Amangalla pictures

My bedroom

Fernando, the Ayurvedic Doctor at Amangalla

SPA

Lalith (SPA Attendent) Natalie (SPA Manager) ad Surange (Yoga Master)

Suriya from the SPA

The lobby

Excellent service

Last but not least, my butler Jakanda

A Select Welcome to Amangalla

Checked in at the Amangalla Hotel and the welcome was very "Select". This is a wonderful hotel and the General Manager Olivia Richli and her wonderful team made me feel at home from the moment I arrived.

"Steeped in history and colonial in style, Amangalla languishes at the heart of the 17th century fort, an UNESCO world heritage in the heart of Galle on the South Coast of Sri Lanka. The hotel exudes an air of grandeur married with the traditions of days gone-by, amidst Dutch heritage and pillared verandahs."

Gossip Girl

It's been a lot of work on this trip, but I've also had the chance to spend some quality time with my friend (except when she was snoring). Here we are gossiping on the beach. I'm the blond, she's the dark.

Admiration

An admired present from an admirer.

Site inspection close to Galle, Sri Lanka

Today I've had a very good rice n' curry, and not too spicy this time. Oh my good they eat spicy food in Sri Lanka. I've done a so called site inspection, which means I visit hotels that could be a part of our Collection. As Select only offers our customers the best of five star hotels, we try to visit as many as possible in the selection process. Today I visited a boutique hotel about ten minutes north of Galle. Beautiful property and the General Manager was very nice showing us around. The two floor huge suite with two own balconies was indeed fantastic. I will continue talks and let you know if we choose them as an option in Sri Lanka.

Beach Party

Last night we had a party at the beach during full moon. It was an exceptional experience with Kandy-dancers by the open fire and delicious food prepared on a barbeque. The waves rolling in and pitch dark except for the full moon and lighted candles all around.

This can be arranged for Amanwella hotel guests with just a few days warning. I have really had a fantastic stay here and hope many of you will have the chance to experience this amazing place.

Below are pictures from the preparation and the party itself.

More on Amanwella

Here are some more pictures of this wonderful property Amanwella. The Hotel Manager Jonathan Blitz (picture below) is a very successful South African who's been with the Aman Group for many years, first in India and now here. We have had very good talks about future collaboration and I will be very happy to present the hotel to my valued customers.

We've got great service for the whole stay. Especially from Head Chef, Sujith Vithanage and his team who've catered to all our needs and even got soya latte for my friend's breakfast.

Visit to the temple

Yesterday, Sunday, we visited the Buddhist temple, Mulgirigala, about half an hours drive from Amanwella and the city of Tangalle. It's a beautiful temple, originating from third century BC. First we got a blessing by the monks and then we started our climb to the main temple, about half ways up this hugh rock formed mountain. Above that there are even steeper steps all the way to the top from where you have a fantastic view of the area. It's a bit scary with no railings and a fall of many hundreds of meters, so breathtaking would really be a correct word.



What I love about Sri Lanka is the fact that they are, contrary to the common belief out in the world, really very open-minded and understanding of all four religions in the country; Buddhism, Hinduism, Catholicism and Islam. They have a public holiday every-time there's a religious holiday, in any of the four state religions, plus every full-moon and of course other anniversaries. This means that in Sri Lanka there are more public holidays than anywhere else in the world, except for Malaysia.

The pool is ready for my morning swim

My new health drink

King Coconut is my new health habit drink. It's beautifully served directly from the coconut fruit decorated with a with a temple flower. It's packed with antioxidants and vitamins and also helps to cool you down when it's warm.

Amanwella

Amanwella Hotel is part of the Aman Hotel Group, You can recognize the style immediately, it's very minimalist-style, but wonderfully tasteful. Every suite is decorated the same style with windows and wooden shutters floor to ceiling on both long-sides. They're very spacious and all have one balcony terrace towards the see and a courtyard terrace by an own 10 m2 pool at the front hidden by walls and greenery.

