Sunday 10th June 2012 - Colombo, Sri Lanka

Anjali and I had planned to have a chilled out movie day today and then I would cook in the evening. However in the morning when I was in my room sleeping, Anjali had got a call from Farizeh asking to meet up so Anjali decided without me that we would meet Farizeh and Rudi today. I was of course a little disappointed but I figured we could meet them in the late morning/early afternoon and then come back for around 5pm and then I could still cook.  We met Farizeh at the Avirate Cafe and then decided we would all go shopping to a store called Cotton Collection to have a look. I had seen a poster for the store earlier in the week and had wanted to check it out so was definitely up for it. We all jumped in a tuk tuk and were almost there (like 2minutes away) when the tuk tuk broke down so we got out and walked. Rudi came and joined us at the store and went upstairs to the men's section to shop. Cotton collection was more my kind of store as it was more fitting to my budget so I ended up buying some beautiful basics. The store bizarrely sold Marks and Spencers and Miss Selfridge branded clothing.  While we were at the counter paying I could overhear a conversation happening between Rudi and Anjali. They were talking about heading down to Galle and Unawatana for dinner. Anjali didn't even ask me but signed us both up for it. I then pretended like I hadn't heard what they were talking about and asked what was happening. Anjali was like we're going to Galle. I outright told her infront of Farizeh and Rudi that I was kind of offended given that I was supposed to be cooking for her and because I had all the fresh ingredients in the fridge. Anjali said "you can cook tomorrow, it's no problem." I really didn't want to go and said that I was going to pass but Rudi and Farizeh weren't having any of it and insisted that I come. I eventually agreed but felt quite a bit disappointed in Anjali.  The drive down to Galle was beautiful. There is a high speed road (aka motorway) linking Colombo to Galle which meant it only took 45minutes to get there. The road cut right through green fields covered in palms and tea and rubber plantations.  Rudi had suggested that we go to a beachfront bar in Unawatana before heading to Galle but of course Anjali suggested somewhere nicer to go before she even saw Rudi's place. We drove down the road that she suggested but Rudi didn't seem impressed and suggested that we head to his place instead which made me very happy! The road that Anjali suggested actually looked really cool, not for drinking but rather it looked like somewhere I would definitely like to go back to for more than a few hours. There were cool little stores filled with hippy type clothing, wooden jewellery (which I adore), and lots of other bric-a-brac. The place that Rudi suggested for us to drink at was just beautiful. It was a raised wooden shack type-place right on the beach that had sun-beds against the railings looking right out onto the beach. The beach wasn't that great at the moment though because it was monsoon season, meaning that the waves were crazy and there was hardly any beach.  When we arrived there Anjali had to get it in there that she had came here to this place before in an attempt to try and steal the limelight but whatever.  Both Farizeh and Anjali don't drink so Rudi and I drank beer and shared a pizza while the ladies ate and drank other things. We stayed at the place for maybe two hours and then drove to The Fort at Galle. The Fort is basically a man-made fort that the Dutch built and lived on during their colonial reign in Sri Lanka. The houses there were very European with small cobbled roads. We walked around doing the tourist thing and looking inside the beautiful homes that had been converted into impressive hotels. It was dark by this point though and we had been driven to Galle by Rudi and Farizeh's driver so we all decided to head back to Colombo so that their driver could go home. His motorbike was parked at Farizeh and Rudi's house so we drove there. There house was about 30minutes outside of Colombo  because that was where the driver's motorbike was. Farizeh has previously complained a lot about her house because apparently it is too hot but I walked inside and my jaw dropped open. I have never stepped inside a more beautiful house. Of course you see nice houses on the television but this was reality and I was in complete awe!  The living area was tree storeys high with floor to ceiling arched shaped windows draped with white lightweight curtains. This is the room that Farizeh had the problem with because there was only one air-conditioner in the room and the sheer size of the room meant that it wasn't very effective. The furniture in the room was modern chic and very glamorous, which suited Farizeh's personality perfectly. Downstairs there was a gorgeous kitchen, a study for Rudi and staff living quarters (which had another kitchen, a television room, a bedroom with an ensuite bathroom and also another separate bathroom). In the study were dozens of framed photographs that Rudi had taken. Apparently photography was one of his favourite hobbies. His work was really nice - he had even did photography at Farizeh's sister's wedding which he showed us.  There were huge wooden stairs leading upstairs to a balcony type area that looked down onto the living area. There were 3rooms there, each with a bathroom. There was also another living area. The whole house was white but each bathroom was very oddly painted a different colour. They were only renting the property so didn't really want to do much to the house because it would be a waste.  Anyway, Rudi got changed and then we all got back in the car and Rudi drove us to into Colombo to the Dutch Hospital to have food and drinks. As soon as we arrived into the Dutch Hospital and took a seat at a table we were greeted by a man carrying a beer pitcher saying that we had won this for sitting at the selected table. Thanks!! Rudi and I shared the beer and we all ordered tapas food to eat whilst watching a live band playing all the really cool chilled out songs by people like snow patrol and kings of Leon. After food Rudi and I ordered shisha also.  It was a nice chilled out evening that ended around 1am. 

