Where is Rune?

My arrival in Colombo was easy. I catched a bus to the city for Rs 40, and finally a Bajaj (motorised 3-wheeler) to the homestay where I had reserved a room, the Parisare, for Rs 150. The homestay is located in Cinnamon Gardens, an affluent residential district in Colombo, and is one of the best budget lodgings I have ever seen, especially for a capital city. The owner is a 76-year-old talkative lady, fluent in English. She showed me a book her (deceased) husband had written, about his memories about life on the tea plantations in Sri Lanka. I browsed the book (it was in English). Interesting.

Immediately after checking-in, I walked to the nearby Viharamahadevi Park, and from there to Galle Face Green, the beach front promenade. At this spot, I came upon the first shady characters: A guy approached me and wanted to direct me to a nearby elephant parade, by giving me a free ride in his buddy’s Bajaj. This smelled of bullshit and robbery attempt to me (it reminded me of an incident in Mumbai in 2001), so of course I refused and just walked away.

From Galle Face Green I walked to the Fort, a high-security area with many police checkpoints, complete with sandbags and in one case with a big machine gun pointing towards the crowd. Cool. I ate at a nearby vegetarian restaurant.

It was time to chill out with a beer, so I stumbled upon the bar behind the Sri Lanka Ex-Servicemen’s Institute, and had a Lion Lager. I met 3 friendly guys claiming to work in the navy, and I also tried some of the arrack they were drinking. I took a Bajaj home afterwards.

Next day was less eventful, but I had a great lunch at the homestay (some curry dishes etc.) I took a Bajaj to the Fort (Rs 150), and strolled around nearby Pettah, the oldest district in Colombo. Meal at a vegetarian restaurant. Not that I’m seeking out such restaurants, but they seem to be many around. I walked back to my homestay, and stopped by a simple bar about halfway, where I met 4 very friendly locals at my age. They even insisted to pay for my beer.

Tomorrow I will probably take the train to Galle or Hikkaduwa. The train leaves at 10:30.

My room at Parisare guest house.

The living room at Parisare guest house.

Police checkpoint, Fort area. There’s a machine gun pointing the other way.

Bristol Street, sponsed by HSBC.

Drinking beer and arrack at Sri Lanka Ex-Servicemen’s Institute.

Since my flight to Colombo departs at such a difficult hour (07:05), I decided to simply spend the last night at the airport. There are several advantages to this, for example:

• No need to worry about waking up on time (sometimes I don’t hear my cell phone alarm clock).
• Save one night’s accommodation costs.
• Save taxi fare out to the airport (since the MRT gets closed during night).

So here I am, killing time at Changi Airport, Singapore! I arrived here just before midnight on one of the last MRT trains. Check-in opens at 04:05.

While in Singapore, I spent a total of SGD 270, including the SGD 65 Indonesian visa fee, but excluding my new sandals. My last coins are now spent on coffee at the airport.

When I arrived in Singapore on Monday, I checked into Cozy Corner Guest House, at the tune of SGD 14 nightly in a dorm with AC. Fair enough. I stayed here two years ago too. I noticed the same woman in the reception as before.

And since it is the year of the tiger, I thought I would post a picture of this tiger made of flowers, spotted on Orchard Road yesterday:

The year of the tiger.

Today I applied for a social visa at the Indonesian embassy, and am going to pick it up tomorrow.

I also bought a pair of new sandals today (I paid SGD 153), hope they are better suited for walking than the flip-flops I’m using now. Here’s a picture:

My new Chaco sandals.

But most importantly, I suddenly decided to make a trip to Sri Lanka, and have made the following booking with SriLankan Airlines:

DEPARTING: From Singapore to Colombo
Date: Friday 19 February 2010
Flight No: UL316
Departure Time: 07:05 arriving at 10:10

RETURNING: From Colombo to Singapore
Date: Sunday 14 March 2010
Flight No: UL312
Departure Time: 07:20 arriving at 15:20

Total Cost: SGD 377

I also made a phone call to Parisare guest house in Colombo, and booked a room for 3 days at 1000 LKR per night (around USD 9). The guest house is located in Cinnamon Gardens, the most affluent district in Colombo.

Why travel to Sri Lanka? Well, why not?

Welcome to the hard house world of the new Indonesia! In this regard, Tiesto (the Dutch DJ) made a significant contribution last Saturday night, when he performed at Carnaval Beach, Ancol Bay City Jakarta. We had tickets for this outdoor happening, and despite rain and muddy conditions, we stayed until 04:00. We arrived late though, around midnight.

A couple of pictures and a video clip below.

Right now I’m killing time at the airport, waiting for a flight to Singapore. It’s time to renew my visa again. Details: JT 150V 15FEB M CGKSIN HK1 0830 1110 /E (price: Rp 290,000).

Tiesto.

Bobby from (in)famous “Stadium”.

Tiesto is performing at Carnaval Beach on Saturday, and I (together with Caecil and Sanjay) decided to not miss this event, and got hold of tickets yesterday. Price: Rp 250k each.

This is the schedule on Saturday:

20.00 – 21.00 : ORIGINAL NARO
21.00 – 22.00 : MILINKA RADISIC
22.00 – 23.30 : ROMY 1945MF
23.30 – 01.00 : WINKY JUNKO
01.00 – 03.00 : TIESTO
03.00 – 04.00 : BOBBY STADIUM