FLIP + CHING

Bocatto Eatery and Pasta

Posted on April 3, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink.

Chris Townley and I tried a new Italian restaurant for lunch a couple of weeks ago. The restaurant is cute (read: small) and quaint in Old Town Square but the food they serve has large flavors that are so good I returned a few days later with Brian and my friend Alice Tunks-Jones from Emporia.

Here are some pictures from my lunch with Chris.

That weekend, when Alice came to town to play some pickleball, we ended up eating a late lunch there. Brian had never been and I wanted him to try it and Alice said no Mexican and no pizza and agreed to Italian.

These are pictures from our lunch with Alice. We started with the calamari and toasted ravioli. The calamari was a little rubbery. I’ve definitely had better. The toasted ravioli and everything else I’ve had there has been pretty good, though.

We each had a different sandwich and all of us liked what we had.

Something I learned when we were there is that there is a different menu at lunch than at dinner and on the weekends. Lunch prices are more reasonable so if you want to try the food without spending too much, I recommend going at lunch.

I liked it overall and will be putting Bocatto Eatery and Pasta in the permanent rotation. Will remember to avoid the calamari in the future because I just wasn’t impressed with it but loved everything else.

After lunch, Alice and I walked next door to Lucinda’s — my most favorite gift shop in town. Alice found a pair of shoes she loved. I found these fun socks but didn’t buy them. I think they’re funny but not sure how comfortable they would be. I mostly wear Lassos and Bombas. Plus, these socks usually only come in one size and they’re always too big for me. These would be cool to wear just for fun, though.

Anyway, that’s all the update I’ve got for now. Until next time. GNG.

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New Drinks I Haven’t Drank

Posted on March 31, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink.

Brian and I realized that it had been a while since we’ve been to the Belmont when we returned a few weeks ago and found some new drinks on the cocktail menu that we hadn’t tried. Now I’m on a new mission to drink all the drinks.

My favorite — Calumet — is still on there but there were several drinks I didn’t recognize. Here are some pics.

Plum Tucker

Stay Classy, Wichita

Rackhouse

Fits Like a Clove

These are our favorite starters.

The pork belly bahn mi is my new favorite sandwich there.

Brian’s favorite is the basic but not so basic ham and cheese.

The Belmont usually has a special dessert and on our last visit it was the S’mores Pie. It was amazing!

There are a couple more drinks I have yet to try so we’re due for another trip. My favorite day to go is Sunday because they have happy hour all day, which means instead of paying $10 per drink, the drinks are only $6 each so I can drink all the drinks I want without breaking the bank.

Stay tuned for food and drink pics from our next visit. Until then, GNG.

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How Far Will You Drive to Pickle?

Posted on March 30, 2023 by Ching under Pickleball, Travel.

I answered this question recently when I drove six hours round trip to play some practice games with my friend Parker Ward. To be fair, Parker isn’t just “any” friend. He’s my Minto US Open Pickleball Championships mixed doubles partner, who I have never played with and it was important for us to get some court time together. We are playing Mixed Doubles Age 25+ on Tuesday, April 18, and Mixed Doubles Skill/Age 4.0 19+ on Friday, April 21.

I made the mistake of looking up all the other teams and there are some seriously skilled players, specially on Tuesday since it’s an open skill event. I really enjoyed playing with Parker and I felt like we had good on-court chemistry and communication (and I absolutely LOVE playing with lefties) so I am optimistic and have high hopes that we will do well together regardless of the tough adversaries we might face at the tournament.

Anyway, I honestly don’t make it a habit to drive several hours for recreational or practice play but Parker and I had originally signed up to play a DUPR Waterfall event that day. However, there were only two teams in our division so it got canceled. I could have played in the lower division but they wouldn’t allow Parker to play down and the whole point of it was for us to play some games together so we didn’t end up playing in the Waterfall but they did have an extra court for us to use for practice. That was nice.

