Wednesday 31st December 2025

I left London Heathrow Airport at 21:00 on a 10-hour flight to Colombo Airport in Sri Lanka. As far as long-haul flights go it was a pleasant one, although maybe not for one poor passenger, as a message came across the speaker system asking if there was a qualified doctor or nurse on board, and the man sat right next to me made himself known as a qualified doctor! I think another qualified doctor beat him to it, so I'm not sure what happened after that!

We landed on time at 12:30, and I was met at the airport by a driver called Prabath, who my friend Nilanga had arranged to pick me up. We had to go via Kurunegala to pick up some of my stuff that I had left there, and Sandra Wanduragala greeted us with a pizza, as we enjoyed a very short break before driving on to Norwood, where I am staying at my very good friend Daya's home for 4 nights. It was an exhausting journey, and a big relief to finally arrive not long before 22:00.

It was wonderful to see Daya and some of his family again, and we chatted for a long time, enjoying a rather lovely New Year's Eve supper cooked by his aunt, who has looked after Daya and his brothers for many years, and particularly since his mother passed away in August 2020. I am very grateful that I was able to meet her at Daya's home in November 2019, on my very first visit to Sri Lanka, when she cooked some idly for us, which were delicious!

It is customary at midnight on New Year's Eve to heat up some milk, letting it boil over as a representation of good things boiling over into your life in the New Year. You then use the milk to make some milk tea which you drink to see the New Year in. By the time we had concluded our New Year celebrations and chatting, it was around 02:00, and I was completely done in, so I more or less fell into bed in a pretty exhausted state and went out like a light!

My first photo is a nostalgic one of Daya and his mother when I visited in November 2019, with the amazing meal that she cooked for me that day. The other photos show me arriving at Colombo Airport to be met by Prabath, who later joined us for our New Year's Eve dinner at Daya's. I have also included a lovely photo of watching the milk boil over at midnight with Daya and his aunt.