Newsletter aus Sri Lanka von Royston Ellis
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juhuuuu!!! Wollte immer schon mal, dat det Hänschen mich auf´m Rücken durch Sri Lanka schlepptna klar dat, kommst in den Rucksack
Premasiri
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Hallo all,
habe leider das e mail noch nicht bekommen.....bin auf dem Weg zur Arbeit darum stelle ich den News Letter mal so rein...
http://roystonellis.com/blog/
LG Premasiri
habe leider das e mail noch nicht bekommen.....bin auf dem Weg zur Arbeit darum stelle ich den News Letter mal so rein...
http://roystonellis.com/blog/
LG Premasiri
Premasiri
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Habe das e mail erst heute bekommen....
ROYSTON REPORTS, Number 266
Sunday 2 August 2015.
Greetings to this week’s newsletter at the start of Sri Lanka’s hot August: a general election and the annual Kandy Perahera (pageant) this month.
The East’s newest hotel
I spent my second night in Sri Lanka 36 years ago by the beach at Uppuveli, 5km north of Trincomalee, so I have always had a keen interest in the place. I stayed at what was then Club Oceanic and which has since gone through various transformations to emerge as Trinco Blu by Cinnamon. So I was keen to stay at the East’s newest hotel, Amaranthe Bay.
Amaranthe Bay started life this year as Calamander Bay but had to change its name to avoid confusion with the established Calamander Unawatuna Beach Resort in the South. It now has the same name as a Swedish heavy metal band, with which it has no connection, or a girl’s name of Greek origin. Amaranthe is also the name of a species of plant, or the colour purple.
It’s the first hotel I’ve stayed at that has a giant sized Jacuzzi in every bedroom. Perhaps that’s to make up for it not being on the beach and instead it overlooks a tranquil lagoon. But the beach is close enough since the hotel is next door to the Trinco Blu.
The lagoon at Amaranthe Bay hotel
Each bedroom is a generous 533 sq ft in area, cleverly laid out to take advantage of all that space. The décor is refreshing simple: no modern art on the walls, no bizarrely coloured strips of counterpanes or piles of gaudy cushions on the bed, just curtains of royal grey that when opened reveal a charming narrow balcony with wooden rails and wooden chairs overlooking the hotel’s garden, pool, lagoon – and the Jacuzzis of other bedrooms. Actually, there’s no problem with Peeping Toms since there are blinds ensure complete privacy.
Jacuzzi view
Train to Trinco
Garden at Trincomalee railway station
It’s possible to go by train to Trincomalee but the direct service only runs overnight so there’s no chance to take in the scenery. The timetable at the station indicates that there is a day time service that involves changing at Gal Oya.
Pancake dilemma
In response to my recent request for advice on cooking with coconut flour, one suggestion came from a second cousin of mine resident in Canada. She sent a recipe extracted from a book about the topic she bought from amazon. I see there are a dozen such books.
Coconut conundrum
The recipe for pancakes seems simple enough:
2 eggs
2 tablespoons coconut oil or butter, melted
2 tablespoons coconut milk or whole milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sifted coconut flour
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
Ready to pancake…
Blend together eggs, oil, coconut milk, sugar and salt. Combine coconut flour and baking powder and thoroughly mix into batter. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a skillet. Spoon batter onto hot skillet making pancakes about 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter. Batter will be thick but will flatten out when cooking. Makes about 8 pancakes.
I’d like to report that all went well. It didn’t. For a start, I didn’t want eight pancakes, so I halved the amounts. And I used 2 quail eggs instead of 1 chicken egg (I know, it’s 4 quail eggs = 1 chicken egg, so that’s probably my mistake).
What I produced were like three flattened scones but crumbly so not worth a photograph. Tasted too sweet too.
Tea caddy quest
From a reader in Australia comes an appeal for information about casuarina tea caddies. A tea caddy is a box, jar, canister, or other receptacle used to store tea.
My correspondent explains: “I am writing a book about Australian timber boxes and have come across a series of tea caddies veneered in casuarina. No one seems to know quite where they were made – England, Australia, Sri Lanka and Southern India being the top contenders.
Where was it made?
“In style these caddies appear to date from the first years of the nineteenth century. They are well made – and might have been commissioned for sale in London through the East India Company. They were veneered in what is thought to be casuarina onto a cedar carcass. I imagine these caddies were always intended for the Western market. Today they appear on the British and Australian markets quite regularly – and everyone has a good bicker about where they were made!”
My correspondent is keen to know if any of these tea caddies exist in Sri Lanka and whether they were actually made here.
Since casuarina (Casuarina equisetifolia) trees are to be found in Sri Lanka, nowadays fringing Casuarina Beach near Jaffna and as a popular rapid-growing low-maintenance shelterbelt species, used extensively for windbreaks and coastal stabilisation in Hambantota, and tea is grown here, perhaps there is a Sri Lanka (Ceylon) connection. But tea itself wasn’t produced here until James Taylor’s first commercial planting in 1867 so I doubt that these early 19[SUP]th[/SUP] century tea caddies hail from here.
Any ideas, please?
Card slot
Number 19. COLOMBO
(From 50 years ago. Issued by British grocers Seymour Mead & Co Ltd)
“‘The Garden City of Asia’ is the name sometimes given to Ceylon’s capital. It stands on one of the best harbours in the world. Liners, cargo ships, lighters and catamarans crowd the port. In the streets the busy traffic includes high-powered cars, rickshaws driven by barefoot men, packed buses, bicycles and, possibly, a bullock cart. Modern shops, flanked by arcades to shield pedestrians from sun and rain, offer the Ceylon craftsmen’s wares in tortoiseshell, ivory, ebony, pottery, basketry, and dazzling gems. As shown overleaf Colombo’s ancient lighthouse now acts as a Clock Tower.”
Guidance
Now on sale
My Bradt Guide to Sri Lanka is now available (although I still haven’t been sent a copy by the publisher, Speaking Tiger) in a new edition published for the Indian Sub-Continent. If any reader buys a copy, please let me know how it looks.
See also: http://www.srilankatailormade.com/blog/
Beat regards
Royston
Wünsche allen eine nicht stressige Restwoche Premasiri
ROYSTON REPORTS, Number 266
Sunday 2 August 2015.
Greetings to this week’s newsletter at the start of Sri Lanka’s hot August: a general election and the annual Kandy Perahera (pageant) this month.
The East’s newest hotel
I spent my second night in Sri Lanka 36 years ago by the beach at Uppuveli, 5km north of Trincomalee, so I have always had a keen interest in the place. I stayed at what was then Club Oceanic and which has since gone through various transformations to emerge as Trinco Blu by Cinnamon. So I was keen to stay at the East’s newest hotel, Amaranthe Bay.
Amaranthe Bay started life this year as Calamander Bay but had to change its name to avoid confusion with the established Calamander Unawatuna Beach Resort in the South. It now has the same name as a Swedish heavy metal band, with which it has no connection, or a girl’s name of Greek origin. Amaranthe is also the name of a species of plant, or the colour purple.
