German couple weds in true Sri Lankan style

Says Lanka is the most beautiful country in the world:

WEDDING: German nationals Robert Popovic and his charming bride Sibylle Haak selected Sri Lanka to enter

 into the bonds of matrimony.

"I have travelled around the world, but I must tell you that Sri Lanka is the most

 beautiful country I have visited and that is the reason that Sibylle and I decided to get married in this pearl of the Indian Ocean in a truly Sri Lankan style wedding with the traditional "Poruwa" ceremony and drum beats," Robert said.

The German couple selected the Ayurveda Walauwa, Sri Lanka's pioneer Ayurveda Tourist Hotel at Bentota for their glittering wedding ceremony, which took place on Thursday (Feb. 15).

Robert and Sibylle were conducted to the wedding ceremony from the Galle Road to the Ayurveda Walauwa in a most colourful ceremony on the back of a gaily decorated elephant.

Thereafter Robert and Sibylle enjoyed every minute of the Poruwa ceremony. The invitees, all in-house guests, were conducted to the venue in a typical Sri Lankan style amidst Bera-pada (drum beats).

The entire ceremony was organised by Sunil Seneviratne, Managing Director, Ayurveda Walauwa, his Swiss wife, Dr. Mrs. Rita Albiez and Manager Ayurveda WalauwaRohan de Silva.

At the end of the ceremony all invitees were treated to kiribath (milk rice) and other traditional sweets.

Commons shakes things up this February

The Commons Coffeehouse now presents some divine temptations that will only leave you wanting more.

Sip on some delightful milkshakes and frappes and sink your teeth into some of their yummy desserts in their latest creations to soothe your sweet tooth.

You'll find a cool concoction to satisfy your cravings with a wide variety of milkshakes.

With established favourites like banana, chocolate and strawberry and funky new flavours like chocolate peanut butter, buttercookie and grape, you'll enjoy a smooth, creamy treat that's absolute heaven.

If you feel like something fruity, you can try some of the frappes. Watermelon, peach and strawberry are just some of the flavours to choose from. Enjoy a blend of fruit, milk that's made fresh to order, and just the way you like it.

No meal is complete without dessert, and the Commons chefs have put together a diverse and delightful selection for your pleasure.

Dig in to a Mississippi Mud Pie, Chocolate Fruit Tar, Teramisu, Blueberry Cheescake, Lemon Freeze, Bread Butter Pudding with cinnamon sauce, Blueberry Trifle or Kahlua Meringue. We'll have four surprise items on the daily menu.

Go ahead, spoil yourself a little. Drop by Commons from February 13 - 28 to sugar-coat your day.

New tourism products from Bernard tours

Managing Director of Bernard Tours and Travels Anjalo Mendis is placing a new emphasis on a new concept in

tourism. To realise his concept Mendis has invited D.B. "Warner" Warnasiri, the veteran filmmaker and foreign film coordinator.

According to this duo, throughout the ages, Sri Lanka, be it called Taprobane, Serendip or Ceylon, attracted the tourist and traveller by its friendly ecological and cultural affinities.

This new trend of providing "experience" compels us to think anew of our strategies in persuading the tourist to keep coming!

Indeed, there are certain pockets that the quietude of nature's bounty is enhanced by the socio-cultural affinities exclusive to the area. We have planned to exploit these "Pockets" to attract special groups of tourists:

Village as a small agricultural republic

Traditional rural culture of Sri Lanka is based on the water resource (Veva or Man-made reservoir and the Dagaba or the Buddhist shrine) and the cultivated fields fed by the waters of the man made reservoir.

This concept is still live and vibrant in certain "un-spoilt villages in the "Old Kingdom" in the North Central Province and also in the wet zone in the verdant hill country especially towards Balangoda - Haldummulla areas.

Traditional Agri-bases

The scenic beauty of a traditional terraced paddy field "accommodated along the contours of a hilly slope" is certainly a balm to tired eyes.

These farmer communities have a different lifestyle and cultural patterns than of their cousins in the North Central Plains.

North Central Plains

The vast paddy fields of the North Central Plains harbour certain pockets of villages still "unspoilt" by modernity. This "Vevai-Dagabai" concept is surrounded by our ancient cities.

Therefore promoting special tours in the paddy field-rich villages to explore the socio-cultural lives of the people provides a great opportunity to foreign tourists who are interested in our traditional agriculture-based life patterns.

In addition, the surrounding ancient city base would provide the tourist another dimension of the Sri Lankan tour.

We could even arrange a "day-in-the-life of chena cultivating family" - even arranging for those who are adventurous to spend the night on a treetop house, chasing away the wild elephants and other beasts.

Wet-Zone Slopes

The terraced paddy field surrounded villages in the hills have a different pulse and a rhythm to their daily life - as practiced over millennia.

The hill-bases I am suggesting are adjacent to the rain forest cover in the hills - some are within the Sinharaja virgin forest region.

Tea Trails and Water Falls

The tea-carpeted hills, the industry associated with tea, and the socio-economic patterns are yet to be fully exploited to fascinate the tourist.

I suggest that we package it along with a special tour of the complete gamut of waterfalls and cascades that are a vibrant (ecological aspects inclusive) part of the region.

With special relationship developed with tea plantations companies, we could offer specialist tours of the organic tea plantations and the environmentally exhilarating waterfalls and cascades surrounding these sites.

