Want to loose a couple of kilos real fast?

I see lots of bloggers going through loads of pain trying to fight the battle of the bulge. Well let me share a secret which has been quite helpful to me. It is called low carb. The most extreme version of it which is known as Atkins. But you can customize it to what fits your requirements most.

But the basic of the low carb diet is that you cannot eat carbs or sugar. But you can eat things with natural fat and meats and fish and you can eat it in quantities which will fill you up. You dont have to watch your calories, Which is the best thing.

But when one talks about sugar it also means high sugar fruits which are mangos, bananas and stuff.

Now the first thing when you are trying to go low carb you realise that what little choice we have in our culture. For instance our diets revolve around starch based food.

You might think that it would also be hard to give up starches. But amazingly it is not as hard as one would imagine. I consider myself a "Buth Gulla" and thought I would find it difficult and for the first few days it was. But it was not as bad as I thought it would be.

Mainly because I felt tons better after shifting to low carb. No more feeling sleepy after meals. In fact you are full of energy and there are no more hunger pangs inbetween.

Though I did realise that I was feeling weak at the gym and was feeling a lack of energy. But now I have found the perfect balance. That is eat a load of carbs before workout. As I workout in the morning I have carbs for breakfast. And just a yoghurt cup of red rice with meats and veges for lunch and only meat and salad for dinner. And so far the going has been good.

A lot of people say loads of things about low carb but I found that it really helps me not only to loose weight but to give an overall sense of well being.

Buying what you paid for?

No this is not the usual attention grabing headline those of us in the advertising industry are prone to write. For once it is actually the truth! A intriguing situation which I found myself in this week.

My kids were conducting a fundraising sale in church. They were all quite enthusiastic about it. Of course this meant we had to buy the items for them and eventually buy it back once more at the sale. The good news was it was a real bargain! We had to pay much lower than what we paid for it in the first place.

A good example of this was my daughters decided that they were going to sell cakes. So we bought plain butter cake for 170 bucks a slab (I think). Then I believe at least another one hundred odd rupees of value addition was added cos the kids decided to decorate it using up all the butter in the house to mix their icing. Anyway I would say the actual cost of the cake without factoring in labor was a good 250/- And guess what they sold it for 100/- he he now thats what I call a great bargain. There was more stuffsuch as cookies and cards and little bags (30/-) which were great christmas gifts all at amazing prices. My wife ended up buying all the christmas cards which were made at home because she could not afford to part with them. Pun intended. Next time there is a such a sale I am going to post about it on my blog you can really pick up a bargain at these things.

Degradation of a Hero!

I can't believe my eyes how the powers that be are treating the General Sarath Fonseka. This is giving me new insight into the minds of politicians. And I don't like what I am seeing.
How can the powers that be use some one and then spit him out as if he is a useless bone. When their very existence depended on the work he has carried out?
What really got to me is how Mad Mervin has organised a demonstration against the general on Friday. I call this impunity.
One of the few reasons Merv has not been shot like he deserves is because of the security which was brought about by the general.
I am sure the General knows what he is doing. But I fear the same fate awaits for him as Janaka Perera.
I am not a fan of the general. In fact it is quite the opposit. But I am grateful for what he did. I am greatful that now I am not tense till my children get home from school every day. That I don't have to heave a sigh of relief everytime I leave the World Trade Center because it was not attacked.
Infact I think it is laughable that in his letter of resignation he has spoken about Media freedom when all of us know he was one of the people who was instrumental in supressing the media. But then I realized we don't live in a democracy anymore. Infact I think we should call it a hypocracy.

Who is the animal?

Remember a couple of weeks back there was a huge uproar about one of sri lanka's leading Blue chips trying to poison or shoot the stray dogs outside their offices down Vauxhall Street. Well actually it was a lie. A peon having a laugh with a lady who worked their. This unleashed a whole chain of events which lead to the chairman of this company fielding calls from the press and informing everyone how all this was a lie.
Wait! Before you close this page in exasperation let me tell you there is an ugly truth in the background to this sordid tale. That is why everyone believed that it was quite possible the businessman who is the single largest share holder of this company is quite capable of doing this. Because he has actually done this! Not once but twice before. Yes I am talking about good old HJ. The short little turd has actually got the stray dogs outside two of his companies killed by feeding them poison. When I heard this a couple of weeks back I was absolutely flabbergasted! Because according to Sri Lankan Law you cannot kill dogs at your whim and fancy. But then we know in our country the law is only for those who cannot afford to break it.
I did not have much respect for this man from day one anymay. This kind of act makes me question his species? Sadly to call him a dog would be disrespecting the dead.

A new appreciation for life.

When my blog got its second life I thought I should make a post at least once a day.

The main reason I did this was that I always found myself stuck for words when wanting to write something and thought this would be great discipline. And with time the drips of words would turn into a gigantic torrent and soon I would be submerged in a sea of words. A regular Stephen King.

Sadly that was not to be. I still feel like a constipated ass (pun intended) every time I sit and stare at this blank screen. However my efforts in blogging has brought in an additional benefit.

A new appreciation for life.

