Atlanta July 2015

I had never been to the States. Hong said many times that he would bring me along on one of his work trips but that didn't happen. He needed to make this work trip to Atlanta in July. He asked me along a couple of times but I wasn't too keen. After a few more times and realising that he was travelling alone and only half a day would be required for his work, I agreed to go along with him. Besides our honeymoon, this is the second trip that we are travelling alone as a couple. I was not too looking forward to this "solo" trip as Hong was never much of a planner and I HATE that. It all turned out pretty well though. As usual, we are always last minute planners. It took us a super short period of time to book the air tickets, car and accommodation.

We found the cheapest air tickets on Korean Air with an hour transit in Incheon Airport. It was a 6 hours flight to Incheon and another 14 hours (I think) to Atlanta. I was so looking forward to the long flight as I planned to go on a movie marathon. Sadly, that didn't happen. :( All that I ever did was eat and sleep and eat again and sleep again, all the way to Atlanta. I don't know why but I was really tired.

Day 1

After a day, we finally arrived at Atlanta. After clearing the immigration (which took us an hour), we took a bus to the car centre to retrieve our rental car.

We got a free upgrade to Jeep Cherokee. Totally love this drive for the next 10 days.

We definitely need some washing up after a day.

We settled for our first meal @ West Egg Cafe (reminds me of Hobart). I kind of planned our itinerary, as in what are the places that I wanted to visit or worth a visit while Hong is the one researching on the food. We ordered the pulled pork burger which is way too salty for both of us. :(

Black Bean cakes under the eggs. Acquired taste.

After West Egg Cafe, we probably went for some grocery shopping. Bought water (tasted creamy), chips and ice cream. The Ben & Jerry ice cream was so cheap that we have to buy it but we didn't have the time to eat it at all. Thereafter, we checked into our hotel.

While we were still energetic, we went for some window shopping at Mall of Georgia. Didn't get anything except the data sim card.

Nothing much to do so we went to have our dinner. Actually, I was still very full from the salty pulled pork burger and baked bean cake.

We had our dinner @ Cheesecake factory. The cheesecake was much raved about. Nice but I was just too full. I love it when we were so spoilt for choices for the cheesecake.

This is nice but I was having serious jet lag. We boxed this home for supper but we never get around to eating it.

Forgot what this is but it was tasty too.

We headed back to the hotel right after dinner. Showered and slept with my hair wet cause the hotel does not provide hair dryer. Which hotel does not provide hair dryer?!?!?!?!

Day 2

I could have slept for like forever but Hong needed to make a trip down to the office. Our breakfast @ IHOP. Totally in love with the rosti. Too Yummy!!! We ordered and ate so much that I was sure this meal could last me a whole day!

@ his office.

We drove to North Georgia Premium Outlet. The drive took us around an hour but it was so enjoyable driving in the States. Nah, I wasn't the one driving though. Haha. I guess the drive was fun as the roads were wider and cars were fewer.

So we spent the rest of day combing the premium outlets. I must say these were really good buys. I got the Guess flats at $30 each and the Kate Spade tote at $70. Hong got himself some excellent bargains from CK and Polo Ralph.

We ended the night with a torturous drive back to Lawrenceville. Torturous as the jet lag was kicking in and we were desperately trying to stay awake. I think we settled dinner at some burger joint.

Day 3

Hong had to fly today and his instructor allowed me on the flight!!! I was looking forward to the flight. I know Hong flies for a living but I never had a chance to see him in action. Hong managed to excite me by asking me to get my camera to snap lots of pictures. Exciting!!!

Just before we board the plane, the following conversation took place.

Hong: This is a important flight. I cannot stop halfway so you have to endure till the end.

Me: What do you mean?!?!

Hong: Even if you want to vomit, you need to sit through the whole flight.

Me: Will vomit one ah? Why never say earlier?! Wah Lau! Got plastic bag anot???

So I braced myself for the flight. It was so hot that I was perspiring buckets. The headset was too tight and it gave me a headache. I held on to the plastic bag throughout.

I knew he will be good at it. Come on, he has been flying for his entire career.

Just before I KO from the flight, I managed to take a few pictures.

The flight was shaky not cause the pilot was buay zai but more of the plane was too small and subjected to the mercy of the wind. I felt sick shortly and I prayed throughout the entire flight NOT TO PUKE.

The highlight of the entire trip but also the most uncomfortable one . -_-

After the flight, we went to the neighbourhood for our lunch @ Corner Stop Cafe. I like the fried chicken and collard greens.

We went for a short walk around the neighbourhood.

