Portrait

the hang-outs
under this category, ive decided to throw in all the places at which i spend large amounts of time, with friends, chilling, talking, working, what have you. these places are all very important places in my life, im very emotionally attached to all of them. they’re filled with memories, both bitter and sweet, and have been there through out many years of my life, changing with time, but essentially remaining as i love them.

bishop’s college
my life would not be the same if this place wasn’t what it is to me. surprisingly, its not just the institution, the people, the atmosphere i am attached to. its the place, the buildings itself. ive been in school at all times during the day, from the usual 8 am to 2 pm, to way after. plays, choir, shakes, all this has required us to stay on in school for an absurdly long amount of time, sometimes till 2 or 3 am in the morning. (that would specifically be for shakes). i love the lovely little benches outside, the greenery, the old buildings, the grounds…a lot of it has changed now, and i miss the way it used to be. very few students at bishop’s college will have the opporunity of telling you how wonderful it is to be on the roof is at 11 pm on a nice night and not be fabricating the story and lying at a rate. i’m one of the blessed few. from having prayed to stars the night before shakes finals a few years back, lying in a circle on a clear night in the vast open-ness of the college grounds with our heads together, telling ghost stories sitting in the tennis courts, to having had dinner on the roof during choir rehearsal breaks, to having slept in the auditorium dressing rooms and showered in the tiny bathrooms, to having spent hours on the carpteted library floor behind one of the bigger book cabinets, talking in barely audible tones, to pretending to be updating the interact club website but actually be mailing your boyfriends and checking out everyone on hi5, from singing in class to dancing in the rain, this school and its buildings have nurtured me the right way for too long for me to not love it with everything ive got, even if i think they’re doing a number of things wrong now. we have spacious classes, enough room and large enough gardens for everyone to spend time in without having to breathe down one another’s back and even a building designed by geoffry bawa himself (HAH! how cool is that?). all in all, this place is very special to me, and stepping in through the gates each time will have me feeling all the memories and the history of everyone who has gone before us, and the times that we have shared, both good and bad within it.

lionel wendt
anyone who doesn’t love the wendt needs help. small yet homey, the lionel wendt (fondly called the wendt by everyone who knows and loves it) is still one of colombo’s prime theatre locations. few places, if none, have the same setting, architecture and acoustics that the wendt has, that make it an ideal stage for drama, theatre, music and dancing. there are bigger stages in existence now, but everyone remembers that the wendt was one of the first, and true to its historic reputation, it continues to be many people’s first choice. after having spent hours at many diffrerent places like this one, and after having been on many different stages, the wendt is still my favourite and the one i feel most comfortable on. its nothing much, it could be better equipped to deal with the needs of the performers (although the lights and sounds departments are equipped fairly well), and the stage actually doesn’t allow one too much room, but the sheer cosy-ness of this theatre is the exact same reason that keeps it warm and ever-green. the staff have been the same for as long as i can remember, and they’re all very helpful, very polite and very skilled at everything they do. the wendt too holds memories, many, both good and bad, but wholely satisfying nonetheless. bathing with water from the tank, trying to hide from the nieghbourse whose house is seperated from the bathing area by a grill-like wall, jumping out of the window to crash a party at the women’s international hall, landing funny and spraining my ankle, participating in full swing at all the bajaw sessions onstage before performances, running around in underwear putting on make up, receiving flowers in a steadfy flow backstage, keeping some, throwing some dramatically away, standing in the wings watching others perform, giving light cues and doing sounds with vasanthat, the resident sound technician, and finally, all those glorious times onstage. talk about the good ole days.

dine-mor
sorry, as sick as this is, yes, i love the older dine mor. since its the most economical and geographically convenient place for many of us, no matter how much we whine and groan about lack of choice and fatty food,the amount of times we naturally, and inevitably wound up going to dine mor and damn well enjoying ourselves are just too many to count. the jokes about ‘how many fries did you get this time?’ (7 on a normal day, 12 on a good one), and ‘maybe if we’re really noisy, they’ll give us our food faster’, and nearly getting thrown out on a regular basis, these people probably need an award if not an up in their pay to have tolerated us each time. the food has always been the same, fatty and warm with a distinct flavour that isn’t gourmet, but also isn’t inedible and somehow isn’t something i tire of. the lassis, the wraps and the milkshakes probably deserve special commendation. this place is an anytime. for a quick meal, a quick chat, a quick step in from the rain or sweltering sun, dine mor works.

the commons, coffee house
i liked the older place much better. the flower road location and building still doesn’t sit with me too well, but i am trying to get used to it because i love the commons for its food and coffee. they always have amazing food, amazing desserts (the cheesecake is killer-divine) and great coffee. the older place had the atmosphere perfected to an art. the service was always good, and the outdoor setting with the large industrial fans and the trees in view always worked its magic on me. the movenpick place is alright, preferably sitting outside. atleast its larger, and the atmosphere is still relaxed and the people are still open to hosting a bunch of noisy girls who mix up their orders ten million times.

wafflers
i love this place. i love the food. the chocolate fudge with chocolate shavings, the strawberry and whipped cream, the mango ice cream, and the cappuccino sprinkles. they have a variety of delicious toppings and savoury dishes that the buttery, warm, crsipy waffles come with. economically, its probably not all that successful but thankfully everyone i know loves hanging out here, so it all works out well in the end. ive dragged so many people up here and and them believers. im sure, and worried, that there are enough angry friends out there who got literally shoved into wafflers because of my obsession with it.

barista, galle face
thank goodness they’ve brought it back. i missed this place, as it was the only barista i actually ever liked going to, that too only because its spacey. tracy and i have spent lots of time here, talking over vanilla frappe after vanilla frappe. this is the only barista here that allows one room enough to have a little privacy and not be overheard by whoever is sitting at the next table (life is one constant fight to not be overheard unneccesarily when you’re me ).