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B-Line Diner

Posted on August 25, 2013 by Ching under Food and Drink, Reviews.

Brian and I ended up eating at B-Line Diner on our first night in Orlando because it rained. I had my heart set on taking the trolley to Oceanaire Seafood Room at Pointe Orlando but we didn’t want to walk outside because of the torrential downpour. It rained while we were getting some supplies at Walgreens and, by the time we arrived back at our hotel, we were both drenched.

Anyway, B-Line is conveniently located on the first floor of our hotel so we wouldn’t have to go outside. It was a no brainer. We put some dry clothes on and off we went.

Brian and I both love hummus so we decided to start with that. It was topped with some sort of kalamata olives tapenade, which made it really salty. I like salty stuff so it appealed to me. Brian didn’t care much for it. He would have much rather preferred a tub of Sabra. LOL.

For dinner we just split a chicken sandwich. We didn’t want any leftovers as our room wasn’t equipped with a microwave. You could request one from housekeeping, but the Peabody charges $20 extra per day for use of the microwave so it wasn’t worth it. Anyway, back to the sandwich. It had all the fixins including apple slices and a huge chunk of avocado. It was actually pretty good.

Splitting the chicken sandwich was actually a good move on our part because we wanted to save room for dessert. The B-Line has an extensive dessert selection. However, since Brian and I were sharing dessert, we couldn’t go too crazy. We ordered a slice of their Oreo chocolate mousse cake.

It was just okay. It tasted like something that you could get anywhere. There really wasn’t anything special about it. The dessert was probably my least favorite part of the meal.

The food at B-Line is actually pretty good. The location is extremely convenient, specially if you are staying at the Peabody or have a conference nearby at the Orange County Convention Center. The diner is also open 24 hours a day, which is a huge plus. The only downside is that the prices are quite high. Then again, that’s typical of everything in this area of Orlando so, after considering all of the other options, B-Line is probably a bargain. I wouldn’t mind eating there again next time we’re at the Peabody.

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Airport Eats

Posted on August 23, 2013 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.

I hate long layovers at the airport. I prefer to time it just right so I am ready to board the next plane as soon as I get off the previous one. Brian, on the other hand, is always paranoid that he will miss his connection so he likes long layovers. He makes our travel arrangements most of the time so I’m at his mercy.

What to do when life hands you lemons? Well, you make lemonade of course. So we used the long layovers to sample some of the airport food. First stop: Berghoff Cafe at Chicago O’Hare.

Out of all the restaurants in our terminal, Berghoff got the best reviews. We were there too early for lunch though, so I couldn’t get a reuben which is what everyone on FourSquare recommended.

We didn’t eat breakfast before we left Wichita so it worked out perfect actually. Brian had a breakfast wrap and coffee. I had an omelet with toast and jelly.

As with most airports restaurants, Berghoff uses cheap plastic utensils and my fork broke halfway through my breakfast meal. If anyone at Berghoff is reading, switch to Knorks please. Anyway, the breakfast wrap is pretty much an omelet wrapped in a tortilla. It’s cheaper and way easier to eat. No need to use the cheap forks. So if you go and get breakfast there, my advice is to get a breakfast wrap. You can even eat it as you’re running to your gate. LOL.

On the way home Brian gave me a four hour layover in Houston. Why? I have no idea. Houston is never as busy as Chicago or Atlanta. I was bored out of my mind. I decided to eat at the Chili’s despite the horrible reviews on FourSquare. Most of the negative reviews revolved around the slow service, which wasn’t really an issue for me as I had four hours to kill.

I had the appetizer sampler with the big bites, Southwest eggrolls, and spinach dip. The food was decent and the service wasn’t too bad. Everyone was correct about the slowness, though. Anyway, they let me charge my phone and hang out at the bar even after I finished my meal so I can’t complain. What I will complain about though, is my four-hour layover. Never again.

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Mike’s Wine Dive

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Ching under Food and Drink, Relationship.

On Saturday, the 4,020th day of marriage (also known as our 11th wedding anniversary), we decided to have a low key dinner at Mike’s Wine Dive. I think the last documented time we were there was Brian’s birthday a couple of years ago, so it has been a while. For our anniversary dinner, we wanted to pick a great restaurant that we don’t normally go to. Mike’s made Wine Spectator a few years already and we hadn’t been in ages, so Mike’s definitely fit the bill.

We started with Andrea’s hummus platter and deviled eggs.

Don’t let the presentation fool you. Yes, it looks messy and unappealing but it is so darn delicious. I wish they’d serve them by the dozen. LOL.

Brian shared a carafe of sangria with me.

The sangria at Mike’s is delicious. If I was a “happy hour” kind of girl, I’d be at Mike’s every night after work just for the sangria. LOL.

It’s so good, even Brian likes it.

Normally I would get the lobster mac & cheese, but we didn’t want to go too crazy so we opted for a smaller meal — chicken piccata with mashed potatoes and seasonal vegetables. Brian doesn’t like capers, but I thought they went great with the email. Mashed potatoes could have used more flavor, but I like my food really salty so it’s probably just me. It was fine and I didn’t complain.

Much to my disappointment the chocolate bag has been discontinued. What they had instead are these lame chocolate bowls. Execution is similar but it’s just not the same. The chocolate bag was awesome. This was just okay. It was enough to satiate my sugar craving, though.