It’s the first hotel I’ve stayed at that has a giant sized Jacuzzi in every bedroom. Perhaps that’s to make up for it not being on the beach and instead it overlooks a tranquil lagoon. But the beach is close enough since the hotel is next door to the Trinco Blu.
The lagoon at Amaranthe Bay hotel
Each bedroom is a generous 533 sq ft in area, cleverly laid out to take advantage of all that space. The décor is refreshing simple: no modern art on the walls, no bizarrely coloured strips of counterpanes or piles of gaudy cushions on the bed, just curtains of royal grey that when opened reveal a charming narrow balcony with wooden rails and wooden chairs overlooking the hotel’s garden, pool, lagoon – and the Jacuzzis of other bedrooms. Actually, there’s no problem with Peeping Toms since there are blinds ensure complete privacy.
Jacuzzi view
Train to Trinco
Garden at Trincomalee railway station
It’s possible to go by train to Trincomalee but the direct service only runs overnight so there’s no chance to take in the scenery. The timetable at the station indicates that there is a day time service that involves changing at Gal Oya.
Pancake dilemma
In response to my recent request for advice on cooking with coconut flour, one suggestion came from a second cousin of mine resident in Canada. She sent a recipe extracted from a book about the topic she bought from amazon. I see there are a dozen such books.
Coconut conundrum
The recipe for pancakes seems simple enough:
2 eggs
2 tablespoons coconut oil or butter, melted
2 tablespoons coconut milk or whole milk
1 teaspoon sugar
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons sifted coconut flour
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
Ready to pancake…
Blend together eggs, oil, coconut milk, sugar and salt. Combine coconut flour and baking powder and thoroughly mix into batter. Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in a skillet. Spoon batter onto hot skillet making pancakes about 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter. Batter will be thick but will flatten out when cooking. Makes about 8 pancakes.
I’d like to report that all went well. It didn’t. For a start, I didn’t want eight pancakes, so I halved the amounts. And I used 2 quail eggs instead of 1 chicken egg (I know, it’s 4 quail eggs = 1 chicken egg, so that’s probably my mistake).
What I produced were like three flattened scones but crumbly so not worth a photograph. Tasted too sweet too.
Tea caddy quest
From a reader in Australia comes an appeal for information about casuarina tea caddies. A tea caddy is a box, jar, canister, or other receptacle used to store tea.
My correspondent explains: “I am writing a book about Australian timber boxes and have come across a series of tea caddies veneered in casuarina. No one seems to know quite where they were made – England, Australia, Sri Lanka and Southern India being the top contenders.
Where was it made?
“In style these caddies appear to date from the first years of the nineteenth century. They are well made – and might have been commissioned for sale in London through the East India Company. They were veneered in what is thought to be casuarina onto a cedar carcass. I imagine these caddies were always intended for the Western market. Today they appear on the British and Australian markets quite regularly – and everyone has a good bicker about where they were made!”
My correspondent is keen to know if any of these tea caddies exist in Sri Lanka and whether they were actually made here.
Since casuarina (Casuarina equisetifolia) trees are to be found in Sri Lanka, nowadays fringing Casuarina Beach near Jaffna and as a popular rapid-growing low-maintenance shelterbelt species, used extensively for windbreaks and coastal stabilisation in Hambantota, and tea is grown here, perhaps there is a Sri Lanka (Ceylon) connection. But tea itself wasn’t produced here until James Taylor’s first commercial planting in 1867 so I doubt that these early 19[SUP]th[/SUP] century tea caddies hail from here.
Any ideas, please?
Card slot
Number 19. COLOMBO
(From 50 years ago. Issued by British grocers Seymour Mead & Co Ltd)
“‘The Garden City of Asia’ is the name sometimes given to Ceylon’s capital. It stands on one of the best harbours in the world. Liners, cargo ships, lighters and catamarans crowd the port. In the streets the busy traffic includes high-powered cars, rickshaws driven by barefoot men, packed buses, bicycles and, possibly, a bullock cart. Modern shops, flanked by arcades to shield pedestrians from sun and rain, offer the Ceylon craftsmen’s wares in tortoiseshell, ivory, ebony, pottery, basketry, and dazzling gems. As shown overleaf Colombo’s ancient lighthouse now acts as a Clock Tower.”
Guidance
Now on sale
My Bradt Guide to Sri Lanka is now available (although I still haven’t been sent a copy by the publisher, Speaking Tiger) in a new edition published for the Indian Sub-Continent. If any reader buys a copy, please let me know how it looks.
See also: http://www.srilankatailormade.com/blog/
Beat regards
Royston
Wünsche allen eine nicht stressige Restwoche Premasiri
M
MA*R*CO
Guest
Leider !!! Einen Direktzug mehr könnte es ruhig geben.
Am Tag nimmt man von Colombo den Zug nach Batticaloa und steigt in Gal Oya um.
- Registriert
- 2. Feb. 2011
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Danke Paula und liebe Grüße!!!
Premasiri
Well-known member
- Registriert
- 8. Aug. 2009
- Beiträge
- 10.701
Natural Sun Cure
ROYSTON’S REPORT, Number 267
Sunday, 9 August 2015.
Welcome to this week’s newsletter with a report on overdoing it in Bangkok as well as natural beauty aids in Sri Lanka.
Cheap Charlie’s
I popped over to Bangkok last weekend for a change of scene and, apart from the shabby looking European men of a certain age trussed up in shorts and sagging T-shirts patrolling the neon lit gloom, I was fascinated by the street action. I stayed near Nana skytrain station, in Sukumvit, at the pompously named Grand Presidential Hotel.
Standard room Grand Presidential Hotel, Bangkok
While many Trip Advisor critics don’t think much of it, I was happy with the standard bedroom in Block 3 (across the road from reception) with kitchenette, lots of mirrors and cupboards, a bathtub and fierce shower, which cost US$ 161.07 (Rs 21,565; £ 103.50) for three nights for my double room – much less than a colleague and his wife paid for one night in a room (without kitchenette) in a charmless five-star hotel.
The first evening we re-visited Cheap Charlie’s, a street side bar that’s a 30 year-old Bangkok institution popular with diplomats, resident and visiting expats and occasional young Thais. Standing room only and all drinks, including my favourite Brokers gin, with ice & mixer, for 80 baht (Rs304; $ 2.27; £ 1.45) each.
Cheap Charlie’s bar, Bangkok
We topped that off with a snack of grilled squid from a street vendor.
Bangkok street food
Then we dived into a dive for a delicious pomelo (grapefruit) salad, red curry with roasted duck, Tom Yum Goong and rice for 860 Baht ( Rs3,268; $ 24.40; £ 15.67).
Typically Thai
That’s part of the appeal of Thailand – not just the low prices for good accommodation and food, but also because you can choose whatever budget you want and get the good value you want too. Two of us enjoyed an extravagant Sunday buffet lunch of oysters, tempura prawns, foie gras, lobster, roast lamb, cheese and crepe suzette with unlimited quantity of six different wines by the glass for 6,700 baht (Rs 25,455; $ 190; £ 122) at Lord Jim’s restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Afterwards, of course, I couldn’t resist a cigar.
