Hokkaido Sushi Restaurant

So this weekend I found a restaurant that I really wanted to try. I knew it was in Bellaire but had no idea that it was located in a place that I frequently visit. I've been going to this area a lot because it has a lot of tapioca places like Tapioca House, Twinkle and GoGo Ice, and I don't know why I never noticed this restaurant before. Anyways, I went with my parents to this place last Wednesday and must I say, I am so glad I found it! I think they just remodelled the restaurant to make it bigger than it was before, and I would say that it would comfortably fit maybe 80 or so people. They serve food so fast, and for the price I would definitely recommend this place to anyone who wants to have some Japanese food. 

Here's a picture of their menu!

It starts with this line that you have to go in so that you can order your food first. You have to tell the guy which table you want to sit in and then they just bring the stuff out to your table. So after that, you can go enjoy some free miso soup! You can drink as much soup as you want and its soup that's been seasoned perfectly. 

Soon after we sat down all our dishes started coming out. My parents ordered some sashimi and some Teriyaki Chicken, while I ordered a Hawaii Volcano roll and a Spicy Tuna roll. AND MAN WERE THEY DELICIOUS! The fish that they used for the sashimi was so fresh, and the Hawaii Volcano roll was the bomb! It was a shrimp tempura roll, which I've had so many of those before, but it was topped with avocado and some spicy tuna on top. I literally wanted to savour each bite, but honestly didn't have enough self-control to do that. It was that delicious. 

We tried some other dishes too like some Shrimp Tempura, and a few other Rolls, (Spicy Salmon and a Tiger Roll). Everything we ordered was about $10 or less. They had some dishes that were a little bit more expensive but if they were, they weren't too bad. 

Overall I would say that this restaurant was an amazing find, and I was so glad that I was able to find it somehow because it was in such an ostensible place that I cannot believe I didn't find it earlier! To finish your meal off, they offer free red bean soup. The soup was sweet, but not too sweet and was a perfect end to our meal! 

Happy eating and until next time! 

-Kristine

Year of Friends

Hi guys! Sorry I've been MIA for the past few months, my school and my social life are starting to get the best of me. When I first started this blog, I thought I would be updating it every week for y'all, giving y'all some nice places to go to in Houston, but I'm not going to lie, doing that is harder than I thought. And so, because I want to get this blog going, I would like to tell you guys about my year so far. I knew school was going to kick my butt, but I didn't know I would be so busy with all my friends as well. This school year, I've become friends with more people than I have in almost 3 years.

HBU is a pretty small school where everyone knows each other. I mean if you don't know them, you at least know someone who does. I'd have to say that this friendship year started out with Haley. I had known her since freshman year, but we never spent time with each other so she was just the person I said hi to whenever we saw each other. Since the beginning of the school year, Haley and I have had class everyday together and through spending time with her we've determined that we are twins, living parallel lives, even our sisters are similar! I really shouldn't say too much more because the stuff Haley and I have in common, I never thought anyone else would ever have. 

Anyways, that was where it started. My friends started living in apartments this year too, so I wasn't able to spend much time with them at all. I would usually finish class and go up to my room to sleep or to watch something online. I went up to my floor one day and saw one of my old suite mates, Kim. I really didn't know her. I think I borrowed some scantrons from her once when we lived with each other the year before, but that was about it. I saw her sitting in the lobby and I thought that it would just be rude to say hi and walk away, so I decided to sit and talk with her for a little bit. Well, that little bit turned out to be an hour of conversation. That hour of conversation was probably the best hour of my life because when I did that, I opened myself up to meeting other people. I would like to say that, had Kim chosen another lobby to sit at, I probably would keep sitting in my room, by myself, with no friends. So cheers Kim! Thanks for picking the third floor! 

With Kim, came Calvin. I'm 100% positive that I didn't know Calvin before I met Kim, but honestly this guy and I have a pretty cool friendship. I'm not gonna lie, I'm a pretty awkward person. Whenever I meet someone, we don't instantly become friends. I go through this process in my head before establishing a friendship with anyone, and the first step is to make sure he or she thinks we're friends too. I remember I was with Kim and Calvin once, when Calvin said my name. I WAS LIKE, WOW YOU KNOW MY NAME?! Sorry guys but people usually don't remember my name. And the thing is, I don't think I ever introduced myself to him! Anyways from then on, I knew that we were on this path of friendship. I'm not the most comfortable around guys cause I didn't grow up with a lot of them in my life, but Calvin's a pretty cool guy. 