Saturday 9th June 2012 - Colombo, Sri Lanka

Anjali got a call this morning from the family that were supposed to be having the birthday party yesterday. Apparently Anjali had got the dates mixed up and the party was today instead. I had already made plans to go and see Shiran at Chocoluv though because I could tell he was feeling neglected and slightly jealous since I had been hanging out with Anjali. His feelings were definitely unfounded and not fair so it was my duty today to try and make him see that if it wasn't for Anjali I wouldn't even be in Colombo because I couldn't afford it so he should be happy! Anyway I had bought this amazing jumpsuit from Avirate yesterday but when I pulled it out of the bag to have a look at it again I realised there was a whole on the seam so Anjali said she would come with me to change it before heading in separate ways. I had also put some clothes on hold that I didn't manage to decide on yesterday because Rudi and Farizeh had came and I didn't want to keep them waiting so I also tried them on again. I ended up spending quite a lot of money despite feeling inside that what I was doing was wrong.  When I arrived at Chocoluv there was a competition happening - like a relay race but with a glass of milkshake at the end of each lap. It was a race to see who could drink the most milkshake in the quickest time to win a balloon ride. There were people of all ages running in and out of the toilets vomiting and the cold drink seemed to have triggered that annoying itchy cough that I had before which turned into a chest infection! Shiran had been previously been telling me to sign up to the competition so you can imagine my delight that I had refused! I spent the day chilling on the grass outside Chocoluv smoking shisha and drinking their amazing milkshake. Gayan was on the early shift so when he finished work he joined me on the grass and we spoke. He'd had a massive argument with his wife the night before and he was really upset. I had never really asked about Gayan's 6year old son before but a conversation I'd had previously with Anjali made me want to ask about him. Gayan had previously told me that the only reason he was staying with his wife was for his son but he never seemed to be at home to spend time with him so I asked him why. He told me that actually he didn't have feelings towards his son and never played with him or spent time with him. I respected that he was honest about it. I kind of understood also that he wasn't feeling great about his situation with his wife and was probably not comfortable playing with his son while his wife was around but his son was now six so it was absolutely imperative that he steps up his game otherwise his son will have no respect for him and also because it meant that he was staying in this unhappy situation for nothing otherwise. He never worked on Sundays so I told him that tomorrow he should try and take his son to the beach or something. I could see that I had struck a cord but he was too much of a thinker rather than a doer so I didn't have much hope that he would take him but at least the seed was planted. What he did now was none of my business.  Whilst chilling at Chocoluv I had decided that I wanted to do something for Anjali to say thank you for everything but because I didn't have her kind of money I decided that I would cook for her tomorrow. Gayan and I jumped in a tuk tuk together and he dropped me at the food city near Anjali's before heading off to Mount Lavinia to meet his friends for drinks. I looked around food city to get an idea of the kind of thing I could cook for her based on the ingredients they sold - spaghetti bolognese it was. Anjali only eats chicken though so I would have to make it with chicken mince. I was in the store for maybe 45minutes trying to find everything and then when I got to the checkout - the total was Rs4500 which is like £25. Frikin crazy prices. Anyway, I paid for everything and then the lady that was packing the bags at my till asked to see inside my bags. I was still carrying my Avirate shopping bags from the morning and you are supposed to check in your bags (you can take a handbag in though) when you enter stores but it slipped my mind because nobody asked me for them. Anyway because I had carried the shopping bags around the store I said sure and showed them the inside of my shopping bags. They then asked to see inside my handbag. I told them that no I would not let them look inside my handbag because you are not even supposed to check-in handbags at the entrance. They then said that it wasnt because of that, apparently their cameras had seen me stealing something. I was pissed! The cheek! I said why on earth would I come and spend Rs4500 and then steal something. I said if they wanted to look in my handbag they should call the police because it was absurd. I was absolutely mortified especially given that there were other people in the queue behind me. Surely there was a more dignified way to go about this especially given that they didn't know for sure whether I was guilty or not. They then said if I didn't have anything to hide then I should just show them. It was more the principle for me but I showed them my handbag reluctantly and then told them I was absolutely fuming and grabbed my bags and left. I walked up the street with my bags towards Anjali's and arrived at hers just as she was pulling up in a car coming from the birthday party. I told her what had happened and she marched out of the house telling me to follow her because she was going to tell them off. We got to the store and she asked me who had searched my bag. She then marched over and started shouting at the lady in Sinhala. Everyone was watching and all the staff crowded around to see what was happening. I was now even more embarrassed! When speaking to Anjali they then changed their story and said that it wasn't a camera that had seen me steal but apparently a customer approached them as well as a staff member. Anjali demanded to see the staff member and it turns out it was the guy that had served me at the meat counter. Anjali then went crazy at this guy as well. I really felt uncomfortable so I went and waited outside and then out came Anjali and three staff members apologising to me. I was too humiliated to say anything so gave a small nod of approval and started to walk towards Anjali's with Anjali in tow.  I don't know why this had happened or what people had seen but I knew that I would never step foot in that store again. 

Friday 8th June 2012 - Colombo, Sri Lanka

I was in my room doing yoga when Anjali came knocking on my door saying she had agreed to meet her neighbour to go to a flower market in Sri Lanka's capital city - apparently Colombo isn't the capital city, which came as a shock to me - according to Anjali it is only the financial capital?! Anyway, her neighbour would pick us up in half an hour so I had to ditch the yoga and jump in the shower.  On the way to the flower market we had to stop at a church to pick up food to take to a poor area in Colombo. Her neighbour did this every Friday but had her driver doing it all! He picked up the food and took it to the poor people whilst she waited in the car! Kind of defied the point in my opinion. Anjali said that I should go and have a look at the houses and walked with me down this narrow lane where there were doors basically on top of each other on both sides of the lane. Each door led to a small room where usually more than 8 people would sleep. The houses had tin roofs and were absolutely tiny. There were people sitting on their doorsteps smiling as we walked past with the driver carrying the food. I was really interested in seeing these houses properly but I didn't want to impose or make a spectacle of these people's lives. They were human too so it felt kind of wrong for me to look inside their house or stare so I just smiled at the people and avoided looking passed them and into their home.  We arrived at the place where the flower market was supposed to be only to find that there was some landscaping work taking place so the market couldn't take place. Rather than just driving back we went to a place called Water's Edge and stopped at a cafe to have a snack. There was also an art exhibition taking place on the grass outside so we looked around there for a bit before jumping back in the car to head back to Colombo. We drove passed a building that was basically the equivalent to the houses of parliament but in Sri Lanka and I stopped to get a photo.  Once we were back at Anjali's we did some meditation and then she did energy healing on me. She is very spiritual and told me that she could see people's auras - apparently mine is green, meaning that I love nature but also that I get jealous.  Anjali then got a call from Farizeh asking her if she wanted to meet at the Avirate Cafe at 4pm. Anjali and I decided to walk there. It was such a nice walk and required us to walk passed the independence hall. According to Anjali it was her great grandfather who had established independence in Sri Lanka when he was the Prime Minister and there was a statue of him on the grounds around the hall.   We walked around having a look and then I could hear live music in the distance - on the field opposite the hall there were marching bands from the army and navy performing. It was absolutely amazing to watch - apparently they were practising for an event that was taking place on Sunday.  We got to Avirate Cafe early so we went into the store to look around. It was the worst thing I could have done! The staff, including the male manager, kept bringing me loads of different items to try on and absolutely everything looked amazing. Also when Farizeh joined us she was picking out amazing clothes for me. I liked Farizeh a lot as whenever she brought me an item to try on, if i said it wasn't me she would be like "yes I see what you mean but it does look stunning". Anjali on the other hand would say "what is wrong with you, get it!"  Whenever Anjali and I were alone she was lovely and would talk from the heart about life and other things but when there were other people around I noticed that she was usually quite rude to me and talked for me when people asked me a question. It was like I was seen but not heard and if I was heard Anjali would usually correct me or disagree with what I had to say in quite a forceful manner so I would just shut up and go inward. I hadn't worn nice clothes for three months and hadn't bought any with me because that wasn't the kind of journey I was on so was kind of offended when Anjali said "Basically you have been wearing the wrong clothes missus!" I know she didn't mean any harm by it but it wasn't appreciated. Anjali, Farizeh, Rudey and I then jumped in the car to go and feed Anjali's cat whilst I quickly changed into one of my new dresses. We then headed to the Hilton for drinks. It was dark so the place was lit up which seems to make these places look even more stunning than in the daylight. Gihan ended up joining us and when Rudey got up to go to the toilet he took the seat next to me and moved it closer. Cringe! He tried making conversation with me but I kept turning my attention to the ladies hoping he would stop - eventually he did.   There was a band playing live music but it was pretty dreary so we then headed to Cinnamon Lake to a club called the Library where they had a pool table and a live band also.  Rudey, Gihan and I went to play pool while the ladies danced. I beat Rudey which meant I had to play Gihan but I felt ridiculously uncomfortable because he kept sitting right where the white ball landed meaning that he would check me out when I bent over to play. To avoid him checking me out I literally stood straight and hit the ball in any way without trying to aim. Also when I was playing Rudey, Gihan had tried to put his arm around me to show me how I should position myself. I pulled so far away and said you can show me from where you are! I got really upset at this place because Rudey had again managed to pay the bill at the Hilton and at The Library. Rudey saw that it had upset me that he kept paying and he came over and told me to stop being silly and said I should spent my money on other things like clothes. Then Anjali spotted I was upset and started going into a full blown lecture in front of everyone so I had to ask her to leave it out until no one was around.  We all danced until about 1am and then they dropped Anjali and I back home. I had a talk with Anjali and told her that I needed to leave her house because I was following a path now that I didn't want to be on and spending too much money on things that I shouldn't be spending on. Also because I didn't like that Farizeh and Rudey kept paying the bill and that I couldn't afford to take a whole bill like that and that the only way I could avoid this was to stop going out with them.  She understood and was supportive of my decision but also gave me a lecture about getting upset with people paying the bill and explained that nobody had to do anything they didn't want to do. She also had both of us in tears saying that she can see that I don't love myself and that this is why I find it hard to let people close to me or accept that people actually enjoy spending time with me and that they genuinely want to pay the bill. She struck a cord inside me but I had no idea how to fix it. I know this about myself but it's something I try to push aside and avoid but it always comes out in the way I feel about certain things that happen to me and how I may react. I don't feel whole inside and don't feel like I can offer a lot to people so I get jealous or insecure and threatened when a friend has a new friend or when for instance Hugh used to be hanging out with other females because I feel replaceable. This is one of the things that I hoped I could fix by travelling as i would at least feel like I had achieved something - the problem is though that I don't see me travelling alone as a big deal. Farizeh and Anjali are constantly telling me what a big deal it is and that it says a lot about myself but I just feel numb to everything and feel unable to spark a fuse inside that looks at myself as anything other than a failure.  You could say I have issues!!! Anyway, Anjali made me talk it out so I went to bed feeling a bit better. 

