Ko-Lanka: a find in Sri Lanka!

I am still in the midst of shopping in Colombo in Sri Lanka, mostly for boring household items like serving spoons, dal (lentils), towels, etc. However, I made a trip to Barefoot earlier today - a popular shop-cafe-and-art-gallery, mostly frequented by well-heeled locals, expats and tourists. 

While we were staying in Sri Lanka, the husband and I used to pop over to Barefoot every now and then (especially for the Sunday wine brunches with live music). I would "ooh" and "aah" over all the beautiful, colourful, tasteful items in the store and wish I had an apartment to put them in. (However, many of the items are MOST certainly overpriced although this does not matter that much if you're spending in dollars or euros.)

This time when I went, I entered the Barefoot store from the front door (I usually come in through the cafe), and discovered an adjoining shop called Ko-Lanka. I spotted some beautiful dinner napkins in the shop window and walked in to find a veritable treasure trove of gorgeous handicraft items - cushion covers, mats, dinner napkins, toys, clothes.... Lovely, elegant things - most of them very similar to Barefoot merchandise and quite a bit cheaper!  I went back and forth between the two shops a bit and here's what I found:

• A single dinner napkin in Barefoot is LKR 450. A set of 6 dinner napkins in Ko-Lanka is LKR 550. (Yes, the Barefoot napkin has slight scalloping on the edges but NOT enough to warrant this price difference.)
• The SAME toy in Barefoot and Ko-Lanka has a price difference of LKR 200!
• The kurtas (long shirts/tops for men and women) are far more beautiful in Ko-Lanka. Much better fabrics and fits, especially if you're not a fan of the new-age, shapeless shifts favoured by the Barefoot designers. And Ko-Lanka has (surprise, surprise) better pricing.

In the end, I bought almost everything I wanted from Ko-Lanka -- 3 lovely kurtas, a bunch of handloom toys for my nephews and nieces, dinner napkins, a floor mat, and a few other items.

The only things I picked up from Barefoot were a pair of adorable baby booties for a newborn niece and the lovely candle-stand (see in picture above) that simply called out to me and would not be denied (LKR 600).

All in all, Ko-Lanka is going to be my first go-to shop next time I want items of this sort. Will head to Barefoot only for items I don't find next-door, and maybe for a quick bite in the lovely, breezy, green cafe. (I recommend the beef sandwiches and tuna salad, especially.)

shopping in sri lanka

Hello Sri Lanka!

Reached Colombo city today... I'm going to be here for the next 4 days, shopping for my new home in a small coastal town in the Indian Ocean! Why am I shopping in Colombo? Because the town I've just moved to has EXORBITANTLY high prices for most grocery items when compared with the rest of the South Asia region.

I plan to buy a few kitchen essentials (a deep frying pan/stockpot, serving spoons, melamine bowls to serve meals in), dry grocery items (lentils, rice, pasta), bathroom & linen items (towels, razor blades, cushion covers) and decorative items (a few things from the lovely boutique home decor shops in Colombo).

It's lovely to be in Sri Lanka again: it's such a warm, gorgeous, healing place. Amazing food, amazing people -- sounds like an island cliche, but it's SO true!

Here's wishing me some productive shopping, catching up with old friends, and eating deelish food like the droolworthy prawns at Gallery Cafe below! *slurp*

the breakfast club corner

Mostly finished unpacking today: just the paintings, larger decorative items and my bags and shoes are still lying in cartons.

Take a quick look at what I'm now calling "the breakfast club corner": cereal, coffee and different kinds of tea! 

I decided to put all this stuff together on a small open shelf -- we use these items every morning and I reach for one of the teas at least 2-3 times a day! This was it's accessible and also looks very attractive. Adds a pop of colour to the kitchen :)

moving day!

We've finally moved into the new place! Today morning saw us getting here bright and early with the packers. By noon, all the worldly possessions we had brought with us were lying in the kitchen. The day was spent unpacking and organising about half the boxes. 

Most of the clothes and kitchen items were at the top of our priority list, followed by books, DVDs and some decorative items to make the place look homey. Although we've had to leave most of our books and movies in storage in Delhi, we have some perennial favourites and a few new titles with us.

Check out the bookshelf -- it's my own interpretation of the gorgeous shelf unit I wrote about in a recent post. The shelf unit was already there. Everything else is ours, including some souvenirs picked up during our travels and a few cherished gift items from family and friends.

frying pan in the bag!

I found and bought the most gorgeous non-stick frying pan -- I think this one's going to keep me satisfied in the kitchen! It's the "Issencia" model from the Tefal range.

Features I love:

• It's BEAUTIFULLY non-stick -- things just roll off it!
• It's got a Thermo-Spot (patented Tefal technology), which indicates the perfect cooking temperature at which you can add the ingredients and turn the heat down. This is great since non-stick coating is supposed to become toxic at too-high temperatures.
• It's got optimal heat distribution -- things cook at the same rate in each part of the pan.
• It's HUGE. I bought the 28-inch model and was able to make a generous helping of sauteed chicken and kangkung comfortably.
• Best of all, it was on sale! :)