Having Haley, Kim, and Calvin were already a handful. I started hanging out in the lobby more and more and started saying hi to the people who would walk by. Well, Kim would say hi....And I would be sitting right next to her and so it would be more awkward if I didn't say hi, so I said hi instead. We would do that everyday and then there would be people who we would just say hi to all the time! There are even some now that say hi to us first! 

One day we got the TV to work in our lobby. We had it on and some girl wanted to watch Scandal so we were like ok! I had seen her before and she would always say hi, but I never got a chance to ask for her name. Anyways we watched TV, joked a little and I finally went to bed. Sometime later, I can't remember if it was the next day or a few days after, she came and hung out with us in the lobby! I knew I had to ask for her name because after this I felt like our friendship would be too far in for me to be like, what's your name again? So I asked! That's how I met Ebony, my friends. She literally cracks me up! Especially when it's really late at night........and when she's sleepy. Anyways, she's so pretty, and so nice and so real that I am so glad that the Lord placed her in my life.

I would also like to add a little something about my friend Minnie. I met Minnie in English last semester and she sat at the opposite side of the classroom as I did. I didn't think we would be friends but we ended up doing a group project together! And then as it turns out Minnie lives on my floor! Anyways, Minnie is the coolest, most awesome, beast basketball player in the entire world! I FREAKING LOVE YOU MINNIE.

Then there are Christiana and Kayla. They're my suite mates! I live in the room style that has no living room. Once you go in the suite it is basically a hallway with 5 separate doors. I never really saw my suite mates much unless they're coming into the suite as I'm walking out or something like that. Anyways, this semester, Christiana moved to my suite from the apartments, and now I live smack-dab between both sisters! Christiana sat out in the lobby with us and she was joking with us and stuff, and I was like man! You should come sit with us more often! Well to make stories short, Christiana, Kayla and I are sisters now. Well, Christiana and I are….Idk where Kayla came from. :)

Quite a few of the guys that live on my floor are so sweet! My floor houses about a third of the basketball team and a few football players. In high school, athletes were sort of the upper class people that I really had no business befriending, so I wasn't expecting these guys to be so nice. I don't know where it all started but I think it started with meeting Jackie. I think it was Kim who knew Jackie and so then I would always just say hi anyways. But literally just seeing this guy makes me smile. He says some stuff that catches you off guard sometimes, but he's a really sweet guy. After meeting him we met Zach. We said hi to Zach once, and somehow the conversation went to us being best friends from now on, and getting best friend tattoos. So ever since then Kim, Ebony, Zach and I call each other best friends! After Zach we met Sean. I swear all this friendship stuff went by so fast that I can't even remember how they happened. One day I just remember Sean sitting out there with me and Kim for a good couple of hours talking about all sorts of stuff, from cheese-its and nutella to what Kim and I do out in the lobby the whole day. We got to telling him what we call some of the guys we don't know. So and so was polite guy, so and so was no emotion. I remember him joking, saying "what, do you guys call me green backpack?" We told him no, we knew him enough to call him by his real name, but we don't know those other guys too well. A few minutes after that, this kid comes up the elevator. He was the one we called no emotion because after leaving their lobby he would just go straight to the elevator. I mean we didn't know him, but we didn't know a lot of the guys who lived on that floor either, and most of them would at least acknowledge that we were there. Anyways he went and talked to Sean, and Kim and I just looked at each other because this guy, literally looked at everyone in the room and only said hi to Sean. Anyways, Sean goes "Hey, I told him y'all call him no emotion." AND KIM AND I JUST DIED. -___- But hey, from then on, Josh became our other best friend, tattoos and all. Then we met Phillip! We got to a point where we'd go to Calvin's room to watch TV sometimes, cause it was either there or the Red Couch Room, and the TV down there has no remote. Anyways, Zach happens to be one of Calvin's suite mates, and Phil is one of Zach's friends! So whenever we'd be hanging out in Calvin's room, Zach would come in to say hi, and Phil would come in to say hi too!

I'm writing this blog post in dedication to my new friends because I used to think that having more friends would make me happier, but I am at that point in life where I realize that its not about how many friends you have, its about how good those friends are. The people that are in my life right now are there because somehow, someway, they make me want to become a better person. This year I've had more laughs, gotten more hugs and said hi to more people than I ever have before. So thanks guys! Thanks for making me want to be me!