Week 2 - Who gives a dime?

Into my 2nd week in the US of A. I think my body clock has adjusted nicely, so has my tolerance for temperature changes. The food portion is still mind boggling and I am still trying to find my way around town (to the nice eateries) but I feel more comfortable with my left-hand side driving now.

Some Highlights this week

1. Driving Texan Style
One week in, I am already driving like a true Texan - speeding, tail-gating and changing lanes at the same time that I start indicating. On the subject of speeding, speed limit is 55 and everyone was going at at least 65 or 70 and people I am talking miles here, not km!! (60 mph is roughly 100kmph).


2. Weekend in San Francisco
I flew to SF on Sat morning for a 2 day weekend there. I scored a free yumcha lunch with my aunty and got to catch up with my cousins and friends (I will be back W and H - thanks for taking me shooooping!) Went to Josh and Robin's wedding reception and was in time to hear Josh's speech and I got to take a motobike ride with Steve on Sun afternoon as well. It was all a bit rushed but it was definitely great.


3. Tex-Mex
I have been told repeatedly that I need to eat Mexican while I am in Texas. Ok. So I had my first Tex-Mex meal on Monday with the client (there was a restuarant near the office). Hey, this is very different from the minced beef stuff you get at home. I had a burrito and yeah, you can taste the difference, from the wrap itself to the filling. Very fresh and spicy (picture is actually a different dish from a different night at the hotel).

4. Reunion Tower, Dallas

It is part of the Hyatt Regency Dallas hotel and you cannot miss it when driving into Dallas. It is shaped like a giant lollipop and a tourist attraction like Rialto Tower back home

There are 3 floors in the lollipop section - lowest level is an observation deck, the middle level is a restuarant and the top level is a cocktail lounge. I went there (finally) on Thursday night and again on Friday night to take pictures and had dinner there. Nice view!

"The Dime" Story (I thought it was amusing)
I was at the airport on one of my many flights and trips last weekend and lining up at Starbucks to get a coffee (the alternative was Mccas). I looked through all the coins in my hand to see if I can use them up.

There was the big silver one that says "Quarter Dollar". Ok, that make sense, must be 25c. There was a smaller silver one that says "5 cents". Easy. Next there was a copper one that says "One Cent". Cool.

Then there was this particular little coin that says "One Dime". It is smaller than the 5 cent in size and silver in colour. Ok. So how much is this one worth exactly? Going by size, it could be worth less than 5 cents? But hang on, surely they can't be something like 2.5 cent?

So I asked the nice girl in front of me how much a dime is worth. She smiled and said "oh that's 10 cents". Why can't they just write that on the coin, like the rest of the other ones? Beats me!!

While I waited for the coffee to be made, the nice girl in front of me chit-chatted with me.

Girl: "Oh so where are you from? Dallas?"
Me: "Oh no, I am actually from Australia. How about you?"
Girl: "Oh I am flying to Chicago for a family wedding..."
Me: "Oh that's great!"

Afterwards, I thought to myself - hmmm... If I don't know what a dime is, surely I am not from around here!! Or does Dallas not have a dime, unlike the rest of the US? *ponder*

Then again, it was probably just a very nice attempt to make polite conversations combined with early morning half-asleep brains.