On the 12th Day of Christmas…
12 fairytales characters
suffering
11 disgruntled movie theater
goers whining
10 cups of Fantasia
9 bowls of hot pot
8 rows of cars parking
7 groups of people waiting
6 buses full of tourists
5 long lines at the theater
4 pieces of chocolate
3 grumbling workers
2 minions pins
And another Christmas in the
Bay Area
My family doesn’t celebrate Christmas, at least not
in the traditional sense. We might get together sometime during the weekend for a
party, but we haven’t exchanged presents since I was a child.
I can’t even
remember the last time we had the tree up.
Most years, I spend Christmas at home, in bed and
attached to my laptop. This year, I decided to go out with my
bestie (who also doesn’t celebrate Christmas) and catch a movie.
And well… a good portion of the Bay Area had the
same idea because Grand Century Theaters at Great Mall was packed. We
wanted to catch the 4 PM showing of Into the Woods, but we did not
anticipate the amount of cars and people trying to do the same thing. The 4:05
PM showing only had front seats left, so we opted for the 7:15 PM showing. The guy told us to come early because most likely it was going to be a full house.
Since it was only 4:30, we had some time to kill
before coming back to the movie theater. The mall was closed so we headed over
to Milpitas Square. Many restaurants may be closed, but you can always find
Asian restaurants opened on Christmas. In fact, I read somewhere that Asian restaurants
make the most money on Christmas.
We headed over to Fantasia for some boba first
before dinner and as usual, there was a line out the door. I ordered the Taro Milk with boba
(the only boba place that I trust in ordering that drink) and afterwards, we
headed over to H.I.T for an early dinner.
H.I.T, short for Hot Pot, Ice and Tea is a Hot Pot
restaurant that recently opened that serves individual sized hot pot bowl along
with drinks and shaved ice. I’ve visited them once previously just for their
shaved ice and it wasn’t bad, but nothing to write home about. There’s better
places to grab shaved ice. But I have been wanting to try their hot pot for a
while after previously having missed out because they closed on Monday.
 |
| A sleek and dark interior with uncomfortable seats. |
As for their hot pot, they usually serve it with
individual burners, but as a Winter special, they put the pots in the stone
cast bowls that you see in Korean restaurants for Bibimbap or the Tofu stews.
We both opted for the Japanese Miso pot, which was
served with a side of rice. There’s a variety of things in the “stew,”
including slices of already cooked pork, fake crab sticks, clam, shrimp, fish
balls, meat balls, Enoki, udon, corn, tofu, kamaboko and a huge serving of
napa. The entire lower layer is lined with napa. So if you’re not a big fan of
napa, I would not suggest this restaurant. Perhaps you can ask for a
substitution, or just tell them to take it out altogether.
 |
| There are no vegetarian option, FYI. |
Since we decided to eat earlier, we were one of the
first seated, but as we ate, a steady stream of people gathered outside and
they were required to put their names down on the list.
The food was alright, but between H.I.T and normal
hot pot, I prefer normal hot pot. It was pretty pricy too for your own bowl of
hot pot. We paid $15 each with tip and tax added.
For those who just want drinks or snacks, you could just walk
up to the counter and order. Same if you want shaved ice to go.
As for their hot pot, I don’t see myself coming back
for a while. I’m all "hot pot out" after eating hot pot several times over the
course of these past two months.
How was your Christmas? Sure, mine
was a bit unconventional, but I’m
sure you had your own way of celebrating. Anybody else eat Chinese food for
Christmas this year? Great Christmas presents? As for me, I'm decked out on Doctor Who merchandise.
H.I.T
228 Barber Ct.
Milpitas, CA 95035
