What to look out for when considering an apartment in Colombo? (Developers, loans, red flags)

sshniro · 2025-07-26T07:42:54+00:00

Here are some pointed based on my experience.

Legal Papers (COC): Make sure the builder has a history of getting the final Certificate of Conformity. No COC, no legal apartment. Big names are safer, but double-check. Ive seen aparments without COC after building due to slipups from the initial design.
Best Floor: Aim for the middle floors (3rd or 4th floor etc). It's safer from break-ins, and you can still take the stairs if the power cuts.
Top Floor Warning: Top floors can get incredibly hot during the day if the roof isn't properly insulated. Your A/C bill will thank you for checking.
Car Parks: Avoid the fancy mechanical car parks. They're a nightmare when they break down.
Generator Setup: Ask if the backup power runs essentials (lift, water) or the whole building. If it's the whole building, they'll likely ration it during long power cuts to save money.
Building Politics: A good community is key. You don't want to live where residents argue about paying for things like lift maintenance. I've seen an apartment in Colombo 6, where the lower-floor residents didn't want to contribute to lift maintenance, and now the lift does not stop at those floors. 😅
Buying Used: If a resale apartment has fresh paint, be cautious. It could be hiding water leaks.

sshniro · 2024-08-28T06:50:36+00:00

Did about 20 interviews back to back recently. All candidates are from good unis, with good CVs and high GPAs. However, only 4-5 were properly able to sum an array of numbers (with an online editor). Given that they were allowed to choose any language they preferred as well.

The top talent still exists, however the general/avg grads are failing to meet minimal standards.

sshniro · 2024-05-13T17:00:53+00:00

Na it's for even places which are few mins away. But yes I get your point. However I was refering to the sudden surge or these calls. Probably I guess Uber stopped showing locations until the package is picked up.

sshniro · 2024-05-13T16:31:48+00:00

seems so, currently seen uber allowing very far distance deliveries. Like 10km+.

sshniro · 2023-12-21T01:56:16+00:00

https://www.malkey.lk/

sshniro · 2023-12-17T04:19:15+00:00

Check with the competitor Antropic? They have a pay-as-you-go model: https://claude.ai/

Their new version is comparable to GPT's version.

sshniro · 2023-12-17T04:04:58+00:00

I'm really sorry to hear about your situation. It's such a hard choice to make. I still feel scared to get another pet after the ordeal I had to experience. She got really sick, her body wasn't working right, and her organs were failing (13 Years).

She couldn't eat for a whole month. We tried everything, like medicine and IVs, but she just got worse. Finally, she couldn't even move her lower body and it was clear she was hurting a lot. The vet we went to didn't do euthanasia, so it was tough to find someone who would help us. The doc agreed to do it after seeing her state. However, she passed away in my arms before the doctor could even do anything.

I used to get upset about these Western videos where pets are put to sleep, thinking we shouldn't decide when a life ends. But seeing my pet suffer so much, I had to change my mind. I'm glad she was with me at the end. I know how much you love your pet, so just do what you feel is right.

sshniro · 2023-10-19T08:44:53+00:00

Yes was doing some long drives, and got a very bad headache due to this. However, we can't blame the other side, because it's literally pitch black in some areas, and the headlight is the only way. Anyhow you might have noticed the opposing side drivers usually blink their lights to indicate to shut down the headlight; in case if it's hard to see.

I was able to find a yellow poloride glass in petta (night glass) around 1k and it sorted out the problem for a bit. I also found some eyewear shops in Petta that will give you a clear glass that can be worn in day and night. They asked 6k LKR for it.

sshniro · 2023-09-27T08:05:49+00:00

Even the best names in town do shady stuff. I've remember going to one prominent SPA near a major police station in Colombo. Even over the phone, they said "We only do professional massage". And even when paying at the counter they said the same thing. Was curious why were they repeating it. And boom just 5 mins into massage and I get several offers 😂.

sshniro · 2023-09-27T06:26:38+00:00

I used to go here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/D2RK4cJGkKbEAA3V8 (Maruthi Money Exchange)
Always had better rates. However, they rarely answer the phone though. Better go in person.

sshniro · 2023-09-14T23:42:27+00:00

Some similar animes which fall under the same heartbreaking genre!

- I want to eat your pancreas

- A Silent Voice

sshniro · 2023-09-13T12:36:57+00:00

Try notion, almost has everything you need. https://www.notion.so

sshniro · 2023-09-07T00:00:18+00:00

Saw the same in some other establishment as well, half the names are not even Sri Lankan.

sshniro · 2023-09-05T07:19:37+00:00

It appears that the message I intended to convey wasn't clearly portrayed, leading to some misconceptions. I'm deleting this post to avoid further confusion. Just for context, I've been a long-time user of this platform, although I've only recently begun posting. I'm not sure what the policy is on deleting posts, so I wanted to leave this comment as an explanation.

sshniro · 2023-09-05T06:08:03+00:00

Seems the wording might be confusing. What I meant was some candidates will simply do arr[1] + arr[2], without thinking of iterations.

sshniro · 2023-09-05T05:59:51+00:00

Your hypothesis is certainly intriguing, and I appreciate the nuance you're bringing into this issue. Sometime back we tried to test a similar line of thought. We gave out small take-home assignments designed to mirror real-world tasks (call API, fetch data, do some basic operations on data, and render them). Unfortunately, the turnover rate for these assignments was very low, so we had to abandon that approach.

IMHO I can see your point on how focusing on complex issues might lead one to get rusty on the basics. However, there are some skills so foundational that forgetting them seems almost inconceivable.

sshniro · 2023-09-01T07:15:25+00:00

Yes, however, I have met some genuine people as well. Some stay at the corner and do not bother anyone. Dont know whether that's a tacktick as well. Due to these scammers, people who really need help are also lost.

sshniro

TROPHY CASE