I didn’t mind driving up because I had originally planned to be there anyway. Also, it gave me a chance to watch and cheer for some friends who were competing in the other levels. Also, I finally got to meet Carolina Mayorga-Perry who I am huge fan of — she is the cousin of one of our Wichita players, Diego Mayorga, and she happened to stop by to watch him play.

Here’s a pic of my “baby” partner, Parker. Funny thing is he showed up that morning with the same pickleball backpack as me. We didn’t realize it but we bought the exact same bag around the same time. We might be 20 years apart in age but we might have more in common than we realize. As they say, “Great minds think alike!” If this isn’t a sign of chemistry, I don’t know what is. Anyway, I’m taking it as a positive omen for a successful tournament next month.

Speaking of traveling far and wide, I drove almost three hours South this past weekend for another DUPR “Double Dip” — Caroline Luelf was hosting a special women’s doubles DUPR event at La Fortune (Tulsa) on Saturday and I knew that Tanner Rice usually had a Friday night DUPR at Hidden Trails (Oklahoma City). Tanner’s events are usually pretty flexible so I talked him into doing a mixed ladder so that me and my APP Cincinatti partner Eric Bunch could get some practice games together. He’s another player who I am playing with for the first time. It’s not quite a blind date because I’ve seen him at tournaments before and we’ve actually played against each other at least twice but we’ve never been on the same side of the net. Anyway, this is my life because I don’t have a set/permanent doubles partner for either mixed or gender.

There were some pretty good pickleball players who came out that night so we got some good games in. Overall, I think we performed as expected but I thought it was good considering it was our first time playing together. He was super nice, very patient, and he didn’t get mad at me. I think we communicated well with one another. I actually quite enjoyed playing with him and am adding him to my “Yes” list (should he ask me to team up in the future — though this is doubtful because he has at least two regular partners from his hometown: Mia Dunagan and Genevieve Eskridge — I just happened to luck out that neither were available for the tournament). I also lucked out that we had previously met at tournaments and had generally good rapport because he got hit up by at least four other women to partner up for the APP Cincinnati tournament. He said one even wrote a very lengthy email about how he should pick her if he wanted to win (complete with a listing of her many accomplishments). So now, besides my goal of earning my “golden ticket” at this tournament, I also have the added pressure of making sure that I deliver so that I can prove the he made the right choice.

I played with Eric on Friday night, spent the night in OKC, and then drove to Tulsa for Caroline’s DUPR event the next day. Caroline hosts these massive DUPR match sessions and this one was no exception. There were 56 women who participated, and I think 9 teams in our group. It was really good practice for me and my friend Katie Merrill who is my women’s doubles partner for the US Open. We are playing in Women’s Doubles Age 35+ on Monday, April 17, and Women’s Doubles Skill/Age 3.5 35+ on Thursday, April 20. I’ve know Katie a while but this is also our first tournament together.

Anyway, I didn’t want to drive home at night and Katie graciously let me spend the night at her house on Saturday so I got bonus play with Will Chiang (aka Pickleball Will) and his friend Carlos Vreeland at the Tulsan Athletic Club the next morning.

I have been a huge fan of Will’s since I first met him almost two years ago so this has got to be the highlight of the trip. I watch the Pickleball Studio all the time on YouTube and Brian was surprised to see him in the pics. I explained that he is good friends with Katie and I just lucked out that morning that they needed people to play with. I got to be their 4th!

Sometimes it pays to be at the right place at the right time. As for me, I think I am exactly where I’m meant to be, playing pickleball, and making new friends.

Until next time, GNG.

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Felipe’s Jr.

Posted on March 20, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink.

Pictures of our lunch at Felipe’s Jr. after pickleball at the Sandbox. They wanted something close to the house so that the out of towners could shower and freshen up before heading home.

I had my normal rice and chile verde.

It’s been a while so I really don’t know who all got what food but these are the pics. It’s been a while since I’d been to Felipe’s Jr. so I figured these would be worth sharing. Enjoy!