Back to Texas

Biiiig sky,

Head up in the clouds,

But my thoughts are still grounded on the earth... half the time! :)

Mountains!!  In Texas!  Such a big state @_@

But most of the state is pretty flat :P

I never get to see something like this in Houston ^^

Do I look like I'm on a business trip?  Actually, I think I look more like a guy XD

~*~

I went to dinner with Clear Lake buddies!  I was glad I got to squeeze in a bit of time with them before things got hectic.  We went to Xiong's Cafe ??? for dinner first.  The people who looked up stuff online said that their noodle soups were far better than their rice dishes.  But being a rice lover, I ordered the BBQ pork rice dish!  

Everyone was pretty excited for dinner together and at the cheap prices on the menu.  Meals ranged from $4.50 to $8 on the higher end.  My rice dish was %5.50!~  But the question is... is it yummy?

Ting and Matt are excited~

And Matt's hunched over like a gangster, hehe~

People who order noodles get to pick between skinny and thick noodles.  I personally like thick noodles, just fyi, haha :P  But Matt ordered noodles with lamb (skinny noodles).  The food arrived at the table right away and pretty much all together :D  Matt's lamb bone thingie was HUGE!  Super tender too ^^  Matt was happy with his dinner, although he said that he thought the noodles would be skinnier.

Matt and his bowl of lamb noodles

Cathy, Kathryn, and Ting all ordered the beef noodle soup, which they said was delicious.  Being what Ting calls a person with their taste buds burned off, Cathy didn't think the noodle soup was that spicy, but Kathryn and Ting were dying and kept going back to the water dispenser for water!  Haha!

Oh yeah, Xiong's Cafe has a self-serve area with utensils, bowls, napkins, condiments like minced ginger, garlic, chili sauce, etc.  That's also where you can get your free water and hot tea, as well as millet porridge!  I didn't try any, but I think if I was hungrier, I would :P  

I'm not the only food enthusiast! :)

My dinner was dericiousss~  Lots of green veggies, some tofu, and an egg ^_^  Love love!  And of course the BBQ pork.  I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting from BBQ pork (possibly a pork chop?), but it was like hot pot / thinly sliced meat that was tender and flavorful.  Yummy!  Also, the ground pork sauce thing on the rice was also delightful!  I actually ate all the veggies, tofu, egg, and the rice + meat sauce area first, so that there was a cavern within the rice where I ate away the sauce, haha~  The meat was yummy too, but I'm not much of a meat eater, so I packed up the rest of the rice and meat to take back for later.  It ended up being Matt's lunch the day after, because I left it in his car! XD

Almost half my plate is GREEN. YESSS

BBQ rice plate

For a place that I've been to but remember nothing about, Xiong's Cafe definitely surprised me in a good way.  The portions are large and the prices are low.  The service is fast, and I love self-serve (more water for me, mwahaha!) areas ;)  Although the menu isn't extensive, I'll probably suggest this place for lunch the next time my parents cannot decide where to nom nom ^_^

Xiong's Cafe (aka 老地方)

9888 Bellaire Blvd
Ste 150
Houston, TX 77036

What better to enjoy after dinner than a bite at Juice Box?  Apparently THE thing to order here is the shaved ice, topped with fresh fruit and a scoop of ice cream, and then drizzled with condensed milk!  I was silly and got a drink, but I've never gotten a drink here.  I went with the coconut taro sago drink :D  Very adventurous for me!  THe shaved ice is always great, especially in the summer when walking outside is like walking into a jungle in the Houston humidity! @_@ 

Juice Box hangout with Cathy, Ting, Matt, Kelley and Kathryn :D!

Shaved ice ^_^

Aye, mate!

Speaking of jungles, I found this little guy in one!  Haha, just kidding ;)  Kelley came back from Australia and gave me him with a boomerang!  So cute :)  The arms are like clips when you squeeze his body so he can clip onto things...  He was hugging onto my finger a lot that evening  *blush*  Hahaha!

My coconut taro sago had a generous portion of taro, which was already softened and sweetened.  I learned that I don't like sago that much (it's like mini tapioca!), but the drink was rich and creamy.  Everyone else thought it was yummy too :3  After I drank all of it, I almost immediately toppled over into a food coma.

Juice Box

9889 Bellaire Boulevard

Houston, TX 77036

I said ALMOST.  That's because we went to go KARAOKE?!!?!!  Yes, my first time to do so in the United States and second time in my life.  So apparently my voice isn't that great, because even though I think I sound all right in the shower (I sing in the shower in Houston, but I spare my apartment girls the pain while I'm in St. Louis, hehe), my sister told me that while I was singing in the shower, my mom ran out of the room covering her ears saying, "??!" or "So noisy!"  Hehe, kind of embarrassed now ._.'' I didn't know I sounded THAT bad.  Boooo... but that's what voice lessons are for, right? ;)

Yes, so Matt told me that he went karaoking 17 times in the past 2 months.  He's pretty good at singing, and I wish him luck to Chinese pop stardom!  :P  I like how everyone can sing so confidently, and I hope I can too in the future :)  I feel like my voice is whiny and too soft.  And now with my mom saying I'm noisy, I probably sound bad too Y_Y

The pros setting up the machine

Cathy, Ting, and Kelley singing along~

Whee!  Fun first time karaoking in the states with them ^_^b

I was surprised how cheap karaoking was... $5.50 a person for going for an hour in the room :O  But they said it was actually more on the expensive side @_@''  I guess the more people that go, the better?  Anyways, I had a fun evening with the Clear Lake kiddos-- hope we can do this more often in the future :D