My diving experience part 3 of 3.

This is the final part of my diving trip. After day one of our dive trip we went to a restaurant facing the sea for a well deserved meal and a couple of drinks to celebrate our conquering of Amity Point, for most, it was an early bed time in preparation for another even earlier start in the morning.
We woke to some good weather and were all pumped for some great diving. After putting our gear together and loading the boat everyone made their way down to the beach where the boat would launch us into the ocean. After a fun ride out bounding over the waves we discovered that the conditions were going to let us get out to Manta Bommie to where the Manta Rays Play. On the trip to our diving point, we saw a school of dolphins swimming pass us. Then there was a sudden change in the tide so we had to change our dive spot to Shag Rock. During our first dive all of us completed our skills. Skills involve us swimming with the aid of just a compass, clearing our mask and showing expertise in our buoyancy control.

After the 3^rd dive, when we went up to change our tanks for our final dive, most of us became sea sick. I even considered giving up then. But I felt that I would feel better in the sea then on boat. It was true. My sea sickness was over once I re-entered the water. I even puked while on the sea bed! It requires skills to vomit in the sea cos you don’t want to suck any water in. The 4^th dive was just like a tour trip, we floated around looking at the marine life. If I were to describe the feeling it is like floating in outer space! Many of us might not have a chance to experience zero gravity, and to me this is the closest one can get to that.

My only regret is that I didn’t see any manta rays. I heard Mauritius has a nice diving spot where I could dive with the mantas, hopefully that dream materialize in 2008.

Wobbegong sharks.

Before i post the final part of my diving trip here is some interesting information.

During my first dive in the sea tom was showing us some of the marine life in the sea. It was a wonder to see a school of fishes not swimming but just stationary facing the currents. it looked like a paused underwater video.That was because none of the fishes seemed like they were swimming. They just stood there against the currents.

That was when tom was showing us an octopus which was hiding beneath some corals.

I was just ½ a meter away from Tom when a Wobbegong shark swamps pass us. It was less than a meter away from me. Its length was slightly bigger then ½ a meter. Initially I thought it was a cat fish but looking at its dorsal fins I confirmed it was a shark. Initially I was not afraid because the way it look it ought it was one of those sharks which don have teeth I even wanted to touch it. Good thing I didn’t, cos I was wrong!

This is the jaw structure of a Wobbegong shark. I think the picture explains everything. For more details read about it in Wikipedia Here.

My diving experience part 2 of 3.

It was an hour drive to the jetty. We had to take a special ferry for vehicles. The boat trip to straddie (Stradbroke Island) was 45 minutes we were off to Manta lodge to get our accommodation then down to the beach to hang out in the sun and wait for the tide to slow. The tide was high and the currents were very strong. We planned to just walk along the beach. Waves and the water was so clear that Cameron and Susanna could not resist. They just got down to their undergarments and entered the water. Cameron then started teasing me if i was shy. How can i resist? I went in as well. The currents were so strong we were pushed around 30 away from where we started within seconds. We frolicked in the surf for a while and enjoyed the sun before heading down to Amity Point to start diving. Amity point was the abandoned jetty that we were going to start our dive.
Now was the time for us to meet our challenges and see their dreams by gliding weightless in the sea. So with everyone being geared up and buddy checked we waded into the beautiful, uncharacteristically clear water of Amity Point. I faced my first problem, i could not sink! We had weights attached to me to sink but it was not enough, matt kept adding more and finally with 27Kg attached to me I sank! We all cruised comfortably around the pylons enjoying the company of Wobbegong* sharks, a Moray Eel, Stonefish, puffer fish and many other fish. Under the watchful eye of Matt on the surface, we completed the first dive with ease and proceeded to do all our surface skills, 20 minutes later we were out of the water and thinking about the 2nd dive. With the tide turning and the current picking back up we needed to hurry back into the water so we didn’t have to battle too much. Unfortunately the tide caught us and we had a bit of a battle in the water for the 2nd dive. The visibility dropped and we had to hang onto whatever we could find to stay in one place. I found a rope sticking out from the bottom of the sea bed and i held on to it and signaled the rest to hold on to me. There was a chain of us all holding onto one another! When it was my turn to do the skill I had to let go of the rope the moment i lost my grip of the rope, all of us were swept away by a few meters! We battled the current together and got back to the rope. What fun! Next 3^rd and 4^th dive, to dismount from a boat and go up to 18meters deep!

My diving experience part 1 of 3.

I told you guys that I have just done my PADI open water diving licence . I was thinking I could describe my experience and encourage you guys to dive too. Rather than a very long post i have decided to put it into a 3 part

PADI diving licence, involves first day of theory, 2^nd day in the swimming pool with basic skills on the water. Then we have to perform all these skills in open water, either in the river or in the sea. 2 dismount from shore and 2 from a boat.

For my last 2 parts of my diving licence I decided to do it in Stradbroke Island. I was teamed with

Susanna - a Chinese event planner from the UK,,

Cameron - a Spanish tour guide, who was in Australia to study English),

Brooke - her Boyfriend was a experienced diver who wanted her to learn diving, he accompanied her for the dive. Brooke was my assigned dive buddy.

Gavin - An IT administrator for an e-commerce site.)

Mark – A professor who is doing on the medical and social effects of drinking, smoking and drugs.

Tom – my diving instructor

Matt – Dive master (the one who monitors our weights and air levels.

I met these guys on a Saturday morning at 5.30, Matt was a lively guy who broke the ice and everyone became good friends and we joked about everything under sun.

Next post: Shore Dive!

