Jetlag is a word I seem to use frequently. It is 5 AM and I am wide awake I have no idea what time my body clock figures it is. Sue and I made it home after 16 hour flight but to be honest it was a pretty darn comfortable trip. Sue put on her Qatar jammies and the nice steward turned down her bed and she slept soundly for around 6-8 hours. Me, it seems like I have to have a few doubles before I can sleep on a jet and for some reason Ambien doesn’t help anymore. On the bright side, my daughter and son-in-law picked us up at the airport. We enjoyed a great meal at Papadeaux. We made it home and even though we have been sleeping on beds in fine hotels, they do not compare to the one we have at home. I am drinking the best cup of coffee I have had since I left our house. That is not a small thing, a good cup of coffee. I am catching up on my emails and reflecting on our trip. First Doha, it is a beautiful, safe, growing city with tall buildings that are modern marvels. Kuala Lumpur, it is the capital of Malaysia. It is a crowded city of contrast with high end malls, the Patronas towers that are the 7th & 8th tallest buildings in the world. While its population is mostly Muslim, most of the young ladies dress provocatively although you do see the occasional Burka with the ladies all covered from head to toe in the heat while their husbands prance around in shorts and tank tops. All in all it is a beautiful thriving city. While our hotel probably had the most picturesque view of the skyline and the towers, we went to the Shangrala Hotel a few times which is an old hotel with a certain grandeur and a bar/lobby with a great view of a man made jungle with colorful parrots and large gold fish swimming in the bottom with Dean Martin/Frank Sinatra type of live music. It is very relaxing and the have this signature great cocktail I had never had before—opera. That is the way it is spelled but it is announced o-peer-ah. It is kind like a Manhattan only a lot better—Kentucky Bourbon-Cranberry- Chardon-Lime “I think”. At any rate I would like the recipe. The lobby is truly magnificent. Then we spent a few nights in Hanoi. It is an abstract city I heard about us bombing in my youth. Now it is a city of 7 million people who own 5.5 million little motorcycles. That seemed so strange to see around a hundred 7 fifty motorcycles to 1 car. Sometime you would see a family of 4 on a little biddy motor scooter. BTW-On our whole trip I never saw even 1 pick-up truck. I did not Google it, I think I remember reading they sell more pick-up trucks in Texas than the rest of the world combined. I have one. I wouldn’t consider not having one yet the rest of the population think it is absurd. That is something to ponder. I bet the catch on in a few years. Sue and I stayed on the 62d floor of a 64 floor building in Hanoi which is the tallest building in Indochina (Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia). It was a fine hotel but they do have a few of the upscale chains there now. I saw a Sheraton or some equivalent. Sue went to the Hanoi Hilton but Paris’ family would not claim that former prison. There was not a Hilton there---yet. The place is behind most of the world but may catch up although their success will likely be limited as they are one of 4 communist’s governments---Cuba, North Korea, & China being the others. I think the standard of living in Cuba and North Korea is the lowest in the world. Speaking of Korea, South Korea was next on our itinerary. It is a highly industrial country with what seemed to be a high standard of living. There were no old cars or signs of abject poverty. Crime is “almost” nonexistent. They represent a people of contrast in the middle of a transition between modern and ancient traditions. They are proud of their culture and more industrious than most populations. They are driven to succeed. One of my interpreters a geologist with multiple sheepskins indicated he went abroad for school a couple of years and they only had 18 courses to pass whereas in Korea there were 39. He said it was a piece of cake. He was fine young man with a good nature and keen since of humor. We just walked on a train in Seoul and it took us at +220 miles per hour to Buson (across the country) in 2 hours. I think it was further than from Houston to Dallas. We set in comfortable seats that would swivel for a conference or recline for rest. It had hi-speed internet, condiments, telephone access and good views of the country side. A great place to work or rest. There were no lines. They purchased a ticket on line and a guy sometimes would check. He did not when I was there. Hardly any need these people don’t think much about cheating. Why they do not have a hi-speed train between Houston and Dallas is really hard to fathom for me. Look at the jobs it would create, the money it would save on gas and road construction. It would probably pay for itself in a few years and the government would reap benefits. I am sure a private enterprise would take it on if they “could” get a permit. I like my tuck but I sure do not like driving it to Dallas. Why we do not do this is beyond comprehension. I think with feeder roads