Voting for my K-president in Houston
Greetings, fellow readers. First off, I’d just like to thank you for your patience. Your support is what keeps this blog going. It’s been a while since I last posted, but worry not, I am alive. So let’s get right into it.
Houston: city of cars and 12-lane highways. It’s the most populated city in Texas, with over two million peeps. Join me on my little trip to exercise my (partner’s) democratic right to vote.
Day 1
We start, as is common in car-dependent countries, with a three-hour drive from Corpus Christi. Luckily, there’s a Buc-ee’s two-thirds of the way there in a small town known as Wharton1. This was our save point.
Average Houston view:
Buc-ee’s
For those not in the know, Buc-ee’s is a gas station on steroids, with a decent selection of decent-tasting and decently filling food. Its mascot is a dumb-looking beaver, whose goofy smile you are bound to see on t-shirts and car stickers anywhere in Texas2.
On this stop, we opted for a brisket taco and a brisket sandwich. Although the naming is similar, the brisket sandwich has a BBQ marinade, while the taco houses brisket in its pure form. Personally, I enjoyed the taco more than the sandwich. I found the BBQ a bit too sweet for my liking, whereas the meat-to-tortilla ratio in the taco made each bite extremely satisfying. We also tried their chocolate chip cookie, but you should skip it and save yourself the calories. Don’t forget to sample a couple of their jerkies! The ghost pepper one had me coughing…
Dandelion Cafe
We visited the one in Bellaire. I ordered a lavender latte, which was OK. Maybe their brunch is good, but we didn’t have the stomach room for it, given the Buc-ee’s “snack”.
Something about the aesthetic of the place felt off, a little confused. There were dandelions and other flowers hanging from the ceiling and walls, but I’m still not sure what vibe they were going for - hipster cafe? American diner?
What is still imprinted in my memory is the table: it was grimy and sticky af. I’d been working on my laptop for a while and at some point I tried to reposition it but it wouldn’t budge. I had to pull it up and when I did it made a sickly peeling sound, like that of a sticker. My partner’s book cover got torn a bit lmao. The fact that the AC was not working that well didn’t help much. It was a really hot day, and the ladies adjacent to us were pretty vocal about it.
Unfortunately, I didn’t take any photos of the interior, but here’s a glimpse of the table and the torn book.
The Galleria
Before jumping into the Galleria, a small rant about strip “malls”3. Putting a bunch of one-story buildings in a long line and connecting them with a sidewalk is NOT a mall. It’s a joke. Why must I go out into the heat to get to the next store? Where the f*ck are the bathrooms? F*ck you, Meyerland Plaza4.
The Galleria, on the other hand, fits the definition of a mall, no doubt. But that doesn’t make it a good mall. It’s a big, confusing mall - it lacks floor guides and goes off in various directions seemingly willy-nilly. Maybe we didn’t look hard enough, but we could not find a food court. There was no consistency in the layout i.e., luxury brands here, fast fashion there. Just everything, everywhere. Oh and the AC sucked. For a city that gets really hot and the high American standard for freezing-cold interiors, I was pretty disappointed.5
One good thing we can mention is Amorinos, a gelato stand with a few tiny tables. Great gelato, perfect for a hot day.
Best Western Galleria Inn & Suites
This hotel was surprisingly nice for the price. It was $89 (eighty-nine) USD per night and had free parking. The road in front of the hotel is not a busy one, so nights were quiet. From the name, you can probably tell the hotel is close to the Galleria, but not quite a walking distance. Elevator might be a bit sus (creaky), but other than that, no complaints.
Their TV has so many channels with great movies6 literally every hour! I would definitely stay here again.
bb.q Chicken
We like Korean chicken. After trying Pelicana Chicken in San Antonio we thought it appropriate to try a different brand here. Boy were we let down.
Unlike Pelicana Chicken, this place was empty. That should’ve been our first sign that something was up. We ordered half plain, half yangnyeom sauce boneless chicken. They gave us bone-in. No big deal, we just had to wait another ten-to-fifteen minutes. Luckily they didn’t throw it away, they ate it7.
The taste. It was off, which seems like a common theme so far. It wasn’t bad per se, but it did leave a weird aftertaste. Maybe their oil was bad? I can’t quite put my finger on it, but this was not our experience at Pelicana Chicken. Also the amount of chicken served made this feel like just a two-person meal, whereas at Pelicana we struggled to finish the beast.
We won’t be coming back to this restaurant.
Paris Baguette
Paris Baguette is a Korean bakery. As most bakeries do, they sell a variety of breads and pastries, as well as a few unique creations.
When you walk in, right off the bat, you know the place is good. The AC works well, the interior is clean, the tables don’t look grimy, and the selection of bread is vast. We had to stalk the aisles more than a few times in our search for the perfect bread. Each item we saw made us do a double take.
Do looks live up to taste? I’ll say this: skip the twist-donut aka kkwabaegi and churro-like donut thing (bottom two pastries in the photo above). Something about their donut dough is not chewy enough, so it ends up feeling like any other bread. The lemon cronut8 (top right), however, was a delight. It left such a favorable impression, I had to come back the next day and get another one. Still amazing. Their matcha croissant (top left) is worth trying, but perhaps a bit too much matcha cream inside. The matcha powder was bitter, so you definitely get that characteristic sweet-and-bitter flavor of matcha pastries. Finally, the ball doughnut had a red bean paste filling - again, worth trying if you’ve got the caloric budget to spare.
There are a couple of these bakeries in Houston, and one is coming soon to San Antonio so be on the lookout.
Microcenter
Hot take: Best Buy is better. I don’t know about prices or selection, probably Microcenter wins in those departments. But the shopping experience and interior is much better at a Best Buy. Microcenter just feels shabby, run-down. The checkout is like a Marshalls or Ross or one of those thrift shops: a single line that snakes around stands, sending the first person to the next available cashier. One good thing I can say is the staff looked knowledgeable and friendly.
