Sunday, July 7, 2019

Colombo, Pinnawala, Kandy...

This is my first visit to the country. Just a 2 week trip on a B Visa. The Hotel accommodation given by company is really good one and to my expectations, no complaints. Got the refrigerator and locker too along with the usual television and coffee kettle.
Colombo has Uber penetrated well enough. So, that was great to get to my office which is about 5 kms from my stay. If not for the Uber, the Tuk Tuks(3 Wheeler Auto) would sure exploit you. Tuk Tuks in Srilanka have penetrated every nook and corner literally and am not exaggerating.
Since I had been given prior recommendations about Uber, have been saved a lot.
The food is more or less similar to India, in taste and cost. If you convert their cost in LKR to INR, you would not find any difference. In general, I noticed only the petrol(About INR Rs 17 at the time of writing this blog) and Uber to be cheaper. And Uber probably cheaper because of the petrol price.
The food court in the IT park isn't so great but you sure can manage it for the 2 weeks.
Got a chance to dinner at Shanmugha's and Sri Vani Vilas, thanks to my manager.
I found lots of people in the office to speak tamil that I could easily understand, Srilankan tamil  is not significantly different. And, all colleagues in general are of very soft nature.
Now, when the weekend was approaching, I planned for a one day outing and asked for suggestions with people. Luckily I had an Uber contact who once dropped me at office and he had decent English, He offered me a trip to Kandy and Pinnawala for 8500 LKR to and fro.

I confirmed that the deal is really good with colleagues and said Ok to the uber driver. Kandy has got the Tooth Relic temple and Pinnawala has the famous Elephant Orphanage.

Pinnawala
To make sure we don't miss the elephant bath at 10 AM, we started from Hotel at 7 AM itself on the Saturday morning. On the way, to my request driver stopped for a traditional Srilankan breakfast. The special Heenati rice and similar ones with country chicken and other dishes were available for breakfast. I saw Rambhutan being sold on the road side and did taste them as well. We reached on time for the elephant bath. For Indian adult, ticket price is Rs 800 LKR after I showed my passport. It was displayed as LKR 3000 per adult foreigner otherwise Went to a souvenir shop on the way to the river and waited for the elephants to cross. It was a great sight to watch the elephant herd cross you so closely to the river for the bath.
After spending a few minutes, came out to see a small factory making paper out of the elephant poo (dung). They explained the process and took me to the store where all the different elephant poo paper products were sold. It was all too costly, so I just bought them as sample to show friends and family at home. Not sure why they have it at so high cost discouraging people from buying for normal use..
Then we went to fruit feeding location of the elephants, it costed Rs 250 LKR to feed some fruit slices to 2 of the elephant kids. I loved feeding them.

After having done with the elephants, which was all done in almost 1 hour only, we started to Kandy and on the way had the delicious red tender coconut that costs about 50 LKR.

Spices:
Had told the driver about buying some spices back home. So he took me to a Spice and Herbal Garden, Susantha. Someone who claimed himself a doctor greeted me and gave a walk around the garden with medicinal plants and spices describing their benefits. Especially the Cinnamon which is very famous in Srilanka. All the medicines and Cinnamon were sold at very high cost in that spice garden. Bought the 50g cinnamon at LKR 800 while at the Colombo market the same costs about LKR 250 only. Also bought herbal oil for Arthritis for LKR 4400. I later realised that I have done the biggest mistake of not googling before making the purchase and mostly went by the confidence given by the driver. The driver was literally playing my guide and he had already offered the cheaper deal to drive me to Kandy. Not sure if he did for a commission, I should have done my simple search. Other than this unnecessary spend, I have no regrets about this whole trip.The tricks and tactics were same like any other scam places, attack you emotionally and distract you with wrong facts mixed with some truth one after another, tall claims like complete cure for diabetes and arthritis. He even claimed of having Viagra equivalent based on aswagantha. TripAdvisor reviews have so many negative reviews about them

Tooth Relic temple
After the Spice encounter, we directly went to temple slowed by the traffic, after parking our car at the government multilevel parking area for very low price. Most of the road is single lane from Colombo to Kandy and also its hilly drive that it is extremely difficult to overtake a slow vehicle in front of you. Anyways there is also 70 kms speed limit as well. The number plates of all vehicles have white background in the front and the ones at the rear of the vehicle have yellow background for better night visibility. And when a vehicle overtakes, it signals by switching On the 'Right turn' indicator. Bought the LKR 1000 ticket for entry and bought lotus flowers to offer at the shrine. It is a peaceful place and most people come in white outfit.There used to be a tusker named Raja who had served at the temple and after his demise, his skin has been used and a replica has been made out of it and kept for public display. Also visited the museum where lots of scriptures related to the tooth relic incidents and stories were on display. Also, the ancient dresses used by the rulers were there for display. There are so many stories about the Tooth relic that are directly linked to India and Hindu rulers I was surprised to know all of that there.

