like it, and are looked after by a team of youngsters eager to see everyone is having a good time. The rooms are kept very clean too.

The restaurant (with a menu of tropical, western and vegetarian dishes and snacks) is also open to travellers who are not staying in the hotel, and there is a pizzeria, a bar, an Ayurveda Treatment Villa, a tailor, and a gem shop on site.

Guests are mainly repeaters; some stay for a couple of months at a time. Such places are becoming rare in Sri Lanka as guesthouses put up their prices and pretend they are boutique hotels. Susantha Garden is proud of its reputation for giving good value and good service at a low price. (The owner, of course, is a good friend of mine!) www.hotelsusanthagarden.com



Plantation Life
To the bungalow of an acquaintance last Monday evening for plantation fare: in this case a medley of pork, beginning with mustard pork served piping hot to the veranda table before we sat down at an ancient refectory table for dinner of rich, dark pork curry, breadfruit with grated coconut, and cauliflower in a delicious spicy, cream sauce.

Planters still manage to live well, even if the bungalows in which they are billeted are often dilapidated. My planter host is responsible for 2,000 acres of oil palm and rubber with 640 employees, and makes millions of dollars a year for his company.

That this British-built mansion, typical of granite bungalows in Sri Lanka’s chilly hill country (although without the chimneys and fireplaces), exists in lush sedateness only 20 minutes from Bentota, is a well-kept secret. An abandoned tennis court, an elaborate wooden staircase, wooden floors and ceilings, a long veranda and enclosed gallery above it, and peacocks strutting across the lawn in the morning mist, are reminders of the colonial lifestyle.

Mystery Object
This belongs to my planter friend. Any idea what it is and does? All will be revealed next week.

Cricket Commentary

Kumar Sangakkara, 33, formerly Sri Lanka’s cricket captain, made at speech (it’s on youtube) at the revered HQ of cricket, Lord’s, in London recently that, while it has ruffled a few feathers, contained an apt summary of the Sri Lankan psyche that has passed unnoticed by commentators on the speech. I quote it here.

“Sri Lanka is an island rich in natural beauty and resources augmented by a wonderfully resilient and vibrant and hospitable people whose attitude to life has been shaped by volatile politics both internal and from without.

“In our history you will find periods of glorious peace and prosperity and times of great strife, war and violence. Sri Lankans have been hardened by experience and have shown themselves to be a resilient and proud society celebrating at all times our zest for life and living.

“Sri Lankans are a close knit community. The strength of the family unit reflects the spirit of our communities. We are an inquisitive and fun-loving people, smiling defiantly in the face of hardship and raucously celebrating times of prosperity.

“Living not for tomorrow, but for today and savouring every breath of our daily existence. We are fiercely proud of our heritage and culture; the ordinary Sri Lankan standing tall and secure in that knowledge.”

Guide
For further insight into Sri Lanka, try my book available from www.bradtguides.com

Poems
And for an insight into yours truly, there is my eBook: BEAT: THE COLLECTED POEMS on www.wordsmanbooks.co.uk
Beat regards,
Royston.
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Viel Vergnügen beim lesen Premasiri

 

[Premasiri]

Habe noch einen älteren gefunden:

roystonellis.com
10/07/2011


Greetings, dear readers around the world, to this weekly report of fun in Sri Lanka.

Hangover Cure

Whenever I have a hangover that’s so fierce I can’t write, I head for Villa Ranmenika. Not because Elfie, the Swiss owner, is so kind (she is) and Angelo, the steward, so understanding (he is) but because of the swimming pool. It’s huge (23m x 13m) and very deep (2.75m) and always looking immaculate. A few laps in that sparkling water and I am ready to write another chapter.

Villa Ranmenika is 75km from Colombo, inland by about 60m from the A2 to Galle. It’s not a boutique hotel although with 12 rooms and two suites, and the calm attention to guests’ requirements by the sarong-clad staff, it could be. Bedrooms are comfortable but not luxurious, with good bathrooms; some of the ground floor ones open onto miniature manicured gardens.
When Elfie bought the land it was a jungle of bushes and weeds; she has transformed this into a garden paradise of palms and crotons and dozens of species of birds trilling in the trees. It is a year-round destination where, because of that glorious garden pool, guests don’t need a calm sea or golden sand for perfect relaxation. (www.villaranmenika.com)

Cheese Balls

Oh dear, I’ve succumbed again. I have just bought two more of Chris Worthington’s handmade, homemade, flavoured cheese balls from Sri Lanka’s hill country. Both the caraway and the pepper cheese balls cost Rs 1,850 (£ 10.57; US$ 17.12) a kilo. Chris will be away in England for a few weeks, so any orders will have to await his return, plus the weeks needed for the cheeses to mature, which is why I have stocked up. (cjworth@dialogsl.net).
Apart from having them made especially for me, what’s so great about a Worthington cheese? The sense of rural craft and uniqueness appeals to me, of course, but in the end it’s because of the texture and taste. And because every cheese is made individually, the taste is not standardised; depending a lot, I’m sure, on mood and climate too.
My favourite is undoubtedly the caraway cheese (shown above), because the flavour is so pronounced and -- perhaps it’s something to so with properties in the caraway seed -- the cheese itself is softer, creamier in texture than the pepper version.

Happy Birthday

Neel celebrated his birthday in a sparkling manner on 3 July.

His “quiet” party in the garden of his house went on until 3am with the guests delighting in Neel‘s singing to his own drumming, accompanied on acoustic guitar by the fantastically versatile singer, Kit, and accordionist, Hemantha.

Kit also played at the birthday party of Nishan (seen here with his wife and children) who owns the independent Nebula supermarket and its riverside restaurant, Pier 88, in the nearby town of Alutgama.
Incidentally if any reader in Sri Lanka or the Maldives is looking for a brilliant duo of guitarist/singer (Kit) and keyboard artiste (King) to play all kinds of music ranging from smooth cocktail lounge melodies to dance party hits, Kit & King are fabulous… and available. (I’ll pass on all emails to them.)

Hacked by a Hunk
This photo on Facebook is captioned Royston Ellis.

Alas, it is NOT me – but someone using my name. Perhaps that’s why I am suddenly getting a lot of emails from young ladies in Nigeria offering to marry me!