New year resolutions , and their progress

Although I have already been tagged earlier by Shalini on New Year resolutions. Pooranasi have tagged me again. And I would like to use this opportunity to define and describe the steps taken so far to achieve the goals.
1.) Get my six packs in my abdominals.
To get the toned abdominals I have to watch my diet and not too much calories. To reduce my calorie I have taken the first step
Diet  when I fill my drinks in subway I would fill half the cup with diet coke and the rest with normal coke. That is 50% less sugar!

click me for six pack abs

and also following the instructions in the link above.

2.) Go to India and make a significant difference in an orphan child’s life.
When I come to Chennai in May 2008 I would visit one of the orphanages. Seriously as long as there is one alive human there are no orphans, we should all work towards closing them down and encouraging adoption. The first thing I would ask my future wife is if she would approve adoption.

3.) Spend more time with my family.
My youngest brother will be taking is Cambridge O’ level examinations in 2008. I have planned to be his tuition teacher and a study mentor to him constantly keeping tabs on his progress.

4.) Get my driving license.
My cousin in India promised me that he will buy one for me!

5.) Save money -> it’s very complicated! I have the burning desire on using my money in a good restaurant. At least one month I would be eating in a posh restaurant.

New year resolutions , and their progress

Although I have already been tagged earlier by Shalini on New Year resolutions. Pooranasi have tagged me again. And I would like to use this opportunity to define and describe the steps taken so far to achieve the goals.
1.) Get my six packs in my abdominals.
To get the toned abdominals I have to watch my diet and not too much calories. To reduce my calorie I have taken the first step
Diet  when I fill my drinks in subway I would fill half the cup with diet coke and the rest with normal cock. That is 50% less sugar!

click me for six pack abs

and also following the instructions in the link above.

2.) Go to India and make a significant difference in an orphan child’s life.
When I come to Chennai in May 2008 I would visit one of the orphanages. Seriously as long as there is one alive human there are no orphans, we should all work towards closing them down and encouraging adoption. The first thing I would ask my future wife is if she would approve adoption.

3.) Spend more time with my family.
My youngest brother will be taking is Cambridge O’ level examinations in 2008. I have planned to be his tuition teacher and a study mentor to him constantly keeping tabs on his progress.

4.) Get my driving license.
My cousin in India promised me that he will buy one for me!

5.) Save money -> it’s very complicated! I have the burning desire on using my money in a good restaurant. At least one month I would be eating in a posh restaurant.

Songs for my readers!

i will constantly play songs that i like. some of them are my all time favorite. if u don like a song you can select the skip button to switch to the next song. Readers can also comment on their all time favorite song. if somehow just hate the song being played ,you can also tell me if a song in the list just irritates you, i will remove it from the list.

Currently playing:
Aahaa -Mudhan Mudhalil,
Thaalam -Kalai Maane,
Guru - Tere Bina,
Aaja Nachle - Aaja Nachle,
Azhagiya Tamil Magan - Valayapatti

Fire! Fire ! Fire!

As you guys know that I have now moved to my friend’s apartment. the apartment that i am staying is like a student hostel with around 200 people staying.

Yesterday I was woken up by a strange alarm. It was so loud that I knew it was for the whole building. I went into my buddy’s groggily and asked him what it was. He replied with his eyes still closed that it was the fire alarm and went back to sleep. I took a peek downstairs from my window, but there was no one there. If there was a fire at least someone would have run downstairs. Within minutes the fire engine came. Feeling sleepy I went back to sleep even after the fire engine Later that day went I woke up I realized if it was a real fire I could have died!

Every apartment in that building are equipped with an internal smoke sensor, it will sound off if there was smoke. That one will only trigger the alarm in the apartment only. But there is another one in the corridors which will immediately trigger the fire alarm for the whole building and call the fire department automatically.

If the fire department was called in for a false alarm, it copes an $800 dollar fine. I guess someone just got a very expensive morning present that day!

A new year and a new home.

On the 31^st of December was the day my lease in my rented house ended in Australia. I had lived in the house for 10 months and I must say i am going to miss it. I am living away from my family and i was living independently with my 3 friends in this house. In this post I will describe my old house with pictures.
This is the front view of the house. “ Grande Terrace” is its name and my house is the first one of the five. The bottom floor is the garage which has been converted to a bedroom for my house mate. The 2^nd floor is the kitchen and the living room. The third floor is where there are 3 bedrooms one with attached toilet and a balcony for itself. My room is the 3^rd floor, extreme left on the picture and i share the balcony with one other housemate. (The balcony is linked to 2 rooms.) The house has 4 balconies, 2 on either side of the house.


This is the living room, where countless parties were held, most ending in people getting too tired to go home and in the end becoming their bedroom.

The kitchen which i did most of my scientific experiments in the name of cooking and my lab rats were my house mates, whom i made to test the food. i was always the last to eat the food that i have cooked. None of them noticed!

Me cooking chapathi for my house mates. See mom its round! unlike yours!


















This is the view of the girl next door. she moved in weeks after i did and still continue to live there. She like to wear black and have a party at her house on a Friday each month ,with the basement as the dance floor. Beer bottles filled up her 3 rubbish bins and she had to sneak some boxed full of them to my bin, thinking that i was not looking.





Finally my room. The place where i studied, watched movies, had friends over and pretty much some days where spent entirely in this room. although it was small it was a whole world to me.

Good bye house....

I will post the rest of the pictures, in my Picassa site and post the link for you guys to see all my pictures in Australia. Most of these pictures were taken after i have moved all my stuff and done a very intense cleaning.