Hazari’s+ Clique Zephyr Charcoal Saarakeetha

also Cricket / Beaches / Tuk-Tuk Art / Puppies

W W W . Y A M U . L KMAR / 2015

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PROMINENTLY PLACED EDITORIALWe’ve been placing our editorial wherever we had space left over during layout, but Uncle Eardley told us to take editorials seriously, so we are. Thank you Uncle Eardley. This one is closer to the front.

This month is obviously all about cricket with the World Cup go-ing on. We’ve got a schedule so you can catch all the matches. This World Cup isn’t great for social watching (most matches are at 3:30 or 9 in the morning) but there has been some great cricket.

We’ve been surprised that some people don’t know that YAMU is more than a magazine. We actually started as a website and we’ve built our own apps for Android and iOS as well (Windows next month).

Finally, we’d like to thank everyone who advertised with us this month. Advertising helps us keep producing new content and expanding our distribution. Essentially, this free magazine is courtesy of our advertisers, so we hope you’ll give them a glance and, if you’re interested, a visit or a call. Happy exploring,

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EDITORIALIndi Samarajiva

Shifani ReffaiBhagya Goonewardhane

ADVERTISINGDinesh Hirdaramani

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saaraketha66/3, Ward Place, Colombo 07 | 77 436 77 92

BY SHIFANI

Saaraketha is a big player in the local organic food scene. They’ve been around since 2008, but their cute little retail store in Ward Place was born only recently. The shop is in a lovely quiet location, and their certi-fied-organic produce is so good that it’s almost all gone by the afternoon.

AMBIENCEThe shop is really very pleasant - windows all around, wicker baskets, and the veggies in nice neat board boxes, which is a nice change from the sight of produce all indelicately stuffed together in typical grocery stores. We were told that the stuff here is ‘thrice-washed’ which means they’re ready to be eaten straight from the box.

My favourite part was the adorable cartoons here and there, featuring quirky comments, cartoon farm-

ers, and even answering important questions for people who are new to organic food. I can honestly say this is the first grocery shop where I wanted to just sit down and chill out with the veggies, like a weirdo.

The shop is located on the premises of Streat360 , on a green lawn. So if you’re here in the morning to pick up some fresh organic stuff, there are some lovely benches outside where you can chill and maybe enjoy a cup of tea from the restaurant next-door.

THE STUFFHealthy food is slowly making its way into the local scene - besides Saaraketha (whose stuff you can also find at the Good Market ), Sa-han Agro does organic produce too. If you’re new to this, organic food is basically cleaner - free from the chemicals, pesticides and pre-servatives that is in most of our food (which gives us health issues and

turns us into obese Sri Lankan un-cles and aunties).

So you get mainly fruits, veggies, eggs and rices here, and they’re also working on bringing in spices soon. We were told the prices are generally about 15-30% pricier than typical non-organic produce, but some-times is the same price or even cheaper. The stuff here is grown on Saaraketha farms in Kirindiwela, Puttalam and Nuwara Eliya to name a few.

CONCLUSIONSaaraketha is a great stop for qual-ity organic produce, and has been a tried and tested choice for Colom-bo’s health-conscious crowd. It’s got a pleasant vibe that has managed to make veggies seem like a good idea, so if you’re into organic, they’re reliable. If you’re too lazy to go there, they also deliver (Rs. 300 for delivery within Colombo).

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BY BHAGYA

Charcoal is a cozy little cafe down Hotel Road in Mount La-vinia, that made us very happy. They’ve got good food, great des-serts, fast service and a perfect little secluded setting. You just don’t want to leave.

AMBIENCEWhile we generally start most of our reviews with the food, Char-coal is as much about the place as it is about what they offer on the menu. If you like art, privacy and good music, we really can’t think of a better place outside of Colombo. Some comment-ers have blamed us for divulging their hideout, and we see why.

Charcoal is made up of the cafe area with seating for around 15 and the performance area where they host gigs, usually on week-ends.

The walls of Charcoal are adorned with different types of art which you can purchase if you like. On the day we dropped in they’d featured charcoal sketches of animals by one art-ist in the cafe and larger more abstract canvas paintings in the performance area.

If you fancy reading, Charcoal has a decent selection of both new and old books to choose from. All in all it’s just very cozy and relaxing. With Sinatra playing in the background we really didn’t notice the time pass by, until we looked at the clock and three hours later.

FOODCharcoal doesn’t offer a massive ten page menu like many cafes in Colombo. Instead, their menu is a two page hand written menu. It comprises savories, desserts

and beverages, about eight items each. The best part is the prices, the most expensive items are burgers at Rs. 550.

