It was another glorious morning in the Walatta House and both T and I were up at 6 because little Z has been waking early. Luckily the coffee machine has been plugged in and we had bought some fresh Hansa beans day before.
It is Thursday, Aug 2 and Suresh our tuk-tuk driver had picked today for his shop opening ceremony. The date, he said, was auspicious and a Poya day ( full moon ) so friends and family have been invited to witness the grand opening . At 10am sharp, Suresh greeted us at our place and we ( A, T, Z and myself) piled into the tuk-tuk heading for his shop.
S's tiny little shop is nestled into the hill under the shade of a bodhi tree. Relatives had turned up for this humble event and we were not sure what to expect.
We soon realised that we were the special guests and T was asked to officiate the opening!
What a great honor. After the ribbon cutting and well wishes, we took off our shoes and entered as the first customers. I picked up some eggs, spices and water while the proud owners posed for their photo and invited the guests for some simple food.
Such a sweet couple. His mum and grandmother were also there to support the couple. Little Z was being passed around and he was very good even though everyone tried pinching his cheeks.
After the morning festivities, our other friends who have flown in from Singapore and HK were ready for lunch. I suggested Mangrove Gardens, only a 10 min drive away and the restaurant is bang on the beach.
The van dropped us off and we walked across the Rekawa Lagoon with views of the lush mangroves.
This place was built after the 2004 Tsunami, so the coconut palms on the beach are still very young so you duck under the palms as you weave through the paths to get to the beach.
We brought along chilled bottles of Cloudy Bay and ordered some fried rice , grilled fish, devilled chicken and it was all very delicious. I had a poke around in their chalets and simple as they were, were adequate and clean.
So after filling ourselves with seafood and chips, we headed back to take a dip in our pool. A was off to collect the BBQ and spit that he built with the help of a blacksmith and some mechanics in town.
He spent a good 5-6 hours yesterday looking for parts and making things up as he went along. The mission was to build a pit and spit using whatever he could find around Tangalle. The project was staggering since he had trouble communicating with the locals and much was lost in translation. However the villagers tried their best and came up with something that actually worked.
The man on the left with the red teeth is the blacksmith. His workshop was at the back of his house and was no bigger than a closet.
That night, we oohed and aahed at this piece of genius and grilled some steaks and prawns for dinner. We could not find a whole lamb so the rotisserie could not be tested.
I was planning on making centerpieces and setting the table for a special birthday dinner but ditched the idea last minute as we were knee deep with work around the house. So with the bbq heating up, we drank ourselves silly and wore some crazy wigs. T read the card that we made for him and reminisced about his childhood as we read out his old report cards. It was a really good night.
It is Thursday, Aug 2 and Suresh our tuk-tuk driver had picked today for his shop opening ceremony. The date, he said, was auspicious and a Poya day ( full moon ) so friends and family have been invited to witness the grand opening . At 10am sharp, Suresh greeted us at our place and we ( A, T, Z and myself) piled into the tuk-tuk heading for his shop.
We soon realised that we were the special guests and T was asked to officiate the opening!
What a great honor. After the ribbon cutting and well wishes, we took off our shoes and entered as the first customers. I picked up some eggs, spices and water while the proud owners posed for their photo and invited the guests for some simple food.
Such a sweet couple. His mum and grandmother were also there to support the couple. Little Z was being passed around and he was very good even though everyone tried pinching his cheeks.
After the morning festivities, our other friends who have flown in from Singapore and HK were ready for lunch. I suggested Mangrove Gardens, only a 10 min drive away and the restaurant is bang on the beach.
The van dropped us off and we walked across the Rekawa Lagoon with views of the lush mangroves.
This place was built after the 2004 Tsunami, so the coconut palms on the beach are still very young so you duck under the palms as you weave through the paths to get to the beach.
We brought along chilled bottles of Cloudy Bay and ordered some fried rice , grilled fish, devilled chicken and it was all very delicious. I had a poke around in their chalets and simple as they were, were adequate and clean.
So after filling ourselves with seafood and chips, we headed back to take a dip in our pool. A was off to collect the BBQ and spit that he built with the help of a blacksmith and some mechanics in town.
He spent a good 5-6 hours yesterday looking for parts and making things up as he went along. The mission was to build a pit and spit using whatever he could find around Tangalle. The project was staggering since he had trouble communicating with the locals and much was lost in translation. However the villagers tried their best and came up with something that actually worked.
The man on the left with the red teeth is the blacksmith. His workshop was at the back of his house and was no bigger than a closet.
That night, we oohed and aahed at this piece of genius and grilled some steaks and prawns for dinner. We could not find a whole lamb so the rotisserie could not be tested.
I was planning on making centerpieces and setting the table for a special birthday dinner but ditched the idea last minute as we were knee deep with work around the house. So with the bbq heating up, we drank ourselves silly and wore some crazy wigs. T read the card that we made for him and reminisced about his childhood as we read out his old report cards. It was a really good night.
No comments:
Post a Comment