A “Zumba Rangers” Style Road Trip
Posted on May 5, 2012 by Ching under Events, Zumba.
Driving three hours to attend a Zumba master class and then driving back three hours on the same day has got to be one of my craziest ideas yet. I initially wanted to spend the night and drive home the next day, but no one else was staying so Brian and I decided to do the same. I figured it would be better so I could still come to work the next day. As the day of the Gina & Tanya Rock the Stage event drew closer, I decided to go ahead and put in for a vacation day on the following Monday, April 30, anyway… Just in case I was too tired to make it to work the next day. I would rather have it pre-scheduled than have to call in for a vacation day that morning. However, I warned my coworkers ahead of time that if we arrived back in town at a decent time, got enough sleep, and felt good enough the next day that I would come in to work and cancel my vacation day. But, just in case I was worn out from the trip, my vacation day was already on the calendar a week ahead of time.
I’m so glad I had that vacation day scheduled for Monday because I really needed it. Even though we got back home around midnight or so, I didn’t end up going to bed until about two in the morning. Part of it was that I was still wired from the trip, but the other part was that Gina wouldn’t quit posting pictures. Every time I would get ready to close my laptop and go to bed, I would get a message from Facebook that said Gina posted some photos of me and I felt compelled to look at them. Every single time! Brian finally had to put his foot down and say, “You can look at those tomorrow!”
Without further ado, here are some of the photos… This next one is what got us dubbed “Zumba Rangers” by my friend Jay. Gina is supposedly the Fuchsia Ranger; I’m Teal Ranger; Hideki is Blue Ranger; Mandy is Lime Green Ranger; and Andrea is Magenta Ranger. Why? Because regular colors just won’t do.
Our first stop was Town Center Plaza in Leawood, Kansas. I wanted to hit the Lululemon store and sign up for the ambassador program so that I could get 15% off all my Lululemon gear. This has got to be one of the best perks of being a member of the Zumba Instructor Network (ZIN). The only down side is that only my clothes can be discounted. Items that are not for me (e.g. if I buy anything for Brian or anyone else) cannot be discounted. Blech.
You would think that they would have given us better deals for agreeing to do a Zumba demo inside the store. LOL.
This is a photo of the “Zumba Rangers” at La Bodega.
This photo, which was taken before the event, is courtesy of Patricia Thompson (Wheels). We color-coordinated so everyone is wearing teal.
Here are a few more photos that we took before the event.
It truly seemed like everyone in Wichita came to the Gina & Tanya “Rock the Stage” Zumba master class.
This is the photo that I’m using as my cover photo in Facebook right now.
While waiting to check in, our group got a photo taken with Zumba Jammer Amy Hayden. After check in, Andrea and I got a photo together.
Gina’s not in this one because she took the photo.
Me and Mandy. My caffeine high had worn off at this point.
My photo with Tanya Beardsley (left) and Gina Grant (right).
They’re our Zumba idols! This is our group photo with Gina and Tanya.
The Gina & Tanya “Rock the Stage” tour was super awesome. I’m so glad that Gina and Mandy talked me into going. I had a blast!
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My First Gen 3 QT Experience
Posted on May 4, 2012 by Ching under Life.
Brian made a wrong turn on the way back to the Dills place from Ziggy’s so we ended up taking a detour to the QT located at Hillside and Kellogg instead. It’s the first and only third generation QuikTrip in Wichita, or so I’m told. It’s quite impressive, actually. Here are some pictures…
Besides the usual coffee bar, they have a tea bar and a frozen drink bar with all sorts of flavors. It’s quite overwhelming.
Mark was training one of the employees to make various beverages so we got some free drinks out of it.
Who knew QuikTrips could be so much fun?
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Gettin’ Ziggy with the Dills
Posted on May 2, 2012 by Ching under Food and Drink.
