FORTY-EIGHT hours in Houston and I still have not seen anyone in a cowboy hat.

I must admit this is a bit disappointing, as it can be when a stereotypes falls flat.

And stereotypes about big hats, big vowels and big oil were pretty much all I had when it came to Texas, thanks to dimly remembered reruns of the 1970s TV soap, Dallas.

Houston seemed an unlikely holiday destination, though it is now connected to Singapore by a Singapore Airlines flight through Moscow.

Read Alison De Souza's full story in Tuesday's edition of The Straits Times' Life!