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Christmas in Sri Lanka

Christmas in Sri Lanka

Preparation for this great day begins weeks before, as in any other country. The festive sound or annoying sound of fireworks waking you up at dawn every morning of December is the first intimation that Christmas is round the corner.

Despite the fact that nearly 70% of population are practicing Buddhism while another 15% of people are Hindus, only a 7% of Sri Lanka’s population are Christians It is celebrated by Christians and shared by non-Christians in true Sri Lankan style.

It is said that the very first celebration of this festival was perhaps introduced to Sri Lanka (early known as Ceylon) by the Portuguese who ruled Lanka From 1505~1650.then the Dutch who ruled from 1658~1796 followed by British who ruled from 1815~1948.

The festivity spreads through all shopping centres all over the island. Even the small wayside boutiques in the heart of the country come out with their small festive décor. Homes are cleaned and painted, new clothes are bought or stitched and decorations are hung.

Hotels and commercial establishments are given a facelift around mid-November with seasonal decorations, and an interesting fact is the emerging trend of utilizing natural materials such as twigs, jute, leaves, etc, to create a natural but visually stunning Christmas ambiance.

The 25th of December is a public holiday and the midnight of 24th of December Cathedrals, Churches and little Chapels all over the island Christians attend “Midnight Mass”.

Christmas day finds people visiting relatives ,friends and neighbors to share with them the seasonal cake followed by a lavish spread of lunch or dinner.

Since Christmas is followed closely by the New Year sales. ‘Sale’ signs can be seen in almost all shops, with attractive price reductions being offered.

Spend Christmas in Sri Lanka

Should you opt for a tropical Christmas in Sri Lanka, you can be sure that it will be a most memorable one with all the trimmings of the festive season. Take your pick out of all the scenic locations Sri Lanka has to offer, and celebrate Christmas there. All Hotels indulge their guests with a fantastic Christmas spread, carols, dancing and other seasonal activities. It will be just like home but with a number of new experiences thrown in.

Contact us with your requirements and we will include them all and much more in your Sri Lanka tour package. In addition the New Year’s Eve dances in Sri Lanka are something special, so be prepared to party your way into the New Year in style!

Speaking with the locals

Speaking with the locals

Sinhalese  known natively as Sinhala is the native language of the Sinhalese people, who make up the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, numbering about 16 million.

Sinhalese is also spoken as a second language by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, totalling about four million. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages.

Sinhalese is written using the Sinhalese script, which is one of the Brahmic scripts, a descendant of the ancient Indian Brahmi script closely related to the Kadamba alphabet.

Sinhalese is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka. Sinhalese, along with Pali, played a major role in the development of Theravada Buddhist literature.

Here’s just a few words that you can use, that I’m sure will impress the locals:

  • Machang – mate (around the island you will come across a bar chain called Machang)
  • Aiyo – Oh No!
  • Lassanai – beautiful
  • Dickie – trunk of a car
  • Keling keling – straight on (very handy when you are in a tuktuk)
  • Wama – turn left
  • Dacuna – turn right
  • Colour lights – traffic lights
  • Slippers – flip flops
  • Paining – pain (for example: My arm is paining)
  • Hari hari – ok

Enjoy speaking to the locals, they will love your attempt!

4 Great Minds come together in Negombo

When four great minds come together they create something that is simply authentic, different and a total success.

That is what happened with a new bar and restaurant named Toro (which is Spanish for bull) ideally located opposite the Jetwing Sea hotel in Palagathura which is Negombo Beach North.

The four great minds are:

  • Krishan (the owner) who has many years experience as a local caterer and a chef. He worked at Rodeo for many years.
  • Chanaka (Head Chef) who was the Head Chef at Rodeo for over 20 years.
  • Madusanka (Head Barman) who has gained experience by working at the Cricket Club in Colombo.
  • Geeth (Head Waiter) who is very well known to many Negombo residents as he previously worked at Serendib for many years.

Toro Bar & Restaurant has only been opened for about 4 months but is already established itself as one of the top venues in Negombo due to its great food, unique and imaginative menu, good value, great bar service and cocktails and friendly welcoming service.

The bar is frequented by many local families as its a safe and friendly place for women to come, many aircrew (especially the Emirates team as they stopover at the Jetwing Sea which is opposite) and foreign visitors to the area.

The atmosphere is friendly, mixed and there’s always great music and every Friday you can expect live music and feel free to dance if you want, there is plenty of room.

The décor of the place is modern with wooden pallets making up the walls and the ceiling. Modern lighting and wooden tables, some low down and some high up, spotlessly clean toilets and attractive bar area.

Feel relaxed with lots of large wall fans to cool you down. There is a vast array of drinks to choose from. From Lion beer, Apple cider, cocktails, milkshakes, Calsberg, Corona to Chilean wine by the glass.

