• 'The Collection' of Chris de Burgh
• Rock Concert at Le Kandyan
• Summer Festival d' Avignon
• 'Dining in the Kitchen' at Harbour Room
• Duck Promotion at AGH
• Shehan joins 'Adventure At Wild' 
• Club Palm Bay: Star class touch to Thalawila Wella
• Christie Leonard on 'Swarna Sajjaya'

'The Collection' of Chris de Burgh

By Sanath Weerasuriya

By the late 80s, it had taken Chris de Burgh more than a decade to become the "overnight success" so many mistakenly believed him to be. To those unfamiliar with his steady, determined rise to the top, he appeared to have arrived suddenly - out of nowhere - clutching major, world-wide hits with The Lady In Red and its accompanying album, Into The Light. 

Born in Argentina on October 15, 1948, Chris is the son of British parents. His childhood was rich in travel and experience; his father's career moved the family to Malta, Nigeria, Zaire and finally to Ireland. It was on the Emerald Isle - where Chris still lives, with his wife Diane and their three young children, Rosanna, Hubie and Michael - that he found his musical feet.

He studied at Trinity College, Dublin, and gained a degree in French and English. On graduating, and realising that he had to get a job, Chris began singing to earn a living. Encouraged by the possibilities, he headed for London in search of a recording contract and, after two years of dead-ends, secured a publishing deal which eventually led him to sign with A&M Records in 1974.

The following year, Chris released his debut album Far Beyond These Castle Walls and Turning Around, a single taken from it, became his first hit. Later re-titled Flying, it sold nearly 500,000 copies in Brazil and stayed number one there for more than 30 weeks. His next L.P., Spanish Trains and Other Stories, then captured the imagination of Canada, resulting in Chris' first platinum disc. Since then, from Scandinavia to Australia, from the United States to the United Kingdom, his reputation has firmly built and lengthened its reach through the successive studio albums At The End Of A Perfect Day, Crusader, Eastern Wind, The Getaway, Man On The Line, Into The Light, Flying Colours, Power Of Ten, This Way Up, Beautiful Dreams and a classic collection of old and new songs, The Love Songs.

In October of 1999 Chris produced another studio album, this time returning to the Band format that was much loved from Into The Light. Entitled Quiet Revolution it contains 15 all new songs and was well received at launch."

'The Collection' album is available now on Compact Disc and Cassette at M- entertainment

But still you can win five original albums of 'The Collection' by answering the simple question on the coupon on this Sunday TV Times & Entertainment magazine.

To enter this contest, all you have to do is to answer the question on the coupon and send it to the address given below.

The address is "Listen to Original Music Contest-No. 52, C/o Maharaja Entertainments (Pvt.) Ltd., 330, T.B.Jayah Mawatha, Colombo. 10. 

Tel: + 941672425-8, Fax + 941699070. E Mail: me@lgo.lk 

All the entries must be originals from the Sunday TV Times and no photocopies or faxes will be entertained. 

All correct entries will be drawn by a panel of judges. The entries should reach the above address by August 7, the latest. 

The decision of the judges will be final and the names of the winners will be announced in The Sunday TV Times accordingly. 

Here are the winners of Contest Number. 48. 

The winners of two Sony Original CDs are Fathima R. Nizam of Fort Galle and Buddhika Seneviratne of Matale. The two audio winners are Yohan Ferreira of Kelaniya and Shamela Felicia Perera of Rakwana.

The 10% off gift vouchers go to Damayanthie Fernando of Malabe, Chandana Adikari of Nugegoda, Madawa Kaushal Perera of Wadduwa, R.M. Damith Chanaka Ratnayake of Samanala Nakkawatta, Christeen Porres of Wattala and Durga De Silva of Nugegoda.

The Poster winners are Jithain Hathiramani of Colombo 3, S.V. Jayawardena of Panadura, Vasana Walpita of Kotadeniyawa, Lakmali Gunasekara of Kandy and Chinthaka Herath of Rajawalla.

Rock Concert at Le Kandyan

The Band in town "Ultimate" is ready to rock at Le Kandyan with Yes FM DJs and Most DJ crew on Saturday night from 9.30 p.m.

DJ of the year Annie and popular belly dancer Kirisula will be the special guest stars at "The Rock Concert" which is organized by Le Kandyan, Yes FM and Rotaract Club of Kandy.

"This is not a new thing for us, Le Kandyan Hotel has been entertaining the Kandyans for last four years and the fans know how we satisfy the customers' need. Not only with music but also with loads of games, fun and surprises, says Rushdy Raheem, the food & beverage manager of Le Kandyan.

Tickets are priced at Rs. 250/- per head.

The latest Hi-tech lighting and sounds will be provided by MOS who did the "Bradby Ball 2001" at Le Kandyan last month.

Summer Festival d' Avignon

This famous Theatre festival has entertainment 24 hours a day, theatre, music, dance and something for everyone.

