FLIP + CHING

More Vegas Food

Posted on October 21, 2022 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.

Pictures of our burgers from PrimeBurger at the Venetian.

I think we would have been just as satisfied with In and Out but this one was inside the hotel so we didn’t have to go far for it.

The next morning we ended up at Virgil’s after looking for a “Hash Hash” place for nearly an hour. We found Hash House a Go Go at Linq but we didn’t think it was the right place so we kept looking. When we couldn’t find the place we just gave up and stopped at the first place we could find that seemed appetizing.

I wanted to add sausage to my bacon, egg, and cheese burrito but we had a bit of miscommunication and I ended up with an andouille sausage link.

Food wasn’t bad. Most everything we had that weekend was pretty good actually, if not a tad expensive. But that is Vegas for you. Until next time, GNG.

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PPA Championships

Posted on October 21, 2022 by Ching under Pickleball, Travel.

When you get invited to play in a tournament in Las Vegas and you don’t know where you’re staying, what do you do? You pack as light as you possibly can. This is me, “one-bagging” it…

I actually didn’t even plan to buy this bag. However, a few months ago, I found a deal on the Electrum website for the Pro II (a paddle that I had been patiently waiting for) and the bag. Both the paddle and bag would cost more if purchased separately but much cheaper if bought as part of the “bundle” (and also even 10% less using Matt Nola’s NOLA10 discount code) so I bought a bag I didn’t actually need to “save” money on the paddle.

The bag is enormous so I couldn’t really use it as my regular bag. Anyway, the trip to Vegas the perfect reason to break it in. I needed a backpack that could fit everything I needed for the weekend and my new Electrum pickleball bag was the answer. So my “personal” bag is the size of a carry-on. It’s still just one bag so I got away with paying the cheaper airfare also.

We went straight to the tournament site upon arriving in Vegas. We wanted to check out how our friend Matt was doing. They had 39 courts set up at the Darling Tennis Center. There were also fun vendor areas set up in between.

Part of the whole PPA Tour experience, besides playing in the tournament, is being able to watch the pros play on Championship Court.

Chicken N Pickle had the perfect spot for their vendor tent and it was pretty much home base for all the Chicken N Pickle sponsored athletes competing at the tournament that weekend.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend…

Julie Johnson (the Kansas City one, not JW and Jorja’s mom), Jen Reifschneider, and me. Below, me and Ryan Kellenbarger with a former WSU basketball player. Ryan knew him but I had no idea.

Picture of the Johnson twins – Hunter and Yates. Don’t ask me which is which.

Speaking of twins, Stacy Wessley and I got to do some twinning ourselves. Don’t mind the photo-bombers.

I met a couple of lovely Filipino ladies at the Better Than Tens tent.

We got to watch Anna Bright and Parris Todd punch their ticket to Championship Sunday — on Anna Bright’s birthday.

As far as my own playing goes, it wasn’t an exceptional weekend but I don’t think I played terribly either. On Thursday, Jen and I played in 4.0 19+ women’s doubles. We went 2-2. We fell in the semis — one win away from playing for Gold/Silver. The tournament format was double elimination with “no come around” which means once you lose in the main draw the best you can do is win Bronze.

Part of the motivation to do well in the back draw is the chance to come back and win Gold the hard way. I found the loss in semis demoralizing and was completely unmotivated. Anyway, had we won our match in the back draw, Jen and I would have played for Bronze.

Friday was men’s doubles day so the girls got a break. We did come out to the tournament to watch the pro matches and cheer on the guys. Unfortunately, results weren’t the best that day. I think most of the teams were 0-2.

Saturday was mixed doubles and Zach and I entered the 3.5 35+ division. Once again, we went 2-2. We were one win away from playing for Gold/Silver and one win away from playing for Bronze. Our semi-final match was a real heart-breaker. After losing the first game 12-14, we won the second game 13-11, and then we were up 10-6 in the third game but could not close. We ended up losing that game 10-12 and were sent to the back draw instead of moving on to the Gold/Silver match. What a day! I guess at least I was consistent.

