Kayak Attack :))

For the team outing event,  majority of us overwhelmingly voted to go "Kayaking" at the Pacific. Couple of  Fridays ago, we arrived at the "La Jolla Shores" beach by noon, had  a nice BBQ lunch at the beach and  played Cricket and Volleyball for some time.

It was a hot day with clear blue skies and the Pacific was inviting.

Soon, the Kayak guys arrived and gave us paddling practice at the beach

Teamed up with my friend and colleague Prasanna. Here we come Pacific :))

I have done "River Kayaking" at Boston which is almost the same as Canoeing. This is the first time I was about to venture in to the Ocean with a Kayak. What we were told is that crossing the waves while entering the ocean and returning to the shores is the most challenging part.

Climbing the waves!

The waves kept pushing us back and we had to paddle fast and furious to get past the waves.

There are seven sea caves that make up the  La Jolla Caves. One by one the guide took us inside the cave.
The famous La Jolla Seals were howling inside the caves :))

We spent almost 2 and 1/2 hours kayaking and playing around.
Just like swimming, I really enjoyed just floating with the Kayak in the Pacific Ocean.

Finally, it was time to return to the shores. We were told again to lean back all the way and keep the Kayak straight and perpendicular to the waves.

We rode up the big waves and almost made it to the shores.

We celebrated a tad second too early and lost our focus.
Our Kayak turned a little sideways, a big wave hit us on the side and spilled us over.

Another magnificent spill while coming back to the shores :))

If you are ever going to try Ocean Kayaking, call me for tips. I can definitely tell you what not to do :))

கப்பல் ஓட்டிய தமிழன் !

Ok. I admit. I exaggerated like Sheila :)) It is not a கப்பல் but a Canoe, a "Hawaiian Outrigger Canoe". 

Recently one of the projects we are working on,  reached a major milestone and the whole team decided to celebrate at the beautiful Mission Bay, right off the Pacific ocean. If you love being in water or just enjoy the sunny outdoors, you can't go wrong with Mission Bay.

It has 27 miles of shoreline, 19 miles of beaches and 14 miles of bike path. On any given day, you would see people biking, roller-blading, kayaking, canoeing, swimming, volley balling, kite-flying, running, walking and sun-bathing.

I thought, I would go there, enjoy the lunch outdoors and take off early for home.  After reaching Mission Bay, I learned that there is going to be a Canoe race.  Having enjoyed  Canoeing and Kayking (back in Boston) Hawaiian Outrigger Canoeing sounded fun and I fully got in to competition mode.

We were divided in to teams of 5 and there were around 8 teams. Each team raced with 2 other teams 3 times. The instructors taught us how to use the paddle.

Each team was asked to come up with a "Victory Chant". I influenced the team to go with my suggestion and our victory chant was "ஏலேலோ ஐய்லசா ,  ஏலேலோ ஐய்லசா ,  ஏலேலோ ஐய்லசா " :))

We won all the 3 races :)) Another team also won all three of their races and we had a playoff race with them. We lost the final by few seconds. Win or lose doesn't matter it was a day full of FUN :))

தாவணிப் பூக்கள்

தாவணிப் பூக்கள் என்றதுமே
உங்கள் எண்ணங்கள்
சிறகேந்திப் பறந்தனவோ ;)

இந்த ஜூலை நன் நாளில்(4)
நான் கண் விரியப் பார்த்தது
வானில் மலர்ந்த இவ்வண்ணப் பூக்களே :))

Spontaneous Sunday

Once the Boston RedSox schedule was announced in March, I started looking forward to their LA visit to play against the Angels. The last game of the series happened to be on my B'day weekend and a spontaneous decision was made yesterday night to go for this game.

The Angels stadium was 1 hr+ drive north of San Diego and we left around 10:30. As we approached the stadium, it started raining and Sheila started complaining that this is not the perfect San Diego weather :)  The girls and I wanted to be close to the action and I had bought "Field" tickets just 10 rows from the field between home plate and 1st base.

