FIRE DRILL AT THE WTC

At 3.00 p.m. the fire alarm went off and there was no panic! Uuh????? Yeah yeah.. it was just a fire drill and everyone was ‘oh so cool’ about it. I thought it may be a good idea to participate, and refresh my memory as to where outside the building the emergency stairs would lead us to.

The security personnel came to find out how many of us would be doing the drill. I buckled on my sandals and went bravely to the stairs. I think there about 300 steps down at the end of which my poor legs were actually trembling! Help!!

There were just two guys in the stairwell and we all walked down in quite a leisurely manner. I wonder how things will be when an entire building full of panic stricken people are running down those narrow steps pel mel!

Chandana's Wedding Pictures

Chandana got married on the 16^th of August and just returned after 21 days leave.
I could’nt go unfortunately, because the wedding was held in Nuwara Eliya though of course I would have loved to. Here are some of their wedding pictures that he emailed to me.

The Book Fair Again!

Yes, the bug had bitten, and bitten badly. Gone were the sensible thoughts of ‘but where would we KEEP all these new books??” We were impatient to go on another browsing and buying spree. This time, mummy joined us too.

So off the fair we went again. We got there around 3.00 p.m. and finished up at 9.00 p.m.!!! Of course this time around we managed to go through almost all the stalls.

Waaaay up on the third floor, undiscovered (I fondly hoped) until I got there was a personal collection of books …. Or perhaps I should say a treasury of books. True enough they were second hand and old! One could tell that the books been read many a time, many of them were lovingly covered in brown paper. What a super collection! I bought 18 books from the lady there and am now looking forward to a lovely read over the next month or so. I HAD kept to my decision not to buy any novels. I managed to get hold of some good cookery books to help me along with my venture into the world of cooking too.

Luckily there were ample stalls ensuring that there was food for the body as well as the mind and soul! There were stalls by Mt Lavinia Hotel, Keells, Elephant House, Pizza Hut, Coca Cola, Maggie and and loads of others, very reasonably priced all ensuring that no one went hungry. We had two lovely meals sitting on the ledges around the BMICH fanned by the breezes that played through the well manicured lawns and trees.

Sri Lanka IS full of book lovers judging from the crowds that thronged the halls.

We took a loaded trishaw home that evening, our feet aching but so very happy with our day spent among such a vast treasury of books.

Book Fair at the BMICH - 14thSeptember 2007

Both Hyacinth and my sister Sunethra had been telling me several times that they wanted to go see the book fair. I, as a general rule try to avoid places where books are available in abundance because we have now run out of space to keep all our books at home and our newer acquisitions now reside in large cardboard boxes in the middle of the room! Yes… I know… sounds horrible doesn’t it…… especially when one has to dance around them just to get to and from the bed or wardrobe!

Anyway…… I must admit it didn’t take much persuasion to get me interested I’m afraid, and so I agreed to go. Hyacinth and I agreed to meet up at the closest bus point, Sunethra was to meet us at the BMICH itself, and Anton, Hyacinth’s husband was supposed to meet up with us at Borella along with their little girl Janani. Gerard, opted to join us too after hearing all our intricate meeting plans. The bus ride was hilarious and alive with our plans on what to buy (and what NOT to buy).

The place was CROWDED!!!!!!!!! Thank goodness Sunethra’s friend had advised us to start off at the smaller venue which housed the English books and therefore had a little less of a crowd. There were literally hundreds of stalls and we didn’t even manage to see half the stalls by 9.00p.m. Hyacinth was on a major hunt for kiddie books of which there were sooo many to choose from it was daunting! Gerard disappeared to find his particular brand of book while Sunethra and I went around like children in a sweet shop not knowing when not to give into temptation. Most of the places offered discounts…. ranging from a measly 5% off the marked price to a whopping 50%! Gunasena Bookshop was one such place and I managed to get some super books from there. Unfortunately it was nearly 9.00 p.m and we found the place and had to hurry out … but I was determined to visit again on Saturday. When we parted ways….. Gerard had not only ran out of money, he actually had to borrow from me, and then decided to leave looking pretty much like a weight lifter carrying such large bags of books.

Janani threw a temper tantrum when her mother was only able to get her Harry Potter series 1, 2, 3 and 5. She stamped her little feet, threw her water bottle creating puddles in the stall and sobbed heartrendingly when she found out they didn’t have No. 4! Only her mother hustling her outside and feeding her and then buying her an unbelievable number of paints and boxes of glitter appeased her!

We finally decided to call it a day ….. not that we had much choice cos the place was closing up! We located Anton who had been enjoying a dinner of noodles, ice-cream and a drink AND listening to an orchestra. He had driven in his truck, so we all bundled into the back of the truck and had a bumpy happy little ride home….. exhausted but oh so happy with our purchases.