Looking back at Houston

There are so many stories about the US and Houston that I’d heard from people. The good, the bad and the ugly. Many of them proved to be untrue. I guess you have to experience everything yourself to know.

Firstly, the customs check at LAX was a breeze. It took me about 10 minutes from getting off from my seat on the plane to waiting for my bags at the baggage claims. I know because I actually timed myself. I was actually keener to prove how long it takes to do the notorious custom clearance in the US. I was obviously pleasantly disappointed!!

The different thing about the Americans is that they group their cities and towns into zonal areas. I chose to stay in an Airport hotel in LAX, so it would be easier for me to just drag my bags slowly to the hotel. (Think: Pan Pacific KLIA). I soon learnt that ‘airport zone’ in LA is decoded as 5 miles across with the actual airport as the center of the diameter! So an airport hotel simply means that it is within the 5 miles radius and a hotel listed as 1.0 mile from airport means it is 1.0 mile outside the circle. Well, anyway…I took a shuttle to my ‘airport hotel’, which was quite unpleasant since the driver had to drop off the other passengers before me. It took him approximately 45 minutes before reaching the hotel. Since my flight to Houston was scheduled early the next morning, I didn’t have any time to spare for the famous Hollywood Boulevard or the Universal Studios. Maybe next time..heh heh!

Houston proved to be a better town for my senses. The people are way nicer, the town is so spread out and not congested and the hotel room is really nice. There are 8800 eating places in Houston! In fact Houston has the most eating places in the whole of US. I had the fantastic experience of dining at one of the top Houston restaurants – Brennans@Houston. The maitre’d was exactly how I pictured him to be – aloof and complete with a fake French accent. The house specialties was turtle soup. Yup good ‘ol Louisiana turtle soup! Well…That was what the waiter told me when I asked him about the turtle. He adamantly claimed that they are not in anyway endangering the species because the turtles that they used are “bred-to-be-consumed Louisiana turtles”. Funny ain’t it? How people would come to other countries and claim animal rights and then come up with a perfectly good explanation for them.

The hotel I was staying in is located in the Galleria area. Its supposed to be the numero uno shopping district in uptown Houston. It serves the neighbourhood of River Oaks. You get to see huge, palatial mansions of the ‘old money’ of the Houston elites. That simply means to me as having to pay up to 20% extra for most of the stuff. And simply means that I was running out of cash more quickly than I anticipated. However if I were to make an honest comparison…its more like our KLCC, not even our Starhill status. You can get Coach handbags for much cheaper price than in KL. The latest release was selling for only USD380…and that’s 1/3 of the price in Malaysia! Nasib baik credit limit dah nak maximum…kalau tidak..sigh!!
Its also pretty amazing to note that brands like Etienne Aigner is cheap but Liz Clairborne is more expensive.
I miss the family when I was there. There are so many things that I’m sure they would enjoy. Like I said earlier…maybe next time. And if next time ever comes…I definitely gonna buy that Coach handbag! I will be back with a vengeance!!

Tun Mahathir

This post is in no means politically-inclined. This is a personal view.

I admire Tun Dr Mahathir. Period.

And my heart skipped a beat when I read in the newspapers that he suffered a mild stroke.

I know that everyone's a mortal but if I can say this to Tun M...

I truly believe that in one way or another... I am where I am today because of you.

Thank you.

My November Plan

I want to go to Dubai again. This time I want it to be..'work-related'. So I plan my work, orchestrate my strategy and escalations. I work up weekly meetings and address the necessary issues. I told Pona that I will visit her again in November/December timeframe. I even keep Emir's duit raya for the face2face occasion. I want to go again when the weather is more welcoming to the soul and of course, shopping. I need to buy another Rockport loafers..!!

I don't quite know how...but I am now holding tickets to go to Houston, instead *sigh*

How on earth my plans went topsy turvy, I don't know....

I've never been to States before so of course I'm excited. But I'm more anxious then excited. Firstly, I'll be travelling alone. Secondly, I've never been this far and this long away from the family. Thirdly, I am pretty nervous with the time difference. The schedule I have for me is very tight...from 8am to 10pm daily. That means I'll be having meetings and presentations to do between 7pm - 9am Malaysian time! Aiyo....how la to stay awake??

I will miss two weekends in the Raya month. I will miss Isya's very first kindergarten's concert. I will miss Opi's test to get himself the green belt for taekwondo.

I ask Isya to sing to me everyday now...preparing for her concert. She still doesn't know my workplan yet. Opi knows and I can tell he's pretty anxious himself, but I know he can take care of himself. Give him the online game...and he's good for half of the day. Its just that he needs to be reminded to take his showers...hmmph.

My dear hubby is more worried about getting up in the morning. I am his alarm clock. So I need to buy him a real one before I go off. And I will stock up the fridge with loads of frozen food.

I hope my maid remembers to treat Isya's hair with conditioner everytime she shampoos her hair. Otherwise it will get all tangled up and if it gets worse, someone has to snip off the little knots. Just the knots and not the rest....

Isk...I need to properly come up with a checklist of things to do la....

Its my birthday...

This morning, someone came up to me and asked "What's up with the make-up??"

Well...its my birthday and I can do anything on my birthday. Including putting on make-up.....