Cigar Bar Oriental Hotel, Bangkok 2015
Natural sun cure
Sri Lanka is renowned for its Ayurveda therapy – natural healing using herbal teas, a vegetarian diet, oil massage, flower baths and other rituals as a way to heal or detox. (Useful after my Thai indulgence?) Here are some simple remedies that aren’t ayuvedic, but are effective, using locally sourced ingredients.
To clean the skin, mix crushed garlic cloves with water and apply to the face with cotton wool.
Why spend on fashionable sun cream when an avocado will do the trick. Slice one open and rub it over the affected area. This oil and nutrient rich fruit offers rapid skin penetration and quickly protects, softens and soothes. Avocados can also be used as a skin moisturiser, cleansing cream, makeup base, bath oil, and hair conditioner. It’s good to eat too.
Sun relief
Possibly the best use for tea bags (I abhor them for making tea) is to float them in a bowl of water and plunge your tired feet into the solution. Revitalisation in a minute. For an instant warmer add a spoonful of mustard powder. Slices of onion, lemon or garlic rubbed onto the feet also help alleviate aching tiredness.
A British Centenary
This year is important for British residents of Sri Lanka as it marks the Centenary of the Association of British Residents (ABR) of this country. When I decided to settle here I registered at the British High Commission and was given a form to apply for membership of the ABR, as if it were obligatory. I joined and attended serious meetings discussing our expat problems and enjoying the occasional newsletter. However, since I live out of Colombo, where most of the ABR activities take place, I let my membership lapse.
www.abrsrilanka.com
The ABR seems to have become much more dynamic since I left, no doubt helped by the advent of emails by which all members (I re-joined this year) can feel they are part of the Association. The ABR was until recently open only to British passport holders but has since extended associate membership to Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians. There are plenty of Sri Lankan born members too who have resided in Britain and are British passport holders.
A super dinner, at the Mount Lavinia Hotel, to commemorate the Centenary is being held on Saturday 19 September 2015 from 7pm. It’s only Rs3000 per head (a bit cheaper than my splurge in Bangkok) so surely worth attending, but you have to join the ABR to do so (www.abrsrilanka.com) or go as a non-member for Rs5,000.
Card slot
(From 50 years ago. Issued by British grocers Seymour Mead & Co Ltd)
Number 20. HOW CEYLON TEA REACHES US
“Nearly all Ceylon’s tea is shipped through the busy ports of Trincomalee, Colombo and Galle. The chests are transferred from the warehouses where they have been stored, to lighters, and taken out to the big liners or cargo boats. Then they are swung by derrick up and over into the holds of ships. A single cargo may bring as much as over a million lb. of tea to London. If you stand on Tower Bridge and look either up or down stream you can see some of the huge warehouses where tea has been landed for some 300 years. That is why the H/Q of the tea trade is close by, in Mincing Lane.”
Days of Innocence?
For this week’s choice of one of my books, go to amazon for my latest Kicks Books (USA) publication:Big Time, the fictitious autobiography of a 1960s pop star.
Now available
I apologise for the late distribution of last week’s newsletter. Somehow my website got hacked and it took my web wizard, Andrew, and my old friend Champike, a few days to unhack it.
Beat regards
Royston
wünsche allen Usern eine wunderschöne Woche.....Premasiri
ROYSTON’S REPORT, Number 267
Sunday, 9 August 2015.
Welcome to this week’s newsletter with a report on overdoing it in Bangkok as well as natural beauty aids in Sri Lanka.
Cheap Charlie’s
I popped over to Bangkok last weekend for a change of scene and, apart from the shabby looking European men of a certain age trussed up in shorts and sagging T-shirts patrolling the neon lit gloom, I was fascinated by the street action. I stayed near Nana skytrain station, in Sukumvit, at the pompously named Grand Presidential Hotel.
Standard room Grand Presidential Hotel, Bangkok
While many Trip Advisor critics don’t think much of it, I was happy with the standard bedroom in Block 3 (across the road from reception) with kitchenette, lots of mirrors and cupboards, a bathtub and fierce shower, which cost US$ 161.07 (Rs 21,565; £ 103.50) for three nights for my double room – much less than a colleague and his wife paid for one night in a room (without kitchenette) in a charmless five-star hotel.
The first evening we re-visited Cheap Charlie’s, a street side bar that’s a 30 year-old Bangkok institution popular with diplomats, resident and visiting expats and occasional young Thais. Standing room only and all drinks, including my favourite Brokers gin, with ice & mixer, for 80 baht (Rs304; $ 2.27; £ 1.45) each.
Cheap Charlie’s bar, Bangkok
We topped that off with a snack of grilled squid from a street vendor.
Bangkok street food
Then we dived into a dive for a delicious pomelo (grapefruit) salad, red curry with roasted duck, Tom Yum Goong and rice for 860 Baht ( Rs3,268; $ 24.40; £ 15.67).
Typically Thai
That’s part of the appeal of Thailand – not just the low prices for good accommodation and food, but also because you can choose whatever budget you want and get the good value you want too. Two of us enjoyed an extravagant Sunday buffet lunch of oysters, tempura prawns, foie gras, lobster, roast lamb, cheese and crepe suzette with unlimited quantity of six different wines by the glass for 6,700 baht (Rs 25,455; $ 190; £ 122) at Lord Jim’s restaurant in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel. Afterwards, of course, I couldn’t resist a cigar.
Cigar Bar Oriental Hotel, Bangkok 2015
Natural sun cure
Sri Lanka is renowned for its Ayurveda therapy – natural healing using herbal teas, a vegetarian diet, oil massage, flower baths and other rituals as a way to heal or detox. (Useful after my Thai indulgence?) Here are some simple remedies that aren’t ayuvedic, but are effective, using locally sourced ingredients.
To clean the skin, mix crushed garlic cloves with water and apply to the face with cotton wool.
Why spend on fashionable sun cream when an avocado will do the trick. Slice one open and rub it over the affected area. This oil and nutrient rich fruit offers rapid skin penetration and quickly protects, softens and soothes. Avocados can also be used as a skin moisturiser, cleansing cream, makeup base, bath oil, and hair conditioner. It’s good to eat too.
Sun relief
Possibly the best use for tea bags (I abhor them for making tea) is to float them in a bowl of water and plunge your tired feet into the solution. Revitalisation in a minute. For an instant warmer add a spoonful of mustard powder. Slices of onion, lemon or garlic rubbed onto the feet also help alleviate aching tiredness.
A British Centenary
This year is important for British residents of Sri Lanka as it marks the Centenary of the Association of British Residents (ABR) of this country. When I decided to settle here I registered at the British High Commission and was given a form to apply for membership of the ABR, as if it were obligatory. I joined and attended serious meetings discussing our expat problems and enjoying the occasional newsletter. However, since I live out of Colombo, where most of the ABR activities take place, I let my membership lapse.
www.abrsrilanka.com
The ABR seems to have become much more dynamic since I left, no doubt helped by the advent of emails by which all members (I re-joined this year) can feel they are part of the Association. The ABR was until recently open only to British passport holders but has since extended associate membership to Australians, New Zealanders and Canadians. There are plenty of Sri Lankan born members too who have resided in Britain and are British passport holders.
