Smart Reader Magazine

welcome to smart reader
From the Editor

Contributing Writers

Welcome to 2014! As the editor, I am quite happy to
present first issue of Smart Reader and I’ve had the
pleasure of working on the magazine with other group
members during last few weeks. It’s amazing to see that
even first step has achieved the standard of a magazine in
the market, and I hope you feel exact the same way I do
when reading through the magazine.
All of us like to know about life story of a successful
individual. Issue includes few biographies of local and
international celebrities. Dr. Rajasingham Narendran, a
representative of the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora also joined
with us for an interview to share about his life. I think
reading about one’s life will be an opportunity to collect
more experiences to our life.
You would love to read the travel article written about
Cape Town, South Africa since it includes lot of valuable
information about Cape Town. We also reviewed few
books critically showing a summarized version of inner
content.
We’re also really excited to announce that magazine is
packed with various articles written on different subject
areas. Writers have contributed their best to increase
productivity of the magazine.
We sincerely wish you and yours a wonderful 2014, we
would be very glad to hear you from back. We do welcome
and respect your opinions and suggestions.
Enjoy reading!
Savindra Perera, Editor
savindra.2013042@iit.ac.lk

03

Smart Reader Janunary 2014

During the past six months Tharsan has lived in Colombo
but before, he grew up and studied in Jaffna. He is
studying at IIT. He has contributed to this magazine with
a biography of Abdul Kalam, a book review of Little
Women, a Real Life story and an article on Human Body
Tips.

Kalana Pramod is a Musician, Song writer and Audio
engineer living in Galle, Southern province, Sri Lanka. He
is currently studying for a Software Engineering degree at
Informatics Institute of Technology. He has contributed to
this magazine with a biography and an article about some
interesting scientific facts.

Buddhika is a Foundation student at Informatics Institute
of Technology. Buddhika contributes Smart Reader by a
book review of “The Village by the Sea”, a biography of
Abraham Lincoln and Tips for Real Life

contents
in this issue

biographies
07
08
07
11

Kumar Sangakkara
Abraham Lincoln
Abdul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam
Sanath Jayasuriya

interview
13 Interview with Dr. Rajasingham
Narendran

travel
23 Cape Town
Locations
Things To Do & Activites
Culture & Food
Places to Stay
Shopping

book reviews
29 Understanding Web Development
Interactive Workbook
30 Little Women
32 The Village by the Sea

January 2014 Smart Reader

04

content
in this issue

other
09
12
17
20
27
31

05

Fantastic Things About Your Body
Turning Point of my Life
Impact of Tsunami 2004 on Sri Lanka (Infograph)
Dragon Fruit
Real Life Tips
Did you know?


biography
Cricketer

Kumar Sangakkara

Savindra Perera

o

n 27 October 1977, Kumar
Chokshanada Sangakkara was
born as the youngest in a family of
four in Matale. His parents settled
down in Kandy which is one of the
most scenic cities in Sri Lanka, during
his childhood. Sangakkara studied at
Trinity College, Kandy where he
obtained his primary and secondary
educatiotn.
The family had a good educational
and sports background with his two
sisters Thushari, Saranga, and elder
brother Vemindra, all receiving
national level achievements in their
school-life. Sangakkara also started
playing a number of sports like
badminton, tennis, swimming, table
tennis and cricket with the encouragement of his father who is also a
keen sportsman. He achieved national colours for badminton at a very
younger age.
Because of these exceptional
sporting skills of Kumar, the Principal
of Trinity College, Leonard de Alwis

07


advised him to concentrate on
cricket. He started his cricketing
career representing his school’s
under-13 cricket XI team. He was
awarded the Trinity Lion prize for his
excellent batting and wicket keeping
skills in the season 1996, at the age
of 19.
Kumar’s higher education was
disrupted by his cricket career.
Following his father’s footsteps,
Kumar enrolled at the University of
Colombo to study for a Bachelor’s
degree in Law. However, he was
unable to complete his degree as he
was selected for the Sri Lanka A tour
to South Africa. Hectic tour schedules
left him insufficient time for his
personal studies.
In the early career, Kumar made
his Test debut in year 2000 against
South Africa at the age of 20. He
received his first Man of Match
award in the 2nd match of the South
African series in the same year for
scoring 85 runs. Kumar scored his
first century in the match against
India in 2001. He made an innings of
105 not out at that match. In 2002,
he scored his double century against
Pakistan at the 2nd Asian Test Championship final.
In the tour of Sri Lanka against
Bangladesh, Kumar was appointed
Vice Captain since regular captain
Marvan Atapattu was injured;
Mahela
Jayawardene
became
captain of Sri Lankan team. During his
time as Vice-Captain, in July 2006,
Kumar made his highest test score
to-date (287) against South Africa
with a record breaking partnership
with Mahela Jayawardene. In February 2009, Sangakkara succeeded
Jayawardene as Sri Lanka’s captain.
Kumar is married to Yehali, his

longtime partner and he is a father of
two children – Swyree and Kavith.
Kumar was the youngest person
and first current international player
to deliver the MCC (Marylebone
Cricket Club) Spirit of Cricket
Cowdrey Lecture at Lords. It was
widely praised by the cricket communities.

