Pitfalls of an Adaptation

At the height of hype and acclaim for the Slumdog Millionaire recently I got the chance to watch it, finally. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I mean what is all the fuss about? Its a feel good movie, yes, probably not meant to change someone's life. Sure in that respect it kinda works. Is it worthy of best picture? Hell NO! It's corny and conceited white man's view of India. Enough said about it I think.

I just read a great article by Salman Rushdie on the failures of adapting novels to films. Its well worth a read if you have the time. It got me thinking of the impending screen adaptation of Shantaram, one of the best books I've read in recent times. I really hope they don't mess it up, but what are the chances of that happening? It would be impossible to do the book justice but like Rushdie states the film will have to stand on its own, its own form of art, an interpretation of the essence of what the book is trying to convey.

My dad does a lot of translations from English to Sinhalese and vice versa. Everyone from Shakespeare to Chekhov and Chaucer and many more. He always speaks of it as 'Transcreation', the work reborn as something different in the new sphere, its not a copy, but a new creation holding the essence of the original. Like Rushdie says you may loose something in the process but you can also gain something.

I hope the in the same way Shantaram can come to be something altogether different on screen without loosing its core. Roberts(the author) is suppose to be writing the adaptation and Johnny Depp is suppose to be the main character... hmm not sure how that will go. I love Depp and he is perhaps the most versatile Hollywood actor there is today, so maybe it will all work out... Will just have to wait and see.

Maldives

At the end of our time in Sri Lanka we went to the Maldives for a bit of fun in the sun. We left Sri Lanka the day after Shivani and Dinesh's wedding and arrived in Male in the middle of the night. We were staying in an island resort called Bandos not far from Male. When we arrived at the Male airport we were greeted by some people from the resort and taken to the resort by a speed boat. It was exhilarating travelling so fast on the water in the dead of the night.

Bandos is an atoll about 500m in diameter and we stayed in a villa about 10m from the beach. The vegetation in the Maldives is much like parts of Sri Lanka, with tall coconut palms, beautiful tropical ferns and flowers. It also has white sandy beaches, gorgeous aqua blue water and is surrounded by a band of coral about 25 meters in width. The weather was perfectly balmy and the days long and bright a complete opposite to London at the moment.

We spent our time in the Maldives snorkeling and swimming in the ocean several times a day. The sea water was warm and inviting and full of a myriad of wonderful fish and sea life. The coral looked quite drab next to the colour and vibrancy of the fish which were friendly and unafraid of the awkward humans in their snorkeling gear. There were a lot of activities available for the resort guests including scuba diving, para gliding, kayaking, sailing, snorkeling as well as island hopping and night fishing. We took a trip out to snorkel around some other hot spots in the area and were happy to just swim around the island most other times.

As the sun sets at Bandos all the guests flock to the Sundowners bar, a deck out on the water with the sun setting majestically behind it. Waiters serve cocktails while a group of musicians entertain the guests with classic covers and some Maldivian numbers which sound remarkably a lot like some Sinhalese songs. As darkness encroaches guests head into Sand bar, the main bar in the resort.

Sand bar had a lot of Sri Lankans working behind the bar and it was nice to talk to them in Sinhalese and attempt to explain that we were born in Sri Lanka, from Australia but currently living in the UK. Every night Sand bar had something to entertain the resort guests. There was a Maldivian night with traditional singing and dancing and again I was taken aback by how similar the music was to Sri Lankan baila.

The food in the Maldives was awesome. Tuna is native to the area and is available in abundance. We had fish in all forms while we were there. We tried many Maldivian dishes which were similar to Sri Lankan food in many ways and gorgeously spicy. We had the best ever tuna sashimi while there, my mouth salivates just thinking about how soft and succulent it was.

Overall it was one of the most fun and relaxing holidays I've had in a very long time. While the Maldives is expensive I think its worth it. The people are very friendly and its great to experience some of their culture while enjoying the sea and sun. I definietly want to go back someday again.