It was a pretty warm day so we went with their iced mocha (Rs. 350) which really hit the spot. This was a slightly milkier ver-sion of caffè mocha with a good amount expresso, but slightly mild in terms of chocolate. They use Hansa coffee, which was an-other plus in my books. This one is served with no sugar but you can add it separately.

Their spicy cheese toasties (Rs. 300) were totally worth the mon-ey. You get three toasted sand-wiches filled with gooey cheese, green chillies and a bit of chilli powder. It’s not so spicy that it’ll make you tear up, but it’s just the right amount to offset the cream-iness of the cheese filling. Char-coal substitutes the usual french

CharCOaL75, Hotel Road, Mount Lavinia | 112 715 717

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Call 777 748 422 for reservations

Chesa Swiss has been selected as a Culinary Partner for Colombo Fashion Week’s Fashion+Food initiative. Each chosen restau-rant will feature a menu based on a fashion-related theme.

"We will be translating the theme of time-less, iconic fashion into a five-course tasting menu with a classic cocktail," said Chris Fuhrer, Director of Chesa Swiss.

Priced at Rs. 8,000 nett, the dinner is inspired by classic staples in a fashionista’s wardrobe like the white shirt and little black dress.

Chesa Swiss will showcase delicious ingredi-ents such as scallop, foie gras, raclette cheese, Australian beef tenderloin, Norwegian salmon, cherries and chocolate in its authen-tic culinary style but with an artistic flare, fitting for CFW 2015.

fries with manioc chips lightly dusted with chili powder which works brilliantly with the carb based dishes.

We also had their chicken and bacon burger (Rs. 550). Once again, we have nothing but good things to say. The picture above really doesn’t do it justice. The burger comes with plenty of lettuce, cheese, a slice of pineapple and a side of manioc chips. I’m generally not a huge fans of fruits in my savories but in this case the pine-apple added a nice sweet contrast. We tasted plenty of bacon but couldn’t really see it, until we realized that it was mixed into the patty.

For dessert we had their strawberry cheesecake (Rs. 350), which was on par with some of the best we’ve had around Colombo. The only thing that could have made it better would have been the addition of fresh strawberries, which we were told they usually do but unfortunately they were all out. The cream cheese was smooth and creamy with the strawberry topping adding ample sweetness. This one had a thicker biscuit base than usual cheesecakes but that worked out well since it too tasted great.

We were here for like three hours so after a small break we had some ice cream and cook-ies (Rs. 200). It’s not a fancy dessert but the creaminess of the ice cream and the crunch of the choc chip cookies is a combination that al-ways seems to work. This wasn’t really on the menu, but they had ice cream and cookies so we just asked them if they could put it together and they were more than happy to oblige.

SERVICECharcoal is a small cafe so the service is fast, personal and friendly. The best way to describe is that it feels like you’re a guest at a friends house.

CONCLUSIONAfter this visit I’ll definitely be dropping in to Charcoal whenever I get the chance. You can sit around for hours reading, browsing the net or just having a nice chat with a few friends in privacy, with some great food to boot.

BY SHIFANI

Zephyr is a happening new bar/resto on the Mirissa strip. We’d heard a lot of good things, and it’s worth all the hype. The food was pretty good, but it was the ambi-ence that was most exciting.

Also, fun fact, Zephyr gets its name from a Red Hot Chili Pep-pers song.

LOCATION & AMBIENCEThese guys don’t have to try very hard to set the mood, because its location - the Mirissa beach stretch - is just amaze. The beach here is arguably the cleanest and most photogenic one on the is-land, you can read more about that here.

They’ve also got a big collection of cheerful looking beanbags that you can loll around in if you’re here in the day or when it’s not rainy.

At night the place transforms into something else. Fairy lights and candles everywhere, a very good sound system, and lots of chatter from a mostly young Colombo/tourist crowd. During our visit, it was the most exciting place on the stretch, and for a while it gave off a very club-ey vibe - thumping music, and the guy at the next ta-ble standing on a chair and singing along with his friends. It felt kind of bizarre at first because one mo-ment they’re playing an Ofenbach remix and it’s a club and the next it’s a slow Train song and feels like a restaurant again - but it grows on you.

SERVICE & FOODConsidering the vibrant ambi-ence and the crowd at Zephyr that night, we were pleasantly surprised by how well the waiters attended to everyone. Two guys rotated the room while the other was behind the bar. They were friendly, blending in with some of

the dancing customers, and were available when we had questions.

Food-wise, they’ve got an interest-ing menu with stuff like like ‘Ne-gombo style crab curry’ and ‘chili jaggery beef tenderloin’. Our Zeph-yr burger was really, really good. It cost Rs. 850, and typically comes with a spiced beef patty, crispy ba-con and egg (though I skipped the bacon part). The patty is delicious - looking at it you expect it to be heavy, but it’s actually wonderfully light and crumbly on the inside. The fries that came with it were good too. We definitely recom-mend Zephyr if you’re in Mirissa and feel like having a burger.

