On the road this week. Off to Atlanta. Closing off one project phase and start another. I like traveling but Atlanta is boring now.
Suanne is great at packing. I trust her that I will have everything when I need it. I take care of what I need for work, she takes care of everything else.
Even a little something that reminds me of home. She got the Durian Mung Bean cake from … Kim Chau. Very nice. Only for durian lovers. She even double wrap it in case the American customs gets a whiff of it and charge me with possession of offensive materials.
Start out early at 5:30 AM. Suanne and I are going for breakfast before she drives me to the airport.
Too early. Street deserted. Went to Jubilee Chinese Restaurant (where Gala used to be). Heard once they are 24 hours but I guess they stopped doing it. Vancouver don’t eat this early.
Only place opened in Richmond is #9 Restaurant.
Nothing like hot milk tea to start the day.
I think girls like bread more than guys. I don’t know why.
I think guys like tendon and meat like that. Shui Kow and Tendon noodle soup. Gonna miss this sort of food for next few days.
Mm Hoe Sik. Not good.
YVR is one of the prettiest airport around.
Always have to fill in US Customs Declaration Card. Such a hassle.
American Airlines. First time flying with them. Final selection of seats at check in kiosk. Hate middle seat. Likes windows best. Can hold nature urge well on flight. So not a problem. Aisle seat is 2nd choice.
First leg of flight is aisle. Second leg is window seat.
Oh wow. They are trying to charge me $8.80 for priority boarding. No thanks. He he he … Irony is I am the one who helps airlines implement standardization of these optional charges.
Technically once past these doors am moving into US. No cameras and electronic devices allowed.
They had changed again the screening process. It is a lot more tighter. They had person checking docs and stuff every 30 feet! It took longer to scan the luggage too.
Although been through here many times, it is never easy. Those US border agents does not know how to smile. Treats everyone as potential terrorists. I have a good record on their database and so I breeze through it quickly.
Will be a long day. 4 hours to Dallas. 2 hours to Atlanta. Will probably get to hotel before midnight with 3 hours time zone difference.
Oh … I once worked in a company where an employee was needed to go to a Washington pronto to deal with a major system outage. He was told to fly to Dulles International and someone will pick him up from there. The next day he arrived at the airport but no one was there picking him up. He called that person and after a while did they realize the employee was in Dallas Fort Worth, not Dulles International. We had a good laugh at his boo boo.
Nice airport. Lots of seats for everyone. Comfy too. They have power outlets at right spot for people who wants to work while waiting for flight.
Not only that, YVR even have free WiFi too. Sad to say but this is good time to catch up on emails. Cleared my emails prior to leaving home and now I have 20 new ones on the queue. Sigh … such is the bane of my life but I love it.
My plane. It’s a Boeing 737-800. Good. At least not the older version 737-300 planes that Southwest had a tear on their fuselage a week ago!
Boarding started 15 mins to flight time. Gotta wait because am on Priority 6. Am too cheap to pay $8.80 to get on first.
Full flight today. I will have a 2 hour layover in Dallas. Might blog from there.
Signing out coz they want all cellphones powered down.
safe travels Ben.
Looking forward to tasty postings from Atlanta 🙂
” I take care of what I need for work, she takes care of everything else.”
You are a blessed man, Ben.
Safe travels, and stay away from those buffets, eh ? Hehehe.
I am originally form Atlanta, and I wanted to bring up that there are many fantastic and different styles of cuisines available in Atlanta – there are also many asian grocery stores where you can probably even buy that exact same durian cake!
Not sure where you are staying or if you have access to a car (or if you can get away from work), but try to get down to Buford Highway. This is the mecca of Chinese/Asian/Latino restaurants in the Metro-Atlanta area. My parents’ (both Cantonese from Hong Kong) current favorite restaurant is Bo Bo Garden (5181 Buford Hwy Atlanta, GA 30340) – their “golden pork ribs” (pork short ribs coated with salted egg yolk and stir-fried) are especially good.
You can check out this blog (not mine) for an idea of the other great food available in the area http://eatbufordhighway.com/
Hey Ben, I agree bread or sweets usually not a man’s thing. I have one such person in my household who would rather eat the beef tendon & shui Gaw noodle just like you! Therefore, you’re not alone……have a safe trip to Atlanta & think of what you’ll want to eat first thing when you return! LOL!!
Ben-
Have you ever checked out the website, http://www.roadfood.com/? Here’s what they say about what they do:
Roadfood means great regional meals along highways, in small towns and in city neighborhoods.
It is non-franchised, sleeves-up food made by cooks, bakers, pitmasters, and sandwich-makers who are America’s culinary folk artists.
Roadfood is almost always informal and inexpensive; and the best Roadfood restaurants are colorful places enjoyed by locals (and savvy travelers) for their character as well as their menu.
It seems like a resource you can use whenever you have to travel to the U.S. and want to eat something you can’t find in a chain restaurant. The site lets you search by location, and they show quite a few places around Atlanta, accessible assuming you are renting a car.
have a good trip, looking forward to some food postings from atlanta!
Ben ,safe sourney on your trip,I wish that some people would realize that you earn a comfortable living from your work and dont have to blog for free food.Regarding Roadfood I have used it in the past and it is a great resource for the road warrior
Hi Ben,
Hope you have a safe flight and safe trip. May you travel with the wind on your back! Shun fung in Canto…
Hi Ben,
Did ur durian dessert make it past US Customs? Know they’re strict on fruits, veggies n meats. Heck have heard of instances where sweet meat, Ovaltine n pineapple tarts kena confiscated.
Have a safe trip.
Is our fearless leader lost in Atlanta ? Or detained by DHS ? Ben, we saved you some lemon banana oat bran muffins, crispy baked fish and french onion soup …… just tap once on the pipe if you can read this message ……
LOL! I made it home in one piece. Been totally drained and was chilling out this weekend. 🙂 Sorry about not replying some of the comments. Too many to reply too. Ben
No worries. As long you’re not staying at Hotel Guantanamo, making big ‘uns into little ‘uns 😉
Do take all the rest you need, and then some more. Don’t let the virtual world replace your real world ….. we’re all just figments of your imagination anyway, hahaha.
(btw, up for lunch at Pho 24 Express with Karl and I this week ?)
http://thefridaylunch.wordpress.com/2011/04/13/ph%E1%BB%9F-24-express-burnabys-newest-vietnamese/
Hi LotusRapper: Sure. Let me know which day works for Karl and you. Ben
So you didn’t find any decent food in Atlanta worth blogging about on this trip?
Hi WS: Not so much this trip. The trip was too focused on work that I was too pooped at the end of the day to want to go out for food. I had a few nice eat outs though. I might or might not write about it because I noticed that most chowtimes readers does not enjoy reading about my travel. Actually I still need to write Atlanta and Oregon. I’ll get down to it some day for sure. Ben