Seniors – Page 2

Finger Licking Good

Published on October 5, 2018October 5, 2018 by The Senior StationLeave a comment

The Senior Station Masterchef competition, this week, was a grand success. Members chose from a range of ingredients to put together a light meal. What they created was incredible – the dishes were scrumptious and the presentation outstanding. But truly wonderful was the enthusiasm with which every member participated. That was what made the session so special. The birthday girl of the month was Grace and the delicious ribbon cake was from The Cake Factory. We all sang to her and wished her well, and she was moved by the love and attention showered on her.
For more details about The Senior Station email us on theseniorstation@gmail.com or call us on 0778445332

Staying Healthy with Sigrid de Silva

Published on September 27, 2018October 5, 2018 by The Senior StationLeave a comment

“It’s not just about what you eat,’’ said Sigrid de Silva, the renowned nutritionist and well being consultant who visited The Senior Station this week. She shared with us 5 pillars of a healthy and fulfilling life – A good night’s sleep she puts right at the top, because while we sleep our body repairs itself. An erratic sleep cycle is a problem many seniors face. To counter this she recommends keeping as consistent a sleep schedule as possible, as well as staying active and avoiding long naps during the day. The second pillar to a healthy life is a balanced diet with all the nutrients included. She recommends only one protein per meal – For example, she suggests that if you are have a healthy portion of Dhaal in a meal then avoid eating meat. She recommends a filling breakfast not later than 3 hours after you awake in the morning, a not too heavy lunch and a light dinner. Next on her wellness plan is to avoid building up stress, which is the root of many diseases. And finally she recommends adequate exercise and mental activity, and social engagement. After all, loneliness drives many to despair. Sigrid made her session interactive and engaging and was happy answer everyone’s questions. We learnt so much and would really like her to visit The Senior Station again. This week we also learn a new skill – interesting table decor with napkins. Nisrin and Banin demonstrated seven different styles of napkin folds such as roses, candles, baskets and more. This is definitely something we could try out at our next dinner party. We’d also like to thank Shami and Saku who visited The Senior Station and shared in everyone’s joy. Saku brought along her guitar and conducted a short sing-along which after all is everyone’s favourite activity.
For more details about The Senior Station email us on theseniorstation@gmail.com or call us on 0778445332

Fly Me To The Moon

Published on September 19, 2018September 27, 2018 by The Senior StationLeave a comment

What is your craziest wish? – that’s what The Senior Station members were asked as we played a memory game with a ball. Members had to call out their craziest wish and throw the ball to each other. The challenge was to recall what each member had wished for. Pauline dreams of swimming across the English Channel, Sriani would like to climb a coconut tree, Gwen wants to travel around the world, and Nihal W fancies flying off in to the sky. Nihal – aka Bunny gave his wife a cheeky smile and said he’s like to spend a day looking at lots of pretty girls. It was super fun as we shared our wildest fantasies and lots of hoots as we tried to recall them. Apart from our breathing exercises and puzzles we also had a bit of jazz today – Rapti visited The Senior Station for a sing – along. It started with a musical challenge as she played a few tunes on her keyboard and asked members to guess the song. That was a fun game – but we soon broke in to a proper ‘bajao’ session with loud singing, clapping, and of course dancing! For more details about The Senior Station email us on theseniorstation@gmail.com or call us on 0778445332.

Getting back together

Published on September 12, 2018September 27, 2018 by The Senior StationLeave a comment

This was the first session of The Senior Station after three weeks. Our day trip to Negombo last week was fun and invigorating, yet it was nice to be back in our familiar settings at Ladies College. Sajeda got a really warm welcome. She gently stepped up her routine and treated everyone to a proper sweat out. “It’s so good to be back,” she chuckled. It was time to work out our cerebral muscles as well with quizzes and puzzles that had some fun obstacles hidden in them. A little bit of hand eye coordination was also on the cards, as members were challenged to pick up peanuts using straws. It not quite as easy as it seemed, and birthday boy Claude groaned as the peanuts kept slipping away. We were very impressed because the members did not give up until they had completed the challenge, and Farook really came out tops. This month it’s Claude’s birthday, so we all sang to him and wished him well as he cut the birthday cake from Ambrosia. We then wrapped up our session with a visual presentation of our trip. It was great way for those who could not join us to share in the revelry. For more details about The Senior Station email us on theseniorstation@gmail.com or call us on 0778445332.