Skiffled
As well as seeing the “Facebook Royston” I was also astonished this week to see that I have become a character in a paperback book or, to be more exact, in the autobiography of my fellow teenager, Roy Kerridge. Roy found fame as a columnist for the British leftwing weekly, ‘New Statesman’ in 1960 when he lived in Brighton, at the same time as I (then a loquacious 19 year-old) outed contemporary teenagers as relentlessly promiscuous in a television programme called ‘Living For Kicks.’

In the Author’s Note at the beginning of ‘Raised on Skiffle’ (www.custombooks.biz) Roy writes: “The story you are about to read is true. Only the names have been changed (including my own) to protect the guilty. Friends who are innocent with nothing to hide may find their real names here.”
Roy’s memory is either very good, or very good at embroidering (fictionalising?) incidents that I don’t recall but in which I feature – my name is mentioned at least two dozen times in the book! And I am described as: “a very self-assured young man, with soulful yet humorous brown eyes, a curly black beard and a beatnik sweater. He spoke in a gentle voice, with an intonation of perpetual mild surprise.”
Perhaps he is writing about one of those “Facebook Roystons”?

Beat
For my version of the years of skiffle, rock and pop see ‘The Big Beat Scene’ available from http://musicmentor0.tripod.com/book_big_beat_scene.html.
Beat regards
Royston
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[Premasiri]

roystonellis.com
26/06/2011


Sunday 26 June 2011.

Welcome, dear readers, from around the world to this weekly view from Sri Lanka.

Almsgiving

The Buddhist flag, seen here being prepared by Kumara, was very much in evidence at the road junction close to my house last weekend. There was chanting throughout the night by Buddhist monks as part of a ceremony to bring blessings to the three-wheeler drivers who park there and have built a small shrine on the spot. The next day there was an almsgiving of rice and curry lunch for the monks and villagers, organised by the drivers with sponsorship by local residents.

Top Tea
Sri Lanka’s national, natural drink is Pure Ceylon Tea, and it disgusts me when I go to a posh hotel or restaurant here to be served tea made from a teabag. There is no excuse for this when the best tea in the world is grown in Sri Lanka and is easily available. (I suppose why teabags are used is because of ‘portion control’ and ‘cost cutting’.)
At home I have a dozen airtight jars in the kitchen filled with low-grown, mid-grown and high-grown loose leaf teas. And locally produced green teas as well, although those do not have the lightness of colour and subtle flavour of Chinese green tea. Since I drink tea the natural way (without milk or sugar) I prefer a high-grown tea (“the champagne of teas”) that tingles the palate with its zesty taste, and bucks me up no end.

The teas shown here are, from left to right, Uva Highland BOP (broken orange pekoe), strong and flavourful for any time of day, St Coombs Pekoe (good for a gentle afternoon cuppa), and St James FOP (flowery orange pekoe), a subtle, stimulating brew first thing in the morning. The price for a 500g pack of the FOP, my favourite, is Rs 475 (£ 2.71, US$ 4.31). Also in the photo is a reproduction tea taster’s set with the leaves of the steeped FOP tea on the upturned cup’s lid. Divine.

I buy my tea in foil packs (instead of fancy gift packets) from the Tea Kiosk in Colombo’s Liberty Plaza shopping mall, run by the enterprising Mlesna (Ceylon) Ltd. The company has tea centres throughout the island, including two upcountry restaurants, the Tea Castle (yes, it looks like a castle) overlooking the St Clair waterfall, and a Tea Fortress (yes, it looks like a fortress) at Peradeniya, outside Kandy. www.mlesnateas.com

Tea Tips
From the box containing a tea infuser I bought from the Mlesna shop, I learned that boiled spring water devoid of excess sulphates makes a crisp cup of tea. Water that’s been chlorinated makes a very poor brew. The solution is to store chlorinated water in an open pan overnight for the chlorine to evaporate, and then boil it.
Leaf tea (one teaspoon per cup) should be brewed with just boiled hot water in a closed teapot for three minutes for a light brew, or five minutes for a stronger cup. Over-brewing produces a strong bitter taste due to the extraction of unfermented chlorophyll from the tealeaf. Stale brewed tea (20 minutes after brewing) tends to oxodise and gives a sour and bitter, undesirable taste due to the formation of tanic acid. Don’t attempt to add more hot water to the pot for a refill; take more tealeaves and make another pot.

Chilli Cheese Again
A dear friend, knowing of my lust for chilli cheese, tracked some down on a recent visit to Britain, and carried it safely wrapped in a moist towel in his suitcase on his return to Sri Lanka. “Red Devil” as it is called, is actually made in Wales by the Snowdonia Cheese Company.

It came in a 200g ball, wrapped in a wax casing, like the chilli cheese made in Sri Lanka I enjoyed recently. It was a Red Leicester cheese with the addition of vinegar, crushed black pepper and chilli pieces and so much moister, and spicier, than the Gouda type cheese produced here. It was twice the price, too, weighing in at £ 3.99, the equivalent of Rs 3,492 (£ 19.95, US$ 31.74) a kilo. And it was sensational, melting in the mouth with a fiery aftertaste.

London Clothing Sale
Those readers who live in London may be interested in a sale of exquisite clothing, mainly kurti type tops, not too ethnic, more on a western look - particularly the black ones - according to a regular reader of this letter, Yasmin Cader, the glamorous marketing star of Colombo’s Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel.
The sale is bring held on Saturday 9 July from 10.00 to 14.00 hours at 26, Hornton Street, off Kensington High Street, almost opposite the tube station. It is organised by Mrs Maharaja who hopes to bring sizes 10 to18; prices will range from £ 70 to £ 90 pounds per outfit.

The Guide
More on Sri Lanka in the latest edition of my Bradt Travel Guide, just released in the UK and the USA (at £ 15.99 or US $ 23.99) from www.bradtguides.com.

The Poems
Something to read with that cup of tea? Why not BEAT: THE COLLECTED POEMS, available as an eBook download from www.wordsmanbooks.co.uk.

Beat regards
Royston
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[Premasiri]

Hier der heutige Newsletter aus Sri Lanka, das Sri Lanka Board wird heute auch erwähnt....

roystonellis.com
24/07/2011


Sunday 24 July, 2011.

Greetings to readers worldwide, including new ones in Germany (see below).

