Houston, Texas
Woke up for an early early flight to Houston for a friend's wedding. This will be the first time we've ever visited Texas - layovers in Dallas/Fort Worth do not count. The bride emailed all the out-of-towners saying that she always takes people to the Galleria. We asked the lady at the front desk of our hotel and she also said "definitely, the Galleria". Apparently that's the big thing to see. hm...
We had booked a hotel in downtown Houston so we after lunch, we wandered around. Found the Aquarium and spent the afternoon there. Downtown Houston is very strange. It's empty on the weekends because no one lives there. The city is trying to change that by building new condos and apartments but still, a very quiet downtown. (Except in the evening when the clubs open up.)
We attended the rehearsal dinner which was a full-blown Chinese banquet. The main difference was the starter platter in Houston is full of fried food (egg rolls and crab rangoon) while the banquets here start with cold meats. Regardless, very yummy food. I was completely shocked when I saw my friend's younger sister for the first time. They look like identical twins!!! So uncanny. Anyways, dinner was fun. We sat with a few of her aunties and uncles and another couple from college. The bride got to go around and visit each table during the banquet. It was good to be able to catch up with her since I don't expect to speak to her much on the wedding day as is with most weddings.
The day of the wedding was Daylight Savings! Got to go to the Galleria and ate at Ninfa's (supposedly the originators of tex-mex). They gave HUGE portions. We could've ordered just one taco dish and it would've been enough for both of us. The tacos were gigantic! Incredibly juicy too! The Galleria is also ginormous. I guess we should've guessed since it took us a long time to drive out of the airport. Everything is Texas-sized.
Wedding was at a country club in Houston's ritziest area where the homes are $4-5 million. One of the homes we passed looked like an art museum. Also lots of homes that look like Southern plantation mansions. Beautiful wedding!! Sat at a table with more college classmates. There was even a sister I hadn't seen since college graduation! And one girl was apparently my "interview buddy" at Oracle. haha!
On Monday, we drove down to the Johnson Space Center. Lucky us, there were about 300 kids also visiting that day. It was really cute how each class had coordinated t-shirts. When we went on the tram tour, the little kids screamed so loudly when we went through a tunnel. :D It's so cute how little things like that get them so excited! Thankfully we took the tram tour in the morning because it was pouring rain in the afternoon when we left.
We had a obligatory plate of Texas BBQ at Pappas BBQ before heading to the airport. The next time we come back to visit, we'll make sure to a) catch a rodeo since March is rodeo month and b) do the Azalea trail which was also this weekend but we didn't realize. According to all the locals, this weekend was perfect in terms of weather. Later in March, it'll get hot and muggy like Asian summers. *ugh*
We had booked a hotel in downtown Houston so we after lunch, we wandered around. Found the Aquarium and spent the afternoon there. Downtown Houston is very strange. It's empty on the weekends because no one lives there. The city is trying to change that by building new condos and apartments but still, a very quiet downtown. (Except in the evening when the clubs open up.)
We attended the rehearsal dinner which was a full-blown Chinese banquet. The main difference was the starter platter in Houston is full of fried food (egg rolls and crab rangoon) while the banquets here start with cold meats. Regardless, very yummy food. I was completely shocked when I saw my friend's younger sister for the first time. They look like identical twins!!! So uncanny. Anyways, dinner was fun. We sat with a few of her aunties and uncles and another couple from college. The bride got to go around and visit each table during the banquet. It was good to be able to catch up with her since I don't expect to speak to her much on the wedding day as is with most weddings.
The day of the wedding was Daylight Savings! Got to go to the Galleria and ate at Ninfa's (supposedly the originators of tex-mex). They gave HUGE portions. We could've ordered just one taco dish and it would've been enough for both of us. The tacos were gigantic! Incredibly juicy too! The Galleria is also ginormous. I guess we should've guessed since it took us a long time to drive out of the airport. Everything is Texas-sized.
Wedding was at a country club in Houston's ritziest area where the homes are $4-5 million. One of the homes we passed looked like an art museum. Also lots of homes that look like Southern plantation mansions. Beautiful wedding!! Sat at a table with more college classmates. There was even a sister I hadn't seen since college graduation! And one girl was apparently my "interview buddy" at Oracle. haha!
On Monday, we drove down to the Johnson Space Center. Lucky us, there were about 300 kids also visiting that day. It was really cute how each class had coordinated t-shirts. When we went on the tram tour, the little kids screamed so loudly when we went through a tunnel. :D It's so cute how little things like that get them so excited! Thankfully we took the tram tour in the morning because it was pouring rain in the afternoon when we left.
We had a obligatory plate of Texas BBQ at Pappas BBQ before heading to the airport. The next time we come back to visit, we'll make sure to a) catch a rodeo since March is rodeo month and b) do the Azalea trail which was also this weekend but we didn't realize. According to all the locals, this weekend was perfect in terms of weather. Later in March, it'll get hot and muggy like Asian summers. *ugh*
posted by pc at
11:05 PM
<< Home