Archive for "Flickr"
A Pleasant Surprise
Posted on March 17, 2007 by Ching under Flickr, Life.
We are tying up some loose ends before going out of town. Yesterday Brian took Bebot to Eddy’s for an oil change. It’s important to do these things before driving any long distances. I took the day off work to catch up on school work. I figured since we will be out of town next weekend I should devote some time to my group project work and my own work, not to mention studying for my upcoming MIS exam, so as not to get so far behind. Not much school work got done, though.
Anyway, since Brian and I would miss poker next Friday we figured we’d go last night. In the middle of playing Brian got several calls from work. He actually had to come in to work right after we were finished with poker. Crazy, impatient German customers. “Just because it is daytime over there doesn’t mean it is day time over here,” Brian complained. Despite the interruptions, however, he managed to take first place during the first poker session. Very impressive considering he outlasted and outplayed about 200 people, some of them donkeys.
I went with Brian to his work. We were both hungry so we picked up some Sonic on the way there. It was well after two o’clock in the morning by the time we walked out of there. The crazy thing is that I had to be up very early the next day. I had a waxing appointment at nine in the morning, do some work (approving time tickets and such; it was my turn to come in to work and Brian’s turn to hang out), and then a hair cut at one o’clock in the afternoon. (more…)
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A Wonderful Afternoon of Procrastination
Posted on March 10, 2007 by Ching under Flickr, Food and Drink, Movies, Reviews.
Brian drug me to see 300 today. Prior to actually watching the movie, I really had no idea what it was all about. Brian, being the comic book freak that is, had already read the graphic novel. He’d been eagerly awaiting the movie’s release and could hardly contain himself. Although, it was I who had to be shushed in the middle of the movie for vocalizing my awe and excitement.
I highly recommend seeing this movie. It is rated R because of the graphic battle scenes and occasional nudity. The gore is not gross, though. It is very beautifully done. In fact, the entire movie is beautifully done. Every scene is picture-perfect. Nay, painting-perfect. It is the best movie I have seen thus far in 2007. Granted, I have been too busy to do much movie watching, but I expect that it is the best movie that I’ll see this year.
Since Brian drug me to do his thing, I drug him to do my thing. So we went to Cocoa Dolce after our movie. Cocoa Dolce is this new (they’ve only been around for 15 months) gourmet chocolate shop on 37th and Rock. Master chocolatier and proprietor Beth Tully likes to call her shop a chocolate lounge because it’s like a cozy little coffee shop offering chocolate beverages and gelattos besides the vast offering of delectable chocolate confections.
We’d driven by the store many times going to Dillon’s and QuikTrip and other places in the area but we’d never really considered going in until after we saw Ms. Tully speak at WSU on Thursday. She is a very articulate, impressive, amazing woman. I suspect she could sell a refrigerator to an eskimo. Our curiosity was piqued and so we went.
At $52 per pound, she was quite accurate when she described her demographic. In decribing her niche target market, she described her product as a luxury item. Most of us don’t really think of chocolates in that way but she is absolutely right. Gourmet chocolates such as these probably wouldn’t appeal to the average person who is satisfied by your run of the mill grocery store candy. Although, for those with enough discretionary income to indulge, the delicious morsels are an indulgence worth every penny.
Brian and I don’t see ourselves going back every week, after all we are pretty pragmatic and frugal these days. However, we agreed that we could afford to splurge just this once. Or maybe a few more times in the coming weeks. We have already talked about returning to try some of the gelatto. One patron described it as putting even Coldstone Creamery (our favorite ice cream shop) ice cream to shame.
Oh, their sugar free chocolate selections are also worth mentioning because they don’t taste sugar free at all. You can buy some of their stuff through the Cocoa Dolce online store. I promise that you will not be disappointed. Brian and I give Cocoa Dolce our seal of approval.
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Bonefish Grill Rocks
Posted on March 5, 2007 by Ching under Flickr, Food and Drink.
Brian and I finally got a chance to redeem the $45 gift certificate we received from Bonefish nearly a month ago. I love Mondays because it’s my pretty much my free night these days. Free night meaning no school, no poker, no nothing. Only Heroes, one of our favorite shows. So we can pretty much go out to dinner and have a nice evening.
Anyway, I decided to try their sangria this time. I didn’t get a chance to try it last time because we didn’t want to get carried away. However, since our meal was pretty much free I thought I would get a drink so we’d have some sort of check to pay (alcoholic beverages were excluded from our certificate/coupon thing).
