Home Sweet Home

Home Sweet Home

Thursday, January 29, 2009

What do you do...

... when you can't thank someone enough?

Of course you write a blog post knowing that someone reads it.
Ha! The genius in me!

Thank you my friend.

YOU'RE SIMPLY THE BEST!



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Monday, January 26, 2009

And I'm finished...

Well, my pocket at least. Or to be even more precise, the money in it.

This is the thing. If I say "I love books", that would be a serious understatement. Well I could have typed it like "I LOVE BOOKS", using caps, to give it a bit more emphasis, but still it wouldn't be sufficient. I just wanted to say... err... I LOVE BOOKS! Well, I just repeated myself, but you get the drift right.

Ever since I came here to Japan I couldn't find a decent place where I could buy books. English books that is. Because there are numerous bookshops here, but very few had English books. Need not say that it is pointless to look for Sinhala stuff. So my only option so far was Amazon. Not the jungle, that site you know. But it isn't the same as you're going to a bookshop is it? I LOVE this smell of new books. The feeling you get when you walk among them... it's simply awesome. I just love it. When I was back in Sri Lanka I used to go to many bookshops like Sarasavi or Vijitha Yapa at least once a month. Not necessarily to buy them, I just wanted to be among them. Sometimes I didn't have a penny in my pocket (well, I should have said rupee, but whatever) but still I'd go to them and just spend the time. Two or three hours straight, sometimes.

Yesterday evening I rang Solomon, a good friend who work here with me. Previously he had done the mistake of informing me about a good bookshop nearby. We were half drunk at that time, but I don't usually forget that kind of thing. Well, never. Maybe he thought I'd forget everything the next day. You wish, mate! So I asked him whether if we can visit it, of course in that polite manner. You know, you put the question forward, then say something like "only if you aren't busy... it's OK if you are, we can go some other time...." knowing perfectly well that he wouldn't refuse. And he didn't. (Thanks bro!) I'm a cunning person, you know...

Off we went to the place, and boy wasn't I in awe! It was like a six story building and almost an entire floor was allocated for English books! There were all sorts of books. Fiction, science fiction, fantasy, classics, history, biographies... you name it, they have it. I was like going crazy! It was better than finding cryptonite, though I have no idea what I can do if I find cryptonite.

So I browsed through the book shelves, enjoying that smell of new books... oh it was heaven! Spent like an hour there and found a couple of books I so wanted to read. One was "To Kill A Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, which many who read it speaks highly of and the other one is very well known "A Tale of Two Cities" by Charles Dickens. Now don't say that if you're that crazy for books you must have read it before this. Hey, at least I am going to read it now OK? And there's a first time for everything. Ha!

The problem is, being the book freak I am, and the above mentioned bookshop is located near my workplace, I am pretty sure that I will visit it every month at least. No. I'm dead sure I will visit it more often that that. And Japan being Japan, books are goddamn expensive as anything else. I'm just going to waste a lot of money.

But I can't help it.

Friday, January 23, 2009

EVIL METER!

I took this test that the Single Couple had taken before.






You Are 50% Evil



You are evil, but you haven't yet mastered the dark side.

Fear not though - you are on your way to world domination.





Well it seems I've got a lot of hard work in front of me.
But I assure you I'll do my best! :D


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Thursday, January 22, 2009

You Know You're Sri Lankan When...

... you write blog posts titled "You know you're Sri Lankan when..."


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When You Meet Your Match

This is so darn funny, not to mention how CUTE!
I just had to post it...



Thanks D!


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Monday, January 19, 2009

The Peeping Jap

I think the usual readers of my blog, if myself included could count up to an impressive figure like five know that I live and work in Japan. The Land of the Rising Sun. The place where raw-fish eating, small eyed fellas live. And probably you also know that I travel by train, that is apart from the times I walk. Not all the way to the work of course, but like a couple of minutes to the station. And then from the station I travel by train. Well of course that's where you go to if you want to catch a train, but I just thought I'd tell you anyway.

Now, this morning train ride of mine is a bit long one. It includes two transfers of trains and like a hour and fifteen minutes altogether. And I travel alone as well. So there's no real need to say that it is quite boring to keep staring out of a window all that time - that is if you are near a window of course. Otherwise you have to stare into a face of the Jap next to you, usually which is at a distance a little less than few millimeters. Therefore, my iPod, this little beauty accompanies me everyday to and back from work.

Today was no exception, and I was standing in a corner leaning against a window and listening to some music. The train was crowded to the point of exploding as usual and there was a Jap next to me. Well more than one of course, as is the case in a crowded train. But there was this particular guy as well. I had my iPod in my jacket pocket (that rhymes, doesn't it?) and a playlist was loaded. Occasionally I would come across a song which I don't particularly like, or a one that I don't like at all, for that matter. "Why do you have the songs which you don't like in your iPod?", you might ask. Fair enough. But I'm too lazy to go through them all and add only the favorites, so I just loaded the whole MP3 folder in my computer to it. Even fairer enough, don't you think so?