In fact, we could be opening up new vistas for tourism. Hitherto these were just sites that we by pass on our way to Nuwara Eliya or Bandarawela or Badulla.

We could organise our groups to stay in the Tradition-infused Colonialist Tea Planter-built Bungalows where the Cooks and Servers still provide a grand Feast for you.

Pre-Neanderthal (Balangoda Manavaya) Sites

While here in the Southern Hills of the Central Massif of Sri Lanka, we could have a special package for visiting sites that pre-dates the Neanderthal Man sites of Germany.

The Balangoda Manavaya is a scientifically accepted site. This tour can be combined with a White-water boating trip up-river to visit the Caves! Yes! Thrills and spills if one so wish.

Mendis says that these new products are being offered as packages by Bernard Tours and Travels (Pvt) Ltd.

Visit www.bernardtours.com for further details.

Execellent options for dinner at the Galadari

The Galadari Hotel Coffee Shop sets off February with an excellent choice for dinner with special "theme nights' beginning February 2007 from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. The new "Theme Nights" offers a variety of dishes from various parts of the world.

Seafood - Monday

Fruits of the sea, varieties of fresh fish marinated and cooked in many styles in the presence of the guest. The buffet has a wide selected of soups, starters, hot foods and an array of sweets.

Kebab N Fries - Tuesday

A wide choice of meat, seafood, marinated in various preparations and cooked in minutes "While you wait", along with a choice of Salads, cooked food and a sweet buffet to thrill your taste buds.

European - Wednesday

Food prepared traditionally according to the European style, consisting food from France, Germany, Italy, Greece etc., authentic recipes favoured to suit your palate.

Seafood - Thursday

Fruits of the sea, varieties of fresh fish marinated and cooked in many styles in the presence of the guest. The buffet has a wide selected of soups, starters, hot foods and an array of sweets.

Far Eastern - Friday

Food freshly cooked to the likes of the orient, authentically Japanese, Chinese, Malaysian, Thai and Korean etc. Prepared according to traditional methods using ingredients of origin.

Roast and Grill - Saturday

Tantalizing array of Soups, Salads and Cold foods with a vast selection of marinated raw meats and seafood to be grilled along with a whole roast for carvery. A scrumptious dinner and dessert buffet for your liking.

Cook N Eat - Sunday

Mongolian style of cooking, where the guest could choose a variety of fresh raw meats and vegetables to be cooked in the presence of you, with a choice of sauces, salads and cooked meat. A fabulous dessert buffet included.

Also celebrate Chinese New Year at the Galadari Hotel's Coffee Shop. The Chinese New Year Dinner Buffet will be held on 18th and 19th February and should not be missed for its vast choice of dishes and valued pricing.

The Dinner menu comprises Fresh Salads, Mixed Salads such as Apple, Nut and Celery Coleslaw Salad, Thai Style Beef Salad, Bean Curd with Century Eggs, Fish in Black Bean Sauce, Chicken Pineapple and Olive salad. Cold meats such as Chinese Hors D. Oeuvre - Drunken Chicken/Five Spiced Beef/Salted Chicken Gizzard.

The Soup for the Day would be Braised Shark Fin with Crab Meat. Wide variety of Main Dishes - Peaking Style Slow Roasted Duck with classical Trimmings, Shanghai Fried Prawns and Cuttlefish Hot Butter Style, Lamb with Onion and Szhezuan Pepper, Mapo Tofu (Minced Beef and Bean Curd) Chicken Young Pai Style, Singapore Style Chilli Crab, steamed Garoupa, Bok Choy with assorted Mushroom, Egg Plant in Sichuan Sauce and Broccoli with Shrimps, Yeung Chow Fried Rice and Stir Fried Vegetables in Chow Mien Nest.

Flavoured coffee week at margarita blue

Enjoy the rich flavours of Chocolate, Irish Coffee Liqueurs, Cafe Royal, Keoke Coffee and Ambush Coffee complimented with Liqueur Chocolates during our Flavoured Coffee Promotion which will be held at Margarita Blue Pub from 22nd to 28th February. Flavoured Coffees will be available from 3 p.m. to midnight.

North Indian delights at Tandoor

Enjoy a range of delicious and mouth watering Indian delicacies at the authentic North Indian Restaurant - Tandoor at the Ceylon Continental Hotel Colombo.

Guests could savor some of the popular Indian dishes which will be made by our Indian Chefs Rakesh Singh and Ratan Singh a the Tandoor Restaurant.

Some of the appetizers are Chcken Sukha fry - Tender muscles of chicken marinated with fresh spices from India, Jhinga Ajwan Wala - Cumin flavoured deep fried prawns and Mutton or vegetable samosas.

Also you could enjoy a variety of salads like Cucumber salad, Tandoor chicken salad, Our Chef's special mixed salad and onion salads.

You can try out our main Balti dishes - Balti Continental - Boneless Mutton, Balti Chicken, Balti Paneer and Balti Prawns at the Tandoor Restaurant which is open daily for launch and dinner from 12 noon to Midnight.

Special Continental Biriyani, Mutton and Chicken Biriyani with variety of Indian Breads, Popular Butter Chicken dish, Palak Mutton and vegetable specialties will be on offer for the Indian food lovers.

The dinner buffet is on every Friday at the Tandoor Restaurant with a wide range of North Indian dishes.

Business lunch is available Monday to Friday from 12 noon to 2.30 p.m. Also Vegetarian Thali, Non vegetarian Thali and special Tandoor Thali will be on offer.

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