Ayubowan III : Ciao Colombo

The meetings continued for another two days. More meals at Burger King and Chinese Dragon Cafe. So close to the famous Ministry of Crab, but pigs would fly before my bosses would treat us to a meal there. On the second last day, my CEO arrived and we had a lunch meeting with him at the posh Cinnamon Grand Hotel along Galle Road. The 5-star hotel is popular among tourists and business travelers, and is connected to the Crescat Boulevard Mall. For the same reasons, it was the target of suicide bombers during the Easter attack of 2019.



My CEO asked my GM to decide on a lunch venue, and he seriously considered the Crescat Mall food court. In my mind, I was slapping my forehead repeatedly. Thank goodness my CEO vetoed that idea and we headed to Chutneys, an Indian restaurant in the hotel. On the way there, we passed by a posh wedding banquet held at a large dais beside the lobby. Huge gap between the rich and the poor. The thali set that I chose was delicious.





During our last night in Colombo, our local partner brought us to Crescat Boulevard for dinner. The whole bunch of us actually walked to avoid the jam. Not too far, and it was good way to take in the sights. Passed by the Colombo Swimming Club, a clubhouse dating back to the colonial era, Kollupitiya Methodist Church, and Temple Trees (in reference to frangipanis), the Prime Minister's official residence. The American embassy was along the way, and no photography was allowed in its vicinity.



Dinner was REALLY at the food court. Haha. I chose a meal of yellow rice with roasted chicken and lots of dhal. The rice was only half portion, and already I felt it's too much. Also got ourselves some ginger beer, a popular drink in Colombo. After dinner, had a short look at Keels, a supermarket there, but didn't find anything interesting.





Work didn't stop after dinner. My CEO continued his agenda at the hotel lobby. He wouldn't stop if it wasn't because we had to catch our flights out. My journey to the airport brought me to St. Anthony's Shrine in Kochchikade, where 54 of the faithful were martyred during Easter Sunday mass.

The airport was a little crazy due to renovations, and lack of crowd dispersal. No staff were on the ground to ensure a smooth flow. Managed to check-in at the business class counter, and we waded through the long queues at immigration to find an 'undiscovered' counter at the end. While waiting for our flight to be called, we had coffee at Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. And it was interesting to see airport sporting Chinese New Year promotions and decorations all for the benefit of the mainland Chinese who had descended on Colombo in recent years. Arrived in Kuala Lumpur in a zombie-fied condition. Hate the flight timings...