Sri Lanka

Now I know what it means to be straight out spoiled on your birthday...this year I got the luxury treatment. My husband rocks in so many ways, but one of the best reasons is he gave me a birthday weekend instead of just a day.

We went to Colombo for a monthly meeting but timed it so we could spend the weekend shopping, playing golf, and enjoying a bath almost every day. As we are now Diamond members at the Hilton, we also got to enjoy all of the executive floor perks, including breakfast in the morning, free happy hour drinks and snacks, shoe shine, fresh fruit daily and the list goes on.

On my actual birthday we took a holiday from work, slept in, started the day with a little something something, ate breakfast, and then headed to the day spa where Dan had arranged for the “Bonds of Love” package. We started off with a soak in a hot tub with real jets, which is always a nice way to loosen up and take a load off (damn I so miss my hot tub). Next we headed to the outdoor pool with fresh flowers floating on the surface. We got all excited because it was so romantic and it was all to ourselves. But reality soon set in when we got in and the pool was freezing cold. They brought us out a little snack and sparkling wine (non-alcoholic - boo) which was pretty refreshing, even in the cold tub. I don’t get why they don't serve it in the hot tub where you are not shivering. I guess not everyone shares our bubbly in the bubbly philosophy. Next we headed to the massage tables where we shared a room together, both looking forward to the next part of our treatment. They gave me little granny panties (that look like a diaper) to wear and of course Dan is laughing at me. We first get a sandalwood body scrub that has a nice, soft smell to go along with the coarse scrubbing. I personally was having a little trouble because as she worked on one leg the other one started twitching, but nevertheless my skin felt so soft afterward. After rinsing off the scrub, our hour and half massage was next (my favorite part). Then just when you think you’re done, Dan has arranged even more. I got a pedicure in a fabulous Sri Lankan chair while Dan got a facial (which I don't think he enjoyed as much).

Dan wasn't finished yet however, so he took me off to my favorite store in Sri Lanka: Sena Gems. I needed to pick up a ring that was getting repaired, a garnet pendent that I had custom made, and my birthday present from Dan. See pictures below. It is a choker necklace with amethyst and topaz stones in a silver setting, all connected with a bunch of pearls. All I can say is it beautiful and I felt like a queen, hoping I didn’t get robbed on my way to dinner. Plus the necklace is really three in one! You can wear it all together, or just wear the choker, or just put the middle pendent on a chain. And being the queen I am, the set wouldn't be complete unless I had the matching earrings as well.

When we finally got back to the Hilton, there was a full size chocolate cake waiting for me in our room and when we went upstairs for happy hour, we were greeted by the waiters with champagne. They had found out it was my birthday so the executive floor staff had made sure to order a cake so I could celebrate right! They were so sweet.

Finally we went to dinner at a great restaurant with our friends Larry and Ceni and had some food that rivaled any of the good restaurants in Portland. All in all, I had an incredible birthday and felt so lucky to have such a great husband. That and a place nearby to buy beautiful jewelry for cheap! What else could a girl ask for?

Look at this cute Monkey...

Picture posing for us.

Looking all innocent.

Then there is the saying, "a picture is worth a thousand words," or in this case only two...

"Monkey Love"

We all have dreams, but how often do we allow them to become true and real. What spark does it take to light the match to take the first step down the path to achieving our dream. This story is about Dan.

For the pass six years, oh my goodness we been together for six years another reality check, Dan has said he wanted to learn how to play the guitar. After every concert, "damn I should learn how to play the guitar." If you know Dan, he likes his concerts and we have been to our fair share of concerts in the last six years. I love seeing him playing his air guitar right along with the band.

Two years ago I considered buying Dan a guitar for Christmas, but do you know how many guitars are out there and the price range? For one thing I had no clue what kind of guitar he wanted as we had never gone shopping or looking for one. I ended up finding something else for him for Christmas that was a little more up my alley and completely forgot about the guitar dream until...

Driving from Colombo to Arugam Bay for like the gazillionth time, we stopped for petrol and Dan says "we have to go back...I want to check out the music shop a kilometer up the road." So we head to the music shop which has some guitars and lots of drums. Dan picks out a guitar in about ten minutes and buys it on the spot for $65 with a soft case. After talking about guitars for six years (probably longer), he takes the first step to his dream in Sri Lanka of all places.

The guitar makes it home and Dan finds guitar lessons online. I honestly think he can find anything he needs online. He quickly realizes he needs a tuner, which we find in Colombo on our next trip. Dan has the gift of picking up things quickly and learned some basic chords easily. After watching Antonio Banderas (damn he's hot) playing his mariachi guitar in Desperado, he is inspired to learn the theme song. Dan can play parts of the song but not nearly as fast as Antonio Banderas. To his credit has only been playing for a month and should start with an easier song. Jingle Bells is coming along quite nicely though so he'll be prepared for Christmas in Bali.

Dan and His Guitar

The Guitar Shop

In Sri lanka it is common to see wild animals crossing the road as one is trying to pass. You might not think much of this, but when you see a elephant crossing at his pleasure you don't want to piss it off. Traveling back and forth from Colombo to Arugam Bay you typically see elephants, monkeys, monitors (large lizards), water buffalo, cows walking right down the street or hanging out in town.