Thursday 7th June 2012 - Colombo, Sri Lanka

Anjali had a friend's relative's daughter's birthday party to go to tomorrow so our mission today was to find a birthday present for her. Anjali hated going in tuk tuks so decided she wanted to pay for a car and driver to take us around.  During one of mine and Anjali's past conversations I had for some reason mentioned that when I get married I want a dress with a low back so somehow from this conversation Anjali had decided that today she wanted to get a top made for me with a low back. We firstly needed to stop off to get the material from a store called fashion fabric. We were walking towards the store when a man, a lady and two children stopped Anjali and gave her this story about loosing all their money and their house and told her they were hungry. They asked if Anjali would buy them food. We were standing right outside McDonalds but apparently they only eat curry and rice so that wasn't suitable but then 2minutes later we went past an expensive bakery/patisserie and they pointed at that place to eat!!! The light still didn't turn on for Anjali that they were dodgy and despite me cussing her saying that if they were that hungry they would eat anything she still went ahead and bought them food! When she told the Sri Lankan driver what she had done he cussed her too and said he was surprised he hadn't invited them into her house to have them rob her of everything.  Also following on from our conversations about making her house into a guesthouse she wanted to show me Casa Colombo, a hotel that was once a house but was converted. Casa Colombo was so elegant and chic. There was a pink pool out the back with silver balls floating on the top. Around the pool was modern silver sun loungers with little side tables with white towels neatly rolled placed in the middle. The place was gorgeous.  She had set out with the intention of buying the little girl some kind of arts and crafts set or makeup but after looking around the whole of majestic city, a large toy store and Arpico with no luck, she was instructed by a lady to go to this other store for makeup sets. One thing about Sri Lanka is that most shop assistants are useless and not willing to help. In the first toy store we went to in Majestic City we had asked the shop assistant for arts and crafts sets and they said they don't sell them so I continued looking around and found them. Also when we were at this store that this lady had told us to go to we asked where exactly the sets were. Despite asking a few members of staff (in English and Sinhala) all of them had said that they don't sell makeup sets so we found a makeup bag and starting looking around for individual items to make up a makeup set. Then after we had been in the store for maybe an hour and Anjali had paid for everything I spotted makeup sets! The guys first refused to give a refund but Anjali caused a stink and they gave in. This shopping trip lasted maybe 6hours.  After the shopping Anjali got the driver to drop us at Cinnamon Lake where we going to eat Chinese at a restaurant called Long Feng. The food was delicious!!! We ordered loads of different dishes and shared them. There was a live band playing the classic singalong type songs from the 80s and 90s that had Anjali and I singing out loud and bopping our heads. On the lake there was a stunning floating restaurant that had thousands of lights that cast a beautiful reflection onto the water.  Again Anjali took the bill leaving me feeling really bad. I kept letting Anjali know how I felt about her paying but she insisted that it was what she wanted to do.  We caught a tuk tuk back to her place and chilled talking for a few hours before going to bed. 