Our server Corina was nice. She even took our photo. I’m not posting it because it’s not very good. Not because of her, but because of me. I just wasn’t feeling pretty that day. I wore my hair straight, which I haven’t done in a couple of years, and it looked really flat. That, and I’ve been feeling fat lately. Eating out probably isn’t helping but, hey, how often do you get to celebrate an 11th wedding anniversary? Some people never get there.

Here’s how we’ve celebrated in previous years…

2003: We went to dinner at Red Rock, followed by dancing at Copa Cabana and America’s Pub.

2004: Couples massage at Healing Waters and weekend at Country Club Plaza in Kansas City.

2005: Most of our third anniversary was spent at the Historic Campbell Castle. We stayed in The Royal Court, the inn’s best room, for two nights. There may or may not have been a sex tape as a result of this weekend. 😉 Just kidding! We also got a couples massage at Healing Waters, our then favorite spa.

2006: We celebrated by going to Harrah’s NKC. We both played in a poker tournament. Brian took second place and won $400+ dollars.

2007: This was a big one because it was our fifth wedding anniversary. We wanted to do something special, but we couldn’t celebrate in August because I was in grad school and I didn’t want to miss classes or be unprepared for the start of the semester. We ended up celebrating a month early. We spent seven days at an all-inclusive resort in Jamaica and met some really cool people. For our actual anniversary weekend, we went to the drive-in. It was my first time.

2008: Our anniversary was sandwiched between a trip to Vegas for Cory and April’s wedding and then the WPT APL poker cruise so we pretty much just laid low. Brian got a new lawnmower.

2009: Couples massage at Serenity, Midwest Rockfest, Tanganyika. Nothing major since we had our trip to the Philippines coming up and we were focused on that.

2010: Dinner at Bonefish and dancing at Suede. We celebrated early because we had Logan stay with us during our actual anniversary weekend. I think this was the catalyst for our Friday night salsa ritual. We also went to see the Rush Time Machine Tour last August.

2011: This was the most exciting wedding anniversary celebration ever. I got an ambulance ride to the ER following dinner. Follow the link for the full story.

2012: We celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary by closing on our house. Yup. We timed it so we actually signed papers on August 10. The real celebration happened in Kansas City a few days later, when we went to watch Journey perform — in the rain.

2013: This year we just had a low key dinner at Mike’s Wine Dive then went to see The Wolverine (great movie, by the way). The celebration continues later this week in Orlando. Of course, we celebrate our marriage everyday not just during our anniversary week. And that, my friends, is how you get to almost 15 years of being together.

Happy anniversary, baby!

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New Saturday Routine

Posted on August 13, 2013 by Ching under Food and Drink, Home Ownership, Zumba.

I want every Saturday to be like last Saturday. I’m actually looking forward to this new Saturday routine. I basically get to do two hours of Zumba — my own class at Evergreen at 9:30 AM and then Pam’s class at Orchard at 11:30 AM. I wish that there was less time in between classes so I didn’t have to sit around and wait so long to do the next round. Maybe I could move my class back to 10:00 AM. The 9:30 AM schedule has been really nice, though. If I could start my day even earlier, I would. No one wants to Zumba with me at 8:00 AM, though.

Here’s a picture of Brian bonding with Juan. They watch Saturday morning cartoons together while I teach my Zumba class. LOL.

Here’s a photo of me and Pam before her class started. I look like a mess already, but I had a head start and no outfit change between Zumba sessions.

The best part about Orchard Recreation Center (besides Pam’s Zumba classes, of course) is that it’s located just around the corner from my favorite Thai takeout joint, Thai House. So guess what we had for lunch that day. I know. Sorry, John.

I just couldn’t help myself. My love for food is probably the main reason why I will never, ever get skinny. I want to seriously lose weight, but I don’t want to miss out on all my favorite foods either. Ay, caramba!

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P.F. Chang’s – It’s Been a While

Posted on August 4, 2013 by Ching under Food and Drink.

Our friend Jorge was in town the other day and invited us to have dinner with him, Sid, and Laura at P.F. Chang’s. It’s been a while since we’d seen Jorge and even longer since we’d been to P.F. Chang’s, specially since we don’t live in that side of town anymore. We had a wonderful leisurely dinner with the group. Here are some photos…

Chang’s chicken lettuce wraps are a must have item at P.F. Chang’s. It’s their signature appetizer, kind of like how bang bang shrimp is to Bonefish Grill.

We also had some crab wontons, which I love, and spring rolls.

Sid ordered the flaming red wontons, which I didn’t try because I don’t like spicy foods. Brian had some, though. He said they weren’t that spicy.

For our meal, Brian and I shared our usual — Mongolian beef with eggplant instead of scallions. I love the eggplant at P.F. Chang’s. So yummy!

Jorge had the quinoa “fried rice” which is a special summer item. He says it’s his current favorite. Laura ordered some more chicken lettuce wraps and Sid had noodles.

I wasn’t going to drink, but couldn’t help myself because everyone else was. I had the Long Island rum tea which tasted even better than it looked.

I think it has been about a year since we’ve been to P.F. Chang’s. I’d forgotten how good the food is. Though I noticed that the prices are much higher also. I guess that’s inflation for you.

Anyway, here’s a picture that I found from our last visit to P.F. Chang’s… The photo was taken on August 3, 2012 when I was almost 15 lbs lighter than I am now. Man, those were the days! I’m going to have to stay away from P.F. Chang’s even longer if I ever hope to drop back down to that weight/size again. LOL.