Currently Sangakkara continues his
cricketing career as a post-captain to
national team. He regularly played in
all seasons of Indian premier league
during the last five years. He is an
iconic player of the Sri Lanka Premier
League which was officially started in
2012. Lately he participated in the
Carribbean Premier League too.
In addition to cricket, Kumar
involved in a number of charities in
Sri Lanka. He is a member of ICC and
UNICEF. He is a commercial actor too;
he is sponsored by many local and
international brands such as Anlene,
Nations Trust Bank, Airtel, Touchwood, Coca-Cola and Viva. He still
looks forward to completing his law
degree after his retirement as a
professional cricketer.
Sangakkara’s sports personality is
well molded by his education; he is
very disciplined and an inspiring
gentleman to entire world.

biography
President

Abraham Lincoln
Buddhika Sandanuwan

A

braham Lincoln was born on February 12 1809, in a
one room log cabin in Kentucky to Thomas Lincoln
and Nancy Lincoln. He was the second child of
the Lincoln family. Thomas was a rich
person in the country at that time. He
owned lots of horses, live stocks
and two 240 hectares of
farmland but in 1816 he lost
his all lands due to a court
cases. After the court
cases Lincoln’s family
moved to Indiana. In
1818, when Lincoln
was nine years old
his mother passed
away due to milk
sickness. Until his
father remarried
in 1819 his older
sister Sarah took
care of Lincoln.
Lincoln went to
school for less
than a year

“Better to
remain silent
and be
thought a fool
than to speak
out and remove
all doubt”
When he was 17 years
old he dreamed of being a
lawyer. He worked as a labourer
in a farm when he was 21 years old.
He worked as a shopkeeper, postmaster, and surveyor. While he was doing all
these jobs he tried to improve his skills to help
him when he became a lawyer. He spend many sleepless
nights on his law studies. In 1836 he became a lawyer.

“I am a slow walker, but I never walk
back.”
Abraham Lincoln was a cleaver debater and a good
public speaker. One month after Lincoln took
oﬃce the Civil War began in South
Carolina on April 12 1861. On
November 6 1860 Abraham
Lincoln was elected as the 16th
president of the United
States. He was able to
maintain the “Union” Of
states. He got support
from an army from
northern states. The
war lasted four
years and more
than
600,000
Americans died.
While the Civil
War
he
managed the
country together. In April
1865, the south
army defeated
and war ended
on
April
9
1865.He issued
the Emancipation Proclamation
on
September
1862. Emancipation
Proclamation freed
the slaves in all Southern states .

“Am I not destroying my enemies
when I make friends of
them?”
On April 11 1865, Abraham Lincoln was
killed by John Wilkes Booth.


08

Fantastic things about

your body
1. In one square inch of skin there
are four yards nerve ﬁbers, 1300
nerve cells, 100 sweat glands, 3
million cells, and 3 yards of blood
vessels.

new layer of mucus every two
weeks. Other wise it will digest it
self. In fact our bodies are reacting
them selves constantly we make an
entire skeleton every three months
and new skin every month.

2. Food will get to your body comes
equipped with a tiny muscle that
can make it stand upright.

7. Your ears and nose will never stop
growing for as long as you live.

3. Each hair on your body comes
equipped with a tiny muscle that
can make it stand upright.

8. Every square inch of the human
body has an average of 32 million
bacteria on it.

4. Although your bones are hard,
inside they are, infact, light and
spongy.

9. Messages travel along the nerves
as electrical impulses. They travel at
speeds up to 248 mile per hour.

5. The surface area of your lungs is
approximately the same size as a
tennis court.

10. Including your bran cell,
50000000 of the cells in your body
will have died and been replaced
with others, all while you have been
reading this sentence.

6. Your stomach has to produce a

09


biography
scientist & President

Abdul Pakir Jainulabdeen Abdul Kalam
Establishment of Defence Research and Development
Organization (DRDO) as a scientific. He designed a small
helicopter first for the Indian army.

“Is not what you see in sleep, Is the
thing which does not let go you sleep”
In 1963, he visited NASA’s Langley Research Center in
Hampton Virginia. He was the Chief Scientific Adviser to
the Prime Minster and the secretary of Defence Research
and Development Organization.
In 1998, Kalam and Cardiologist Dr. Samar Raju Developed a coronary stent. It was named “Kalam – Raju stent “
to honour them. Kalam is known as missile man of India,
because he worked with ballistic missile and launch
vehicle technology. He is a vegetarian and a teetotaler. His
interests are writing Tamil poetry and playing veenai.
In 2002 to Kalam became the president of India. He
defeated Luximi Sahagal and became the 11th president of
India. He served from 25th July 2002 to 25th July 2007 as a
president. He received “Padma Bhushan” award in 1981
from the Government of India and an Honorary Doctorate
of Science award in 2007 from University of Wolverhampton, UK he was awarded a Doctorate of Engineering. He
wrote “India 2020”.

Tharshan Siva

D

r. A.P.J Abdul Kalam is a scientist and a former
President of India. He was born on 15th October 1931
at Dhanushkodi Rameswaram in India. His father's name
was Jainulabdeen and he was a boat owner. His mother’s
name was Ashiamma and she was a housewife. He comes
from a poor background in a Tamil-Muslim family. He
started working at an early age. He delivered newspapers
to houses to earn money.
He was a hardworking student in his school life. He had
his primary education at Rameswaram Elementary school.
After that he continued his studies at Saint Joseph's
College in Tiruchirappalli. He studied at the University of
Madras, Institute of Technology and graduated in physics
in 1954.
In 1955 he studied aerospace engineering. His dearest
dream was to become a fighter pilot. After finishing his
education in 1960. He joined Aeronautical Development

He served as a scientist, author, president and a professor
for his country and the world.