Maldives from above.
Maldives from below.

Sri Lanka

We returned to Sri Lanka earlier this month after 2 years for Shivani & Dinesh's wedding. We went from sub zero temperatures & snow to 33 degrees and glorious sunshine. We arrived with the war in the north east raging forth and a highly militarised Lanka. Everywhere you looked there are posters of victorious soldiers. Security was high but I guess we were used to this. Though not much else had really changed in the time we were away one thing we did notice was the increase in the number of apartment complexes particularly around Colombo.

Our time in Lanka passed quickly in between fit-ons, shopping trips and visits to friends and family. It was great to see dad looking much healthier albeit a little thin. A lot my Sydney friends were also in Sri Lanka for Shivani & Dinesh's wedding and it was great to catch up with them, most of all my brother who stayed with us at Dehiwala. The wedding was to be at Mount Lavinia hotel an old hotel set by the sea with its own private beach. We had dinner in one of its restaurants called Seafood Cove on the beach. Dinner at Seafood Cove is simple but very fresh. All manner of fresh seafood is layed out in buffet style freshly caught on that day. Customers select what they like and instruct the chefs on how they wish it to be cooked. The fresh seafood is then cooked in front of you and brought to your table. We had devilled prawns, squid and fish deep fried, grilled as well as in a gorgeously spicy curry. These were accompanied by rice & salad. It was a divine experience, sipping cocktails, eating freshly cooked seafood with the sea breeze in our hair and sand beneath our feet. One that I will not forget soon.

The time passed quickly and before we knew it, it was the day of the wedding. It took place on the beach with the sun setting in the background. I was one of the bridesmaids along with 2 other friends. Shivani looked absolutely gorgeous and the wedding ceremony went well. It was great to have a lot of my friends and family there. Dad looked very handsome in his new suit and it was also great to see him having a good time. The send off for the newly married couple was in a done up 3 wheeler accompanied by a papparey band. We had the after party at bu bar just a few hundred meters away from the hotel on the beach.

We left Sri Lanka for the Maldives the next day... watch out for my next post about the Maldives...

See the lanka picture here.

Berlin

Its been ages since I last wrote. I know I've been a bit slack. I think I go through phases of intense interest in blogging and then sometimes it doesn't seem as important. Anyway its not as if there hasn't been anything to write about either but I just got lazy. I realised that I haven't written about our trip to Berlin yet. It feels like such a long time ago that I had to look at my google calendar to find the date. We went to Berlin in early September. We caught Easyjet there and we were delayed again. Besides that the airport we arrived in was deep inside East Berlin, and coming back into town in the train we saw many decrepit and creepy looking train stations along the way. The train ride in took ages and it was very late when we checked into our hotel. We stayed at the Westin off the main street of Unter den Linden. Saturday morning we grabbed some breakfast in a nice cafe on the way to the Brandenburg gate. That was where our free walking tour of Berlin began. The guided walking tour was excellent.. and the best way to see the main historic sights of Berlin for anyone going there. It covered the following places:

• Pariser Platz
• The Brandenburg Gate
• The Reichstag
• The new Holocaust Memorial
• Hitler’s Bunker
• Luftwaffe HQ
• The 17. June Memorial
• The Berlin Wall
• The Former SS Headquarters
• Checkpoint Charlie
• The Former Red Light District
• Gendarmenmarkt
• Bebelplatz
• The Book Burning Memorial
• The Old Royal Boulevard
• Neue Wache
• The TV Tower
• Museum Island

As you can see it covers numerous places of historical interest, many of which have a lot of significance to the Nazi era and when Berlin was divided into east and west. We saw the remnants of the Berlin wall and its path in the city still etched on the ground where it once stood. Our tour guide (a soft spoken English girl) told us many stories about people escaping the wall and trying to reunite with loved ones trapped on either side. We went past the Humboldt University, Berlin's oldest, at the sight of which the Nazi book burning took place. There is poignant memorial to that day on the square giving a view of a room through a glass sheet embedded on the ground full of white empty book shelves representing the books burnt on that day. Across the road in front of the University there is a free book fair held every weekend giving away copies of those books once burnt. That place stirred a lot of sadness for me.