Tuesday 5th June 2012 - Colombo, Sri Lanka

As mentioned Anjali was not brought up in Sri Lanka and only came here to sell her grandmother's house and ended up staying in Sri Lanka to restore the house instead. She told me that she has been feeling very isolated here and has had a few problems with the local ladies and them hating on her, so she did some research on expat associations and found one that had a meeting today and so she wanted to go and check it out. I had always wondered what an expat was and apparently it means someone who has migrated to another country either to live or to work. We got up in the morning and had smoothies made from mangos fresh from the trees in her garden. We then jumped in a tuk tuk and headed to a hotel called the Taj which was such a grand looking hotel. We were directed into this room where there were lots of ladies of all nationalities. We registered and then were told to sit in an area in the corner as that was where the newcomers were going to meet with a lady to hear about the organisation. Everyone talked amongst themselves and asked each other's stories - nearly all of the ladies were wives of men working in the country and had no work so were obviously lonely.  The meeting was cool and the organisation seemed to offer a lot of different activities to keep these women occupied (the association is not just for women by the way but there was only one male member!). Anjali signed up to become a member.  After the meeting Anjali and I went to the Galle Face hotel for a drink (Anjali doesn't drink alcohol by the way) and shared a meze platter. We sat there for hours talking and then moved to another area in the hotel, right on the beach front, to watch the sunset. We were both really surprised when out of nowhere we saw one of the ladies from the expat meeting! When we all spotted eachother we had wide smiles as this lady had seemed very nice in the meeting and Anjali had spoken to her briefly about the restoration work that she was doing on her house. The lady's name was Frizay and she was with two men; her husband Rudey and his cousin Gihan. They all joined us at our table and we talked and laughed but the cousin Gihan, who was a huge guy (width wise) aged in maybe his 40years, kept trying to divert me over to a conversation with him and whilst I was taking photos of the sunset stood up and kept standing really close to me and putting his arm around me to position me. Disgusting. Then at one point I showed the group a photo I had taken of an old guy mounting a tree to get Toddy and this guy Gihan held my hand which had the phone in it with both of his hands to apparently get a better look. It was completely inappropriate and unneccessary and annoyed me a lot because I had spent a lot of my time with these people telling them about my bad experiences with the men here and this guy took note and now was troubling me in the same way! I pulled my hand away and passed him the phone. I tried hard to avoid any conversation with him from then. We had all been chilling talking for maybe an hour and a half and then Rudey paid the bill!!! Anjali and I had been there drinking before they came along and I had drank a lot of pimms both while they were with us and before so it was completely wrong for him to pay but he wouldn't hear of it. It made me feel awful. Rudey then asked if we all wanted to go to dinner together and so we headed to a restaurant called Lemon in their car. Lemon was on the same street as Anjali's favourite clothes store 'Avirate' so because Frizay had only been in the country for 3-weeks and didn't know the best places to shop Anjali wanted to show her the shop and the attached cafe. This was the worse thing that could have ever happened because I had restrained my shopacholic tendencies for all this time because I had kept away from the type of life I live in England but these ladies were pulling me right back into it! The clothes were amazing and my senses were going crazy as I looked around at all the beauty! Luckily the men were waiting so we had to leave but the shopping seed was now sewn in me :-(  Anjali had been talking about Lemon a lot and how she wanted to take me here so she was really happy when she made the suggestion to the group to come here and they all agreed. Lemon was located on the rooftop of a building and was just so beautiful. The lighting just made the place so magical and made everything look beautiful and created a warm yet crisp and modern ambiance.  The food was really good as well!! I ordered baby ribs which came with a side of rice and salad. It was nice and spicy and really well seasoned.  During dinner a conversation had come up about Facebook and Gihan asked to see my phone. Why did this random guy need to see my phone?! He then bought up Facebook (I signed out before I handed him the phone) and stared at my email address for a long time like he was trying to remember it. He then said he had this beautiful photo he wanted to show me and that I should add him on Facebook there and then. What could I do because he was watching! I added him and then after we left I cancelled the request!  Again though, Rudey took the damn bill. As explained before I could never afford to just go and take a bill like that but I would at least like to go Dutch so I am paying my way.  Rudey and Frizay were so lovely though. Rudey was Sri Lankan and Frizay was Pakistani and they had lived in London for most of their lives in Notting hill. Rudey's work meant that they had to move around a lot though - they had come to Sri Lanka from Hong Kong. Frizay was a bit of a diva though and couldn't go anywhere without air-conditioning. She was absolutely lovely though and so funny.  After dinner Rudey dropped me and Anjali back home. Gihan got out of the car to say goodbye and basically cornered me and blocked my route into the gate so I walked around him - he then touched my hair and flower and said "beautiful". Yuk! Once inside the house I told Anjali what he had done throughout the day-she apologised that she hadn't noticed and then we stayed up until 5am talking!  I had never felt more lucky because not only had this wonderful lady taken me into her home and introduced me to all these beautiful places, she also said that she would love to have me working on her projects with her. The next project was in the Gaza Strip and was to develop sustainable farming. It sounded amazing and would be exactly the kind of work that I would want to do. Anjali said I could be based anywhere in the world as long as I hit the deadlines and could fly in and out as needed. Also during dinner Rudey had told Anjali that a fantastic idea for her house would be to turn it into a hotel - Anjali loved the idea and was also saying that on the side of the projects I could manage the hotel. Managing a hotel was not my dream but it would allow me to be based in Sri Lanka and still get money when there were no projects. Everything was all just talk at the moment so although inside I am screaming like a little girl at a dream come true, I cannot get ahead of myself I see something tangible.  Also Anjali and I spoke about travelling around the rest of Sri Lanka together. She seemed really up for it. I still needed to do the whole of the south coast and the hill country. Also I really wanted to do whale and dolphin watching - I had wanted to do it in Trincomalee but the water was quite rough towards the end of my stay so I am thinking to go back there when the water calms.  All in all it was a great day :-) 

Monday 4th June 2012 - Colombo, Sri Lanka

I made sure that this morning I woke up super early so I could pack my things up and head to Anjali's house. I jumped in a tuk tuk and was taken past amazing houses and big important looking buildings guarded by security and police. We then pulled up to a big green gate that was on the same road as all these mansions and embassies - Anjali's house! I called Anjali to let her know I was outside the gate. She opened the gate and was wearing a vibrant white summer dress that was covered with pink flowers. Her smile was beaming as she opened the gate wide to welcome me into her garden. My first thoughts were "wow!"  There was a massive white house with a large driveway and a beautiful green garden that was lined with gorgeous bright flowers and different trees. I can't lie I felt a bit like a tramp walking into this amazing property with my big chunky backpack and grubby self especially given that I had been staying in basic guesthouses for the past 3months, but I thanked her as she led me into the house. The house was huge and absolutely beautiful! It had black granite flooring and white walls throughout with antique looking wooden furniture. There was a statement winding staircase which led up to three massive rooms, each following the decor of the rest of the house. I was shown to a room downstairs and told "this is your room". I had a room! Woohoo!  My room was a large room, again following the decor of the rest of the house, and had an attached modern bathroom with a shower that had hot water!!! I was in heaven!  Anjali asked me if I wanted a smoothie and then made me a beautiful mango smoothie before offering to take me out and an about.  The deal was that she was actually 43-years old but looking absolutely amazing for it! She was brought up in L.A in Beverly Hills but was born in Sri Lanka because her mum had come to visit Sri Lanka when she was 3-months pregnant but had a horse riding accident and had to be put under bed arrest until the baby was born to ensure the safety of the bubba. She used to work in the US Government for the ministry of justice. She was now "retired" but running regeneration projects across the globe on the side both through her foundation (non profit) and privately. She comes from a very well known and wealthy family - on her father's side her great grandfather was a former prime minister and the street that she lived on was named after her mother's side of the family (I am not 100% sure what they did). And here I was in this lady's house! It actually wasn't her house but her recently passed grandmother. Anjali's mum had inherited the house after her mum passed so Anjali and her mum had booked a two-week trip to Sri Lanka to sell the house - that was a year ago. Anjali's mum decided she actually didn't want to sell the place but then went back to L.A leaving the burden on Anjali. Anjali has spent the majority of the time restoring the house but even though the house is now finished she can't leave it because someone may take over the house if she leaves it alone. The house was previously taken over by a former minister and his mob with machine guns! She and her family had to negoiate to get these people out of her house. Her mission now is to find trustworthy staff to look after the house so she is free to leave at her will. The problem is that she has had many different people looking after the place but they have all screwed her over. If you haven't noticed already she is extremely kind (she took me into her house!) and was brought up in the states so she is used to talking with her staff about hers and their personal life, paying them well and building friendships with them. Anjali has said that you can't do that in Sri Lanka because from her experience people have seen this as a sign of weakness. Some people look at foreigners really badly and assume that they are rich so it doesn't matter if they con them or steal from them. From my previous posts you may see that this is true especially in the case of Sri Lankan men and their views and opinions of foreign women. So Anjali had a guy that was doing construction on her house and she made friends with him and used to take him out to all these nice places because she wanted to show him another side to life. He was a married man and Anjali had even met the wife and taken them both out so had obviously trusted his intentions with her. However this guy ended up trying to attack Anjali in her own house and now calls her threatening her.  Also she had many housekeepers but all of them stole from her. She paid for some of their children's education, bought computers for them, gave them cash advances, paid for weddings and even had worker's families move in with her to support them but each and everyone of these people cheated her in some way.  Anyway, as you gathered we spent a lot of time talking today! The talking was all done in many different luxurious places that Anjali decided to take me to.  The first place was the Cinnamon Grand hotel. She walked me around the place showing me the various restaurants including one that was built outside and made to replicate a traditional Sri Lankan village and cooked the food in pots on fire. The hotel was so grand and absolutely stunning! The next place we went to was the Gallery for lunch. The prices were nuts and cost more than I usually spend in a week on food but I had let Anjali know the situation and she had said that she was paying. I felt extremely bad but what could I do because there was no way I could afford to take a bill like that! The Gallery was a very upmarket cafe which attracted the middle and upper class and mainly served European fusion food. I had ordered butter chicken curry, recommended by Anjali and honestly it wasn't that great. I would have definitely preferred to eat in one of these cheap "hotel" cafes and paid a lot less but what to do?!  Anyway the next stop was Cinnamon Lake, another hotel with multiple restaurants but located by a big lake. We stopped there and had virgin mojitos whilst watching two men in a traditional looking longboat fishing using a net. The venue was gorgeous and got better as the sun went down as the lights reflected off the lake and the swimming pool making everything look stunning.  After drinks we caught a tuk tuk back to Anjali's and talked and chilled. 