10

biography
Cricketer

Sanath Jayasuriya

Kalana Pramod

s

anath Jayasuriya is an internationally respected and
well renowned cricketer from Sri Lanka. He was born
on 30th June, 1969 in Matara, Sri Lanka. He studied at St.
Servatius College, Matara.
Sanath started to play cricket there and gradually he
came up and showed his talents at school level. During
this time he won many awards and got the chance to
represent Sri Lanka in the inaugural ICC Under-19 Cricket
World Cup which was held in Australia in 1988. Shortly
afterwards he was selected into the Sri Lankan National
side for the tour to Australia. He made his One Day
International debut against Australia at Melbourne in
1989.
He played his ﬁrst Test match against New Zealand at
Hamilton in February 1991. Sanath Jayasuriya was a left
handed batsman and a slow left arm orthodox bowler. He
has scored almost 7000 runs in test matches at an average

11


of 40, His highest test score is 340 against India. In one
day internationals, he scored more than 13000 runs in 445
matches. He scored 14 test match hundreds and 28 one
day international hundreds during his career.
Sanath played as an opening batsman for Sri Lanka. He
revolutionized the one day international batting style with
his aggressive tactics during the 1996 World Cup and
those tactics helped Sri Lanka to win the 1996 World Cup.
Jayasuriya was adjudged the Most Valuable Player of the
tournament. He was a match winning cricketer. He also
served as the captain of the Sri Lanka team. He retired
from test cricket in December 2007 and from limited overs
cricket in June 2011.
Later he appointed as Chairman of the cricket selecting
committee and was also elected to Parliament from the
Matara District.

real life story
motivation

Turning Point of My Life

Tharshan Siva

T

he room was crowded with students like me, who
had no clue about what this orientation program is
going to be about. Every one round me were totally diﬀerent for what them to be. I started to fear myself in the
room. There were questions in my mind about life. Some
were about how my studies at in IIT would be for 4 years
and how will it make my life better or worst.
Throughout the orientation program, I learned from the
lecturers and senior students about how the environment
in IIT is all this things Started to circulate in my mind made
me fear that IIT will not be a suitable place for me. On the
other hand thoughts about my school friends added fear
to my life, they were in aboard in good universities and I
was not these things in my mind started to made me hate

my life and everything I was doing .
A second later a
young man walked
into the hall, he
brought his attention with him and
the hall became
silence. He was a
past Student of IIT,
but now he is one
of the best an
young
Entrepreneur in Sri Lanka.
He aimed to speak
on a topic call
“Make it happen”
not even 30 minute
passed on that
session he made
me realise, who am
I and what I want to
be. He shared his
life experience with
us which resembled my life. His
famous quote says
that “what you
think is what we
do” the more
powerful you focus on one thing that is the way we can
enforce our wants in life. This was the last, program in
orientation and his speech was so powerful enough to
trigger a positive thought among us.
That day was the turning point in my life were I started
to think my life in a new path. What ever happen to me in
the past were made me to think that there is always a
reason for what is happening to you now. There are always
walls that stop you progress in life, so making your way
through that wall will make you the best gentleman or the
succession life.
All these things just happen in 2 hour of my life, so like
this only many peoples life, so like this only many people
life change in to success full life just in seconds but until
then the best things is to work hard in life and never given
up.


12

interview
exclusive

Interview with Dr. Rajasingham Narendran
What are your interesting childhood memories?
I think the most outstanding memory I have is of the 1958
riots, where we were almost about to be attack in Kurunagala. It was the bravery of my father that saved the
situation for us.
Where did you have your higher education?
I finished my degree at the University of Peradeniya and
thereafter I completed my Master’s and PhD at the
University of Guelph in Canada.
What jobs did you have?
I had several jobs. I started off as an academic at Peradeniya University and continued teaching at the University of
Guelph, Canada and King Faizal University in Saudi Arabia
from 1970 – 1980. In 1988 I joined the private sector and
I have been managing various industries.

A Veterinarian, A Senior Executive in the
Food Industry in Saudi Arabia
When & where were you born?
I was born in Colombo, in 1946
Tell us about your family
My family has a long history, at least going back in my
memory four generation. My great grandfather was an entrepreneur in Malaysia, my
grandfather was an agriculture graduate,
one of the first graduates in agriculture at
the time, and my father was also a graduate
in history. We have been a family interested
in music literature and philosophy.
Tell us about your school
I have been altogether to eleven schools. I
started at Saiva Manghayar Kalaham (Hindu
Ladies College) at Kindergarten, finished my
A/L at Colombo Hindu College and in between I have
attended many schools in Kurunegala, Badulla, Jaffna etc.
Who was your favorite teacher?
I will think that I had a lot of good teachers, but if I had to
name someone, it will be my favorite principle Mr.
Ambalavaanar at Colombo Hindu College.

