Easter Weekend: Shishinori, Gyukaku, Marulilu Cafe, Main Street Honey Shoppe

Before I continue with the HK and Sasquash adventures, I thought I'd do the Easter stuff first.

What did I do during this glorious four day weekend? Eat. 

I recommended Shishinori to Sasquash several times, so now was finally the moment he got to try it. He got a combo that includes curry, matcha pudding, and strawberry tea. 

I got to try the avocado cream cheese sub sandwich. The vegetables and sweet sauce overshadowed the avocado and cream cheese D: nooooo.

I also got a matcha ice cream float because I could. It's not fizzy; it's just matcha iced tea with matcha ice cream, topped with an adorable matcha star-shaped cookie. Yeah, it tastes like matcha.

This is where you go to get fat; Cartem's Donuterie is a place I've had my eye on. I was supposed to go with Eggnoch, but well...too bad, I went with Sasquash, lol. Cartem's sells specials, and the two specials were jasmine (top) and ginger (below). I only got to try the ginger one, which I thought was awesome. The top had crystallized ginger, and the filling was vanilla bean with hints of ginger. It wasn't too sweet either; sometimes donuts can be overkill.

Fatmine, Pseudo-Korean and I took advantage of this beautiful weekend and tried Marulilu Cafe. I got the curry omurice :D I love Japanese salads because the dressing isn't too sour. They put a lot of curry on the plates :P

Pseudo-Korean got essentially the same as me except with pork cutlet.

This is Fatmine's Hojicha...

And I have no idea what her dish was called, lol. There's egg, chicken, miso, rice, and tofu. I don't know man, hahah.

The menu is super adorable :3

Sasquash wanted to try Japanese BBQ, so we went to Gyukaku. It's super fun to grill your own food :D Although most of the grilling is meat, I'm still surprised with the amount of vegetarian options, which were mostly main dishes and tapas.

We ordered a taiyaki with matcha ice cream :D Yeah, we got to cook a fake fish.

I got the vegetarian garlic noodles, which weren't too garlic-y...

And I got to grill my own onigiri, yas. I believe the sauce is oil and sweet soy sauce? You just brush it on, and the grill until the exterior is super crispy. Yeah, you can probably do this at home lol.

I grilled a tomato.

^That's all Sasquash's meat.

This looks like chicken nuggets, but they're tofu nuggets served with spicy mayo :P Yum. Doesn't taste like tofu at all.

We also tried Heaven on Earth, which was a cozy cafe nearby. I got a peanut butter double dutch chocolate banana smoothie (the title is sooooo long). I really liked it :D I like peanut butter x banana x chocolate flavored stuff.

Sasquash got a muffin, dope.

I finally went to the honey shop where my friend works at :D LOOK AT THESE OPTIONS!!
They also sell candles, beauty products, drinks, bakery items and plant seeds.

I ordered some white tea...

...she gave me a free buckwheat cookie :D ....

and I got four honey sticks: mint, root beer, watermelon, and sour cherry (in order from left to right). Their honey sticks are naturally flavored, and the flavors are pretty prominent.

The Eatery: Innovative Sushi

This is probably the most hipster Japanese fusion place ever (since I only know one place in Vancouver, lol). They have black lighting, which is why the pictures look so weird.

This is the first restaurant I went to with my roommates :)

As for price, it's moderate. The rice bowls are probably more worth it since they're large, but they're more expensive than the sushi. 

I just ordered some vegetarian sushi. Some of them have interesting ingredients, like mango :P Each sushi is pretty different and none of it is boring. I encourage you guys to take a look at their menu on their website and to see the ingredients and dish names; it's quite creative.

Trippy stuff.

The Templeton, Freshii, Seedlings and some Cheesecake Bubble Waffles :P

The Mini Supermarket was always on campus, but I've only went here once...I've never ordered anything from here. I need to come here more often because they have bubble waffles :O They're flavored too; there's cheesecake, oreo, chocolate, matcha, black sesame...oh my god.

I was quite impressed with The Templeton. It's a small place with a retro theme, and it's not in the most convenient place (right next to an XXX store, lol). However, their vegetarian and vegan options are great. They serve classic "greasy" food, lol.
I got the vegan lentil loaf with mushroom gravy and garlic mashed potatoes. Those potatoes man...so smooth and flavorful. It didn't even need the gravy, so I just used the gravy for the loaf. The loaf was pretty nice. It was dry, but I expected that. I wouldn't want a soggy loaf anyways, haha.

