Seattle Food

Here are some of the foods we had in Seattle. I would say majority of the foods below are restaurants selected by H’s cousin. Shoutout to her for taking the week off to take us around town.

Austin trip recap

We drove from Houston back to Austin since we are flying out of there. I glad we did that rather than spend time in Austin and drive to Houston and drive back to Austin to fly home. I felt like we already drove so much in Houston due to its sprawl, it was nice to keep things (relatively) close in Austin. Austin was the more laid-back leg of the trip, we did a lot more walking and food crawling.

Galveston half-day trip recap

We did a day trip from Houston to Galveston. In retrospect, I think we should have gone to the space center first and then spent the afternoon and evening in Galveston. It rained the whole day wherever we went. My friends and I noticed people wearing high rainboots — I guess they must get a lot of rain and it must be really high. Thankfully, I was wearing my waterproof hiking boots that day. My hiking boots got a lot use during the trip even though we only went on one hike.

Houston food

Here are some of the food places we dined at in Houston. Please note, I am not a foodie. I don’t necessarily go to food places because I saw it on a magazine or TV. A lot of times it’s serendipitous — but really I’m just hungry. Also since I went with friends, they helped me decide where to go.

Phat Eatery (23119 Colonial Pkwy Suite B-2, Katy, TX 77449)

Cuisine: Malaysian

The first place we ate when we arrived to Houston after a 2.5-hour drive from Austin. This restaurant was in a large strip mall, I decided Phat Eatery because my friends never had Malaysian food.

Top from left to right: Sizzling Tofu (my favorite!), Roti Canai, Beef Rendang. Bottom: Sizzling Tofu, Mi Goreng, and I am guessing the vegetable side is water spinach (?)

Houston trip recap

I’ve been meaning to write and reflect on my Texas. I recalled I promise to release a post the following week when I returned but that clearly didn’t happen (haha).

My friends and I met up in Austin and we drove straight to Houston first. It was about a 2.5+ hour drive. When planning for the trip, we thought it was best to go to Houston first rather than Austin because we wanted to get the long drive out of the way.

Pops of pink (PPAC #70)

I know it’s a late post. Now that I have a kid, coming back to a normal routine after a vacation is quite a juggle. Before having a kid, I would be able to get back into a routine as soon as I returned from vacation or a business trip. Now looking back at that girl, I think she might be addicted to being busy. When I came back from my trip, I wanted to enjoy the pause, plan quietly my next thing, read, and watch the newest season of The Crown. I am forever a recovering busy-holic.

Sh!th*le countries you should visit

I’ll try to not get too much into the politics but I need to say this: I don’t think it is ok for people to say the current U.S. President is ignorant and not well-versed in response to the “shithole” comment he made about countries in Central America, the Caribbean, and Africa. Calling him “ignorant” is more of an excuse to mitigate what he really is — a racist. I am not sure how much lower this can get.

In response to that, I want to share some of the shithole places I’d like to travel to. I urge all of you go to shithole places sometime in your life to dispel the things others have said or stereotyped, causing us to warp our perceptions about the world around us. That’s the wonderful thing about travel — it is truly is something you can spend on that makes you richer.

Haiti

Why Haiti? There’s a ruined French palace and a sprinkle of ruined fortresses in Haiti. Viewing these photos takes me back to Angkor Wat in Cambodia — a ruined city in the tropics — without. It is wonderful to find gems like these in the Americas.

Source

Port au Prince — gorgeous colorful buildings! (source)

Sans-Souci Palace: The Ruined Palace of King Henry I of Haiti (source)

Fort des Oliviers (source). Find more gorgeous photos in the New York Times.

South Africa

Why?

South Africa has long been on my list for as long as I remember! It’s so hard to a plan a trip that is less than 14 days because South Africa is such a big, diverse country of coastlines, safaris, and cities. Let’s not forget about penguins hanging out at the beach! I need to see penguins hanging out at the beach!

Hout Bay (source)

Durban (source)

Admire the Jacaranda trees in Pretoria (source)

There’s freaking penguins on a beach! (source)

Namibia

Why? Because I’d like to take photos of the sand dunes. Don’t they look dreamy? Plus I’d like to see the rhinos at Etosha.

Etosha National Park (source) – Check out the original blog post for more beautiful pictures!

Skelaton Coast (source)

Namib Desert (source)

Based on these pictures, they don’t look shithole to me. It is awful other people sensationalize and overexaggerate that a country is shitty due to dangerous, grave stereotypes such as diseases and low socioeconomic backgrounds.

Where would you like to to go?

Experience Zion

We went to Zion last year during Memorial Day Weekend. No filters nor photoshop jobs are required. These rocks are as red as they appear, the skies are coated with cobalt with cumulous kisses.

Have you been to Zion?

Nature is something outside our body, but the mind is within us.

Bhumibol Adulyadej

Weekly Photo Challenge: Elemental

Check out some of these submissions for their interpretation for Elemental:

• Water; Kevin Sunny
• Elemental; All About Writing and More
• Elemental; Half a Photograph
• WPC – Elemental; Mama Cormier
• Photo Challenge: Elemental; Chronicles of an Anglo-Swiss
• Up in Smoke; Simply Photos
• Norway in a Nutshell; Journeys of Len
• Classic Elements for Wonderful Wednesday; mazeepuran
• Eurasian & North American Tectonic Plates; Alan’s History and Genealogy Spot
• Elemental; Life is Great!
• Elemental; Ouch!! My back hurts!!
• THE ELEMENTS: BAD AIR (& FIRE & WATER);  Albatz Travel Adventures
• Snow-capped Devils; Laidig’s Broadway
• “A Little Ball of Rock and Sea and Sand” ~ WPC: Elements’; Lindy Le Coq
• Elemental / Maa, ilma, vesi, tuli / WPC; artkorppi II
• Hiking to Heal – facing my demons one step at a time; All the Passion Strings
• diversity; yi chi ling photography
• WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE: ELEMENTAL; WITRIAN’S PHOTOFOLIO
• Geyser Del Tatio; Ostendnomadography
• Elemental Challenge: Lake Michigan in Wisconsin; POEMS FROM PSALMS AND NATURE
• Elemental: Clouds; Tom. Fotoblog
• Life Is In The Clouds; Shi Yali Photography

Along the Waterfront

Yesterday, we went on an Underground tour of Seattle. I can’t wait to share those photos and share a little bit of history of Seattle without giving too many spoilers.

After the tour, we walked around the waterfront admiring the bay views. Maybe for the next trip to the Seattle, I’d like to take the ferry and go island hopping. Plus, I’d like bring our puppies and bring our passports to Vancouver.

Fish and Chips from Ivar’s

Ivar’s Acre of Clams
Pier 54, 1001 Alaskan Way, Seattle, WA 98104