FLIP + CHING

Why the A319 is My Favorite Commercial Plane

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Ching under Travel.

The A319 is my favorite commercial plane. I realized this after flying on four different models of commercial planes on my recent trip to Los Angeles.

Flying economy is a lot more bearable when you have your own individual TV screen.

I took advantage of mine and watched an Elton John concert.

My most favorite part of the A319 is the power outlets in the back of the seats. You don’t have to reach under your seat to find an outlet now. And, it’s a real power outlet. Not one of those 12V adapter outlets.

Or, better yet, there are a couple of USB ports on the bottom of the TV screen. So you can just plug your phone directly to it using your USB cord. You don’t even need to dig out your power cable.

This is awesome because if you’re using your mobile device during the flight (which you can do now) it’s going to run out of juice. Well, now that you can plug it in during the flight, that’s no longer an issue. So read your ebooks, listen your music, watch you videos, and play away.

The only down side is that not all commercial planes come equipped with these features. So far I’ve only come across them on the A319. This plane didn’t have them.

I told Brian that I wished that in the future I could book my flights based on the model of airplane I’ll be flying in. I’d pick an A319 every time.

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My Fancy Dinner with Jane at Fleming’s

Posted on February 15, 2014 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.

This dinner was 20+ years in the making so it was only fitting that we went to a fancy schmancy restaurant. Oh, yes. Only the finest for my dear Jane. 😉

Here are some pictures of our food.

The spreads are tasty, but the bread got cold too quickly.

This is a picture of Jane’s filet.

Jane’s baked potato.

My chicken, which was surprisingly very good. But for the price, it better have been. LOL. I think I could feed 4 people at Applebee’s for the price of that piece of chicken.

This is the most delicious sautéed spinach I have ever tasted. I don’t know what Jane thought of her dinner, but I was very, very happy with the food that I ordered. My food was so good that the price didn’t even bother me and you all know how much of a cheapskate I am. LOL.

The dessert was great too. In the middle of our meal, our server asked if we wanted dessert because they had one particular dessert that takes 20 minutes to make. When she gave us our options, that was the exact one that we wanted. I told her the 20 minutes didn’t bother us because we’ve waited 20+ years to see each other. Twenty measly minutes is nothing.

The last time I saw Jane was March 1993. That’s when my family moved from Las Piñas (a city located in the island of Luzon in the Philippines) to Colorado. Jane moved to the US in 2000 but we never had the opportunity to see each other until now. It’s funny because our mutual friend Sheryll only lived in the US for three years or so and yet I saw her four times. Jane has been in the US for 14 years and this is the first time we’d gotten together.

I initially planned to take her to dinner at Yard House because their food is familiar to me. There’s one at Legends that I’ve dined at a few times and I really like it. The prices are pretty reasonable. I planned to buy dinner so that was a factor.

My friends who attended the Zumba Conference with me wanted to go to dinner before the theme party on Saturday night. We initially thought we would go to Fleming’s but then nixed the idea after seeing the prices. Everything is a la carte so the cost of dinner would add up really quickly. After considering our other options, we ended up at Yard House where I had originally planned to take my friend Jane. Anyway, it worked out for the best because, out of all our restaurant options at LA Live and Nokia Plaza, Yard House seemed to have the best vegetarian selections. One of the women I traveled to the conference with is a vegetarian.

That meant no Yard House on Sunday night. Jane wanted steak so that really only left one place: Fleming’s. Oh, irony! LOL. I was trying to be cheap on Saturday night and managed to avoid Fleming’s only to end up there the next night when I was actually footing the bill. The universe is funny that way.

Of course, the food was really good and I hadn’t seen Jane in over 20 years so it was totally worth it. Don’t ask how much it was, though. It actually cost more per person than our dinner at Duck City. At least there we got appetizers and soups (the best soup ever) and I think Lance even had a glass of wine. I don’t think Brian and I have even come close. Well, maybe once. LOL.

I hope Jane knows how truly special she is to me. She managed to get her cheapskate friend to buy a really expensive dinner and spring for an extra night at the JW Marriott at LA (also not cheap) just to make dinner happen. And, what a delightful dinner it was. I had a great time catching up. Hopefully, it won’t take another 20 years for us to get together again.

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Yard House at LA Live

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.

Here are some pictures from our dinner at Yard House.

I love Yard House because the food is reasonably priced and reasonably good and they have great reasonably priced drinks. Reasonable for LA anyway. LOL.

I think it’s going to be tough for you guys to figure out which plate is mine because I didn’t order my usual mac and cheese. Even though I deviated from my usual, I wasn’t disappointed. I enjoyed my dinner so much that I actually want to drive out to Legends in Kansas City and take Brian to dinner at the Yard House there.

Have you figured out what I had for dinner yet?

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Aqua Zumba Sandals

Posted on February 10, 2014 by Ching under Zumba.

Sixteen lucky women in my Aqua Zumba training got free Aqua Zumba sandals from Speedo. I was jealous but happy for them at the same time also. Check out the two designs that they are testing right now.

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2014 Zumba Instructor Conference — Day 3

Posted on February 9, 2014 by Ching under Events, Travel, Zumba.

Day 3 consisted Aqua Zumba training. Yes! I am finally licensed to teach Aqua Zumba. Finally! I really wanted to get my Aqua Zumba at the 2013 Zumba Instructor Convention but the training sessions were full by the time I registered. I’m so glad I was able to get in the training this time around.

Here’s a photo of me with out instructor Caroline Parsons. She is the new lead Zumba Education Specialist (ZES) for the Aqua Zumba training program.

As they say, things happen for a reason. I never did catch Beto at the convention last year but this time he actually got in the pool and took the Aqua Zumba master class with us. What at treat!

Not only did I get a photo with Beto, I got photo with Beto with his shirt off!

I caught a glimpse of the Zumba Step demo during our lunch break. I was too late to participate in it, though. I think I’m going to ask for the Zumba Incridible Results DVD set this year for either my birthday or Christmas because I doubt that any of the gyms here in town will pick it up. It’s just too much like other existing group exercise formats. At least, I don’t think the YMCA will offer it.

Oh, and guess who I ran into while I was watching the Zumba Step demo. None other than the handsome David Velez, of course. You might recall him from my post about day 2 because he helped Steve Boedt with our Pro Skills training.