After the tour we had a late lunch and went back to the hotel to rest. We headed out to dinner that night to an area full of restaurants and there was too much choice for us. In the end we went to a Cuban restaurant and had great food. After dinner we made an impulse decision to go to the ultra modern parliament building which is open for tours till very late at night and gives a good view of the city. We rushed through the streets in the rain but were not let in as we were one minute late!!!! After getting over the disappointment of that we walked to the Brandenburg gate which is lit up beautifully at night and took some great pictures there. Berlin is full of great bars and an excellent night life and if you like to drink its a great place. We skipped the bar experience as we had just finished a bottle of wine between the two of us at the Cuban restaurant. We got back to to hotel and had some nice apple strudel and ice cream :) It was sooooo good!

The next day we spent a lot of time at museums and riding around the different parts of the city on buses. The time went quite quickly and soon it was time to head back home to London. At the end of the our time there I understood a little better how much the city itself had gone through, its legacy and why some of the wounds of the past will take many more years to heal. That is not to say that a lot of people are not trying to do just that. The city is full of history & culture but a little depressing and hard to stomach when you are there for a short visit. Much of the east parts of the city are still quite run down, grey and dirty while there are areas in the west which are newer and greener. The city is full of contrasts and the people friendly. One thing I did love were the alldescribingwordsstucktogether German names for places and things which were a bit hard to get used to at first but were a delight once you were a bit clued in.

Check out the photos of Berlin we took.

Edinburgh

In mid-August we went to Edinburgh for the weekend. It was the first time we flew from Stanstead airport and I think will probably also be our last. Not only is it too far to get to on a Friday night after work, the easyJet flight was delayed (after moving the original flight forward few days earlier!!).

We got to Edinburgh by about 9pm and caught the AirLink bus to the city centre. Right outside of the airport Edinburgh appeared almost rural. After about 25 minutes we arrived in the city and got off near Haymarket station as our B&B was near there. The original hotel we booked for the weekend was flooded by recent rain so we were told a few days earlier that another room had been booked for us nearby. The B&B was on a street full of other hotels and B&Bs. The place was run by a family and looked very cosy. The ceilings were high and our room which was huge faced a cute little garden at the back.

The weather was cool as we set out walking to find somewhere for dinner. We walked towards the city centre and ended up picking an Indian/Bengali restaurant called Ignite. The place was decorated modernly but the food was the real winner. Beautiful naan bread, a fantastic buriyani and a tangy lamb jalfrezi had us ooing and aaahhing. Of course we ate too much and stumbled back to our B&B with great difficulty.

We woke up the next day to gloomy skies. Rain was forecasted and it started just as we headed out. We walked to Edinburgh castle, grateful for our waterproof Kathmandu jackets. Edinburgh castle dominates the city skyline as its set on the plug of an extinct volcano. On that day it looked dark and foreboding. The line for tickets was very long and not too pleasant in the rain but we prevailed. Finally with tickets in hand we headed up the hill to the castle.
The castle grounds are huge with many different buildings. We started our tour in the interesting Scottish War Museum. The Scottish have a long history of war and are a passionate people. We continued on to Mary Queen of Scots chambers(dark and gloomy for my liking) and the great hall with decorative weapons and high ceilings. The crown jewels were glittery and over the top as expected. We continued on to the castle wall which had fantastic views over the Queen street gardens and city of Edinburgh. The city sprawled below as far as the eye can see with the national monument and arthurs hill in the distance. The buildings all seemed to be in every shade of grey imaginable.

