October 25, 2014

My little Dharma died today one year ago, so it is wonderful that Ferdinand came into my life just three days ago.  Like they say when a door closes, a window opens.

Introducing Ferdinand!

Yesterday was a trying day.  First of all Veenitha phoned saying she wasn't coming as she had to go to Colombo.  So I was on my own for the big kitchen clean up.  Then the plumber was supposed to come at 0800 to repair the new leaks in the guest bathroom and didn't show up.  His phone was off when I tried to call.  When I finally reached him at 1500, it turns out he was in Kurunagala.  Why don't they call and tell you these things?

Then the carpenter showed up to install the new front door lock.  He seemed to be making good progress until he broke the key off in the lock.  He failed to understand that once the key is broken in the lock, the only thing to do is drill the lock.  I finally managed to explain this to him at which point, he began drilling with a common wood bit.  It took me some time to explain to him that he needed a bit that would drill metal.  Finally, he went off to buy a new locking piece and a drill bit.  Meantime, we have the deluge of the century with lightning and thunder.  But to his credit he showed up despite the fact that I was sure he wouldn't.  He had left the front door off its hinges, so it was fairly critical.

He comes back with the drill bit, but it turns out that guys at the shop are just as ignorant as he is and sold him another wood bit which broke in short order.  It is a good thing he did not fuse all the electrics in the house while he was at it.  Even after that the thing would not come out.  We all worked on it for quite a while in the dusk now, so seeing was a bit of a problem.  Then I suggested that we flip the door and try from the other side.  Lo and behold, the son got it out in an instant after that.

Now I have a nice new door lock, but the unit is silver and the lock itself is gold.  I pointed this out to them saying that if the entire thing is silver, why would you get a gold lock.  They just stared at me.  So gold it will stay.  I am not taking the risk of changing it again and something going wrong.  A testament to Sri Lankan "skill".  Ha, ha!

A new hotel has opened in Kandy called the Grand Kandyan, owned largely by the ruling family.  We went to a concert and dinner the other night.  The lobby and the events floor are decorated like the inside of a Chinese bordello.  Here is just one example.  This is the grandfather clock that sits in the lobby.  Not like any grandfather I ever knew.

The chairs in the lobby would make Louis XIV blush they are covered in so much silver and gold gilt.  The chairs on the events floor are crushed red velvet with gold legs and crystal buttons.  Sonali and I are going to go back just to critique the decor.

The "concert" consisted of a local band, an impersonator who did Elvis, Michael Jackson, and Tina Turner.  Here's Tina.  He had pretty good legs, but his fishnets had a huge hole and run in them that he didn't seem to notice.  He was Sri Lankan but living in Germany.  He looked like the caste of men in India who are raised as women.  He probably had to move to Germany to come out and live a normal life.

Here we are waiting for the concert to start which was almost a late beginning.  We heard about it because Sonali's cousin was also performing.  It was terrible overall, but beggars can't be choosers.  After all this is Sri Lanka, and Kandy to boot.  Nothing ever comes here, so we take advantage of whatever comes along.

Lakshmi, Sonali's Mother and Sonali.

All the chairs were decked out like this. 

Even the most elaborate wedding planner could not come up with this.  They must be planning to cater to the Muslim wedding crowd.

The good news is that the buffet dinner included a sushi bar which was quite good with great sashimi.  Both Sonali and I spoke to the sushi chef so we can look forward to more sushi in the future.  Plus it turns out that Sonali knows the Chairman and General Manager of the hotel and even I have met him once, so he said he would arrange sushi whenever we want it.

I don't know if you can make out the back end of the elephant.  I got this on Katusgatota Road, the main drag close to my new place while buying my new commode (toilet).  This was the fourth day of toilet frustration.  I took the elephant to be a good omen.

Went to lunch at a friends house on Thursday.  She is Spanish from Majorca, married to a Sri Lankan guy.  Sandy, the husband, did all the cooking and it was fabulous.  Wonderful Spanish cheeses, smoked sheep and some kind of goat cheese, wine, a wonderful Spanish fritatta,  a great fish stew/soup and wonderful pudding for dessert.  The company was good too.

Then it was off to the Kawasaki's for what I thought was pie.  Turns out it was arugula pie which was actually lunch.  They had waited for me until 1630 with lunch, so I couldn't not eat.  So in the end, I had 2 lunches.  It never rains but it pours.

I got home late to find Ferdinand bursting at the seams to go to the bathroom.  I have gotten rid of the litter box after a day as they use plain sand here and it really stinks.  I was so proud of him for waiting for me to come home.  Then yesterday morning he shit in my bed.  Not so proud now.