China: Part II

Since our explorations of Chinese culture in Houston were limited by time a few weeks ago, we decided to make a second trip. Really, we could explore for several weeks and not do everything, as evidenced by our long LIST of Chinese Attractions in Houston. This time I really wanted to visit a Buddhist temple or three!  Thankfully there were several clustered together just west of Chinatown proper.  As luck would have it, the most impressive one was our first stop.  Click HERE for my map of Chinese attractions in Houston.

We knew upon approaching the Teo Chew Temple that it would be impressive because we could see the beautiful tiled roof from Bellaire Blvd, just beyond Arthur Storey Park. I called ahead of time to see if visitors were welcome but the person who answered didn't speak English. I decided to take my chances and drive by to check things out anyway.  Thankfully the parking lot gate was open as well as the doors to the main hall of the temple.  My daughter immediately pointed out that the fountain in front of the temple contained all of the animals representing the different years of the Chinese calendar. We quickly parked the car and ventured inside. One tip: you must remove your shoes before entering the temple, so bring socks if you want to keep your feet clean!

The kids were hungry after this first stop, so we tried out another dumpling place (in the same plaza as Xiong's Cafe where we first ate dumplings).  The dumplings at The Golden Dumpling were delicious too and the price was right here as well.  Be sure to bring cash, though, as they don't take credit cards.  This time we ordered boiled pork and leak dumplings, pan-friend pork dumplings and steamed chicken dumplings.  We brought home at least half of this and ate it again for lunch!  Again, I spent less than $20 for this feast.

After lunch the kids wanted to explore a few shops next to the restaurant, so we peaked into Jade House jewelry and a porcelain shop.  If you are in need of beads to make your own jewelry, Jade House probably has everything you need.  The proprietor of the porcelain store was super sweet to my kids, offering them a piece of traditional candy and answering all of their questions.

We decided to continue our exploration of temples after lunch.  Our second temple was the Chùa Linh Sơn temple.  It was closed, but they had a nice small garden where we took a few photos.

The third stop on our Buddhist temple tour was Jade Buddah Temple.  The receptionist spoke perfect English and invited us to give ourselves a tour.  Again, we removed our shoes before entering the halls.  They had a large hall and a smaller one...much like a church and a chapel.  In fact, I suspect this temple used to be a church at one point in time.

The large hall

The small hall

As a reward for a great day of exploring the Chinese culture, we treated ourselves to strawberry and mango shaved ice (more like ice cream) at Star Snow Ice.  Note to self: Only order one shaved ice for 3-4 people.  This dessert was huge!

To embark on your own Chinese adventures in Houston, click HERE and print my list of attractions.

China: Part I

My daughter's 1st grade research project was focused on China, so that seemed a logical place to start our International Adventures in Houston. Both my 7-year-old daughter and my 5-year-old son agreed and were enthusiastic about the ensuing adventures! For a brief history of Houston's Chinatown, click HERE.  To embark on your own Chinese adventures in Houston, click HERE and print my list.  And click HERE for a map with my entire list of suggested attractions to visit

Our first adventure to Houston's Chinatown included lunch at Xiong's Cafe for dumplings, a stop-in at a natural remedies store, a visit to H-Mart grocery and a frozen treat at Class 502.

My neighbor who is married to a man from Taiwan recommended Xiong's.  You place your order at the front counter and find a seat.  Thankfully there were menus in English and they do accept credit cards. (Many places in Chinatown are cash only.)  Our order included boiled pork and Chinese chives dumplings (the kids' favorite), spicy Szechuan dumplings (not spicy, but great flavor), pan fried pork dumplings (nice and crispy on bottoms) and steamed pumpkin bun (looks more like a pancake and very sticky).  All of this was less than $20 for 4 people!

You know it's authentic when everything on the wall is in Chinese!

Patiently waiting for our food.

My mom joined us on our first adventure.  She's always happy to go on food adventures!

Spicy Szechuan dumplings, filled with pork.  Not spicy, but great flavor.

The pan-fried pork dumplings were delicious and perfectly crispy.