Sunday 3rd June 2012 - Colombo, Sri Lanka

I was supposed to be checking out today at 10am and heading to Anjali's but I was dying and after arriving back to my hotel at 7.30am I didn't wake until 2.30pm - the only reason I woke up was because my phone was ringing. Annoying!  I was puking my guts up and still felt drunk every time I stood up and my head was pounding. I stayed in bed all day long sleeping only waking up to be sick and then at 5pm there was a bang on my door - it was the lady from the hostel asking me what was going on. I told her I didn't feel very well and would now be staying tonight and closed the door and went back to bed. Gayan had called me throughout the day wanting to do something as it was his day off but I couldn't imagine doing anything! I finally started feeling a bit human at 9pm but still stayed in bed! I texted Anjali apologising for not coming and asked if it would be ok to go to her house tomorrow instead - she was absolutely fine and said no problem. 

Saturday 2nd June 2012 - Colombo, Sri Lanka - REVISED

I had a nice lay in then got ready and headed straight to chocoluv. Shiran didn't start until the afternoon and the place was really busy so I didn't really get any time to talk to Gayan. Instead I just chilled, drank milkshake, ate spaghetti bolognese, then went and sat outside the cafe on the grass smoking shisha. When I had finished I came inside to pay my bill and there were two ladies sitting on the table opposite me -one of the ladies seemed to notice that I was waiting a long time for my bill and made a joke that I would be waiting for another year. I told her it was fine because they were my friends but then we got talking and she invited me to join her and her friend. Her name was Anjali, she was Sri Lankan but lived in Los Angeles. She was very elegant and wearing very sleek and sophisticated clothing - she looked around 30years old. We got talking about our different experiences of Sri Lanka - mainly the bad ones. She told me she travelled a lot by herself so could totally relate to me when she saw me on my own. She asked me about the places I had been and where I was going and when i said I wanted to go to the Maldives but that i couldn't go because they don't exactly have guesthouses there, her reaction was that I could go with her. She said she stays in the most amazing five-star hotels and that I could stay for free! I asked her how she manages to do so much travelling with work but then she told me she is retired! She was only like 30 so how the hell did she manage that! Anyway, she invited me to stay with her in her "massive house that she has to herself" that was literally around the corner from Chocoluv - the area (Colombo 7) is the wealthiest area in Colombo so I couldn't believe my luck. I was really overwhelmed! She told me I could come by whenever I wanted so I told her I would come tomorrow. She gave me her address and phone number and then invited me to an interior design show that she was going to with her friend - however tempting it was I had to refuse because of my plans with Shiran and Gayan so I said goodbye and then she left with her friend and I left with Gayan. Gayan, Shiran and I had arranged to go out but Shiran didn't finish until midnight so we had agreed that Gayan and I would go and have some drinks and Shiran would meet us later and we would all head to Mount Lavinia together to a bar.  Gayan and I were supposed to go to Heladiv for cocktails but given the prices there Gayan came up with a great idea - we would buy a bottle and head to Galle face.  We first had to head to my hotel so I could change clothes, Gayan waited in the reception as men are not allowed in this place.  We then went to the supermarket in Cinnamon grand shopping mall and bought a big bottle of Arrack and then ate Chinese food in the food halls below.  We then headed over to Galle Face where there were hundreds of people chilling on the grass, some flying kites, and took a seat on the sea wall drinking and talking.  Time flew while we were there and before we knew it, it was time to head to Heladiv to meet Shiran. The three of us then jumped in a tuk tuk and headed to a really cool chillout bar in Mount Lavinia. It was a wooden structure located right on the edge of the beach. We took seats right on the beach, ordered a snack and just chilled talking. Despite going through a whole bottle of arrack already the boys wanted to order a bottle of rum.  Some idiot boys tried hassling me a couple of times but Gayan told them to leave me alone and that I was his good friend.  Time went on and before I knew it the sun was coming up. I had drank so much alcohol that I ended up sitting on the beach with the water completely soaking me crying my eyes out because I missed Hugh. Gayan came over to see where I was and was so concerned when he saw me crying and ended up sitting there crying with me - him over his wife and me over Hugh. It was a really emotional moment and completely touched my heart that we could share a moment like that together. We were both completely soaked from the sea, shoes as well, and covered in sand. Shiran had ditched us already so at 7am Gayan and I had to do the most humiliating walk of shame to get a tuk tuk. It was 7am on a sunday so who would be out right?!! We were walking through quiet streets to get to the main road but then all of a sudden there were hundreds of people up ahead! It was a Sunday Market!! Both Gayan and I were holding our shoes in our hands, were completely soaked and covered in sand and looked out of place to say the least!!! I already stand out as it is but this was awful!! People turned and looked at us and I just put my head down laughing to Gayan that this bought a whole new meaning to "walk of shame"!  We finally got a tuk tuk and Gayan dropped me back at my hotel before heading to his house. It was really funny because I tried to give him money but he wouldn't take it so I put it in his shoe as I got out of the tuk tuk and ran inside, passed the security guard, and straight upstairs whilst laughing hysterically. He had seen the manoeuvre and tried to run after me to give me the money back but the security guard stopped him so he couldn't come through!! I then sent him a text saying "Hahahaha! I won!!" before passing out on my bed!