Ride with The Senior Station

Published on September 6, 2018September 6, 2018 by The Senior StationLeave a comment

It was a bright Tuesday morning and the air was rife with excitement as The Senior Station members eagerly clambered into the coach that took us to Negambo for our much awaited trip. Dolly and Priyanthi did a quick head count and then with a loud hip hip hooray we set off! Out came the guitar and tambourines, and soon everyone was clapping their hands and swaying to our favourite tunes. A picnic must always begin with something sweet. So first we tucked into delicious milk toffee, then came Priyanthi’s signature brownies, followed by biscuits, sweets, mixtures, chocolates and so much more. You can imagine that we were in really high spirits when we arrived at Camelot Beach Resort. A quick visit to our rooms to refresh ourselves after which, we gathered on the lawns under the shade of a coconut grove for our morning session of fun and games – A lucky draw with grand prizes, a Wrapping The Mummy competition, a Water Relay and the Balloon Dancing Game. It must have been a combination of the cool sea breeze and all the fun activities, because when lunch was announced, we were all starved. And what a spread we were treated to! It was a leisurely lunch with the only concern being what we should choose from the vast buffet counter. We would have loved to linger on a little longer but Claude, who had his eye on the time, had everything arranged for the next round of activities. Soon we all took our seats in the pavilion by the pool, and began chatting and joking when Sheila clutched her stomach and begun moaning uncomfortably. The Senior Station team jumped to their feet. Did we have a crisis on our hands?! ‘’Ooh’’ Sheila squealed, “It’s been such a hard year long pregnancy. I think I am at the end of my last quarter!” That was the prelude to the most hilarious skit scripted and enacted by Sheila along with Claude, Farook and Raja who played the 3 doctors that delivered the ‘bonnie little donkey’. The next item on the agenda was the masquerade competition in which members chose from a range of props and paraded around the pavilion. The winner, hands down, was Chandrika who did a little cameo of a village drunk. Chandrika is always so quiet, and it was wonderful to see her in such great form. There were more games, more pranks, more laughter – but alas all good things must come to an end. So at about 4.00 p.m. tea was served and we prepared to leave. It was 42 happy hearts that boarded the coach back to Colombo. ‘’This has been our best trip ever. We want more!”was the rallying cry. We at The Senior Station couldn’t agree more.

“Walking Down Memory Lane at The Senior Station”

Published on August 2, 2018September 6, 2018 by The Senior StationLeave a comment

This week at The Senior Station we celebrated all the memories and experiences that have made our lives so special. The program this week was conducted by Hasini Haputhanthri, a Museologist, and Malathi de Alwis, an Anthropologist. They, along with Munira Mutaher, a member of the Memory Culture Team at GIZ, are compiling a book entitled The Archive of Memory which will portray a people’s history of the past seven decades post-Independence. The book will be a collection of memories that are connected to personal objects, and which relate to significant events in Sri Lanka.
Hasini, Malathi and Munira kicked off the program by playing old popular hit songs and asking the members to recall the names of the songs, singers and year in which they were released. The three of them were quite bowled over because not only did the members know most of the answers, they even belted out the lyrics. After that foot tapping session came a visual quiz that took members back in time to significant events from Sri Lanka’s history, popular old haunts like Fountain Cafe and brands that were an intrinsic part of life such as Two Elephants Safety Matches.
The members then listened to dramatised readings of stories that are already a part of The Archive of Memory, before they were invited to share their own personal experiences. We’d like to thank Nihal, Sriani, Claude, Priyanthi, Deepthi, Swini, Chandrika and Farook who shared with us such touching tales from their past. It almost felt like they were making us a part of their lives!

