Our plans for today include a visit to one of Singapore's newest tourist attractions – "The Gardens by the Bay" .  We decided to go by train as the Singaporean train system is so efficient and must be one of the worlds best. You have to wonder why other countries – (including Australia) have not followed their lead and introduced something similar. The platform barrier system through which all commuters pass when getting on and off the trains is so efficient and keeps everyone safe and the driver-less trains seem to run like clockwork.


The Gardens by the Bay did not disappoint us – the sheer size of the tree structures and the indoor domes were amazing. We toured the tree structures and walked along the suspension bridge strung between the structures however due to time constraints and closing time looming we decided not to pay the extra admission fee to tour the rain forest and flower domes as we wouldn't be able to do them justice on this visit.


We returned to the hotel and after some last minute retail therapy prior to our late (6pm) checkout we headed to the Club Lounge to enjoy our final cocktail dinner and await our driver in the lovely surroundings of the Lounge . Our transfer to the airport was booked for 9.00pm to allow sufficient time for us to catch our 11pm flight to Sri Lanka and true to form our driver arrived ahead of time. Leesa was impressed when a lovely black Mercedes arrived separately to drive her to the airport as her booking was added at a later date. There was no way Leesa was going to pass up this opportunity to drive in style while Trev, Sal and I had to be satisfied with the mini-van!  


After take-off the flight to Sri Lanka was a little bumpy but fortunately the trip proved to be uneventful - with the exception of dinner being served to us at 1am!  (so that's 2 down and 9 flights to go!).  We landed at Colombo airport on schedule and alighted to face the usual immigration and customs checks and once processed we headed to the baggage pick-up area where we had a long wait for our bags to arrive. Finally we moved into the arrivals hall where Aaron was waiting to greet us. It was lovely to see his familiar smiling face among the crowd of locals.


Leesa had wanted her visit to Sri Lanka to be kept a secret from Aaron – so a plan was hatched for her to lag behind us and wait for the right opportunity to make her appearance and surprise him. As the old saying goes - the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry! ..... and so it was with this plan. Trevor (who wasn't privy to the plan) inadvertently upset things by asking Aaron where the Men's room was which meant we all headed off in a different direction from where Leesa would exit. 


Sal and I knew this was going to completely throw our plan awry as we knew Leesa would be expecting us to be exiting the terminal by now. To compensate, Sal and I decided to adopt delaying tactics hoping that Leesa would eventually find us. Unfortunately this didn't happen so I decided to tell Aaron that I needed to head back into the customs area as I had left "something" behind (yes, Leesa!!!). This tactic only added to the confusion. I think by this time Aaron was beginning to think his mother had completely lost her marbles so I eventually had to tell him about the lovely “surprise” we had for him.    


This was Leesa's first visit to a third world country so after stepping outside of Colombo's Bandarnaike International airport she was greeted by the heat, odour and chaos that is Colombo - Taxi's and Tuk Tuk’s honked their horns incessantly to attract fares from the disembarking passengers while ordinary vehicles became stuck in the never ending traffic jam as they tried to escape the chaos. After combing the crowd outside the terminal we were finally reunited with Leesa who at last was able to greet her cousin .

 
It was 1.00am before we all finally climbed into Aaron's waiting car to head into the city. On our drive from the airport, the very first thing we noticed about Colombo was that the other drivers on the road didn't appear to follow any road rules – they seemed to randomly drive on whichever side of the road they chose - so long as they honked their horn to alert the other drivers they felt that they had right of passage.   


The second thing we noticed was that Sri Lankans are a very religious people and as such liked to display statues of their gods and icons everywhere. On almost every street corner we saw statues of Buddha and many other gods encased in glass shrines and adorned with flowers and flashing lights as a testament to their faith.  


Our visit coincided with Ramadan - Islam's holy practice of fasting, prayer and self accountability therefore during our drive we noticed a large number of people milling about on the streets despite the late hour. Aaron explained these people were most probably Muslims celebrating the end of Ramadan and having fasted and slept during the day they were now out celebrating and feasting. Aaron also explained that Buddhism is the religion practiced by the majority of Sri Lankans (about 70%) and this is followed by Hinduism, Islam and finally Christianity.  


The third thing we noticed very quickly is that Sri Lanka is a country of economic extremes. Our drive into the city took us though many of the poorer regions and finally through the more opulent areas boasting many prestigious buildings and five star hotels. 


Our drive from the airport gave us an insight into what we could expect during our stay over the next week. We were happy when we finally arrived at the Iceland Residencies where Aaron and Nellie live as fatigue from our long day was beginning to set in. Apparently we weren't the only ones as Aaron had to honk the horn to awaken the sleeping guard to allow us entry to the car park. After unpacking the car we headed to the lift with luggage in tow to arrive at their apartment on the 26th floor.  
 

The Iceland apartments is a modern 32 storey building and Aaron and Nellie’s apartment comprises three ensuite bedrooms a kitchen and combined dining and lounge area with an additional toilet. Many of the rooms boast a balcony which overlook either the Indian Ocean or the city – and there are facilities to accommodate live-in help - so all in all they have a lovely comfortable home away from home!  


Due to our late arrival at the apartment (2.00am) Nellie was asleep so Aaron showed us to our bedrooms. Nellie was "in" on the Leesa plan so she had very kindly set up Leesa's bed after Aaron left for the airport so as not to spoil the surprise. Tired by the long day we were all happy to crawl into bed for some well earned rest and hopefully wake refreshed and ready to start our Sri Lankan adventure.