Friday 1st June 2012 - leaving Arugam Bay to go to Colombo

I was supposed to get up at 5am to catch my bus to Colombo but I felt like death after my drinks with Ananiyas last night.  I eventually crawled out of bed at around 10am and opened my door to see how Ananiyas was - the boss was there and Ananiyas was sweeping. I shouted "good morning" laughing at him because he looked rough. He started laughing and covered his mouth with his finger indicating that I should be quiet and ran inside the kitchen! Too funny!  I got ready, packed my things then chilled with Ananiyas outside my room for about an hour or so. He was hungover and had a bad head!!  I said goodbye (we had switched details already) and headed to the bus stop. I was sitting there in the blazing hot sun for about 15minutes when Neesh pulled up infront of me with his other surfer friend. They asked me where I was going and offered to drop me to Pottuvil to catch a bus to Monoragala.  Neesh didn't say very much but held my hand when I got out of the tuk tuk and said thank you for everything while staring deeply into my eyes. His locked eyes made me a bit uncomfortable so I pulled away and said not to be silly. I said bye to them and went inside the bus station.  While I was sitting there this guy started talking to me - his name was Shanaka (this is Shana's name!). I really didn't want to talk but he obviously couldn't read my abruptness and unwillingness to hold conversation so he kept asking questions.  When the bus came he sat next to me. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep but the dirty man kept trying to touch me! Like he would cross his arms but make his hand touch my arm or slip it down to touch my stomach or leg. It wasn't really blatant, just very subtle touches, so I just kept pulling further away. Eventually he got the hint and stopped.  I finally arrived in Colombo at 11pm and jumped in a tuk tuk to go straight to chocoluv to see my boys. I was so exhausted though and the boys were really busy so I said hello, caught up a bit and then pulled out my guidebook to try and find somewhere to stay! None of the guesthouses would take me so late so I reluctantly called the YWCA, who I know from previous experience charge a lot (Rs.2500 per night), but luckily they would take me at this time. I would only stay one night and find something cheaper tomorrow. Gayan called his tuk tuk friend and directed him on where to take me and said "treat her like a flower!" So sweet!  I got to YWCA at 12.15 where the women kindly said that because I arrived after midnight it was technically a new day so I could stay until the next day - meaning I would get two nights essentially for one! Yay! The room was big with three beds and a bathroom. I was exhausted and jumped straight into bed. 

Thursday 31st May 2012 - Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

Lahari and I had made plans to Skype in the morning at 5am gmt (9.30 SL time) as she is going on holiday on Saturday and I haven't skyped her for ages. It was so good to see her face!  Neesh was supposed to come at 10am to pick me up to go to the national park but I didn't hear anything from him until 11am so I decided not to go anymore. I thought it would be too awkward anyway given lastnight's occurences and I didn't want to lead him on. Instead I chilled at Tsunami talking with the owner Lee, the manager Lee and Lola (one of the Russian girls). The manager Lee has a big crush on Lola and on my first day in Arugam Bay he had taken her up the coast to one of the bigger towns because she wanted to buy silver and he wanted sheets for the hotel. She didn't seem interested in him like that and I think was just being friendly. However Lee had created this huge romance in his head and was hung up on her bad. Everytime I spoke with him the first thing out of his mouth would be about Lola and the latest happenings - which was either she was wonderful or she was a bitch! Today he didn't like her because lastnight he had been desperately trying to make progress with her and apparently had been made to feel like an idiot by the Russian couple who spoke in Russian and laughed which made him think it was about him. Lee is a nice enough guy but is a bit of a psycho! It's like he has split personality and is really rude to his staff - I told him off many times during the day about how rude he is. At one point he got really pissed off about Lola and stomped over to the kitchen shouting "wheres my fucking juice".  Lola, him and I were talking and at one point I asked her about her boyfriend. Lee was so rude and turned around and said "Let's be serious Lola, we both know that you would cheat on your boyfriend". She looked completely shocked and had no idea what he was talking about. During the tuk tuk ride with Lola a few days before, Lee had called me saying that Lola was so beautiful and how he really wanted to kiss her and that they were close to kissing at one point - again I think he had created the scenario in his head and that is probably wasn't the case that they were close. I think when today Lee said that he knew Lola would cheat he was referring to this scenario.  When it came to me paying my bill Sri Lanka Lee and said that I should give the change for staff welfare. I was shocked and turned around and said "there is service in the bill so why am I giving more money!" SL Lee replied that service did not go to the staff - only to management (Lee and his partner). I couldn't believe it! I walked straight over to the owner Lee who was placing poker with the Russians and asked him if it was true. His response infuriated me! "I don't agree with service charge! I only took over the running of this place 23days and haven't decided what to do with the service yet but I don't like it." My response was that if you haven't decided what to do and don't like it then why are you taking the money - that's not fair! I want to give money to lee for his great service but that means paying service and then a tip on top! He told me to fuck off and stay out of his business.  Do you know why it bugged me so much?! Because SL Lee was a 57year old man only earning Rs.10,000 per month (£100). Service would help him and the other staff out massively. Also he gives great service and is such a friendly lovely guy that always talks with me and has taken me under his wing like a daughter. For what reason should he do all this and not get rewarded?! Instead the arrogant, rude, and greedy managers who rarely deal with the customers and are certainly not serving them food get the SERVICE charge?! If owner Lee didn't agree with this and actually cared about his staff's happiness and wellbeing this should have been one of the first priorities on his list - and if it wasn't he should have just stopped charging service charge until he worked out what to do with it then people could tip and it would go to the waiters.  Owner Lee called me later to offer a really bizaare apology but it made me want to physically hurt him! After apologising his words to me were this; "when we were giving the staff the service they were sometimes earning four times their salary and earning the same as a teacher. You should be proud of me anyway, it's like modern day colonialism!" Oh my frikin god!!! So what if they earn good money?! Why should you want to repress them and keep them at the bottom. It should work the same way as retail in England - the people doing these jobs are usually fresh out if school and just stay in these jobs to earn money while studying and then move onto bigger and better things and then the new generation comes and takes the job - the cycle continues. You should want to do the same here - nurture your staff, help them achieve, let them have enough money to save and perhaps set up their own business! Not give them so little that they can barely survive nor progress.  I was leaving Arugam bay tomorrow to go to Colombo to go and chill with my boys Gayan and Shiran for a few days and to pick up my suncream that had arrived from my papa's girlfriend Angie in England. I had lots of invitations to go out with different people today - Sergo had invited me to dinner with the group and wanted to pay for me, Neesh wanted to meet, and some random guy asked me to come out but all I wanted to do was chill my boy Ananiyas. This boy was now to me like Gayan and Shiran. I loved him a lot like a brother. I gave him money to go and buy beers for us and we chilled in the dining area eating Kotu Roti and talking and laughing. I told him about my argument with owner Lee and then found out that Ananiyas also doesn't get service! I hated this! What kind of BS corrupted rubbish is this?! It has really made me determined to start a business here and do things differently for people.  After a while I told Ananiyas I would be back in a bit because I wanted to go and see SL Lee to say goodbye. I walked into the kitchen at Tsunami where all the staff were working quietly. They all smile when they saw me and thanked me for speaking up for them. The word had obviously spread! SL Lee was supposed to be doing a barbecue tonight for all the guests (it had been planned for days) and had bought a massive barracuda fish in the morning for it so I was shocked to see nothing was happening. SL Lee said to me that he cancelled it because he didn't care to do anything to promote the business. I think I had really struck a cord with everyone today. I felt really bad but the staff all looked at me admirably. Lee told infront of everyone that he really Luved me. He explained that because it was love with a U and not an O it was not a romantic love but a caring luv and one that means that he loves me as a person and respects me a lot. He said I had such a good heart and thanked me for caring. He took out his phone and called his daughter and told her about me and introduced her to me over the phone. He took my email address and gave me his and his daughters number and hugged me goodbye. It was such a beautiful moment.  I then went back to my hotel and continued my evening with Ananiyas. It was really good fun chilling with him - he also called him nan and told her about me and let me speak to her.  Ananiyas told me that this was only the third time he had ever drank - the first time was because his friend was leaving to go to England, and one other time. He was so drunk it was hilarious. He couldn't stand up and I had to help him into one of the rooms and tuck the mosquito net around him. He then ran out of the room and vomited everywhere!!! The poor guy had work at 8am as well! I got him some water and left him to it and headed to bed aiming to be up at 5am to catch the bus to Colombo. 

