These are some random photos from around. Above is a poster on a wall in Dehiwela. It say ‘Party For Us’. I presume this is some sort of political party rather than a bouncy castle party. Though I don’t really know. I have no idea what this poster is for. Besides awesome.

I got the car back, but I don’t even want it anymore. I’m not saying it isn’t great to have wheels. It’s just that you miss a lot when you’re not on the street. I had to head into town today and I just left the car at home. I’m not in a hurry and my job is largely to see. So I looked around.

Apple products use a Micro SIM, which is a smaller than usual phone chip. Most places you buy such a card. In Sri Lanka, this is not how we do. Dudes at some communication kades just take a normal SIM and chomp it through the cutter. Then they trim it down with a box cutter. Like a baas.

I’ve always loved the lottery vendor booths on the road. They look like big penguin monsters. I always thought that they got up and walked around at night, but they don’t. I checked. You know what else they look like? Totoro, from the classic Japanese animated film – My Neighbor Totoro. Seriously. It’s uncanny.

This is a random scene at the Wellawatte public loo. There’s a lady sweeping, a guy carrying two chairs, and two guys looking at stuff. It’s just one photo but I’ve captioned it pretty thoroughly.

They’ve been building this thing on Duplication Road called the Colombo Courtyard. I thought it was a mall, but turns out its a boutique city hotel. I wandered in there and both the staff and the place are very nice. This fellow Gihan kindly showed me around. Here are some photos.

I left the house today. That was a bad idea. Being on the street these days is like being inside an internal combustion engine. Being on the road feels like being inside a car, and not the passenger part. What I’m trying to say is, it’s hot.

This a good time to be a startup in Sri Lanka. This Week In Startups is shooting a video here (deadline April 10th) and now they’re having a Hackathon at Orion City (where Virtusa is). On Saturday morning you can pitch ideas and develop teams to execute. By Sunday evening you’ll be pitching products to industry leaders and investors. It’s pretty cool and I think I’ll register to go. You can register here.

Years ago I organized some Open Mics around Colombo and this young poet Imaad, AKA Saint Fallen, came onstage and held a burning match and read. I was quite impressed then, and he was really into the poetry scene. Now him and a very talented poet Krishantha are organizing a series of Poetry Pilaus at the Hansa Coffee House on Fife Road. I went this weekend and it was quite good.

Around Kollupitiya, you can see Chinese women (who I think are prostitutes) walking between the casinos and karaoke joints or whatever. Recently one was picked up for ‘loitering’, but only fined Rs. 10 because the laws are so old. It’s kinda funny.