We stayed on to the one'o clock gun salute which was historically used by sailors to set their marine chronometers by. The shot was quite loud and made a lot of people jump including myself. Luckily by this stage the rain had stopped and it was time to leave the castle to explore the city. We walked down royal mile which was crowded with tourists and locals as well as performers and promoters for the fringe festival. We were getting peckish so we looked about for somewhere to eat. We walked past the Scott Monument dedicated to Sir Walter Scott, one of Scotland's famous authors. We had a light snack at the M&S food hall in the end because every pub seemed packed to the brim with festival goers and tourists. After lunch we went back to our B&B the long way(by foot) to rest before dinner.

After a short rest we headed to dinner at Rhubarb, the restaurant at Prestonfield's about a 10 minute taxi ride from Edinburgh city. Prestonfields is an old manor house set in a huge property that has been converted to a boutique hotel. The grounds were beautifully manicured and well kept. Upon arrival we were greeted by reception staff kitted out in black kilts. We were lead upstairs to have pre-dinner drinks in a room decorated with plush upholstery and antique furniture. Fire place and rich carpet complete the scene. The wine list arrived some 50 pages long split into sections by country of origin. We spent the next 20 minutes deciding on the wine as well as our dinner courses. We sipped champagne till our table was ready at the restaurant. In no time at all it was time to head to our table in the dining room which again was beautifully decorated with grand chandeliers and long bay windows. The whole place oozed with decadence and grandeur. Our table was by one of the huge windows overlooking the hotel gardens. Peacocks were roaming the gardens leisurely. As we were enjoying our first course as it started to rain again. It was beautiful to watch the rain through the big windows as we sat cozily inside the restaurant. Dinner was interesting and the food was very good, but I think the location & atmosphere outdid the food by a mile. We had coffee at one of the upstairs rooms before heading back to the city again.

The next day we checked out after breakfast and headed out to Arthurs Seat which is a steep hill on the outer edge of Edinburgh which many people climb to see the amazing views of the city and beyond. We caught a bus to the Commonwealth pool and walked to the top of Arthurs Seat using one of the many paths available. The climb was invigorating but quite easy in the end. The views were amazing. We waited at the top while a rain cloud moved across spraying us for a short time. It was very windy at the top so the rain didn't last long at all. The sky cleared again and we took the opportunity to take some pictures. It as possible to pick out many of Edinburgh's famous sights from Arthurs Seat including Prestonfields house and golf course. We negotiated the climb down a steeper path to what we climbed and a bit scarier as well.

Next we caught a bus to the centre of town to walk through the Princes Street gardens. The Princes Street Gardens are situated below street level and give great views of Edinburgh castle especially as a backdrop to the big fountain in the middle of the gardens. There was light rain on and off. We found an eco-cafe in corner of the gardens and had lunch. With lots of time to kill before our flight we took the opportunity to visit the Scottish National Gallery right near the Princes street gardens. The collection wasn't huge but still proved to be quite interesting with many paintings & sculptures. There were large crowds outside watching fringe festival performers. There was a girl from Australia doing a hoola hoop show, guys juggling fire sticks and a big demonstration about Palestine in the middle of it all.

Pretty soon it was time to fetch our bags and head to the airport. Can't wait to return to visit the Scottish highlands.

Check out the photos here.

Copenhagen

Last Friday I barely got anything done at work because I was too excited. Excited at what was coming at the end of the day. Our first weekend trip to Europe.. which turned out to be to the beautiful Danish capital of Copenhagen. We left work early on Friday to make it to Heathrow for the 8pm flight. Having only hand luggage meant we could check in online which was convenient. However, it also meant that we had to put all our 'liquid' toiletries into plastic bags and make sure they were not more than 100ml each in size. Getting through security was quicker than I expected though still tedious especially since you have to go through a second screening for your shoes.

