7 Apr 5.30pm
Seerey's place, Bentota

When we were at the Gallery Cafe the other night both Andrea and I were admiring the leather chairs that populated the bar there. As we were in "need" (always a relative term) of some chairs for our dining table, Andrea resolved to find out where to get them. Thus we ended up, after a circuitous & all too typical taxi ride (I swear they all moved here from some other city only last week otherwise at least some would know the roads, yes?) at a shop called Paradise Road in Central Colombo.

It is quite plain from a quick look through Paradise Road that only a gay bloke could have laid out this store; a straight guy or a girl wouldn't have stood a chance. Set in an old colonial building, the store gives the impression of a jumble sale or curiosity shop; it tempts you to explore & discover. So cleverly does the place present its chaotic face that it is very easy to overlook the actual organisation of its layout. As for the merchendise; for those from HK think of GOD only 80% of the contents are really funky (instead of 30%), for those in the UK think of Habitat, only good. I'll bet your local funky homeware store contains at least a few items sourced from this store's factories. That's the other clever thing about Paradise Road; all the stuff is made in Sri Lanka. I'm guessing by the same factories & cottage industries that make tourist tat, but to tasteful designs commissioned by the store.

It was no surprise to us to find out that Paradise Road and Gallery Cafe are owned by the same guyk

Suffice to say we found our chairs, which included a leather cushion each. The cost of the chair was what I would have expected to pay for the cushion at home. As with such trinket shops, we found much more besides.

Those of you on our Christmas list, don't be surprised if your present has "Made in Sri Lanka" printed on it this year.

Bomber out