The last of my Texas trip recap, some of the foods I ate around Austin.
The Salty Donut (2000 S Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78704)
These are the best donuts I’ve had in a long time. They are also very expensive donuts — around $4-$5 per donut making them premium donuts. The star-shaped donut is a churro donut stuffed with dulce de leche cream. The white cream donut is the horchata donut. The chocolate donut is Texas Chocolate Sheet Cake.
Continue reading Austin foodWe 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.
Continue reading Austin trip recapWe 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.
Continue reading Galveston half-day trip recapHere 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 (?)
Continue reading Houston foodI’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.
Continue reading Houston trip recap…this iron statue will still stand in Sugarland, Texas. selfish.
Continue reading In another 100 years…(PPAC #69)Now it’s my turn to go on vacation. Actually, the funny thing was that it was the other way around I planned a vacation first with my college friends and my husband decided to plan one with Lana around the same time. I realized I was going to miss out on seeing Lana experience her flight and her first long-distance trip. She will, however, experience the first time she’s been apart from me for more than 10 hours. Plus I will miss out on learning how to travel with a young child. At least my husband can tell me how it goes and we can plan better for the next trip (haha). I just learned we could pack the stroller which would have made getting around the airport so much easier. Plus it could have doubled as a wagon to hold our carryons and personal items.
I just landed in Austin and I am waiting for my friends to arrive. They’re coming from the Bay Area. In the meantime, I am at the seating area next to baggage claim writing this post to occupy my two hours.
Continue reading Hanging out at baggage claim for two hoursMeet Michelle and Marty from That Texas Couple, a wife-and-husband blog focusing on travel stories and tips. They’ve been to Italy, Germany, England, France, New Orleans, and more. They’re so passionate about travel inspire they’d like everyone to live a life of travel no matter what their current circumstances are.
I love her life aspirations because, I too, am married and we enjoy travelling. Also we don’t have kids ourselves (yet), but I know when we do have kids, we’ll still travel. Sanctimommies and helicopter moms, beware.
Check out their interview below. All answers were written by Michelle.
What is your 9-to-5?
My 9-5 is a school administrator. I work to ensure that our youth of today are properly educated and ready to become productive citizens. My husband, Marty, who is the other half of that Texas Couple is a police officer. Since we are both public servants, we work crazy hours and our jobs can sometimes be stressful, so we turn to travel to help us take a mental and physical break from life. Check out our bio.
Why did you start blogging?
We began blogging as a fun way to document our travel experiences. Our family and friends always wanted to know where we went and see photos, so it was just a fun way to share our travels. People then started asking us for tips and tricks, so we expanded our blog based upon that, helping people experience travel no matter what their current circumstances are.
We cover travel destinations near and far. Since we are from Texas, we have several Texas posts. We have also been to Europe several times, so I am working on getting more European stuff on there. Our blog is still in it’s early stages, and since we both work full time, it’s growing slowly.
For anyone who is visiting your blog for the first time, where should they go?
When you first visit, definitely check out the following posts:
What are your goals?
Our long term goals:
Short term goals:
What are things in your life that bring meaning?
Of course my family and friends are super important. I try to always make time for people to build and grow relationships. After family, travel tops the list. Marty and I are always looking for ways to travel more. It doesn’t matter if it’s a long weekend, or a 3-week trip to Europe, we constantly look for ways to travel. If we can’t get away too far, then we find ways to be tourists in our own city. It’s amazing how much you can discover about your local community when you take a guided tour, or just talk to locals about their favorite places.
How do you start your day?
I generally roll begrudgingly out of bed a little after 5. Sleep walking, I put on workout clothes and find a way to do some type of physical activity. To be honest, some days it’s no more than a 20 minute walk, but at least it’s something. I then get dressed for work, grab a cup of coffee and my laptop and start my blogging routine. I spend 1.5-2 hours each morning working on the blog in some way. It varies from educating myself on blogging to brainstorming posts to participating in social media. It’s really my favorite part of the day, I truly love blogging and talking about travel with any and everyone!
What is your favorite way to end the day?
Since Marty and I are empty nesters, I love ending the day on a patio somewhere having appetizers and a glass of wine laughing about the antics of our day. Marty and I are high school sweethearts and he is truly my best friend and the love of my life. Ending the day with him in any way possible makes me a happy girl.
You get a free ticket to go anywhere in the world — where would it be?
Had you asked me this 3 years ago I would have said Rome, Italy, but since Rome has been checked off of my list, I would now have to say Greece. I want to wander through the whitewashed houses on the hillside and sit and have wine overlooking the beautiful blue water.
Most Valuable Advice?
Don’t worry too much about what other people think of you. You only have one life and you should live it your way!
Complete this sentence: I never leave home without….
My credit card and camera. You never know what adventure you will wind up on, always be prepared!
It was so much fun to meet a couple who blogs! Follow Michelle and Marty from That Texas Couple on their social media!
Eat, Play, Live 