Where have I been #1
It has been 2 months since my last post. Those who meet me often know what have I been up to but those who don't must be wondering that where have I been. So here is the inside story.
6th March was a day that started a series of events that would leave a lifelong impression.
I would start from were I left, The LA airport. One act that I forgot to mention in my last post was almost losing Anshul's Camera. I was waiting at the check-in counter at the LA airport for my Houston flight when I kept the Bag containing Anshul's camera on one of the seats I was setting beside. I happily checked in for the flight, went passed security.... bought myself a starbucks coffee and was waiting at the Boarding area when I started having an uneasy feeling about forgetting something. That feeling lasted precisely 20 seconds when I realised what it was. Somehow explained to the security of what had happened and went outside in the check-in area. Lucky me that the security did not realise this bag had been at the seat for the last 30 minutes. Talk about security at the airport, the same security that asks you to remove your shoes and put it through X-ray, remove your laptop from the laptop bag and what not.
The Continental flight from LA to Houston was ok apart from realising the sad part that they do not server veg food on domestic flight even though my flight booking shows a meal preference of Vegetarian. Reaching Houston at 11:45 PM is not the best times. The airport was pretty much deserted, got a cab to the Hotel downtown which took some 40 USD (my first realisation that US can be somewhat expensive).
The next one week was spent mainly on work. The office being walking distance from the hotel was an advantage, though the sad part was that only thing in Downtown Houston were few Hotels and many Offices. Apart from that it was pretty empty. No markets, malls or any places to eat..... There were some pubs along Main Street that were great places to be on Weekends. They turned out to be my dinner destination for the 2 weeks of my stay in Houston.
I only had one weekend to spend in Houston so I made good use of it by visting many places in Houston, the Museum District being the first one....There are many Art museums.... both Contemporary and Classic.... Even visited the Holocast Museum which turned out to be quite good. After I had visited enough Museums to last me for the year, I decided to take a stroll down Rice University. That was one beautiful University with great buildings and a sense of peace about it... After having studied in a university in Singapore you seem to forget what old universities are like and why people take pride in studying there... Visiting Rice was a recollection of that feeling.
The evening was spent at the Flying Saucer pub drinking "Around the World" Beer set. This place has one of the largest beer collections of beer that I have ever seen. Trying beer from 5 different countries without having to go to either one of them lessens the taste though it does tell you something about how far we have come.
The next day was the day for NASA. Long had I waited to visit this place, to see made it what it is known for. Expecting too much can be a regret at times. In this case it was a BIG regret. I will go no further to tell you why I did not like it but I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more had I gone there 10 years ago. The place has been made for kids.
One interesting fact about NASA centre in Houston is that most of the land that it is built on has been leased to them by Rice University at a handsome sum of $1 per year.
(I gotta head out for lunch for now. Will continue in my next post)...
6th March was a day that started a series of events that would leave a lifelong impression.
I would start from were I left, The LA airport. One act that I forgot to mention in my last post was almost losing Anshul's Camera. I was waiting at the check-in counter at the LA airport for my Houston flight when I kept the Bag containing Anshul's camera on one of the seats I was setting beside. I happily checked in for the flight, went passed security.... bought myself a starbucks coffee and was waiting at the Boarding area when I started having an uneasy feeling about forgetting something. That feeling lasted precisely 20 seconds when I realised what it was. Somehow explained to the security of what had happened and went outside in the check-in area. Lucky me that the security did not realise this bag had been at the seat for the last 30 minutes. Talk about security at the airport, the same security that asks you to remove your shoes and put it through X-ray, remove your laptop from the laptop bag and what not.
The Continental flight from LA to Houston was ok apart from realising the sad part that they do not server veg food on domestic flight even though my flight booking shows a meal preference of Vegetarian. Reaching Houston at 11:45 PM is not the best times. The airport was pretty much deserted, got a cab to the Hotel downtown which took some 40 USD (my first realisation that US can be somewhat expensive).
The next one week was spent mainly on work. The office being walking distance from the hotel was an advantage, though the sad part was that only thing in Downtown Houston were few Hotels and many Offices. Apart from that it was pretty empty. No markets, malls or any places to eat..... There were some pubs along Main Street that were great places to be on Weekends. They turned out to be my dinner destination for the 2 weeks of my stay in Houston.
I only had one weekend to spend in Houston so I made good use of it by visting many places in Houston, the Museum District being the first one....There are many Art museums.... both Contemporary and Classic.... Even visited the Holocast Museum which turned out to be quite good. After I had visited enough Museums to last me for the year, I decided to take a stroll down Rice University. That was one beautiful University with great buildings and a sense of peace about it... After having studied in a university in Singapore you seem to forget what old universities are like and why people take pride in studying there... Visiting Rice was a recollection of that feeling.
The evening was spent at the Flying Saucer pub drinking "Around the World" Beer set. This place has one of the largest beer collections of beer that I have ever seen. Trying beer from 5 different countries without having to go to either one of them lessens the taste though it does tell you something about how far we have come.
The next day was the day for NASA. Long had I waited to visit this place, to see made it what it is known for. Expecting too much can be a regret at times. In this case it was a BIG regret. I will go no further to tell you why I did not like it but I think I would have enjoyed it a lot more had I gone there 10 years ago. The place has been made for kids.
One interesting fact about NASA centre in Houston is that most of the land that it is built on has been leased to them by Rice University at a handsome sum of $1 per year.
(I gotta head out for lunch for now. Will continue in my next post)...
posted by Avyakt at
11:40 am