Our ‘deep south’ prawn curry tasted great too (Rs. 1000). The prawns were juicy and came in a lovely light spicy gravy, and went really well with the mango chut-ney, pol sambol and rice - a very simple but reliable mix.

ZePhYr220/8, Matara Road, Udupila, Mirissa | 777 536 653

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We also asked for a banana milk-shake, which tasted alright (best place for banana milkshakes is Mirissa Eye on the same stretch). Dessert was a simple brownie and ice cream, for Rs. 550. The brown-ie came hot-hot and crumbly, and super chocolatey - a treat for the tastebuds with the cold, mild va-nilla ice cream.

CONCLUSIONWe genuinely love Zephyr, it’s one of those places we’ll visit again if we’re down South. If you order just mains you can get away with about Rs. 2500 for two, but drinks and desserts can double that amount. All in all, it’s a fun, vibrant place, they make quality food, and it’s a great way to spend the night if you’re in Mirissa with friends.

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BY INDI

Clique’s Supper Club is one of the best restaurants in Colombo, full stop. Overall we think the prices are fair, the service is amazing and the food is really really good. Quite possibly the best steak in the city, among other things.

THE LOCATIONClique is what we’d call a dining ex-perience. Everything is thought out, from the moment you get in the door to the menu to what you eat to how the evening ends.

One reason we didn’t cover the Supper Club for so long is that it’s attached to a Lounge/Nightclub next door. However, the Supper Club is completely separate from the Lounge and time-wise, also, it’s just a restaurant during the evening. We went on a Friday evening and it didn’t feel clubby at all. If you’re making a night of it it’s actually not bad to slip into the lounge around midnight.

The fifth floor of this office building is actually a weird space, but they’ve done it up pretty nicely. It honestly does feel a bit cramped sometimes (especially the somewhat poky bathrooms) but it’s still more space than you’d get in similar urban res-taurants. If you get a seat by the window you get a beautiful view of Town Hall.

THE FOODAll that really matters in the end, however, is the square foot in front of your face. Clique’s menu is creative and ambitious (ranging from sushi to sous vide steak) and they hit the mark. The food is creative, intelligent and tasty above all. Their steak, in particular is the best I’ve ever had in Sri Lanka. A perfectly cooked, melt-ing in your mouth steak is an almost mythological creature on this island, but they’ve got it. But we’ll get to that.

For starters we had a California Temaki (Rs. 800). This was crab

stick (which isn’t actually crab but rather processed fish, I think) in a roll. That seemed good enough but my wife ate it before I could really review it, sorry. What I can comment on is the Japanese Miso salad with grilled eggplant (Rs. 400). Very interesting dish. I would basically describe this as umami on a plate. In this case the miso gives the eggplant a rich, meaty taste. It’s delicious. It’s served on top of an over-generous amount of greens. Really interesting food.

Before the steak, we’ll cover the other main we tried - buttermilk fried chicken (Rs. 900). The highlights here were how tasty and tender the chicken was, and the insane spici-ness of the dipping sauce. The chick-en on its own was fine, but the tangy and punchy sauce lifts it to another level. The price is also super-cheap for what you’re getting. While you can certainly ball-out at Clique, we were surprised to find a lot of good stuff below Rs. 1,000.

CLique suPPer CLub505, Fifth Floor, Union Place, Colombo 7 | 767 254 783

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Now the steak. Damn. Clique is the only place we know of that does sous-vide cooking. This modern technique involves sealing food in plastic, immersing it in a tempera-ture controlled bath (ie hot water) and then basically setting a timer and waiting. This method cooks food perfectly and reliably and it seals all the juices in - nothing is burnt off or evaporated. For steak it takes 40 minutes, but the results are amazing.

We tried the tenderloin (Rs. 3,500) and wow. Soft, tender and melting in your mouth. This is Matrix level steak. We assume this is partly be-cause the protein is imported, but also because of the way they cook it. They can grill it also, but we’d say this is worth the wait.

Their desserts are also quite crea-tive. The cream brulee (Rs. 550) is a bit different (served cool, not so burnt on top, more vertical) but the changes work. It’s delicious and cus-tardy. Their reconstruction of a New York cheesecake (Rs. 550) was less of an improvement on the original.

Beverage wise, their espresso is excellent and wines are reason-

ably priced (Rs 650 for a house red). Cocktails are also average (cost-wise), Rs. 650 for a Bloody Mary. You can get bottles of wine for Rs. 3,000 here, but they also have cham-pagnes for Rs. 50,000.

