off to Kuala Lumpur

I'm sure Rachel didn't think I would really join her when she asked if I wanted to come to the Philippines, but I sure was glad I decided to go for it. I've been having good days lately and loving being in Sri Lanka, but still I miss hanging with my dear friends. In fact, when I thought about seeing Rach during my flight to Kuala Lumpur/KL (I needed to spend a night there before going to Manila), I started tearing up :).
I had never been to KL before, and I didn't realize how cosmopolitan that city is. I'm ashamed to admit, but my heart started beating faster when I saw starbucks at the airport. I made a bee line for a nice soy latte, and this is how my sweet relationship with coffee started again after not having any for the last three months. After spending a couple of hours in China town negotiating the price for a fake Lacoste shirt (I got pretty good at doing this after living in Sri Lanka. Walking away like I don't give a damn when they give you an outrageous price is the key), I headed out to Little India to walk around. There, people are watching the World cup game as the street vendors had huge TVs set up. I was standing to watch the game, but there was this guy who insisted that I sat down. So I did. He ordered two orange juice and chapatis for me, which I insisted that I didn't want since I just ate in China town. He paid for everything, and I thought...this doesn't seem right. I wasn't sure if he was just being nice or wanted something else. Turned out that he wanted to bet against me on the game! I felt bad about not having a good reason to decline his offer after eating all the free food, so I lied saying that my parents asked me never to gamble. Told him about my mom being dead etc. I don't know why I said that, but that's what came out of my mouth. When I told him that I needed to go, he wanted to know where I was going and if he could come along. I ended up lying again saying that I have to meet my husband. LOL! You see things a woman needs to do when she travels alone...ha ha. will write about the philippines next!

wherever I go, I find something I love to eat

Happy 1st anniversary of the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka! It's a national holiday today. It actually ended in May last yr, but the celebration was postponed until June due to heavy rain/flood happended last month.

So...The food in Sri Lanka is simple (meaning I can tell what's in it. Not overly processed) and delicious. Fruits here are like candies to me. I've been eating papayas everyday as they are much sweater than the ones I can find in Seattle. Cheaper too, of course.
I was just making a quick stop at my hostel after the morning tea break, and the matron of the hostel stopped me to have a jak fruit with her. It is apparently the jak fruit season (they produce fruits mostly from May to Sept) It's a big fruit with hard skin which you crack open to get the sweet meat inside (you can see the guy opening a jak fruit in the pic above). We have the tree on the premises of the Sarvodaya headquarter, so this is as fresh as it can get. It's often used for curry too, but the one we had today was sweet enough to eat as dessert. Jak fruit is supposed to be good for bowel movement, digestion, and diabetes. The tree bark is used for fractures and sprains too.

My favorite thing to eat here so far is buffalo curd with kethul treacle. The curd is really rich because water buffalo milk is fattier than the regular milk. Probably not good for my arteries, but I can care less...Kethul is a palm tree (see the pic of it) that produces large clusters of hanging flowers. The sap is collected from the flowers and boiled down to make the treacle. It tastes like maple syrup only that it's better, and it goes so well with the curd. I've been thinking about making french toasts to eat with the treacle. It will be heavenly.
I also drink coconut water pretty much everyday. Lots of stores have a pile of king coconuts (tambili)up front, and they cut the coconut open as I order it. It's supposed to keep the body cool and boost the immune system, and I'm convinced that this will keep me healthy during my stay. It's just so refreshing after walking around under the burning sri Lankan sun and being saffocated by nasty polluted air..
Oh I also love egg hoppers too. I will write about it later...

Sinharaja Forest Reserve aka a leech land

I went to Deniyaya (down South) for a hike in Sinharaja Forest Reserve last weekend. The bus ride to get there was 6 hr long one way, a really bumpy, packed bus ride. I mentally prepared myself for this, but the journey was not as horrid as I anticipated. Many vendors came on to sell things like magazines, toys, handkerchiefs, apples, posters of Buddha, etc etc. At one point, we had a guy singing with tambourines. Just watching people was entertaining. We also made a stop at a service station to replace one of the tires too. I wanted them to check on the break too, but apparently they weren't worried about it as much as I did.
I managed to sleep some until we got to Galle which is about 3 hrs into our trip. In Galle, we passed the town where the train was derailed by Tsunami in 2004. 1500 people are killed by this incident. Reminded me that the country is still in recovery.
Sinharaja Forest Reserve was very dense and lush. Did I think it was worth taking a six hour bus ride? Not sure, to be honest. I didn't get to see any animals (I see more in Moratuwa where I live), but it was interesting to learn about the ayurvedic use of different plants.
The forest was full of leeches, and they are aggressive! They climbed up my shoes and tried to get into my pants(!), really. I actually had one on my back at one point. (in the pic, the tiny black thing on my shirt is a leech)I was lucky that it didn't bite me though, phew.

stray dogs and puppies

Stray dogs are everywhere in Sri Lanka. They are as common as Buddha statues on the street, and those statues are everywhere like Starbucks is in downtown Seattle. Those stray dogs are usually very docile, and they don't bother me at all. But there are three dogs that decided to torture me by barking like crazy. The worst thing of all, they just happen to hang around the meditation center where I really really want to go. I don't know what to do with them. I should have paid more attention when I watched Dog Whisperer.
During the second week here, I was volunteering for the women's movement unit. They have two dogs living in a shack in the back of the office bldg, and one of them just had six puppies. Absolutely adorable ones too. The thing is the mom looks too skinny to feed six hungry babies, and the only food she seems to get is the left over from my lunch. The office orders packed lunch for me, and it's usually a simple fare of dhal, some kinds of veggies, sambol etc...for 70 LKR (Sri Lankan Rupees), which is about 62 cents. The mom is usually waiting for me to finish with her tail wagging. You can imagine the pressure put on me to leave as much food as possible for the mom and puppies...

the first three weeks in Taprobane

I started the first week in Sri Lanka feeling like "what the hell have I done to myself to come here? " My sister reminded me that I said the same exact thing when I moved to the states and UK....apparently I never learn the lesson. It usually gets interesting after the first week though...after the initiation phase. Everything was just a bit too intense at first.

It's the third week now. I can actually say that I have gotten somewhat acclimated to Sri Lanka style. The noise and heat/humidity don't bother me as much.

Mosquitoes still love me. I was reading about dengue fever, aka break-bone disease, on CDC's website (as I was listening to Dengue Fever, ha ha) because my friend, Joy (volunteer from UK) told me about her friend who got it twice in Sri Lanka...apparently symptoms get worse every time. Gotta put Deet on at all times.
I also got used to being stared at constantly like I'm the most exciting thing on this earth... kinda annoying, but how often do I get this much attention anyway?? I might as well enjoy it while it lasts.

I had a very first Sinhalese language lesson tonight. My teacher, Yamuna, is such a patient lady. My memory and pronunciation are horrible. I think I entertained her by butchering her beautiful language. I'm going to villages in South with the people I work with in a couple of weeks, so I'm hoping to learn basic phrases. We shall see if that's possible...