600 miles of stripmalls

im not sure if it was my guide or the town itself, but apparently americas 4th largest city has no impressive landmarks or notable tourist hotspots, unless you count a large mall called the galleria and 600 square miles of strip malls sweltering under the texan sun.

on the plus side, the city has an attractive skyline and the streets and air were cleaner than i had expected. to my kind local host's credit, i did enjoy yummy chinese and vietnamese food- impressive since i usually find the former gross. but even though the jamba juice, starbucks and wamu branches made it feel a lil more like home, i dont feel compelled to go back, and it looks like my high hopes for a taipei host and shanghai travel buddy are kaput, since he thought i was scary and i didnt know how to react to several minutes of self-service dry humping. it was, however, during these sessions that i wondered if my zeal for free accommodations has me walking the fine line between thrift and sex work.