சந்தோசமான கூடல்...

அம்மா பிறந்த நாள் விழா

அம்மா பிறந்த நாள்

என்னுடைய மனமார்ந்த பிறந்த நாள் நல்வாழ்த்துகள் அம்மா...

ஓட்ஸ் கஞ்சியும், கருவாடும்...

அம்மா அமெரிக்கா வந்து 2 1/2 மாதங்கள் ஆகப்போகிறது. அவர் வந்த பிறகு நமக்கு ராஜயோகம் தான். எனக்கும், சாமிக்கும் சமையல் கட்டு பக்கம் வேலையே இல்லை... உங்களுக்கே தெரியும், பேச்சிலர் சமையல் பற்றி. வித விதமான சாப்பாடு அதுவும் அம்மா கையில் என்றால் கேட்கவா வேண்டும். நான் நல்ல வெயிட் போட்டதா என் நண்பர்கள் கூறினார்கள். இன்னும் இந்த பாக்கியம் வரும் 2 1/2 மாதங்கள் தான். அப்புறம் அம்மா ஊருக்கு போயிடுவாங்க.

சரி விசயத்துக்கு வர்றேன். இன்னைக்கு அம்மாவை எதுவும் விசேசமா சமைக்க வேண்டாம்ன்னு செல்லிடேன். அதனால் அம்மா ஓட்ஸ் கஞ்சியும், கருவாடும் செஞ்சி இருந்தாங்க. என்னோட சின்ன வயசுல அம்மா எனக்கு கம்மங்கஞ்சியும் கருவாடும் வச்சி தந்தது ஞாபகம் வந்தது. இத்தனை வருசத்துக்கு அப்புறம் ஒரு அருமையான சாப்பாடு. சொர்க்கமே என்றாலும் நம்ம ஊர் போல வருமாங்கிற மாதிரி, என்ன தான் பர்கரும், டேக்கோவும் சாப்பிடாலும் நம்ம ஊரு கஞ்சியும், கருவாடு மாதிரி வருமா?

San Antonio, Corpus Christi And Houston Trip - Day 3

Final day of our trip is started with Meenachi Amman temple dharsan. After our prayer, we have picked up our lunch in temple dinning area and moved towards NASA – Johnson space center - Houston.
With the help of Tram Tour, we have visited the Space Vehicle Mockup Facility and the current Mission Control Center. We are lucky, because we had chance to visit Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory. This is where astronauts do the training for upcoming missions. In this place, all those who gave their life to space mission were honored with their photos which is including our Kalpana Chawla.

We have visited Blast Off Theater, Astronaut Gallery, Starship Gallery places and Mom, all my friends, myself are clicked pictures around these places. At 7:00 P.M, we have started to drive our vehicle towards Little Rock and reached home @ 4:15 A.M safely.
It was totally fun trip for my mom and all of us. Thanks to all my friends who made this trip as wonderful and more memorable.

San Antonio, Corpus Christi And Houston Trip - Day 2

From the Best Western Inn Hotel with the help of 1 hour and 40 Minutes driving, we have reached to Corpus Christi visitor center around 11:00 A.M and gathered the sight seeing place addresses in and around of this city. There was a ferry ride @ 12:30 P.M. so thought of filling this 1 and ½ hour gap with USS Lexington Museum on the bay. But this World War II Naval ship museum took our full daytime. Yeah… we have covered only 3 decks out of 4 in this ship and now our clock showed us 3:00 P.M. Since all are hungry, all were exited from Museum and had delicious lunch in Mexican restaurant.

After lunch, it’s beach time. Kids had good time in beach. Due to Rain, we didn’t spend much time in here and it made us drive to Houston. Its 3-½ hours drive from here. We had delicious dinner food in Indian restaurant and checked in to Quality Inn Hotel for our night stay.

San Antonio, Corpus Christi And Houston Trip - Day 1

First Day of our July 4th Long weekend trip, My Mom, Param family, Srini Gopinathan family, his brother family Geetha, Vishva, Swetha and myself are planned to go to San Antonio, Texas. Geetha family is from Boston and they are here for kid’s summer vacation. Since San Antonio is 8 hours drive from Little Rock, we thought of starting @ 1:00 P.M. But due to rental car pickup delay, we were forced to start @ 2:00 P.M on Thursday (07/03/2008). We have rented two vehicles, one for us i.e) Param family, me and my mom (8 Sheet passenger minivan) and another one for Srini family (7 sheet passenger minivan).

Kumar and myself are shared our vehicle driving. @ 9:00 P.M, we have stopped both vans in Burger king for our dinner. Relaxed our selves a bit. After that in another 2:30 hours driving, we have reached San Antonio Down town. This is where we have booked Red Roof Inn hotel for our stay.

Morning 8:30 A.M all are got ready and had our break fast in hotel itself. Menu is not good. I say ok…

After checkout our room, we have driven our vehicles towards one of the famous attraction in San Antonio - “Sea World”. After finishing security formalities and Cart rental, we went to Sea Star 4 D Theater and watched Pirates 4-D special effects movie. During their adventure with sea, we were experienced sprays of water and other effects. It was fun to watch this.
Our next stop is highlight of the sea world. Yes, it is Shamu Show. All the dolphins and show caretakers are entertained us nearly 40 minutes. Kumar, Pritika, Nivetha, Geetha, Vishva, Swetha are sat in front rows and all were splashed by Shamu. Before go to next show, we have given break to kids to enjoy in Shamu’s happy harbor play area.

After the break, went to sea lion stadium to watch "The Cannery Row Caper" show, where the sea lions attempt to unravel the mystery of disappearing fish in a nearby cannery. This show made us laughs. We have moved to Viva Show @ Beluga Stadium. It is filled with High divers, swimmers performance, white-sided dolphins and Whales. All are enjoyed this show.

After that went to "Waggin Tales" show, Ski Riding show, Touch and feed playful dolphins at Dolphin Cove area, aquarium and so on… Before exit from Sea world, my mom has purchased Shamu towel from gift shop.
Another popular tourist attraction is San Antonio River walk. We have reached here @ 9:00 P.M. Since we all were tired, we were preferred to roam this area by boat instead of walking. Our Boat guide was explained about downtown building history, which was along with San Antonio River. It was cool see these places. Next time we have come bit early here and do enjoy…

After the boat Ride, we have started our vehicles towards Beeville city that is on the way to Corpus Christi. This island is well known for vacation spot. This city is fully covered with beaches, aquarium and museum.