On the road to Jaffna
On Tuesday 19 July I set out with Kumara, my personal manager, Andrew, my webmonster who sees this newsletter circulates each week, and Ranga driving his newly-purchased van. We only returned last night, so details of Jaffna in the next newsletter.
The road to Jaffna, the A9, begins in Kandy but we joined it in Dambulla after driving along the A6 through paddy fields and forests via Kurunegala. Since there were plenty of wayside restaurants on the way to Dambulla, I thought there would be places for lunch the other side (north) of the town too.There weren’t, so be warned: eat in Dambulla.

However, just as hunger was turning to anger, we found an unprepossessing place where the signs were only in Sinhala. Our meal of breadfruit, lentils, beans and snake gourd curries, and white and red country rice all served by ourselves from the buffet with side orders of fried fish, two fried eggs and a two-egg spicy omelette, and one soft drink, cost Rs243 (£1.38, US.20) per person.

As we were leaving a chap turned up on a motorbike with a box on the back from which he was selling home-made garden knives. Kumara bought a lethal looking one for Rs 600 (£ 3.42, $ 5.45). It’s those serendipitous happenings (a good, cheap meal; an itinerant craftsman) that make travelling in Sri Lanka such fun.

Pay to Pee

At the reception counter of the Hotel Mihintale, where we stayed overnight on the way to Jaffna, a sign seems to advise that there is a charge to use the toilet, but guests pee for free if they eat.
We stayed there, about halfway on our journey, as we wanted to drive, and arrive in Jaffna, during daylight. Hotel Mihintale is part of the Galle Face Hotel group of resthouse properties. It has 10 rooms (Rs 3,532 [£ 20.18, $ 32.10] a double) grouped around a central garden, and an attached restaurant pavilion. The chicken curry we had for dinner was a change from the usual resthouse fare as the seasoning was subtle and the chicken properly cooked (it’s so often pink and underdone, even in top hotels).

Passport Check
We set out at 6am for what became a further six-hour drive and soon observed how the scenery changes dramatically after Vavuniya, as its lushness withers to arid plains.

Although permits are no longer required by foreigners to travel by road to Jaffna, passports are. Luckily I had mine, as well as a photocopy of the details and visa pages, which is also required; so be warned about that too.
Checking the documentation at the Omantai (former frontier) post didn’t take long and the soldiers were friendly. On the return trip there was a gentle security check of baggage.
North of Omantai, evidence of the war lingers on, with shells of houses and signs warning of mines beside the road, and soldiers constantly on patrol. The road is awfully bumpy on some stretches (which is why the drive took so long) but road rebuilding is progressing at a fast pace, even if traffic has to slow for it.

Toddy

In the ruins of one house a bar has been set up under a thatched awning to sell palmyrah toddy (tapped sap); it’s yeasty and sweet and a welcome elixir during the long drive.

But I didn’t risk the tiny crab offered as a snack.

You’re welcome to …
Something apt about this sign? More next week.

Nutty
Thanks to all the readers who (correctly) speculated that the photo in last week’s newsletter was of a Coco De Mer, those double coconuts that are typical of the Seychelles. This one, however, came from the Royal Botanical Gardens at Peradeniya, near Kandy. It’s very old and I’m told it’s worth about Rs 500,000 (£ 2,875, US$ 4,545).

As you can see here, it has been adapted as a container, having been cut down the centre and the two halves hinged together so it can be closed to look like it does in last week’s photo.

Germany
You are not alone in reading this newsletter. According to Andrew, there are at least 40,000 readers. I’ve discovered it is also being circulated in Germany through: https://www.sri-lanka-board.de/show...Sri-Lanka-von-Royston-Ellis&p=56382#post56382
I’m delighted if you want to pass this newsletter on to anyone, or even make parts of it part of your own blog (but with acknowledgement, please, to www.roystonellis.com)

More

To learn more about Sri Lanka, the new edition of this guide is available through www.bradtguides.com and will soon be on sale throughout Sri Lanka at Vijitha Yapa Bookshops.
Beat regards
Royston

LG Premasiri

 

[aliel]

Hallo Premasiri

Der Newsletter ist sehr gut. Warte schon gespannt auf den nächsten...

Liebe Grüsse is Oberland

Aliel

 

[Claudia]

Der Newsletter ist wieder sehr interessant!

Das Curry-Buffet für 243 Rs ist wirklich billig und es sieht auch noch gut aus.

Klasse finde ich auch das Bild mit dem Messerverkäufer. Da kann man mal wieder sehen, was alles auf einem Zweirad transportiert werden kann.

Den Link zu unserem Forum finde ich natürlich aus super

Danke Premasiri, dass wir immer mitlesen dürfen!

 

[Premasiri]

aliel, liebi Grüess is Unterland...

Dir und Claudia möchte ich sagen für Euer Feedback....

LG Premasiri

 

[Premasiri]

roystonellis.com
31/07/2011


Welcome, dear readers, to this week’s newsletter from Sri Lanka.

Jaffna visit.
Because it was announced in July that permission from the Ministry of Defence is no longer required by foreigners to visit Jaffna, I travelled there as soon as I could. The journey from Horizon Cottage totalled 1,067km round trip by hired van. The road was pretty rough for the final four hours of the 15-hour journey from my home to Jaffna. Was it worth it? Yes, even if the only reason was to see a part of Sri Lanka closed for a couple of decades through war.

For the past two years, Jaffna has been developed and is now as busy as Colombo’s southern suburbs like Wellawatte. One anomaly I spotted were a few classic 1950s motorcars still used as taxis.

And there was a politeness, too, that was remarkable; no one disturbed me even when I went into some places that seemed pretty dodgy (see Bars below).

I stayed in a residential suburb at the Blue Haven Hotel, blessed with a sparklingly clean swimming pool and 10 spacious, air-conditioned rooms (also with a ceiling fan, telephone and plug points for laptop and portable kettle). Basic bathrooms but with hot water. It has a pleasant, informal atmosphere, and cost Rs3,000 nett (£17.14, US$ 27.27) for a double room per night.

I dined on a stylish buffet (curries, fresh fish and fried chicken) at Rs1,300++ (£7.42, .81) in the new Tilko Jaffna City Hotel, where a luxury double room is Rs9,150 nett (£52.28, .18). There is also a smart bar there where a shot of 50m Chivas Regal scotch cost Rs430++ (£2.45, .90) served by a young and apparently ever-smiling steward.

