Hilton Jaic Tower Colombo

Arrived back in Colombo at 6am last Sunday and felt like I'd never left, the hotel even put me back in the same room. I’m not complaining, I have a fantastic view of the Indian Ocean, which is wild as ever.

My early morning arrival, with no sleep on the plane left me tired and trembly all day. Needing to stay awake for as long as possible, I found a TV channel showing banal films and left it playing to keep me awake. One of those ...

... the leader of the rebel LTTE party had been announced dead. People were driving through the streets singing and dancing, waving the national flag and everybody seems relieved that it is over. Some people our age that we talked to have never lived without war, so they can't imagine what it is like. We drank some Arrack (the local spirit) and played Carrom in the bar, with a German guy who turned out to be the Carrom German ...

... work crowd, or perhaps their major business is on weekends. We order for the table, then split the bill. I've taken the leftovers once, although never got around to eating and eventually threw away. The Pizza Hut is ten feet away from Jade. Somewhat less expensive, it has three tables and usually has Sri Lankan customers. The pizzas are tiny, but an adequate size for me. A pepperoni pizza with bottled water costs 340rs, about $3.15. By 1:00 p.m. we're ...

... the short distance to the Jade Chinese restaurant or Pizza Hut is an understatement. We walk single file and I hold my breath when crossing the street, a dangerous game of dodge ball at best. We're always the only diners at Jade Chinese at lunch. I'm sure it's not the menu, which is diverse and pleasing, and portions are generous. I cannot understand how these places manage to stay in business. Since I'm not around at night, I just don't know if they get an ...

... their return to Blighty and would be around for my arrival - you can't always say that about other's people's parents, but this boded well; they're excellent company, in addition to the fact that the more people Tom has to organise, the more ambitious the activities in question become. I imagined we'd be sailing the Palk Straits with the Sri Lankan cricket team in a beautiful pea green boat by day three. The third was that Tom and Anna Rose had done some ...

... and a fantastic pool... I quickly got into my bathers and settled into my pool lounge for some serious chillaxing time... The book i was reading was about a lady in India which is appropriate as i head there in a few days... I swam, sunbaked, ordered spag bol for lunch, sunbaked and swam then had a little nanna... I had high tea on the veranda and watched the rain come down... After it cleared i went for ...

... was subjected to a thorough frisking! This was all conducted with a big smile and friendly chatter on the part of the officers (surprising given that it was between 12 and 3 am), but I'm fairly certain that they can tell within a second of glancing at me that I'm not a security risk. I'd hate to think what an ordeal it would have been if I looked remotely suspect to them...

... was told to bring Bindu on Sunday for me to change her dressings and re clean the wound before coming back on Monday for another vet check. Once Bindu had left the vet and I went to the local temple to check on "our" strays there. We have recently neutered all the dogs there with the exception of 2 that were unfortunately already pregnant. Both dogs had 3 puppies each 10 days ago and with days another 3 4 week old puppies were found ...

... that's when they bite you! what they did was get some strong smelling liquid and as soon as the snake smells it, it should dart out the door. well out it darted from the bedroom to the living room amidst screams and people clinging on to each other. i stood on the chair with my flip flops in my hand ready to wallop it if it came near! anyway in all the commotion, it didn't go out the door and so we lost it. it was eventually found and after a lot to persuasion it was chased out into the ...

... allowed to change 1item... What would that item be? Astrid: I would like Christianity defined in some way other than by the waters of Baptism... Kochurani: I would like all male images of God eradicated. They have many repercussions for women. Nonie: I would change the fiction that Jesus founded the Church. That has given birth to misconceptions about roles. I would like followers of Jesus known as such rather than followers of the Church. Angela: I would like to add more ...