It's holiday mood here. Many people gather around in Avignon to enjoy this true theatre experience. So this week Bonsoir brings the history of this great event in summer at "the Capital of Europe".

Be ready to dance on the "bridge of Avignon".

Then Bonsoir brings the visuals of French National Day celebrations in Sri Lanka.

This week's Bonsoir is produced by Dilini Jayamanne.

"Bonsoir" on Monday, July 30 on ITN at 8.00 p.m.

'Dining in the Kitchen' at Harbour Room 

The theme was 'Dining in the Kitchen'. All the ingredients were on display for the guests, who were given the opportunity of seeing the food being prepared by the Chefs in their presence.

Pictured above is a guest presumably indicating the manner in which he wishes his food to be prepared and served to him and his two companions.

Duck Promotion at AGH

Some of the tempting delicacies being prepared for Dinner include succulent Duck Shanghai Style, Stir Fried Shredded Duck with Green Chillie, Kung Bow Duck Szechuan style and much, much more. It's a promotion not to be missed and well worth a visit.

Shehan joins 'Adventure At Wild' 

Shehan has a lot of regard for Eco Adventure Travels which is a subsidiary of Connaissance de ceylan as they are committed in promoting Eco Tourism, with the right kind of people involved. Connaissance is marketing our product.Wild Holidays, who own Ella Adventure Park is the only professional adventure based training centre in Sri Lanka.

At present we have few instructors from Nepal and Malaysia giving our boys the professional exposure they need, and in return they get a chance to visit these adventure camps overseas. Shehan says.

'Major, Wijith Welikala, Chairman of the group is a professional para glider himself, We basically talk the same language. We are specialising in white water rafting, Canoeing, Kayaking, Board surfing, Off shore diving, Back water fishing, paragliding, Trekking, Camping, Rockclimbing, Abseiling, Canyoning, Mountain biking, Bird Watching, he said.'

'Adventure at Wild will be introducing Sky diving, Bunjie Jumping, Para surfing, and dune driving very soon.'

Club Palm Bay: Star class touch to Thalawila Wella

By Sanath Weerasuriya

The 'Club Palm Bay', the star class tourist resort with 104 spacious chalet type air conditioned rooms and two luxury suites, started its operation in 1997 on this golden stretch of beach.

The 'Club Palm Bay' (CPB) is on a 22.5 acre land situated in between the Mangrove lagoon and the sea in Thalawila Wella, Thoduwawa off Marawila. 

The surrounding environment of the lagoon and the beach and of course the day to day life style of the people of the area has not changed or effected by the building of this five star property: claimed Nishada Periyapperuma, the Operations Manager of the York Hotel 

The Club Palm Bay Hotel is the very first 'purpose built-all inclusive' holiday resort, in Sri Lanka 

'Purpose built all inclusive' means that the guests from any part of the world can pay in advance from their home end for their total vacation in Sri Lanka. 

"The tourists can pay for their food, drink and their stay at Club Palm Bay. The drinks-alcoholic and non-alcoholic are unlimited", Club Palm Bay is the only hotel in Sri Lanka predesigned for this concept, explained Nishada Periyapperuma, the veteran hotelier and the beverage expert. 'Meals are inclusive of breakfast, mid morning snack, lunch, evening tea and snack, dinner and midnight snack. All meals are in buffet style and spread in three restaurants, he said. 

"Kundira, the main open air restaurant, 'Cutty Sark' speciality restaurant, 'Ran Tambili' Poolside Bar are the three spots of attraction in the hotel. Guests have the privilege of enjoying indigenous Sri Lankan food or international cuisine at in-house restaurants. 

Kundira Restaurant has all the comforts including fine dining buffet and snack type facilities around the clock. The Sunday buffet is one of the biggest attractions of the hotel for families with live music.

Facilities provided to guests in the rooms include attached bath with hot and cold running water, telephones, with IDD facilities, personal safe, satellite TV and piped music. 

The fresh water pool has a separate kiddies area. The day-care service is also provided for the needy parents.

Other than as the holiday and leisure outing place, Club Palm Bay is now getting popular as a conference and workshop venue for local and as well as foreign companies and missions. 

A conference room with banquet facilities fully-equipped providing seating accomodation for 350 people and round the clock laundry service is also available. 

There is also a doctor on call. 

Sports and recreation is provided to guests as well as kiddies in the hotel. A 9-hole pitch and a golf course, with separate putting green are added attractions. 

Tennis and table tennis, volleyball, badminton, squash, snooker and billiards, pool, gym, archery, fishing, go-kart racing, canoeing, cycling, paddle, boating, waterwalking and other forms of excursions too have not been overlooked. 

"The hotel is basically popular as a family outing place mainly because of the 'kid corner', which has all the facilities. It is the real action centre for kids", Nishada said. 

Club Palm Bay will enthrall the visitors with its beautifully laid out landscape and its mouth-watering dishes. The other attraction of this hotel is discotheque, where guests can dance to the latest songs from DJs from around the world. 

Christie Leonard on 'Swarna Sajjaya'

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