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.