PRICEOur impression of Clique was that it would be prohibitively expensive, but we were wrong about that too. We spent Rs. 9,000 total (Rs. 4,500 a head) but their menu is structured in such a way that you could spend Rs. 2,000 each and still have a good time. The menu items that are less than Rs. 1,000 are not inferior, they just seem to have lesser ingredient prices.

We do, however, recommend this place for special occasions. Things like good steak are worth paying for, and why not get a bottle of wine. As you’ll see in the next section, the service does go out of their way to make it an experience.

SERVICEJust have a look at the picture above. There are five visible staff, two of them managers, none of them deadwood. When a waiter didn’t know what something was,

he didn’t have to find a manager - the manager was already there. When my wife couldn’t decide if she wanted an espresso they just gave the coffee for free.

The staff here actually knows what a good dining experience is and they’re monitoring the room to make sure that everyone is having one. They’re not just serving food here, they’re ac-tually serving fun. This is common in, say, New York, but Clique is one of a few Sri Lankan restaurants which tackles service at this level.

As mentioned, you’d never need to ask for a manager here. You’re greet-ed at the door by one (or at least we think he was a manager) and the same guy escorts you out. Nobody is hovering over you stupidly here, but they’re there when you need them.

CONCLUSIONFor a special night out, Clique is a winner. It’s not unfairly priced and you’re getting great value in terms of food quality, creativity and service. Colombo needs more places show-casing local creativity at an interna-tional level. Clique represents.

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BY BHAGYA

With some new Middle Eastern restaurants opening up in Co-lombo we thought we’d revisit Hazari’s. While their desserts still need work, the mains are meaty, ample in portion and spicy.

THE FOODHazari’s has been around since 2012, and has gained a dedi-cated customer base. As of late the Middle Eastern food scene in Colombo has grown with the additions of Sama and the new Arabian Knights. The menu at Hazari’s is slightly different from the others with stuff like mushal-tat and Arabic pizzas.

The prices are also very reason-able with dishes priced between Rs. 280 to Rs. 1500. The great thing is that even the less expen-sive dishes come in large, filling

portions. While the mains we tried were satisfying, we can’t really say the same about the desserts.

We started off with the beef fat-teh (Rs. 490) which is a hummus dish served with chunks of grilled beef, chickpeas, toasted kubz, caramelized onions and chillies. So far I’d say this is the best of the hummus dishes I’ve tried in Colombo. This is also one of the few places that offers hummus and meats.

We’d say this one falls some-where between a starter and a main, but the portion is still quite large and should suffice unless you’re very hungry. The beef was grilled and seasoned very well with the caramelized onions add-ing both texture and sweetness to the creamy hummus. Yummus.

The Kabsa rice with grilled chick-

en (Rs. 920) was also well pre-pared, if a bit on the spicy side. The kabsa rice was very flavour-some with plenty of spices, saf-fron and cardamoms. It’s served with a sizeable piece of grilled chicken, sauteed veges, roasted potatoes and aubergines.

The chicken was cooked very well, but we felt it was just a tad bit too spicy. If you’re a spice buff you’ll likely love this one but it tends to overpower the other fla-vours. This one has personal pref-erence involved so perhaps let the waiter know how much heat you prefer.

The dessert was the only real letdown for us here. We got the oddly named strawberry and cheese (Rs. 265) hoping it would be something similar to Middle Eastern spin on a strawberry cheesecake.

haZari’s166 Thimbirigasaya Road, Colombo 5 | 117363600 / 773363600

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While the Middle Eastern spin part remained somewhat true with the roti, there were no actual strawberries, with strawberry syr-up and jam being substituted in-stead. The biggest problem here was that the syrup on the outside and jam on the inside had such contrasting artificial taste that the entire dish was unbalanced.

AMBIENCE & SERVICEHazari’s is located in Thim-birigasyaya, which is fast be-coming one of the best foodie neighborhoods in Colombo with recent additions like Giovanni’s, Domenico’s and The Bread Com-pany. The interior is very simple with seating for around 30 with large glass windows which allow plenty of natural light to flow in.

We didn’t have any complaints about the service at Hazari’s which was both fast and helpful.

The young waiter was enthusi-astic, knew the dishes well and also told us about the dishes that weren’t listed on the menu yet.

From what we’ve experienced their delivery is also very efficient, though it doesn’t have much range beyond Colombo 5.

CONCLUSIONWe’ve seen consistent improve-ment at Hazari’s over the past couple of years. They’re already

one of the Colombo’s best Middle Eastern restaurants in an up-and-coming neighborhood.

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Negombo is an awesome place for watching sunsets. You can check out our Negombo sunset pictures here and here.