Since they have happy hour from 4-7pm, we got the chili fries :D Super simple, just fries with chili on top...the chili wasn't just beans and sauce, but had vegetables in it (I like my chili with vegetables :P).

My med friend (who will now be named Pickles >:D ) got a chicken burger on focaccia bread with garden vegetable soup. He took out the pickle, lol. He likes the pickles to be in smaller chunks (what a picky eater).

Went to Freshii again, and tried the Banana Nut Crunch smoothie. It was a lot sweeter than I expected. I could taste the sweetness from the banana, but I think they added honey as well? Or maybe the yogurt was already sweetened? It had a bit of a crunch from the tiny almond and walnut bits.

Just another casual day at Seedlings :) I like how the meals are not always consistent; there's always new ingredients. It spices things up.

Reading Break: Redmond noms and Vancouver noms

Here's all the fatventures during Reading Week.

Before going home, we had a family lunch together at H-Mart :P We got 2 bentos, japchae, ddukbokki, kimbap, noodle sausages, and Blue Monkey coconut water (which tastes realllllyyy good; it has bits of coconut, and it tastes pretty fresh). When we went to pay, the cashier was like...wtf, so much, haha. The ddukbokki was dry, but I actually like it that way; it's chewier, and the outsides are tougher. It's nice when it's soft too, but a tough bite is still quite nice.

Sankiupo had to go to Seattle for a musical adventure, so they stopped by Oasis near the University of Washington area. If they went to the International District branch, then I could've gotten a durian smoothie :( Oh well. I got rose tea with pudding :P It was actually really sweet, but in the past, I was able to handle it. You would think the hot chocolate adventures would make me more resistant...well, most hot chocolate had some bitterness to even things out. Maybe that's why.
Anyways, I love Oasis <3

For a quick bite before watching Kung Fu Panda 3 (which was awesome), my dad and I stopped by Yummy Pho. I got my usual order, the Vietnamese tofu sub sandwich (not pictured). My dad got a simple vegetarian pho. I just thought the angle and lighting/table of this photo turned out so well :D Proud of myself.

There's a vegetarian place near Redmond Microsoft that I had my eye on, and I finally got to try this place. The menu is entirely vegetarian. I do think the menu is pricey, so try not to order standard Chinese dishes; look for titles that you've never seen.
This is just simple thick fried noodles, and although it's not bad, my dad and I agree that it's not worth $12.

This was slightly more expensive, but it was much more interesting. It's smoked and fried mock salmon with vegetables. The mock salmon was made of tofu skin and seaweed before being fried. If the piece didn't fall apart, the smooth inside does trick your brain into thinking it's salmon. Plus, the seaweed gives it a "fishy" taste. The "smoked" part comes from the little bacon bits, except they're not bacon...I'm not sure what they are, but they taste similar to bacon bits.

This is a Flat White from Starbucks :) Gotta get my Starbucks deals for good rewards.

I made homemade shakshuka :D I opened a new marinara jar (sorry fam), cracked an egg, microwaved it, and then added Parmesan cheese and basil :P Oh yes. Later, there was so much sauce left that I ate it with brown rice. Don't judge.

Finally got to try the Butterscotch Latte, except I got it without the coffee (butterscotch steamed milk). The whipped cream and topping tasted like butterscotch, but once I got to the milk, it just tasted like milk...so once I was getting towards the bottom, I realized the syrup had settled -__- by then, the milk was way too sweet. I know, I'm such a genius guys...

After returning from Redmond and before the hectic house shopping, we stopped by Elan Seafood Restaurant in Crystal Mall. First off, I love this bean curd dish with spinach. It's just so addicting...Do they lace it with crack?? Tell me your secrets.

This was also super good. It looks really simple to make too. It's sliced cucumber with edamame and soft, fluffy tofu. The tofu's texture is really airy and puffy...it's almost like a soggy cream puff, but not as disgusting lol.

This is stir fried vegetables with lily buds. I actually really like the lily buds; it has a similar texture to a thin potato, and it has a delicate floral taste that contrasts with the saltiness of everything else.

I took a picture of the dishes and utensils because I couldn't resist. They're so cute :3