41. First day in Austin

For 100 days, I'm going to publish a plus-minus hundred-word post a day on Steemit. These 100 posts will be the insights, routines, and habits of living a better life.

(PS: I'm replacing the next few days with my journey to Austin, Texas.)

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It was great to finally land at Austin after a long 30-hour flight. Thanks to my fellow colleague at Sumo, Matt, picking me up from the airport to the Airbnb I've booked.

The first thing I did after some unpacking is a 10-hour straight sleep.

After a good night sleep, it's time to explore Austin a little on Sunday before heading into the office tomorrow.

My first plan was to find out how to walk from my stay to the Sumo office. It wasn't too far from where I stay to Sumo. It took about 15 minutes for me to walk there. On the way to check out the office, I stumble across Cuvee Coffee. This was the coffee shop I first learned about on YouTube when they made a video about their cold brew coffee.

I decided to hop in to get a glass of cold brew coffee and spent an hour reading there before I move on because it was still early. It was strange to be the only few Asians in a coffee shop for the first time.

Sumo's office is two blocks from Cuvee Coffee so I quickly moved on to explore other parts of Austin. (According to Matt, I'm staying in what known as the East Side of Austin. And I was walking toward Downtown Austin.)

Here are some photos when I was in Downtown Austin.

The streets are still quiet early in the morning.

The only places were packed are coffee shops and parks. I bumped into two cabin crews whose were on the same flight here. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photo with them.

Passed by a church as I walked around.

After 20 minutes, I arrived at the Texas States Capitol. The building is huge and the entire area includes the park is board.

The Texas African American History Memorial.

This monument is about the history of Spanish Mexican in Texas.

I spent about an hour walking around at the park of the Texas State Capitol. Reflecting on the cultural differences of Malaysia and America, at the same time, thinking about how I ended up here. It was a great experience for me to be here.

At the same time, it felt strange to be here. After my formal education, most of what I consumed and learned are from the United States. The coffee culture I picked up when I was a barista. The web design and coding courses I went through. The books I read. The influencers I followed. The audience I write for.

It felt strange because it didn't feel strange and novel to be here for the first time.

Okay, let's get back to my journey. After visiting the Texas State Capitol, I decided to go home earlier for some work. On the way back to my stay, I stopped at a Mexican taco food truck for lunch.

Thanks to Duolingo, I can understand most of the Spanish words here. I've been learning and practicing Spanish on Duolingo for over two months now and can finally make some good use of it. (ps: I'm still far from speaking fluently.)

Last photo: a delicious Al Pasto taco—according to the menu. I have no idea what "Al Pastor" means.

I did visit a grocery to get bottled water and some food for dinner at home. It's all work after this and a good rest early before checking in to Sumo for the first time tomorrow.