Travel / Lifestyle

The dreamy Penthouse Club Island Resort

by Elmo Leonard

From the dawn of time islands have captivated the imagination of mankind, and this phenomenon of land surrounded by water, will abide as part of the romance of man, in spite of human development. Modern tourism maximises on this human liking, selling islands as a product, to the visitor.

Tourism has noted that even children exhibit inbuilt human longing towards islands and this is underscored by the popularity of tales, as Robinson Crusoe, Treasure Island and the Sinhala novel, Madol Duwa. Even the islet like the unnamed little plot of land surrounded by the Kandy lake captivates the imagination of standers, outside it, and tourists are ferried to it every day.

Tourism revelling on the charm of the island is vivid and close at hand, in our neighbourhood, the Maldivian archipelago. There, with little more than sun and sand as the natural resource, this destination has been transformed into a high-value tourism spot.

There are many islands around our sea shores and more surrounded by fresh water, to be exploited for our tourist industry. Club Penthouse Island Resort, Bolgoda, 20 miles south of Colombo, is going commercial, capitalising on the splendour of the Bolgoda lake.

The Bolgoda lake, a gift of nature is a wide and winding expanse, promising the visitor more and more to discover, and taking her into its lush mangroves.

Lakes take pride of place for the stillness of its waters, opposed to the turbulence of the sea, or the gush of the river. Lakes are enormous mirrors of nature, captivating from moment to changing moment, the sky above.

Oft, sunrise and sunset is illustrated picturesquely in its waters. Also adding to the motion picture of lake mirrors are the trees, and hills around its periphery. All in all, lakes are kaleidoscopes of changing colours, mutating with the intensity of light and its surrounding.

Lakes also provide food for bird life and teach man the dynamics of different species of avian fishers. The Bolgoda lake also abounds with prawn, lobsters, terrapin and tortoise, besides, small fish varieties. Canoe-and-net and line-and-bait fishing are commonplace, and some species are caught by night.

At night, listen to nature?s melodic interludes, the ripple of the water, the clamour, clatter and sweetness of birds, its chicks, the last will of the conquered, the triumph of a predator besides the copulate cry of wild cats. And, from the island, modern electricity, throwing fourth light from cars, buses, and houses, supersede the effect of fireflies, of the past, over the extending sheet of water.

Nature?s transfiguration from dusk to night, viewed from an island surrounded by a lake is an epic. At night, the immense mirror of the lake reveals the slow ripple of the water in a darker tone than by day. Nearby, the animation of the water is distinct and fades into stillness with distance.

At Bolgoda, a bright light shot into the lake, often detects large shellshocked lobsters and prawn. The mirror of the lake changes at dawn. When the sky is cloudy, the lake is discontent and gloomy. When the sun is bright, the lake recognises the great Yellow Dog and in fear and trembling, shimmers back to it a little of its radiance.

The island on which Club Penthouse Resort stands, was a bungalow, where Neil Fernando of Penthouse fame, spent an occasional weekend. Now, refurbished, it has three air-conditioned and four non-ac rooms, a swimming pool, a wedding reception hall, lobby, restaurant. A bar and mini bar facilities will be added, when this hospitality unit secures its excise licence end-June.

The turnaround came when Suweeraka Perera, a Ceylon Hotel School, graduate, took on the role of general manager. Suweeraka is known in the hotel trade, counting service at Ranweli Resort Waikkal, Ramada Renaissance, Colombo, London Savoy, Scandinavian Hotel Sweden, Burjal Arabs in Dubai, and Pattits France in Saudi Arabia and Grand Blue Sara, the fine dining Italian Restaurant in Majestic City, Colombo.

Suweeraka speaks Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and a little French and German.

The Club Penthouse Island Resort is packed during weekends. Many come to savour the buffet lunch of traditional Sri Lankan cuisine. Until the liquor licence is secured, visitors bring their liquor and no corkage is charged.

Suweeraka wants to start theme nights such as Mongolian, Hawaiian, Italian and Sri Lankan (food). Club Penthouse also has projections of bringing in wines from Italy, France, California and hard liquor, at end-June.

There are eight boats, four motor and four paddle. Water sports and a fitness centre will be added soon. Meanwhile, Club Penthouse Island Resort is a dream for honeymooning couples and special packages are arranged for it.

Often, honeymooners visit the island to be photographed in the backdrop of island romance. Follow the signboard at the Piliyandala-Puwakgas junction, and end up at Penthouse Island Resort. Or, the signboard at Katubedda Piliyandala Road, at Swarapola junction, or, along the Bandaragama Piliyandala road, at the Batuwandara junction.