Tip Tip
Where a price is quoted as nett in a restaurant or hotel it means service charge and taxes are included. In Jaffna ++ after a price means service charge (10%) and government tax (12%) will be added to the bill.

Jaffna Guide
Accommodation is either in guesthouses or the above-mentioned City Hotel. Be prepared for what a cautionary email from one hotel management said: “Tourism in Jaffna is in early stage, so is the hotel industry. Maintenance and management are Herculean tasks as most of the staff are novices.” Novices, perhaps, but everyone was keen to do whatever was required, when reminded about it.
Food choices include the safe, well-cooked curries (the mutton [goat] was superb) at Muslim eateries where the food is set out in glass display cabinets and served quickly on a plate swathed in cling foil for easy cleaning.
The joke used to be that the best Jaffna cuisine (flavoursome curries, especially crab, and pancakes made with palmyrah flour) was to be had in Colombo, but the City Hotel produced excellent dishes. A place called ‘A Taste of Jaffna’ with its chairs wrapped in upholstery and ribbons more suited to a wedding reception, seemed pretentious and designed for nervous tourists, both local and foreign.
Bars (and night life) exist. I found two wonderful seedy drinking dens where strangers sit around tables in individual rooms swigging Sri Lankan beer or local spirits including arrack, gin and “whisky.” As an example of courtesy mentioned above, the drunkard sitting beside me quietly turned to a corner to vomit, so I wouldn’t be upset. (Well, I did move to another room.)
Drinks, but only by the bottle, not the glass, are also available at the Green Grass Hotel (in a residential area) where drinkers gather around tables in the garden by the swimming pool in the evening. Black Label whisky (750m bottle) cost Rs6,000 (£34.28, .54). More upmarket, more comfortable and more welcoming was the City Hotel bar.
Shopping for souvenirs is easy: huge Jaffna mangoes

or unusual sweetmeats from the permanent market in the town;

dried fish from a store near the City Hotel;

and palmyrah products, such as these pot rings and this jolly basket made from palmyrah leaves. (More on palmyrah products next week.)

Madame Helga
There was a wonderful feature on Helga de Silva Blow Perera, owner of the fabulous Helga’s Folly in Kandy, in The Sunday Times Magazine (www.sundaytimes.co.uk) on 24 July 2011, called A Life in the Day by Beverley D'Silva, with a beautiful photograph of Helga by Benya Hegenbarth. To read it is to be inspired at discovering yet another facet of this amazing country.

Guide to Sri Lanka
I review Helga’s Folly (www.helgasfolly.com) on page 105 of the latest edition of my guide to Sri Lanka, citing the over-the-top hotel as “an antidote to too many temples and ruins seen in the Cultural Triangle.” The book is available from www.bradtguides.com.

Warm regards
Royston



LG Premasiri

 

[Claudia]

Diese Mangos, lecker!!!

 

[Premasiri]

roystonellis.com
07/08/2011


Greetings to all our readers around the world, and apologies for the late delivery of last week’s newsletter. Andrew was improving the server (to protect from hacking) and this caused a slight delay.
Palm Porridge
On my recent visit to Jaffna, in the Palmyrah Development Board’s shop, I found Palmposha, a porridge-mix based on Odiyal flour. This is the name of the flour made from the root of the palmyrah palm when the outer sheath cover is removed and split into two halves and sundried, before being pounded and sieved to remove the fibres. Odiyal flour is starchy and is used in Jaffna for a gruel (kool), with the addition of rice, herbs, chilli and fish.

According to the packet the flour is ground with pulses to make Palmposha. I have it some mornings as an alternative to Samaposha (see Newsletter No.67) as porridge, with some kithul palm treacle to sweeten it.

Palm Fences and Fans
The Palmyrah Palm (Borassus) is a genus of six species of fan palms, native to tropical regions of Africa, Asia and New Guinea. They are tall palms, capable of growing up to 30m high. The leaves are long, fan-shaped, 2m to 3m in length. The flowers are small, in densely clustered spikes, with large, brown, roundish fruits.

Palmyrah palms are economically useful and the palm is credited with having over 800 uses. The leaves are used for thatching, mats, baskets, fans, hats, parasols and as writing material. In this photo of a security fence on the road to Jaffna, the fan shaped leaves are used as fencing material. Palmyrah palms can be seen in the background.

Stuffed calamari

This is not this week’s mystery object but a photograph of the messy ending of one of the best home-cooked meals I’ve had for a long time: stuffed calamari. So often calamari (squid) is rubbery, but I’ve had delicious stuffed calamari in the Philippines (cooked in black ink) and in Paris (plump and juicy), although never as packed with flavour and crunchy surprises as this version.
Jayantha, Neel’s cousin and a former ship’s quartermaster and currently a beer shop licensee near Negombo, heard of my gluten-free diet and decided to cook something different to cheer me up during his recent visit to stay with Neel.
“No soya sauce,” I told him sternly, knowing the Sri Lankan tendency is to slop soya or oyster sauce onto anything exotic to give it taste, as well as a familiar muddy brown colour.
Instead, Jayantha chopped off the tentacles of each squid and stuffed the cleaned out body with chopped carrots, chopped unsalted cashew nuts, and chopped button mushrooms. He fastened the open tops with a toothpick and poached them slowly so they became exquisitely tender and blessed with natural flavours.
A dream. But he and Neel didn’t eat them. Instead they had the squid tentacles curried country style (hot, hot).

Ptyas mucosa
A book we often consult at home is A Photographic Guide to Snakes of Sri Lanka. It was useful again last week to help us identify this ugly beauty, which seemed about to leap into Ramesh’s bedroom, as a common rat snake.

Apparently it is widespread in Sri Lanka. I just wish it, and its colleagues of more poisonous vein, wouldn’t turn up quite so often in the garden.

Cricket Stars in Los Angeles
If you happen to be in Los Angeles on Saturday 13 August, the place to go for fans of Sri Lankan cricket is the Sheraton Gateway Hotel, where a dinner/dance is being held in aid of The Foundation of Goodness, with famous Sri Lankan cricketers as special guests.