My days tend to be an endless whirl! One big blur. But now that I am thinking of things to write about I have become more conscious of what’s going on. I am beginning to appreciate the ups and downs of life far more than before.. Making mental notes of how I feel and emotions that flicker through my mind as I go about my day.

In fact I am taking time to sit back and smell the roses. And of course end up getting my fingers bloodied on the thorns. But it’s all good!

Another great quote

"There's no progress without laziness! Because people were too lazy to row they invented the steamship; because they were too lazy to walk they invented the automobile; and because they were too lazy to close their eyes in the evening they invented television."

Reflections of the German novelist Manfred Hausmann (1898-1986) on the subject of progress

Travels and Travails of Lunugamwehera

It was with great anticipation we left Colombo on our trip to the Weheragala Bungalow Lunugamwehera. We had anticipated a five hour drive. But somehow it took us over seven hours to get to the bungalow and another hour from the main gate to get our bungalow. The park is beautiful and the bungalow was in one of the most scenic locations one could imagine. It is set on the bund of a damn overlooking this huge vista of water. We were thrilled when we got out. We were tired and hungry as we were planning to have lunch when we arrived. And we had not anticipated the delay.

So it was an absolute disappointment when the bungalow keeper told us that the bungalow has no water. Oh joy!

This is one of the most expensive bungalows which belong to the wild life ministry. It even has a generator. A well has been dug but no pump has been installed so that the water can be pumped in. So there was water all around us but not one drop to drink or have a shower.

My guests were furious. This was the first time that they have experienced being the guests of the government. And the wonder of the beauty of the location was quickly deteriorating due to the lack of facilities. It seemed that the water had to be transported to the bungalow by Bowser and then pumped into the tank for the occupants to use. And no one has informed the authorities that we were coming. So there was no water and both drivers of the bowser had been sent on leave to enjoy the long weekend.

Everyone was tired and angry. Firstly it meant that we could not have the showers we were looking forward too. Next living in a bungalow without water for two nights was virtually impossible specially with kids around. And it was bloody frustrating to get a call out, Because though our dialog phones showed full signal the calls were not getting connected. Since it was past four anyway most of the people were not answering the phone.

But after much trying we managed to get through to the Assistant Director who told us that he could give us the bowser if we wouldn’t mind driving it and getting the water. Fortunately for us MDZ who was with us took up the challenge.

It was sad that the chaps at the main gate had not warned us about the lack of water because then we could have made arrangements then and their without having wasted two hours travelling up and down to the bungalow. But then this proves my point that those who work for the government our utter morons not even capable of digging their own nose. In fact I am ashamed to say that both my parents were government servants.

So we drive back one whole hour back to the entrance take over the truck and fill it up with Diesel from Thanamal villa (or titty flower pond as my friend YP likes to call it) then drive this monstrous truck all the way to the lunugamwehera water plant and fill it up and drive it all the way back to the bungalow. We managed to get to the water station five minutes before they shut down and filled the bowser with 3800 litres of water. And with great relief we arrived at our bungalow three hours later having driven about 50 miles extra. Apparently the cost of the water was only 300 bucks but we did go through a couple of thousand rupees worth of effort to get it.

By the time we got back we were delighted to see the officers at the army base which is virtually on the premises of the bungalow had sent water for the kids to have their wash.

We thought all our frustrations were over when the water dilemma was solved. But that was not the case. Firstly the water pressure was not sufficient for the showers to work in the upstairs toilets which were decorated in a garish blue with a bright green plastic door. In fact I believe the toilets had the cheapest fittings possible. The downstairs toilet door had a hole with a siri siri bag for where the handle should be.

So after all that trouble we could not enjoy a shower but instead had to pour water on ourselves the old fashioned way using a bucket and bowl. Also we realized that only one caretaker was there instead of the usual two. And it was quite obvious the poor soul could not cook. Fortunately for us our tracker turned out to be a wonderful cook and took charge of the meals which turned out to be truly awesome. When we thought there were no more obstacles which we could face it began to rain. And the rain was beating inside on to the beds as well. Once again the reed thats had been ordered but not delivered as of yet. Fortunately for us the rain susbsided to a constant drizzle and we did not get wet.

After all that adventure a good drink was the order of the day followed by a late dinner which was awwsome. Somehow once you had three shots warming your belly the frustrations we had gone through were a distant memory and the charm of the place began to grow on us. There was mild moon light so the entire place was beautifully lit and a constant breeze was brushing our skin. However in the night it became downright cold and I was wondering if I should move into a room instead of moving into the verandah.

Well the morning dawned and we were rudely awakened to extremely loud bana emanating from the army barracks. What we realized was that there were two additional negatives about this particular bungalow one was the army barracks which was virtually in the same compound. The troops tend to yell and shout and play the merry devil during the afternoon in addition to broadcasting extremely loud “bana” every morning. Also the bund is a stopping point for day visitors who can see into the bungalow. This is absolutely no fun if you are wanting the solitude some of the other wild life bungalows provide.

But overall it was an adventurous excursion. The park is beautiful even though we did not see many elephants and in the end we enjoyed ourselves even though the service was bad. And if I had the chance to visit this bungalow again with all the short comings? Sadly the answer is YES!

Lunugamwehera Pictures