The one thing I noticed about their sangria was that it was more wine-y than fruity. I typically prefer fruity-tasting sangria since I’m not much of a wine fan. After a couple of gulps, however, the sangria started tasting pretty good. It wasn’t the best sangria I’ve ever had, but it’s possibly one of the strongest. By the middle of our meal I was feeling pretty good (and borderline obnoxious). Brian actually wanted to go walk around Best Buy after dinner, but we canceled that idea after my sangria. LOL. I really can’t drink anymore.
This time we had the Bang Bang Shrimp, Imperial Mahi Mahi (one of the specials), Sirloin and Creme Brulee. I skipped the best corn chower ever because the last time I had it, I got too full to eat my meal. If you go to Bonefish, however, I highly recomend it. Because it is simply the best corn chowder ever. It has big hunks of crab meat in it.
The Bang Bang Shrimp did not disappoint, though. Lance recommend it because he and Lisa had it the last time they were there and he said it was spectacular. Naturally, we had to try it. He was absolutely right. The Bang Bang Shrimp was delicious. Brian even loved it. He said it’s the best shrimp he’s had. His salad and our bread came shortly so we didn’t get a chance to finish the shrimp, but I had a few more of course. It was really good stuff.
My mahi mahi was good, but I didn’t get a chance to eat much of it as I got full from the shrimp. This always seems to happen. Anyway, Brian said that his sirloin was outstanding. He said it was still juicy despite being well-done. It was possibly the best sirloin he’s ever had. Although, his angel hair marinara (the side item he chose) was not very good. It was watery and didn’t have enough marinara sauce, I thought. Then again, pasta really isn’t their specialty. But then, they ought to try to make everything good so I would suggest improving this dish. (more…)
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Recent Poker Development
Posted on March 4, 2007 by Ching under Flickr, Poker.
Who are you? And what have you done with my husband?
Over the last few weeks, Brian has blossomed into a poker an amazing poker player. It seemed like it was not too long ago when he was whining about all the crappy ATC (any two cards) players, getting sucked out on either on the turn or river, always getting knocked out early or before me, and not being taken seriously. He’d constantly get crap about having to wait for me to get knocked out and he used to always be teased whenever he would outlast me as if it were an amazing feat. Honestly, one one point—because of the way that he played—it was.
“I just want people to take me seriously,” he’d complain to me on many a drive home. Most of the time I would lecture: quit the ATC thing (he would complain about people getting lucky against him but he was one who was prone to playing iffy hands himself; his attitude was it’s okay if I get lucky but I’m going to be really upset if you get lucky against me), only play premium hands, raise or fold (believe it or not, the way to last in a tournament setting is by not getting involved in too many hands), and have a positive attitude. “If you want people to take you seriously, you have to play well. And quit the unsportsman-like behavior,” I’d often preach.
He would get so upset sometimes and all he’d talk about were his bad beats by these crazy poker players. He’d whine about how much he hated playing at APL because of all the donkeys. He’d steam all the way home. I hated these conversations because they weren’t productive. Instead of discussing our respective games, he’d just be whining, whining, whining. There was nothing to learn in whining.
I think the turning point came when I finally got fed up. I said, “Stop it.” The incessant whining finally got to me. I have bad beats, too. Everyone does. I don’t whine about them all the way home, though. I think about how I played. I think about whether I played my cards right and they just got lucky, or whether I could have done something—anything—differently in order to prevent getting beat. Could I have pushed the other player out earlier—either pre-flop or after the flop—by a more substantial bet? How could I have minimized my losses or gotten away from certain hands. These are the things I like to think about going home. I can only tolerate so much whining. (more…)
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Where to Find Wi-Fi
Posted on February 18, 2007 by Ching under Flickr, Web.
This just goes to show that you can find wi-fi at the most unexpected places. I had to check email before poker a couple of weeks ago but I wasn’t anywhere close to home. I had only a brief period to eat and check email before poker and I wasn’t anywhere near a good internet connection. I was at Ah-So II, this hole in the wall resto on the South side of town.
I was desperate so I took a chance. Lo and behold, there was unsecure wireless broadcasting from somewhere. It worked perfect. I got a bite to eat and was able to catch up on email. So now I’m on mission to find other places with free internet access.
Here’s what I have so far:
Ah-So II
The Bean Scene
Fox and Hound
Holiday Inn locations (Express, Select, and Wichita Airport)
Java Villa Cafe
Orient Espresso
The Vagabond
IHOP
Watermark Books and Cafe
La Quinta at the Wichita airport
Wichita State University*
*NOTE: The wireless connection at the WSU campus is free but it requires that your MAC address be registered. Instructions are available here. Please feel free to add your own list of free wireless internet locations. Let’s grow this list together! 🙂
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