Green Colombo
Not the best photo, but what I got
From the street Colombo is all traffic, signboards, and cars. From the sidewalk (as much as there is one) it’s much the same. You hit an occasional stretch like Baudhalloka Mawatha or near the Uni where the trees canopy up into a verdant tunnel. But then it’s back to the ground. However, from above, Colombo is one of the greenest cities I’ve ever seen. My family recently moved into an apartment with a view, and the city looks beautiful. I’ve seen Montreal and Toronto from above, but the greenery is entirely different here. There I saw patches of park-land, some huge, but then roofs and artifice. In Colombo the foliage and city are entirely mixed, and there is green, literally, everywhere.
Part of it is sheer inevitability. No matter what you do, the jungle will encroach. You can’t grow grass here, but almost everything will land, blossom and crawl over any unoccupied patch of property. You can either go with it and maintain a teeming garden, or be left with a teeming mess. Even with a mature government, and property laws that encouraged development, the trees would still win.
Another thing I love is how many houses and commercial spaces will build around trees. For example, the British School has a large courtyard with an old tree still thriving in between the wide concrete walls. Barefoot has a thick fellow popping out of the tiles, and the snaking pool at Mahaweli Reach Kandy is apparently built around the trees there.
Many Sri Lankan houses have a space open to the sky, and often to the rain. Sometimes it’s a pool full of fish, or just a garden, but there is always that acknowledgement of the environment in the house. We filled ours (in Battaramulla) with rocks ’cause the cat peed in it.
From a height you can see all those individual preservations tufting up and above the roofs. Colombo actually looks greener than Battaramulla, at least from one vantage.
This is highly dubious. Miss Travel is a travel/social networking site that connects ‘Generous’ and ‘Attractive’ travelers. To, like, travel together, I guess. It all seems a bit like arranged prostitution and trafficking. This is part of a broader online trend to connect rich men to younger, attractive women. Sites like 
Sri Lankan domestics never say anything, they just stop coming. My maid just stopped coming and when I finally pressed her she said I needed to get a washing machine. I was hoping to ride this one out, but I’ve run out of underwear and I have no choice. I finally caved and bought a washing machine, from 
There’s nothing wrong with pornography, but there’s a lot wrong with porn. Nothing wrong with watching people have sex, but too often that sex is brutal, senseless and coerced. I mean how many couples are coming on each others faces every day? Hence, philosopher king Alain de Botton – after calling for a 
Sri Lanka is going to start offer 
Part of it might be perspective. This picture of Toronto surprised me http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/05/06/17/
in comparison with foliage’s picture toronto may look more greeny… but i dont think that ppl there do things like build houses around trees!
I can’t imagine living in a non-green area. Even a potted plant will do!
Nice blog. I got here while googling “affno sucks”. Long story. Like the layout and style, bit difficult to follow when compared with traditional blog styles like mine. Keep up the good work! Regards Manoj
ey! when and where did you move? (email me sometime, wouldja.)
reading your blog is a terrible distracting induction of nostalgia and longing.