87 days

"I was backpacking around Sri Lanka for three months"
"What, three months in this small country, what did you do all the time?!"
"THREE MONTHS WERE FREAKING TOO SHORT!!!"


7 516 800 seconds
125 280 minutes
2088 hours
87 days                     filled up with:

Cheese Crackers and Brownies, Sinhala lessons, haha game and cocknoises, Global Towers rooftop talks, fulfilling predestinations at MC food court, a physical therapist's examination of my knee on the floor of a bar, a handful of beautiful seashells, an unexpected back massage while waiting for the band to continue playing, black frocks and make-up sessions on the toilet, stoned short message service, fake elephant noises in the National Park, SHABBA, Mr. Frog and Mr. Foamy,  dreadlocksessions including motivating stories about how awful life with dreadlocks will be, "Ausgerechnet ich bin im Garten Eden!", Bananastreuselbaking, face paint, seashells and soil-and-cowdung-clay, hitch-hiking for the sake of hitch-hiking, skinny-dipping and disco-ing in pyjama-like clothes, afternoon naps in someone else's bed with a cosy travel blanket, far away from the AC, another useful travel blanket on the trainride in the mountains, diving down 5m just like that to pick a starfish for me, jokes in the hospital because "Seriously, I don't know how to be serious", jamsessions in Lavazza Coffee Shops with quickly tinkered picks made out of plastic cups, temples and beertowers and more temples, meditation (trying to), movie watching, two strangers and a guitar singing together on the beach after knowing each other for a few minutes only, day-long pyjama parties, more movie watching, making the most ridiculous music videos, discussing the colours of our souls, discussing the colours of our wings, if we had wings, stargazing at Main Point, Sri Lanka in the mirror floating on my palm, Henna tattoos on my back, screwed up henna on my hands, sharing a mattress of palm leaves on the beach, countless cups of tea and Milo and MUNCHEE BISCUITS!

BIIG THANK YOU to

Gayathri! Aruna! Appachchi and Buddhika! Tharuka and her family, Sandeni, Pavithra.
Arqi, Farha, Mumz, Sean, Buddhi, Madhura.
Susani, Tutu, Chammika, Pulasthi, Ameena.
Singhy! Dhammi and Micha. Thilini and her family. Yvette.
Shaggy, Mischa and Klara. Lukas. Surfing Siyam, Coline and Chris. Jehan. Ariel. Fred, Leila, Jen and everyone from Siam View. The YMCA family: Jessica. Skuli. Bar. Jam. Sarah. Franzi and Jonny. Nico and Felix. Annie and Fiona! Ricky. Guitar-Jonny.
Sandra and Christian and Mr. M. Gathatharan and his family.
Ryan, Aischa, Monisha and all the people from Leo Burnett and RCCMC! Jessica and Liza and Jessica's family. Sachi, Klara, Maria Paz, Sebi, Patrick and Suki.
Woo Soh Lian and Venerable Balangoda Sumangala Thero.

And so many more along the way who provided me with food, lodging, advice or just pushed me on the right bus. And everyone who borrowed me a guitar. And everyone I forgot... despicable me!

Australia, here I come!

pyjama parties with Guy-a-3

Where is the sun in my universe?
Stargazing I ask myself.
Where is that flame my stars reflect
That should be in darkness my guide?

You are the sun in your universe.
Dear, don't look around.
The centre of your starry thoughts
Can only inside be found.

I am the sun in my universe
As long as I feel myself shine.
There'll be no dream undreamed or wound unhealed
And all the fortune is mine.

Happily inspired :D

 Tharuka you puppy :*

 one more time....!

Kandy Esala Perahera

Sorry this post is SO LATE!

On 20th of August it was full moon, Poya Day, of the month Esala, what means: The pinnacle of the Esala Perhera, the greatest Buddhist festival held in Sri Lanka, every year, in Kandy, the City with the Sacred Tooth Relic (I visited that temple on my second day in Sri Lanka with Gayathri's amma).

The festival lasts for ten days, all filled with Peraheras (parades) all through the town, with decorated elephants, dancers, drummers, artists, music.... the town is PACKED with people during this time and they are all waiting for the last day, which is the poya day, when the biggest Perahera takes place. Only in this Perahera they carry the cascet with the sacred Tooth Relic on the back of the majestic Maligawa Tusker - the most beautiful elephant of all.