Back to the topic.

So, whenever a song that I didn't like came up, I'd take it out of my pocket - not the song, the iPod I mean - and move to the next one. Not moving the iPod to the other pocket, just move to the next song. Now, I think you should know that iPod Touch is the coolest iPod of them all. And I'm not boasting here at all. I'm merely stating the facts, I promise you. The problem was, whenever I took it out, the Jap who was next to me, the one I was talking about earlier, would peep into it. To be honest, I was proudly annoyed, if there is such a term. Who wouldn't, when a Jap is gazing into your stuff, which doesn't happen all the time, I assure you. In fact, this could be the first time in the history of mankind - or should I say the Japanesekind? - that it happened. They never do that. They always mind their own business when they are on a train and don't give a shit about what the others do. And they give even less shit about the trendy iPods your neighbors might have because they are like day to day stuff for them. Still, I was annoyed. Not because he was doing it, but because he was doing it being a Jap. It is a thing only the Paradise-Islanders would do. How can this Jap do it?

So, I covered it and turned a little sideways. And since my MP3 folder has like close to a thousand songs, and obviously I don't like them all, I had to change the song again, soon. And the Jap peeped into it again. A couple of minutes later, well, like ten minutes later I think, the same happened. By now I was officially pissed. I looked at him and tried to give him one of those mean stares. Like the one Brett Lee gives the batsman when he bowls one at his head and misses. Obviously Brett wouldn't be able to stare at the batsman if he hits him because then the guy would be down flat on the pitch. Anyway, I gave him such a stare and he smiled back at me. Like Murali would do when he's batting.

DARN, I thought. I can't even scare the shit out of a Jap.

I was wondering whether I should repeat the attempt and scare away the 'Mr-Peeping-Tom' or totally abandon the attempt and accept the defeat when he went like "Are you a Sri Lankan?" In English too.

And my jaw dropped.

Not to the floor of course, but you know the phrase right? I carefully glanced at me. No I wasn't wearing my Sri Lanka Cricket T-Shirt and I didn't have a label across my forehead saying that I'm a Sri Lankan either. My confusion grew with the fact that he spoke in English - pretty good English too - because normally Japs pretty much suck at English. And I was still staring at him. Not the mean one this time, but rather the "what-the-fuck" stare.

Finally I managed to put a few words together in my head, and then speak them too.

"Err... how did you... I mean..."
Not really a good job of putting words together, was it? Still I managed to convey my idea to him, and a loads better than if I spoke in Japanese, I'm pretty sure.

"Oh sorry, I saw the songs you were listening to and some of them were Sinhala songs"

My jaw dropped again. Oh sorry if I forgot to mention but I managed to pull it back after it happened the earlier time. So it didn't drop twice the amount as it would normally, just the normal amount though it might depend on the occasion.

"Ah yes, I lived in Sri Lanka a few years back. And I recognized some of the songs you were listening to. I have a few albums with me here in Japan too. I Like some of the stuff. Do you have new ones too? Because I returned back in 2005"

So much for my proud annoyance.


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Saturday, January 17, 2009

What men want...




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Thursday, January 15, 2009

Getting To Know Me

Saw this post by Sabby and thought it was COOL!

She left an open tag, so here we go...


1. What time did you get up this morning?
6.50 a.m. Yeah I know... I have a shit life... :D

2. Diamonds or pearls?
Both, as much as I can get.

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema?
Man, don't even remember...

4. What is your favorite TV show?
Prison Break, ALA and any Test match.

5. What do you usually have for breakfast?
McDonalds cheese burger with coffee.

6. What is your middle name?
I don't have one.

7. What food do you dislike?
It's a long list...

8. What is your favorite album at the moment?
Not an album, but this song "Piano Man" is stuck in my head for like a month now.
And I can't get it out of my head!

9. What kind of car do you drive?
Car? What's that?

10. Favorite sandwich?
Nothing, really.

11. What characteristics do you despise?
Indifference.

12. Favorite item of clothing?
Shorts and T-Shirts with Bata! Oooh... I LOVE them!

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go?
Some beach, I'm darn sure of that. Maybe Hawaii. But I prefer a bit lonely places too...

14. Favorite brand of clothing?
Reebok ( Thanks S and C! )

15. Where would you retire to?
Retirement? WTF? There are so many other things to worry about right now! :P

16. What was your most memorable birthday?
Every single one from 2003 to 2007.

17. Favorite sport to watch?
Cricket - Test cricket that is. And Rugby.

18. When is your birthday?
21st of May. Note it down people! :P

19. Are you a morning person or a night person?
Sooooo not a morning person.
(Sabby, that's one thing we have in common. I didn't have to change a word! LOL)

20. What is your shoe size?
42 I think.

21. Pets?
Cats.

22. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share with us?
Umm... not now, not really...

