Line of Buddhist Lions

...at Independence square, near the Buddhist monument and the, er, big statue. In the background you can see the clock tower which is part of the old asylum building which once housed 400 people with mental health issues. It's been redeveloped sensitively into shops and restaurants.

Una's son Emmanuel was my guide, as Una was at work. We explored the square and spent a long time inside a tea shop Where I bought wooden boxes of flavoured tea. Then we went to a fancy tea shop where I drank rose petal and french vanilla tea, and very nearly went to heaven! We also had waffles: mine had coconut, black treacle and cardamon topping. Back to the house, where Emmanuel took me to a local restaurant where Sri Lankan people eat, and we got a takeaway lunch. Five stars. Not just mango chutney but half a mango served with my chicken, rice and dhal. Take that, Mr Sainsbury!

After a rest, we took the two little dogs for a walk at a place called River's Edge. I am still getting used to the heat, so being beside water was refreshing in a still-sticky way. The good thing about being in a humid climate is that for reasons that I don't understand, you don't need to moisturise. Why didn't I know that when I was 20?

Shortly after that we met up with Una at an upmarket hotel (not my usual hangout). She arrived with a car and driver from work, and I was impressed to see that she has a flagpole on the bonnet of her car, so that the flag of the UN can be flown when she is on official business. She works for UNICEF, but I didn't realise she had flag flying privileges.In England, when people fly flags on their cars it's usually because there's football tournament going on that England hasn't been knocked out of yet!

We'd gone to the hotel for a treat to drink sundowners and feel sand beneath our feet, and watch the breaking waves of the Indian ocean. As the sun began to sink, I heard the distant strains of bagpipes being played. At first I thought it might be a Sri Lankan type of reeded instrument. But no, no, down the steps came a procession of men including a dimintive Sri Lankan piper dressed in a Royal Stewart kilt. They proceeded towards the SL flag, which they lowered with great ceremony just as the sun set. Then they turned about smartly and went back up the steps, holding the flag beautifully folded, and still playing the pipes with considerably less skill than squeak.
Oh Scotland, where are your Ceylanese tea estates and pipe bands now now? I wondered aloud if the ceremony was just for the tourists. I couldn't help thinking that they can't have too many Scottish tourists, or the pipes would have had to be tuned up, at the very least.

The hotel garden and the beach were impressive, but any travel brochure can show you a photo of a beach and a blue sky and a cocktail, so I've stuck with theovercast sky and line of Buddhist Lions, because the latter are altogether more unusual. Barrie the ballet dancer joined us: he'd brought some garments for Una that his tailor had altered, but they were no good. We went back to the house and Una tried on the rest of the stuff I'd brought her. Then we had more curry and Barrie and I talked about Pilates mats AND my mother's wedding, while Una went to bed because she's getting a ghastly cold. I hope it is only the 48-hour 'Colombo flu' as Christmas is coming, and she still has office work to do.

Meanwhile, I lie on the bed in the air conditioned room, painting my toenails and pretending to be Joan Collins, thinking I must talk to Barrie about singing carols. Oh yes! and I'll go back to the tea shop so I can get another coloured-sand tea timer for the children in my nursery who have special needs, who literally like to watch the sands of time running out.