A super dinner, at the Mount Lavinia Hotel, to commemorate the Centenary is being held on Saturday 19 September 2015 from 7pm. It’s only Rs3000 per head (a bit cheaper than my splurge in Bangkok) so surely worth attending, but you have to join the ABR to do so (www.abrsrilanka.com) or go as a non-member for Rs5,000.
Card slot
(From 50 years ago. Issued by British grocers Seymour Mead & Co Ltd)
Number 20. HOW CEYLON TEA REACHES US
“Nearly all Ceylon’s tea is shipped through the busy ports of Trincomalee, Colombo and Galle. The chests are transferred from the warehouses where they have been stored, to lighters, and taken out to the big liners or cargo boats. Then they are swung by derrick up and over into the holds of ships. A single cargo may bring as much as over a million lb. of tea to London. If you stand on Tower Bridge and look either up or down stream you can see some of the huge warehouses where tea has been landed for some 300 years. That is why the H/Q of the tea trade is close by, in Mincing Lane.”
Days of Innocence?
For this week’s choice of one of my books, go to amazon for my latest Kicks Books (USA) publication:Big Time, the fictitious autobiography of a 1960s pop star.
Now available
I apologise for the late distribution of last week’s newsletter. Somehow my website got hacked and it took my web wizard, Andrew, and my old friend Champike, a few days to unhack it.
Beat regards
Royston
wünsche allen Usern eine wunderschöne Woche.....Premasiri
Premasiri
Well-known member
- Registriert
- 8. Aug. 2009
- Beiträge
- 10.701
Original gin
ROYSTON REPORTS Number 268
Sunday 16 August 2015
Greetings to this week’s review from Sri Lanka with notes on loopholes and a chicken problem.
Loopholes
I attended a fascinating property seminar in Galle recently held under the auspices of the British High Commission conducted by one of Sri Lanka’s most respected lawyers, Dr Swaminathan, the senior partner of the firm Julius & Creasy (established in 1879). The topic was the restrictions on foreigners purchasing property in Sri Lanka.
Probing loopholes?
Based on the Land Act No. 38 of 2014, the transfer of land to a foreign individual (or company) is prohibited. However, a foreigner can lease land at a tax of 15% on the total rental payable under the lease. Judging by the questions asked, many of the audience seemed more interested in finding loopholes in the Act than understanding how to comply with it.
Original gin
Last week I was presented with a bottle of gin I had never seen before, but will certainly seek out again. Called Colombo Gin it is actually distilled and bottled in England “handcrafted in small batches” to a recipe dreamed up by a resourceful distiller in Ceylon during the Second World War when essential ingredients were scarce. This original gin was distilled with spices sourced in Sri Lanka (coriander, cinnamon, ginger and curry leaves) with only juniper and angelica being imported.
The gin was a hit but when the war finished and trade routes re-opened, the company (Rockland, family distillers since 1924) returned to the traditional London dry gin recipe. Colombo Gin is the original wartime gin revived not as a makeshift substitute as it was then but as a premium gin of class and distinction. I hate drowning gin with tonic and was delighted to discover how good Colombo Gin is in a dry martini or, even better, shaken with Angostura Bitters and ice for a perfect pink gin.
Original gin
The gin itself has none of the obnoxious oiliness and vague odour of toilet that betray locally produced mass market gins (about Rs1450 [£ 6.99; $ 10.85] a bottle). It has a fulsome flourish which, the distillers suggest, make it “a fine tipple to accompany food with spice, especially curry.” Since it costs more than many imported gins (Rs 5,635 [£ 27.20; $ 42.15]) I’m saving it to savour in style as a sundowner sans curry. (http://www.colombogin.com)
Which chicken?
When we bought a new batch of young quails a few weeks ago, the farmer threw in a couple of birds and said they were a kind of chicken. Unfortunately, I can’t remember what kind, as I didn’t really want any chickens (quails being so much easier to keep).
What hens are these?
Now they have grown and we have started giving them the run of the garden in the evenings. But what are they? The internet has photos of scores of different chicken breeds, but I can’t identify these. The farmer said they lay eggs that are smaller than a normal hen’s. These two haven’t started laying yet, so I’ve no idea what the egg looks (or tastes) like. These birds both have fluffy feathers around their ankles. Can anyone tell me what we have?
Card slot
(From 50 years ago. Issued by British grocers Seymour Mead & Co Ltd)
Number 21. TEA AUCTIONS
“Ceylon tea is sold by auction both in Colombo and in London. It is put up for sale in ‘Lots’ (anything from 30 to 40 chests). In Colombo the buyers attend the auctions themselves but in London they ate represented by brokers who buy for them. Ceylon teas are sold on Tuesdays in the famous Mincing Lane Auction Room. The auctioneer starts off by calling an opening price. Buyers shout out bids from all over the room, going up 1/4d at a time. Suddenly the auctioneer taps the table with his hammer and that means a particular ‘lot’ has been sold to the highest bidder. And so it goes on until all the teas for that day have been sold.”
Artistic licence?
A regular reader sent this comment on my reproduction two weeks ago of a 50-year-old card showing the Clock Tower.
“The view appears to be from a height on Chatham Street towards Upper Chatham Street. At sundown time from the shadow of the tower. The vehicles depicted are too modern for the period before Baur’s Flats came to being (built 1939 where the thick green cover trees are). The ships should be out of the harbour of that time. The placement of the building on the right of the painting on Upper Chatham Street, should be set back to show the continuation of Queen Street towards the GPO bend.”
Romance of Rail
If you’re interested in real rock and roll and the romance of rail, go to
[url]http://www.tftw.org.uk[/URL] and click on the link at the side that says “Open Magazine” to access the 86th issue (it’s free) of Tales of the Woods magazine. Scroll down and down and eventually you’ll come to an article about my romance with rail.
Royston driving a steam train in India, 1990
Sharing
I had a phone call from a reader in Armenia last week asking whether she can reproduce this newsletter on her Facebook page – because she runs a travel agency and sells holidays to Sri Lanka. I was delighted to agree. If any reader wants to share this weekly newsletter (and the photos) with others, the best way is to tell them to check the link: www.roystonellis.com/blog
I also write about Sri Lanka on: http://www.srilankatailormade.com/blog/
and on: http://www.thesrilankatravelblog.com
Poetry Time
It’s time for me to plug my collected poems again: Gone Man Squared. This nifty book is just the thing to be seen reading, although it is also available to read on screen, from all the amazons.
From all the amazons
Beat regards
Royston
auch von mir best regards Premasiri
ROYSTON REPORTS Number 268
Sunday 16 August 2015
Greetings to this week’s review from Sri Lanka with notes on loopholes and a chicken problem.
Loopholes
I attended a fascinating property seminar in Galle recently held under the auspices of the British High Commission conducted by one of Sri Lanka’s most respected lawyers, Dr Swaminathan, the senior partner of the firm Julius & Creasy (established in 1879). The topic was the restrictions on foreigners purchasing property in Sri Lanka.
Probing loopholes?