We went to the Dills to hang out after our spa treatment. Jay and Becca decided to pick up dinner since we were having a “business meeting” — if you must know, we are working on a Zumba fitness cruise. Let me know if you’re interested, and when and where you’d like to go. We’re shooting for 2013 and would like to get a bunch of people signed up.
Jay suggested Ziggy’s, a place that neither Brian nor I have tried. It was a good call. Their pizzas are delicious. Coming from a non-pizza-eater, that’s a huge compliment.
This is the Meat Me at Ziggy’s pizza.
This is the Classic Ziggy. It was good too, but I’m not a huge fan of veggies in my pizza, so I preferred the Meat Me. It was yummy!
Thanks for feeding us, Jay and Becca!
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Diversión y La Celebración
Posted on May 1, 2012 by Ching under Events, Things to Do.
Brian and I met some friends at Suede on Friday night. Andrea and I were celebrating our new Zumba licenses — Andrea her Aqua Zumba certification and Zumba Basic 1 for me. We had such a blast! Gina has the photos to prove it.
The next day we did the beginner’s yoga class at Firefly followed by a couples botanical bliss (aromatherapy massage and botanical facial combo) treatment at Serenity. It was my first time back since Fall 2010 (or so my FourSquare says), which was hard for me to believe. After considerable thought though, I realized that it’s probably correct because I went exclusively to Sveta’s last year.
It was wonderfully relaxing. The massages were okay (Michael at Sveta’s is still my favorite), but Brian and I really, really enjoyed our facials. Brian almost went to sleep while they were brushing his face. I fall asleep at the drop of a hat, so I think I was asleep for most of the two hours. LOL. I thought the facial was really good, though. One of the best I’ve had. It must have been really good because Brian normally doesn’t like facials and he liked this one.
Speaking of spas and massages, I won the “Write a Review, Win a Massage” contest that Sveta’s ran during the month of April. I know I just had a massage a couple of days ago, but I’m so ready for another one! Woot! Woot!
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Emperor’s Japanese Grill
Posted on May 1, 2012 by Ching under Food and Drink, Reviews.
Emperor’s Japanese Grill was disappointing but only slightly. I think it’s because of all the hype. A bunch of people at work really built it up to be this awesome, stupendous place. It was just okay for me.
I guess I should specify which one we went to first. Well, Brian had to drop off a couple of German colleagues (Anita and Mattias) at the airport so we were on the West side of town. Since it was still really nice out, I managed to talk Brian into checking out this model home down the street from Darcy’s house. We ended up stopping by Darcy’s and chatting for a bit after that and then decided to hit Emperor’s on the way home. I didn’t know they had a location on the East side so I thought we were trying something special. Because, you know, East-siders never go West and West-siders never go East.
This place was pretty hard to find. We kept missing their sign on the building. I actually had to call the restaurant and ask how to find them. Even then, we drove around the parking lot a couple of times. Brian and I must have been out of it because it really took a lot to find it and we almost gave up.
This is Brian’s I-can’t-believe-how-long-it-took-to-find-this-place face. Actually, I take that back. Brian always looks like this. =P
Emperor’s is actually really good in that they have a pretty limited menu. Unlike most Oriental or Asian food places where you have over 100 options to choose from. I think having only a handful of offerings that can be combined to make various food combinations is actually the smart way to go. It’s great value for the money, too. They serve the kind of food that you would get at a Japanese hibachi steakhouse for a fraction of the cost. So if you feel like eating hibachi food, but want it quick and cheap, Emperor’s is the place to go.
Isaac absolutely loves their fried rice, so we ordered chicken fried rice to try it. It was good, but I didn’t think it was as good as the barbecue pork fried rice at Malaysia Cafe, which is one of my favorites. Actually, if we’re talking fried rice then Oh Yeah China Bistro probably has both restaurants beat. LOL. I will have to convince Isaac to give Oh Yeah a try.
We also got teriyaki chicken and rice.
Overall you get pretty good food for the price. It’s nothing spectacular, though. Definitely not a place that I would drive all the way out West for. Sorry, Isaac. 😉
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