FLIP + CHING

Our Night at the Opry

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Ching under Travel.

The problem with giving someone their birthday present early is that by the time their birthday rolls around, they’ve already forgotten that you’ve already given them their gift. Apparently, taking him to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN and putting him up at a luxurious resort isn’t enough. I still owe Brian dinner and a birthday movie next weekend. LOL. Perhaps I should have booked our stay at a Super 8.

Anyway, here are some more pictures from our night at the Opry.

Little Jimmy Dickens performed and also hosted the first segment of the show.

Jimmy Newman performed next, followed by Greg Bates.

I really liked Greg Bates. He is not only talented, but he is also good looking.

We had great seats. I thought so, anyway. Of course, I bought the tickets months in advance. But that’s because I’m crazy and always do things ahead of time.

Little Jimmy Dickens did a great job of hosting. I hope I’m as sharp as him when I’m his age (91). He’s quite an entertainer.

The next segment was hosted by Mike Snider, who was hilarious!

The Opry House was packed that night.

I believe this is Jim Ed Brown. Honestly, I had no idea who these people were until last weekend. Neither Brian nor I are fans of country music. We are fans of the Grand Ole Opry, though. They could play anything in that auditorium (even Pants on the Ground, Pants on the Ground, Lookin’ like a Fool with your Pants on the Ground) and it would sound amazing. LOL.

Jason Crabb.

Here are some more pictures of me and Brian.

Jeannine Sealy hosted the next segment.

The Whites.

I really liked The Grascals. I think it’s because their style is more like folk music and bluegrass. While I don’t like country music that much, I actually like bluegrass. I loved the “Oh Brother Where Art Thou” soundtrack.

The Riders in the Sky were really funny too.

Bobby Osborne and the Rocky Top X-Press.

Rascal Flatts.

I should have gotten up to the stage to take better photos, except almost everyone got up there as soon as Rascal Flatts started performing. They were supposed to take a photo and then go back to their seats, but these people never left.

I found this program in my purse the next day while we were waiting for our flight home at the Nashville airport. I’m so glad that I took a photo of it because I never would have remembered who all the performers were. Not being country music fans, they were all unfamiliar to both Brian and me. The only name we recognized in our line up was Rascal Flatts.

Rascal Flatts put on a really good show. It’s a shame that they only did three songs. I would love to watch them perform the rest of their songs, specially the more mainstream ones, in concert some day.

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My First Restaurant Review for the Dining Panel

Posted on June 3, 2012 by Ching under Food and Drink.

I feel so legit. I’m not talking to air anymore, which is sometimes how I feel whenever I blog here. LOL. And, no. You, dear reader, are not chopped liver. Most of the time I only have an audience of five, though. This dining panel thing is kind of fun.

Guess what. Since the Wichita Eagle published my review of Thai House (June 3, Sunday edition, Arts & Leisure, page 5C), I am now bonafide. Thank you so much to Denise Neil for giving me the opportunity to be part of the dining panel. Thanks for giving me a chance to stick my tongue out at all those people who kept making fun of me for taking pictures of everything I eat. So there!

In case you missed it, here are some photos…

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Backstage Tour of the Opry

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Ching under Life.

I’m really grateful for Carmen because if it weren’t for her I never would have had the opportunity to check out the Grand Ole Opry. It didn’t even occur to me to go. I’m glad that she asked me. I had no idea what I was missing out.

Brian was jealous when he found that we were going to a show. I promised to take him to Nashville and the Grand Ole Opry for his birthday this year, so that’s what we did last weekend. The one thing that Carmen and I didn’t get to do last year was the backstage tour. Our travel schedule was really tight though, and we could barely squeeze in the show as it was.

Here are some of my favorite photos from the tour…

A photo of the empty auditorium.

This is the artists’ entrance.

The funniest part about this next photo is that as soon as I did it, a bunch of people from our tour group wanted to take the exact same photo. I’m such a trendsetter! LOL.

The most significant part about this circle is that it was a section of floor that was carved out of the original Opry House so that the present-day performer is standing on the same floor that other Country Music performers of the past have stood on.

Pretty amazing, huh?

Brian and I got to stand on the circle.

This is one of my most favorite photos of the evening.

I could barely see over the lectern.

This is a photo of our knowledgeable tour guide.

A close up photo of the mic stand.

They were able to salvage this art work after the flood. You can actually see the faint water stain halfway down the painting.

These next series of photos are of the beautifully-decorated dressing rooms backstage. They each have unique themes.

There are no closets in the dressing rooms so the performers are assigned lockers for any belongings that they wish to store.

Wall of Opry members, the newest one being Keith Urban.

A display case of Roy Acuff and Minnie Pearl memorabilia.

The Grand Ole Opry post office.

Looking up at the ceiling of Studio A.

We took this photo while waiting for the backstage tour to begin, but I guess we weren’t suppose to… Ooops!

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Munchies at Wildhorse Saloon

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.

Brian and I decided to stop in at Wildhorse Saloon on Saturday afternoon. There’s no cover until the evening, but there’s never any cover if you’re staying at Gaylord Opryland. Just show them your room key.

There’s not a lot of people there in the afternoon, but it was pretty packed the night that Carmen and I were there. It was the night that Carmen made up a line dance on the fly and got everyone else at the bar to follow her. LOL.

We got our drinks souvenir mason jars.

The BBQ nachos were interesting. I’d never thought of putting BBQ meat with tortilla chips before. It wasn’t bad. I could have done without the sour cream, olives, and jalapeños, though. Blech.

There’s horses everywhere inside the saloon.

Of course, we had to get photos with the horses.

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Afternoon in Nashville

Posted on May 30, 2012 by Ching under Travel.

Downtown Nashville is very lively. Even in the early afternoon, there’s live music playing in almost every bar. You could hear the music out on the street as you walked by. We also saw lots of interesting street musicians.