Two weeks back from Houston, the fattest city in America, or should I say the fattest city on earth (since the Big Apple really is the fattest nation on earth?)? This is the city with the most restaurants per capita in America and oh boy, the food servings are huge! I felt so bad each time having so much leftover on my plate 
.
The skyscrapers in Houston may not be as tall as the ones in my fave red dot – I heard the tallest is only around 40 to 50 storeys? But they are definitely humougous – ah pretty much like everything in U.S. Besides what would you expect from a city built on more than 30 years of oil wealth?
And the 30 years of oil wealth also affords downtown working class the luxury of having underpasses connecting to each and every one of this big fat buildings. Now this really reminds me of Park View Square in Singapore – the formidable and most expensive office building in Singapore. Friends told me it’s really a classic American architecture and guess what? Park View Square has its own dedicated underpass as well!
Back to Houston and moving on to the people. I was told Houston has a diverse population. The different ethnic groups are active in their own pockets. Chinatown in Houston is flooded with Chinese and their cultural artifacts. I’ve not had a chance to visit Chinatown but I hear any non-Chinese will feel out of place there, what with everyone speaking only in Mandarin. Fancy having to order food in a Chinese restaurant and not able to recognise all the characters in the menu (yes it’s only in Chinese)!
So it’s no wonder why the renowned Chinese basketball player Yao Ming has elected to play for Houston team and settle down in this American city where he really would feel at home.
What really impresses me during this trip is my visit to the Museum of Natural Sciences. This museum really puts our Science Centre here to shame – again what do you expect with years of oil money behind the city haha…
Which is exactly why the museum has to cater for a permanent section for energy sector. Weis Energy Hall houses sophisticated behind-the-scene educational displays of the oil and gas sector. A walk through the hall is definitely more enlightening than watching any singular episode of Keppel sponsored Mediacorp serial, The Peak, 
.
Although I must say, the most awe-inspiring has to be the Hall of Palentology. It’s hard to beat these life-sized skelectal structures of prehistoric dinosaurs.
So how do I find Houston, my first stop in Big Apple? The city is definitely extravagrant, but delightful in its own way. It’s probably a microcosm of life in the Big Apple, though I suspect less hectic in pace than New York. As with any cities in U.S., you’ll really feel out of place without a car. No one walks – not even five minutes – in Houston, the bus service is “non-existent” and cab rides exorbitant. So please don’t spare the expense – do rent a car and learn how to drive on the wrong side of the road while you are there.
Qualification: A reader just kindly reminded me there is indeed a bus service in Houston. I was informed however by friends who resided in Houston that taking a bus costs more than driving around the city. Which is why the locals choose to drive and tourists are likewise encouraged to do so.