In this whole trip, i did not see a single movie poster throughout the route anywhere and when i enquired the driver, he said they done make sinhala movies so frequently, probably once in 3 months is best case. I wanted to visit a fruit shop and vegetable shop but both did not happen. That would sure be part of my next trip if I make one, But on the return we stopped for evening snack and tea. It was run by women more like the women cooperative supported by the govt. Multiple snack shops at a single place, kind of a small open food court with women led counters. Got a herbal black tea with a small jaggery piece as side dish. Also had Pittu with chatni, it wasnt sweet but tasted more like upma and another sweet that resembled paniyaram but not made of rice. I skipped my dinner that day.

Coming from Chennai, wasn't particular about the beaches there in Colombo. So just took a few pictures of the beach nearby my Hotel and thats it. My colleagues have told me about so many other beautiful places to visit in the south and north, i would have to plan it well in advance if and when i make it again next time to Colombo.

Chocolates
By Sunday I wanted to close my shopping. For chocolates, I googled this time. Found Kandos, shop to be pretty nearby. One tuk-tuk guy agreed to drop me back after shopping in just LKR 300 and again I took the bet. On the pretense of not sure about the shop location , he took me to a factory outlet Tea shop though I told him not interested . I thought no harm in getting a sample and bought plan tea for 200 grams  that I had to buy for LKR 750. Then I gave the live direction to the tuk-tuk to reach the Kandos chocolate shop. Despite his reluctance I made him take me there as he was suggesting alternate places. Finally I bought enough chocolates with no discount. On the return, the tuk-tuk guy requested me to spend some time at a Gem shop. As he openly told me the truth that it would be of great help to him if I just spend 20 mins and I need not buy anything at all there. So I satisfied his request and for the first time in my life, had a simple experience at the Gem store as well who were trying to sell me a .37 ct high quality Pushparaham stone for Rs 2000 INR (no typo).

Exchange
When I landed at the Colombo airport from Chennai, I exchanged a small dollar amount only as I wasnt sure of using all the dollars given to me by the company in 2 weeks. I did it at the commercial bank kiosk at the airport, it was done in less than 2 mins. They gave me after checking my passport. And before the Kandy trip, I wanted some more LKR, so I went to the Sampath Bank that is nearby my Hotel and asked for exchange. They were first confused whether i was asking for INR looking at my passport, later agreed to do it. And it took me another 30 - 40 mins after all their paper work to get the small dollar converted to LKR, the exchange rate was same in both the banks. People in the Sampath bank were all almost young and were dressed really well, but the way they worked reminded me of Indian govt banks. I spent so much in the trip that I wanted some more LKR, this time I went to a nearby private exchange, he did it in less than a minute with an exchange rate of LKR 3 more than the banks. He did not even ask my passport, may be because it was a small amount.

In General, Colombo is a great place to visit. Great weather, lots of options to travel around the state and all at short distances. Air ticket cost is very less from India, they got On Arrival Visa for Indians. And it is just less than 1.5 hrs by flight. The city is comparatively cleaner than our Chennai. People mostly follow traffic rules and with significantly more traffic police at effective work. It seems the cars have 300% tax at Srilanka but I still could see lots of cars, even the premium ones. Because of the recent negative incidents, tourism had come to a stand still almost and everyone related is highly impacted with little or no business. You should visit and be informed of all the silly scams that could cost you dear, make sure to google enough before making any move.

Tuesday, March 19, 2019

இல்லறம்

இல்லறம் ஏன் என்றேன்
அன்றி ஓர் நல்லறம்
அறிந்திலன் எவனும்
உனை வழி செய்ய
உணர்ந்தவன் யான் இன்று!

திருவிளையாடல்

நீயோ உதைக்கிறாய்
கொண்டவளோ சிலிர்க்கிறாள்!

திருவிளையாடல்!

லீலை

கொண்டவளோ சிலிர்க்க
கொடுத்தவனோ கரைய!

