The Great Chicken Tikka Standoff

Waruna sells great Textiles, Jewelry and Antiques

Weighing Silver Bracelets on a Balance Beam

Shopping for our Friend Ferris

We prefer Indian Gold, and Old Stones

Wood Carvings

The Great Chicken Tikka Standoff

We weren’t sure if we really had enough to do for our last two days in Sri Lanka. We contemplated moving our flight to Bombay up by a day, but after studying flight schedules we realized it was impractical.

After breakfast, we left our hotel at the top of the hill and proceed down the curvy road to the main shopping areas of Kandy. I had found on-line a recommendation of an antique store featuring jewelry and textiles, it was next to another store that also had antiques. We eventually found several pieces of jewelry and textiles. My negotiating skills re-emerged and we were happy with the purchases. The owner of the store, who is married to a Japanese women, was a very interesting artistic person. We enjoyed almost 2 hours in his shop, and were able to connect him to a friend of ours who might be able to create a mutually beneficial relationship.

After driving around Kandy, we went to a typical store that sells carved wood furniture. We escaped by purchasing a very modest child’s puzzle. We were then faced with a decision, “Lunch or Massage”? Bet you figured out the answers to that one already: Massage 1, Lunch 0. Our driver Michael, took us to his favorite massage place. They specialize in ayurvedic massage - this is a type of massage that is supposed to have health benefits. It originated in Southern India, and I have had many of these in the past. I don’t know how healthy they are, but they sure are oily. Cathy and I were separated, and each led into a small room. We were then basically oiled, and massaged for 40 minutes. At the end, the attendant, stands you and guides your towards what looks like a wooden coffin. You are so oily, they are afraid you will fall if you try to walk unattended. He opens the coffin and the bottom is a wooden lattice work that you lie upon. The top of the coffin is then closed, and only your head extrudes. A towel is draped over your neck sealing the hole through which your neck comes out. The temperature is increased and steam envelopes your body. You get a facial treatment while you are steaming away. At the end, just as you are becoming, sous vide, they open the casket and guiding your slippery sweaty body to a shower. Both of us loved the experience.

This brings up another interesting topic. Arabs and their unruly children. I don’t want to generalize, but there is a definite feeling, when talking to the merchants and trades people that Arabs (not Muslims) are very rude and insensitive to other cultures. The Sri Lankan’s were very consistent in this view. At the massage center, the Arabs were very loud and their children were basically running wild. Afterwards I mentioned how disruptive this was to the peaceful environment they were creating, and the massage studio owner agreed.

After the massage we went to a large gem / museum / Jewelry Store. We didn’t buy anything, but it was fascinating to learn about gem mining. We realized that we prefer older pieces from India, to newer jewelry pieces. Proving that one shouldn’t generalize, there was a European couple with two loud blond, screaming, wild children children. The parents were completely oblivious or non-caring about the noise and distraction these two screaming monsters were creating. I finally went up to the mother and told her, she should control her children in public. The father took charge and quieted them down.

We returned to our hotel, drank some wine and prepared for dinner. All day long I had been thinking about the Chicken Tikka I had at the previous night at the Hotel’s dinning room. I ordered it again. I was practically drooling, the dish had been so well prepared. Needless to say, this time the dish was horrible. The chicken was dried out and nothing like the same dish I had the previous night. The young inexperienced hostess, realized something was wrong, and I told her this was not the same dish I ordered last night and it was differently prepared. She argued with me. I decided to stand my ground and continued to insist the dish wasn’t correct, and I wouldn’t accept it. The restaurant manager and finally the chef came out to hear my refusal to eat the dish. It turns out this was a different chef from the previous night, and he cooks Chicken Tikka in a different fashion. Finally the chef relented. Eventually a new serving of Chicken Tikka was sent out and it was exactly as I remembered. The chef came out again to see if I was happy, and explained this is Chicken Tikka in The Northern Indian Style. This time it paid to be persistent – and I felt I won the Great Chicken Tikka Standoff.

Tomorrow we leave Kandy, visit an elephant orphanage and fly to Bombay. It has been a wonderful experience here in Sri Lanka. Why do I think they are going to try and get us to adopt an elephant?