As we entered the stadium, it was raining and Sheila was livid with anger that there is no roof over our head :) She was yelling at me: "...next time, before you buy the tickets, you have to tell me where we are going to sit..." :) I had paid extra $$ to be close to the action and she wanted to sit under a pavilion, far away from the field :))

 The girls are ready with their signs!!

Kevin Youkilis' unique stance, holding the bat horizontal above his head. "Big Papi" Ortiz on deck. We watched the first innings in soaking rain, covering our heads with whatever we have :) 
Luckily, the rain stopped by 2nd innings.

In the stadium, there were more RedSox fans than Angels fans. This is not a surprise since RedSox have fans all over the world from the oldest to the youngest, including this little boy!!

Ex-San Diego hitter Adrian Gonzalez drove in couple of runs with this hit. By this time,  all the rain clouds had passed away and it turned out to be Sunny & Hot. Sheila started complaining again: "...hey, it is getting too hot now.." :)

The game is just a small part of the whole electrifying atmosphere in the stadium, with guys selling Cotton Candy, Hot Dogs, Popcorn, Pizza, Snacks, Drinks and Ice cream ( yes, in the rain!!! ). And...watching people...always...interesting ;)

We were delighted to watch Carl Crawford, the 142 million $$$ man, hit his first home run of  his first season with the RedSox.

Cheering Carl's home run hit!
Whenever, Youk came to bat we were all chanting and yelling "youk...youk...youk.." and for Ortiz,  "papi...papi...papi".  Swetha and Shreya (of course, and I) were thrilled to watch our favorite RedSox players up close and personal.

John Lackey, the starting pitcher did an outstanding job, pitching 8 scoreless innings :)

RedSox won 7-0, sweeping the Angels, winning all the 4 games @ LA.

After the win.

Both in 2005 and now we have watched  RedSox play as a family and have won both the times. So, Swetha, Shreya and I have decided to drag Sheila with us to all the future RedSox games, rain or shine, snow or Sun :) :) :)

The fun part is, Sheila was relating the game to Cricket. Whenever foul balls went outside she screamed "Sixer...Sixer" :). When a player got thrown out at a base she was yelling "Run Out" :))

We are all looking forward to the RedSox-Angels playoff games in Oct. :))

LUV2LUV

In all the other cities I have lived,  I have noticed few cars that have customized licence plates instead of the standard mixed jumble of numbers and letters. When I moved to San Diego, the first thing that struck me is that many cars have customized licence plates.  Most of them are funny and clever.

Here are some samples with my own interpretation. You never know what the owner of the car actually wanted to convey.

FEL4REX  => Fell for Rex

MYMSTR  => Love my Master

CASURFN   => California Surfing

BIGBLVR  => Big Believer

PACGEM => Pacific Gem

XZ MYST =>  Exciting Mystique

LEGSPNR => Driven by an Indian girl at work.
                             One day I will ask her if she is really a leg spinner OR
                             others' legs spin when they look at her :)


Here are some suggestions :)

Sri:  NYNYNY
         The guy loves Newyork. Translates in Tamil to  நய் நய் நய் :)


Diana: 2SHOOT 
Ganesh: 2BUGDi


Siva: HOOTR :)


Sathi: TALAIVR =>  Thalaivar


Surya: PODIQN => Podi Queen


JP:  VIPMVP   => Very Important Person. Most Valuable Person.


Mala:  AMMAEE =>  My Mom's Mom!


Priya: TCHRMA => Teacher Amma :)


Asha: 2SHP => Love to shop

Swetha: 2RGU => Love to argue :)

Shreya: 2PPT  => Love to use Powerpoint

Sheila: 2BLG =>  Love to Blog


Sundu:   2 =>  Love to Love


Let your imagination run wild. Lets hear your versions,

Silly Signs :)

Enjoy these silly signs seen during our Alaska trip last year.