I've unwinded faster than I usually do. The green surroundings are so peaceful for soul and mind. The beach is the best in Sri Lanka and adds to the paradise feeling.

In Sri Lanka you get very god service everywhere, the local people are wonderfully happy and polite, so you can imagine the high level of service here as Aman Resorts are famous for just that. Therefor the combination of Sri Lanka and Aman can only result in impeccable service.

Woke up in Paradise

I woke up in paradise today after a long night fast a sleep with the terrace doors open to the slow and calming sound of the ocean waves rolling in underneath my suite. I arrived here at Amanawella yesterday after a 4,5 hours drive from Colombo international airport. The drive is filled with exciting sightings of local village life and beautiful sceneries of the ocean. here and there you can still see the damages after the disastrous Tsunami in 2004. It's not the most comfortable ride with cows standing on the road and tuk-tuks everywhere, but I can live with that in order to reach this fabulous hide away place. My friends car-sleeping habits on the other hand are not as easy to travel with. She's not only snoring, she's also tripping over and falling down with her head resting on my shoulder where she sighs contentedly, well at least that stops the snoring.

As I said, it's all worth it. Amanwella is wonderful, like being on an own paradise island hidden away from everything.

Welcome to Sri Lanka

-- Post From My iPhone

Perfect Service

I've boarded my last flight, where I was taken by a luxury BMW straight from the premium terminal. Anissa is our hostess in the aircraft and she's wonderful.

So, have you already figured out which paradise island I'm going to? Well let me give you a hint, the name starts with an S.


-- Post From My iPhone

Choice of islands

-- Post From My iPhone

Doha Premium Terminal

Qatar Airways are now hosting a premium lounge in their Doha hub, for business class passengers. I'm actually quite surprised by this concept. First of all the flight was direct and only took six hours from Stockholm, once here we had our own bus transportation directly to this totally secluded, large lounge, which is actually more like an own terminal than a lounge. Here I've found three dining areas (great food), one bar (not a great selection, but good enough), one business area (perfect for blogging), family area (very good for families with children  who want to run wild), children's area (excellent for kids who've run wild in the family area and now need have more fun). There are also great facilities to help a transit run easier, for instance showers, wifi and a tax-free shop with no lines. The service has been excellent and the food is very good with a large selection of dishes serving all different tastes. From here there are many connections to all over the world, to paradise islands as the Seychelles and the Maldives as well as to far-away cities like Melbourne and Singapore. 

I know this is not my last time in Doha. This is wonderfully convenient and makes my traveling quite easy. 

Contact us at any Select Office for more information and special offers. 

Oh and PS, there's an even fancier terminal for first class passengers. They even have a spa.

See the lounge guide's information about this

Arnell is one of people from the lovely staff who've made our transit such a great experience.

Doha next

Sitting in the lounge at Arlanda waiting for my Qatar Airlines flight to Doha. Have a long transit there and will then continue to a beautiful island I haven't visited in many many years.

-- Post From My iPhone

Entrepreneur of the year?

A while back I learned that I was nominated to participate in the Ernst & Young entrepreneur of the year award. The whole machinery around the awards is quite large, with three categories hosting different regional- and national finals, ending in a huge international final.

I feel very honored to be nominated amongst approximately 30-40 very talented individuals from Stockholm. I am nominated in the category This Year's Female Star. Exciting to see how it goes.

Wonderful autumn colors

Autumn can be so beautiful. This morning was very dark and rainy, but now the sun is trying to come through and light up our day.

Have a wonderful day filled with beautiful colors.

To D or not to D

One of my favorite news papers, The Financial Times has a great weekend magazine. Today I read a interesting article about Vitamin D and the discoveries of Dr Vieth.

To D or not to D

In recent years vitamin D has been going to some exciting places. Reports of new and promising studies seem to emerge almost weekly. A 2007 analysis of vitamin D studies found that individuals with higher vitamin level are significantly as much as 50 per cent - less likely to develop colorectal cancer. And the excitement is not only about cancer prevention. Low vitamin D levels have been linked to an increased risk of osteoporosis, heart disease. Multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes, depression and rheumatoid arthritis, among other diseases.

