Bandarawela Hotel

On our trip to Bandarawela, we stayed at Banadarawela hotel which you can see in this image.

It situated in the middle bandarawela town and you can't miss it by any chance.


Bandarawela Hotel built in 1873, has been well maintained (rooms are clean and I give 5 star for that but I think they didn't maintain the garden well) yet not modernized, retaining the original architecture and interior decoration.(Actually when we arrive there we were extremely surprised with the interior. They gt huge tall bed which we hardly climb up. They gt there wash basin in the room. Entree to the balcony in the bathroom. Huge bath tub, but we didn't use it because we thought it's a waste of water.)

Bandarwela Hotel is belongs to the Aitken Spence Group of Companies in Sri Lanka.

You can definitely have some kind of a unique experience there.

Tips: 

• Room are cold when the whether outside is cold (They may be give heaters but we didn't ask, so we can't confirm that.)

• Sound from the mosque could be a disturbance, better ask for an upstairs room. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Adisham Bungalow - Haputale

Due to my recent trip to Bandarawela, I thought to publish some posts regarding my trip. My first post is about Adisham Bungalow also called as St. Benedicts monastery. We visited there on our way home.

To go to the bungalow is very easy, you just have to pass huputale town and railway station and then you can see the directions clearly on the boards. Road to Adisham bungalow is good but big buses can go only half way of the road also other vehicles have to drive safely  because two vehicle and barely pass.disham

NOTES WE GOT FROM THE GATE:

Adisham is a stately stone mansion build in 1931 by Sir Thomas Lister Villiers, an English planter. Beautifully situated, in tranquil surrounding, Adisham is certainly a "must see" for those holiday makers and chance visitors, who haunt the hills from time to time in search of a peaceful resort, from the madding crowds and the heat of the city.
The Sturdy rock like fortress, fortress, surrounding by undulating hills, far as the eye can see, contains many items that normal visitors are unfamiliar with, which accounts for the large number of guests who seek admissions whenever the gates are open.
Carefully cultivated flower garden, Burma teak shingles that cover the roof, antique furniture and a well planted - out construction are few of the attractions that Adisham offers to sight seers.
The mansion was purchased by the Sylvestro Benedictine monks in 1961 to serve their novitiate, where those who seek to enter the monastic life are trained.
Maintenance of the monastery and those who reside here has to be met funds that are earned by the monks themselves. Hence the jam products and the produce from the farm.


Tips:

• We can access only a limited area (exactly 3 rooms), so you can get the idea about interior of the building.
• You have to remove your shoes before you enter the monastry.
• You are not allowed to take photos or video inside the monastry.
• Don't forget to visit Thangamale sanctuary near by.

Origami

Because of my little niece , today I thought to post easy origami videos. Enjoy!!!!!!!!!

 

Origami flying Crane

http://www.wikihow.com/Make-an-Origami-Jumping-Frog

 

Origami Dragon

 Origami Box

Origami Heart

Origami Heart Box

Origami Box

Origami Plane

Origami Horse

Ape Gama - Baththaramulla

I guess lot of Colombo residence already visited "Ape gama" in baththaramulla. Even though I wanted to write about it in my blog because one thing I visited there only last week and the other thing is I want educate those who haven't visited there.

"Ape gama" is actually a village where we can get a better idea about our history. The things till recently people lived in villages same way that demonstrated in "Ape gama". But nowadays even village people forgot our srilankan living style.

Tips: You should eat Komala Wata Kavum 

          You should watch dancing and singing in the performance centre

         Restaurant provide average taste food. (I won't highly recommend it. Anyway it's better than anything)

          No buffet on weekdays.

Facts: (These are unofficial facts)

            All the dancing and performance done by sahan ranwala dancing Academy. (I say they performance extremely well.)

            Restaurant run by Berjaya Hotel Colombo - Mount Lavinia

Website: http://www.apegama.com/home.php

Here are some Photos I took from there:

Kopi kade

Person who came to the kopi kade (statue)

Maha Gamaya (real village headman is this person)

Cart

Making komalawata kavum (Very tasty)

Walawwa

Maha Gamaya (Statue)

Person who came to visit maha gamaya (Statue)

Mammala

Mayinahama

Devalaya

Devalaya

Craft workshop

Craft Workshop

kammala

Redi nanda

Gama Gedara / Gama Rala

Weda Gedara

Weda Gedara

Veda Gedara Cart

Govi gedara

Pinthaliya

 

Strwberry Smoothie

I'm a kind a girl that don't like to spend lot of time in the kitchen. I like to try simple recipes and make my family happy.
Today I like to give the recipe for strawberry smoothie. It's really simple and easy.