Day 2
Consulate General of the Republic of Korea
We start the day off fulfilling our (my partner’s) civic duty (voting). The K-president Yoon Suk Yeol was recently impeached, and so impromptu elections are being held to choose the next president.
We arrived at the consulate which is in the Post Oak area, a few minutes drive from our hotel. The consulate was located in one of the many tall buildings around. At the front door we were greeted by a K-dude who guided us to an elevator. Voting took a few minutes - I waited in the just-tagging-along chair. There was an immediate K-vibe in the consulate, the way people dressed, talked, acted. Embassies and consulates really are a piece of the country they represent.
Overall, very neat place, if you’re ever in need of a Korean visa or something, this is the place to go.
Street Food Thai Market
My life changed here.
This restaurant is forty percent market, sixty percent restaurant. It felt like a food court, a bit cramped and somewhat noisy. The tables and seats were small and every seat was taken. (Unlike a certain chicken place we tried yesterday…). Immediately, I knew this place was going to serve a bonafide ambrosia.9
I ordered Panang curry. Spiciness is no joke here, they even have a warning in the menu. I chose the lowest level of spiciness and still suffered a little. The curry had eggplant and chicken inside, topped with bamboo shoots. The flavor was very rich, the coconut milk complementing the spicy curry splendidly. Words fail to describe the culinary event that took place that day. I must come back to try other curries (and maybe look at the market).
H Mart
H Mart is a Korean Asian market. Our Asian market in Corpus Christi pales in comparison. The H Mart we went to10 was the size of an HEB. In other words, it’s a whole supermarket in its own right. I think I could easily do all of my groceries here. We bought snacks, fresh tteok (rice cakes), masago (those bright-orange fish eggs), and various types of mushroom we can’t normally find.
Day 3
Kolache Factory
Before this trip I’d never heard of kolaches. Apparently, kolaches are a type of pastry brought over to Texas by Czech settlers. Basically it’s bread with a filling - it can be savory or sweet. A lot of kolaches have cheese inside so we chose Kolache Factory as it a had a couple of non-cheese options. I got the BBQ pulled pork kolache and my partner got the Korean beef croissant (technically not a kolache but still pretty lit). The kolache is on the bottom in the picture below. If I weren’t planning on eating right after (this was a morning snack after all), I think two kolaches would be necessary. In terms of taste, I would rank them above Japanese convenience store nikuman (steamed pork buns). The amount of meat inside is generous - I was afraid of too much bread, but that was not the case here.
Sleek Creperie & Cafe
Right after kolaches, we had this crepe place on our list. I’m not a big fan of sweet desserts, so I went in with reserved expectations. I ordered a Triple Chocolate Crepe and my partner ordered the Dubai Chocolate11 Strawberry Cup.
I was given an absolute monster of a crepe and immediately thought, “I’m not finishing this”. But I did. As I mentioned, I don’t have a sweet tooth. If you give me a Hershey’s bar, I’ll eat one-eigth of the bar and call it a day. But this crepe, in combination with the Dubai chocolate in my partner’s dessert, unlocked a part of me I didn’t know existed. I discovered a new me, a monster for the monster, thanks to Sleek.
I admit, I was worried at first - the place was empty when we walked in. But I can vouch for their crepes and Dubai chocolate at least. I regret not buying one of their Dubai chocolate bars.
Jollibee
I’ve previously raved about Jollibee in another post, so I will omit praise here. Nothing’s changed, which is great news - a fast-food chain with consistency across stores. I will mention they messed up and gave us spicy chicken sandwiches instead of regular ones. But it ended up tasting just as good, if not better. Unless you want spicy, in which case you will be disappointed: the sandwich had but a hint of spiciness.
Conclusion
Many epiphanies were had on this trip, cementing my belief that traveling feeds the body and the soul. By visiting contrasting establishments, I was able to refine my taste and learned to appreciate the good, and identify the bad. I unfortunately discovered my sweet tooth - not good for my caloric watch.
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Population: 8700. They probably all work at Buc-ee’s. ↩
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It doesn’t stop there. This beaver is a merch god. Blankets? Check. Toys? Check. Bikinis? Check. ↩
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I had to look that word up, because I did not know what to call these abominations that pose as malls. ↩
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OK sure, the name says plaza, but Google Maps said mall. Maybe my anger should be directed at Google? ↩
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Galerías Monterrey is much better TBH. ↩
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We watched Scream 3, a Twilight spoof, Kong Skull Island, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 & 2. Well not all of them entirely, but bits here and there. ↩
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Gotta respect that employee hunger. ↩
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A portmanteau of the French croissant and English donut. Possibly also known as croughnut if you prefer the doughnut spelling. ↩
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Per this description, you might think it doesn’t sound very pleasant. You might also think this goes against what I ranted about in, say, Dandelion Cafe. But a cafe or bakery in my opinion, should have a clean aesthetic. It is part of their nature. The type of food served in these establishments is non-essential, a luxury, if you will. And luxury items should be presented in a luxurious setting. In contrast, street food should be enjoyed in a humble environment. The best tacos or burgers aren’t served at a restaurant, but at a random-ass stand in some ghetto neighborhood of Mexico. I believe the same is true for curry, and Street Food Thai Market does a great job by providing the experience without having to travel across the world. ↩
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There are many locations in Houston, some prefixed with Super. We just need one. Houstonians are spoiled. ↩
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Dubai chocolate is the hip new chocolate popular with the kids on TikTok and other short-form media platforms. My partner tells me it’s actually from a year ago. This was our first time trying since trends don’t exist in Corpus Christi. ↩