Houston: Downtown Aquarium

I have had this long backlog of blogging about what I saw in Houston that it seems to be taking me forever to complete it. But I will catch up slowly. Well on October 3, 2008 we decided to checkout downtown Houston and since we had bought a city pass we wanted to visit the Downtown Aquarium, a place for children and lovers of aquatic life. For veggies like me the Aquarium offers a rare insight into the myriad varieties of aquatic life. And for foodies who love eating fish and other aquatic life, the restaurants in the same building offer tantalizing tastes. Choose your pick.

Old blends with New at downtown

Well before we got to the aquarium there were several interesting spots in Downtown Houston which I felt I must post and share with all of you. The streets are narrow and the buildings seem to reach up to sky, parking is scarce and the few lots where it is available one has to fork out $5 minimum. There is a certain amount of charm to downtowns in the US, they blend history and modernity seamlessly and one can tall glass skyscrapers rubbing shoulders with quaint brick buildings. I wish Indian cities had downtowns and residential areas separate and not the masala that is going on out there. Anyway that can be a separate post... now let us see what Downtown Houston had to offer us... in terms of sights.

One of the large buildings in Downtown Houston

Downtown Sights

Giant cement sculpture in front of an office building

Road signs are impressive looking too

A large church in downtown Houston

Waterbody in front of the city hall plaza

Mural inside the Houston city hall

Another view of the mural

Another view of the Mural

Entry to a walkway along the river

River Brazos which passes through Houston downtown... dirty as ever

Old and new buildings in downtown

Downtown Aquarium

Giant Ferris wheel in the downtown Aquarium complex

Facade of the downtown aquarium building

Main entrance to the Aquarium

Beautiful fountain in front of the Aquarium

Entry to the downtown Aquarium

There is a white tiger inside the Aquarium

Catfish.. visitors can touch and feel them

Will there be an increase in suicides?

The global economic crisis is getting excerbated with every passing day. Until yesterday we were reading about how corporations are suffering huge losses. Now thanks to the bloodbath in the stock market individual investors are being forced to take huge losses. And what does it mean to the common man... life time savings going down the drain. And if it is retirement earnings of a senior citizen that is gone, it usually results in suicide.

I thought of posting this blog after reading two related but diversely different newsreports in Times of India. While one talked about a husband contemplating divorcing his wife because she lost 30 lakh on the stock market, another talks about the suicide of a retired teacher in UP. Both these individuals had invested heavily in the stock market and the global economic crisis have put them in deep trouble.

News about farmers suicides due to crop failures, rising debt etc have become so common in India that people have become insensitive about them. I wonder whether the next trend would be "Investors Suicides" due to tumbling stock market indices. Let us hope the crisis is solved now that an Indian is heading the recovery plan in the US, he will exercise some Hindu instincts and make the world an economically safer place to live in.

Find True Love at True.com

Finding true love is one of the most challenging tasks for everyone, irrespective of where one lives. Making money and building a career is difficult but finding true love is more so. In a country like the US where life is so hectic and population is sparsse the difficulties of finding a suitable mate gets excerbated.

Now thanks to internet there are numerous dating sites which act as a platform for young and old people to meet and search for their soulmates. There are thousands of people around who are looking for their beloved on this website. I agree that finding a mate on the internet is not easy and sometimes can be quite expensive. But at True.com you don't have to pay until you find the one you would like to correspond with. The best part of True.com is that you can sign up for free and you could set up your profile too.

So what are you waiting for go ahead and start search for free among the thousands of profiles, the ONE you are meant to be with may be out there waiting for you. Signing up for a free account at True.com may be your first step towards a happy-ever after life.

NASA Rocket Park - Last stop of the tram tour

I have already blogged about my experience of visiting the Space Center Houston and going through the numerous high-security buildings in the NASA. Well the last stop during our tram tour of NASA was at the Rocket Park where numerous rockets which were built but never launched are kept on display for visitors. The most notable among the rockets was the Appollo VI which was built to go to Moon but never launched because the US congress closed down the mission.

Anyway the rocket definitely looks impressive, I can imagine how tall it would look if placed vertical. The rocket is placed on wheeled wagons as if it is ready to be assembled and taken for launch. The engines, fuel tanks, astronaut cabins etc are all complete and it definitely presented an impressive sight. Here are some pictures of the same. Enjoy!!!

Rocket on display

Engines of the Appollo, impressive indeed

This is one huge rocket!!!

This is one huge rocket!!!

Engines of this rocket - another view