Downtown Austin

Crouching tiger, not so hidden dragon

Hann Huei paying the fares



Bus ticket

Just yesterday, we headed off to downtown to have a look around the place by bus. There weren’t many people in the bus; the ticket costs USD 1.5 for a whole day pass. We ate at some seafood restaurant called Boiling Pot; they serve a variety of crabs. Some weren’t fresh which isn’t surprising since we’re not near the coastal area. They served this crab called Clawfish which looks like a mini lobster; I ate only a few of it and decided that I couldn’t it anymore due to my active imagination – the Clawfish looks like a huge cockroach! I got disgusted and ate the other stuffs like the Alaska crab, prawns, some sausages and potatoes. The bill came up to USD 60 but we only paid half. Why? The waitress that waited with us for the bus to downtown gave us a US veteran discount - 50% off! - because we helped her when she wanted to use Hann Huei’s phone to call that she’ll be late as her phone died. She was the one who recommended us to go to that restaurant. We gave her a USD 10 tip. A bloody cheap meal! Haha. We walked around and saw lots of those huge bikes! The ones like Harleys kind. Apparently that day was a biker’s day parade where bikers around Texas goes there to show off their modified loud bikes to others. When I say noisy, it was really loud!

The feast at Boiling Pot!

Us and the very nice waitress AND our work of art!

Cow rides bike too!

Bikes Parade!

Want to wash your bike here?

Afterwards, we went to visit the Congress building. It is an old building that they maintained so beautifully since the beginning of Texas. After taking lots of photos around the place we went out to the streets to look.

The Congress Building

Up near

Coyote Ugly Saloon (not salon)

A while later, a American friend came to take us around; he took us to a pub called the Coyote Ugly. Yup, sounds familiar eh? It’s the one where the movie Coyote Ugly centered; the skimpy-wearing waitresses dance on the pub table while people have their drinks. At one point I saw the waitress doing a thing called The Body Shot; this is where a shot of alcoholic drink is consumed from a person’s body, usually from the naval or the breasts. I had a eye-opening experience then. The waitress asked Hon Mun whether he wants to have it for USD 5 as tip but he declined XD… It was a bargain since they normally ask for USD 20 as what our American friend told us.

One of the waitresses

We went to have our dinner at a Tex-Mex restaurant – short for a fusion of Mexican and Texan food - called Serranos Café. If you want spicy foods, here’s a place to go. I ordered something called Pollo Chipotle; it has grilled chicken breast and beans and the spicy Serrano pepper! This one pepper equals our own chilli padi! It’s extremely spicy, just the way I like it. Hehe. My meal cost me USD 10.50.

I love their Serrano Peppers!

After our dinner, we headed for downtown once we changed into appropriate wears – buttoned shirts and formal shoe. When we arrived, there were a lot of people there, bikes included. Nelson, our American friend took us from one pub to another until he took us to a club. One thing I noticed, there is NO cover charge. You can go in and just sit around and go out without paying. I saw one club where there is a pole dancing girls; we don’t even have to pay any cover charge like the one I went to last time in Singapore. There is a few clubs that require cover charge but it is few in between. Most are free. Cool eh? The clubs and pubs here closes at 2am.

PS: I will upload more pictures in my FB =)