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!!