13


What is your favorite food?
I have no particular favorite food but anything new
provides me adventure.
Do you like western food?
I like any food that is tasty and interesting.
Do you enjoy cooking?
At one time ‘yes’, but now I would avoid cooking if I can.
Is there a certain cooking technique?
No, I like to innovate while cooking.
What is your role as a manufacturing
Units Manager at Almatrood Group of
Companies?
It was managing various companies; a
dairy farm, bakery, water bottling plant,
carbonated drink plant, Coca Cola plant
and a dairy manufacturing unit. It was a
wide ranging experience which permitted me to learn a lot and allowed me to
implement what I have done.
Tell me about your company, when was your company
founded?
That was one of the oldest companies in Saudi Arabia. It
was a pioneer in dairy farming and in industrial baking. If I
remember right, it was started in the 1960s as a pioneer-

interview
exclusive

ing enterprise and has since grown in leaps and bounds.
How do you feel working in Saudi Arabia?
Excellent! I think the best memories of my life are in Saudi
Arabia, especially with regard to the working environment
where I was given the chance to what I had to do with very
little interference.
Why don’t you work in Sri Lanka?
Because I was not let to work, because of the 1977 riots, in
which I was a victim, I had to leave the country as a pauper
and seek a working environment elsewhere.
As a Tamil Diaspora representative, how do you see Sri
Lanka after the civil war?
Much has improved. I think with regard to development
and infrastructure and other facilities we are better off

than we were in the last 60 years. However there are
human aspects extended to the large, extensive number
of widows plus those who have been injured in the war,
mentally affected and incapacitated, they have not been
paid sufficient attention. Further the government has not
paid much attention to solving problem that caused the
war.
Any memories that you like to share during war time in
Sri Lanka?
I myself was a victim. I have lost my mother and brother
who were killed by IPKF (Indian Peace Keeping Force) and
I’ve my self-seen the effects of war all around me as it
developed and then how it ended. I saw the tragedy, it was
too many people.


14

interview
exclusive

What are your hidden talents?
I think that I have discovered all my
talent at this age. I think that my
main talent has been management
and I am able to manage thing quite
well; even in strange areas I can very
quickly grasp and manage situations.
Do you have any pets? Tell us about
them
Yes, I love dogs. As a child I had a
whole zoo of pets, I had parrots,
rabbits, squirrel, fish, dogs and all
sorts of animals. Now I limit myself to
dogs.
What kind of music do you like?
I like classical music in any form
whether it is vocal or instrumental
but because of my cultural
background my particular affinity is
towards Karnatic music.

Anything else you would like to
share?
This is a message not only to you but
to all other young people, learn
about other cultures, learn about
what is happening in the world,
understand it and also make an effort
to understand your own culture and
value it. It’s a very rich culture, and it
is not only Tamil culture I am
referring to, but also Sinhala culture
(it goes very far back and is a much
evolved culture) and take a pride in it.
Learn Tamil literature and learn our
history in the proper way. Appreciate
what the world is and understand
what your role is not only in Sri Lanka
but in the world.

Tell me about your contribution in
culture
My contribution in culture has been
trying to live as a Tamil as much as I
can.
Do you do any charity or nonprofit
work?
I have helped those who were needy,
but in a private capacity. There is
nothing organized, I prefer to help
people help themselves.
Who would you like to thank for
helping you to get here?
Everyone who has played a role in my
life. It is a tradition that has come
down in my family. My parents, my
uncles, my teachers and lots of
friends who have had an influence,
plus legendary figures such as Rama
in Ramayana, Arjuna in Mahabharata
and Swami Vivekananda.

15


Dr. Rajasingham Narendran during the interview.

impact of tsun

nust fo tcapmi

On Sunday December 26th, 2012 an earthquake
of 9.0 magnitude at Coast of Sumatra triggered
a Tsunami hitting the coastal area of Sri Lanka
facing Sumatra leaving thousands of dead and
many more homeless.The Tsunami was one of
the worst disaster ever recorded in Sri Lankan
history.

India

Jaffna

N

Kilinochichi

Mulativu
Affected

Mannar
Wavuniya

Not Affected

Trincomalee

Anuradhapura
Polonnaruwa
Puttalam

Batticaloa

Kurunegala

Matale
Kandy

Kegalle

Gampaha

Badulla

Nuwara Eliya Moneragala

Colombo
Kalutara

Ampara

Ratnapura
Galle

Matara

Hambantota

DS Divisions of Sri Lanka affected by
Tsunami 2004

TSUNAMI
WAVES

nami 2004 on sri lanka

aknal irs no 4002 iman
Earthquake

Magnitude

origin

Travelling speed

<<<1 KM/SEC

The First was the most
powerful earthquake recorded.

9.0
7.3
5.9

Indonesia

1st

The epicenter of the 9.0 magnitude
quake was under the Indian Ocean near
the west coast of the Indonesian
island of Sumatra.

5.8

2nd

3rd

6.0
4th

...

Earthquake propagated to the north at an
extremely slow speed and on average for
the entire 1300-km-long segment along
the northern Sumatra-Nicobar-Andaman
Trench.

Fault Line

10th

Epicenter

About 84 aftershocks with magnitudes
5.0 to 7.0 occured since the ﬁrst quake.

Focus

the tsunami
tsunami height

Travelling speed

300 MILES/HOUR

33 FEET

Tsunami was recorded to have traveled
375 miles (600 km) in
approximatley 75 minutes.

