Sco(r)ned!!!!

I was shaking with anticipation in a beautiful tea house in Vienna. Maybe it was lust?

I was going to be eating my first scone!
The fact that they were serving scones triggered a flood of memories. Of me devouring Enid Blyton books and thinking how delicious this thing called scones must be. Be it fantastic four. Or famous five or the secret seven scones was a delicacy which was featured in every volume. So much so that I had created a mental image - the phrase mental fantasy would be more apt here - of hot scones with cream and strawberry jam as something heavenly. Something so delicious that it would melt in my mouth and make me quiver with its delightful tastes.
My excitement grew to fever pitch when they brought the scones ensconced in a crisp white napkin. I was quite literally shivering in anticipation as I felt it's warmth in my hand while applying a dollop of cream and Jam on it.
As my hands lifted this morsel of divine goodness to my lips I closed my eyes in anticipation of the closest thing to a food orgasm I was going to experience.
What an anticlimax it was.
It tasted nothing like I expected it to be. It was dry and hard and clumpy and if not for the cream and jam completely unpalatable.
Thinking this negative experience was a one off I have tried scones at several other places but everyone of them could be described as eating brittle cardboard with cream and jam.
What a buzz kill. Guess certain fantasies should remain just that... A fantasy.

Bra-vo!

Wow! It has been over a month since I have posted something on here. As far as I am concerned there is no better way to start my first post for the new year with a subject which has been titillating the entire country for far too longer than necessary.
The dark cloud of global negative publicity which seemed to have spread to each and every corner of the world concerning our presidents statement about bras and whipping with sting ray tails seems to have a silver lining after all. I was talking to a gentleman whose business is contracting A list performers the other day.He told me that suddenly Sri Lanka is on the radar of these performers. All thanks to this negative publicity. In fact someone from JLO's management team had expressed interest in performing in Sri Lanka as a direct result of this situation.
Bra-vo Mr President! Bra-vo!
I must confess I went for the concert because I was the lucky recipient of two VIP tickets. Yes the organizing of the event could have been done much better and the security could have been tighter. My heart bleeds for those who paid 35,000 bucks for their tickets to have their privileged position usurped by a bung of ruffians.
Yes I don't think Live events deserves the kind of beating they are getting from all of sundry. Which to me is taking the shape of a witch hunt.
I have contacts in the entertainment industry and what my trusted sources tell me was that the late start was beyond their control. One was because some of the sound equipment was flown in only that morning. And the other because the entire lighting and stage set up had to be reassembled as the specs the local crew were working with was different to what the advance crew had with them.
Also this entire furore over taxes: it is standard industry practice! You never give 100% of your tickets to the CMC for stamping. Firstly you don't know how many tickets you will sell. Secondly it is going to affect your cash flows significantly since you have to pay. And most importantly thirdly no one wants to be faced with the challenge of trying to get money out of an absolutely corrupt government institution.
My sincere hope is that this will not be the final nail in coffin of Live Events. They deserve another chance.

Amazing value for money

It was a rainy night… I had two hours to kill and I wanted to be around Colombo. So I decided to head over to another one of my favourite hangouts White & Co on marine drive. I love that place. The food is good the coffee is excellent but I have also found that it offers the best value for money in relation to some of the other locations I visit regularly. I must confess I nearly hit the floor when I got my bill that day. The total was slightly under 1200/- which was amazingly low for the amount of stuff I have consumed. During my two hours I had two excellent cappuccinos, a large rocket salad and a tomato soup – which were all delicious by the way. I never thought that the bill would be so low. I also realized one reason for this was because the prices stated on the menu are net prices and the price you see is the price you pay. So you are not hit with unexpected taxes and service charges which can add many pluses to your bill. Way to go Wight & Co. Way to go.

Nano Tales:

Came across these on a FB thread could not resist posting them here so that I can access them conveniently when I need them.

Flow: Nice from far..., Nicer at close quarters... but far from nice

Wow what a great idea I thought when I heard of the concept. One restaurant 5 different kinds of food with live cooking.
I was even more delighted when I stepped into the restaurant. The service was efficient. The ambience elegant. And the spread of food breathtaking. There was Japanese. Chinese, Italian, Indian and Sri Lankan. It looked absolutely gorgeous and my mouth was watering and hands shaking with anticipation. I served a plateful of food and sat down with a beatific smile on my face and a lustful gaze in my eyes. It was a food wet dream come to life.
Sadly I was woken up rudely the moment I stuffed the first forkful of food into my mouth.
The food was tasteless. Absolutely flavourless. It is amazing how something which looked so good can be so bland? It might as well have been colour printouts of pictures. Even that I believe would have tasted better.
It was the same tasteless gunk one get to experience at some of the so called star class hotels that cater to tourists.
Ironically the food at the coffee shop and bar right next door is a thousand times better. In fact I have had some amazing sandwiches (their lamb sandwich is outstanding) and bites at this place. Coming to think of it this was one of the reasons why I was so looking forward to what I would experience at flow. Sadly "Floored" would be the most appropriate way to describe my experience.of flow.

My plate: Looks great doesn't it? 

Buth packet without the buth!

No this is definitely not a post about being let down at a restaurant. Though one could be excused for thinking so when reading the title.
But this is one absolutely simple and clever way of getting your hands on a great value for money low carb meal conveniently.
"Why did not I think of this?" was my first reaction when I saw the picture featured in this post on my friend DCs Facebook wall.
The simplicity of the thought made me want to cry. After all I had been hunting around for cost effective low carb meals for years without success. As well as spending a lot of money I might add because most of my meals had to be ordered from restaurants. Yes they were expensive. However that is not the main reason why you can't eat this kind of restaurant food every day. It just does not have the rich variety of flavours and textures which the humble buth packet has.
Of course getting your local food joint to give you a buth packet without the buth has its own challenges. My usual server looked at me as if I was mad. What I have realised is that instead of trying to explain to them the nitty gritties of a low carb diet, it is far more easier to ask them to put the curries separately and the rice separately saying you will mix them your own.
But thank goodness to this simple yet unique idea I can enjoy the benefits of a low carb diet without having it burn a hole in my pocket. Yeah!

A simple solution for a complex problem….

Ouch! Sh*t! F*ck!
Definitely not the kind of language you generally hear in the presence of genius. But that's what spewed out of my mouth when I banged my head unceremoniously as I entered the Yala national park.
I had discovered the hard way that a new precautionary measure has been put into effect by the department of wild life to ensure that animals will not be run over by speeding vehicles.
Road humps!
Very big Road Bumps.
Very close to one another.
Throughout the entire road network of Yala.
Pure genius I thought to myself.
Far more intelligent than asking the telcos to block the signals covering the Yala area from their towers. Yes they actually did so. In fact I was told that there was a Dialog team attempting to do so sometime ago. Absolutely simple. Amazingly cost efficient. Damn effective. But one this is for sure I will not be the last person spewing out curses whilst rubbing their head in pain on the beautiful roads of Yala for some time soon.