Emirates launches First and Business Class offer

Flying Emirates First and Business Class has become even better with a special super value deal for these classes of travel on offer from June 15 to August 31. While Emirates? First Class passengers travelling to Dubai from anywhere on the network receive two complimentary nights in a deluxe room at the Ritz Carlton Dubai, Business Class passengers can stay overnight in a deluxe room at the Jumeirah Emirates Towers. The offer also includes a 96-hour visa.

The accommodation includes breakfast and all applicable taxes and service charges.

Top Lankan travel agents win Galileo awards

Galileo, one of the world?s most widely-used Global Distribution Systems (GDS) for aviation and travel products, has honoured ten travel management companies in Sri Lanka for high volumes of business booked through their system in 2005.

Handsome inscribed crystal trophies were presented to the top Galileo users at the fourth Galileo Sri Lanka awards presentation at the Hilton Colombo earlier this month. President Emirates Group Services and Dnata Gary Chapman, said: ?Since its inception, Galileo has brought the highest level of training to its customers using the Emirates Training College in Dubai and today is an industry benchmark.?

Stressing that ?the name of the new game is content?, he pledged that Galileo Sri Lanka is committed to build a better future for local travel companies through continuous improvements of its content. ?Success is about strong partnerships and the same is true of Galileo,? Chapman said, citing the example of the eight-year partnership between Emirates and SriLankan. ?We have travelled a complex road and faced political, economic and technical difficulties.

But we have travelled this road together and our common strengths and common values have carried us through turbulent times,? he said.

SriLankan Airlines CEO Peter Hill called upon travel agencies to support the national carrier by minimising GDS costs to the Airline, specifically by way of avoiding bookings which do not result in travel.

SriLankan will be releasing Electronic Ticketing on Galileo soon, he said adding that ?Galelio is a very strong partner of SriLankan and we are a strong supporter of Galileo.?

Galileo Sri Lanka Manager Mahendra Balasuriya thanked local travel agencies ?for the good times,? on behalf of the family of Galileo Sri Lanka, SriLankan Airlines, Emirates, Galileo International and Galileo Emirates.?

Mackinnons American Express Travel won the Gold award as the top Galileo user in Sri Lanka, while Hemas Travel and Traveller Global (Pvt) Ltd., won the Silver and Bronze awards.

The other award winners were Classic Travels, George Stuarts Travel International, Sprint Travels, BOC Travels, n-Car Travels, Travel Connection (Pvt) Ltd., and World Air (Pvt) Ltd.

SriLankan promotion for skywards members

SriLankan Airlines is offering its Skywards members worldwide - a 50% discount on the number of Miles needed to travel between Tokyo and Colombo or Male up to July 15 to mark the fifth anniversary of its Tokyo/Male route.

Whereas, usually a Skywards member would need to redeem 60,000 Miles to obtain an Economy Class return ticket Tokyo/Colombo or Colombo/Tokyo. Tokyo/Male or Male/Tokyo, the promotion offers such a ticket at only 30,000 Miles. The promotion is open to, Skywards members in Japan, Sri Lanka, Europe, the Middle East, India and Pakistan.

Skywards members can now experience traditional Japanese culture combined with the exciting pace of one of the world?s trendiest cities Tokyo.

Visit its ancient monuments and botanical gardens, take a tour of the famous Tokyo Tower or stroll through the many scenic parks.

Air Arabia flies to Europe

Air Arabia LLC, the first low-fares airline in the Middle East and North Africa flew its first flight into Istanbul?s Sabiha Gokcen Airport.

The flight was piloted by Capt. Martha Pabon, Air Arabia?s first woman pilot, to salute the achievements of Sabiha Gokcen, the lady combat pilot from Turkey after whom the Istanbul airport is named.

Air Arabia?s new flight into Turkey caters to the growing demand of leisure and business travellers, with flights operating twice a week from May 28 every Thursday and Sunday departing Sharjah at 22:15 to arrive in Istanbul at 01:40 and then depart Istanbul every Friday and Monday at 02:20 to arrive in Sharjah at 07:30.

Air Arabia?s Chairman, Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Thani, said: ?The first Air Arabia flight into Europe is a proud occasion for our young airline.

We have always strived to deliver value to our customers by ensuring that our network has broad coverage at the lowest possible fares, and our first flight into Europe is yet another example of this.? he said: ?It opens the doors for endless possibilities for the traveller by reaching out to the vast cultural and financial opportunities of Istanbul and Turkey.

To have the flight piloted by Capt. Martha Pabon our first lady pilot is a special feeling and a great sense of achievement for the organisation?.