Nevertheless after an uneventful flight we arrived in Copenhagen airport around 11pm. We were both impressed by the stylishness of Copenhagen airport. Its design was impressive with sleek wooden floors, high ceilings, and elegant lighting. It didn't have the usually 7-11 feel of most other airports.. in a word it was 'tasteful'. For someone who hates airports this is pretty big. We just missed the train to central Copenhagen so we decide to get a taxi. We stepped outside and joined the taxi queue. The whole road was lined with taxis...all Mercedes. On our 12km drive to Copenhagen didn't take long at all as we whizzed past office buildings and shopping centres.

Our hotel was on the main hotel street Colbjørnsensgade very close to the centre of town, right next to the central train station. We had a good night's rest and had breakfast at the hotel which consisted of cold meats, cheeses, boiled eggs, bread, cereal and fruits. We then set out to explore the town. We walked past Tivoli, a huge amusement park in the middle of Copenhagen with all sorts of rides for kids of all ages. One thing we noticed everywhere we looked were the number of bicycles parked. Most people use bicycles in Copenhagen with dedicated bicycle lanes on all roads which were wide and spacey compared to London. Outside of the train station there were 100s and 100s of bicycles. Most street corners, cafes and restaurants had bicycles parked outside in all shapes, sizes and colours.

We arrived at a large square near an old important looking building. The area was aptly named town hall square. The front of the town hall had a gold statue of the Bishop of Absolon who founded Copenhagen. In one corner of the square was a huge statue of Hans Christian Anderson, the famous fairy tale writer and one of Denmark's most beloved sons. Opposite the square is a building with a huge thermometer on it, when the sun is out a gold statue of a girl in a bicycle comes out at the opening at the top of the building, when its raining a gold statue of a girl with an umbrella comes out. Denmark was having a heat wave that weekend and the thermometer was broken at 15 degree on both days when it was well over 30 degrees.

We bought a multi pass hop-on-hop off bus ticket and boarded the Mermaid tour opposite the town hall square. The bus took us via the wide Copenhagen streets to many famous places including Rosenborg; the summer palace of the Danish royal family, now a museum, as well as their winter and current residence at Amelienborg palace. Many of the beautiful buildings and attractions in Copenhagen were built by King Christian the 4th of the Danish monarchy. The bus also circled the Tivoli gardens which was opened in 1843 now one of the most visited sites in Copenhagen with an amphitheatre, many restaurants and of course numerous rides. Tivoli was built to act as a distraction for the residents during times of unrest and riots which apparently worked.

Then the bus took us to the famous statue of the little mermaid by the harbour at Langelinie. This delicate statue was commissioned by Carl Jacobsen the son of the founder of Carlsberg when he became fascinated with the tale of the little mermaid by HC Anderson. Towards the end of the bus tour we arrived in Nyhavn, an area where one of the canal arteries ends. The area used to be quite unsavoury but now its full restaurants and cafes all along the canal full of locals and tourists. The buildings still retain their original look with colourful front walls and shape. The area had a very relaxed feeling and we hopped off the bus tour to explore the area. Nyhavn or new harbour is also where the canal tours of Copenhagen start.

We bought tickets and boarded a boat for the canal tour which takes you to many famous Copenhagen sights through its vast canal network and harbour. The canal tour takes you under very snug fitting bridges and tunnels and gives a very different and interesting perspective of Copenhagen. We went past a very modern looking opera house on the harbour as well as the Copenhagen library made to look like a black diamond. The canal tour lasted a couple of hours and was a worthwhile experience. At the end we decided to have lunch in one of the Nyhavn restaurants by the canal. We tried the famous Copenhagen open sandwiches with very delicious marinated herring, salmon, shrimp and beef. Lunch was a relaxing fair. Only at the end we realised that soft drinks were actually more expensive than beer!

