FLIP + CHING

2024 Wichita Wicked Brew Tour

Posted on June 28, 2024 by Ching under Things to Do.

The Wicked Brew tour is one of the drink tours that Brian and I most look forward to doing every summer. We usually start at Wichita Brewing Co. but this year we started it at River City Brewery in Old Town.

Stop #1 – River City Brewing Co.

We really like the pizzas at RCB but we also got to try something new this time – pork belly lettuce wraps. They were amazing! In fact, I’m thinking we should go back there soon before it comes off the menu.

Stop #2 – Cocoa Dolce

Instead of having dessert at RCB, we drove down the street to Cocoa Dolce to pick up our second stamps of the tour.

Stop #3 – Mokas Cafe

I managed to talk Brian into driving me to Riverside Tennis Center for the iPickle Nation Nation Builder Series round robin mini tournament on one Sunday morning so we stopped by Mokas on the way and picked up our third stamps.

Stop #4 – Pennant Coffee

My friend Chris Townley and I went one morning. I had to buy two iced vanilla lattes in order to get two stamps because I didn’t want Brian’s book to fall behind.

Stop #5 – The COOP

I once again went with my friend Chris. Neither of us had been to the COOP before so it was neat checking out a new place. I’ll create a separate post about the COOP because I took a bunch of photos. First time there, and all. Anyway, I got an iced vanilla latte and a caffe shakerato – two iced drinks so that I could get two stamps and keep Brian’s book on track.

Stop #6 – The Depot

Brian and I only cook our Hello Fresh dinners during the week so we can eat out on weekends. On this particular night, we decided to hit the Depot (formerly PourHouse ICT) so we could continue to get Wicked Brew tour stamps. He had a warbeard (his favorite beer from Walnut River) and I had a strawberry summer brew (which counts because it does have beer in it).

Stop #7 – Il Primo Espresso Caffe

Brian picked up some breakfast burritos (we love theirs), a plain black coffee for him, and an ice vanilla latte for me. I’m not sure if their remodel is complete at this point but Brian went right when they first reopened their lobby. Everything was still very much under construction.

Stop #8 – Wichita Brewing Co.

WBC is always one of our tour stops. Usually it’s our first stop. We ended up going towards the end of our tour this year.

Not only do they have good pizzas but they also have great daily specials.

Stop #9A – Nortons Brewing Company

We had to visit a couple of places for #9 because Brian didn’t feel like drinking when we went to Nortons. He was on some special meds and didn’t want to mess it up. I was fully intending to take one for the team and drink a couple of beers but their beers are strong and I could not have another after my first one.

Stop #9B – Fairmount Coffee Co.

I decided to grab an iced brown sugar latte from Fairmount Coffee one morning to get Brian’s book caught up with mine. I had never been there before so I took advantage of the opportunity to check out a new coffee spot. The shop is super cute and made me wish it was around when I was attending Wichita State.

Stop #10 – Reverie Coffee Roasters

Reverie was our final stop this year. We went there for breakfast on our way out of town to Nebraska. Looking back (at this year and previous years), I guess I always end up doing most of the drinking whenever we do these tours. Brian enjoys getting the free shirt, though. Actually, it’s something that we both look forward to doing every year. I’ve even gotten my friend Chris doing it with us too. He was on vacation in the UK recently so he just finished his book this past week. Just in the nick of time too. The guy at the Visit Wichita office said they are about a week and a half away from running out of shirts. Until next year! #SaveTheDate

Comment on This

Highlights from the Past Few Weeks

Posted on June 27, 2024 by Ching under Family, Life.

It’s so weird not having grandma send me reminders to write a post. If I haven’t written anything in a while, she usually sends an email asking for an update. May her soul rest in peace.

Here are some pictures from our employee appreciation event at the ballpark earlier this month.

I got six tickets so Jenni and Adam came out and brought a couple of friends.

Shortly after this, Jenni and I met up at Vita Bella for some Filipino desserts.

Golly! This place is cute!

They even have a fun photo wall.

So many options to choose from!

In the end, we both got halo halo and then Jenni got some other things.

Jenni’s taho.

Jenni’s turon.

I guess that is all for now. Check back next time. Hopefully it won’t be too long before I post another update. Until then, have a great summer!

Comment on This

Picklemania MMXXIV

Posted on June 10, 2024 by Ching under Community, Pickleball.

I know this recap is very, very late but it always takes me a while to recover from Picklemania. It is such a relief when it’s all over!

A bunch of us met at the tournament on Friday afternoon to tape the courts, assemble the portable nets, and hang up signage. Since most of the volunteers were coming at 3 PM, and Brian couldn’t get off work until 3 o’clock, we decided to load up his car the night before so then he could come straight from work instead of driving home first and taking another 20 minutes to load the car. He had to go to work on Friday morning with his car like this.

It didn’t take long to get all the signs hung up.

Taping the courts went pretty smoothly also. Half of the courts were painted so we really only had to make six pickleball courts. And, the markings we left from the October Minor League Pickleball event were still there so the guys didn’t really have to do any measuring. That saved ton of time!

This is a little highlight video that I made of the entire day. Brian and I left the house around 6 AM to meet Devin at the venue at 6:30 AM so we could unload and assemble the Wichita Wagonmasters tent canopies. That was the only time that worked for him because he had another commitment that morning. The tournament technically didn’t start until 8:30 AM but there were some players who were there by 7 o’clock, before our check-in desk volunteers were even there and before we were completely set up. The one thing I can say about Wichita players, they are very enthusiastic and most of them show up an hour early to events. Early is always better than late but, if you’re not ready for them, it can be overwhelming.

We were worried about the weather leading up to the event and I had several people text me asking about our “weather contingency plan” but, other than being quite windy during parts of the day, the weather turned out perfect. We did run later than I expected but I think things went smoothly overall. The competition was intense in all divisions and our champions (we had 4 divisions of 8 teams each) really earned their medals.

I am so grateful to all the players, sponsors, and volunteers for making our annual pickleball tournament a huge success. Now off to planning next year’s event!

Comment on This

Weekend with Kumar

Posted on June 10, 2024 by Ching under Food and Drink, Pickleball.

Our friend Kumar Krishnan from Bartlesville came to stay with us the weekend of the Andover Rotary Club’s Picklemania tournament. I always love when Kumar visits because he brings surprise gifts.

Kumar made me black pickleball-themed tumbler and he also made a white techie-themed one for Brian.

Kumar arrived early on Friday and helped us get some signs up. And then he went to meet up with Kimberly Howe and the Friday night pickleball crew for some rec games. Later that evening a bunch of us gathered at Merle’s for dinner.

We did learn a hard lesson that night. The kitchen closes at 9 pm. There was an issue with a couple of orders that didn’t get rectified before the kitchen closed so some of us got fed and some of us didn’t. Not really great because Brian is not a huge fan of Merle’s to begin with.

However, we made up for the lackluster dining experience by taking Kumar to one of our most favorite local spots (Local Flavor) the next day after the tournament.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Sriracha Beef Tips (Brian’s fave)

Meat Loaf and Red Potatoes

Pork Belly Mac and Cheese

Chicken Bacon Wrap and Fries (another Brian’ fave)

I needed a drink after the tournament so I ordered the first one on the list. I think it’s Local Flavor’s version of Long Island iced tea but I can’t remember what is called. Will share highlights from Picklemania in the next post. Check back soon!