Ingredients:

•  Strawberries - 2 Packets
• Ice water (You can also use normal water)
• Yogurt (Plain or strawberry flavored)  - 3 cups
• vanilla ice cream - 2 tsp (Optional)
• Liquid Milk - 2 cups
• Orange juice - 3/4 cup

Method:

•  Pour orange juice into blender and add strawberries. And blend for 5 seconds.
• Add yogurt to blender. And blend for 5 seconds.
• Add milk to blended mixture. And blend for 5 seconds.
• Finally add ice water and blend till all mixed together and smooth.
• Add 1 scoop of ice cream and serve your family and friends.

 This ingredients enough to make 1200ml(4 glasses) of smoothie.

Two bad bricks - Opening the door of your heart

These days I'm reading a Buddhist tales book named "Opening the door of your heart" by the famous Buddhist monks named Ajahn Brahm. 

I would like to recommend this book to anyone because this book teach us lots of life lessons and how to let go of things.

Following story is my favorite story that I extracted from the particular book book

"After we purchased the land for our monastery in 1983 we were broke.  We were in debt. There were no buildings on the land, no even a shed. Those first few weeks we slept on old doors. (There were no mattresses) 

We were poor monks who needed buildings. We couldn't afford to employ a builder-the materials are expensive enough. SO we had to learn how to build: how to prepare the foundations, lay concrete and  bricks, erect the roof, put in the plumbing ... etc.

When I began laying bricks, I'd tap one corner down to make it level and another would go up. So I'd tap that corner down then the brick would move out of line. After I'd nudged it back into line, the first corner would be too high again.

Being a monk, I had patience and as much time as I needed. I made sure every single brick was perfect, no matter how long it took. Eventually, I completed my first brick wall and stood back to admire it. It was only then I noticed - I'd missed two bricks. All the other bricks were nicely in line, but these two were inclined at an angle. They looked terrible. They spoiled the whole wall. They ruined it. 

By then, the cement motor was too hard for the bricks to be taken out, so I asked the abbot if I could  knock the wall down and start over again. I'd made a mess of it and I was very embarrassed. The abbot said no, the wall had to stay.

When I showed our first visitors around our fledgling monastery, I always tried to avoid taking them past my brick wall. I hated anyone seeing it. Then one day, some three or four months after I finished it, I was walking with a visitor and he saw the wall.

"That's a nice wall" he casually remarked.

"Sir" I replied in surprise, "have you left your glasses in your car? Can't you see those two bad bricks which spoil the whole wall?"

What he said next changed my whole view of that wall, of myself, and of many other aspects of life. He said, "Yes, I can see those two bad bricks. But I can also see the 998 good bricks as well."

Moral of the story:

We've all got our two bad bricks, but the perfect bricks in each one of us are much, much more than the mistakes. Once we see this, things aren't so bad."

Extract from: Opening the door of your heart by Ajahn Brahm thero

 

             

Butterfly Symphony - සමනළ සංධ්වනිය

Butterfly symphony/ සමනළ සංධ්වනිය, it is a film that start to show like months back, but I thought I should write a review about it though it’s little late because it is such a beautiful , artistic and very advance film when comparing to other commercial films that nowadays showing. 

This movie is such a different movie from others; it's a story about a boy who mistakenly reads a letter which belongs to another and his infatuation with the writer of the letter. 

What I love most in this movie is the songs and all the songs have a deep connection to the storyline. All those songs show the boys emotions and his life. I specially love the song මට මගේ නොවන මගේම ආදරයක් තිබුනා .. ", which played throughout the film and gives an idea about the whole movie.

Watching this movie worth your time and money and I guarantee it.

Plot:

Vadeesha Wickramanayaka is a highly creative and sensitive young music student in his school. A special love letter that he finds accidentally, written by Punya, a women, more mature than him in both age and life, motivates him for some soul searching. He is also haunted by guilt, because he fails to deliver the letter, to who it belongs.His relentless efforts to return the letter to the women to her lover , fail. Sympathy mixed with emotions of love he feels towards this women, leads to him creating a song that captures a cathartic experience. This popular creation and many other songs that he gives birth to, for a period of 20 years, makes him a prominent musician in the country. But however, his memories and nostalgia towards Punya make him a failure in his married life. Although he regains his life by returning the letter to Punya after 20 years by chance, she is now left with a feeling of void her life..

Main characters

• Yashoda Wimaladharma as Punya Heendeniya
• Uddika Premarathna as Vadisha Wikramanayaka