We left Nyhavn and walked to the Rosenborg palace and gardens which we saw earlier on the bus. The gardens are much like hyde park in London full of people enjoying the sunny weather, having picnics and relaxing on the grass. Pramod took the opportunity to lie on the grass and get some shut eye while I walked around the gardens taking pictures. The palace in the centre of the gardens looked like it was from a fairytale. It had a moat and huge trees around it. We sat under the trees and relaxed debating whether to go to Tivoli later on. We decided to head back to the hotel and have a nap before dinner. On our way back we walked along Stroget the crowded and longest pedestrian shopping street in Europe. Ice creams helped ease the heat a little but we were exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel.

After a nap and shower we went walking about looking for somewhere appealing for dinner. We decided on a Thai place right near our hotel in the end. The Thai place turned out to be great, with the best green chicken curry we've had since we got to Europe much to our surprise. The wine was expensive as well as the soft drinks and again much more than beer.

The next day we slept in a little more and had a later breakfast at the hotel. It was another hot day. We headed back to the town hall square and took another bus tour through Christiana, which is like a hippy town in the middle of Copenhagen where people are 'free' to do as they please. The bus went along the old part of Copenhagen with many gorgeous buildings which still are preserved well. After the bus tour we went to Glyptotek the Copenhagen sculpture museum. The museum's main entrance hall is very unusual in that it has a very tall ceiling housing huge palm trees and a fountain. There are many sculptures in amongst the trees which you can gaze upon while sitting on one of the many benches provided. The sculpture museum had many great pieces including a large collection by Rodin as well as works by Degas and many antique Greek, Egyptian and Roman sculptures. The Roman sculptures were displayed in the majestic main hall with huge pillars and a beautiful floor and ceiling. The museum also had a good collection of paintings by Manet, Monet, Van Gogh and Renoir. We had a great time there and I would recommend a visit to anyone heading to Copenhagen.

By the town hall square we hopped on another tour bus this time to the Carlsburg brewery. We didn't really want to go to the brewery itself but it was a good way to see a bit more of the outer Copenhagen. After a late lunch back at the square we headed to the central station to go to the airport.
So in the end Copenhagen was a nice place to visit for the weekend despite the freakish heat wave we experienced. The town has many beautiful parts and interesting places to see but it all seemed rather deserted except for tourists.

As always the photos are in picasa web abums, just follow the link here.

Midsummer Night's Dream @ The Globe

It was a hot summers day in London. After a long hard day at work we were in for a treat. We headed down to the Globe theatre by the Thames to watch a Midsummer Night's Dream.

The theatre is in the shape of a cylinder with an open top. Seating is in three levels; ground, middle and upper sections on the side of the cylinder. On the ground the area around the stage is where the groundlings stand; with ramps leading to the stage in amongst them. The whole structure is made out of wood and everything about it feels unpretentious, suited to the common people as it would have been when the original theatre was in use. The seating is also modest, hard wooden benches with no real back support which you feel a bit at the end of a 3 hour performance. Nevertheless I dont think there is a bad seat in the house. We had great seats in the middle gallery straight infront of the stage.

The performance in itself was fantastic. The actors were versatile and comic. The duke and queen of Athens doubled as Oberon and Titania, their scottish accents somehow suiting both the fairyland and the court. The noteworthy actors were Bottom, Puck, Helena and Oberon. Helena was a great comic actress, passionate and held the audience captive everytime she was on stage. Puck was like a naughty school boy and quite funny. Oberon was magestic and fatherlike. However, Bottom stole the show. He was hilarious! He had the audience in the palm of his hand, so confident and versatile. The actors/labourers were also very well picked and played a pivotal role in the performance. Their play 'Pyramus and Thisbe' had the audience in tears.

The costumes were well suited and comic when they needed to be. The actors involved the audience well, the goundlings enjoying much of that interaction. The song and dance elements were used well to boost the performance. The set and props were minimal but well used. Overall I loved this play. Everything about the theatre and production contributed to the play being in essence what it needed to be; hilarious! I've seen a few productions of this play in the past and I think this one will hold a special place in my heart in years to come. I am already planning what I'm going to see next at the Globe :) Cant wait!!