Colombo has one modern bus, but I saw like ten parked opposite Galle Face Green. I hope they’re coming soon. Opposite GFG is like an unofficial parking lot. You used to see military vehicles, then steamrollers, now buses. Rows upon rows. You can’t quite see from this photo, but there are at least 10 buses parked here. These are the new Volvos These are Micros, and I think there is one Volvo now running on the Galle Road. You have about as much chance of catching it as catching a unicorn. Hopefully this lot should improve the odds.

A lot of progressive values are the default if you’re poor. Eating less meat, not using cars, consuming less electricity, buying local food. While someone in Brooklyn will pay exorbitant amounts (and attention) to bicycle to work, eat organic food and minimize their carbon footprint, this is what a poor Sri Lankan does by default.

Restaurants take great effort to entice tourists and locals, and they charge for it. Then they go and spoil it all by putting out boards saying stuff like ‘Wrack of Lamb’ and offering ‘Samwiches’ on the menu. I’m not saying spoken English needs to be perfect, but for a menu or advertisement, it just makes the food look bad.

Nationwide, liquor sales have increased by 7-8% this year. This is probably a good thing. This is not to say that booze is a good thing, or that boozing is. The Buddha says all things in moderation, but I’ve never been able to not fuck that one up. Outside any Sri Lankan school they paint murals and a classic one is booze destroying families. So why is increasing liquor sales a good thing?

I was on the bus and this drunk guy leans over and says, ‘Centigrade?’ I don’t know what the answer for that is. 27? I try ‘no’ and putting my headphones back on. Turns out he thinks I’m from the band Centigradz, which makes him comfortable enough to lean over and rub my head. Anyways, long story short, I can’t move and this is his tale.

I used a Dialog SatNav for like a month, longer than I think I was supposed to. Thanks Dialog. What’s my review? The maps are quite useful, but with some annoying quirks. I would rather tape an iPad to my windscreen and use Google Maps, but Dialog’s SatNav is both cheaper and more detailed, if a bit more difficult to use.

I welcome the new developments in Sri Lanka (roads, ports, airports, buildings, malls). Dev isn’t a zero sum game and that’s part of it. It’s important, however, to invest as heavily (or more) in education and health, which is what sustained the country even through war. Many of the things we’re building are for a middle class that doesn’t exist yet. Without education and health, there won’t be enough people for the shops or cars for the roads.

I was just writing about how much Sri Lanka is changing and yeah, it’s changing more. They’re now planning a giant TV tower in the shape of a lotus on the Beira Lake (via [a]rchitectonics). I’ve embedded the intro YouTube video above, which is somewhat oddly translated into English. I like the Lotus Performing Arts Center well enough, but this looks a bit… pink and phallic.

Sri Lanka and Colombo are changing every day. Here are some big developments I think/hear will take place in the next five years. There’s about 30 years of pent-up work to do, so I think we’ll see a lot.

Bajaj is coming out with what they call a ‘four-wheeler’. Under the narrowest description (four wheels, doors) it’s a car, but it’s really more of a trishaw (rickshaw, tuk-tuk, or three-wheeler, if you prefer). I guess it’s kinda a hybrid. Potentially priced at under $3,000, the thing should be competitive with the (underselling) Nano, but it still looks a lot less sophisticated.