Lewis Place is ripe with eater-ies and hotels, for sight-seeing you have the gorgeous painted ceilings of St Mary’s Church , the mossy library of the Angu-

rukaramulla Temple and the Negombo fish market, and if you just want to unwind Negombo has got clear large shores and boat rides on the beach, or at the Negombo lagoon. We rec-ommend you stop by the very quirky IceBear Century Cafe for their chocolate cake and wacky interior decor. If you want to re-

ally live it up this weekend, you can stay at The Beach All Suite Hotel (Rs. 17,000 per suite, which is actually not bad at all by suite standards), they’ve got The Vu for a great rooftop bar, and if you’re on a budget there’s the very charming and colourful Jetwing’s Hotel J (Rs. 6000 per double-room).

Getting there: Take the Expressway bus to Negombo from the Gunasinghapura bus station in Pettah - you’ll be at the central Negombo bus station about 45 minutes later, Rs. 120 for a ticket.

1. NEGOMBO

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Mirissa is known for its sprawl-ing, beautiful beaches, and good beginner-level surfing. Also, whale watching. Technically it’s still whale watching season now, which you can arrange with your hotel or direct.

Palm Villa Hotel is a wonderful place to stay (double room for

Rs. 7500), where they’ve got a nice swimmable beach and a giant climbable rock. Note that some of the places are a bit anti-local and only let rooms to for-eigners. Uncool, we know.

If you’re craving a solid rice and curry during your stay, Samagi Cream House is the place. Oth-

erwise there’s plenty of seafood on the strip, though Mirissa is not yet as good for food as Una and Galle. Zepyhr is a really cool spot to chill both day and night.

The beach in general is in better shape than now ravaged Unawa-tuna, so it may be worth the bit of extra distance.

Getting there: Everything in Mirissa is basically on one walking strip, so you can take the Expressway bus to Galle at the Maharagama bus station (1 hour, Rs. 420), catch a regular bus down the coast and spend the rest of the time with your toes in the sand.

2. MIRISSA

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Hikkaduwa is another beach fa-vourite for holiday-goers.

Again like Negombo and Mirissa, there are plenty of beach-side restaurants to choose from, but Top Secret Restaurant is one of the awesome ones - the food is good and not as costly as other joints here, and they get

full points for their funky decor and seating. If you’re going with friends, the very private Taru Villa 906 is idyllic (though they only accept bookings for 2-days mini-mum), and the quaint, kind-of-expensive boutique hotel Aditya is worth considering.

Spaghetti & Co, Hikka’s classic

Italian restaurant is a must-visit (only open in the evenings), and Drunken Monkey is good for drinks and surfing plans.

They’ve also got a pretty neat Turtle Hatchery in Hikka that takes donations, and where you get to pet the turtles.

Getting there: Take the train to Hikkaduwa from the Pettah railway station (a 3-hour journey), take the regular bus down the Galle Road, or take the Expressway bus to Galle (1 hour, Rs. 420) and then double back via a normal bus to Hikkaduwa.

3. HIKKADUWA

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The main attraction at Galle is the Galle Fort. Shopping is gener-ally expensive here, but the little kades down Pedlar’s Street are ripe for bargaining if you want to buy some chilled out beach wear or printed pants, and if you’ve got the cash then The Three by TPV is the ideal gift shop. The Galle Dutch Hospital is quite pricey, but if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s worth browsing through for its posh ar-chitecture, antique shops and its hammock-themed cafe. For food, we recommend Rocket Burger’s

juicy giant Bulgogi burgers (but eat them hot-hot, they get soggy when you takeaway), Sugar Bistro, and for desserts, Pedlar’s Inn Ge-lato, the Dairy King and the eclairs at Cafe Hula Hula.

For sight-seeing there’s the Dutch architecture of Fort Meeran Mosque , the garden tombs of the Dutch Reformed Church, and the iconic All Saints’ Church. There are plenty of great places in Galle to stay at - among them Jetwing Lighthouse (Rs. 18K per room)

and Galle Heritage Villa (double room for Rs. 12K), and Mango House sounds like a lot of fun, though we’re yet to visit.

Watch the sunset by the clock-tower at the Moon Bastion, or al-ternatively take a tuk tuk to nearby Unawatuna (for about Rs. 500) to Sunset Point at the temple by the beach. There’s also restaurants all along same shore, and the private shores of Jungle Beach in Unawa-tuna (pictured above).

Getting there: Take the Expressway bus to Galle from the Maharagama bus station, 1 hour journey, Rs. 420 for a ticket.

4. GALLE (and Una)

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#CWC2015This is the Sri Lankan match schedule for the ICC Cricket World Cup, 2015, held in Australia. Australia/New Zealand time is unfavorable for Sri Lankans, but you can still catch a lot of matches at 9 AM, and the 3:30 AM matches go on through the day.