லீலை

பசி

எத்தனை புலன்கள்
எல்லாம் அடங்கின

பசி

மலர்க்கொடி

என்னுள் படர்ந்த மலர்க்கொடி நீ
அதன் வாசத்தில் நீந்தும் ஜீவன் நான்

மாயம்

அன்றொருவன் வகுத்திட்டான்
உறவென்றும் நட்பென்றும்
அவன் கணக்கோ உனை விரிக்க
உன் எல்லை நீயல்ல
உள் நோக்கின் எல்லாம் விரியும்
மூடனவன் தன் தசையோடு தனை முடிப்பான்
உறவும் நட்பும் தன் விருந்துக் கணக்கென்பான்

மாயம்

அரசியல்

அறியாதவனாய் நீ நடிக்க
அறிந்தவனாய் அவனும் நடிக்க
எல்லாம் காற்றடைத்த பொய்யடா
குற்றமில்லை குறையுமில்லை
பிறப்பெல்லாம் நடிக்கத்தானே

அரசியல்

குறள்

விழுங்கி விழுங்கியே வாழ்வான் விழுங்கியே
அழிக்கப் படுபவன் அவன்

திருவள்ளுவர் மற்றும் பலர் மன்னிக்க

நகைச்சுவை

உறக்கம் விடுத்து
உணவை குறைத்து
உடலை ஒழித்து
மெருகேற்றினான் தன்னை
போட்டிக்கு, மன்னிக்கவும்
கல்விக்கு

நகைச்சுவை

ஆவலுடன்

மாயை ஒரு கிணறு
நீ மூழ்கி விட்டாய்
நீந்துவதாய் ஒரு மாயை
வெளிவர ஆவலா?
உணர்ந்திடு போதும்

=ஆவலுடன்

Monday, February 25, 2019

Factors to consider while buying an Air Conditioner

Factors to consider while buying an Air Conditioner:

Disclaimer: Note that have only discussed about factors that I have understood or experienced. Please validate them yourself before making your call.
1. Size:
First is to fix the size of the AC that we need, whether it should be 1 Ton or 1.5 Ton?
Any room of size less than or equal to 120 sqft (eg: 10x12 or 10x11), 1 Ton is sufficient. Lesser the size, lesser the electricity cost.
2. Power Consumption:
This is the most critical factor in deciding a model. Lesser the consumption , lesser the electricity charges. This rating is mentioned in watts. And the cooling capacity is also mentioned in watts which is not the same. Ratio between the cooling capacity and power consumption gives the EER (Energy Efficiency Ratio)

For Eg, lets say one specific 1 Ton model consumes 1200 Watts of power for max load, lets call it A and another model B of same 1 Ton size, consumes 1000 watts at max load. The difference is 200 watts. Please note that 1000 watts used for an hour is 1 UNIT. And lets say, the max load usage per day (it sure varies for everyone) is for 5 hrs then it means model A consumes 6 UNITs of electricity per day while B consumes 5 units of electricity per day. That is 30 units of difference per month and 360 units per year. So, please choose B if the purchase cost difference is justified.

Many models these days advertise and try to attract customers based on the number of units consumed/saved per year, which I believe is misleading as every customer's usage is always different and this number is not applicable but only the actual power consumption units in watts matters.
In general, a 1 Ton model with good energy star rating should have power input rating of around 1000 watts or less for max load. And it is 1500 watts or less for 1.5 Ton. Those models which have lesser consumption of power with high cooling capacity (EER > 3.6) will obviously be costlier. Most cheap models will have high electricity consumption. So, please strike a balance of purchase cost vs electricity consumption cost.
3. Inverter / Non-Inverter :
The claim is that the inverter models have around 15% energy savings comparatively. Though i cannot validate this, logically speaking, inverter models do not operate at the peak load all the time the compressor is switched ON, hence it is possible that we do receive some energy savings there.
4. Refrigerant:
If you are environmentally conscious person, please choose the models with latest Refrigerants that have the least impact on the ozone layer or the global warming 
check this site for info regarding the same:
https://www.bijlibachao.com/air-conditioners/comparison-of-various-refrigerants-r-410a-r-22-r-290-r-134a-used-for-air-conditioners-and-refrigerators.html
5. Bonus features:
Many models provide anti bacterial, anti dust, Mosquito repellent etc. , features to attract customers. Am personally sure this mosquito repellent doesnt work with the model am using, and am not really sure about the efficiency of the other features.
6. Customer Service:
These days, for home appliances, the customer service is more or less the same with all brands. Unlike Amazon, cant single out a specific brand for great customer service.
7. Don't forget the copper coil.