Guide Book
On www.amazon.co.uk someone has very kindly written about my guide to Sri Lanka published by Bradt:
“I rarely read guidebooks from cover to cover but this one is written in such an informative and engaging manner that it draws you in completely. Written by someone who actually lives in the country it offers a wealth of useful information and interesting anecdotes. I have been to Sri Lanka several times and am captivated by the people and the country and it's therefore not surprising to find that this book is infused with obvious enthusiasm for both country and people. I consider this to be the best guidebook on Sri Lanka and would not hesitate to recommend it to any traveller going to the land of serendipity.”

I am pleased to announce that the book is now available in Sri Lanka from the Vijitha Yapa bookshop at the Crescat Shopping Mall in Colombo, but it costs Rs2,950 a copy. (It’s £15.99 in the UK; .99 in the USA.)
Happy reading!
Royston.


LG Premasiri

 

[Premasiri]

roystonellis.com
14/08/2011


Greetings! And apologies to those who didn’t receive last week’s newsletter. We’re having server problems. But each newsletter is uploaded to my website (www.roystonellis.com) every week so you can read it there – and check the ones you've missed too.

Beef Fry
In my quest to find and taste uniquely Sri Lankan products (cheese, gruel, jams, etc) I have found the equivalent of a savoury jam, Beef Fry.
The label states that this is “made to a novel homemade recipe liked and patronized [sic] for its exotic flavour and taste.” It is billed as “a delicious side dish for rice and curry, Chinese dishes, noodles, macaroni, spaghetti, etc.” and even “makes a delicious spread for bread and bun when added with butter or margarine.”

I can vouch for the latter; it adds a zing to (gluten-free) cocktail crackers with its crispy, spicy taste. The ingredients are listed as “onion, beef, vegetable oil, chillie [sic] powder, lime, spices, condiments.” It has a taste of soya sauce too but I am assured by the producers that soya sauce isn’t used, which means it is probably gluten free (although the producers admit they have not done an analysis). Anyway, I love it and buy three jars at a time.
It costs Rs 370 (£ 2,11, U S $ 3.36) a 200g jar. More information from careemfoods@live.com

Bar None
The best bar (as opposed to a pub) that I have ever been to is Boadas, off the Rambla in Barcelona, established in the 1930s and still functioning with that aura: the three barmen on duty wear dinner jackets and bow ties, and cheerfully mix cocktails in the most cramped conditions. It’s my favourite bar because regulars sit at the counter and get a chance to exchange banter with the barmen. There are no seats anywhere, only a few stools, and it’s usually standing room only.
I am stirred – not shaken -- to recall Boadas when I consider bars in Sri Lanka. Alas, they are mostly the kind where the counter serves as a dispensary disguising the ineptitude and lack of personality of the guy mixing the drinks. Drinkers have to sit at coffee tables, order from a cocktail list, and wait and wait for the waiter.

The bars I like are those where I can sit on a stool at the bar counter, chat to the barman, and watch that he is making drinks correctly. This photograph is of a rare bar of that vintage at an old rest house, now known as the Weligama Bay Inn, in the south of Sri Lanka. The stools look too fragile for serious drinkers but at least they exist. Note, too, the old-fashioned drop down shutter to close up the bar. What makes the photo more unusual is that it was taken at breakfast time!
I hope to photograph more spectacular bar counters for future newsletters; at least that’s my excuse for some engrossing research.

Ghostly Cheers
My erstwhile colleague, the award winning AP photographer, Gemunu Amarasinghe, turned up at Horizon Cottage recently with a very expensive new camera. This is the photo he took with it and sent me as a memento of what appears to be ghostly cheers as I propose a toast.

On Safari

A safari in Sri Lanka is nothing like those to be experienced in Africa. The difference is not just the wild life but the tame life too. There are no half-naked tribesmen in red, brandishing spears and relishing cow dung and blood. Yala National Park, the most famous of Sri Lanka’s wild life reserves, does feature elephants and crocodiles and the occasional leopard, but no one as exotic as a Masai or Samburu warrior.

However, there is a boat safari on a king-made reservoir, the Tissa Wewa, to be enjoyed from the jetty of The Safari, a new hotel created out of the former Tissamaharama Rest House. While other guests bounced around the bush for four hours in hired four-wheel drive vehicles, I chartered Kamesh and his motorboat for a gentle cruise gazing at birds gazing at us.

Kamesh cut the boat’s engine for a while (it helped use up the hour’s hire time for which he was charging us Rs 2,000 [£ 11.42, U S $ 18.80]) and poled the boat through shallow waters, blooming lotus flowers and reeds. He helped us to disembark on the soggy islet and plod around. When I asked what we were looking for, he said: “A crocodile.”
Luckily, we didn't find one.

The Safari has a swimming pool overlooking the reservoir and neat rooms with faux wood panelling and deep, comfortable mattresses. All meals are taken as buffets with only vegetable, fish or chicken dishes, mostly curried, available because many guests are pilgrims bound for the nearby Kataragama shrine.
The hotel is a great base for a few days exploring the southeast corner of Sri Lanka, and even for making day-long excursions to Arugam Bay for surfing or to the chilly hill country scenery of Ella and Haputale.There is a special room rate until 1 November 2011 of Rs 10,600 (£ 60.57, .36) for two people with dinner and breakfast and all taxes and service charge included. (www.thesafari.lk)

More

There’s more about this hotel, and scores of others well worth a visit, adding to Sri Lanka’s irresistible appeal, in my book “Guide To Sri Lanka” available from Vijitha Yapa bookshops in Colombo at Rs 2,950, and bookshops in the UK (£ 15.99) and USA ($ 23.99) or from the publisher www.bradtguides.com
Great reading!
Royston


LG Premasiri

 

[Hänschen]

Stuffed calamari

Sieht ja wirklich lecker aus

 

[Premasiri]

Hier der neuste Newsletter....hoffentlich wird er auch von jemandem gelesen....

roystonellis.com
21/08/2011


Greetings from Sri Lanka to readers around the world. If you have any problems reading this newsletter, go to www.roystonellis.com/blog for all issues, but not on Friday as that is when it’s password protected while Andrew uploads the next edition for distributing on Sunday.

