So, Mixygirl and I have been back from China for a week now, but it seems too gargantuan a task to finish the China blog.  I will however recount our recent trip at the beginning of September to Houston, for our friends' Dave and Michelle's wedding.  I've never been to the south before, so it was really interesting seeing Houston (Lots of Chik-Fil-A, and Whataburgers around town).  I have to say that I really enjoyed my short visit.  I was a little pessimistic about "The South" at first, but it turned out to be a pretty fun time. 

The first night was a little rough.  Dave and Michelle had a really fun karaoke party for out of towners.  Unfortunately I was seriously hung over from Chili Peppers concert the night before (and waking up at 5am to pack for the trip).  I didn't sing any Karaoke, but it was good seeing our other friend Todd (from UCLA ER residency,currently living in Alabama) the next day.

The next day, actually tried an awesome little food which seemed unique (in America anyways) to Houston.  We learned from Dave's friend Sol with whom we shared a flight, about the popularity of "Kolaches" in Houston.  It's a little savory Czechoslovakin filled pastry dough snack.  Apparently there's a large community of Czech immigrants in Houston (who would've ever thought so).  They are extremely yummy.  Soft little bites of pizza dough filled with different stuff.  This store had about twenty varieties.  Some had breakfasty fillings, some were more like pizza.  they tasted awesome. 

Mixygirl and I spent most of the couple days before the wedding with Todd, Mark, and Ploy.  We loved the museum scene in Houston. We visited the Menil collection, and the MFAH.  Apparently, oil money means that when rich Houstonians die, they bequeath their impressive modern art collections to the local museums.  It was tons of fun.

I have to say my favorite museum that we visited was a separate small little building on the Menil Campus called the Byzantine Fresco Museum.  These famous Byzantine frescoes from a church in Cyprus have been loaned to this museum.  To house these treasures, they have created a small building which inside has frosted glass panels arranged in ways reminiscent of a chapel, but in a very deconstructed and modern fashion.  The presentation was  fabulous, honestly overshadowing the frescoes themselves.

(Mark and Ploy on the left, Mixy and Cheese on the right)

My favorite meal during the Houston trip was going to Goode Company BBQ, apparently one of the best BBQ restaurants in all of Texas.  I knew it was a requirement for any foody to check out BBQ while visiting Houston, and it didn't disappoint.

I accompanied my meal with Lone Star beer, which according to the label, is the "National Beer of Texas".  What's up with these crazy Texans?!?!  The ribs on the right were awesome.  I would say they were drier than I was used to, but on the other hand so much smokier and deeply flavoured than I'm used to.  They rely  a lot less on the sauce, in their BBQ for the flavor.  The brisket sandwich was good, but not as good as the ribs and the other dishes.

On the left was my favorite dish, BBQ sweet water duck.  I mean, combine one of the best ingredients in the world (duck), using one of the tastiest cooking methods known to man (BBQ), and you've got a winner.  The pecan pie there was amazing as well, even though we were stuffed.  The bread deserves mention too, an extremely soft yummy cheese jalapeno.  Perhaps the hot links on the right were a bad idea on top of all the other food, but they tasted awesome as well. 

Wow, after reminiscing about all the good food and museums, I forgot we were in Houston for a wedding!  The wedding by the way was beautiful.  I've never been to a fully Jewish wedding before, and it was quite interesting.  The wedding took place at the synagogue where Michelle grew up which was apparently the largest conservative jewish congregation in the country.  It was a beautiful campus, and they even had a museum of beautiful antique judaica.  The picture on the left shows the "contract" signing ceremony before the wedding.  On the right is me getting to help carry the Chuppah.  It was a great honor to have a part in  the ceremony.

Here's the handsome couple.  The wedding was fun, and rabbi was hilarious and smart and engaging and the ceremony was just perfect.

A beautiful reception was the perfect close to our action-packed weekend at Dave/Michelle's wedding.  It's now back to reality with Dave and I working our asses of side by side in the ER, and Michelle working two blocks away at Little Company.  It was great seeing friends like Mark, Ploy, and Todd.  Maybe the red states aren't that evil after all?