FLIP + CHING

Zoobilee 2018

Posted on September 26, 2018 by Ching under Events.

As much as we say we’re not going to go to Zoobilee again, we always have so much fun. It’s definitely our favorite event to end summer and officially kick off fall. And, despite thinking each year will be our last, we’ve yet to miss one of these since we started attending in 2009. This year marked our 10th consecutive one.

We wouldn’t have gone this year because I didn’t buy tickets. I figured I was getting to old to hang with the YPW folks and felt guilty about buying through their group. They have a really nice private party set up though and early entry so if you’re buying tickets, YPW is definitely the way to go. For the same price, you get in much earlier and don’t have to stand in the ridiculously long line.

Anyway, some of my coworkers got free tickets through work. I was not special enough to get one. The Zoobilee tickets are so popular that there are never any leftovers. I’ve only ever gotten free tickets from work once in the ten years we’ve been going. In the past we’ve attended by volunteering, which I very highly recommend if you want to partake but are limited on cash, or buying our own tickets through the YPW group.

This year Isaac and Crystal decided not to go. I think they had something else going on that day. I ended up inheriting his tickets and so Brian and I were able to attend, though we totally had not planned it.

I may not be the most spontaneous person but I’m always ready for a party. LOL.

Here’s a picture of Brian in line for his first drink of the evening. Success!

So Brian’s face doesn’t look it but he actually has a lot of fun at these events (most of the time). There was one year we attended despite me having a massive headache and we still had a blast. We went because we didn’t want the tickets to go to waste.

Here’s a picture of us with Josh and his wife Jessica pretty early in the evening.

This time we are with Josh, Jessica, Darcy, and Jeff.

And then with Josh, Jessica, Derek, and Vicky.

And then with Andrea and James.

And with Gina’s brother BJ who is always at these events.

Here is Brian enjoying a free cigar from the Humidor.

Group pic with Laura and Chad and Josh and Jessica (again).

We were with Josh and Jessica most of the evening.

Cox Communications had a special sports bar area this year that neither of us remember seeing in years past. We both think it was new this year.

Here’s a picture of us with Johnson, my new favorite massage therapist at Sveta’s.

Here’s a picture of us with Sveta herself and my original favorite massage therapist Michael. He’s not working at Sveta’s anymore but still helps out for special events.

Another group photo, this time with Richard and his wife.

And then, finally, a selfie of just the two of us.

So there you have it. Another fun Zoobilee event in the books. Until next year — or maybe not. LOL.

Click here for more past Zoobilee pics. GNG.

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My Zumba-Filled Labor Day Weekend

Posted on September 26, 2018 by Ching under Zumba.

The month was off to a great start. I took Friday, August 31, off to make it a four-day weekend with the Labor Day holiday. This was the most fun four-day staycation weekend I’ve ever had. I didn’t go anywhere. All I did was hit a bunch of Zumba classes and I was totally fine with that.

Linda was off on that Friday too so we met up at VASA Fitness. We started the weekend off with bang – STRONG by Zumba with Liz. She is intense!

Next up was Todd’s Friday night class at West YMCA. No picture of me but I did get to see these two in their matching outfits. Sooo adorable!

I taught my normal Saturday and Sunday classes, which I don’t typically take pictures of so these next photos are from the classes that I hit on Labor Day. This one was in Sarah’s 9:30 AM class at West YMCA. She taught two classes that day. One at West YMCA and then another at Northwest YMCA. I only took the West one because I wanted to join the party at South YMCA with Missy and Todd.

I got to be triplets with these two cuties.

I stopped by Panera for a quick lunch before heading to South YMCA and ran into Jeri. Of course she looks fabulous and I look like a hot mess. LOL. #StoryOfMyLife

At South YMCA I got to dance with Lindsay and Chelsea.

I ended up twinning with Brynden at South. We talked about what shirts we were going to wear but wore the same leggings completely by accident.

And Tammy was there too. This woman is a beast. This was my second class that day but this was class number three for her because she did the Turbo class right before Sarah’s class at West also.

Inspired by Tammy, I decided to stay for Amy’s Zumba class also.

Here’s a picture I took with Todd as I was leaving. We forgot to take a group photo with the whole class. 🙁

My next class was STRONG by Zumba with Liz at VASA Fitness. Can you spot me?

