17Jun2008 Hazards on the way to Houston
On the way to Houston yesterday, grit kicked up by a truck hit the windscreen and formed an irritating 3-inch crack midway up the post on the passenger side. This deteriorated into a 12-inch eyesore. We decided to have the windscreen on our Honda Civic replaced.
The day started with a trip to SafeLite Auto Glass - with the address punched into the GPS, it was supposed to be a no-brainer. Boy, what a day this turned out to be! We didn’t know there were multiple road repairs which necessitated detours. The GPS kept on giving instructions in its calm mechanical voice and we went around in circles – really big ones at that! It was a good thing the GPS could not scream. Note there were intersections in Houston with five overpasses (we call them flyovers) in close proximity so that from a distance it seemed like they were one on top of another. The temperature outside was over 100F (37C) and it felt even higher inside the car as we frantically tried to locate ourselves on the map which had been printed for people with perfect eyesight. Magnifying glasses flew all over the place and we cursed the makers of the GPS. In this maelstrom, the voice over the phone from SafeLite was an oasis of calm. They were used to giving directions. Evidently many lost souls needed to replace their windscreens! Finally, mammy found our location on the map. With the GPS off, we took to the smaller roads and eventually arrived.
Safe Lite was very efficient. In less than two hours, we left with a new windscreen with instructions not to go into a carwash for two days.
The consolation for our travails was a nice dim sum lunch at Ocean Palace. After a long spell without one’s own comfort food, we relished the bits of shrimp in the soft translucent skin of the har gow (shrimp dumpling). Had we been younger, the bill would have been triple.
The walk after lunch in the adjoining Hong Kong Mall (in reality everything was Vietnamese) was uneventful. Hey, a sense of déjà vu, but we couldn’t have been here before. Ah, it reminded us of being in the Aberdeen Centre in Richmond, Vancouver. Poor mammy, she had more tension to relieve from the road experience in the morning – the huge Vietnamese supermarket (in the HK Mall!) provided an outlet.
We stocked up on whatever took her fancy. Not to be outdone, I weighed in with some exotic juices – winter melon and tamarind. We also got laichee flavored grassjelly and many different teas.
We needed a rest from the freeways and ate in the room. With all the goodies from the supermarket, it was fun.
Distance traveled 71.8 miles
A truck ,on the slow lane, over took us and then we heard a nasty little 'tack' on our windscreen.
This developed into an annoyingly longish crack. We decided to have the windscreen changed.
Wot was this?! A jungle in a mall? The Chinese restaurant in this Vietnamese mall had a huge lotus pond with exceedingly exuberant growth
The pond was teeming with turtles
'Propitious' ferns waiting to bring luck to new owners in the Vietnamese supermarket
Lady from Hong Kong loading up on goodies made in China, Indonesian, Vietnam and USA, in a Vietnamese mall, named the Hong Kong Mall, in Houston, Texas for her ongoing trip across the US of A
At least the veggies were from California...we hope
Aloe Vera, 79cents per lb
Taro stem, $2.99 per lb
Lime glorious lime, lime lip-puckering lime...
Plump jack fruit, handle with care
This market had many exotic juices, tamarind, winter melon, guava to name a few
We bought this French vodka in New Orleans - nothing like vodka to make things look different!
The day started with a trip to SafeLite Auto Glass - with the address punched into the GPS, it was supposed to be a no-brainer. Boy, what a day this turned out to be! We didn’t know there were multiple road repairs which necessitated detours. The GPS kept on giving instructions in its calm mechanical voice and we went around in circles – really big ones at that! It was a good thing the GPS could not scream. Note there were intersections in Houston with five overpasses (we call them flyovers) in close proximity so that from a distance it seemed like they were one on top of another. The temperature outside was over 100F (37C) and it felt even higher inside the car as we frantically tried to locate ourselves on the map which had been printed for people with perfect eyesight. Magnifying glasses flew all over the place and we cursed the makers of the GPS. In this maelstrom, the voice over the phone from SafeLite was an oasis of calm. They were used to giving directions. Evidently many lost souls needed to replace their windscreens! Finally, mammy found our location on the map. With the GPS off, we took to the smaller roads and eventually arrived.
Safe Lite was very efficient. In less than two hours, we left with a new windscreen with instructions not to go into a carwash for two days.
The consolation for our travails was a nice dim sum lunch at Ocean Palace. After a long spell without one’s own comfort food, we relished the bits of shrimp in the soft translucent skin of the har gow (shrimp dumpling). Had we been younger, the bill would have been triple.
The walk after lunch in the adjoining Hong Kong Mall (in reality everything was Vietnamese) was uneventful. Hey, a sense of déjà vu, but we couldn’t have been here before. Ah, it reminded us of being in the Aberdeen Centre in Richmond, Vancouver. Poor mammy, she had more tension to relieve from the road experience in the morning – the huge Vietnamese supermarket (in the HK Mall!) provided an outlet.
We stocked up on whatever took her fancy. Not to be outdone, I weighed in with some exotic juices – winter melon and tamarind. We also got laichee flavored grassjelly and many different teas.
We needed a rest from the freeways and ate in the room. With all the goodies from the supermarket, it was fun.
Distance traveled 71.8 miles
A truck ,on the slow lane, over took us and then we heard a nasty little 'tack' on our windscreen.
This developed into an annoyingly longish crack. We decided to have the windscreen changed.
Wot was this?! A jungle in a mall? The Chinese restaurant in this Vietnamese mall had a huge lotus pond with exceedingly exuberant growth
The pond was teeming with turtles
'Propitious' ferns waiting to bring luck to new owners in the Vietnamese supermarket
Lady from Hong Kong loading up on goodies made in China, Indonesian, Vietnam and USA, in a Vietnamese mall, named the Hong Kong Mall, in Houston, Texas for her ongoing trip across the US of A
At least the veggies were from California...we hope
Aloe Vera, 79cents per lb
Taro stem, $2.99 per lb
Lime glorious lime, lime lip-puckering lime...
Plump jack fruit, handle with care
This market had many exotic juices, tamarind, winter melon, guava to name a few
We bought this French vodka in New Orleans - nothing like vodka to make things look different!
posted by Regamy at
8:17 AM
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