To see this important event, Fiona and the two Annies got up eaaaarly and took the train from Ella to Kandy.... almost 7 hours we went past the scenery of the tea plantations and the outstanding landscape around Horton Plains - so beautiful! IIIIt's a shame that I didn't spend more time in the hills. But it was cold! Sitting on the doorstep of the train with my legs outside (because of the Perahera the train was jammed as anything) I had to remember how it feels to freeze.

In Kandy, we unloaded ourselves at our temorary home in Kandy and rushed off to the town again to get some seats - if you don't sit on the pavement days in advance, what only locals do, there is no other way to watch the event than to get some reserved seats along the route.  But who knows maybe I will never again get the chance to watch it, so let's go for it I thought... Once we sat, we waaaiited..... but it was worth it all, of course!! *____*

Thanks to Fi and Felix for the photos, who obviously had better cameras to capture what was going on in Kandy during the Esala Perahera 2013!
And thanks to you girls for that FUNNY time! :***

HONEY AND CURD!!!!!

It's all 'bout your own free mind

I talk to God as much as I talk to Satan 'cause I want to hear both sides
Does that make me sinical?
There are no miracles and this is no miraculous life.

I savour hate as much as I crave love because I'm just a twisted guy
Is this the pinnacle, is this the pinnacle, the pinnacle of being alive?

___________________________________________________________

I left home with countless questionmarks in my head like every 20-year-old would have, but I didn't really expect to find the answers because I don't even know what I'm asking.. :D
I just have the strong certainity that there has to be something more, and that I want to discover it whatever it is.

So why not go and bombard a buddhist monk with lots of big questions?
About Buddhism and about everything else, some as stupid as questions can be, some making him talk for hours, some making him smile.

I learned enjoyed and loved - Theruwan Saranai you all!

I wanna turn the whole thing upside down
I find the things they say just can't be found
I share this love I find with everyone
We'll sing an dance to mother nature's songs
I don't want this feeling to go away...

Who's to say what's impossible?
Well, they forgot this world keeps spinning
and with each new day I can feel a change in everything
And as the surface breaks reflections fade
but in some way they remain the same
And as my mind begins to spread its wings
there's no stopping curiosity

Who's to say I can't do everything?
Well, I can try

And as I roll along I begin to find
things aren't always what they seem

I wanna turn the whole thing upside down
I find the things they say just can't be found
I share this love I find with everyone
We'll sing an dance to mother nature's songs
I don't want this feeling to go away!

Life-stoned

I just love that play on words. It was not my idea, someone in Arugambay came up with it, but who was it....?
It describes so vividly how you can feel so -

- perfectly happy, calm, content and at peace with yourself and all the world, with a determined certainity that just right now, it could not be any better. 

Fulfilled? Haha enough words!

After the train from Trinco reached Colombo at dawn, I met up with Arqam - just seeing that guy from afar made me BEAM :D

I came back to Colombo to join his "installation as a president of the Rotaract Club Colombo Millennium City" that Saturday evening! *proudlikeamama*

Whaaaaat to say? Believe, change, act!

The people, the fun dressing up and decorating, meeting Farha again, the party..

 Sunday evening walks on Galle Face Green

 Filling stomachs with THIS...

 ....Fulfilling predestination at MC food court with these awesome ladies!

 Baking vegie pancakes with Sachi, the Schnuffbolze.  We enjoyed the pancakes in the most natural Sri Lankan way...!!

 On his rooftop he grew mini carrots in his old barbecue... :)))

 Baking my beloved cheese crackers at Jessica's place :))))

Funny people on a Saturday night :))

Ryan's room, furniture is overrated

month of Sundays

I've been living in this month of Sundays
for so long I don't remember Saturday night
Broken records don't play new tunes, except for once in a blue moon
and I've looked, but the moon is still white

I've been living in this month of Sundays
and I forgot what Monday morning feels like...

So I've been living in this month of Sundays
and I don't know when this month may be through
So tell me you will wait as long as it may take
And I swear I'll show you a blue moon

And I've wandered into wondering of one day
when the war is won, and one finally made two
When we think not of what we're not, we think only of what we've got
and we go dancing underneath the blue moon