Based on the Land Act No. 38 of 2014, the transfer of land to a foreign individual (or company) is prohibited. However, a foreigner can lease land at a tax of 15% on the total rental payable under the lease. Judging by the questions asked, many of the audience seemed more interested in finding loopholes in the Act than understanding how to comply with it.
Original gin
Last week I was presented with a bottle of gin I had never seen before, but will certainly seek out again. Called Colombo Gin it is actually distilled and bottled in England “handcrafted in small batches” to a recipe dreamed up by a resourceful distiller in Ceylon during the Second World War when essential ingredients were scarce. This original gin was distilled with spices sourced in Sri Lanka (coriander, cinnamon, ginger and curry leaves) with only juniper and angelica being imported.
The gin was a hit but when the war finished and trade routes re-opened, the company (Rockland, family distillers since 1924) returned to the traditional London dry gin recipe. Colombo Gin is the original wartime gin revived not as a makeshift substitute as it was then but as a premium gin of class and distinction. I hate drowning gin with tonic and was delighted to discover how good Colombo Gin is in a dry martini or, even better, shaken with Angostura Bitters and ice for a perfect pink gin.
Original gin
The gin itself has none of the obnoxious oiliness and vague odour of toilet that betray locally produced mass market gins (about Rs1450 [£ 6.99; $ 10.85] a bottle). It has a fulsome flourish which, the distillers suggest, make it “a fine tipple to accompany food with spice, especially curry.” Since it costs more than many imported gins (Rs 5,635 [£ 27.20; $ 42.15]) I’m saving it to savour in style as a sundowner sans curry. (http://www.colombogin.com)
Which chicken?
When we bought a new batch of young quails a few weeks ago, the farmer threw in a couple of birds and said they were a kind of chicken. Unfortunately, I can’t remember what kind, as I didn’t really want any chickens (quails being so much easier to keep).
What hens are these?
Now they have grown and we have started giving them the run of the garden in the evenings. But what are they? The internet has photos of scores of different chicken breeds, but I can’t identify these. The farmer said they lay eggs that are smaller than a normal hen’s. These two haven’t started laying yet, so I’ve no idea what the egg looks (or tastes) like. These birds both have fluffy feathers around their ankles. Can anyone tell me what we have?
Card slot
(From 50 years ago. Issued by British grocers Seymour Mead & Co Ltd)
Number 21. TEA AUCTIONS
“Ceylon tea is sold by auction both in Colombo and in London. It is put up for sale in ‘Lots’ (anything from 30 to 40 chests). In Colombo the buyers attend the auctions themselves but in London they ate represented by brokers who buy for them. Ceylon teas are sold on Tuesdays in the famous Mincing Lane Auction Room. The auctioneer starts off by calling an opening price. Buyers shout out bids from all over the room, going up 1/4d at a time. Suddenly the auctioneer taps the table with his hammer and that means a particular ‘lot’ has been sold to the highest bidder. And so it goes on until all the teas for that day have been sold.”
Artistic licence?
A regular reader sent this comment on my reproduction two weeks ago of a 50-year-old card showing the Clock Tower.
“The view appears to be from a height on Chatham Street towards Upper Chatham Street. At sundown time from the shadow of the tower. The vehicles depicted are too modern for the period before Baur’s Flats came to being (built 1939 where the thick green cover trees are). The ships should be out of the harbour of that time. The placement of the building on the right of the painting on Upper Chatham Street, should be set back to show the continuation of Queen Street towards the GPO bend.”
Romance of Rail
If you’re interested in real rock and roll and the romance of rail, go to
[url]http://www.tftw.org.uk[/URL] and click on the link at the side that says “Open Magazine” to access the 86th issue (it’s free) of Tales of the Woods magazine. Scroll down and down and eventually you’ll come to an article about my romance with rail.
Royston driving a steam train in India, 1990
Sharing
I had a phone call from a reader in Armenia last week asking whether she can reproduce this newsletter on her Facebook page – because she runs a travel agency and sells holidays to Sri Lanka. I was delighted to agree. If any reader wants to share this weekly newsletter (and the photos) with others, the best way is to tell them to check the link: www.roystonellis.com/blog
I also write about Sri Lanka on: http://www.srilankatailormade.com/blog/
and on: http://www.thesrilankatravelblog.com
Poetry Time
It’s time for me to plug my collected poems again: Gone Man Squared. This nifty book is just the thing to be seen reading, although it is also available to read on screen, from all the amazons.
From all the amazons
Beat regards
Royston
auch von mir best regards Premasiri
Premasiri
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Hallo Premasiri,
danke und liebe Grüsse in den Süden, Biggi
Grüsse herzlich in den Norden
LG Premasiri
Premasiri
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ROYSTON REPORTS, Number 269
Sunday 23 August 2015.
Welcome to this week’s newsletter about Sri Lanka where school children – as well as tourists – are on holiday this month.
Day out
Since he’s on holiday from school I decided to give Sasindu, my house manager Kumara’s six-year-old son, a treat. We took him on a safari cruise on the Bentota River. It was a spontaneous idea that involved no planning at all. We strolled into the riverside Nebula Restaurant and hired a boat with an outboard motor for an hour (Rs1,500; £ 7.15; US$ 11.20), stocked up with beer and soft drinks from the restaurant, and set off.
On the Bentota river
There are lots of boat operators along the river and they advise tourists to don life jackets but we declined. We did have the canopy up to shade us from the sun, until the boatman suddenly collapsed it, stopped the engine, and we glided gently under dangling mangrove roots into a secret grotto speckled with sunlight. A kingfisher watched us in alarm before squawking skywards.
Emerging from the tangled thicket of mangroves, we puttered noisily along the northern (Dharga Town) bank where smart modern houses are side by side with dilapidated shacks. Again, the boatman cut the engine and pointed upwards as we floated under an overhanging branch. A grey and white mottledthalagoya (monitor lizard) hugging the tree eyed us suspiciously until we backed off.
Tree hugging lizard
Then Sasindu spotted a huge kabaragoya (a water monitor as large as a crocodile) concealed like a log in the grass.
Water monitor resting
He was ecstatic when the boatman introduced him to a baby crocodile, kept by a villager as a pet until grown enough to return to the river.
Baby crocodile
Not that crocodiles frequent that part of the river where jet-skiers pirouette to create showers of spray, and lone fishermen spend their day out balancing on a narrow catamaran and hoping for a bite.
Catamaran on Bentota river
We had lunch on our return to Nebula Restaurant where Sasindu regaled his mother with tales of riverine wildlife. I had (but forgot to photograph) grilled shark, French fries and salad for lunch (Rs1,050; £ 5.00 $ 7.84). A great day’s outing!
Tea caddies
From the owner of Ellerton, a boutique hotel high in the hills above Kandy prettily converted from a century-old tea planter’s bungalow, I have received a photograph of his collection of tea caddies. This was in response to a query in a recent newsletter about where such tea caddies were made in the 19[SUP]th[/SUP]century.
Tea caddies at Ellerton
These caddies were acquired in England to help create a nostalgic atmosphere in the décor of the bungalow which, in spite of its expansion to eight comfortable double bedrooms, all with en-suite facilities and a swimming pool, retains the character and tranquillity of those colonial days.