Wednesday 30th May 2012 - Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

I didn't do anything spectacular today. I walked up the beach to Main Point which is where all the surfers go to surf. I just sat and watched all the professionals do their thing wishing I could do it! I swam for a bit, sun bathed and then went back to my hotel.  In the evening Neesh picked me up on the motorbike again and then took me to his cousins place for Sri Lankan food. We arrived at the place and were sitting at a table flicking through channels on the television when Neesh got a phone call telling us to go upstairs. I was very confused!  We walked up the stairs at out onto the roof of the building where there was nothing but a candle-lit table!! I couldn't believe my eyes and laughed hysterically!  Neesh told me how he is loving me, that he wants to be with me, and how he really enjoyed our talk yesterday. It was the sweetest thing and I had never had something like this done for me before but I had to let him down gently. I explained again that my heart is somewhere else. He said that it may be somewhere else but I may get home and find that my ex doesn't want me so Neesh said he will wait for me! Arghh! I really didn't want to be harsh and tell him I didn't like him but I just said that I only see him as a friend and that he shouldn't wait.  The food was amazing though - proper Sri Lankan food! Prawn curry, Daal, coconut sambal, rice and poppadoms. I ate loads!  After food we went for a drink at Siam View but I was too full that I couldn't drink! We played Jenga and Connect 4 - Neesh had never played either of the games before and had no idea what they were so I had to teach him. It was good fun.  We then went to Beach hut for a drink before Neesh dropped me back to my hotel. When he dropped me back I hugged him and said thank you but the fish bloody pulled back and tried to kiss me! I pushed him away and said no but he tried again! Again I pushed him away and had to close the gate in his face. 

Tuesday 29th May 2012 - Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

Waking up so early to surf was so difficult! I was not motivated in the slightest. I walked over to tsunami to meet the Russians but they weren't there - I thought my luck was in and they had gone without me so I went back to my hotel and chilled with Ananiyas. We were just sitting talking when I saw Sergo walk passed. I jumped onto the floor and under the table so that he didn't see me and then ran to my room in case he walked by again.  I was laying down on my bed when there was a knock on my door - it was frikin Sergo!! Damn it!! How did he even know what room I was in! Again, he wouldn't take no for an answer so I had to go - I walked out of my room dragging my feet behind the Russian and passed Ananiyas who was sitting there laughing. He had obviously told Sergo which room I was in so I jokingly kicked him and mimed swear words to him while Sergo wasn't watching. Outside my hotel there was a tuk tuk waiting with surfboards strapped to the roof and three scooters - two for the Russians and one for me. The one for me had a problem so I had to jump into the tuk tuk with the three surf teachers. They were young guys around the same age as me - one was called Neesh, one Sheikfaiz and the other ones name I can't remember. The drive to the surfing point (Whiskey Point) was around twenty minutes. We each had to carry our own surf board from the tuk tuk to the beach - the wind was so strong and kept hitting against the board sending me flying! We all first had to had a quick lesson on the beach showing us how to paddle and stand up but it was so uninformative and included no talk on safety or how to ride the waves or anything really. After like 10minutes we all just headed to the sea and got started - first practising paddling and then we were all pushed into the waves by the instructors and told "Stand up, stand up!!" I think everyone managed to stand up except me but I had such a ball just laying down! The first wave I was pushed into I didn't even try standing up and laid down being pushed by the wave all the way onto the beach. I screamed so loud laughing hysterically asking "what do I do?! what do I do?!" and then crash!!! I hit the beach and was thrown onto the sand where I continued to laugh hysterically and then a wave came and threw me and the board against the sand again! I can't lie it kinda hurt  and scratched up my body but I still laughed hard and stumbled along the beach while the people that had been standing on the beach laughed at me saying that I shouldn't even bother standing up because I had so much fun lying down! I guess I improved a little throughout the morning but after four hours I still couldn't stand up! I did however get an admirer! Neesh, the surf teacher, seemed very fond of me and offered me free private lessons the next day and invited me to dinner in the evening. He said to me at one point that although I didn't stand he can honestly say that he thinks I had the most fun out of everyone.  The Russians left about an hour before the tuk tuk and Sergo asked if I wanted anything from the supermarket - I just asked for a bottle of water.  When I got back to my hotel there was two bottles of water and mosquito coils sitting on the table outside my room. Then Ananiyas called me over and came out of the kitchen laughing holding a fruit platter saying "this is what your boyfriend got you!" idiot!! Lol!! Sergo had asked Ananiyas to put it in the fridge for me.  Once back at my hotel I assessed the damage from surfing and had bruises everywhere!! I had big bumps and bruises on my hip bones from lying on the surf board, my knees, arms and shin were bruised and I had grazes on my back. Oh and the area that would be the top packs of a six pack on the stomach were also feeling bruised and tender. Was it worth it?! Hell yeh! My whole body ached though so I took a nap. Then there was a knock on my door - Sergo!  He said him and the Russians had bought some watermelon and were about to eat it and said I should join. I thanked him but said no thanks because I was sleeping and too tired. He was like "I'm tired too, come!" This boy doesn't give up!! Again I said no and again he kept going and telling me how he had just walked all the other here and that why did I always make everything so difficult. I looked over to the kitchen area and Ananiyas was standing there laughing. Sergo eventually took no for an answer and I went back to sleep until it was time for me to meet Neesh for food.  Neesh picked me up from my hotel on a motorbike, which was very cool, and took me to a place called the Green Room. The food was really good - Chicken cooked in foil on a barbeque with really spicy Sri Lankan sauce, rice and salad.  Sheikfaiz joined us towards the end and sat there talking Tamil with Neesh the whole time - this pissed me off a bit so after dinner I asked Neesh to take me home. He apologised and then insisted that I come for a drink.  We then went to a place called Siam View which is a really beautiful Thai place with a open air lounge area with cushions to chill on. It quickly became more and more obvious that Neesh wanted more than friendship as he kept just staring at me and was chilling next to me perhaps a little too close so I kept moving away.  We talked about past relationships and Tokyo (where he lived). He was Tamil Sri Lankan but had moved to Tokyo to work as a software developer around three years ago and had just come back for a few months for a holiday. He told me about all his different plans and future ventures and how he hoped to marry around the age of 30. He sounded pretty rich and had three properties in Sri Lanka, owned his own motorbike, tuk tuk, surf shop and guesthouse and was looking to build a house in Tokyo.  He seemed nice enough but I was not interested in him like that - only for friendship. I told him also that my heart was still with my ex boyfriend and that I hoped him and I would get back together one day. Despite the offer for surfing the next morning I told him that I was too bruised and battered so perhaps we could go in a few days time instead. We did make plans to go to the national park on Thursday though and he had made a call to arrange for us to have Sri Lankan food tomorrow night. I got home around 11pm and slept.

