The day I got lost with Nokia Maps

We were going around in circles, trying to find the restaurant I told her about. Thirty minutes had passed and frustration was starting to set in. She had exams the next day but obliged to let her friend of 13 years take her out for a post birthday treat. I noticed her constantly checking her watch, probably to make sure she has enough time for one last review session. To ease some of the tension I proceeded to give her gifts.

I handed her one piece at a time to open (conveniently, there was a can opener in the car at that time). First can had three FRESH roses. Second can was full of chocolates. And the last can was filled with a puzzle as she was fond with them. I could not forget her smile that evening. My grin was most likely from ear to ear to. At this point (we haven't found the restaurant), I started to talk about how we've been friends for such a long time, how close we were, my true feelings for her and how I wanted to make our relationship go deeper. She fell silent. After what felt like the longest 2 minutes of my life, she told me how she felt and that she was open to taking our relationship further.

The sigh of relief that escaped my mouth was so audible it caused her to laugh. After a few left turns and a right, we reached the restaurant. We had a nice Persian food dinner and generally caught up with each other's lives.


The thing is, I purposely got lost. The night before, I studied the area of the restaurant on Nokia Maps so I could go around in circles and pretend to be lost. I wanted to see how she'd react to the whole situation. What we got was raw, unscripted reactions that made the night certainly more memorable and I'm sure neither of us will forget. 

Nokia Amazing Hobbies

It's been a while since I've played my sport as there is no team in my current city mainly due to the fact that we don't have a heated pool here. Imagine playing in 15 degree Celsius water. YIKES.

Anyway, underwater hockey (UWH) is a fast paced non-contact sport (usually) where two teams of six a side try to push a 3 lb lead puck into each others goals. Just like ice hockey, we use sticks (although drastically shorter), a hockey puck (that is tons heavier) and team play is key to scoring goals and winning. Heavy armor padding is reduced to a diving mask, a snorkel, a silicone padded glove and skimpy swimsuit while ice skates are traded for fins. The most critical difference though is instead of playing ON frozen water, we play UNDER liquid water. :)

The funny thing is, you do not need know how to swim to play! Crazy right? Since game play happens underwater, "swimming" is just what you do when taking a breathe and moving on the surface of the water. Being humans, we need to breath to function, so game play consists of well timed diving, breathe holding and resurfacing all while trying to push the puck to the other end and playing the opposing team. Confused yet? Here's a two minute video clip that gives a quick overview of the sport. (credit to http://www.puhc.com.ph/)

Here's an EXTREME version of UWH, played in a 4.5 meter deep pool! Talk about lung busting! (credit to http://suhc.multiply.com)

And here's a short clip of me during a training session.

Hopefully I've piqued your interest in the sport of UWH. If not, at least introduced you to a unique sport and push you to try other non conventional sports too! :D

But before you go, here's silly photo of me in gear (out of water)! lol :)