Thanksgiving in Houston

Today's Thanksgiving. In terms of being a national holiday, it's pretty much like Chinese New Year. Almost EVERY shop/museum/restaurant is closed! It's kinda sianz, coz I didn't have much to do. Luckily, there was a Thanksgiving Day parade as well as a Christmas Light-up in Uptown Houston, so the day wasn't spent in front of the tv.

I can't help but compare the parade with our Chingay and it's definitely not as polished and colourful. But, there are three things which I really like about this parade. Firstly, I love the balloons. There were about 4 huge balloons and I found them pretty cool. The one below is a huge dog with the Houston Chronicle in its jaws. The balloons aren't as elaborate as the ones in New York's Macy's Thanksgiving parare (they had a gigantic pikachu this year!) but I enjoyed them. The second thing I liked was the unrehearsed and 'genuine' nature of the participants. Most of them were there just to... parade! Not dance or show off complicated routines. They were just walking and waving and doing what they liked to do. I found that refreshing. The last think I really liked... was that people joined the parade to raise awareness of their group and just to wish others a happy thanksgiving. The third pic shows the sikh community just walking and wishing people happy thanksgiving! How's that for racial harmony! They also had schools groups, clubs, firemen & their families, dance schools and even the Harekrishna! I think Singapore groups should consider doing such parades. Not a pretentious show. Just a simple parade for people to join in the celebrations.











In the late afternoon, I went to Uptown Houston to hang around and wait for their official Christmas lightup & fireworks. They had their concert band playing... not very exciting... and then at the very end, after almost 1.5 hours of so-so music, they had a sad sing-a-long. But the fireworks at the end more than made up for it. It lasted about 10 to 15 mins and I thought they were quite good. The light-up was for their main road with about 40 christmas trees lining the sides. Well, it's one month before Christmas, so I guess it's about time. It was weird when I saw Singapore shops putting up Christmas decorations in October!!! They had some reindeer mascots, thought they looked pretty funny. Had to take a pic with one.










Final pic is of a fountain along their local metrorail which runs on only one route linking up their downtown, museum district, park, zoo and medical centres. I liked the metrorail coz it was reasonable (unlimited rides for US$2), fairly clean and it allowed me to see the parts of Houston which were along the route. Singapore should really consider having something like this maybe circling Orchard Road and Marina area.


OK, I'm done with Houston, off to my last stop tomorrow: San Francisco - My favourite city in the US!