Height of Tsunami

ACTUAL HEIGHT

surface energy

There was 10 m (33 ft) movement
laterally and 4–5 m (13–16 ft)
vertically along the fault line.

Surface Energy released, was estimated at
1.1×1017 joules or 26 megatons of TNT.

14 Districts of the coastal belt were
severly affected,
Jaffna
Trincomalee
Ampara
Matara
Kalutara
were among them.

Mulativu
Batticaloa
Hambantota
Galle
Colombo

Energy is equivalent to over 1500 times
that of the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

Damage & Effects

Casualities

90,000

Deaths

32,000

Fully Damaged Houses.

$ Estimated

economic loss

1,454

Injured

15,000

27,000

Million US Dollars
Partially Damaged Houses.

Missing

6,000

districts affected

According to Asian Disaster
Preparedness Center,
Damage - 1144 Million USD
Loss - 310 Million USD

= 2000 People

= 9,000 Houses

Designed by Savindra Perera

about a fruit
fruit

Dragon Fruit

Tharshan Siva

D

ragon Fruit, a fitting name for this exotic fruit finds its
origins in South and Central America. However, the
fruit is grown commercially in many Asian countries such
as Cambodia and Thailand and in recent times in Sri Lanka
as well.
In Sri Lanka, Dragon fruit can be cultivated in the low
country wet zone, intermediate zone and the dry zone. A
member of the cactus family, the plant can prevail the dry
climes of irrigated lands. Amongst the places of the dry
zone that cultivate Dragon Fruit is the Na Sevana farm in
Meegahajadura, Sooriyawewa.
The plant are tethered to a support, in this instance
concrete columns are preferred for their durability over
wooden once, as the plants can be sustained for as long as

40 years. Each column can support two or four plants,
where the former arrangement is found to be more
fruitful in cultivation. Cascade over to all sides, which is
further believed to facilitate yielding of fruit. While the
fruits arise from the newly pruned branches the plants are
trimmed to a manageable height for ease of harvesting.
An individual fruit that springs from the flower, can weight
up to 500 grams and is usually sold at 550 rupees a kilo in
the market.
During the time of harvesting the plants look bejewelled with the crimson fruits that appear forbidding,
complete with a touch of the exotic that can be attributed
to its intense shape and colour. These ripened fruits are
plucked while the tips of the scales are green and in time
turn red when they reach the markets in Colombo. While
the fruit still remains a luxury consumer good in Sri Lanka,


20

about a fruit
fruit

where production remains at a small scale, with the growing interest due in part to its health benefits, commercial
cultivation is on the rise. It is believed that Dragon Fruit
packs a punch where health benefits are concerned
particularly for its remedial effects on diabetes for which it
has earned repute amongst consumers.
Benefits aside, the fruit does offer mouthfuls of goodness. Slice into it and inside is a rich velvety surprise.
Of the three varieties; red-skinned with white flesh, red
skinned with red flesh and yellow-skinned variety. Dip a
spoon into the luxuriant core and discover a sweet and
mellow flavour that belies its exterior. The soft texture is
delightfully peppered with the gentle crunch of the fruit's
tiny seeds. Each bite is a thirst quencher with water being

21


the fruit's major constituent.
The fruits grown in the dry zone are markedly sweeter
for its higher sugar content and all the more enjoyable.
The red-core variety though no different in taste to the
white, is however more popular and one could imagine
why at a glance as its rich colour is in a word,irresistible.
While fruits are best enjoyed in its fresh and raw from,
Dragon Fruit can be utilised in a variety of preparations,
such as jam, ice cream, jelly and fruit juice.
The Dragon Fruit plant can even be housed as an
ornamental plant. Regardless of its alternative uses,
there's nothing like relishing its smooth velvety textured,
subtle sweetness!

Travel
Locations

Cape Town (Good looking, fun loving, sporty and sociable)

The mother city of South Africa occupies one of the
world’s most stunning locations, with an iconic mountain
call Table Mountain. Cape Town is located at the northern
end of a peninsula that joins into the Atlantic Ocean on
the southwest tip of southern Africa. It is surrounded with
beautiful beaches to do sun-bathing and vineyards, the
unique ﬂora coating on the table mountain highlights its
wilderness and that grabs everyone’s attention.

century and the slaves they brought there shaped the
city’s physical environment building a national park that
covers some region in the peninsula. This is also known as
city’s adventurous playground. It is named as Hoerikwaggo which means ‘Mountain in the Sea’.
The natural beauty of Table Mountains, eye-catching
design and colour from brightly painted facades of
Bo-Kaap and the Victorian bathing chalets of Muizenberg
are some of visitor’s top attractions. There are excellent
guesthouses, restaurants and bars in the city Cape Town.
The city is packed with galleries displaying amazing
artworks and shop selling valuable local craftwork. The
creativity of arts and crafts is a result of unity among
multi-ethnic population.

Top places to visit in Cape town

The Khoisan people were the former citizens in the land
and they valued the spiritual power of mountains and the
water in the land. Then Dutch get settled in the 17th

23


Table Mountain
Victoria and Alfred Waterfront
Robben Island
Bo-Kaap
Winelands of Cape Town
Ratanga Junction
Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens

travel
things to do & activities

Things to Do
Capetown doesn’t limited to one
or two kind of activities. It has big
variety of activities to do.