With full bellies, we departed Xiong's Cafe and started walking to H-Mart, a large grocery store.  But, on our way we discovered what I believe was a Traditional Chinese Medicine store (with no English name). The first items I noticed were dried sea cucumbers priced at $358/pound sitting just inside the door in open plastic bins. Upon inspecting the store further, it appeared that the glass bins were filled with various herbal remedies including lots of ginseng, dried squid, sliced deer antlers and lingshi (a type of fungus). The store was tended by several women dressed neatly in pink uniforms who appeared a bit nervous about my kids wandering around the store. Their English wasn't great, but they were very polite and offered us a taste of herbal tea in hopes we'd buy something before leaving!

Sea cucumbers are a delicacy used in fancy dishes.

Lots of huge containers of ginseng

licorice prunes, dried plums, dried squid, spicy squid, salty lemons 

sliced deer antler

huge lingshi (reishi)

I love visiting ethnic grocery stores and always see interesting things. Dried products and produce are generally safe to buy, but I would recommend using caution when purchasing items such as meats and seafood since the prices are very low and the quality can seem questionable at times.  In particular, it's safe to say the seafood is not sourced from sustainable suppliers (plus we saw a dead fish in one of the tanks).  That said, we enjoyed our visit to H-Mart.  The store was very clean, did not smell fishy at all and the people working there were very nice.

Our last stop was at Class 502, a rolled ice cream shop.  With any luck, we'll be ending most of our adventures with a sweet treat as a reward to my little adventurers being such great troopers!  Class 502 is in a large plaza crowded with lots of restaurants and stores.  I recommend parking in the first spot you find as it can get busy there.  There is a garage attached which is nice for hot Houston summers.

There are two round plates like the one above that are freezing cold. Upon selecting your flavor, they pour the liquid ice cream on the frozen plate and proceed to manipulate the ice cream until it freezes. Then they spread it on the plate in a perfect square, but it into five pieces and then carefully scrape it off the plate with a putty knife into a perfect little roll of ice cream. These 5 pieces are then set on their ends in a cup and garnished with toppings.  I would recommend going during the week or early in the day because I can see this place getting crowded and waiting a long time on the weekend.

This happy customer ordered the black swan (mint flavored chocolate)!

This happy customer ordered the cookies and cream!

International Adventures in Houston

In summers past, I've been the queen of the Houston Bucket List, priding myself on knowing and exposing my kids to all the obscure and not so obscure attractions in the Greater Houston that are family friendly. Now that the kiddos are getting older (5 and 7), I thought I would introduce them to my love for international travels without ever setting foot on a plane! You see, we live in Houston, TX, arguably the most diverse city in the United States. We have hundreds of adventures awaiting us just steps from our front door.  Thus we will be embarking on our "International Adventures in Houston" starting this summer!

When a friend heard about this idea, she pointed me to Houstonia Magazine's 2015 article, "Best of International Houston" as a resource.  This was a great place to start! My outline for our adventures included gathering ideas for the following:

1.  Restaurants with authentic foods (of course, because great travel includes great food, right?)
2.  Places of worship 
3.  Cultural centers 
4.  Grocery stores with international ingredients (I love to cook, so we decided to research recipes for our favorite dishes and try recreating them at home)
5. Festivals (this is a secondary priority since festivals happen throughout the year, not just the summer)

The next question is which cultures to explore first?  As a starting place, Houstonia's article picked out the following countries as the most dominant immigrant communities here in Houston:

1. Mexico
2. India
3. Vietnam
4. Philippines
5. Honduras
6. Guatemala
7. China
8. El Salvador
9. Pakistan
10. Nigeria
11. Canada
12. Colombia

Thanks to social media, my best source for finding authentic international attractions in Houston has been a neighborhood Facebook group with lots of wonderful international members!  They have given me more ideas than I can possibly execute in one summer.  So, thank you to all of my wonderful contributors to this project!  And, of course, if you have any ideas to add to my list, I'm open to hearing all of them and sharing them here!

Happy Travels!
Christi