Here’s our post SBZ group photo. We kept our normal schedule at VASA for that day except we were doing a Red, White and Blue promo all weekend. Free classes to anyone who shows up in red, white or blue. It was the perfect opportunity for all of my YMCA friends to check out the new gym.

I taught my normal Monday night Zumba class after Liz.

It was my final class of the day (and weekend).

I like to yell at the class sometimes. Just kidding. I don’t really yell at them. I just shout out encouragements. We also like to hoot and holler and make all sorts of noise. It’s party of the fun!

Here’s our post Zumba group pic. As you can see, some of my Zumba besties came to party with us. I just love these guys. They make my heart full.

Labor Day was the best day ever. I told Brian that night that it reminded me of when we were on the Zumba cruise back in April because I managed to squeeze in five classes in a single day (there was one day on the Zumba cruise that I took six classes). The only difference was that I had to drive all over town to hit all of these classes, where as on the Zumba cruise all I had to do was walk from class to class. There were some days I made it so my classes were in the same area of the ship so I didn’t even have to go very far.

If you’ve been thinking about going on the Zumba cruise, think no further. It is the best vacation ever. And, it’s the only cruise that you don’t come back from having gained 10 pounds! LOL. Here’s a link to the booking site.

When you book, be sure to use my instructor code: 461028.

This gets you $25 onboard credit to use on anything on the ship and I get credit for referring you! If I get enough people to go I’ll get to go for free, so it’s a win-win for everyone! Let’s do some Zumba together! <3 <3 <3

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Ramen Bowls – Lawrence

Posted on September 25, 2018 by Ching under Food and Drink.

Pictures of food from my first time at Ramen Bowls in Lawrence, Kansas. It was delicious! I will definitely be going back and bringing reinforcements (aka Brian).

For the record, I didn’t eat all of this food by myself. Chris and Tom were with me!

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Crazy Rich Asians Movie Night

Posted on September 24, 2018 by Ching under Food and Drink, Things to Do.

As we are gearing up for another movie watch night with friends to see A Star is Born in a couple of weeks, I was reminded of our last fun movie outing. A bunch of us went to see Crazy Rich Asians.

I had seen movie previews and really wanted to go see it. As my friend Linda and I got to talking about it over Facebook, we came to realize that more people wanted to see it so we got a group together. We decided to make it a full on outing, starting with dinner at Wasabi Sushi Bar East before the movie.

Brian and I got to the restaurant first because we wanted to make sure we had enough space for everyone. We kept having to add more people to the dinner reservation down to the last few moments before dinner. Brian actually started to worry that they might not have a big enough space for our group. Fortunately, the area that they set aside for us was just perfect.

It was just me and Brian at first as we waited for everyone to show up. The restaurant was super busy that night. I’m guessing it’s because they’re close to the movie theater and everyone had the same idea as us. Brian and I were smart enough to make reservations, so we didn’t have to wait. They had our table ready for us when we got there.

As we were waiting for our friends, we saw several large groups (smaller than ours but more than just 4 or 5 people) give us the evil eye for holding up all of that space for just the two of us. There were a couple of times we actually saw people point at our table. We could only imagine they were asking the host why they couldn’t sit there. We were glad when our friends finally started trickling in because we were tired of all the shade we were getting from the people who had to stand there and wait for tables to open up while the two of us we were sitting at this long, mostly empty table by ourselves.

It turned out to be a much larger group than I ever anticipated — even bigger than the groups we had for Mamma Mia! 2 and I Feel Pretty. There were about 20 of us at dinner. A few others skipped dinner due to other commitments and just met us at the theater. We took up 26 seats altogether.

Here are a couple of pictures of the food that Brian and I had. The food was good but not as good as the the original Wasabi on Douglas. They also had a very limited drink menu. That didn’t stop Mike from getting a few bottles of sake, though.

I had the bento box because it’s a good deal. You get a little bit of everything — tempura veggies, meat (I got the tonkatsu), a few pieces of California roll, and steamed rice. Brian got the crazy crab, which is his favorite thing to get there.

In general, even though we each get our own entrees, we will usually share so he can get some of mine and I can get some of his. It works out better that way because then we get to try more things.

Here are a few pictures of our group at the movie theater.

It was such a fun night. And, the movie was even better than I expected. It had some good laughs and also a smattering of emotional moments. I cried in several parts. The next one we are going to see, A Star is Born, is more of a drama than a rom-com. Brian is actually bracing for a bawl-fest.