Sunset Season
The sunset season is back, the photo above and the first one below being taken from our balcony this evening and the two others from Monday and Friday respectively. Gorgeous!
Steve
Remembrance Sunday
Sunday, 13th November 2022
I had enquired if there would be a remembrance service at the Commonwealth War Graves in Jawatte Cemetery and was told that there would be, starting at 10:45am to pause for the two minutes’ silence at 11:00am before continuing. The previous such services that I had joined were on Remembrance Sunday so I assumed this would be the case this year, too.
Rennie and I had spent the night beforehand at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel as reported in the previous blog post, so after enjoying breakfast together and leaving Rennie to finish hers, I walked home to get dressed for the service, collect Misa and head off. This we did, taking one of our usual tuk tuks from the rank nearby and within minutes were passing the Cenotaph war memorial at Viharamahadevi Park where we noticed the national service about to commence.
Not long afterwards we arrived at Jawatte, and as we alighted from the tuk tuk and walked through the entrance to the CWGC cemetery simultaneously noticed that there was nobody else there, no marquee and that wreaths were already placed around the memorial cross. It was immediately clear that this year’s service – the first one open to the public since 2019 – had been held on Remembrance Day itself; Friday 11th November. We had missed it by 48 hours.
After pausing for ten minutes to pay our silent respects, we climbed back in to the waiting tuk tuk and asked the driver to take us to the Cenotaph. My plan? To try and join the national service even though it was not open to the public and we weren’t invited. At the end of the ride I asked the driver to drop us at the Green Path, around the corner and out of sight from the memorial entrance and said to Misa “We are smartly dressed with poppies in place, so will walk like we are supposed to be here and won’t engage in conversation unless spoken to”. And we did. Straight past the heavy security and all its immaculately attired soldiers and their live weapons, straight up to the main entrance, and straight through the middle of it. We weren’t once challenged, but feeling that discretion was the better part of valour, decided to stand at the back and use our umbrellas to shield us from the intense sun.
Within a few minutes a major marched up to us, saluted and asked if we’d prefer to be seated? “That’d be lovely, was my reply” at which he beckoned for a junior NCO to come over and then said “you are English”, before telling us proudly of his time studying at Sandhurst Military Academy. We were then taken underneath the prime VIP canopy and seated in pole position in the front row – so in front of all the dignitaries and senior officers!
What an occasion, what a memory and what a way to remember those who died in the name of freedom before walking around the corner towards the Cinnamon Red hotel and jumping in to another tuk tuk for the ride home.
We were each boiled and then some, in my case to the degree that my jacket was soaked through from sweat, but what a privilege. He who dares.
Steve
Cheeky Staycation
12th and 13th November, 2022
Rennie had suggested the idea that we spend the night of 12th November at the Cinnamon Grand Hotel to make comfortable space for her Mum, Brother, his wife and their younger son Kuba who had recently arrived for a Sri Lankan holiday.
Through pressure of work I hadn’t booked it – and then in the evening of Friday 11th I received an email from the hotel that had been sent to all gym members, offering a heavily discounted rate that included this weekend. Result! Booked there and then, for the princely sum of about fifty quid we had bed and breakfast for the pair of us at this five star hotel.
A lovely staycation with leisurely breakfast after which I left to collect Misa and join the Remembrance Service, and Emi and Kuba went to join Rennie and enjoy the hotel until checkout.
Some things are meant to be.
Steve
Safari Supper
5th November, 2022
Fireworks would have been on the agenda for many in the UK, but in Sri Lanka it was dinner for Emi, Misa and Myself. Rennie was away for the weekend so we walked from home to the One Galle Face shopping, food and entertainment complex in search of dinner.
As usual I wanted to avoid too many carbs having lost 13Kg through diet and gym and liking to keep it that way, but given a completely free choice Emi fancied a pizza and Misa a Subway footlong sandwich – so a safari supprt was born. We went to The Pizza Bakery first for Emi, then Subway for Misa and then a Thai restaurant for myself where I chose a spicy chicken green curry and a small portion of rice.
Everyone was happy, even if it was a tuk tuk home in a torrential deluge rather than the walk that we had planned.
Steve
Lime and Mint
31st October, 2022
My favourite cold drink for quenching thirst and feeling good is lime and mint and nowhere makes it better than Chambers Restaurant in Park Street Mews. Truly delicious, and a perfect accompaniment to the Lebanese meal that I enjoyed, sitting outside with friends Aruna and Rajeev on a balmy evening.
A top tip is to request the sugar syrup be kept on the side, added to individual taste. Sri Lankans as a nation have a very sweet tooth but I prefer a touch of sharpness.
Steve
A memorable evening
29th October, 2022
The parents of one of Misa’s school friends hosted a fabulous evening that through the mix of invited guests and us all being seated around one huge table in the dining room of what was previously the US embassy, perfectly judged the transition from childhood to adulthood; three classmates and their families and the children’s history teacher, Miss Judith who is universally worshipped as mentioned previously on these pages.
Conversation included everyone naming the living person they would most like to take dinner with, and why; Miss Judith eloquently explaining why the stone age is her favourite era and how we have much to learn from it; Israeli and Palestinian politics; local politics; US politics; Brexit; much laughter on so many topics; and a game of Swedish Mafia (a whoddunit played whilst we were still at the dinner table).