This reminds me of Storage War. I was so into Storage War so I was excited to see this shop

We went back to the premium outlet to complete our shopping list. Hong got most of his stuff from DKNY while my prized win was the BCBG dress. I had always wanted a BCBG dress but well, it is expensive and I didn't have an occasion to splurge. I love love love the dress. Makes me chio max. Haha.

Bought some clothes for the girls and I got my CK winter jacket at $70! Best buy, must buy! I needed this winter jacket for the best trip in Nov!!!

Dinner @ Pueblos Mexican Cuisine. The worst meal of the trip. We had no idea what these were and we didn't like the taste. :(

Day 4

We were driving to Dahlonega for some sightseeing and some gold mining experience. Since we had to drive an hour, we decided to get some real good breakfast along the way. As usual, Hong googled for the food. He wanted to make sure I ate the best meals. Haha. So we stopped by John Creeks Egg Habour Cafe. The wait was 40 minutes but it was totally worth the wait! The best meal of the entire trip!!!

SAN ANTONIO SKILLET

This is spicy which is something I usually do not consume but this is so awesome that I almost finished the whole thing on my own. I am feeling so hungry for this while blogging about it! Max LOVE.

After arriving in Dalonega, we had a walk around the laid-back town. It would make a good weekend hangout. We decided to try our luck at gem and gold mining. Haha.

Still an active site but they commercialised portion of it.

This is no easy process. Super tiring la. My tweety arms nearly broke.

Hong completed his and helped out with mine.

After which, both of us went for the tour around the site. Hot.

Our gems but we didn't bring any of these back. Not pretty enough leh.

Our gold specks. Hmm... Where did I keep this?

We decided to treat ourselves to a luxurious dinner and drove to one of the vineyards for dinner. The vineyard was so pretty. The houses were like 'WOW' but sadly, the restaurant was booked for a wedding dinner. Arrgh. We didn't get to dine at the vineyard. :(

Day 5

We were hooked onto the TV show Food Truck and we made a mental note to patronise the food trucks. We were so looking forward to it!

But it was a very hot day, not the most ideal condition to eat under such weather. I almost melted.

The food was disappointing.

We then drove around the town.

Graffiti @ Krog Street.

Krog Street Market.

Nice chill out place.

We spent the rest of the day driving around different parts of the town before settling for Korean dinner @ Stone Bowl House - Woo Nam Jeong. I remembered reading somewhere that Atlanta was like the 3rd Korean Town in the States but no handsomes one leh. Boring~ The most handsome or rather the only korean boy I met so far was the cashier at IHOP. Haha.

Day 6

@ Sweet Auburn Market

Our brunch.

We headed for Martin Luther King historical site after lunch. I studied about him in JC, can't remember much about my JC stuff but I remember his famous line 'I have dream'. He is amazing! Considering that he is black and had only such a short time to influence, his impact was beyond measure.

World of Coca-Cola

I think Coca-Cola has superb successful marketing. I was never a big fan of soft drinks. I restrain my intake of soft drinks but after visiting Coca-Cola, it makes you feel that Coca-Cola is and has to be part of your life. You need to celebrate every milestone with Coca-Cola. Totally mind-fucked.

The tour started with a promotional video which brain-washed you about Coca-Cola. I was totally in awe with Coca-Cola when I was there. We went for the 'dunno-how-many' D ride but it was light-hearted and fun.

All these Coca-Cola merchandises made you feel that you should hold one of everything.

The tour ended with a sampling room where we get to sample different flavours of Coca-Cola around the world. Interesting tastes!

Dinner was @ JCT Kitchen and Bar. It is like a chill out place for the working executives. I like how our server was so attentive and always approach us at the right timing.

Mussels. I do not take shell stuff but these were too good to reject.

Sinful truffle fries.

Super tender chicken thigh.

We ended the night with our first drive-through theatre experience at Starlight. Watched Ant Man in our car from a giant screen and the audio from your radio. I like the experience but I didn't like the idea of having the engine on for 2 hours. So not environment friendly.

With that, we ended our stay in Atlanta and flew back the next day.

After flying for another 14 hours, we ended back in Incheon Aiport. I think we had 6 or 8 of transit hours so I brought Hong out to Myeongdong for a walk and  to have this yummy porridge. Hong was excited to see all the chio bus in Myeongdong but no chio bus one leh. I think summer made everyone fat and ugly. In fact, I saw a lot more fat girls this time. No yandaos also. so Disappointing. Where are all the zhng beauties?

Hong liked Myeongdong but he preferred Japan more. I have never been to Japan but I guess I would prefer the streets of Japan more as well. But Seoul has been fun and special cause it had always been a girls' trip.