Monday 28th May 2012 - Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka

I jumped out of my bed so fast this morning to go to another hotel. I called the tuk tuk driver and he picked me up and took me to another place - Mid Bay. This place was literally just off the beach and had its own bathroom and was a solid brick foundation for double the price but I couldn't bear anymore rats so I took the room and then went and showered. After my shower I got talking with the guy that worked at the hotel. His name was Ananiyas, he was Tamil and 25years old. The tuk tuk driver had hung around a bit too much after dropping me and asked me if I wanted to go to all these different places and told me that Ananiyas was his friend. However, whilst talking with Ananiyas he told me to not trust the tuk tuk driver and told me he was a bad guy and had told Ananiyas not to talk to me as i was his girlfriend!! The tuk tuk driver told me he wasn't married and Ananiyas told me it was a lie. Ananiyas and I got on immediately and he seemed like such a decent honest guy. He was also a very hard worker and very funny. After chilling with Ananiyas for about an hour and eating food, I headed to the beach. In my opinion the beach was not as beautiful as Nilaveli but it was still nice and was shaped like a giant letter C. The water was not calm, instead there were lots of waves crashing against the beach causing a cliff like effect with the sand.  I spent most of the day on the beach and then headed to a restaurant called Tsunami to use their wifi. It was a five-star hotel located on the beach.  I walked up to the bar to order a drink and was greeted by an English guy. We immediately clicked and he came and sat with me and we talked. His name was Lee and he was maybe in his mid thirties and from Devon. He owned the place with a Sri Lankan guy but had taken over the running of the place 23days ago.  While we were talking a Russian group of two guys and two girls came in and I got talking to one of the guys. Lee ended up leaving the table and the two guys and one of the girls sat down and joined me but only the one guy Sergo talked to me while the other two talked amongst themselves in Russian. Sergo was cool and pulled out his laptop showing me photos of all of his adventures. He seemed to travel a hell of a lot! He and the other guy owned a business together creating the most random souvenirs (like a Walkman made from a rock - no it didn't work but apparently it made money!). The other guy was the boyfriend of the girl that was sitting with us and the other girl was just their friend. As Arugam Bay was the place where surfers come Sergo asked me if I surfed - of course I didn't but I did want to try. He told me him and his friends had a lesson booked tomorrow and asked if I wanted to join them. He said he would see how much it would cost me to join but that they were going in the morning at 7am for maybe three or four hours. I was in! I chilled with them for most of the day and had dinner with them too.  I found the other guy to be really arrogant. He had ordered some soup but it was spicy which he was not happy about so he rudely turned his nose up at it infront of the guy that had cooked it and pushed it away. I didn't like that at all - especially because the chef (also called Lee), seemed like a really nice guy! Also despite Sergo seeming like a nice guy, he was a bit too pushy for my liking. He had told me that before surfing in the morning they were all going to go jogging on the beach and asked if I would like to join. It didn't appeal to me in the slightest so I said no but then he kept on going on - "ah come on" blah blah blah.  I played cards with the Russians and drank beer then left and went back to my hotel and chilled with Ananiyas. The more I talked with Ananiyas the more I liked him and the more I really wanted to help him to make a better life for himself. His was from Pottuvil and had one older sister, one younger sister and an older brother whose whereabouts he had no idea of after he was kidnapped by the LTTE. Apparently during the civil war it was standard that the LTTE would kidnap the oldest son of every Tamil household to turn them into soldiers.  They had kidnapped the older brother during the night and the family hadn't heard from or seen him since and had no idea whether he was dead or alive - Ananiyas had little faith that his brother was alive.  Also his dad was a fisherman but had been attacked by a crocodile whilst fishing in a lagoon and now could not work and had to pay massive medical expenses every month. With Ananiyas being the only man able to work in his household it was now his responsibility to bring in the money and pay the medical expenses. Now that brings me to his job. He worked 7-days a week (8am-11pm) and only got paid Rs.10,000 per month (£100). Rs5,000 of that money went for his father's medical. If Ananiyas wanted any time off he wouldn't get paid. I was so gutted to hear all this and thought back to Gayan and Shiran who I thought had it bad with 25,000 per month and one day off. They did have it bad and I still wish I could do something to help them too but damn, Ananiyas had it really really bad. Also, you might as well say that Ananiyas was managing the place as his boss was nowhere to be seen as he was in Kandy a lot so Ananiyas did pretty much everything - he cooked, he cleaned, he dealt with customers.  Anyway, it wasn't all doom and gloom, we laughed too and caught joke about the tuk tuk driver and the Russian guy Sergo who we thought liked me. I was a bit freaked out though when Ananiyas told me that when I had left and gone to the beach earlier the tuk tuk driver had followed me and was watching me from a far! Oh hell frikin no!!  We talked for hours and I went to bed about 1am.