Refreshingly Sri Lanka and Chinese New Year

Happy Chinese New Year and GONG XI FA CAI!!!

Yes! It's that time of the year again when we celebrate this auspicious event! Ang Pau (Red Packets), Food, Fireworks and Fire Crackers, Family and friends... woo hoo!

And I know... I've posted the last 2 posts and the few posts before the last one... But hey! you guys should be posting more stuff! Also, I'm a bit worried this post will not go up for a while because I already have a busy schedule set for the 1st 2 weeks back in Melbourne.

It's the first day of CNY today and I've just got back from visiting my grandma's place where my extended families congregate on the 1st day. I don't think i have fully digested the massive quantity of food served yesterday during the CNY eve Reunion Dinner. (It's a tradition for families to come together to have a feast a day prior to the CNY celebrations - though some don't follow this tradition anymore due to their busy careers and stuff... its kinda sad).

It is also the year of the RABBIT (I'm a TIGER and I eat RABBITS). Now its a common mistake that people follow their Chinese zodiac based on the Roman Calendar, it is bas

ed on the Chinese Lunar Calendar, so as long as your were born before the first day of CNY, you belong to the zodiac of the year before... Comprendo?

There's also a story behind the Chinese Zodiac which i don't remember... And a story for Chinese New year which I remembered by reading a comic during my Primary Chinese School period.

Before I move on to my Sri Lanka story, I just want to wish all of you a Very Auspicious and Prosperous Chinese New Year!!!

Also, always remember the importance of family! No matter how busy we get with our lives, we should always try our best to spend time with those who love and raised us.

Ok... Next up....

ReFrEsHinGLy... SRI LANKA

A BIG BIG Thank You again to Stephanie De Mel and her family for hosting me in Sri Lanka. It was the first time I traveled overseas alone to visit a someone that I have met in

Australia... in a tram (But she couldn't remember sadly.)

I almost missed my flight to Sri Lanka because of some malfunction with the airport monitor... Ran to the plane when I heard "Last Call, Flight AK ### to Colombo for Mr. Roland Tee"... After 3 hrs 30 mins of flight... I arrived safely in the Airport and got picked up by Steph and her Dad (Mr. Ashanta De Mel)... at about 7:30am? can't remember. Then went to her home and met her Mom (Mrs. Julia De Mel) and her sister Daniella aka. DaniC (Daniella De Mel), also her grandmother whom I call Grandie/dy.

Btw... you guys should meet DaniC whom I know will also be reading this blog... she's adorable and cool at the same time! How is that even possible!

I was looking forward to meeting the family which our Pink Crazed Creature Stephanie grew up with. It didn't disappoint... Steph has bits and pieces of every person in her family... except for the Lizard Fearing Part which continues to puzzle everyone, even her best friend Suhaila. I won't spoil the details of her family to you guys cause I'm sure you will have a chance to meet her awesome family one day.

FOOD

Being a Malaysian, and I'm sure all M'sian and M'sian wannabes will agree that, food of utmost importance in out life. The De Mel family made sure that I was filled to the brink every time we went for meals. I was NEVER hungry or was deprived of the awesome Sri Lankan, I think I put weight on some weight too. Favourite food: String Hoppers with all the yummy dips and sambol and everything... mmm mmmm....

the Sri Lankan Curry Crab was AMAZING too... finger lickin good... oooo all the seafood.... *faint*

I also had Milk Hoppers and Walapanna and curd and i dunno heaps of sweet food... man it was good... Not forgetting the Tamali? (King Coconut) Juice that I got off from king coconut trees at Steph's Grandma's lakehouse...

Oh... I also had the privilege to taste something our undomesticated Steph makes (nahz she's pretty domesticated XD)... Acharu! Its a spicy sour dish... Pineapple/Ambarella/Mango mixed with... Pepper, Vinegar, Chilli powder and salt (did I get the recipe right?)... you can leave it over night and it'll taste much juicier... apparently the salt will release the juice in the pineapple pieces... it is yummmm....

I am not gonna be able to share all the food experiences here... but it is definitely Yummy-Mummy!!!

TRAVELS

I had a lot of fun travelling both with the two sisters and the whole family... Great FUN watching stuff going on outside the vehicle and INSIDE as well... First off was a trip to Galle (pronounced as Gall as in Gall Bladder). Galle is a coastal town Southeast-ish of Colombo. It faces the Indian Ocean and was previously affected by the Boxing Day Tsunami few years ago... Today it has been rebuilt and bustling again with locals and tourist.

We took a walk along part of the Galle Fort. It was built by the Portuguese almost 400 years ago as a defense for the Galle which as functioning as a trading post back then. There were alot of Muslim traders back then which gave rise to a small Muslim community there and couple of Muslim institutes. It is a pretty big fort and well maintained too... also crawling with stalking creatures like... crabs... and goats....

The Galle Fort (Remember... Gallbladder... Galle)

A cricket stadium was also built beside the Galle Fort... OMG CRICKET talking about that... the Cricket World Cup is coming up and its hosted by India and Sri Lanka... man.... people over here are cricket crazy... plus they are playing the Cricket World Cup Song... OVER... and OVer... and Over....... and over.... again on the radio... IT WAS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!!

Ahem... yes... back to Galle, we also stopped by the Lighthouse Hotel which was designed by a famous Sri Lankan architect who conceptualised his designs from nature like Rocks and Timber etc... The architect also design a world famous staircase which I could not take a photo off due to my shitty camera which could not flash.... anyway... It was really cool.... The hotel also can a beautiful view of the sea and you could see the light house far off in the sea... clearer at night... After that we went to have seafood for lunch and I had SHARK meat...

Scenery from the Lighthouse Hotel

The next day, Uncle Ashanta drove the family and I up the mountains for some cool air and a look at Sri Lanka's famed tea plantations... The road was windy and the trip was long but it was worth it...It looked very similar to Cameron highlands of Malaysia...The air was fresh and cool and foggy... so mystical... We also took a tour of a tea factory and had some tea... We stayed over night the Hill's Club wish was a cool English colonial club house. It was really good to get away from the heat of Colombo!

Tea Plantation

Last but not least and my favorite place during the trip was Steph's Grandma's Lake house... The scenery was breathtaking... I had the chance to look at the birds which Uncle Ashanta was crazy about... had tamali... Also the Crab curry there... and Guitar Hero....and friendly geckos... and BBQ.... and a guard dog named Kai who killed 7 monkeys and 1 goat... The view was even more beautiful during sun set... but i didn't take a photo of it... silly me yes yes... I could just stay there for 1 week.... and forget about all my concerns in life.... Also I got the chance to meet up with one of Steph's best friend... Suhaila and her husband Ishki... very cute couple and a very nice girl... Also met up with Steph's other close friends... Kyle, Jithain and Rajeet... plus Rajeet's Malaysian friend whose name i cannot remember...

Scenery from the Lakehouse

Ok I think my posts are getting too long... and yes I have received complaints that my posts are too long... so Many many apologies!!! I have left out a lot of details already...

Just want to end by saying that I had a wonderful time in Sri Lanka... I had no stress whatsoever.... a break that I needed so badly.. away from med school and hospital attachments.... and of course to spend some time with Stephanie De Mel who we may not be seeing that often anymore...It was great spending time with her and her cool sister DaniC and parents Uncle Ashanta and Auntie Julia... the only thing that I was upset with her is that she did not attempt to foil my return flight back to KL!!!

and... That's all from me peeps!!!

SOMEONE ELSE PLEASE POST SOMETHING!!!

PS. I will be back in Melbourne on the 6th of Feb 2011

Roland Tee