Romancing the Stone

Yes, that Michael Douglas movie. The one which involves a lot of walking around Colombia. And my post today is about a lot of walking around in Colombo. See what I did there? Yeah Raisa, I didn't expect you to get the joke. *ka-ching* ;P

Aaaaanyway, this morning I got a haircut and walked all the way from Pannipitiya to home because I was too cheap to take the bus it reminded me of all the long walks I had taken. Good times.

And since I've run out of things to blog about I wanted to share all of them with you, here they are, the top 8 walks through the city I've taken. Nowhere as epic as Himal's, I'm sure, but yeah.

#8

The walk that started it all. Earlier in the day I had taken the bus ride that had started it all. What's "it all"? Why, my rastiyadufying of course. :D

I had gone to watch the Royal Thomian regatta of 2009. And after it finished, I was hungry. Walked all the way to Burgers' King to grab a bite. Got stopped by an Air Force serviceman and got my ID checked and was told to walk on the other side of the road. Oops.

Distance: ~ 915 meters
Epicness: 5/5 (coz it was all new to me)


#7

This one is here because I'm a Fort noob. There was another walk through Manning Market (Pettah) that I once took, but the landmarks on this one looked better. Got told off by the Presidential Security Division because I was going through a high security zone. There's this cool old police mess or something behind the World Trade Centre that they're renovating, and my walk took me right through that area. :D

Distance: ~ 975 meters
Epicness: 3/5


#6

We had a Reach Out presentation at St. Peter's College, at some ungodly hour in the morning. Got down from a 138 at Redimola Junction and took the small gravel road near the canal. Apparently the canal usually stinks, but the night before it had rained very hard and it didn't stink at all. I even thought it might be a good place for a picnic. Erm.

Distance: ~ 1.2 km
Epicness: 3/5


#5

This one happened last Sunday. :D I finished my exams a bit early, and visited a friend who lives close to uni. Afterwards, I was on the way back, and just when I was about to turn towards Indra traders (to take the backlane and get to Public Library to catch a bus), I saw a lecturer from uni. Not just ANY lecturer. A lecture who should be avoided at all costs. Did a quick 90 degree turn and was off to Slave Island. Indecision causes death.

This route is quite a frequent one I take. One night, some months back, after watching a movie with the gang at the aforementioned friend's place, I was walking towards Slave Island when a Maruti driven by a lady was almost rammed into by a police jeep. O_O The policemen shouted at her in filth, dragged her off to the back of the jeep and were off. Another policemen drove away in the car. Later I saw them checking a bunch of files in the car near the Slave Island traffic lights. Scary shit.

Distance: ~ 2.0 km
Epicness: It wasn't epic, it was just creepy


#4

This. Was. A. Fail. Makuluwo wanted us to come for cupcakes at Galle Face, and my mom wanted me to pick up a birthday card for my cousin. So I get down at Town Hall, go around looking for birthday cards and find that all the shops are closed. On a Sunday. Of course as a matter of principle I don't shop at ODEL (I prefer soaking up their A/C and looking at books with faux-interest), and so I ended up walking the entire length of Union Place looking for a place that was open. Found none, ended up walking to Galle Face. At least the cupcakes were good. :)

Distance: ~ 2.5 km
Epicness: 2/5


#3

This happened after exams. Meshak, Ino and I went to Pilawoos, but it was closed for prayers. So we loitered around Marine Drive, came back to Pilawoos, had some lunch, loitered around Bamba a bit more and finally went to Galle Face. I think there was something wrong with the food and Meshak threw up on the way home. :D Good times though.

Distance: ~ 2.6 km (sans walking around in Galle Face, but we took the bus)
Epicness: 4/5


#2

This. This was epic. Bo, Tulie and I were supposed to write a script for a forum theatre. Tulie couldn't make it, so Bo and I were eating ice creams at McDonalds and trying to figure out something to write, but to no avail. So knowing this wasn't going to work, we went down Nimalka Gardens, hoping to get to Marine Drive, but we found an old beggar in a vacant lot instead. Basically ran back to Galle Road, took the next lane, loitered around Marine Drive for hours watching the ships and talking about suicide (haha) and walked all the way to Royal Skills Centre, where there was a BB/RO meeting. The whole thing involved a lot of walking but it was fun. :D

Distance: ~ 2.4 km
Epicness: 4/5


#1

I rate this as probably the most fun outing ever. Makuluwo, Middle Child, Himal and I went to, wait for it, A POETRY JAM. It wasn't as bad as it sounds, I guess. So anyway, afterwards, we walked all the way from Green Path (where the poetry thing was) to Galle Face and flew 2 kites. The one I flew failed though. I blame Himal for this. He's bad at putting together those Chinese kites.

Distance: ~ 2.9 km
Epicness: 6/5

I was going through pics from that day, and I found this and couldn't resist sharing. :D Good times, yo.

Hamster-fu :D