23. What did you want to be when you were little?
Journalist.
(Holy shit, Sabby!)

24. How are you today?
Doing OK. But got a cold and it's freaking cold out there too... but... well that's how it's going to be for like another few months... so... OK I guess...

25. What is your favorite candy?
Chocolates, chocolates and chocolates.

26. What kind of flowers do you like?
Roses.

27. What day on the calendar are you looking forward to?
At the moment, 21st of May. :P

28. What is your full name?
Isn't the first one enough?

29. What are you listening to right now?
The sound of like 10 people tapping their keyboards. Ha!

30. What was the last thing you ate?
Umm... a Japanese meal.

31. Do you wish on stars?
Hell no.

32. If you were a crayon, what color would you be?
Gee... who wants to be a crayon?

33. What is the weather like right now?
It's fucking cold.

34. First person you spoke to on the phone today?
Today? Nobody yet.

35. Favorite soft drink?
Avocado juice. Man... that's heaven!

36. Favorite restaurant?
There isn't a particular one... But any beach spot would do...

37. Real hair color?
Black.

38. Favorite toy as a child?
Didn't have many toys to be honest...

39. Summer or winter?
Summer. But can't I pick Spring or Autumn instead?

40. Hugs or kisses?
Both! And lots of it!
(Sabby, I guess we all are!)

41. Chocolate or vanilla?
Chocolate.
(Now that's four in common)

42. Coffee or tea?
Coffee - not the Sri Lankan coffee though. I wasn't much of a coffee drinker before, but ever since I came to Japan, I'm sort of addicted to it.

43. When was the last time you cried?
Umm... like a month ago. And boy didn't I cry that day...

44. What is under your bed?
There is NO bed in my apartment. :D

45. What did you do last night?
The usual. Dinner. Poker on FB. Some more browsing. A few chats. Then sleep.

46. What are you afraid of?
Loosing the very people I love...

47. Salty or sweet?
Neither.

48. How many keys on your key ring?
One.

49. Favorite day of the week?
Any holiday.

50. How many towns you lived in?
Four.

51. Do you make friends easily?
Hell no!


And I leave it an open tag so anybody who's interested have a go!

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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Sunrise on a Plane!

After what was nothing short of absolutely wonderful three weeks of vacation, it was coming back time yesterday. The flight was at 8.40 p.m., so got to the BIA at about 6 in the evening. And it was nice meeting a random guy who turned out to be a college mate.

On the flight, I got a window seat but usually I prefer aisle as I can get up, go to the washroom or just wander around without bothering your neighbor. Also you can stretch a bit as well. And luckily, there was a Muslim guy next to me and he asked whether he could be the window seat for a couple of minutes so that he could pray. I gladly agreed and said that he could keep it if he wanted. So, I could swap mine with him cos he preferred the window.

Still my whole body was aching after a few hours and I was like turning this way and that on my seat. Could hardly sleep, so I got up, grabbed my pillow and bed sheet (or should I say seat-sheet?) and just wandered around to see if there were a couple of adjacent vacant seats. Finally found a couple at the very front of the cabin so settled there - my back to the window and feet on the other seat - and had a good couple of hours' sleep.

When I woke up, it was the sunrise and was an absolutely breathtaking sight! Below was a sea of clouds and the sun rising in the horizon. You don't always get to see that, so captured a few snapshots on my mobile.











And this scene made me completely forget all the aching and pain.
Isn't it a stunning sight?

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Sunday, January 11, 2009

The Last Day Home

At least for another year.

DARN! I so don't want to go back. I've been having one hell of a time here. Was just awesome, but the three weeks went by like three hours. You know what I mean...

But, like the Sri Lankans say, what to do...

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Friday, January 9, 2009

I kept my word!

Here I said that I wouldn't use the word "fuck" in my posts for a month. And holy mother of god, I absofuckinglutely kept my word!

Even I myself can't believe.

Solomon, take notice! Ha!



Now, something for us men to enjoy, and you ladies to get pissed at! :P
Enjoy.

Men and Women

A woman didn't come home one night. The next morning she told her husband that she had slept over at a friend's house. The man called his wife's 10 best friends. None of them knew anything about it.

A man didn't come home one night. The next morning he told his wife that he had slept over at a friend's house. The woman called her husband's 10 best friends, eight of which confirmed that he had slept over, and two said that he was still there.


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Monday, January 5, 2009

Dangerous Fashions!

Just watch this. It's hilarious!



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Thursday, January 1, 2009

New Year, New Hopes!

After so many years, today, 31st of December, I spend under a roof!
For many a year, this day was a party time, a day out! With friends, with N, one way or another I was out partying. Somewhere. Strange though it may sound, it feels good to be home too. How the things change! Maybe the old age getting into me. Ha!

Anyway, in this coming new year, may all your dreams - well, the good ones at least - come true!

I certainly wish this coming new year will be better than the one I say goodbye to...



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