Hoerikwaggo Trail is the one of
most famous activity among the cape
town visitors. Hoerikwaggo Trail is a
hiking tour of 6 days and 4 nights
from cape town to cape point.
Hoerikwaggo Trail is 80Km hiking
tour though table mountain of SA.
You can swim with The African
Penguins (Jackass Sphensicus demersus) at the Boulders Beach in Simon's
Town of Cape city. Swimming with
African penguins is an unforgettable
experience to most tourists. There
are only only 28 places where

penguins are found in the whole
world.

There is a cable car service called
Flying Dutchman. Flying Dutchman is
a cable-drawn railway from Cape
Town to Cape Point. It is the fastest
and most comfortable way to travel
to the top of the Cape Point. It takes
only 3 minutes to whole journey.
While you travailing cape town
with your kid you can give them
unforgettable experiences. Real life
games than playing ordinary computer games. Children can play real life
games out side the computers. They
can get experienced to work as a
team at Area 51 | Imhoff Farm |

Kommetjie Road (M65) | Kommetjie.
Next to paint ball ground you can
take your kids for a camel ride at
Imhoff Farm. There is a Go-karting
arena at Kenilworth Karting This is an
activity for older children. They can
race with their friends. Every kid like
adventure activities.

At Waterfront Harbour kids can
have an unforgettable experience by
enjoy a live pirate show out on the
open water. You can fly in your
private helicopter over the Cape’s
winelands. A helicopter tour will cost
from R15 300 for a three seater, R20
400 for a four seater and R30 600 for
a six seater.

Activities
You can learn kite surfing at Cape Town. Kite
surfing starts in the late 1990s in the Cape
Town. Cape town is one of most famous place
for Kite surfing.
At CityROCK climbing gym you can do some
adventures. CityROCK is an indoor climbing
gym With hundreds of routes, overhanging
climbing sections and over 450m² of climbing
area.
If you are searching for different kind of thrill.
Skating without water or snow on soft sand.
Sand-boarding in soft white sand gives you a
unforgettable experience. You can Sand-boarding at Gary's Sandboarding Cape Town.


24

Travel
culture & food

Culture

South Africa is often referred to as the “Rainbow
Nation” because of the vast array of ethnically diverse
cultures. Cape Town is a cosmopolitan and vibrant city
home to Xhosa Africans, Malays, Indians, Coloureds,
Whites, Chinese and Jews. The streets of Cape Town are
abuzz with people of all races and religions and the
infrastructure.
While new year always arrives with a big bang in the
Mother City, it’s the Cape Minstrel Carnival, known as
Tweede Nuwe Jaar (second new year), that gives the
celebration its local colour. It is the Cape Town’s
longest-running street party, tracing back to old slave
traditions during the days of the Cape Colony.
The many museums and monuments trace Cape Town’s

heritage from slavery to maritime warfare, apartheid and
democracy. Museum Meander takes you around the city
center on foot and includes most of the museums under
the Iziko Museums banner.
Township tours to the heart of Cape Town’s informal
settlements such as Khayelitsha, Gugulethu and Kayamandi are popular with visitors. Experience authentic local
culture by going on a special interest tour such as a jazz
safari, offered by various operators, where you journey
through Cape Town's jazz scene for a day.
Cape Town is a hub for artists and designers. There are
several art galleries focusing on a variety of art forms,
while some artists’ homes are now open museums.

Cape Town Minstrel Carnival

Food
The range and inspiration of Cape
Town cuisine is diverse and exciting –
a never-ending landscape for foodies
to explore. Inexpensive fast foods are
available in many city lunch spots and
fresh produce markets.
Traditional African Cuisine - Corn
and maize have
long been the
basis of African
cuisine.
Dried
maize
kernels
are ground finely
into maize-meal
and used for
everything from

25


sour-milk porridge to dumplings and
mieliepap (stiff maize porridge).
Meat is a staple too and is best
cooked over the fire.
Afrikaans Traditional Cooking - The
Afrikaner
palette borrows
from
the
heritage
of
Dutch cuisine,
with contributions
from
French
and
German immigrant communities and the Cape
Malay population.

Cape Malay Cuisine - Cape Malay
cuisine
was
born of the
cookery
that
Middle Eastern
slaves brought
to the Cape
hundreds
of
years ago. Cape
Malay cuisine is
typically spicy
but can be sweetly aromatic.

travel
places to stay and shopping

Places to Stay
Though selecting a better place to stay in Cape Town is
hard, but there are various places to stay depending on
visitor’s needs and requirements. The fact is that Cape
Town is crowded with visitors in most time of the year. It
is advisable to find secure parking for vehicles too.