“At 732m (2,400ft) above sea level, Ellerton combines the best of Sri Lanka’s weather and is close to the island’s geographical centre, three hours drive from Colombo, so is well suited as a base from which to explore sights like Kandy and the Cultural Triangle.”
Featuring Ellerton
The British owner’s aim is to give guests the feeling they are staying in a friend’s house and not a hotel. Two chefs produce meals with local produce and Sri Lankan curries are always available. (http://www.ellertonsrilanka.com)
Home cooking
I am often asked (usually by Sri Lankans) what I eat at home. Having lived here so long I am accustomed to spicy food and in fact desire it at certain times, especially a fiery beef curry for breakfast (to defeat a hangover) and to make me robust for the day. The curry is cooked at her home over a wood fire by Kumara’s mother-in-law.
Lunch is the main meal of the day for me, and tends to be Western style, cooked by Kumara or myself, such as grilled pork chops with spinach and garlic, and mashed potatoes flavoured with grated nutmeg, or even cottage pie and coleslaw. In the evenings we get creative with a lighter meal (after canapés and sun downers). That’s when Kumara tries fusion, as in this meal of local hoppers (crisp rice flour pancakes) filled with green leaf salad with a peppery mayonnaise dressing, topped with some lightly poached prawns.
I don’t know what this green leaf is called in English. One source says “hogweed” but that doesn’t seem right. In Sinhala, it’s known as sarana and the botanical name (I think) is Boerhavia diffusa. It’s a soft, dark green herbal leaf used in ayuveda therapy “to treat jaundice, coughs, hepatomegaly, worm Infestations, leprosy, heart disease, piles, oedema, dysentery, astcites [sic], liver disorders, dropsy, anaemia, asthma, fistula, blood diseases, skin diseases, anasarca [sic], strangury, urine retention, yaws and gonorrhoea.”
My goodness!
Salad leaves
Card Slot
Number 22 BLENDING TEA
(From 50 years ago. Issued by British grocers Seymour Mead & Co Ltd)
“The object of blending (or mixing) tea is to ensure consistent quality and flavour the year round. In wet season tea loses some of its flavour so the blender has to mix in more of the better teas from other estates or seasons. After he has finished tasting, a small sample blend based on his decision is made up. This can be of two kinds, (a) comprising teas from a number of different Ceylon estates (known as Pure Ceylon), or (b) Ceylon teas predominating but with some from other countries mixed in (Ceylon character blend).”
Read all about it
This week’s recommended read from my 65 published books is a raunchy novel set in Kenya in the 1970s when four ‘liberated’ women from California go on safari. Sweet Ebony (Kicks Books, ISBN 978-1940157078) is available through all the amazons.
Sweet reading treat
Beat regards
Royston
ganz liebe Grüsse an die regelmässigen Leser des News Letters.....Premasiri
Sunday 23 August 2015.
Welcome to this week’s newsletter about Sri Lanka where school children – as well as tourists – are on holiday this month.
Day out
Since he’s on holiday from school I decided to give Sasindu, my house manager Kumara’s six-year-old son, a treat. We took him on a safari cruise on the Bentota River. It was a spontaneous idea that involved no planning at all. We strolled into the riverside Nebula Restaurant and hired a boat with an outboard motor for an hour (Rs1,500; £ 7.15; US$ 11.20), stocked up with beer and soft drinks from the restaurant, and set off.
On the Bentota river
There are lots of boat operators along the river and they advise tourists to don life jackets but we declined. We did have the canopy up to shade us from the sun, until the boatman suddenly collapsed it, stopped the engine, and we glided gently under dangling mangrove roots into a secret grotto speckled with sunlight. A kingfisher watched us in alarm before squawking skywards.
Emerging from the tangled thicket of mangroves, we puttered noisily along the northern (Dharga Town) bank where smart modern houses are side by side with dilapidated shacks. Again, the boatman cut the engine and pointed upwards as we floated under an overhanging branch. A grey and white mottledthalagoya (monitor lizard) hugging the tree eyed us suspiciously until we backed off.
Tree hugging lizard
Then Sasindu spotted a huge kabaragoya (a water monitor as large as a crocodile) concealed like a log in the grass.
Water monitor resting
He was ecstatic when the boatman introduced him to a baby crocodile, kept by a villager as a pet until grown enough to return to the river.
Baby crocodile
Not that crocodiles frequent that part of the river where jet-skiers pirouette to create showers of spray, and lone fishermen spend their day out balancing on a narrow catamaran and hoping for a bite.
Catamaran on Bentota river
We had lunch on our return to Nebula Restaurant where Sasindu regaled his mother with tales of riverine wildlife. I had (but forgot to photograph) grilled shark, French fries and salad for lunch (Rs1,050; £ 5.00 $ 7.84). A great day’s outing!
Tea caddies
From the owner of Ellerton, a boutique hotel high in the hills above Kandy prettily converted from a century-old tea planter’s bungalow, I have received a photograph of his collection of tea caddies. This was in response to a query in a recent newsletter about where such tea caddies were made in the 19[SUP]th[/SUP]century.
Tea caddies at Ellerton
These caddies were acquired in England to help create a nostalgic atmosphere in the décor of the bungalow which, in spite of its expansion to eight comfortable double bedrooms, all with en-suite facilities and a swimming pool, retains the character and tranquillity of those colonial days.
“At 732m (2,400ft) above sea level, Ellerton combines the best of Sri Lanka’s weather and is close to the island’s geographical centre, three hours drive from Colombo, so is well suited as a base from which to explore sights like Kandy and the Cultural Triangle.”
Featuring Ellerton
The British owner’s aim is to give guests the feeling they are staying in a friend’s house and not a hotel. Two chefs produce meals with local produce and Sri Lankan curries are always available. (http://www.ellertonsrilanka.com)
Home cooking
I am often asked (usually by Sri Lankans) what I eat at home. Having lived here so long I am accustomed to spicy food and in fact desire it at certain times, especially a fiery beef curry for breakfast (to defeat a hangover) and to make me robust for the day. The curry is cooked at her home over a wood fire by Kumara’s mother-in-law.
Lunch is the main meal of the day for me, and tends to be Western style, cooked by Kumara or myself, such as grilled pork chops with spinach and garlic, and mashed potatoes flavoured with grated nutmeg, or even cottage pie and coleslaw. In the evenings we get creative with a lighter meal (after canapés and sun downers). That’s when Kumara tries fusion, as in this meal of local hoppers (crisp rice flour pancakes) filled with green leaf salad with a peppery mayonnaise dressing, topped with some lightly poached prawns.
I don’t know what this green leaf is called in English. One source says “hogweed” but that doesn’t seem right. In Sinhala, it’s known as sarana and the botanical name (I think) is Boerhavia diffusa. It’s a soft, dark green herbal leaf used in ayuveda therapy “to treat jaundice, coughs, hepatomegaly, worm Infestations, leprosy, heart disease, piles, oedema, dysentery, astcites [sic], liver disorders, dropsy, anaemia, asthma, fistula, blood diseases, skin diseases, anasarca [sic], strangury, urine retention, yaws and gonorrhoea.”
My goodness!