So why is Dr Vieth so frustrated? Him and other vitamin D researchers around the world can prove vitamin D could help millions live longer and be healthier and yet they have not been able to convince their own governments.

When I was young growing up in Finland, my mother made me take one spoon-full of cod liver oil everyday. Today I love my sardines for breakfast even if I thought at that time that I'd never eat it voluntarily.

Vitamin D can be found in milk, eggs, tofu, cod liver oil, oyster, dried shiitake mushrooms, mackerel and tinned sardines.

So listen to mummy and take your vitamin Ds

Meet Jim

I want to introduce my mentor to you. Everybody, please meet Jim Grundström. Jim, happy to introduce you to everybody.

Jim and I met 18 years ago and he still manages to teach me new things every-time we meet. He has this special energy that really triggers me. Originally he and his life partner Alexander (yes, they are the ones who form the famous designer duo "Jim & Alexander") took upon them to design and decorate all my offices, an ongoing job that never ends. Because design and esthetically beautiful surroundings are so important to me the work relationship very quickly became much deeper and turned into a long-lasting friendship. Jim has become my very dear mentor in the process, he's also very important for my son who finds his advice very valuable.

Yesterday I had a long talk with Jim about integrity and respect and about my blog. It's not always easy to decide where to draw the line on how personal thoughts can be shared with all of you dear blog-readers. Jim is a very wise man and has given me many advices and tips in this matter. I hope that you all enjoy the balance that I feel I've found here.

And now I'm going to share something personal about Jim with all of you. He's very good at history, but among all else he's probably number one in the world on naming and recognising Swedish Kings. I witnessed this summer when my friend Sonja tested him with an iPhone quizz application about the history of Swedish kings and queens. Jim got full points and his knowledge was so impressive that I can truly say I've never seen anything alike before!

Zermatt in Djursholm

Last night I hosted an evening at Villa Pauli in Djursholm. We had invited Seiler Hotels and Swiss to present Zermatt for our valued customers as well as to some of Villa Paulis private members. Lindt served us excellent chocolate together with Auchentoshan Three Wood whiskey. The evening was a success and a lot of fun and I really miss my favorite European skiing resort Zermatt, I will book a trip there for this winter.

I know that Select has a very good deal on Seiler Hotels, especially Mont Cervin which is my favorite.. Please call any of our 5 offices for more information www.selecttravel.info

Below are pictures from the event.



Anna Ramel, Swiss, in front of Georg Paulis
wall fresco in the great hall at Villa Pauli.
The wintry landscape was a good back drop.


Joakim Genetay in front of another scene from
Georg Paulis fresco, here you can also see his fathers
grandmother Ebba Pauli (born 1899) in the painting.
She's the dark girl in a pink dress.


Peter Nilson and Marianne Axelsson


Wilhelm and Ewa Hedenstierna


Margaretha and Jocke Eklund, gallerist and executive headhunter
together with Patrik Faeh and Marie Tiger from Lindt


Karin Kunz, Manager of Seiler Hotels together with
the happy winner Pia Kjörrefjord – 7 nights at Mont
Cervin Zermatt!


Fredrik and Veronika Kant



Mats Larsson, Annika de la Motte and Fredrik Ottosson
Director of Products and Marketing Select Travel


Hanna Hjälmerhag Select Travel together with Margita
Stepanovitch and Julia Guldbrandsen


Oscar von Stapelmoohr, artist and designer

I'm a lotus!

As I love both beautiful books and flowers I just couldn't resist buying a wonderful book about flowers in New York. It's called "The Floral Birthday Book" and I am apparently a Lotus flower.

The other day a very dear and special friend gave me a wonderful book about flowers and in this one it describes a floating heart, that have similarities to the Lotus.

Name - Nymphoides Indica is derived from nymphaea, the genus of the water
lily, which it resembles. Indica probably refers to its appearance in India. It is often called
"Floating Heart" because of its heart-shaped leaves.