Madusanka can serve up both the quickest and the meanest mojito in Negombo. Its great value with Lion beer just 420 rupees or Gin and tonic (with ice and lime, which is a rare thing in Sri Lanka) for just 500 rupees.

The menu is a mixed of Sri Lankan and Western and can be suitable for everyine including vegetarians and vegans. Steak Panini sandwich, (700 LKR) Prawn & Avacado wrap,(600LKR) Beer batter fish with home made chips and salad, (950 LKR), Freshly made pizzas, Seafood. Chop Suey and even delicious Traditional Sri Lankan rice and curry. The menu has been devised by Krishan and Chanaka and their joint vast experience is shown in their dishes and presentation.
If you have any questions then Geeth will be pleased to answer them.

The owner Krishan is very proud of his new venue. If you ask to see the kitchen he will be delighted to show it to you. Here you will find one of the largest and cleanest kitchens in the country. Very impressive and offers peace of mind about the food.

 

 

So if you are visiting Negombo then head North along the beach road, with the sea on your left hand side and get youself down to Toro Bar & Restaurant.

Why not stay at one of our many highly recommended guest houses in Negombo Beach North such as Anne Residence (from $18 a night) or Shannon Rest (from $20 a night), these two properties are only a short 5 minute walk to Toros.

Facebook Tests Splitting Its News Feed Into Two

Facebook Tests Splitting Its News Feed Into Two

Facebook Inc. said it was testing the idea of dividing its News Feed in two, separating commercial posts from personal news.

The Facebook News Feed is a series of posts such as photos from friends, updates from family members, advertisements and material from celebrities or other pages that a user has liked.

The test, which is occurring in six smaller countries, now offers two user feeds, according to a statement from the company: one feed focused on friends and family and a second dedicated to the pages that the customer has liked.

The change could force those who run pages, everyone from news outlets to musicians to sports teams, to pay to run advertisements if they want to be seen in the feed that is for friends and family.

Depending on how people respond, two news feeds could mean that they see fewer links to news stories.

The test has already affected website traffic for smaller media outlets in recent days.

 

Emirates Airbus A380 lands at Colombo Airport

Emirates Airbus A380 lands at Colombo

Emirates’ double decked Airbus A380 aircraft will make a one-off landing at the Colombo’s Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA), Katunayake, in Sri Lanka on the 14th August 2017, the first airline to land this wide-body aircraft at the airport’s new resurfaced runway.

The special flight will be the first A380 aircraft to disembark passengers in Sri Lanka after completing a commercial service. The one-off A380 aircraft will arrive at 16:10 hours and be on ground for more than six hours. Before it returns to Dubai as flight EK655 departing at 22:10 hours, enabling airport executives, VIPs, trade partners and media to enjoy a guided static tour of the double-decker aircraft. The airline said in a media release.

This is not exactly the first time an Emirates Airbus A380 plane has landed here in Sri Lanka. In June 2015 the mentioned aircraft with more than 500 people on board had to make an emergency landing in Sri Lanka due to a technical fault.

The aircraft was en route to Dubai from Sydney when it was diverted to Colombo, where it landed safely.

“Colombo has welcomed us from the day Emirates commenced daily flights from Dubai in 1986, just a year after the airline launched its operations. We are honoured to work alongside the city, airport, and the Sri Lankan Civil Aviation authorities, to bring our flagship A380 to this vibrant destination.

For Colombo and for aviation enthusiasts in Sri Lanka, this will certainly be a special day and we look forward to showcasing our unique on board products in this market,” said Ahmed Khoory, Emirates’ Senior Vice President, West Asia and Indian Ocean.

An A380 aircraft can carry 853 passengers (538 on the main deck and 315 on the upper),

Customers in Sri Lanka can experience Emirates’ double-decker aircraft by connecting through the airline’s Dubai hub to more than 45 A380 destinations. As the first and only airline in the world to operate a fleet of all Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 aircraft for its passenger flights, Emirates’ operating fleet remains modern and efficient while offering customers a high level of comfort. Since 2008, Emirates has flown over 80 million passengers on its A380 fleet, the release said.

The story is a follow up from our story titled Airport closure a complete waste of time and money which we published on the 26th April 2017

This is a big embarrassment to the airport, the government and officials. Surely the contractors knew how to read a tape measure!!!

The extra wide runway would also allow for larger aircraft such as the Airbus A380 super jumbo to be able to use the airport.

The problem is that the contractors measured the extra 30 metres incorrectly and actually only widened the runway to 60 metres making it short by 15 metres when measured by the IATA officials.

We are pleased to advise that this problem has since been rectifield and the addtional 15 metres has been added to the runway width without any further closures taking place.

This is good news to Sri Lankan tourism, in addition to the extra flights from Moscow and Melbourne.

To search for any flights to Colombo and beyond with Emirates or any other long haul airline, click HERE