Each guest joined in everything as equals and it was a joy to see the bond between everyone and the way the children navigated adoring Miss Judith and enjoying her company as adults, yet knowing that on Monday she would be their history teacher again; their hugs hello and goodbye were affectionate, yet appropriate. In short, the evening was one of international life’s privileges and an opportunity for intelligent social interaction that none of us will ever forget and that through the opportunity and the safe platform will be instrumental for young adults in their lives ahead.
The evening rounded off at midnight with all five children piling in to the back of a tiny Maruti Suzuki Estilo and heading off out of sight down the driveway as if going clubbing in to the wee hours! Yes, all five of them are on the back seat in the photo above!
Steve
Horse riding at Port City
With Emi’s birthday having fallen on 13th October whilst I was in Miami, it was agreed that she would go horse riding as a treat once I was back – so in the mid-afternoon on Sunday 16th October, we did.
Our friend Pavel and his son Max picked us up and we made the short drive to Port City; 269 hectares of man-made land reclaimed from the sea to lay the foundation quite literally for a huge vision, but currently a rocky and sandy construction site. Emi rides at Ceylon Riding Club that has just opened an impressive second stables here and this was our first experience of it.
The sea breeze makes a nice change for horses and humans alike and the long beach a pleasant change from the arena at the original location, at least until construction takes over in the years to come. Emi had an enjoyable ride on her favourite Valentina, and we an enjoyable time with her soaking up the occasion.
Steve
Spot the hungry leopard
Monday, 24th October 2022 at 07:08hrs IST
This image was captured with a powerful lens, but spotting the leopard first with the naked eye was impossible. We knew he was there because we’d seen him run, but it took methodical scanning with my camera and the ranger’s binoculars to find him.
Steve
Beira Lake cityscape
1st October, 2022
Following dinner at Chambers Restaurant and its fabulous Lebanese, Moroccan and Turkish-inspired cuisine we were heading home with our dear friend Rajeev when I noticed that after months of power cuts the Lotus Tower was illuminated. After depositing Rennie and the children, Rajeev and I returned to the nearby Beira Lake where I set up my equipment and took this image.
For the photographers: Canon R5 body with Canon EF 16-35mm f/4L IS USM lens and EF-RF adaptor. Benro carbon fibre tripod and Sirui gimbal.
The resultant image is a high dynamic range composite of five separate captures from minus three stops to zero in equal steps, merged in Adobe Lightroom.
Steve
School Awards Ceremony
Friday, 16th September 2022
Three years after the last such ceremony, children, staff and parents gatherered at Colombo’s Nelum Pokuna Theatre for the presentation of achievement awards.
We arrived at 09:15am under an azure sky to a resplendent-looking theatre and an excited buzz from the gathering throng outside, expectantly awaiting the doors to be opened. Opened in December 2011, the architecture of the building is inspired by the 12th-century Nelum Pokuna (lotus pond) in Polonnaruwa, and shaped as a stylised eight-petalled lotus flower. The surrounding trees contrasted with the high rise skyline, and an ornate part of the theatre with the brightly-lit moon.
The ceremony turned out to be a wonderful occasion, and for me personally a fitting occasion for my first time inside the theatre. A superbly well-run event bar a few unforseen power cuts, it had clearly been very well prepared from properly orchestrated implementation of the seating plan with thoroughly drilled prefects, through excellent speeches and the well-drilled double act of the two prefects who ran proceedings, to the excellent band and and clockwork presentation of many awards. Nothing seemed to drag; it all just flowed bar the power cuts of a few minutes’ duration each time.
The chemistry of the mentioned prefects who ran proceedings from a pair of lecterns on opposing sides of the stage was lovely; not only in timing and cadence but their obvious pride in each other. We were proud of Misa and Emilka and not just the energy with which they went to collect their awards, but the pride in their appearance and behaviour on collecting them from the Guest of Honour, Mr. Mayan Narendran, a former pupil of the school and successful entrepreneur.
What was also lovely, was experiencing a reminder that despite all the trouble and strife we read about globally, the world has immensely talented and respected teachers and likewise students too; clean sweeps of ‘A’s and ‘A*’s at IGCSE and A level speaks to that, and likewise the list of top universities across the globe that A level students are moving on to.
Also recognised were the fifteen members of staff with unbroken long service of between 15 and 28 years, some of whom such as the Head of Security go back to Day One of the original school at its original location. Listening to the Executive Principal’s words brought to life the role that they play in the fabric of the school that goes far beyond what we see with an email to the Head of Finance or the friendly greeting from the receptionist as you walk up the main steps; always smiling and always helpful. You’ll see them all in a line towards the end of the photos below.
Amongst those who we caught up with after the ceremony was the children’s favourite teacher; they love and worship her as you can see in the penultimate photograph below and leaving her when we return to live in the UK will be hard. She has an incredible gift for her profession that comes to life thanks to hours and hours of painstaking preparation, an energetic and engaging delivery, and seeing each pupil as the individual who they are. The respect that she has earned from them is off the scale, and if you wonder why Emi and Misa now have such an interest in history – He to the degree that we even planned part of our motorcycle holiday around it – in her you have the answer.
Those who can, teach.
Steve