Goat Milk
Another wonderful product from Sri Lanka, sterilised pure 100% Goat Milk. It is bottled by Farm Lanka whose address is Muruthalawa, which my atlas shows is near Kandy in Central Sri Lanka. The label claims that it is easily digested and high in calcium; is good for asthma and arthritis, gastritis and migraine; and is rich in vitamins and minerals. It cost me Rs 195 [£ 1 . 11 ; U S $ 1 . 77 ] for a 500ml bottle. (raz_lon@hotmail.com)

Gourmet Galle
In my guide to Sri Lanka, see below, I describe The Sun House in Galle as being “a remarkable haven of sophistication” where “food, prepared to guests’ wishes…is exquisite.” So I was thrilled to receive information that Stevie Parle,named Young Chef Of The Year by the Observer Food Monthly Magazine in 2010 was to cook dinner one evening there last week.

Parle, 26, (seen here with Geoffrey Dobbs, the owner of Sun House, and Charlie Hulse, the patriarch of Galle’s expat residents) is a much-praised chef who has his own restaurant, the Dock Kitchen in London. So even before seeing the menu, I booked because I wanted a change: a London-based chef using local ingredients (since Dobbs doesn’t allow imported meats or fish to be served in his hotels).
The cost of the meal, announced after I had booked, was Rs 3,200 ++ [ £ 18 . 28; U S $ 29 . 09 ] which seemed fine. Then came an email with the menu: fried lotus root, prawns and lemon; roasted small green peppers (actually they were capsicums) with labne, flatbread and greens, and melon with tomato and chilli to share as starters. Slow cooked squid with chickpeas and organic spinach was billed as the main course, followed by a dessert of up country cardamom curd cake with mango.
Although these dishes seemed much like those we sometimes prepare at home, I still wanted to go. However, perhaps I should have taken more notice of what Parle says on the Dock Kitchen website: “We don't spend months practising dishes before putting them on our menu. Instead we like to be spontaneous and react to what our wonderful suppliers are able to give us.”

Someone should have tried the menu before the guests did. While everything was beautifully cooked and the chickpea/squid was rich in seafood flavour, it was an unhappy combination and not main course material. How nice it would have been to have Parle dazzling us with his cooking of local venison, rabbit, quail or duck, or even up-country beef or deep-sea shark.
This dinner was the first in a six-month long event called Gourmet Galle featuring celebrity chefs and wine tastings (www.gourmetgalle.com). I’m looking forward to more of these dinners since all of us dining at Sun House that night had a wonderfully convivial evening, entertainingly hosted by the ebullient Geoffrey Dobbs. Only next time I shall wait until I see the menu before booking.

Bar Quest
A good bar in Sri Lanka depends on the right barman and the right setting. As I mentioned last week I am on a quest for proper bars; for me that means stools at a bar counter, memorable atmosphere, a decent variety of drinks and a barman who makes cocktails correctly every time (without any silly innovations, or paper parasols), knows his spirits, and is happy to converse with customers.

The bar photographed here may not seem a contender as a good bar since it has no display shelves, but it is precisely because the bottles are stacked informally on top of the refrigerator that it works. It’s like home but the barman knows his stuff and can strut around his small space serving and talking to everyone, there are stools to sit on and, although it can’t be seen here, a superb view of the ocean. Drinking there seems fun.
Where’s the bar? In the Tangalla Bay Hotel, a revived 1970s architectural marvel in the south of Sri Lanka, about which I’ll write more in a subsequent newsletter.

Novel character
In Newsletter 65 I revealed how the photograph of a hunky young man purporting to be Royston Ellis appears on Facebook.
Now someone tells me I feature as a character in a novel called “The Betrayer” by Kimberley Chambers. The author writes: “Royston Ellis was…half English and half Jamaican, he had pure white teeth, chocolate brown eyes and an extremely fit body…”
As you can see from this photo taken last Sunday (when Kirthsiri and his son on guitars and an accordionist, with Neel and a friend on drums, played during an impromptu jolly lunch session in the garden) that description of me (in yellow shirt) is obviously fiction!

Fact
For lots of fascinating facts (not fiction) about Sri Lanka see my Bradt Guide to the island, available in Colombo from Vijitha Yapa Bookshop in the Crescat Shopping Mall (at Rs 2,950) or through UK bookshops at £ 15 . 99 and in the USA at U S $ 23 . 99.


Sunny regards from Sri Lanka,
Royston


LG aus der seeeehr warmen Schweiz


Premasiri

 

[Claudia]

Ziegenmilch habe ich schon mal probiert, der Geschmack hat mit nicht sehr überzeugt

Den Käse esse ich aber sehr gerne!!!

Danke für den Newsletter, Premasiri!

 

[Premasiri]

vielmals für Deine Antwort. Habe Ziegenmilch auch nicht gerne.

Hier noch ein Foto vom Drummer Neel:

LG Premasiri

 

[Premasiri]

roystonellis.com
28/08/2011


Warm greetings from Sri Lanka to readers worldwide. Thanks to all those who send comments, which can be done easily by clicking on “Comments” below. You can also view comments by others there.

Rail mail
It has long been difficult to buy decent envelopes made in Sri Lanka, so I was delighted to receive a CD from a friend here packed in a locally made, self-sealing envelope, complete with a Sri Lankan image on the outside and bubble-wrap stuffing inside. When Neel phoned the number printed on the back (071 6822458; Suriya Products) to order 100 (at Rs 20, 11 p, 18 cents each wholesale price) he was doubtful when the manufacturer offered to have them delivered to our nearest railway station by train, instead of posting them.

I had no idea that goods could still be delivered by train. Sure enough, the package wrapped in a used fertiliser bag, with Neel’s name and address in Sinhala, was put on at Narahenpita station in a suburb of Colombo, unloaded in Colombo and put in the guard’s van of a passenger train that stopped at Induruwa. The fee for that “same day” service was just Rs 56 (32 p ; 50 cents). I’m glad that, in some cases, the “good old days” are still here.

Just Dessert
I had this wonderful confection at Mas Villa, Kotmale, in the hill country during a visit there last week (more about that in a subsequent newsletter). It has a base of jaggery (that’s a kind of fudge) made from treacle tapped from a kitul tree that grows alongside the villa.

