A Relaxed Mind,
A Peaceful Soul,
A Joyful Spirit,
A Healthy Body &
Heart full of Love..
All these are my wishes for you.

Wish you all very Happy New Year.

I Hope everybody had a fantastic 2006, and looking ahead for an even better 2007!

2006 was a pretty interesting year for me personally with a lot of ups and downs. But all in all, it ended up being a pretty good with me ending up having a much brighter outlook on life. Also in 2006, I’ve been able to make some lifestyle changes like becoming a vegetarian (with the exception of milk and egg) and got into the habit of going for a jog and a quick dip in the swimming pool in the mornings before work. These were things that I was able to do using the “powerful personal growth tool, the 30-day trial”.

During the long weekend of Washington's Birthday, February 22, we were able to visit the Niagara falls. Kumudu from Canada and Chinthaka from Bowling Green Ohio (He's in some kind of control group according to Kumudu) both drove there while Madura and I caught a Greyhound. It took us about 11 hours to get to the Falls. Although the bus ride itself was not that bad, after 11 hours we'd had enough of that!

There was a big snowstorm when we got off the bus but lucky the hotel we booked was just a few meters away. Although the hotel was nothing fancy it was located very close to the Falls, and in winter that really helps!

The picture below this is Nagara falls at night with the extra lighting to make it more exciting see. The colors change every few minutes so you wont get bored of it. It actually looked much nicer than what I was able to capture in my Canon S1 IS. A tripod would have helped, but maybe I had the settings messed up?

Here are the nut cases who decided to meet up at the falls during wintertime.

Chinthaka and, Kumudu are the guys in front and Madura, me in the back. Somehow I think someone else is missing from this group photo.. hmm.. maybe the cold got to my head and I was imagining things.

We also went to a Casino called Seneca. It was the first time I've ever been to one. I think it was actually the first time for everyone. We all ended up loosing $5 each. Chinthaka was on a roll one time but then he too joined the rest of us in the end. No beginners luck there!

Its been a while since I wrote anything here. I've been kinda busy. Anyway, the latest news is I'm in Boston on some office work. Its been good so far and still not that cold.

I've Spent afternoons and nights walking around Boston city. I even got to visit the MIT (Not to be confused with the the fake MIT that my friend Pala used to work for!) and Harvard. Wow, now those are real universities, truly impressive. Thanks to Damnath for taking me around and showing me these. I didnt have a camera at the time, so no pics. But I did take a few pics from my Sony ericson k750i  (A very cool phone might I add). I forgot to bring the data cable, so I don't think I can get them out of the phone yet. Yea, excuses.. excuses..

Since I didnt have a camera, I finally a Canon PowerShot S1 IS. It becomes my first digital camera purchase. Maybe later on I should get a Digital SLR.

My friend Chinthaka and his wife Udeshi came to visit me from Bowling Green, Ohiyo. Chinthaka is one of my friends from School + Uni. We planned to visit New York for the weekend. We almost did! But his 92 Mazda Protege didn't want to take us all the way, its rear suspension gave away. The spring broke in two, and the strut mount was reduced to a thin piece of metal. We didn't know all that when we were doing about 120 on the highway, but we had to stop and take an exit off the highway when the sounds were getting really bad and wiered.

We ended up in New Rochelle about 1/2 hour away from New York. However, on the bright side, we met some Sri Lankans in there they let us stay with them, gave food and drink, got the car fixed!

The other way I killed time is by watching movies. Some good, some bad. some made it a real waste of time. So far I've watched
1  Memento
2  Lost in Translation
3  The Wedding Singer
4  Spanglish
5  The Wedding Date
6  Closer
7  Something's Gotta Give
8  The Ring
9  The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen
10 Secretary
11 Million Dollar Baby
12 The Incredibles

I also did some cooking! Its amazing what you can do if you really want to! Actually some dishes were quite nice. But most of the time felt bored and missed the guys back home!

Just adding this entry as a note for me to remember. Will try to post some pics from the wedding if I manage to get my hands on them.

After the silence I thought of starting my blog again.

The last two weeks have been the most difficult two weeks of my life. I must thank all my family and friends who have been there for us during this time.

In a way it was sort of like having a head-on collision with reality and to find out what life is all about. Even the Tsunami didn’t hit that hard.

My little bro Sanjeewa started classes again; he’s having another go at his AL’s this year – although he had very good grades last time round, the competition for the entry to a local university has  become crazy! Thaaththa is also looking much better now.

As for me, I started working yesterday, shifting to the infrastructure group.

Today at 1:30pm my mother was discharged from hospital. Her condition had been stable enough to satisfy the doctors and also she didn't want to wait in hospital a day more than she needed to be.

She was transferred to a normal ward from the Cardiology intensive care unit of the  last night. Although he intensive care unit is probably the best in Sri Lanka, the normal wards don’t seem to be up to the mark considering the environment and facilities (however, the doctors seem to be very good).

Yesterday was a really really bad day. My mother had a heart attack. Doctors said it was a pretty bad one.

Thankfully yesterday was a holiday, she was at home with my father at the time. My father being a heart patient too had immediately taken my mother to hospital ( along with two of my loku-amma’s). She had been immediately taken into the Emergency Treatment Unit of the OPD of the General Hospital.

I was at work all that time until my father called and told me. I went there with Madura, as I was in not in a good state to drive there. Madura was there with us helping in every way as usual. Thusitha also came rushing when he heard the news.

Later in the afternoon, she was taken to the CCU and is under intensive care. By today things have stabilised and Doctors say she is recovering very well. However she might have to stay a couple of days more in intensive care.

Thanks to all my friends and family for their support.

We had a surprise birthday party for Chris today! 

The party was organised by Chris’ fiancé Mahela and her best friend Yahali (I’m really not sure how her name is spelt though). They both teamed up very well to get the party organised and most of all successfully kept Chris in the dark about it, and that is a tough task! 

Chris was really surprised! however she did claim that she suspected that something was up with everyone…

The ladies at the party….

 

My g1rlfriend and my mates from reddottours….

 

Munching away….

 

Making a wish…..

 

 

 

Last Friday Madura arrived back in Sri Lanka, he was in Boston to implement our 2–tier architecture. Already things are already being planned for us to go 3–tier now. 

Madura has slightly put on some weight and looks his age now. Maybe thats b’cos of the late hours he had to put in during the last few weeks of his stay.