Southern excursion in Houston

Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo ,  The Jakarta Post ,  Houston, Texas   |  Sun, 03/30/2008 10:59 AM  |  Travel

DOWNTOWN HOUSTON: A view of Downtown Houston. The Toyota Center nearby is where the Houston Rockets play their games. (JP/Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo)"Howdy", "How are y'all?", "Whatchya want hon?". These are expressions you might hear at any given time in any part of Houston and its surrounding areas. It doesn't matter if you are a man or woman, everyone is a "hon", including me. These expressions reflect the sincerity of Houston's people, according to local writer Dayna Steele.

Houston is the fourth biggest city in the U.S. after New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. It is considered a gateway to other cities in Texas and the southern states, such as Louisiana, Tennessee and Florida, because of its central location.

First-time visitors sometimes have the idea that everyone walks around in cowboy outfits. Houston, in fact, has become an international city with people from all sorts of cultural backgrounds who chose to make Houston their home.

Houston has no racial or ethnic majority. Yao Ming, the center of the NBA's Houston Rockets, comes from China but probably makes a better spokesman for the city than Beyonce, who was born there. Despite being cosmopolitan, the city and states have managed to retain their heritage.

When our group of journalists visited the George Ranch Historical Park on the suburb of Houston, we had a taste of what it would be like to live the life of a true cowboy, when cattle and cotton were kings in the 19th century. "Cotton, cattle, oil and gas," listed some locals as sources of their fortunes.

HISTORICAL RANCH: Staff from the George Ranch Historical Park and cattle. THe century-old ranch, which continues to function as a breeding ground, is the ideal spot to discover Texas tradition. (JP/Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo)

The 180-year-old ranch is a time capsule where the staff wears cowboy suits and their horses chase cows. Visitors can also learn how to swing and throw a lasso, which turned out to be quite a challenge for me -- I ended up in a tangle when I attempted to catch a dummy buffalo head. However, some of the tourists seemed to have a better knack for the lasso and caught the dummy head. Beginner's luck*

A visit to the ranch would not be complete without trying out an authentic traditional Houston lunch. Some of the meals on the menus were the 1830s Jones Stock Farm Lunch, 1860s Ryon Old Prairie Home Lunch and the 1890s Sharecopper Lunch.

We had the 1890s Chuck Wagon Lunch, which was a beef stew with beans, biscuits, peach cobbler, coffee and sweetened peach tea. The peach cobbler with Blue Bell ice cream was fantastic. The peach cobbler, which was the best I'd ever tasted, hit all the right spots. "Good food can change your spirit," said Nick, the cook who appeared in cowboy apparel, and he was right.

The variety of "southern comfort" food, such as the stew and biscuit, gave the cowboys enough nutrients for their enduring physical work, which lasted from dusk until dawn. Like other restaurants in Houston, you can certainly wear your jeans at the ranch for lunch.

Aside from the ranch, the biggest tourist attraction in Houston is the NASA Johnson Space Center. Space cowboys may be what comes to mind.

The center attracts about a million visitors a year. "Houston, we have a problem" is the famous quote from movie Apollo 13. A staff member at NASA said the movie was quite accurate in depicting the famous space mission.

The Space Center takes up a total of 1,620 acres. Now, where are those rocket launch pads? The Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, still accommodates for the launching of the shuttles. Sorry folks.

The Mission Control Center leads flight operations for shuttle, station and exploration missions, which aim to probe space for potential human habitation and other scientific projects.

Besides a tour to the actual mission room, which has almost archaic but functional technology, the space center has an indoor theme park with interactive entertainment for the whole family.

We saw and touched actual terrestrial substances, which are on permanent exhibition. There is a display of the paperback novel Foundation by Isaac Asimov, which was carried by Janice Voss during STS-57 mission. Voss read the novel using only the light from earth as a fitting tribute to science fiction. This experience prompted her to become an astronaut.

SPACE TECHNOLOGY: Visitors can learn all about space technology inside the NASA Johnson Space Center. (JP/Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo)

What I missed from that visit was the chance to try out the human centrifuge, where you can find out whether you are fit enough to be in a shuttle. As you lie in the capsule, it revolves around at a high speed.

Another attraction is the fairly new theme park, the Downtown Aquarium. Downtown Houston has become an area the city administration wants to revive after several decades of neglect. To turn the sleepy spot into a bustling area, the city created the Downtown Aquarium, a mini Sea World, in an old fire station.

The Downtown Aquarium is an ideal spot for a family day trip. The restaurant inside has a huge aquarium in the middle so people can gaze at the colorful fish, sharks and stingrays inside.

After lunch, take a a quick stroll to the theme park itself. Although you can see most of it in an hour, there is plenty of interactive entertainment and photo opportunities.

A visit to the Galleria, which is the fourth largest mall in the states, should not be missed for those who are looking for more than souvenirs. Iconic T-shirts reading "Don't Mess With Texas" are abundant there. The phrase actually came from a local promotion for a waste management program.

For a fine culinary experience, we had the opportunity to dine at Quattro, which is at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Houston. The restaurant does a delicious steak meat lovers should not miss. Most of the steaks I've had in quality restaurants paled in comparison with Quattro's juniper and rosemary marinated top sirloin steak with corn-leek puree, root vegetables and marsala. I envied my colleague's slightly bigger portion of the dish.

The distinguished hotel, which is located near the Convention Center and the Toyota Center, is one of the oldest Four Seasons facilities in the world. The decoration of plush sofas and finely sculpted tables reflect its status.

The hotel offers a continental breakfast with a lot to choose from. The eggs Benedict, an American favorite, is fantastic.

MENIL COLLECTION: Dan Flavin's state-of-the-art neon installation in the Menil Collection. (JP/Alvin Darlanika Soedarjo)Houston boasts several museums as well for instant inspiration. The Menil Collection has a great mix of contemporary paintings, crafts and sculptures. A family friendly educational place in the city is the Houston Museum of Natural History.

Houston offers some unique experiences and there is plenty to do there. Hope y'all get there someday.

The Jakarta Post was invited by Singapore Airlines (SIA) to the U.S. on a media trip. SIA started its new route linking Singapore and Houston on March 20. The service runs four times a week. The one-stop Boeing 777-300ER flies via Moscow and is the only direct air link between the Russian capital and Texas.

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