Salad leaves
Card Slot
Number 22 BLENDING TEA
(From 50 years ago. Issued by British grocers Seymour Mead & Co Ltd)
“The object of blending (or mixing) tea is to ensure consistent quality and flavour the year round. In wet season tea loses some of its flavour so the blender has to mix in more of the better teas from other estates or seasons. After he has finished tasting, a small sample blend based on his decision is made up. This can be of two kinds, (a) comprising teas from a number of different Ceylon estates (known as Pure Ceylon), or (b) Ceylon teas predominating but with some from other countries mixed in (Ceylon character blend).”
Read all about it
This week’s recommended read from my 65 published books is a raunchy novel set in Kenya in the 1970s when four ‘liberated’ women from California go on safari. Sweet Ebony (Kicks Books, ISBN 978-1940157078) is available through all the amazons.
Sweet reading treat
Beat regards
Royston
ganz liebe Grüsse an die regelmässigen Leser des News Letters.....Premasiri
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Hallo Premasiri,
Eine Tour auf dem Bentota-River ist wirklich immer wieder zu empfehlen. Das war vor 12 Jahren unsere erste Unternehmung in SL überhaupt und wir sowie unsere Kids waren begeistert. Damals sahen wir zum ersten mal Flughunde, Affen, Warane, Eisvögel u.v.m. in freier Natur, ein wunderschönes Erlebnis.
Liebe Grüsse, Biggi
Eine Tour auf dem Bentota-River ist wirklich immer wieder zu empfehlen. Das war vor 12 Jahren unsere erste Unternehmung in SL überhaupt und wir sowie unsere Kids waren begeistert. Damals sahen wir zum ersten mal Flughunde, Affen, Warane, Eisvögel u.v.m. in freier Natur, ein wunderschönes Erlebnis.
Liebe Grüsse, Biggi
Premasiri
Well-known member
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- 8. Aug. 2009
- Beiträge
- 10.701
Hallo Biggi,
bei mir war und ist es jedes Jahr ein muss so eine Bootsfahrt/Katamaranfahrt auf dem Bentota River....die erste war 1995 dann noch mit einem Aufstieg auf den kleinen AdamsPeak( so wird der kleine Hügel auf dieser Bootstour genannt )..vor dem Aufstieg wurde eine Hochzeit vorgespielt/aufgeführt.....aber das Rice and Curry dort war super lecker....
LG Premasiri
bei mir war und ist es jedes Jahr ein muss so eine Bootsfahrt/Katamaranfahrt auf dem Bentota River....die erste war 1995 dann noch mit einem Aufstieg auf den kleinen AdamsPeak( so wird der kleine Hügel auf dieser Bootstour genannt )..vor dem Aufstieg wurde eine Hochzeit vorgespielt/aufgeführt.....aber das Rice and Curry dort war super lecker....
LG Premasiri
M
MA*R*CO
Guest
M
MA*R*CO
Guest
Ich war im April 2007 dort.
Erstaunlicherweise habe ich von der Hochzeit damals keine Bilder gemacht. Sonst fotografiere ich eigentlich fast alles.
Premasiri
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- 8. Aug. 2009
- Beiträge
- 10.701
“Barf” bags
ROYSTON REPORTS, Number 270
Sunday 30 August 2015.
Greetings to readers around the world to this week’s glimpse of life in Sri Lanka, including a look at a curious collectable.
Motor show
There was a four-day motor show held in Colombo last week. I went there with web wizard, Andrew, out of curiosity and was delighted to discover a new model three-wheeler (“tuk tuk”) vehicle on display. This is assembled in Sri Lanka with parts imported from India. When we’ve bought new tuk-tuks before, we have had to upgrade the upholstery to make the seats more comfortable. This Sri Lankan version comes with plush driver and passenger seats, a sturdy canopy and even an inbuilt sound system. It costs Rs475,000 [£ 2,275; US$ 3,527]. Since we need a new tuk tuk at home, this might be our eventual choice…
Locally assembled tuk tuk
The motor show pavilions were excessively noisy, not only with music blasting out but also with the revving and roaring of engines. Also, as though to make spectators feel at ease in the tranquil park outside, there was an exhibition of daredevil motorbike stunts to remind everyone of Colombo’s traffic chaos.
Motorbike stunt
Buffet flow
Refurbishment of the old Union Bar & Grill at the Hilton Colombo Residences has resulted in the opening of the latest buffet dining venue, called Flow. Whether it’s named after “go with the flow” I don’t know. In spite of finding the name rather unappetising, I was lured there by the press release: “a state-of-the-art multi cuisine all day dining restaurant complete with five open kitchens dishing up a delectable spread of Asian and Western cuisines…”
Flow tandoori kebabs
Perhaps I misunderstood, as Flow doesn’t do all day buffets at all, but breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets at the usual times. There are some novel serving pans with holders for lids as “state-of-the-art.” The open kitchens are five separate counters behind which chefs wait to warm up whatever you choose from the display. There were Indian, Japanese, Oriental, Sri Lankan and Western (roast lamb) dishes on the day I lunched there.
Dessert flow
The dessert counter (unfortunately placed near the flow of people by the busy entrance) was formidable with a chef ready to make crêpes. However, his effort in response to my request for Crêpe Suzette was disappointing (no liqueur-infused fruity sauce but strawberry syrup squeezed from a dispenser). The buffet cost was Rs2,650 [£ 12.70; US$ 19.68 ] (including tax and service charge) per person. It’s ok for agile gourmands but not for a lunch when you want to talk business, instead of having to leap up and down between courses. And the service not only flowed, it ebbed too.
Silkie?
Thank you to the many readers around the world who responded to my request for identification of the two chickens I have inadvertently acquired. The consensus seems to be that the white one, at least, is a silkie bantam although perhaps not pure bred while the other is a cross breed.
One correspondent reports that “This is a Chinese form of chicken … they have “pompoms” of fur on their feet. They are very entertaining – the ‘Barbara Windsors’ of the chicken world”
Other correspondents comment: “Silkies are usually very tame and quite characters all the same!” and “Said to originate in China, named for the silk-like texture of the feathers. They are even less bright than regular chickens, but they have nicer natures and they don’t smell like most hens. Make great pets.” Also: “The fluff around the ankles being distinctive and the Silky being the smaller of the Bantam family.”
Bantams – Silkie, Sultan or something else?
However, another correspondent suggests my hens might be Sultans, a breed originating in Turkey. Since a silkie hen has black flesh, much favoured as a gourmet treat in China, perhaps that’s how I shall eventually identify the breed…
Air sickness bags
It’s amazing what people collect. Surely one of the oddest items is air sickness bags, presumably unused. How do I know that people collect them?
Because recently there were eight offered for auction on ebay and the bidding rose progressively from 99p (my bid) to £74.72, that’s over £9 [Rs1,889; $ 13.95] a bag.
I’ve discovered too that there’s a website (www.airsicknessbags.com) for “barf bags” (as they’re called colloquially) which lists 2,687 bags for potential collectors to reach for, and 260 enthusiastic collectors (barf baggers?) around the world.
