"The Gates": A Review

"Each exhibit can be described as an extensive virtuosity of subjectivity created to counter act the sublimation of the irreversible nature of the objects that includes the ambience of the park. As Jon Stewart’s chief art correspondent best described it as a whole transformation of the “whereness” to “nowhereness”. Personally, I think the exhibit depicts the evolvement of the public space and the physical aurora into a private spatial dimension that can perceived as the celerity of the affection transcended by an inamorata. Each magnificent object which makes up the 20 million dollar exhibit that covers the 850 acres of the park resembles a curtain hanging on a steel rod. Unlike the one hanging from my bathroom door, these were fabric banners suspended in 16-foot-high frames." [More]

The box of chocolates

The boy hasn't ever had so much chocolates in his life either. He and his roommate was all ready to go to bed when they were suprised with a whole box of chocolate coated evertyhing. After the initial confusion about who it belonged to, the boy and the roommate stuffed themselves with goodies. The boy loved the strawberries and ate his heart out just before he went to bed while his roommate who was down with a flue struggle to finish a teeny piece of chocolate cake. Which means there is more chocolates for the boy when he goes home after work.

chocolate fountain

this morning girl could not even look at her Milo, her usual morning drink. She was still recovering from last night. it was the first night of the Chocolate indulgence at the Colombo Plaza. a cascading fountain of pure chocolate graced the lobby of the hotel. the fountain was surrounded by scrumptious mounds of strawberries and marshmellows, and giant slabs of pure chocolate. On surrounding tables were: chocolate cheesecake, chocolate steamed pudding, cups of chocolate mousse topped with chocolate flakes, chocolate brownies, chocolate truffles, chocolate cookies, chocolate fudge cake -- and a chef, making chocolate waffles and chocolate crepes, to order, with toppings of chocoalte fudge, raspberry, and sprinkles of chashews. girl ate so much she almost turned into a chocolate herself. she wondered how she could share the chocolate with boy..

how to stuff strawberries

12 large ripe strawberries, rinsed and dried
4 ounces mascarpone cheese
1/2 teaspoon superfine sugar
2 drops vanilla extract 2 tablespoons grated dark (semisweet or bittersweet) chocolate

1. With a paring knife remove hull and inner core of each berry to form a cavity. Remove meat of the berry from the hull. Save stem and hull.
2. In a small bowl mix together cheese, sugar, vanilla and chocolate. Using a small spoon, stuff mixture into cavity of each berry. Top berries with hulls. Serve cold.

you are invited

Girl has planned a special picnic ... boy is invited. She is waiting for him to arrive..
The food is all laid out in a pink-plaid blanket, and the tea has just been poured. Here is the menu:

Sliced radishes and watercress on buttered ficelle
Cucumber mint tea sandwiches
Carrot and celery sticks
Currant scones
Marmite and maliban cream crackers
Lemon-coconut bars
Green mango, with salt and chilli
Frozen chocolate mousse truffles
Thambili, in shell
Ceylon tea

cucumber sandwiches

1/4 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves, rinsed, spun dry, and chopped fine
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
softened2 tablespoons cream cheese
6 slices of whole-wheat bread
3-inch length of seedless cucumber, cut into thin slices

In a small bowl combine the mint, the butter, and the cream cheese and stir the mixture until it is combined well. Spread the bread slices with the butter mixture, top 3 of them with the cucumber, distributing the cucumber evenly and seasoning it with salt, and top the cucumber with the remaining bread slices. Cut off and discard the crusts and cut each sandwich diagonally into quarters.

poem

U R HOT
LUV U
B. MINE?

An Ode to Hoppers

Perfectly crispy on the outside, comfortingly soft and spongey inside, hoppers have long been admired by girl. She insists they are "hot hot" - making her a dangerous dining companion, lunging always for the one that has just arrived.

She has mixed feelings about egg hoppers. If they are too gooey and the hopper gets soaked and soggy she wishes sometimes that the hopper was just left alone. Don't mess with a good thing. Save the eggs for an omellete.

But just recently - girl discovered something new. Something she didn't mind mixing with her hoppers.

Girl discovered these new hoppers in a restaurant in the middle - of- nowhere - Nawala Road. The place is called Peninsula and specializes in food from the Jaffna peninsula. After an initial disappointment when she discovered they didn't have Jaffna Mango Juice, girl was enthralled (to put it mildly) with her discovery of Milk Hoppers.

These hoppers, just as crispy on the edges, are filled with milk in the center, making the center softer and sweeter and whiter than regular hoppers. Girl ate so many hoppers, hot hot, she was very happy. She found a spot in the restaurant, a little away from the table where she was sitting with her friends, and called boy to tell him all about the hoppers.

the Death of Feminism

Colombo is either a city full of nails or girl has a knack for finding the, uh, shall we say "intriguing" bits of roadside, because her little Starlet has had more flat tires in the last three months than boy has ever had in his lifetime of driving cars.

In recognition of the frequency of these roadside ailments, girl decided to empower herself to handle the crisis by creating a special manual on flat tires, based on her own experiences and a survey of international best practices.

How to Recognize a Flat Tire:
Realize that the ride to work is a little "shaky." Put the music louder and drive on. The next day, especially when you are working late and leaving work at a dark and rainy hour, be informed by the security guard that you have a flat tire. Not just casually flat, but so devastatingly *gone* that you cannot even make it to a gas station.

How to Fix a Flat Tire:
Call your boyfriend, even if he happens to be in another country half-way around the world, because, well, that's what he is supposed to do, right? When you are eventually convinced of his (dubious) excuse of not physically being able to help you (though reassuring you of all the morale support you need), resort to calling your cousins, uncles, and boyfriends friends. Cry, if necessary.

Jesus Loves You

After a close call with the Indian Ocean bringing her and her little island home to their collective knees, girl is back. Back in LoudCloud. The whole experience of the Tsunami is still too real to call a memory, to relegate to mere narrative. Instead, let's play show-and-tell.

Exhibit 1: Black rubber slippers.

When the first wave hit, girl and boy rushed downstairs not bothering to take their essential supplies like car keys, cell phones, or money - but remembering the camera. The lobby of the hotel was aleady flooded, the water knee-deep and the current strong. Girl tried to slosh through to the front door in her black rubber slippers, but the swirling waters took one away.

Later, in that fateful time between the first and second waves, when girl and boy and the rest of the hotel were lulled by a false sense of safety, when the water that had suddenly arisen disappeared just as soon back into the sea - girl - unaware that thousands had died or were dying in these minutes - took her time searching the hotel grounds for her slipper.

A girl, after all, is always in need of proper adornment for her feet.

So many bodies and houses were lost forever, swallowed and consumed by the fiery rage of that morning's ocean, but she found her black slipper. Neatly placed, as if by hand, between two wooden planks holding a delicate Nativity scene where baby Jesus still smiled, oblivious to the diasaster surrounding him.

Our friends: Mr Mahanama giving a speech. Governor of Southern Province Mr Kingsley Wickramaratne looks on. 

Bangladesh crew and us. 

Mr Kofi's brief visit to the CNO. 

Meeting the President. Also in the picture is Wikum and Patrick.