Cheese Wadai aka cheese cake or cheese tikka

Talk about food inventions. This is a delicious snack I found at “The Manchester” an English Pub attached at the hip to Agra the Indian restaurant down Independence Avenue. And I guess the only English pub in the world which serves chicken tikka and other Indian food as part of its menu. I was having a drink with HF when he ordered this dish. I was quite perplexed when I heard him order cheese cake for a bite. Noticing the weird look I was giving him he said wait and see knowingly. What came to the table looked like a wadey and felt like a wadey. But when you bit into it thick melted cheese oozed out mixed with Indian flavors as they had added some of the ingredients which they put into wadey adding spicy highlight to the creaminess of the cheese. It was quite literally like magic on my tongue. And at this point I have run out of words to describe how lovely it felt even though I would have liked to wax eloquent about it for a couple more pages. Well if you have not tried it yet all I can say is go do it. It is well worth a visit. That’s all I can say.

Gymnastys – the battle of the fits.

Sometimes a plain piece of paper can set off a revolt. That is exactly what happened at the gym I have been frequenting for the past eight years. This piece of paper I am referring to took the form of a letter which was given to all the trainers who were working there. It said that effect from the following Monday all PT (Personal Training) would be canceled.
This action was a result of a problem which has been brewing for a long time. Of course the culprit was none other than PT itself.
You see all the trainers who worked at the gym were allowed to carry out PT sessions during their off times. With each hours session costing about a thousand rupees PT became the main mode of income of these trainers.
And therein lay the problem.
It was more profitable for the trainers to steer clients towards Personal Training instead of helping them to work out on their own with the assistance of the trainers that were on duty. It was a vicious cycle. If the trainers on duty did their job well then they would lose the larger income they made from Personal Training. The reality of life is that no one wanted to loose money. So most of the time people who came to the gym to work out on their own steam and did not have the luxury of a personal trainer found themselves left high and dry without anyone to show them the ropes or help them. This meant that they felt unhappy and marginalized. To add to the misery clients who used the trainers for lessons during their off times encouraged them to carry out Personal Training even when they were on duty.
Very soon the gym got a reputation as a place suitable only for those who can afford personal training.
The reality was that most members resorted to Personal Training as they had no alternative. I know this first hand because I too was one such member. The costs of fees add up to a significant amount over time and I know a lot of people who consider this expense grudgingly.
One would have expected most of the members to welcome the cancelling of PT with open arms.
But that was not what happened.
The news that PT was cancelled spread like wild fire. Since there had been no official announcement or dialogue between the members and the management - and with the interested parties adding fuel to the fire - everyone was outraged. They felt that their rights had been violated.
No one realized that this new rule would be beneficial to them in the long run.
The members were so outraged that they called the owner of the gym and complained. This resulted in the decision of the Management of the gym to cancel PT being over ruled by the owner.
Creating a huge embarrassment for the management. As well as a lot of unnecessary expenditure for the members.
I can’t help but think the outcome would have been different if this situation had been handled with a little more tact and more open communication between the management the staff and the members. Instead all that has happened is that have arrived at yet another new turn of the vicious cycle.

Texts from a dog...

You have to own a dog to truly appreciate how accurate these text from a dog are. I found these on the internet and HAD to post these on here so I could access them whenever I wanted to for a quick lift me up. I lift my hat up to whoever who had the creative wisdom to come up with such a unique thought.
There is also an interesting interview here with Dog the main character featured in these text messages. He has his own Tumblr page too.

The Faulty towers dining experience… well worth the experience though not the dining experience.

Well this was a post which was dying due to procrastination.
This event happened a long time ago and I never got down to writing anything about it just because I could not be bothered. Very soon it was way too late to write about it as it had lost its relevance.
But I heard that Mount Lavinia Hotel was bringing the Australian Theater company down once more to host the Faulty Towers Dining experience from the 05th to the 08th June. Hence the resurrection of this post nearly a month after Easter.
Bollocks!
That was my first reaction when I saw a poster that a bunch of Aussies were trying to reenact the famous British Comedy “Fawlty Towers” in Colombo. How on earth would they manage the British accent was the first question which ran through my mind. Even though seeing an iconic British comedy done in an Australian accent does seem kind of funny – specially after a couple of drinks – it was not my cup of tea.
One should not judge a book by its cover. Or rather a theater production from the country of origin as is the case maybe in this instance.
This was the lesson I learnt when news started filtering in from various people what a wonderful time they had at this event. In fact they had two extra matinee shows as well. Which were all sold out by the time I rushed to the MLH to get my tickets. Fortunately for me TE managed to use her contacts and get two tickets for me.
All I can say is thank goodness that I did not miss it. It was absolutely wonderful and the spouse and myself had a lovely time.
Firstly it is not your conventional theater experience. There is no stage or set or lights. You just walk into a dining area where tables and chairs are set up. In fact at first we thought we were in the wrong place. You take your seats and the waiters come and start serving you various little snacks and drinks. Suddenly you see a familiar figure hobbling along. And you realize it is Manuel the waiter from the TV series. It is only then that it dawns on you the show has begun. Very soon Mr and Mrs Fawlty walk in and your are transported into a different world. To a different dining room to be honest. The dining room of the original Fawlty Towers to be precise. Here you will be served a meal by Mr and Mrs Fawlty and Manuel of course you get to experience all the accompanying drama just like the people in the TV Show.
After a few minutes you can’t help but believe you are in the real TV show. The Characters are amazingly realistic. There accents are pure British. And the cast interact with everyone in the audience and you are writhing in laughter at their antics. Only about one third of the show is scripted so the actors make things up on the way which makes everything absolutely unpredictable and an enormous amount of fun.
The reason why I am writing this review so late is that you might make the same assumptions I did when hearing of this event and miss it. It is well worth the money you spend. The only fly in the ointment? The food- which was absolutely pathetic.

Interesting Artwork by Prageeth Manohansa

I was fascinated by these bold confident strokes when I saw them at the Gallery Cafe. Of course these were taken night months ago though I am only sharing them on here only now. Kudos to Prageeth Manohansa for this work.

                                      

Imprisoned by freedom.

They stepped into another life

The moment they got out of the plane..

No prying eyes… no wagging tongues… no responsibilities….

Even if it was just for a limited time..

They were free…

Free to walk hand in hand…

Free to sit beside one another and enjoy a meal

Free to laugh together

…as only lovers would

And before they knew it

they had to return.

To reality

To responsibility

To the rigidity that life imposes

All they had to hold onto

Were the memories

So wonderful... so lovely

They were prisoners of it.

There is a difference between “Buth” and “Rice”

The way the Sinhala language keeps evolving is amazing. How one word that means the same can have two completely different meaning at street level is something which never ceases to surpirse me. For instance if you walk into a road side food kiosk and ask for tea they give you tea made with milk and sugar but if you ask for “t(h)ey” – the Sinhalese word for tea – then it means a plain cup of tea without any milk.
Now it seems there is another new phenomenon. This time it is to do with our staple diet Rice.
If one goes to a roadside boutique and orders a “rice” then it means a fried rice while if they order a “buth” – Sinhalese word for rice – then it means the traditional rice and curry.
I can see you going huh!!! Yes that was my first response as well.