Air Ceylon bag part of the Lot
Why did I bid? Because one of the bags came from Air Ceylon and I am interested in items connected with the history of aviation in Sri Lanka. Air Ceylon began flying from Ratmalana Airport, now a domestic airport north of Colombo, in 1947, and from 1967 to 1978 operated from Bandaranaike International Airport. Then it ceased operations to re-emerge as Air Lanka which, in turn, became Sri Lankan.
Rare early airsickness bag
I guess an air sickness bag over 40 years old must be pretty rare, but I think I’ll stick to cheaper souvenirs of Sri Lanka.
Card Slot
(From 50 years ago. Issued by British grocers Seymour Mead & Co Ltd)
No. 23: PACKETING TEA
“In a modern tea warehouse the leaf is not touched by hand. It is blended in bulk in a large rotating drum. The blend is then tipped into an automatic weighing and packing machine where cams and levers clutch and shape pieces of paper into packets. The packets pass under nozzles through which the tea pours into them, then continue on to machinery which seals and labels. Finally, off they go on a conveyor belt to be parceled up and sent to grocers’ shops all over the country.”
This week’s good read
Read about life when Sir Cliff Richard and yours truly were young – and on the road together. Available from http://www.tomahawkpress.com or all the amazons as a really readable paperback. (ISBN 9780956683472).
If you want to share this weekly newsletter (and the photos) with others, the best way is to tell them to check the link: www.roystonellis.com/blog. I also write about Sri Lanka on:http://www.srilankatailormade.com/blog/
and on: http://www.thesrilankatravelblog.com
Beat regards
Royston
wünsche allen einen wunderschönen Sonntag Premasiri
ROYSTON REPORTS, Number 270
Sunday 30 August 2015.
Greetings to readers around the world to this week’s glimpse of life in Sri Lanka, including a look at a curious collectable.
Motor show
There was a four-day motor show held in Colombo last week. I went there with web wizard, Andrew, out of curiosity and was delighted to discover a new model three-wheeler (“tuk tuk”) vehicle on display. This is assembled in Sri Lanka with parts imported from India. When we’ve bought new tuk-tuks before, we have had to upgrade the upholstery to make the seats more comfortable. This Sri Lankan version comes with plush driver and passenger seats, a sturdy canopy and even an inbuilt sound system. It costs Rs475,000 [£ 2,275; US$ 3,527]. Since we need a new tuk tuk at home, this might be our eventual choice…
Locally assembled tuk tuk
The motor show pavilions were excessively noisy, not only with music blasting out but also with the revving and roaring of engines. Also, as though to make spectators feel at ease in the tranquil park outside, there was an exhibition of daredevil motorbike stunts to remind everyone of Colombo’s traffic chaos.
Motorbike stunt
Buffet flow
Refurbishment of the old Union Bar & Grill at the Hilton Colombo Residences has resulted in the opening of the latest buffet dining venue, called Flow. Whether it’s named after “go with the flow” I don’t know. In spite of finding the name rather unappetising, I was lured there by the press release: “a state-of-the-art multi cuisine all day dining restaurant complete with five open kitchens dishing up a delectable spread of Asian and Western cuisines…”
Flow tandoori kebabs
Perhaps I misunderstood, as Flow doesn’t do all day buffets at all, but breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets at the usual times. There are some novel serving pans with holders for lids as “state-of-the-art.” The open kitchens are five separate counters behind which chefs wait to warm up whatever you choose from the display. There were Indian, Japanese, Oriental, Sri Lankan and Western (roast lamb) dishes on the day I lunched there.
Dessert flow
The dessert counter (unfortunately placed near the flow of people by the busy entrance) was formidable with a chef ready to make crêpes. However, his effort in response to my request for Crêpe Suzette was disappointing (no liqueur-infused fruity sauce but strawberry syrup squeezed from a dispenser). The buffet cost was Rs2,650 [£ 12.70; US$ 19.68 ] (including tax and service charge) per person. It’s ok for agile gourmands but not for a lunch when you want to talk business, instead of having to leap up and down between courses. And the service not only flowed, it ebbed too.
Silkie?
Thank you to the many readers around the world who responded to my request for identification of the two chickens I have inadvertently acquired. The consensus seems to be that the white one, at least, is a silkie bantam although perhaps not pure bred while the other is a cross breed.
One correspondent reports that “This is a Chinese form of chicken … they have “pompoms” of fur on their feet. They are very entertaining – the ‘Barbara Windsors’ of the chicken world”
Other correspondents comment: “Silkies are usually very tame and quite characters all the same!” and “Said to originate in China, named for the silk-like texture of the feathers. They are even less bright than regular chickens, but they have nicer natures and they don’t smell like most hens. Make great pets.” Also: “The fluff around the ankles being distinctive and the Silky being the smaller of the Bantam family.”
Bantams – Silkie, Sultan or something else?
However, another correspondent suggests my hens might be Sultans, a breed originating in Turkey. Since a silkie hen has black flesh, much favoured as a gourmet treat in China, perhaps that’s how I shall eventually identify the breed…
Air sickness bags
It’s amazing what people collect. Surely one of the oddest items is air sickness bags, presumably unused. How do I know that people collect them?
Because recently there were eight offered for auction on ebay and the bidding rose progressively from 99p (my bid) to £74.72, that’s over £9 [Rs1,889; $ 13.95] a bag.
I’ve discovered too that there’s a website (www.airsicknessbags.com) for “barf bags” (as they’re called colloquially) which lists 2,687 bags for potential collectors to reach for, and 260 enthusiastic collectors (barf baggers?) around the world.
Air Ceylon bag part of the Lot
Why did I bid? Because one of the bags came from Air Ceylon and I am interested in items connected with the history of aviation in Sri Lanka. Air Ceylon began flying from Ratmalana Airport, now a domestic airport north of Colombo, in 1947, and from 1967 to 1978 operated from Bandaranaike International Airport. Then it ceased operations to re-emerge as Air Lanka which, in turn, became Sri Lankan.
Rare early airsickness bag
I guess an air sickness bag over 40 years old must be pretty rare, but I think I’ll stick to cheaper souvenirs of Sri Lanka.
Card Slot
(From 50 years ago. Issued by British grocers Seymour Mead & Co Ltd)
No. 23: PACKETING TEA
“In a modern tea warehouse the leaf is not touched by hand. It is blended in bulk in a large rotating drum. The blend is then tipped into an automatic weighing and packing machine where cams and levers clutch and shape pieces of paper into packets. The packets pass under nozzles through which the tea pours into them, then continue on to machinery which seals and labels. Finally, off they go on a conveyor belt to be parceled up and sent to grocers’ shops all over the country.”
This week’s good read
Read about life when Sir Cliff Richard and yours truly were young – and on the road together. Available from http://www.tomahawkpress.com or all the amazons as a really readable paperback. (ISBN 9780956683472).
If you want to share this weekly newsletter (and the photos) with others, the best way is to tell them to check the link: www.roystonellis.com/blog. I also write about Sri Lanka on:http://www.srilankatailormade.com/blog/
and on: http://www.thesrilankatravelblog.com
Beat regards
Royston
wünsche allen einen wunderschönen Sonntag Premasiri