It’s actually pure, home made ice cream, not a packet mix nor cheese cake, thick at the base and even creamier at the top. It’s a creation of Udesh, the chef at Mas Villa, whose food is worth the visit; but you’ll have to stay at the villa as – to conserve the privacy of guests – the restaurant is only for residents.

Bar Quest
When I saw this sign with its convoluted English on the wall beside Cargills supermarket in Kandy, I decided to check it out, even if I had to go round the bend.

The next sign was a little confusing since I was in search of a drink for, in Sinhala and Tamil, it warns against opening a bottle and drinking on the premises. But what a lovely (1930s?) caricature of a bar fly.

The horror of the bar was revealed inside: queues to buy bottles of local spirits to be drunk off the premises.

But the memory of the “good old days” was restored when we dropped into what is now known as the Pub Royale, the former drinking den of planters and Kandy grandees behind the Queen’s Hotel. The hotel is the oldest still operating in Sri Lanka, having opened in 1844. A photo of the bar taken in 1938 hanging inside the hotel shows it hasn’t changed much since then, with its chunky carved wooden façade, marble topped counter, brass foot rail, and mirror backed shelves. It even has wooden blinds to roll down and close it up at night. (The setting perfect for getting blind, I suppose.)

Cheese on Thursday
If you want a handmade Worthington Cheese Ball (see Newsletter Number 65) made in the hill country, and can get to Colombo on Thursday 1 September to collect it, contact Chris Worthington immediately: cjworth@dialogsl.net.
He writes: “At the moment I have two peppers, one chilli and one caraway which are not committed to anyone.” (I recommend the caraway.)

Architectural Marvel
It’s called the Tangalla Bay and was built in the deep south of Sri Lanka before the revered Sri Lankan architect Geoffrey Bawa exerted his long lasting influence on hotel design. To critics, Bawa’s buildings have all the style of an underground car park. What then would they make of architect Valentine Gunasekera’s hotel that opened in 1972 to the astonishment of the neighbourhood and delight of trendsetting tourists?
Alas, as tourism thrived in Bawa’s buildings on the west coast, Gunasekera’s landmark hotel gradually sank into obscurity over four decades, until restored with vigour by new management, the Jetwing Group, earlier this year.

Gunasekera was an admirer of Le Corbusier’s work and created a hotel incorporating many of his ideas: a central corridor from the entrance to bedrooms that soars over a ground floor dining room while stairs lead down concrete flues to lower levels. The building’s layout resembles a lobster spread-eagled on the rocks although legend likens it to a ship. Whatever it resembles some see it as an exciting monument to the start of Sri Lanka’s tourist industry. (Others think it should be pulled down.)

The rooms have been tarted up and a spectacular infinity swimming pool has been added, but the bar still remains informal with bottles stacked on the top of a fridge (see number 71).

Brought back to life, it is a thrilling place the stay with 34 rooms perched on a breezy outcrop of rock with the sea on three sides. Walk-in rates until 31 October 2011 begin at US $ 75 for a double, with breakfast. (www.jetwinghotels.com)

More

There’s more about this extraordinary hotel, and scores of others well worth a visit, adding to Sri Lanka’s irresistible appeal, in “Guide To Sri Lanka” available from Vijitha Yapa bookshops in Colombo at Rs2 , 950 , and bookshops in the UK (£ 15 . 99) and USA ($ 23 . 99) or from the publisher www.bradtguides.com
Happy reading!
Royston


Too from me happy reading


LG Premasiri

 

[Claudia]

Diese vergitterten Getränkebars sind der Hammer. Solche habe ich auch schon gesehen.
Man könnte meinen, es wird Gold gehamstert

 

[Premasiri]

roystonellis.com
04/09/2011


Greetings to readers worldwide. Last week’s newsletter was mistakenly (by me) called “A Voice From Sri Lanka.” My apologies for my lazy typing/editing. This newsletter is simply: “A View…”

Gluten free noodles
A great gluten free product form Sri Lanka that, I suspect, you won’t find on supermarket shelves elsewhere: Kurakkan Mixed Rice Noodles.

Kurakkan is Indian cereal grass that produces millet flour. It is blended with rice flour to make these instant slim noodles that are sold in 200g boxes for Rs 61 (34 p ; 55 cents). They just need soaking in water to make them edible but need to be tossed with cooked fish, meat, egg or vegetables to make them enjoyable.

Last Train
When I awoke on Thursday 1 September, I immediately knew something was wrong. But what? It took me a few minutes lying in bed to realise it was the silence that was worrying. It was just after 5am and I hadn’t heard a train. There are usually two about that time, the 4 . 48 slow to Galle and the 5 . 03 fast train to Alutgama and Colombo.
Since the railway line practically runs through the garden, alongside the main A2 Colombo/Galle highway and the beach, the sound of trains passing influences my day. I wake up to trains, and put up with them noisily interrupting conversation during sundowners at our bar overlooking the sea and the setting sun.

So no trains rumbling, and sometimes shrieking, past the cottage has changed the tenor of the daily routine. The reason for stopping the rail service between Alutgama and Galle is the upgrading of the railway line to enable “high speed” trains to dash along the track at 100kph. It is likely that the line will be closed for six months. Enough time to capitalise on all that tranquillity and write a novel. (But the 40 extra buses that will ply the road carrying displaced train passengers will surely fill the silence.)

Jumbo traffic

In Sri Lanka, we’re always prepared for the unexpected. It’s exciting enough to see an elephant, whether domesticated or wild, and to see one on a truck is rare. To see two (as in this photo taken on the road from Kandy) is unbelievable.

Buckingham what?
A few weeks ago, I stayed in Jaffna; last week I went south, via Dondra head to Tangalle. That’s like going from John O’Groats to Land’s End. It was a journey of over 500 km, but the contrast was not just geographical, it was in style too: from low-budget guesthouse to up-market boutique resort.
I visited Buckingham Place on the south coast at Rekawa, near Tangalle. It’s so named not out of pretentiousness but because the owner is a gentleman called Nick Buckingham. Of course, locals call it Buckingham Palace and that’s appropriate for the way guests are treated like royalty.
But this place is not snobbish. Nick is very keen that what he has created helps Sri Lankans through employment and personal development. Part of the staff uniform is a snazzy shirt with the slogan: Believe in Sri Lanka.

