2018

Archive for the year 2018

Breakfast with Leadership Wichita Classmates

Posted on December 9, 2018 by Ching under Community, Food and Drink.

Met some of my Leadership Wichita classmates at Doo-Dah Diner on Tuesday for breakfast and a gift exchange. Michelle and I took this selfie while we were waiting for everyone else to arrive.

We did the gift exchange “white elephant” style where you can steal gifts but everyone was so polite no gift-stealing actually transpired. Oh, and, of course, I forgot to take pictures of people and just got pictures of their food. LOL.

Obviously, Michelle was there as you can see from the above photo. And, of course, Jessica was there because she organized the get together. Teresa, Dotty, Cynthia, Jaimie, and Bill also attended. Below are pictures of some of our food. You can try to figure out which is which.

Remind me to take pictures of the people next time!

No Comments

Double Date with the Dills

Posted on December 8, 2018 by Ching under Date Ideas, Food and Drink.

Brian and I took the Dills out to dinner last weekend in honor of Becca’s birthday. Neither of them had ever been to Yokohama Ramen Joint in Delano before. It’s our favorite ramen place so we wanted them to try it.

We were originally going to take them to see Illuminations (the amazing Christmas installation at Botanica) also but it was a cold and rainy night and, although I was prepared to tough it out, it didn’t seem like anyone was really keen on going. So, we decided to head over to the Dills house for after dinner drinks instead.

Here are a few pictures from our double date.

We started with the shrimp shumai and pan-fried dumplings. Above is the shrimp shumai, which I’ve had at other places before, but this was our first time ordering it at Yokohama. It was pretty good and we will likely order it again as a starter. Below is a close up photo.

I didn’t get a chance to take a picture of the pan-fried dumplings before we inhaled them. Those are always super popular with everyone. It’s no big deal on the lack of photo, though. We’ve ordered it numerous times before and you all know what those look like.

Brian and I always end up with leftovers so, in an effort to avoid having to take leftovers home, we decided to share the Yokohama style ramen. We added extra noodles and extra pork just to be on the safe side. The extras turned out to be a bad idea because we ended up with too much food, yet again. We’ve decided to split the ramen bowl next time without the extra noodles and pork, that way we’ll be more likely to finish it. You live and learn.

Becca got spicy dan dan noodles. I have no idea what it is actually because I always just get ramen. It is a ramen joint after all. Anyway, I think it started out really good but then the spiciness just builds. It might have gotten a tad too spicy for her toward the end. They kept wanting me to try it but I never did. I can’t handle spicy foods and try to stay away from them as much as possible.

Jay had a super combination rice bowl with all the meats (shrimp even), topped with tonkatsu chicken. He really liked it.

Here it is up close.

Afterwards, the four of us went to their place to hang out and drink some wine. We brought a couple of bottles but only finished the Sequoia Grove cab. We discovered it over the summer when we had a wine dinner at Carrabba’s. It’s the only cabernet sauvignon I’ve ever found that I liked. All other cabs taste terrible to me. But then, this cab is $50 a bottle and all other cabs I’ve tasted have cost half or less than half that so I probably just have really discerning taste in cabs and my palette is sensitive to the cheap stuff.

We had a great time catching up with the Dills last weekend. They seem to always be traveling (in fact they’re out of town again; they’re in Miami and Barbados this coming week) and we’re always so busy that we don’t have a lot of opportunity to get together. It was really nice hanging out with them.

We hope to hang out with them some more in the coming year and maybe join them for Jay’s 40th birthday trip to Costa Rica in April. I think it will be a lot of fun.

Until the next blog. GNG.

1 Comment

Our Trip to the WALL

Posted on December 5, 2018 by Ching under Date Ideas.

By WALL, I mean the Wichita Advanced Learning Library. It opened a few months ago but Brian and I hadn’t gotten around to checking it out until this past weekend. We’ve just been too busy. It might have been brighter inside except it was very gloomy and rainy on the day we went. The decor is very modern. Brian was particularly infatuated with these chairs.

I thought I got a picture of him in it but I guess I must have posted it on Snapchat. Bummer! He really like them. Anyway, here are a few more pictures of the new library and its very modern furnishings.

Brian was looking at this giant book trying to figure out how to turn the page.

Brian also liked these individual desks with the walls for privacy. They even have built in power outlets. Really cool!

Another cool feature is the Reverie coffee shop inside. As you know, Brian loves Reverie coffee. Anyway, the library seems like a really cool place to hang out. I wish we had more reasons to go there.

BTW, it’s technically just called Advanced Learning Library but I thought adding Wichita at the beginning made for a more clever acronym. Then you can tell people that you’re going to the WALL, which is far more mysterious and intriguing than simply saying you’re going to the library. But that’s just me.

P.S. This counts as a date, right?

No Comments

First Time at Slim Chickens

Posted on December 4, 2018 by Ching under Food and Drink.

Brian and I finally got around to trying Slim Chickens. The restaurant has been open for some time but, now that we no longer live that way, we really hadn’t ventured out to those parts in a while. That entire Northeast area has completely flourished the last couple of years. When we were driving to the restaurant, I told Brian how I can still remember the days (almost 10 years ago) when there was absolutely nothing out there. For a long time, the only restaurant chain out there was Chili’s and they actually had to close because business was slow — because there was absolutely nothing around them to help bring traffic. The Chili’s is open again — at the same location — along with a plethora of other businesses. There has been quite a boom the last few years that’s brought about all sorts of businesses, including Slim Chickens.

We tried it for the first time on Saturday.

You would think the interest would have died down by now. Slim Chickens has been open almost two years. However, when we were there on Saturday (despite it being already after the lunch rush), we were still greeted by a line that was almost to the door.

I took a couple of pics while we were waiting in line. You basically order at the counter and then they give you a number to bring to your table and then someone brings the food to your table when it’s ready.

Well, except for the dessert which is pre-made. You get that right away.

It was kind of disappointing because we really had our hearts set on the desserts that were pictured on the wall — one was some kind of chocolate mouse dessert in a mason jar and the other was strawberry shortcake in mason jar. They didn’t have those so we had to settle for what was available. I got pecan pie and cheesecake bites in a mason jar and Brian got the Oreo cookies and cheesecake one. They also had a pumpkin pie one, which neither of us were really interested in.

Brian and I shared a meal consisting of five chicken tenders, five chicken wings, fries, and toast. We also shared a bowl of mac and cheese. It doesn’t look particularly appealing but it wasn’t bad otherwise.

As fast food goes, Slim Chickens is not particularly fast. We had to wait quite a while for the food to be brought out. We actually started eating our desserts. The food wasn’t bad. If you like chicken and don’t mind the wait, it would be a good place to check out. I thought the mason jar desserts were kind of cute. We kept ours because we couldn’t finish our desserts. Actually, the rest of mine still in the fridge. Now that I’m thinking of it, I might bring it to work for lunch tomorrow. LOL. It should still be good, right?

No Comments

Andrea’s Superhero-themed Zumba Birthday Party

Posted on November 26, 2018 by Ching under Events, Zumba.

We had a blast celebrating Andrea’s 32nd birthday on Friday night. Charis turned her normal Friday night class into a 90-minute Zumba party in honor of Andrea’s special day. We invited several instructors to teach and it turned it in full-fledged Zumbathon for the ages!

Here’s the official instructor line up (from left): Johnna, Andrea (the birthday celebrant herself), me, Jessie, Rose, Francie, Charis, and Amanda.

I wasn’t the only Wonder Woman. We had a few people dressed as Wonder Woman that night, including Danielle above. Jessie also wore her Wonder Woman head and arm bands. I love it when we have theme parties.