Adventure from the Far Far Away

Last week or I should say 2 weeks ago, I travelled across the globe to land in the land of liberty. The long flight was really a torture. I couldn't get myself on a SQ plane because at the dateline, the best flight itinerary by SQ included a route via Frankfurt. If you could recall, our Mother Nature was still blowing her top and couldn't be appeased. In the end, I flew by UA - United Airline which meant that I did not have my own in-flight entertainment. *Sobs*

Right, this was my second working trip and this time, I was traveling with my boss. Flying all the way to attend a conference in Baltimore, Maryland.

We flew out on the 23 May, very early in the morning and a stopover at Hong Kong International Airport. It was a good thing we decided to eat our lunch there instead of relying on the plane food because what happened for the rest of the week, was the beginning of me dreaming of our local Cha Kuey Teow and Carrot Cake.

Look at the succulent fresh prawn I had in my dumpling. *Stopover at HK*

We finally reached Chicago O'Hare International Airport and what followed was all about speed. The queue for the custom clearance was really long but my encounter this round was much more pleasant than my maiden trip to US. The previous round, I was at LAX (Los Angeles, California) for transit.

Then it was to pick up our luggages and checked in for the transit flight. We only had 2 hours for transiting which really truly was not ample. Please remember when you arrive internationally at US homeland, arrange for a 4 hours transit. Otherwise, this would be what could happen.

We made a dash for the sky train to travel from Terminal 5 to Terminal 1. At terminal 1, we had to undergo another round of check in. We just managed to hop onto the flight before they took off to Baltimore. It was a long journey and a lot of rushing. Before we could took off, the plane had a technical fault so that caused a slight delay.

Finally we arrived at Baltimore but NOT our luggages. The UA counter staff explained that when the bags arrived internationally, the bags had to go through security screening before transporting to the correct domestic plane. So we made it for our flight but not our luggages.

I have to say that the UA staff was really very nice in answering all our enquiries. All the UA staff that I encountered was pleasant, polite and professional. They tracked out baggages and delivered it to our hotel. But I didn't got my luggage until 4am on the Monday morning, which was nearly 6 hours after we arrived at our hotel.

Finally I was all settled but the jet lag was really quite horrible. The time difference of 12 hours was really quite something. Singapore is 12 hours ahead of Baltimore. So in US night time, it would be Singapore morning. So you can imagine, my eyes were so hard to open once it was past the lunch hour in US.

My room in Marriot Hotel, Hunt Valley

The view outside of my room.

It's summer time for the Baltimore folks. Clear blue sky awaits you.

Since this was a working trip and I was traveling with my boss, there was any slot for tourist activity. It was conference-eat-sleep routine. On the last day of the conference, I thought it would be good to just walk around their town centre. But I succumbed to the jet lag, yes even after 4 days. In my blurry sleepy mode, I stepped out of the hotel without my camera and the sun was too hot to walk around in comfort.

So the only adventure I had was a Food-theme.

Have you always wonder when you watched Hollywood movie, how was it like to have their chinese food takeaway? The answer is below.

I got this from the nearby supermarket. They sell their chinese takeaways by weight. It's USD 7.6o for 1 lbs.

Mine which was a little rice, with broccoli, mushrooms and sliced beef cost USD6.90

I can only say, the Chinese cook better than their counterparts.

On the 2nd day, I decided not to risk my dinner and went for soup and salad. Again, they sell by weight.

My pick of boiled broccoli, shredded chicken, mushroom, tomatoes, lettuces with their italian dressing.

My England Clam Chowder

On the last night, I went for room service. It was my first time to order a room service and it was not as bad as I expect in price and quality. This is something that I should consider the next time I travel to US. A room service might be more worth it than the pick and take from the supermart.

My grilled chicken sandwich. USD 9.90 excluding service charges and tax.

My grilled chicken sandwich came with fries, lotsa of it. There's grilled chicken, chunky and juicy, grilled bacons, fresh lettuce and tomates. It was actually the best dinner that I had during my trip.

And they provided you a new bottle of ketchup. It was really a cute lit' bottle of ketchup.

Ketchup - I take.

If you know me, you would know that I need water, lotsa of it. During my 5 days stay, I consumed nearly 9L of water.

Wegman's spring water @ USD0.99 for 3L.

I was glad I have a small vacuum flask to make my hot drink in the freezing conference hall.

I also tried their yoghurt and bought their fruits over there.

Strawberry Banana Low Fat Yoghurt @ USD 0.40

my red delicious apple, the very same apple that made my apple chips.

Big Strawberry - A big Box @ USD 1.99

After the conference had ended, we flew home the very next day. No chance for sight seeing. But it's okay. I missed my home and my robo and my hubby. The best thing is my own holiday is coming up soon. Yeap!

A relaxing Bali trip - how's that sounds?!