Atlanta To Seoul To Hong Kong

(Missy standing in the lobby of the Harbour Plaza Metropolis hotel, next to THE BUNNY KING)

Hey! We're back from our work trip to CHINA! Just in time for EASTER! I stayed up all last night, due to some serious JET LAG - just as my body was getting used to the time difference in China (they're 12 hours ahead of the US Eastern Time Zone) we come back to America. Three o'clock in the morning feels like three o'clock in the afternoon. Since I couldn't sleep, I started to download and process all my photos from the trip. I took well over a THOUSAND photos and I've only scratched the surface so far. It's going to take forever to edit, delete, and select what images to share...

We took off for China about a week ago, from Atlanta's HARTSFIELD-JACKSON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. We had a flight booked on KOREAN AIRLINES. Our route took us from Atlanta to SEOUL, KOREA...and then from Seoul to HONG KONG. On our way to our gate in Atlanta, we stopped just long enough to see the ASIAN PUPPETS on display, on loan from Atlanta's CENTER FOR PUPPETRY ARTS...









Once we got on the plane, we settled in for our 14 HOUR FLIGHT. In between bouts of sleeping in weird sitting positions, we occupied our time by reading books and magazines, listening to our iPods, and watching movies and tracking our progress on the in-flight entertainment system...







Our VEGETARIAN IN-FLIGHT MEALS were surprisingly tasty...either that, or we were just extremely hungry! (warning: we took a lot of food pictures on our trip):





It was funny to see the different ways people tried to get comfortable on the plane...we liked the way this lady was using her NECK PILLOW wedged between the top of her head and the seat in front of her:



We had never been to Korea before and we were excited that we had a bit of time to kill in the INCHEON INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT before catching our connecting flight. As soon as we touched down in Seoul, we went in search of our gate before exploring the rest of the airport...







Throughout the airport there were these little "KOREAN CULTURAL CENTERS" where you could learn a bit about traditional Korean culture. If you were not a resident of Korea and had a passport to prove it, you could take part in different free arts and craft activities...or, try on some traditional Korean clothing called HANBOK. Missy's outfit even had a BRAIDED WIG...









Before long, we were at the baggage claim in Hong Kong...we stopped at a 7-11 in the airport and loaded up on water, juice, and snacks. One of the best things we like about Asia is all the CUTE PACKAGING on just about everything...









We saw this sign for a big trade show for toy manufacturers and distributors and thought of our friends, Mike and Pim, who are professional toy designers. Working in a design department of a different sort, we thought about how neat it would be to be able to go to something fun like that:



After a short taxi ride, we were in our room at the HARBOUR PLAZA METROPOLIS in KOWLOON - the part of mainland China across the harbor from Hong Kong island that make up one of the three territories that comprise Hong Kong. After almost 24 hours spent entirely on airplanes and in airports, we were more than ready to be finally able to sleep in a horizontal position...