FLIP + CHING

Mixed Doubles Mini Tournament at the Pickle Club

Posted on September 28, 2023 by Ching under Pickleball.

I ran a mixed doubles mini tournament at the Pickle Club a couple of weeks ago. It was actually a reschedule from June and I decided to play in it because it would a good opportunity for me and Chris to practice before our Bartlesville tournament. We had six teams participate and I actually remembered to take pictures of everyone this time. Here’s all the teams:

Sarvi and Michael

Leah and Kafer

Fernando and Amanda

Jenny and Zach

Lesli and Greg

and, lastly me and Chris

We played five games to 15 (win by 1) in pool play so everyone got to play against all the other teams and then we seeded everyone based on pool play performance for the single elimination bracket. Bracket was also one game to 15 (win by 2) until the medal rounds. The championship and third place matches were best 2 out of 3 games to 11, win by 2.

We got to play a lot of games and it was so much fun. We ended up having to play against Jenny and Zach in the championship and then Michael and Sarvi played against Fernando and Amanda for third place. Their third place match was actually way more intense than hours. Anyway, everything ran according to schedule and I think we just went a few minutes past 5 pm, which is what I had budgeted.

Anyway, now that we are in the cooler months, I’m back to playing at the Pickle Club again. If you’re not already a member, I highly recommend checking out one of the open play sessions on Sunday and then eventually joining. It’s probably the best place to play in town. I love it there.

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Waffle House

Posted on September 25, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink.

I’m not really sure about the appeal of Waffle House. I’d never been to one (and neither has Brian) so it seemed like something we should cross off our list.

There was one by our Airbnb so we decided to go check it out before heading home. Honestly, it’s not really anything spectacular so you’re not missing one. However, I’m not one to just take other people’s word. I like to decide things for myself so check it out we did.

I’m not sure if all Waffle Houses are set up the same way. The interior is small and like a diner where you can eat at the counter. Except the kitchen is open so you can watch as they make your food. I like that part because you can see exactly what they’re doing and they can’t mess with it. LOL.

I had a sausage, bacon, egg, and cheese bowl. Brian got biscuits and gravy – his usual everywhere. I’m not sure why I didn’t get a picture of it.

I also ordered a waffle for us, after all it is Waffle House, but it wasn’t really earth-shattering. It was better than the hotel waffles we’ve been having but I’ve had better. Anyway, at least now we can say we’ve been to one.

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Lazy Dog Restaurant and Bar

Posted on September 22, 2023 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.

Brian and I found this great pet-friendly restaurant in Grapevine, Texas with a fabulous patio. It made me kind of wish we had Saki with us. It’s called Lazy Dog Restaurant and Bar and, now that I have looked it up, I guess technically Glade Parks is in Euless, Texas but we were in the area for a pickleball thing at Chicken N Pickle – Grapevine so I just assumed we were in Grapevine. It literally just a few minutes away from the CNP.

Obviously, no pets inside the restaurant but their giant patio is almost as big as the inside that’s where they seat people with pets.

At the center of it all is this massive fireplace where groups can congregate.

It was a nice day so we sat out there and enjoyed other people’s dogs.

There was a sangria flight/sampler on the menu so I went for it. I believe these are (from left to right) the white peach, pomegranate red, and raspberry rose. They were all refreshingly delicious but I liked the white peach the best.

Here are a couple of pictures of our dinner. You can probably guess that the one with a lot going on is mine and the other, very plain-looking one is Brian’s. Food was pretty good. Service was friendly. We will likely go back next time we find ourselves in that part of Texas again.

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Chicken N Pickle Ambassador MiLP

Posted on September 21, 2023 by Ching under Pickleball, Travel.

I got to meet and hang out with fellow Chicken N Pickle ambassadors at the first ever Chicken N Pickle Ambassador Minor League Pickleball event a couple of weeks ago at Chicken N Pickle – Grapevine.

Brian and I got there just in time for the tail end of the free open play (practice session) for ambassadors on Saturday afternoon and so I got to hang out with the Kansas City ambassadors as well as meet a few others who I hadn’t met before. The super fun Kansas City team (KC Picklrs) consisted of Kyle VonAnh, Craig Morford, Danielle Piorier, and Suparna Garinger.

Here’s a picture of the player briefing at the start of the morning.

Noi barely made it in time for the group photo!

I got some fun team uniforms made for us just for the occasion. Nicole, my go-to person for pickleball shirts, talked me into using glittery vinyl for the text. Noi didn’t have any plain black shorts so he wore some dino shorts. All of his shorts are colorful. This is the closest to black shorts as he could get.

This next pic is of me and Kendra with Suparna (left) and Lindsey Vermillion, who is in charge of the Chicken N Pickle ambassador program.

Brian was able to livestream all of matches that day. You can find all of them here. We won all of our matches except for the first one. This team, which called themselves “Last Minute” because they were a last minute entry, consisted of four local Dallas-area players (JP Gorby, Chase Orme, Chrissie Hintz, and Jenna Rogers). They were so last minute that they’re not even on this list. They were pretty dominant and went undefeated at the event but we took them to a dreambreaker (singles tie breaker round, if you go 2-2 against another team).

I honestly think the outcome might have been different if we played them last (or at least after we’d already gotten a match or two behind us) rather than first because, not to be biased, our team was pretty amazing. As it was, we ended up taking second. In my mind I’m thinking, we really would have been the champions had they not entered last minute. LOL.

But such is life. None of my last few tournaments have really gone according to plan. In fact, I’ve had to play with a couple of blind dates for mixed doubles in my last two tournaments (PPA KC Open and Tulsa Pickleball Classic). It’s pretty much par for the course and I’ve learned to roll with the punches, and enjoy the beatings along the way. And, I keep on truckin’. Next up, NEO Shangri-la Pickleball Open this weekend. You know I’ll be writing about it. Come back soon. GNG.

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Texas Road Trip and Making Lemonade

Posted on September 20, 2023 by Ching under Pickleball, Travel.

Brian and I drove South a couple of weeks ago for the Chicken N Pickle ambassador Minor League Pickleball event at Chicken N Pickle – Grapevine. Except, I am a ding dong and I thought the event was at Chicken N Pickle – Grand Prairie so, when I booked my Airbnb, I booked it within in ten minutes of the Grand Prairie location — only to find out that the event is actually at the Grapevine location which is 30 minutes away. LOL.

Always really good at making the best out of any situation, I figured I would just visit both locations while we were already there anyway. This gets me closer to completing my goal of visiting all of the Chicken N Pickle locations.

Chicken N Pickle – North Kansas City – CHECK
Chicken N Pickle – Wichita – CHECK
Chicken N Pickle – Oklahoma City – CHECK
Chicken N Pickle – Overland Park – CHECK
Chicken N Pickle – Grapevine – CHECK
Chicken N Pickle – Grand Prairie – CHECK

Now I just need to visit San Antonio (Texas) and Glendale (Arizona). I would be done except Chicken N Pickle is opening seven more locations in 2024 so I have my work cut out for me. The newest locations will be: