10,000 miles away from home on 10/10/10

Mama Boo had to fly to Houston for work on 10 Oct 2010. It is the first time I am away from Chloe since her birth :( Chloe and her daddy sent me off at Changi airport for the 6.40am flight. My little girl was still cheerful even though she had to wake up at 4.30am. Her daddy was very sad to see me leave. But Chloe was a strong girl, she grabbed hold of her daddy's index finger and brought him away from the departure hall. She even smiled and waved good bye to me.

I boarded flight UA 846 after I bought tax deducted moisturisers for both myself and hubby. The plane's 3-4-3 configuration gave me sufficient legroom considering that I had 3 seats to myself. In actual fact, the tickets were booked under Continental Airline but apparently it has merged with United Airline since May 2010.

No air steward/stewardess directed me nor help me to put my luggage into the travel compartment nor asked to put my jacket away nor was there any personal inflight entertainment. Well, this is not SIA afterall.  The breakfast was hardly satisfying but I still enjoyed in part the Iron Man 2 movie screening on the shared screen while dozing off.



1st stopover was at Hong Kong.  There is no way I can miss HK milk tea and wanton mee.  So I bought tender pork cartilage from Cui Hwa to go with its milk tea for lunch. 


  

Then I ordered takeaway for the wanton mee from Tasty Congee and Noodle shop before I headed to the HK disney store in search of something for my precious little girl. There were many winter vests and jackets but as we did not plan to go anywhere cold this year, I decided to get Chloe a Mickey computer instead.





Chloe's 1st Computer

After I made the purchase, I had to literally dash to the boarding gate only to discover that I can't bring the soup in.  Darn... I should have finished the soup.  But still, I was glad that I bought the wanton mee when the airline served instant noodle in the middle of the night.

One of the most presentable and edible meal during the flight from HK to Chicago.

It was a long flight from Hong Kong to Chicago with some rough turbulences.  I watched Toy Story 2 and The Karate Kid while working on my presentation due on Tuesday before trying to sleep in between the many meals served.  My second stopover was at Chicago Airport. I had to go through the immigration before I can get onboard the next flight.  At the immigration, there was a police beagle sniffing out tourists' luggages.

Chicago Airport

Domestic flight from Chicago to Houston

I finally reached the destination, Houston, after 24 hours.  The time was 6pm CST.

On my way to the hotel



View on the way to the hotel



This is the town car I took. Cost USD 56.50 to get from airport to hotel.



The dining area at Willowbrook Hampton Inn by Hilton

There is an indoor swimming pool.

There is also an indoor heated whirlpool.

My room

 

The view from my room

By the time I reached the hotel room, I was too tired and took a bath before drifting off to dreamland.  Dearest Chloe and hubby, see you in a week's time!  Miss you already!