Banana Rest, Sirigiya, Sri Lanka 9 September 2011

Banana Rest House was our very first accommodation. We simply fell in love with this place.

At the moment, there are only two air-cond & water heater units whereas the rest are rooms with fan and no water heater.

The unit on the right side is ours.

The place looks exactly what my dream home is. 

Walking further down, from the unit, is a pond.

Nature is so calming.

The pond.

There are many water birds and grazing buffaloes and cows.

Civet cats, rabbit and squirrel roam freely.

Sitting at the verandah, countless of birds flown by. I have lost count of the type of birds I have seen.

Side view.

Our room.

The bathroom with a frog occupant.

The owner of Banana Rest.

En Hui played barefooted outside. Such heaven.

En said " I don't need shoes over here"

There are many birdnest around us.

Lots of makeshift treehouses meant for cow-herders.

Few snapshots of what we ate at Banana Rest.

I love Sri Lankan food. They are so so so tasty.

Fresh homecooked dishes from its garden. 

The vegetable that looks like lady finger is actually called 'drumstick'.

The food came in claypots like these.

Vegetarian fried noodles and rice, with onion/tomato salad.

Pumpkin, aubergine and long beans.

The wood fire kitchen

Watching Rasica plucked lemon for our lemon juice.

Lemon juice and steamed bread, with homemade butter.

Can you spot the long "drumstick" vegetable?

There are varieties of fruit trees and vegetable plants scattered all around the rest house.

Pathway from dining hall to our room, lined with flowers.

  We woke up to abundant of chirping birds and would see baby calf grazing when we opened our door.

I miss Banana Rest house.

Journey from Negombo to Sirigiya, Sri Lanka 9 September 2011

It was ages since I last stepped foot at Bandaranaike International Airport. Little did I know I will be coming to Colombo for a vacation. It was En's choice as half the expenses was sponsored by her. The incentives came from bagging the third prize at Enfagrow contest.

The aiport is so comtemporary looking and come with many free wireless station. Impressed.

Without enough time to search for information, I entrusted the trip in the hand of Nimal De Silva, who came to pick us at the aiport.

The journey from Negombo to Sigiriya took about 3 hours, driving through old trunk road.

It's called tuk tuk, just like in Thailand.

Grocery store.

We passed by countless of brick making factory.

While watching the workers, En commented "Why don't they use machine?"

Coconut juice is so sweet and cheap. Nimal would stopped whenever and wherever we wanted to. Even though the itinerary is planned but he never rush us but let us go at our own pace. 

Driver in Sri Lanka, Nimal De Silva. Itinerary in Sri Lanka. 9 September 2011

Without much time to research and plan, I was thankful to have hired Nimal of Destination Sri Lanka.  I read some reviews on how honest he is and decided to rely on him for our Sri Lanka trip. It was the best decision ever. You can email him at ndsilver67@yahoo.com 

He is a very kind and patient man. We have such a pleasant trip with him and his staff, Sugath.

1st day - Arrive and relax at Sigiriya in Banana Rest House.

2nd day - Morning, climb to Sigiriya Lion Rock and afternoon, visit to Dambulla Cave temple.

3rd day- Drive to Kandy via Matale Spice and Herb Garden. Visit Tooth of Relic temple and  watch a cultural dance show. Night, stay at Nature Walk Guesthouse, Kandy

4rd day - Drive to Nuwara Eliya via Peradeniya Botanical Garden, tea plantation & tea factory. Night stay at Single Tree Guest. 

5th day - Morning drive to Horton Plains for Worlds End trekking. Afternoon drive to Kithulgala. Night stay at Hotel Plantation Kithulgala.

6th day - Drive to Galle. Relax at Unawatuna beach. Night stay at Sea View Guesthouse. 

7th day - Unawatuna beach, Galle

8th day - Drive to Negombo via Bentota beach. Night stay at Dephani Guesthouse.

9th day - Drive to airport. 

 The total tour cost was USD1227 which includes, accommodation in mention Hotels/ Guest houses with Breakfast and Dinner except Unawatuna, Unawatuna with Room and Breakfast, entrance fee for all the sites mention in Itinerary, guides (Sigiriya Lion Rock, Temple of tooth Relic and Horton Plains), all the service charge, all the government tax, VAT, NBT, local Insurance for the transport, personal transport in a very comfortable fully air-conditioned van from airport pick-up till departure transfer, accommodation for travel assistance with meals and parking.

*Please note that I have requested for backpackers/guest house type of accommodation.

Tornado in a bottle, How to make playdough, Fingerprint @Pusat Sains Negara 18 October 2011

Our topic today.

1. Fingerprint

Shade a piece paper with pencil.

Press your finger on the shading.

Stamp onto the worksheet.

2. Tornado in the bottle.

Pour water into the container.

 Add a drop of food colouring and detergent.

Twist the bottle for a tornado effect.

3.Make playdough with flour, salt, oil and cream of tartar.

  

Add water. Mix it.

 Perfect the dough with flour and dough, depending on the texture.

 Bring home the playdough, just in time as our homemade dough has expired.

Puuuv Soap-Making workshop 15 October 2011

We bought 50% discount coupons for natural handmade Puuuv soap workshop from Everyday.

It was a 1.5 hour children workshop at RM15 per child.

 The kids had a marvellous time and so was I.

Puuuv shop is located at Taman Orkid Desa, Cheras. Contact No. 03-9100 4010

The moment we stepped into the shop, our senses were heightened by the wonderful fragrant of soaps.

Lovely chemical-free soap for sale.

Our teacher, Charles conversed in both English and Mandarin.

Soap base made of coconut oil, olive oil and palm oil.

Simmer soap base in hot water to melt it.

If you wish to make the soap at home, you can purchase the soap base from Puuuv Shop at 1kg for RM25.

Remove the melted soap base.

When the temperature has cool down to 55degree C, add in your choice of essential oil

or other type of natural oil, e.g tea tree, grapeseed oil (high anti-oxidant), rosehip seed oil (good for scar) etc.

We dropped apricot kernel oil and natural dye from plant.

Pour into the mold. Wait 10 to 15minutes for liquid to harden.

Fish bone mold was chosen.

Adorable chemical free, natural handmade soap.

Thank you Everyday for the wonderful experience at a lower price!

Logos Hope @Port Klang 11 October 2011

Direction to Glenn Cruise Terminal : From Summit Shopping Center at USJ, turn into the Kesas highway heading to Klang and Port Klang. After driving straight about 30 mins, you will go onto a huge bridge that runs over a huge river.

After the river, you will see a sign that says turn right to Glenn Cruise terminal at the traffic lights.

So after turning right at the traffic lights, drive for another 10 mins passing houses on your left and an abandoned shops on your right.

A stunning looking Logos Hope.  

The walk from terminal building to the ship.

Front view of Logos Hope.

The entrance.

Once we stepped in, we sat for a brief introduction by a Japanese volunteer staff, followed by a short and sweet video. 

The bookfair.

The price tags on the books are shown in units. 100units= RM8.

A mock-up display of the crew 's room.

A hall display picture-story through audio which I didn't listen to.

Onboard program which meant for 6 to 12 years old. I think it's more suitable for younger children.

Onboard program consists of song and games that bring about a brief summary of the crew's life.