my tuktuk driver friend

a funny thing happened to me today, my official last day in colombo.

way back on the 1st of January 2009, i met an unlikely friend. this tuktuk driver who drove me to my friend's whom i was visiting. a friendly person, like most tuktuk drivers i meet (hehe), who claimed that i was his first customer of the year and i'll bring good luck. i never knew i can bring good fortune to anyone till i met this person. ever since then, every now and again, when i'm walking somewhere he'd pass by me in his tuktuk, always in colpetty, waving hello, asking if i need a lift or just a general "kohomatha?". this usually happened every few weeks but i haven't seen him for several months now.

today, i was walking home from Keells with my friend, indu, when this tuktuk driver, stopped nearby and asked us to get in the tuktuk. my home was only 5 mins away but he still wanted to give us a lift, probably looking at the 500 kgs of groceries we were carrying. of course we didn't refuse the ride. he asked how i was and said "my friend, no?", and after i told him i'm leaving colombo tomorrow (in my halting sinhala), we said our goodbyes. he was genuinely happy to see me and likewise.

i'm happy i met him the day i was leaving. it seemed almost fitting to say goodbye to a place i have lived in and been with some of the nicest people, including my happy tuktuk driver friend.

too much rain

went out with my friend, cat, to watch a movie this evening.

during the movie itself, it started thundering and by the time it finished and we came out, it was raining so heavily. we didnt have an umbrella (which i had conveniently kept in my other handbag) and the cab and tuktuk services were all out. we thought we could wait till the rain stopped a bit but of course that never happened. it was pouring cats and dogs, after days of no rain!!!

and so we decided to make a dash for it, after seeing some brave persons walking out in the rain without an umbrella and with plastic bags, scarves and sometimes nothing on their heads. we could see that the road was heavily flooded. cars weren't getting through and those that did come were stuck mid way drowned in the water. but we decided to be brave and head out in the water. we were knee deep in the water n it was quite fast flowing, and then my friend decided to warn me of open drains which can suck you in. scary! at one point, my feet was directly above a closed drain and some seaweedy thingy was tangled in my leg. yuck! but anyway we manage to cross the road to safety and being quite carried away with the excitement of it all, cat wanted to take photos. most of them turned out blurry but we did capture the moment. hah! anyway, we crossed over to galle road, which was the main road and buses were still running.

and finally, after cat falling into a shallow hole, and some random guy on the road annoying us, and after missing a bus, we managed to catch a tuktuk guy who dropped us home for 100 bucks. safe home, a cool shower and a yummy dinner afterwards, i'm just wishing i wont catch the flu tomorrow morning.