About myself

Hi, My name is Waruna Ratnayake. I am a web designer/programmer living in Hamburg, Germany with my girlfriend Melanie. Currently, I am also a part-time employee at IEA-DPC and take an undergraduate course in electronics engineering at Technical University of Hamburg - Harburg. In my free time I design websites and write programs either for myself or for my friends. Like some of you, I spend quite a lot of time surfing internet, looking for admirable sites. warunapaya.com is my visual archive where I post my findings. In my weblog you will also find my latest endeavors. Thank you for visiting and hope you will enjoy your stay.

Programming

I did follow couple of C++ and Java programming classes at the university but most of the knowledge was gained through self learning. C++ was pretty boring in the beginning, since I had no real direction. Then I bought a book called "C++ Primer" by Stanley B. Lippman, Josée Lajoie and Barbara E. Moo. It was just the book I needed to keep myself motivated. I also like "The C Programming Language" by Brian W. Kernighan and Dennis M. Ritchie and use it as my C reference book. For Java, I didn't by any book but there are plenty of resources available online. You will find all the links I found here.

Cooking

I like cooking just as much as programming. Mostly I am experimenting with exotic dishes with Melanie and with my friends. Recently I started paying more attention to cooking balanced meals just like my mother did at home. I call it Ayurvedic cooking, where you individualize your meal to meet the needs of individuals. Only negative side of this style of cooking is the time(you can't find some of the ingredients so easily in Hamburg).

Hamburg

When the weather is good, Hamburg is probably the most beautiful city in the world. You might think it is bit of an exaggeration but it is really true. Hamburg is greenish and clean. It offers many things that you expect in a big city. Anybody coming to Hamburg should visit Alster(boat paddling), Reeperbahn(sex district), Sternschanze (lots of small restaurents and bars), Rathausplatz (shopping) and Landungsbrücken (boat trip). Unfortunately, sunny days are rare in Hamburg. Therefore keep your rain jacket ready, all the time.