Where To Watch (Out)

For the 9 AM and after matches, We recommend Cricket Club, any Machang, Playtrix, Cheers, The Manchester, or the Kingsbury or other hotels. They should be playing most of the matches, and defi-nitely the Quarter-Finals and through if Sri Lankan makes it.

If you are or know a member, the private clubs are great places to watch (SSC, CR&FC, Swimming Club, Rowing Club, Tamil Union, etc).

Watching At Home And Online

The match will be shown on Rupavahini this year, so you can pick it up on terrestrial, or as part of your sat-ellite package. It will also be shown on Star Cricket.

To watch online, watchcric.net, or crictime.nl work but the lag can drive you crazy. Streaming is a bit delayed so you can usually hear your neighbors if something major happens.

You can listen to the scores on SLBC radio (107.3/107.5), or online via BBC 5 Live Sports. If you want to follow along online, definitely CricInfo, and the hashtag on Twitter is #CWC15. Twitter also has a dedicated service for World Cup coverage.

They do generous, tasty take-away or dine-in pizza on Thim-birigasyaya Rd, near Fife.

Their number is 770 335 366

Thanks guys!

This cricket schedule is brought to you by Giovanni’s Pizza.

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week 1 3:30 AM 6:30 AM 9:00 AM 24:00 PM

1 (Sun) Sri Lanka England Pakistan Zimb

week 2 3:30 AM 6:30 AM 9:00 AM 24:00 PM

2 (Mon)

3 (Tue) Ireland S. Africa

4 (Wed) Pakistan UAE

5 (Thu) Bangla Scotland

6 (Fri) India W. Indies

7 (Sat) Pakistan S. Africa Ireland Zimb

8 (Sun) NZ Afghan Lanka Australia

week 3 3:30 AM 6:30 AM 9:00 AM 24:00 PM

9 (Mon) England Bangla

10 (Tue) India Ireland

11 (Wed) Lanka Scotland

12 (Thu) S. Africa UAE

13 (Fri) NZ Bangla

14 (Sat) India Zimb Australia Scotland

15 (Sun) W. Indies UAE Ireland Pakistan

QUARTER 6:30 AM 9:00 AM

18 (Wed) A1 vs B4

19 (Thu) A2 vs B3

20 (Fri) A3 vs B2

21 (Sat) A4 vs B1

SEMI 6:30 AM 9:00 AM

24 (Tue) winner winner

26 (Thu) winner winner

FINAL 6:30 AM 9:00 AM

29 (Tue) THE FINAL

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BY SHIFANI

If you live in Sri Lanka you might have noticed that the average tuk tuk here is pimped out with inter-esting pictures, wise sayings and miscellaneous decor.

Our tuk tuk drivers express them-selves through their three wheeler bling, whether it’s a ‘Power Of Je-sus’ or ‘Masha Allah’ on the hood, film actresses on the side mirrors, Che Guevera on the seats, or a precious bit of wisdom on the tuk tuk’s behind.

We don’t know about you, but these sticker and poster covered tuk tuks have always made us wonder: Who comes up with these lines? Why do tuk tuk drivers like Bob Marley so much? And why is there a fat-baby picture staring at me on the inside of this tuk?

We followed these questions right to the source, using our super sleuthing abilities (that is to say, we asked a tuk driver) - and we found ourselves heading to Mali-gawatte, the place where drivers all over Colombo head to, to pimp their tuks.

On the long trip there we came across some awesome things in Maradana, just before Mali-gawatte. The first was a super pimped out ride, bright pink, with rasta themed lining, side mirrors with babies on them, pink seating and a banging sound system (un-fortunately the driver was absent). We also saw a horse on a rounda-bout made entirely of car parts. We stopped at a bunch of places along the way, and we’ve outlined them all here, from the sticker shops to the baby poster guys.

a Journey to the Center of the stickerverse

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OUR GUIDE: AjITHOur trusty guide on this mean-ingful journey was Ajith of Maha-ragama, seven years a tuk driver, who himself prefers keeping his tuk simple and bling-free, save for a bunch of fake grapes that hang near his rear view mirror. He told us there are a lot of shops that help make your tuks awesome, in Nedimala, Karagampitiya, Maha-ragama and Moratuwa to name a few, but the most popular are in Boralasgamuwa - and then the holy grail of tuk bling, Maligawatte.

The NHS Road is where it all hap-pens - all the upholstering and sticker bling a tuk driver’s heart could desire. Shifan Auto, run by a guy called Fazmi, features a few jovial young men printing stick-ers and then manually cutting them out with blades and rulers. I pointed at a sticker that said ‘Fear

no fire’ and I asked Fazmi, why? Where did he get the idea to print out such a line? He blinked back at me and said he Googled for prov-erbs and picked the ones he liked. You can get an interesting one-line sticker here for about Rs. 250, while a full-body sticker makeover can go up to as high as Rs. 6000.

