It's been transition time...

When looking back at the last two weeks of my life, it has been the most happening period of time and of course one of the most important periods where one chapter ended and another began.

Well..I finished my final exams in uni on 5th September which was all in all a quite tough exam that I faced in uni life. Without having some time to have a breath of relaxation, I had to prepare for the research paper presentation in CS&ES conference where the research paper of our final year project has been selected to be published, which of course an achievement to be happy of, since it was my first experience in writing a research paper. 9th of September was a special day where the CS&ES conference 2010 was held and the grand exhibition-ExMo organized by the faculty of Engineering-University of Moratuwa was commenced. 9th and 10th passed with the excitement and doing contribution towards the conference and exhibition and more importantly it was the time of saying sayonara to my university, department and the friends because those were the last couple of days we spent in uni as undergraduates. I just could not believe four years have passed so soon. With the feeling of gratitude towards all I met in my university life and who made my life more meaningful, I left the uni on 10th Sept evening.

Dawn of 13th Sept brought me a beginning of a new chapter where I first went to work  in WSO2 to start my professional career. It was a special time for the WSO2 team also, since the 5th year celebration and several other important occasions have been organized. Hence the first week at work was spent with valuable training programs and excitement of the 5th year celebration of our company.

So all in all it has indeed been a transition period of two weeks for me. :)

Making fruit juice from Watermelon

I am going to share with you a simple recipe of a tasty natural drink made of Watermelon. Watermelon is a fruit very well grown in dry zone of Sri Lanka and with its 92% content of water, it quenches our thirst even if we take it in slid form.

You can easily prepare juice out of this and serve your family and guests on warm days. It is a really good substitute for soft drinks.
Ingredients: (Adequate for 4 people)
Watermelon of 1kg
4 teaspoons of sugar
1/2 cup of water
Steps:

1. Divide watermelon fruit into 4 parts.
2. Remove all seeds carefully using a fork or a spoon.
3. Scrape the content and put it into the blender.
4. Add 1/2 cup of water and sugar to the blender. (Most of the times you do not need additional water since the water content in watermelon is quite adequate, add sugar according to your taste)
5. Blend the juice well and, pour it into glasses and serve. 

Outcome looked like this when I made the juice from watermelon.

The Hike - It is all about doing!

I went on  a trip with my batch mates on 25th and 26th of July 2010. Well..what is so special about it? On one hand it was our last batch trip as undergraduates. But the most interesting thing about it is that it is the most adventurous trip I have gone.

On the first day we visited Bambarakanda waterfall-the tallest waterfall in Sri Lanka. The path towards it, is full of scenic beauty. I loved the natural beauty I experienced in the environment. Though it is the tallest waterfall, it is very easy to go and bath at the very bottom of the waterfall, since the pool at the bottom of the waterfall is very shallow. I was unable to join my friends who had that rare experience though.

We stayed at Academy of Adventure (AOA) -Belihuloya which is a very echo friendly place for a perfect stay.You can either stay in tents--just like you go on camping or in Cabanas.

On the second day, we participated in a hike organized by AOA. We got divided in to teams of 15 in each and started climbing the mountain--so sad that I can not remember the name of the mountain. There was no visible path that we can take, we had to find the path and climb it, the path we took was full of obstacles like scary rocks, slippery slopes covered with dried Pinus leaves, muddy areas and strong winds at the cliffs. But the cool and fascinating water ways on the way did really snatched our eyes and mind and was a great soothing to our tiredness. Not only that, the magnificent view we had from the top of the mountain was awesome. We could view the "world's end" which is a famous tourists' attraction in Horton Place and "Samanala wewa"--a natural water tank built in the shape of a butterfly, from the top. Not only the hike, but also on the way we had to participate in team building and fun activities organized by AOA which added value to our hike and made it unique!. Whenever we went on a wrong track, the friendly instructors who were observing us from distance, helped us to get in to the correct path towards the destination. At the destination of the hike there was another fascinating waterfall where we all enjoyed to the max. I am not ashamed, but am happy to write that it was my first experience in life to get into and enjoyed the unknown waters at a waterfall.

Now let me explain what I got to my life from this special adventure.When it was informed that it was a 12Km hike, I was hesitated thinking whether I will be able to do it with my physical fitness. Since everyone was going to participate, I too did not have any other option. True, I slipped off and fell several times, but at each time, I got up on foot. Some very helpful friends in my team helped me to do the hike safely--in fact they saved my life!. Thank you Junda(Kasun) and Madhawa for the great help. In university, I could manage my work without relying on anyone but this particular experience convinced me that there are lot of other things in life that we can not manage alone and how much one's helpful nature can be a support to another one. 

One of my great teachers once have mentioned that you have to leave the safe waters and get into unknown waters to realize your true potential. It was once again proved to me in this adventurous hike. Thank you too Sir for that universal truth.