There are 12 rooms in individual concrete blocks, smartly contemporary with their white walls and grey floors perked up with the glorious colours of furniture and artwork. They are set in a tropical garden surrounded by wilderness close to a rugged, deserted beach much loved by laying turtles.

The wow factor is that it’s a sophisticated but laid back (breakfast is available all day) place so far from “civilisation.” If guests tire of chilling out by themselves (bicycles and canoes are available to explore village and lagoon) and want company, then Nick is a genuinely warm and entertaining host. He’ll keep out of the way otherwise.
The food is superb and the menu has some delectable variations of international and local cuisine, every item prepared freshly on demand. A room for two, with massive breakfast, starts at US$ 159. (www.buckinghamplace.lk).

Just Desserts

This version of a Sri Lankan classic, wattalappam (palm treacle pudding) usually plopped on plates as a wedge of sludge, was served for dessert at Buckingham Place with roasted cashew and coconut and dollops of buffalo curd. It proved irresistible, just like the hotel really.

The Big Beat
One of the many magazines to which I subscribe is The Spectator, a weekly journal of intelligent comment published in the UK. So you can imagine my surprise when, while reading a book review by Christopher Howse (whom I do not know), I found I was reading about myself.
“Half of Ray’s life is a sort of role-play in failure: no typing, no foreign languages, no dancing, no going out with girls, because he can’t, he just can’t. Instead of accepting an invitation to take part in Daniel Farson’s television documentary Living for Kicks, he nominates his exact contemporary, Royston Ellis. (A young Ellis in beatnik beard and donkey jacket featured in the recent National Portrait Gallery exhibition of bohemian photographs by Ida Kar.)”
This was a review of Raised on Skiffle by fellow teenager, Roy Kerridge (the Ray of the book), published by Custom Books ISBN 9780956269270.
You’ll find my take on the beat, beatnik and rock ‘n’ roll years of the pre-Beatles era in my recently re-published 1961 book The Big Beat Scene (Music Mentor Books, ISBN 9780956267917)
Please visit: http://musicmentor0.tripod.com/book_big_beat_scene.html

Beat regards
Royston




LG Premasiri die sich auch über Feedback freuen würde.....

 

[Premasiri]

roystonellis.com
11/09/2011


Greetings to readers near and far, old and new, to this week’s newsletter from sunny Sri Lanka.

Jaffna again
An article I wrote about my recent visit to Jaffna appears in the September issue of Serendib, the inflight magazine of Sri Lankan Airlines. If you’re not flying with Sri Lankan this month, visit this website for the full text and photographs: http://btoptions.lk/serendib/article.php?artid=512

Holiday Freedom
“Sri Lankans are warmly welcome,” said the resident manager of Mas Villa. “They enjoy it here and appreciate the scenery, the history of the area and of this walauwa, and the freedom to please themselves while on holiday.” The manager, himself a Sri Lankan, was emphasising how no guest need feel intimidated by the word “boutique” when used to describe Mas Villa.

It is just over an hour’s drive, via Gampola, from Peradeniya, by taking the turn off to the Kotmale Dam on the road to Nuwara Eliya. The entrance is well signposted and there are no security gates, just a sweeping two-tracked cement drive to the villa entrance.

The three deluxe rooms with entrance from the courtyard are comfortably furnished, and rather plush. The sole superior suite has a bathroom that features a bathtub and a rain shower (solar-powered hot water) with a view of the pool and reservoir from its bay window. A suite occupies the whole floor over the veranda and has a Jacuzzi as well as a second bathroom with a rain shower.
Although the villa is ideal for friends and family booking all the rooms together, each room is available for individual guests. Meals are taken at separate tables on the veranda and, since guests usually eat at different times, there is no fear of forced socialising with strangers.

While international dishes are readily available, guests generally prefer local cuisine utilising herbs and vegetables form the garden. The chef, Umesh, is adept at preparing fish from the reservoir and flavourful curries. His special homemade jaggery ice cream, featured in Newsletter Number 72, is sweet rapture indeed!

There is a fine wine collection, with remarkably low-priced champagnes. Guests bringing their own wines are not charged corkage. It’s that freedom to behave as one would at home that is part of the delight of Mas Villa. To preserve guests’ privacy, the restaurant is restricted to villa residents, but it’s not excessively expensive to become one.
Until 31 October there is a special offer of a deluxe room with bed & breakfast for two at Rs 12,000 [£ 68, U S $ 109] Nett per night, but stay three nights and only pay for two.
Mas Villa, Kotmale; tel: 052 3794940; 077 7715747; hotline: 077 4045769; email: sales@masvilla.com; www.masvilla.com.

Just Desserts
This dessert, although not looking very pretty due to its presentation in a traditional knickerbocker glory glass instead of in something more delicate, is called Spice Inheritance. It is served at the Heritance Hotel, Ahungalla, on Sri Lanka’s west coast.

It consists of cardamom and jaggery ice cream (jaggery is a kind of fudge made from the sap of the kitul palm tree) to which has been added coconut panipol (grated fresh coconut and melted sugar), grated jaggery, roasted nuts and “air-dried strings.” These are slithers of extra fine, rice flour noodles. The entire confection is topped with kitul treacle sauce.
The cost of this exotic indulgence is Rs 600++ (£ 3.33; US $ 5.45).

Upbeat
Good reviews are heart warming; they also help to sell books, so here’s a couple about the re-issue of my 1961 book, The Big Beat Scene.
"An enlightening and humorous insight with plenty of names and behind-the-scenes glimpses... never a word is wasted. The book is written as if the reader is joining in a conversation about, and with, the artists." The Beat (July 2010)

"By 1961 it was easy to read about rock'n'roll and popular music...biographical information and critical opinons were around, but no one had written about the music until THE BIG BEAT SCENE by Royston Ellis in 1961. The 124-page book was only a cheap, slim paperback, but it told the story of rock'n'roll - and British rock'n'roll at that. I like the fact that the book contains more about Terry Dene than it does Gene Vincent... The new edition looks much better and much fuller than the original, having both a Foreword and Afterword from the author... It's great to have it around again." Now Dig This (August 2010)

It’s available by visiting http://musicmentor0.tripod.com/book_big_beat_scene.html
Beat regards
Royston


auch von mir liebe Grüsse Premasiri