Shifan Auto Stickers 765/122, National Housing Scheme Road, off Bodhiraja, Maligawatte

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Cris Ads on the same road, pimps out your backseats and side boards (the ‘walls’ of the tuk) whether you want Tamil films, Spiderman, Che Guevera or just fat babies on them, for about Rs. 500-1000. We saw a range of styl-ish tuks around here. The Spider-man seat was our favourite. There was also one featuring Vijay from

a Tamil film, along with System of a Down and Slipknot stickers on the sideboards, showcasing the driver’s obvious eclectic tastes.

Cris Ads’ boss Prasad showed us how it works on his computer - he’s got a gallery of most popular images, and drivers usually pick from it, but they can also bring

their own artwork for printing (a lot of people get their kids’ names on their tuks for example). I asked him what people ask for the most, and he said Hummers, American flags, Tamil actresses and natu-ral scenery top the list. Then he showed me this mind boggling artwork where Sigiriya frescoes, the Statue of Liberty and the Eif-fel Tower were all Photoshopped together. I won’t lie, that’s what I’d put in my tuk.

These guys do stickers too, costing Rs. 250 to 10K, depending on how bomb diggity the driver’s style is. I asked Abdul Rahman, the owner, what kind of sayings people wanted the most and why. He said people liked poetry and film the best, and that Sri Lankans love them some love poems. It depends though - we saw ‘Love is the way to happiness’ and ‘Better not come in my way’ stickers on the same block.

I then asked Godfrey, the coolest Maligawatte tuk driver and my guide through the shops on this street, why most stickers were in English, most baby pictures were white, and a lot of the film posters were from Hollywood. He laughed and said those are easy to find on the inter-net, there aren’t a lot of cute South Asian babies online, and that it’s simply what tuk drivers like.

Cris Ads 765/95/A2, National Housing Scheme Road, off Bodhiraja, Maligawatte

Zeenath Auto 765/165, National Housing Scheme Road, off Bodhiraja, Maligawatte

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Tip Top 765/135,, NHS Road,

Tip Top is run by Jabbar, who says he’s pioneering a new tuk tuk style - side doors made out of decorated transparent plastic. He makes sten-cils of images (Bob Marley, ships, Captain Jack Sparrow) and then paints through them on the plastic, and attaches lights above them so the drawings glow. This stuff is some next level shizzle though, so it costs about Rs. 4000.

CONCLUSIONAnd thus we bid adieu and journeyed back to south Colombo, having learnt so much about the tuk tuks we know and love. It’s really a kind of crazy, legit art when you think about it - tuk tuk drivers expressing themselves through images, words and colours plastered over their vehicles. It’s super random, like the Chinese baby party above, or that sticker we saw that said ‘Mother told not to talk to girls’ but that’s what makes it so awesome.

One running theme throughout all the randomness is that tuk drivers seem to like happy, wholesome images (babies, mothers, their kids’ names), and lines that gener-ally give out a good vibe (‘Make the heart grow’). Make sure you check out our gallery for more classic tuk tuk stylin’ and if you’ve seen an epic piece of tuk wisdom, share it with us online.

BY SHIFANI

Aranyani is a super initiative run by a handful of young animal lov-ers. They take the time to rescue homeless cats and dogs, take them to vets, have them sterilized, vaccinated and adopted. ‘Aran-yani’, FYI, is the name of the Hindu goddess of forests and animals.

MYTH-BUSTING

The interesting thing about the members of Aranyani is that they’re not just random volun-teers - they actually study and learn about animals. Ashwini Ai-yar, a member, and owner of the Haven Dog Hotel in Malabe (more on that later) is currently studying a degree online, where she learns about animal behaviour and train-ing. Other members Soharni and Shilpa are also studying the sub-

ject through online courses.

According to Shilpa, the biggest challenges faced by animal wel-fare organizations in Sri Lanka are culture and lack of accountability. People aren’t educated about the severity of the stray animal situa-tion, and the dire need for sterili-zation. Some people think sterili-zation is a ‘sin’ or that the animal becomes aware and remorseful of its inability to reproduce. But Shilpa points out that the animal remains unaware, and that not sterilizing translates to hundreds of stray litters every day (a litter can be up to 11 puppies). They fill the streets, starve, become diseased, and are severely injured and killed by people and vehicles.

Aranyani is making a grassroots initiative to teach children in schools about the facts - starting

with S. Thomas’ College Kennel Club, this April.