and all, I counted close to 28 lanes on a highway around Houston and I was not getting anywhere fast. Our last stop was Dubai. It has the tallest building in the world. It is a magnificent structure that amazes you and you marvel at the brilliance of the other sky scrapers when you reach the top. The other smaller sky scrapers are all unique and appealing to the eye of the beholder. The elevator traveled 124 stories in 58 seconds--the fastest in the world. It is more than twice as tall as two Empire State Buildings. The surrounding area was beautiful and business was booming. They have a reflecting pond that is huge and have a water display that is coordinated to classical music every half hour at night that attracts a lot of viewers. We stayed in a “twin” tower hotel that is the tallest hotel in the world and taller than any building in Houston. Indeed, Dubai has 12 of the 50 tallest buildings in the world. Houston did not have even 1 of the tallest out of the 50 and I doubt they have even have one out of the tallest 100 and Houston’s most appealing buildings would not garner a second glance in this arena. We had coffee at a bar overlooking an INDOOR ski slope. I am not talking about a little biddy ski slope. I would think it is plus a quarter of a mile run and we saw proficient skiers and snow boarders doing their tricks and less accomplished skiers slowly zigzagging down the slope and there were all kinds of other little bubble rides, toboggan runs, kiddy slopes, rope pulls, escalator rides, as well as the traditional lifts and they had a machine that occasionally makes real snow and it looks like it is snowing. It is a spectacular site. Now to my point: I am a Texan through and through. I grew up thinking there were only two types of people,---“Us from Texas and those that wish they were from Texas. We (my generation) were raised on Texas braggadocio. Everything was bigger and better in Texas. Houston built the first domed Stadium—The Astrodome. It was a modern marvel, but that was + 50 years ago. Now they are about to tear it down. We do not have the Gateway to the West like St Louis, the Golden Gate Bridge or many of the other things that cities identify with like Burbon Street in New Orleans or 6th street in Austin & etc. The Galleria may have been a big place to shop 30 years back but now the Singapore Airport is a bigger better more picturesque shopping mall, not to mention KL, Seoul, and Dubai and hundreds of others. Nope we do not have the biggest, tallest, fastest, grandest, or best of anything I can think of. There are great folks in Houston that is for sure. When you think of Houston, what do you think of? Me, I think of a traffic jam. I am a Christian and they do have a big cross on I-45 but it does not even look professional. We have plenty of money as we are the fastest growing large city in the US, but I guess we just choose to build more highways and toll roads or something. Our sports arenas are average at best. We may have the biggest rodeo but Las Vegas has the finals and it will overtake us in a few years. Why can’t Houston do something that the world would associate with Houston---The tallest building, a magnificent structure that is a work of art that is huge, the biggest indoor ski rink? “Hey I bet it would end up self-sufficient in a few years and the shops adjacent to it would represent some of the more expensive real estate. Well me, I am a baby boomer that is moving closer to Dallas. At least they have the biggest stadium in the world and a couple of pro sports teams that win a few games. Hey, San Antonio (the 3rd largest city in Texas) has the Alamo, River Walk, Water Park & great Tex-Mex food. Houston has a few good restaurants, a good theater but certainly not up to speed for its size, and Nassau is shrinking and you will not hear words like “Houston we have a problem” again for a very long time. Houston is still the oil capital of the world but its influence “worldwide: is shrinking. While the rest of the great cities choose to build something of significance, Houston builds bigger and bigger highways that are invariably too crowded. A person living a few miles from his work probably averages over an hour to and from his home in horrendous traffic. Houston can continue to build more roads and inconsequential structures as it becomes the most populated in descript city in the US. Me- I wonder what there is to point to that one can be proud of if he lives in Houston. Can someone enlighten me? Note: I already agreed we have great folks but I am sure people from most cities would argue the same. Did my generation, us Texas baby boomers drop the ball somewhere. It seems when we build a building or anything else, we just think about the immediate return per square foot. Texas braggadocio will probably die with us baby boomers who forgot to pass it on to our children like our parents, schools and institutions did with us. Probably most don’t care but it saddens me a bit to see these other cities with so much less make things so much bigger and better than we do in Houston.
Posted on: Mon, 02 Dec 2013 14:47:39 +0000
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