Anyway, the big tournaments are always tough. Sometimes you come home with hardware, sometimes you don’t. For me, as long as I’m learning something and making new friends, I consider the trip worthwhile and successful. This trip was no different. Until next time, GNG.

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Carversteak

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Ching under Food and Drink.

We got to experience, Carversteak, the restaurant voted 2022 best steakhouse in Las Vegas while we were at the PPA Championships a few weeks ago. The restaurant is inside the Conrad hotel at Resorts World. The restaurant has several seating areas including a lounge and two patios. We ate in their main dining room.

We started with the wagyu beef cheesesteak bites, which our server highly recommended. There were kind of like slides. There were three and three of us so it was the perfect appetizer to start our meal.

Jen and Karen both ordered cocktails. I did not feel like spending $20-25 on a drink so I opted to just enjoy the bottle of wine that the restaurant owner provided. Jen knew the owner via his father who is a consultant for 6S. The owner wasn’t there but was nice enough to give a complimentary bottle of wine to our table.

I don’t normally drink pinot noirs but I enjoyed this one.

Our family style, shareable sides were broccolini and mac and cheese.

I used the money I saved on not getting a cocktail and ordered lobster bisque.

Jen and Karen split a wedge salad.

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When you order a steak, they bring out a big box of steak knives so you can “Choose your weapon.” Jen chose the best one.

Karen was quite pleased with her knife choice also.

Pictures of our delicious steaks follow.

For dessert, the three of us shared a “baked Nevada” which I guess is a play on the baked Alaska. It was very good but too much for three people.

Fanciest “to go” bag for leftovers, ever.

Dinner was good but also quite expensive. Here’s a picture of my tab. I think each of us spent about that much so $500 before gratuity. The experience was unlike any other though — and worth every penny.

We are not really Vegas people but would definitely take Brian here if we ever find ourselves in the area. Until next time, GNG.

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Back to Back Pickleball

Posted on October 19, 2022 by Ching under Pickleball.

I have been back to back with pickleball since the beginning of September and just survived four consecutive weekends of pickleball tournaments.

September 2-4: Tulsa Pickleball Classic with Robert Mansfield (Intermediate 50/50), Tanner Rice (Mixed 4.5 19+), and Huyen Nguyen (Women’s 4.0 19+)
September 15: Picklepalooza for Senior Services of Wichita, representing Evergy team
September 23-25: ICT Fall-out with Jenny Corley (Women’s 4.0 17+, 50+) and Tanner Rice (Mixed 4.5 17+, 50+)
October 1-2: Shangri-la Pickleball Open with Molly Sager (Women’s 3.5:8-49) and Devon Fuller (Mixed 4.5:8-49)
October 7-9: PPA Championships in Las Vegas with Jen Reifschneider (Women’s 4.0 19+) and Zach Nguyen (Mixed 3.5 35+)
October 14-16: Bartlesville Pickleball Classic with Chris Wilson (Advanced 50/50), Jenny Corley (Women’s 4.0 19+) and Michael Douglas (Mixed 4.0 19+)

As much fun as the last month and a half has been, I’ve decided that I never ever want to do this again. I am entirely too old for this crap. LOL.

The Shangri-la Pickleball Open was held at the beautiful Shangri-la resort on Grand Lake in Monkey Island, OK. I’d never been to Grand Lake before and I had no idea this place even existed until this tournament.

Brian went with me and we stayed at our friend Kumar Krishnan’s lake house. It was kind of an exchange because Kumar stayed overnight with us earlier this year for the Rotary Club of Andover’s Picklemania MMXXII event. However, after staying with Kumar, Brian and I realized how very lacking our hosting skills are and definitely need to up our game.

One of the best parts of the Shangri-la tournament was that, not only did we achieve an all matchy-matchy podium, but it was also an all #ictpickleball podium. Gold went to Jenny Corley and Cindy Egan. Silver went to me and Molly Sager. And bronze went to Michelle Voegeli and Shawna Geist.

FUN FACT: The previous weekend it was me and Jenny vs. Molly and Cindy. Jenny and her partner came out on top both times so I guess that means she is the MVP. 😉 It should come as no surprise if you have ever seen her play. She is long and lean and powerful — definitely a force to be reckoned with on the pickleball court.

For mixed doubles, I recruited Devon Fuller to play with me. You might remember him from the Vetta Sunset Dink-in the New Year pickleball tournament. We played 4.0 in that one and got gold so for our second time playing together I figured we could try playing in the 4.5 division this time around.

Devon and I ended getting 4th in a very tough bracket. Gold went to Katie Merrill and Ryan Luelf (my second time losing to Katie in the first round — first time was at TPC when Tanner and I lost to her and Ramon Lozano). Silver went to Summer Freese and Kyle Rinck (my second time losing to Kyle — first time was at ICT Fall-out when Tanner and I lost to him and Colby Fugit). Bronze went to Molly Sager and Michael Harris.

I have only ever beaten Katie one time, when Jenny and I played against her and Genevieve Eskridge in the ICT Fall-out pickleball tournament the previous weekend. I think, hands down, she is the much stronger pickleball player between the two of us and I would love to team up with her one of these days.

After Ryan and Katie beat us in the main draw, Devon and I beat Kelsey Wisdom and her brother (15-10) and then barely beat Krystal Fosnight and Trung Ho (16-14) in the back draw before getting smoked by Summer and Kyle on their way up to the medal stand. Devon made me feel better later by reminding me that the only two teams that beat us that day were the gold and silver medal teams.

Here are a few action shots of me and Devon taken during our match against Krystal and Trung. Devon’s athleticism makes him one of the best mixed doubles partners I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing with.

I got a picture with my fellow Chicken N Pickle #sponsoredathlete teammate Kyle Rinck because I never forget people who kick my ass at pickleball. Getting spanked on the court is never fun but it’s not quite so bad when the guy doing the spanking is as good looking as Kyle.

In the meantime, Brian got to meet and hang out with Cody Kent. Cody is the brains behind many successful pickleball tournaments. He and his wife Dana also stayed at Kumar’s lake house that weekend.

This last pic is one that Marva Stroman took during our first match (against Katie and Ryan). I remember hanging out with Molly at the World Pickleball Tour Kansas City Pickleball Classic tournament over the summer. She’s like, “You know everyone!” Well, it kinda helps when your name is printed in big block letters on the back of your shirt. LOL. Fun times.

Until next time, GNG.

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Doc’s Bar and Grill

Posted on October 18, 2022 by Ching under Food and Drink.

I had the opportunity to play in the inaugural Shangri-la Pickelball Open a few weeks ago and our hosts Kumar and Sujatha Krishnan took us to Doc’s Bar and Grill at the Shangri-la Resort. Most people travel by either boat or golf carts so the restaurant actually had designated golf cart parking that was quite substantial. Even then, the golf carts overflowed into the regular parking lot because that’s pretty much how people got around.

From left: Kumar, Sujatha, their youngest Priyanka, and Dana and Cody Kent who were also staying at Kumar and Sujatha’s lake house that weekend.

The restaurant was super busy that night.

Here are some pictures of our food…

After dinner, we went to check out the amazing pickleball courts at the resort. On the way, Brian stopped to admire JFK’s boat on display in the hotel lobby.

As far as describing the pickleball courts, amazing is an understatement. There are six courts lined up in a row and you great viewing from both the building and the raised pavilion. Also, there’s a nice gathering space in the middle that divides the courts – two on one side and four on the other. The best part is the lighting. They are bright and absolutely perfect. It’s so easy to see the ball when playing at night.