Top 5 Sleeps
Backpackers – Backpack
Guesthouse – An African villa
Luxury hotel – Vineyard hotel and Spa
Boutique hotel – Alta Bay
Self-catering – Daddy long legs

Shopping

Cape Town consists of a countless
number of shopping malls and
markets with a wide variety of goods
such as hand-crafted jewelries,
intricate bead work, African carvings,
clothes,
antiques,
ceramics,
diamonds and precious stones etc. It
is the best place for jewelry as the
most talented goldsmiths and jewelry designers live in Cape Town and
you can buy them for a fair price. We
can say that Cape Town is the ideal
place for Shopping in South Africa.
You can buy whatever you wish in the
shopping malls.
There are indoor and outdoor
shopping malls which are each have
a unique atmosphere. Almost every
shopping mall contains an ATM and
will accept your international credit

card and travelers cheques to make
your shopping easy. The malls have
other facilities such as restaurants,
coffee shops, movie theaters,
parking areas and banking facilities.
The shopping malls are open
Monday through Saturday from 9am
to 5pm and on Sundays from 10am
to 1pm.
Some of the main popular shopping
malls are,
1.Victoria and Alfred WaterfrontWaterfront
2. Cavendish Square - Claremont,
Southern Suburbs
3. Canal Walk. - N1, outside the City
Center
4. Bay Side Center
5. Cape Quarter
6.Blue Route Mall

areas; Hout Bay, Constantia, Kristenbosch and Rondebosch. In Green
Market Square, you can find African
carvings, masks, arums, beadwork
and jewelry, clothes, leather work
and ceramics. Here all the items are
generally well priced but at some
stores you can bargain. The Red Shed
Craft Market Workshop and the
Waterfront Craft Market are indoor
markets for clothing, jewelry and an
array of crafts and art work and it is
open 7 days a week. The Kalk Bay is
well known for antiques and memorabilia. Cape Quarter is furnished
with art and artifacts, fashion,
beauty, health and lifestyle related
stores.
The shopping in Cape Town
provides an unforgettable experience and memories.

Some popular open-air and craft
markets
1. Green Market Square
2. The Red Shed
3. Green Point Market
The open-air craft markets are
mainly held on weekends in different

"YOU CAN SHOP TILL YOU DROP"


26

real life tips
tips & tricks

Tips for the Real Life
Buddhika Sandanuwan
Change a Tyre

Knowing how to change the tyre is a important
thing when driving a motor vehicle. Before raise
the jack you should loos all nuts .(Because if you
try to loos nuts after raise the jack tyre may
move) Don't take them all the way oﬀ just break
the resistance. After loos all nuts raise the jack
and remove nuts. When place the new tyre.
Tighten the nuts by hand until they are all snug.
Then slowly lower the jack. Now fully tighten nuts using a star pattern.

Wax a Car

Place the car in a shelter or waxing after Sunset is most suitable. After cleaned
the car by washing then dry it. Then apply wax using a round pattern and
leave it few minutes until wax become a thin layer. Then using a piece of
micro ﬁber cloth polish the car's body using a round pattern.

Connect a Trailer

Connect vehicle with the trailer and make sure
coupler connected properly. Run the safety
chains under the tongue so they cross one
another. This keeps the trailer tongue from
hitting the ground if it accidentally comes
loose from the hitch while moving.

Jump Start a Car

You can start a car with a dead battery using a another car's battery. First connect the red
jump cable with both positive (+) terminals of two batteries. Next connect the black cable
with negative (-) terminal of good battery don't connect the other end of black cable with
dead battery’s negative (-) terminal ,connect other end of black cable with a metal part of
dead car(Engine Block). Then start the car with good battery and leave engine working
about 10 minutes. Then try to start the dead car. To remove cables,do all these steps in
the reverse order.

27


real life tips
tips & tricks

Remove a Blood Stain

Basically wash tightly using normal cold water. If its not working using paper towel bold the blood
don't let spread blood. Then mix little amount of salt (a table spoon) with cold water and put the
stained part of the cloth into water and soak until stain removed. If all previous steps are useless.
Wash the cloth with a ammonia mix(don't wash silk cloths using ammonia). Final solution you can do
washing with hydrogen peroxide. Then wash with cold water. Make sure cloth doesn't get dried until
blood stain removes.

Fell Down a Tree

First make sure the area is clear to fell the tree. Then using rope tie the tree with
another tree to the direction of fall. Cut the tree horizontally(horizontal cut
should be at least 1/3 of the tree’s diameter) from the side of falling direction
of the tree. After that do a 45 degree “V” shape notch cut . Now make a
horizontal cut the opposite side of the tree. As soon as tree starts to moving
move far away from the tree for your own safety.

Place Ladder Safely

Before stepping on the ladder, check that it's set at the correct angle, 75 to 78 degrees. Stand with the toes
of your work boots against the ladder's base and extend your arms horizontally. The ladder is at a safe angle
when you can just grasp the rung at shoulder level with arms fully extended.

Most of people apply butter on burn blisters but it is a wrong remedy. In a minor burn you
should hold burn to running water until pain fades. After it cooled apply a suitable medicine. If
the burn little bit high wash with soap mix cold water before apply medicines. If burn is too
major immediately go to a hospital .

First Aid for a Burn


28

book review
non-fiction

Understanding Web Development Interactive Workbook
Savindra Perera

U

nderstanding Web development
is a book which gives ground
knowledge about Web design and
Web development. This book
provides a good start for beginners to
understand basic procedures in
World Wide Web and knowledge
about publishing content on internet.
Author Hubbell, is well experienced
with Internet related components as
she has been involved with Web
Design field over decades.
Since this book is written in
the late 90’s, the content is based on
the latest web technology during
that period. The book covers major
areas in HTML formatting, UNIX
web-server environment and Web
site management. It is packed with
simple explanations and techniques

