There goes the neighbourhood...

Sunday was the Houston marathon, of which i had a couple of mates running either it, or the half, so i blearily got out of bed to go and watch, it actually ran pretty close to my house in the Museum District. this afforded me a walk around the neighbourhood, something which i hadnt really previously done. in a rather cunning town planning scheme, they have put 99% of the museums together...which is where i live, which is fantastic, the fine and contemporary art galleries are 15 minute walk from my house. i am also pretty close to the university, and amazingly the stadium - which is bigger than most football stadiums in the uk - belongsm to the university...they take sport very seriously here. i ended up an hour later in Rice Village, which is a very cool place, doesnt look like a village, but is where a lot of the cool bars and shops are...including The British Isles ( a lot of ex pats live in rice village), they have a British shop (there are a lot of uk people here, mainly from aberdeen due to the oil business), which apparently sells english food and sauces and tea bags etc...they even sell dart boards, ww2 model aeroplanes and any other cliche english thing you can think of...cant work out if its patronising or cool...ill err on the cool side. i acutally live in a very lovely part of houston. i remember showing a picture to an australian friend, who was amazed that they have sky scrapers...i think they were expecting a scene from a western film or something, conversely, i was pretty amazed at the tree lined roads, just outside the city centre...very happy with where i live and my house is now almost there...and am beginning to fall in love with houston, and havent even scratched the surface yet...

New Years Return

Dinner in the uber swanky Benjy's with most of the ex-pats returning to Houston

Texan Golf (same as normal golf...just add Rum & Coke)

had an invite from my good buddy Randi to play golf at her fathers country club...so with 5 hours sleep, and still certain amounts of beer inside me i hacked my around...its been 18 months since i last place. certain things about golf in Texas: 1. they use buggies (karts, as 'buggies' seemed to be a comical word apparently) to go 10 yards...seriously, if the ball is 10 yards away they drive to it...i was frowned upon for walking...seriously. 2. drinking alcohol is part of the game, and rum n coke the choice drink. 3. there were many many more 'senior' ladies who were pretty good, which leas to the conclusion that that is ALL they do all day. 4. they dont shout 'you da man' as often as you'd imagine. great (if not long) day.

"...all I wanna do is bicycle..."

Neeeeeww toy, rather splendid new road bike, uber lovely. cycling is my new thing for 2009 as well as triathlons...really need to get fit this year after doing basically nothing since leaving norway...had an hour in the freezing cold on sunday around memorial park

New Years Eve

Not being a massive fan of NYE and all the pressure it brings, i opted for a quiet one in the 'local' british pub a few miles from my house, and a usual haunt for houston ex pats...ended up being a nice and relaxed few beers. some were more enthused than others however. (having looked at these photos for a while, i thought the countdown sign said 2002..and couldnt work it out...font aside i think it says 2009...now there would have been a fubar)

Last night out

Had one last night out with my best mates before i came back...and have to say was one of the best nights out ever...cant remember having so much fun...a boy can miss nights out and people like this...