In Colombo -a city of social extremes-it’s hard to find a restaurant that settles into the comfortable middle ground. A five-star restaurant may only be found in a five star hotel, which can be a little inconvenient for those not willing to dress up in their weekend finest after a long hard day at work. Settling in nicely to fill this yawning gap between extreme high-end dining and cafe-trawling is Tsing-Tao, Colombo’s only independent five-star restaurant at the Racecourse Promenade.

Found on the first floor of the promenade, the lower level houses the reception and a small dining area, with a staircase leading up to the swanky upper levels and the breezy open air terrace for dining. The interior design of the restaurant is one of rich warmth and elegance with the subtle lighting contributing to the intimacy of the setting. Owner Janaka Wimalananda would have spent a staggering amount to ensure that the restaurant met his standards, and it seems to have paid off.

Janaka, the proprietor of the hugely successful Loon-Tao beach restaurant in Mount Lavinia is a self- confessed Chinese food aficionado. He spent the 90s in the Far East, immersing himself in the hospitality industry, falling in love with the exotic flavours and unusual combinations. Working chiefly in Japan, Janaka developed a lasting palate for Chinese food-so much so that it became a career ambition. “I knew I wanted to come back to Sri Lanka and set up my own restaurant,” he says.

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 Every time I met her she would back me into a corner and say, ‘Darling, we have to do something about the environment’. If you are looking from above Nirmala, I hope that you will find this presentation a fitting tribute to your passion for the environment,” said Dr. Sriyanie Miththapala delivering ‘Red alert: Sri Lanka’s vanishing natural wealth’, a lecture held in memory of Nirmala de Mel. The lecture was held under the aegis of Ruk Rakaganno, at Barefoot earlier this month.

 Nell Posmer , the sister of Neil Weerakoon, the only Sri Lankan to have participated in the Boston Marathon says that the running community has become closer than ever in the aftermath of the two explosions, as she recalls the chaos of that day in a Skype interview

When the O’L results were released last week, ending months of stressful waiting for thousands of students around the country, it was a moment of great joy for many but perhaps most of all for a brave young girl who had faced insurmountable odds to pass the exam with flying colours….born without hands, she writes with her feet.

Let’s go back to 1995. A couple expecting their third child are hopeful. They have been told this birth might have complications, but they still look forward to the baby with all the love in their hearts. Both parents work at a prominent teaching hospital down-south where, the husband is an X-ray machine operator.

When the baby is born she has no hands. Her legs too are only half developed. The distraught mother develops severe post natal depression and faced with the difficulties of caring for his sick wife and two other children, the father decides to bring the baby to the only place he knows will take good care of her; ‘Marc-Sri’ in Kalutara.

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