US vantha intha rathna a.k.a rathu ku enga suthi paarkalaam nu theriyaama iruntha natkal.. sumtime in sept wen he spoke to his well wisher keshor in Tampa and gave some thought abt winter break in florida...
enga da porathu Florida la nu yosichuttu irunthappo Pru-DAP buddies in Jacksonville nyabagam vanthuchu... potaan ticket ah .. philly to jax and tampa to philly - a 12 day long trip.. though it seemed liked a premeditated trip, nothing was planned until first week of dec... engal thanga thalaivar JP varaen nu sonnathukku aprom thaan itinerary potom (enna kodumai sir ithu :D)...
as you all may know, this guy rathu is very much excited abt meeting old buddies, talking, talking old stories n having fun.. this trip gave him the best it could... i say nostalgia is not some hysteria or amnesia.. it is a good feel :)
@Jacksonville - Dec 18th - 21st
reached Jax on 18th, thursday. Met TCS-Pru buddies whom i tot i would never in the coming years, namely Ramesh, Nandha kishore, Balaji n Narayanan.. aprom oru puthu friend pudichaen Mr Benchu sorry Mani nu.. On saturday we drove to St Augustine, the oldest city n port in US and the place was quite different from others in US. I was reminded of tanjore agraharaa vicinity. We then watched Slumdog Millionaire that night..felt that the 'better' India can be pictured in an international banner.. :P
On sunday, drove to Daytona beaches and I had good time there with my cam and clicking solo ones. I then moved to Orlando and met an old tech buddy, Ramesh from PSG Mech for dinner.. post dinner and the whole of Monday, interluded CSE guys' Orlando get together .. We then visited National Sea Shore Village and some reserved park there.. it was nice seeing all the old tech buddies together.. bala, trv, deepan, ranjith n others.. :). a rarified instance..
Monday night, keshor (my mentor at TCS) picked me up from Orlando and then we drove to Tampa.. Applebees la dinner with light boozings... the next day flew with some purchases in Brandon mall n stayed at pranav's house.. seeing mr pranav aka bava in his abridged :) version was a surprise.. (stomach burnings for me :P)
on wednesday, 24th, met Karthik sriram (after 9 years :) )for lunch in tampa.. psbb school buddy.. the 4 day trip comrades were Keshor, Pranav, Sathish, JP and myself.. we then jaunted south florida starting that wednesday evening.. Key West (exclusive jet skiing and para gliding..) followed by Miami, Tampa Busch Gardens and Universal Studios, Orlando.. the last 4 days bestowed an elegance to the whole trip with the unlimited fun and pranks prevailing in our minds.. (in mine forever)..
oru thedal illa na life la oru shortcoming is felt..an urge or driving force is essential to push ourselves forward in this rapid world.. intha vacation n eagerness towards it kept me incited in the months Oct,Nov n Dec thru hardships n tuf times.. this is one reason why i wanted to publish my trip experience as a post..
it is a small world.. nallavanga kandippa santhipaanga...konjam selavu thaan aagum..:P adutha trip most probably in austin with a bigger gang..ciao till then.. :)
