Double Date with Hideki and Amy
Posted on January 14, 2019 by Ching under Food and Drink, Life.
We had a fun double date with Hideki and Amy a few weeks ago. We met up at AMC for Aquaman and then had a late dinner at Carrabba’s after. It worked out great because it had been a while since the four of us got to hang out and, since we were all having our own NYE parties, we couldn’t be together on NYE. Brian and I would normally attend theirs but decided to take one for the team and host our own NYE party this year.
The movie was great except for a few gratuitous scenes which made me chuckle. Brian calls it Jason Momoa’s version of Blue Steel. LOL.
Dinner was fabulous, as always. Joe even came by and visited for a bit and took a photo with us. Brian and I usually order the same thing every time so we were excited to show him that we actually ordered something different time.
Brian got a pizza and I got the pork tenderloin.
Amy and Hideki split the trio.
Brian had a beer, while Hideki, Amy, and I shared a pitcher of the blackberry sangria (it’s my favorite sangria at Carrabba’s). I’m sometimes tempted to get a pitcher of it for myself, which Brian frowns upon. I have actually drank a whole pitcher by myself before. It’s not pretty. It was nice to be able to share it with others this time around.
We wanted to do something nice for Hideki and Amy so bought dinner but Amy got an added bonus of getting a bag of gluten free pasta imported from Italy. What a treat! Speaking of treats, it’s always a pleasure hanging out with these two. They are such a joy to be around! Perhaps we can get together again after they return from their trip to Thailand. I can’t wait to hear about their adventures.
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Our First Time at Twin Peaks
Posted on January 12, 2019 by Ching under Events, Food and Drink.
Twin Peaks is one of those restaurants that’s been around forever but we’d never had a reason to go there. Brian said he’s heard from several people that the food is actually decent. I guess it’s just not a place that immediately comes to mind when we’re looking for some place to eat.
We finally had a reason to go recently. We met some friends there for Brynden’s birthday dinner. We tried it for the first time and, I have to say, it wasn’t bad.
Here are some pictures of our food… Madison had the fish and chips, which I thought of getting but decided against since I had fish and chips at Hereford House just a couple of days before.
Brian had a hamburger and Lindsay had the pot roast, which was presented in a cast iron dish — the presentation was better than what I was expecting from a sports bar type place. It looked good, actually.
I was dull and just got chicken tenders. I wasn’t that hungry so I didn’t even eat much of it. I think I had one chicken tender and then Lindsay and Madison helped me with the rest. Brian ate most of the fries.
Here’s what the inside of the restaurant looks like.
I can understand why it’s popular with the guys. I’m not just talking about the scantily clad girls either. They actually have a bunch of TVs showing various sporting events. I suppose if you want to watch sports and drink some beers with your buds, this would be a good place to go.
It was a convenient place for us to meet for dinner after Zumba and before the rest of the evening’s festivities in honor of Brynden’s 19th birthday. I had just subbed for Joel at South YMCA and, after my crazy work week, didn’t have the energy to continue on to Club Rodeo with the rest of the gang. We were only in it for the dinner part. I’m glad I got to celebrate Brynden’s day, even though it was just a small part of it. It gave me an opportunity to give Brynden’s mom Laurie her prize for winning my little guessing game on my Zumba page (I’d been hanging on to her prize for a few weeks because we hadn’t been able to connect until then) and also give Brynden her present, which I purposely matched Laurie’s prize so they could be matchy-matchy together at some point.
Oh! One of the Zumba guys, Luis, made both Missy and Brynden pineapple Zumba birthday cakes. I missed Missy’s but Brian and I got to share a slice of Brynden’s cake. It was delicious!
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Rotary Holiday Lunch
Posted on January 9, 2019 by Ching under Food and Drink.
Brian and I went to lunch at Hereford House for the final club social of the year. Everyone was busy with holiday and family stuff so it was pretty much just the Harmons (Gary and Cathy), Josh Vargo, and us.