The wildlife here is amazing. Dan got some great shots from Yala National Park:

Green Bee-eater. These suckers can run.

Water Buffalo

Peafowl

Monitor (Big Lizard they can get 5 to 6 feet long)

Purple Heron

How many crocodiles do you see?

Painted Stork with Egrets

Now how many crocodiles do you see?

Hornbill

Deer

Bee-eater

Water Buffalo with white egret sitting on him

Elephant Rock

Bird in Tree

Yes it is a leopard and we were lucky to see one.

This leopard was just walking down the road, hanging out and stopped by our car.

So pretty...

What a look...

Pink Painted Stork

Lots of Storks hanging out in the trees.

Elephant most likely a young male, they hang out alone.

Up close and personal.

Crossing watch out.

I was a bit spoiled in Colombo, I could pretty much find just about anything I needed or a good substitute. Walking distance to two different grocery stores. Here in paradise things are a little different. Who would have thought fresh milk would be an issue. Commonly used words "not available." Really this means not today, didn't look hard enough, need to go to the next town over to find, or have to get in Colombo. I knew I would not be able to get cereal, so stocked up four whole boxes but no milk to have with the cereal.

Typically I send the driver to do the shopping due to there is not real grocery stores here, just open markets where they sell their goods. Prices are not marked and I am what you call frecking white or Dan would say snow flake white. They like to double or even triple prices on my behalf.

Fresh cheese as been another issue, I asked if I could get fresh cheese, " oh yes no problem." However, Happy Cow is what I got, not great for shredded cheese on tacos. The strange thing is I did find vanilla yogurt that is very delicious and to my surprise found a bottle of wine for $15, have not tried yet but will stock up in Colombo. Available veggies change on a day to day basis which is completely understandable but I just wanted a cucumber and some cilantro. No salads either, can't find green or red leaf lettuce and basil has been scarce as well. Not easy cooking in paradise.

Then Razac our driver shows up with fresh milk, hot in double lined plastic bags. My first thought was what the hell do I do with this. Trying not to burn myself I poured the milk into a container and placed into the frig. You can say "Got fresh Milk!" Not exactly sure how many days the milk will last, but had in my cereal yesterday.

Update on the cockroach killer the evening after the cockroach in the bed found another one in the bathroom. Completely upset another had to die and still the finger not feeling the greatest went to get the shoe. There is a God! Returned to the bathroom and a gecko was having dinner. Gecko's are my friend. As for today there has been four killings and one got away....

For the first time ever we went bird watching with some friends outside of Colombo. I was not really into it, but being polite and was looking forward to getting out of the city for a bit and it was free. The first hour I could not see much, it is not like the birds fly up next to you and have a seat while you look at them. The binoculars are difficult at first to look through. Then I was amazed at how many different birds were hanging out in this wetlands area. Our friend brought a bird book with her, then we ran into the author of the bird book trying to get some pictures. We got his autograph and Dan was jealous of his telephoto lens it was massive. Here is some pictures, since Dan was not completely happy with the photos he has ordered a new zoom lens, it comes next week.

In the heat of the passion could not take it any more it must die...

I have come to terms with the ants getting into everything, the mosquitoes are around and the baby crabs at night in the sand trying to trip you, as you are not sure what is crawling around. However, I can't seem to come to terms with the fracken cockroaches. Is it the long antennas they have, they move fast and sometimes fly, they disappear as soon as you go to get the flip flop to kill them, if you get the chance they make a crunching sound when you hit them with the flip flop, or the fact I found one in my bed when pulling the sheets off to wash. I think a combination of all of above, but defiantly the last straw for today and the sucker had to die. Catching him was not easy and I received a finger wound in the process. But of course I caught him with a cup and piece of paper as Dan walks through the front door. A nice husband would have killed the cockroach for me, instead he smiled and said have fun. I really hate the crunching sound when hitting it, because you have to do like five times to make sure it is die. Just for the record I used Dan's flip flop. Also, I am going in invest in a cockroach trap when we go to Colombo next week

Dear Family and Friends,

Welcome to "This Must Be The Place, The Garbely Adventure." I can not believe I have almost been away for two months, it feels like I just got here a week ago. Well actually it has not been a week since I have been in Arugam Bay. The first month Dan was working in Colombo where we had a two bedroom apartment with a nice view of the ocean and the city below. We had our friend Greg visit us for about a week. Then our friend Carrie came, who I entertained for about a month. So you can say I have been busy. We made sure Carrie saw most of Sri Lanka and than Dan got some time off, due to New Years, yes weird but Sri Lanka and India celebrate New Years in the middle of April. We went to India, which will require a new entry and lots more pictures.

We are officially in Arugam Bay until the project is over, most likely December. The beach cabana is small but nice, it is equipped with AC, electricity, cable TV, internet, the smallest kitchen in the world (a small bathroom turned into a kitchenette), a good bed, and of course a bathroom with western toilet and hot water. Really I could not have asked for more, oh except the couch does really suck I need to work on that in my spare time. We have our bad ass treehugger hammock setup ready for sitting pleasure. Enjoy the start of many photos to come...