Friday brought the fun of another Independence Night and with it, four weeks passed in a heartbeat since the last one when we had the great pleasure of my father joining-in.

This time we went to the Barracuda Sea Food & Grill on the beach at the Colombo district of Dehiwala, and accessed with care from Marine Drive by crossing the railway tracks; with the tracks dividing the road from the beach along the entire stretch of 5 miles, there is no other way.

My friend Mehmet took a bottle of Ouzo and myself one of gin – but it was with hilarity that we realised that each of us had disguised them in carrier bags from Glitz, a fashion house frequented by our respective daughters!

Steve