It’s not often that I can make a lunch due to work meetings and such and Brian usually can’t come because he works too darn far away but we both happened to be off that day. We didn’t have any plans except for errands so it worked out that we could go. It wasn’t a great turnout for a social (as can be expected because of the time of year) but we had a wonderful, intimate lunch between the five of us.
The soup du jour was a green chile soup that wasn’t green. LOL. It was amazing! Possibly the best soup I’d had in a long time.
Brian ordered a cup and shared it with me.
Here are pictures of the rest of our food…
I’d had brunch at Hereford House before but I hadn’t really had any other dining experience there. I don’t count our Rotary lunches because the restaurant usually prepares a buffet for us so we don’t get to choose. It was a refreshing change to be able to order from the menu. Food at Hereford House is pretty good. I highly recommend it if you’ve never been. It’s a great place for celebrating special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. It’s also great for lunch meetings. I would probably go more often if it wasn’t so out of the way.
It was a pleasure visiting with Josh and the Harmons over lunch. You can’t beat a free meal and good company!
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Fun Times with Friends
Posted on January 6, 2019 by Ching under Events, Food and Drink, Things to Do.
Brian and I had a bit of fun over holiday break. We got to hang out with some friends we don’t normally get to hang out with. First was the the annual beer gift exchange at the Smiths, who are always such fabulous hosts.
Here are some pictures from that evening…
This is a pic of me and Jeff, our friend who sometimes joins us for breakfast and coffee chat. We met him through Twitter over ten years ago.
This is a pic of me and Cindy, another Twitter friend.
This is one of the beer gifts (click to watch the video).
This is Laura, taking her turn (click to watch the video).
Just a silly Boomerang (click to watch the video).
Brian is so good at the group selfies. It was a super fun night. And, although I didn’t participate in the beer gift exchange, I did get to sample some beers and found some that I actually enjoyed — much to my surprise.
The next night we went on a double date with the Dills (above). I had some Illuminations passes from work that I’d been trying to use. The four of us were actually supposed to go to Illuminations a few weeks ago when we went to have dinner with them at the ramen place but it was cold and rainy and none of us felt like going so we ended up enjoying some wine at their place instead. It was a good night to stay indoors.
It worked out that the four of us were free and we actually had nice weather this night. Except, it seemed everyone in Wichita had the same idea. Botanica was ridiculously packed.
Still, we got some nice photos courtesy of Jay’s fancy, new Pixel phone. It has a front-facing wide-angle lens that’s perfect for group selfies.
The was s’mores for the kiddos and child-at-heart.
Just a goofy pic with the giant bird’s nest.
After Illuminations we went to dinner at the Hill where Mama Dill met up with us.
Here are some pictures of dinner…
A couple of things that we didn’t get pictures of are the chicharrones and the beignets. You know Brian and I cannot go to the Hill without getting chicharrones. They are just so good and so fresh. Anyway, we scarfed them up before I could get a photo. Then, we had beignets for dessert and we also ate those before I could get a photo. Overall we had an amazing time.
To top it off, the Dills picked up our dinner tab, which was so generous and unexpected. Thanks, guys!
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A Cute Little Ice Cream Shop
Posted on January 2, 2019 by Ching under Food and Drink.
Here are a few pictures we took during our visit to Little Lion, the cute little ice cream shop at Revolutsia. For those unfamiliar with it, Revolutsia is the cute shipping container mall on Central and Volutsia. They have restaurants and shops in shipping containers surrounding a cute courtyard area with a fire pit.
Little Lion is not exactly in a shipping container. It’s in a cute little building. And, although it doesn’t look like it from the outside, it’s got a cozy upstairs sitting area.
Here are a few pictures of the upstairs loft.
Here’s a view of the downstairs space from the loft.
Here are the cute stone steps leading upstairs.
The steps are wood the rest of the way.
Looking down at the steps from the loft above.
Downstairs cafe space.
Oh, as an added bonus, we ran into one of the Aratea twins.
Anyway, the ice cream is great but they also have coffee and hot chocolate. Mine was delicious. I highly recommend checking out Little Lion Cafe. Super cute and cozy and a great place to hang out all the way around.
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