29


for essential web design and development from HTML to basic site
security. Further, Hubbell discusses
about basics in server-side scripting
and some security measures. Therefore this book is a good start for
people who are just going to start
their web career.
Hubbell has written in a way that
readers can use the book as a learning and teaching tool about web
design. The language which she has
used throughout the book is very
simple and easily understandable.
She has clearly described the technical terms giving the chance for everyone to refer book effectively. The
book includes exercises letting the
reader to assess their knowledge
after reading a particular subject
area. I myself find this very useful as
there are model
answers also included in the book.
Hubbell
has
categorized
the
content under 11
chapters. In the first
few chapters, she
tries to give a brief
understanding about
how
a
server
functions. It is quite
necessary to have an
idea about how a
server works before
learning how to
control a server
through coding. In
the HTML coding
chapters,
Hubbell
has included the
screenshots of end
results, once a code
is rendered in a
server. I find this rare

Book Overview
Author – Arlyn Hubbell
Pages – 273 Pages
Publication Date – 15/12/1999
ISBN – 0-13-025844-X

in programming books because most
of them have only pages of source
code with a few screenshots. As I
mentioned earlier, at the end of each
chapter there is a lab exercise which
includes questions relevant to the
material covered in the chapter.
Answers are also given and
explained in detail and it helps reader
to expand his scope of knowledge.
I find this book very valuable
for new comers to the field of web
design and development. Because,
this book gives the foundation knowledge to start a successful web career.
Before I start reading this
book, I had a fairly good knowledge
about web related components.
Therefore I felt most of the information in the book were too basic for
me. Some of the HTML elements
discussed in the book are now rarely
used in practice because this was
written about 14 years ago and web
design and development is one of
fast-growing and rapidly changing
field.
But I would like to recommend this book for beginners who
like to learn about web design and
technology from the level of zero.
I give a rating of 4.5 out of 5
stars for this book.

book review
fiction

Little Women
terribly shy girl, whose spirit is bright and loving.
The youngest, though, is Amy, who tries to be graceful
and womanly while at the same time is nothing but a silly
girl who cares too much about the shape of her nose and
her greed of more money. As time goes by, relationships
grow between the Marches and their neighbors and
friends, and eventually the sisters start new lives as wives
and even mothers. Through it all, the sisters learn many
valuable lessons that will change their lives forever. This
story is about the childhood games, whims and lessons of
the four young girls into becoming young women.
This is one of my favorite books. I couldn’t think of
anything to improve it. I like Little Women just the way it
is.

Book Overview
Book Overview

Author – Louisa May Alcott
Pages – 564 Pages
Publication Date – 1868 (1st volume)
1869 (2nd volume)
ISBN-10 – 0679861750
Genre – Coming of Age

Tharshan Siva

L

ittle Women, I was interested in a modern retelling of
the story. The Little Women does not disappoint.Little
Women is a sweet, pure story about four sisters: Meg, Jo,
Beth and Amy, growing up during and after the Civil War.
I’ll rate Little Women 4.5 out of 5 because the characters are loveable and the story is full of all sorts of twists.
The sisters face love and sadness and always come
through smiling in the end.
The story begins when the sisters are living at home
with their mother while their father is at war. My favorite
character of the story was Meg, the oldest at sixteen,because she is friendly and she is very pretty, proper, and
somewhat old fashioned. She is the most responsible and
also helps in running the household work while her
mother is away.
While Jo, a tomboy, just a year younger, is dying to ﬁght
alongside her father while she still loves writing stories
and plays. Beth is next in line, a quiet, peaceful and

Two-volume Roberts Brothers printing, from the early
1870s


30

No matter how scrambled a Rubik’s cube is, it
can be solved in twenty
moves or less

The brain
uses over
a quarter
of the
oxygen used by the human
body.

Adult lungs have a
surface area of
around 70 square
metres!

In English, the
name of every
number shares a
letter with each
neighbor. “One”
shares “O” with “Two”, which shares a “T” with
“Three”, which shares an “R” with “Four”, which
shares an “F” with “Five”, which shares an “I” with
“Six”- and so on indeﬁnitely.

31


A lack of friends carries a
higher risk of death than
obesity and is the equivalent
health risk of smoking 15
cigarettes a day.

Most Southern U.S. English
speakers make no phonic distinction between “pen” and “pin”
and this is one of the most widely
recognized features of southern
speech today.

A woman named Veronica
Seider had 20 times better
vision than average. She
could identify people
more than a mile (1.6km)
away.

book review
fiction

The Village by the Sea
Buddhika Sandanuwan

1

3 years old Lila and her 12 years old brother Hari are
taking care of their little two younger sisters Bela and
Kamal and their bedridden mother. Their father is a drunkard and he doesn't care about the family. Every penny he
earns is wasted on buying alcohol.

Book Overview
Author – Anita Desai
Pages – 156 Pages (first edition)
Publication Date – 1982
ISBN – 0-434-93436-4
Through this story Anita Desai tells about a poor family
and describes the situation in a poor Indian fishing village.
The story moves forward slowly and clearly shows about
the cultural background and how a poor family tries to
survive
This book is a good book for children and young people
to read, because it shows how the two main characters,
the children Hari and Lila try to survive the family.
I give this book a 5 star rating

Hari and Lila have to earn money to look after Bela and
Kamal. Hari left the others and runs away to Bombay to
find a job. Then Lila has to take care of the family. After
Hari returns from Bombay the future of the family seems
to become brighter.
This poor Indian family lives in a small fishing village
called Thul.

Anita Desai

32

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