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Travel in a chair to Italy

Published on July 13, 2018 by The Senior StationLeave a comment

Viva Italia. Our members were treated to all things Italian today. The room was decorated with Italian flags and posters of exotic places in Italy. Allegra Baistrocchi from the Italian Embassy, her mother, Julia and Allegra also from the Embassy delighted us with their presence.
Nisrin’s exercises was done to soothing Italian music which set the ambience for the day. We next had Tony Fernandez teaching our members how to fox trot, cha cha and waltz. The ever-willing volunteer Mary was the first on the floor, with the others quickly joining in and dancing oh so gracefully with decorated masks on. Tony then did a wonderful demonstration of the Tango.
Our fist quiz for the day was a travel board game. Printed on the map of Italy was a start and finish point with questions related to Italy. Players in each team played against each other.
Armchair travel takes people to faraway places without leaving home and this was our next item. The well-known Travel personality Sherebanu Fazleabas from the US did a fabulous video presentation of a travel itinerary to Italy. We travelled to Rome, the picturesque Tuscany, the artistic city of Florence, and Venice, the city of Gondolas. Our Seniors were deeply enthralled in this presentation and had many questions for Allegra and Sherebanu.
Our next quiz was to find out how much they gathered from the presentation. And of course all teams came out with flying colors having scored a full 100 marks.
Our members enjoyed the photo booth where they were able to take photos against posters of different cities in Italy. We like to thank the Italian embassy for the beautiful posters given to us for this purpose.
Satisfying our hunger pangs was next on the agenda. Our very own Asamptha put together an amazing salad drizzled with Italian dressing which was served with lasagna. And to top it off we had Allegra giving us a delicious homemade gourmet Tiramisu for dessert.
Thank you, Allegra, Tony, and Sherebanu for all your efforts and contribution at our Senior Station today.
It was a long day and time for everyone to bid “arrivederci”, good bye until we meet again the next Tuesday.

Sing along with Munni

Published on July 13, 2018July 13, 2018 by The Senior StationLeave a comment

We would like to thank Munni whose irrepressible energy, heart-warming smile and charm worked like magic at The Senior Station. We played a game of songs today, in which each team had to think of song which they sang as soon as the other team stopped. There was Munni, cheering everyone and prompting the members to get them going. The game got quite challenging as we went along, and underlying all the clapping, cheering and tapping of feet was a strongly competitive edge. Munni, Sheila and Nihal then put up a crazy performance with the song –‘She gave me kisses one, two and three’ which had everyone hooting and cheering wildly.

We’d also like to that Sajeda for her exercise routine which again got everyone feeling nicely stretched and flexed. Thank you Ambrosia for the delicious mocha cake given to us to celebrate the July birthdays.

Mental puzzles and games apart, The Senior Station also announced the upcoming annual trip, for which everyone is really excited!

The Senior Station Health Check

Published on June 28, 2018 by The Senior StationLeave a comment

‘I am feeling just fine’ said a beaming Chaya. The doctor had just given her a thumbs up during a health check conducted at The Senior Station. We would like to thank Dr. Manouri Samarakoon who heads Health Scan, a reputed private clinic, for sending in her team to run a general medical check-up for the members of The Senior Station. Members were given a blood pressure and random blood sugar test. They were also assessed for their Body Mass Index. The doctor then spent time with each member individually, pointing out red flags and talking to them about how they could improve their indicators.

Of course all these conversations about health and well-being, also came with our weekly dose of exercises, puzzles, interactive games and loads and loads of cheers!

The Senior Station Eid Special

Published on June 26, 2018 by The Senior StationLeave a comment

Whiffs of fragrant incenses beckoned everyone to The Senior Station as we celebrated the festival of Eid. Everybody got on to the floor wishing each other Eid Mubarak! The simple act of reaching out to each other with a smile and handshake immediately brought on a sense of cheer among the members. Nisrin combined some upbeat tunes to her exercise session and we were now all in the mood for a celebration.

We started the Eid special with traditional almond stuffed dates which were made by Dolly and served up on a tray beautifully decorated by her. Then we listened to Mary recount her childhood memories of Eid and how those celebrations have changed over the years.

There were many surprises in store for the members today – First was a song performance by the organisers; and of course Banin had everyone absolutely mesmerised by her sweet voice. The next surprise was a real treat. Masuma offered to do henna designs for the members. All the ladies excitedly approached her while she created exotic patterns on their hands. Indeed, it was all hands on the table while everyone posed for pictures.

Festivals are always accompanied by shopping sprees. So we played a version of ‘The Price Is Right’ today– There were a range of products up for grabs, and anyone who guessed the price right got the product as a prize! Bids flew wildly across the room, along with loud cheers each time somebody got a prize.

Finally it was time for the grand finale. A mouth-watering meal that included popular Eid treats – Biryani, mango curry, acharu, samosas and crunchy jalebis. We all tucked in amid warm conversations and happy jokes. Another memorable day at The Senior Station!