THE HAVEN DOG HOTEL

Aranyani also works with Haven Dog Hotel, a very cool place in Ma-labe where Ashwini Aiyar offers to take care of your pets while you’re away. The animals are well groomed, taken for walks, some-times given their own gardens and so on, and it costs about Rs. 1300 per night. As a member of Aran-yani, Ashwini has a special shelter within the premises for rescued animals. This is Aranyani’s main foster (there’s another temporary foster home in Battaramulla), it’s a nice clean, green space, with plenty of room for animals to run around - members make weekend visits and take rescued pups on trips to the vet for sterilizations and vaccinations, before putting

araNYaNi aNiMaL resCuewww.aranyanianimalrescue.com | 777 449 729

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them up on Facebook for adop-tion.

Ashwini herself lives near Haven, in a home full of her own adorable pets, next to a picturesque paddy field. It was interesting to watch her pups and cats getting along like they were the same kind. She tells us that her studies in animal behaviour and training can help her clients learn about their pets’ moods and how to deal with them, as opposed to some animal owners who get frustrated with difficult pets and end up dumping them elsewhere.

ANIMAL RESCUE & VETS

The great news is that there are plenty of people working hard to fix the stray animal problem in Sri Lanka: Colombo Animal Res-cue, Adopt A Dog, Ray Of Hope,

Embark (who works with Aran-yani), Animal SOS,Animal Wel-fare Protection Association, Cat Protection Trust, Blue Paw Trust (a CSR of Pet V Care), Dogstar in Negombo, and Tikiri Trust, SOFA and KACPAW in Kandy. As people in this line of work, Soharni and Shilpa feel it’s really important for animal welfare organizations to collaborate.However, there isn’t a whole lot being done by the government in this department. There’s a gov-ernment-run dog pound in Borella, and officials from here collect stray dogs off the streets and keep them at the pound for a while - but they’re eventually just put down. It would probably speed things along much better if the govern-ment collaborated with private animal SOS groups.

Colombo has a lot of vets, but Best

Care is a reliable place that Aran-yani works with - Best Care picks up strays from locations, which makes rescue operations much easier. Sterilizations generally cost about Rs. 1K-2K, while vaccina-tions are for around Rs. 500.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Look at the cute little fluffball in the picture above. A lack of aware-ness among people - about the need for sterilizing and vaccinat-ing their pets - can save the lives of pups like him. Keep yourself informed and spread the word. Meanwhile, Aranyani is always looking for donors, volunteers, people who adopt, and temporary foster homes, so if you think you can help somehow, stay tuned on their Facebook page (fb.com/aranyani.srilanka) and Instagram (@aranyani.sriLanka).

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BY INDI

Perhaps Colombo’s quirkiest land-mark, the jail cell of the last King of Kandy - Sri Vikrama Rajasinha - is in the Ceylinco parking lot.

It’s quite easy to miss, where Ja-nadipathi Mawatha meets the Dutch Hospital, but it’s there, usu-ally with trishaws parked next to it. When the King was deposed and England took over the country, the King and his wife were deported to India (where he died). In between, it’s said that he was detained here.

THE CELLAs a place to stay, we wouldn’t recommend this. The structure is maybe the size of two trishaws and not very comfy. The interior contains portraits of the former King and Queen, and some of his accomplishments and what he’s remembered for. King Rajas-inha didn’t build the Temple Of The Tooth (that was Vira Parakrama

Narendra Sinha), but he did build the moat and the Patthirippuwa - the octagonal structure which is the first thing you see walking up. Even more impressively, he also constructed the artificial Kandy Lake outside.

THE KINGThe King himself was a Telugu Buddhist who spoke Tamil, previ-ously known as Prince Kanna-samy in Madurai. He became king when he was barely 18 after his uncle died. At this point the king-dom had been held by Madurai royals for two generations.

Sri Vikrama inherited a kingdom which was under threat from the British externally and from ram-pant intrigue within his own court. Still, he managed to rule for 17 years, but it got bumpy near the end.

In the end, Sri Vikrama lost popu-lar/noble support and by the time

the British invaded they were able to enter Kandy unopposed. After that, the King was briefly held here and then deported to Vellore, India where he died in 1832.

THE LOCATIONOnce this small room would have been close to a barracks, but now it’s in the commercial center of the city. It’s in the shadow of the World Trade Center towers and the Bank Of Ceylon tower and right next to the Kingsbury Hotel and Dutch Hospital Shopping Precinct. The monument is also literally in the Ceylinco parking lot. On any given day people will be parked there, of-ten sleeping in their trishaws.

The monument is well maintained enough, but unless you know it’s there you’d miss it. As it is, it’s an interesting place to drop by if you’re in the area, eating at Dutch Hospital or coming out of the Kingsbury. It’s a quirky little bit of history, hidden in a parking lot.

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