FLIP + CHING

The Mango Tree

Posted on November 15, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink.

Brian let me choose where to eat dinner on Monday, October 30, which was my actual birthday. Most of the time I take into account what would please both of us but, since it was my birthday, I figured that this is the one day that I would get to pick where I really wanted to go and Brian would just have to go along with it. I’d been seeing lots of posts on social media about this new Indian restaurant on the South side of town that’s supposedly really good so I asked Brian to take me there. Also, I remembered eating Indian food the Bombay Club at Sandals Emerald Bay when we were celebrating my 40th birthday and it was amazing so I was hoping it would be a lot like that.

Brian is not very fond of the South side of town (he grew up there and thinks it’s super sketchy) but, since it was my birthday, he let me have my wish to appease me.

Here’s a picture of the bar in the middle of the restaurant.

Their beer selections were actually pretty good. Obviously, since it’s the Mango Tree, they have Mango Cart. LOL. It would have been disappointing if they didn’t.

They also had a decent cocktail menu.

I opted for the sangria mojito which was pretty good.

Here are some pictures of our food.

Brian ordered the most non-Indian thing you could possibly get. LOL. But I appreciate him for being a good sport and taking me anyways.

This is the chicken pakora — basically strips of chicken.

It didn’t really come with dipping sauces but our server brought a couple of sauces out at my request.

For my entree, I got the chicken biryani (always a pretty safe bet). They give you a ton of food, which is fair because their prices are higher than most Indian restaurants in town. I ended up having to take most of my food home to go.

Here’s the dessert menu.

We got some gulab jamun, a traditional North Indian dessert that literally looks like wet balls. I’d never had it before. It was different but tasty.

Overall the food was decent but most definitely not as good as the food we had at the Bombay Club. The service was okay. He seemed very confused and frazzled and it took him several tries to get our bill right. The first time he brought out our check, the bill was for $100 and had all sorts of stuff on it that we didn’t order. After several attempts, he finally got most of it right but forgot to charge the balls ($5) which I pointed out and he went back added. After the bill was finally right, we tried to pay using our phone but their system wasn’t working. After trying a couple of times, we finally gave up and paid at the counter and then all of a sudden all three charges showed up. In the end, we only got charged once but whole experience was a little bit frustrating. We were very patient and didn’t make a scene or ask for any kind of compensation, though. We’re just not that kind of people.

We are happy to pay for all the food that we ordered and didn’t make a big deal of it but the whole experience could have been better for sure.

I don’t really let these things bother me so we still had a nice dinner but it definitely made me rethink trying new places for special occasions (not that my birthday is all that special). NOTE TO SELF: Go somewhere tried and true next time. You live and learn. Until next time, GNG.

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Monster Smash 2023

Posted on November 13, 2023 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.

We had so much fun having a Halloween cookout last year celebrating the new pickleball courts at Sedgwick County Park last year that the Thorne brothers wanted to do something similar again this year. We originally planned for it to be at Edgemoor Park because of the six new courts there but Mother Nature had her own ideas. Thankfully, David Thorne worked with West YMCA leadership and got the event relocated indoors to the Pickle Center so we were able to still bring everyone together. It was a ton of fun! Here are some highlights:

After hanging out at the Monster Smash open play for a bit, Nicole Mathis, Kyle VonAnh, and I headed down the street to the Pickle Club for our mixed doubles practice session with Jenny and Austin Corley, Kendra Wicks, Ian Carr, and Ryan Kellenbarger. Ryan and Nicole and Kyle and I all wanted to practice together before Nationals so those were the team ups: Nicole and Ryan, Kendra and Ian, Jenny and Austin, and me and Kyle.

The next day Nicole and Ryan continued their practice weekend/team bonding by playing in the Chicken N Pickle Halloween pickleball tournament and taking it down. It was a nice, productive pickleball weekend overall. GNG.

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Making My Zumba Comeback

Posted on November 13, 2023 by Ching under Community, Zumba.

Guess what, friends. I’m gearing up for my Zumba comeback. As you know, I started teaching Zumba over ten years ago and, at one point pre-COVID, was teaching nine (9) classes a week. I started dialing it back after I discovered my passion for pickleball in 2019 and then really cut it back after COVID to the point where, for the majority of this year, I’ve only had one regular class – my Wednesday night Aqua Zumba at the East Harry Genesis Health Clubs location.

We eventually canceled that class as of October 1, 2023 due to low numbers (I could never get my 21st and Woodlawn regulars to come over, so I would have people between both locations but not enough at either location to warrant keeping the classes going). So as of the beginning of October, I have had zero (0) regular classes each week, which has never ever happened since I started teaching in 2012.

Anyway, the universe knows how much I like to keep busy so I was presented with an opportunity to sub a couple of Missy and Todd’s classes while they were on their two-week Panama Canal cruise a few weeks ago. I ended up subbing a class for each of them. I hadn’t taught land in nearly four years. I’ve been stuck teaching Aqua Zumba because they could never find anyone licensed to teach water but we had a plethora of regular Zumba instructors who could teach land so I ended up giving up my Monday night Zumba class to help cover Monday night Aqua Zumba and it ended up eventually becoming my regular class, which I eventually gave up to make more time for pickleball. But I digress, getting my playlist ready for subbing (pretty much starting from scratch because I hadn’t had a regular Zumba class for years) rejuvenated my passion for Zumba and so now I’m ready and actually kind of excited to get back at it.

I attended Missy’s Halloween weekend class a couple of weeks ago and cameo’d three songs. I’ve been so obsessed with pickleball the last few years that I had forgotten how fun and exhilarating it is to let go and just dance like no one is watching. I think it’s the jolt I need to find a new regular Zumba gig.

I’ve been talking to the leadership at West YMCA and it seems like they will have a spot for me there so I am now going through the process of getting rehired. I’ll share updates as things progress and, of course, I’ll be sharing my schedule and promoting my classes here and everywhere. Until next time, GNG.

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Lunch at Watermark Books & Cafe

Posted on November 8, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink.

I’m all about enjoying a good lunch but I’m also economical and pragmatic. So when my friend Chris Townley suggested we have lunch at Wine Dive, I countered with Watermark Books & Cafe across the street because I didn’t feel like spending $50 on lunch that day.

It’s been a while since I’ve eaten at Watermark. They actually have delicious, cleverly-named sandwiches. I took a pic of the menu (see below) so you’ll see.