Vesak 2014

For the past 4 years or so the same decorations were done around Gangarama Temple. It’s high time they change the setup and the decorations. I felt there is nothing I haven’t seen before and it was waste of time going there.

Reflections of lights on Beira Lake

Boat on Beira Lake

The 10 Hot new emerging countries

Saw an interesting video on Bloomberg and I’m a bit surprised to see Sri Lanka to be among the top 10 of the emerging economies.

Bloomberg video on top 10 emerging countries

Some believe that the growth indicators published by the Sri Lankan authorities are manipulated but we’ll not know the truth anytime soon!

GDP Growth in Sri Lanka

Source(s): www.bloomberg.com, www.tradingeconomics.com

Birds in my backyard

Spotted a bird building a nest in my backyard. This tiny bird is lightning fast and it does not want to pose for the camera like the kingfishers.

Carrying items to build it's nest

Ape Gama

Due to CHOGM there have been many changes around Colombo. Near the Parliament Grounds the place we used to call "Janakala Kendraya" has been changed and now it's called "Ape Gama" meaning "Our Village" It has made up to be an old traditional Sri Lankan village. They charge Rs. 100/- per person at the entrance but whether there is anything really interesting to see is a question?

A woman making "Halapa"

A farmer

Z-Score

There were some contrivances when it comes to GCE Advance Level results because of the use of Z-Score. About 10 years ago I did my A Levels and the Z-Score I got was 1.8331. It was a very good result but I wasn’t happy with some grades and I decided to ask for re-correction. I was never informed of any change to the result and after I got selected to the University I assumed the re-correction didn’t work out and the result I got was final.

I only had the certificates issued by the school for all this time and in case there could be a use in the future I decided to get the GCE O Level and A Level certificates from the Ministry of Education (or the Exam Department), after a couple of days I received the official certificates and found out my Z-Score has changed to 1.9089 – which is a considerable difference. The problem is I only found out my true results after 10 years! If I have known my real Z-Score 10 years back, would my entire life been different?

Seenigama

Having enjoyed the sea off Hikkaduwa never really thought of snorkeling or diving in the nearby Seenigama. Our trip to Hikkaduwa was cut short at Seenigama on 15th January 2014. It does have a reef, relatively smaller but would be good for the divers. However the depth is a bit too much so it might not be ideal for snorkeling. Still if you want to see the best of ocean life in the region it remains to be Hikkaduwa.

Seenigama Devalaya

Colorful necklaces for the Devalaya

Viharamahadevi Park

Viharamahadevi Park which was known as the Victoria Park many decades ago is located in the middle of Colombo. The park didn't go through any major changes until the last six months. Now the park looks modern. However if you go during the weekend the Ghosts who roam around the park (just like Galle Face green) makes you think you have entered Arab – yikes!

Town Hall

New Lights

Walking Path