USA Day 3-5: TCOM Conference & Lexington City

DAY 3 (Pre-Conference Workshops)

I managed to sleep quite well even though I woke up multiple times throughout the night due to the jetlag. I couldn't go back to sleep after waking at 6.30am so I gave my family a Whatsapp call and got ready to head to the basement level at around 7.45am for the TCOM Conference. I received my tag and a goody bag after registration.

The wire in the bag was a Godsend because the one I brought wasn't compatible with my phone! 😄

It was a relatively small conference but I felt very much at home as I've got a great working relationship with the conference organisers, Praed Foundation and the Centre for Innovation in Population Health, University of Kentucky. I've worked on the implementation of a TCOM tool known as the Child and Adolescent Needs and Strengths (CANS) since the start of my career! I was so excited to meet Dr John Lyons, the founder of TCOM, and Dr April Fernando, the Director of the Centre.

Breakfast was provided every morning before the conference starts at 9am. 

After the morning session, we decided to walk to Stella's Kentucky Deli for lunch as it came highly recommended by Dr Lyons. 

Along the way, we admired the beautiful architecture of the First Baptist Church of Lexington and Main Street Baptist Church.

It's not odd to find many historical church buildings in Lexington as many denominations were founded here!

We found Stella's Kentucky Deli quite easily. It was housed in a quaint little cottage!

The green tomatoes BLT came highly recommended but I tried the mushroom and swiss burger instead.

Food was tasty in general, though maybe a little too salty for my palate.

We continued with workshops in the afternoon and ended relatively early. We had time to walk to the nearest departmental store, Target, which was about 10 minutes away. We spotted the First United Methodist Church along the way and loved its classic look!

After buying groceries, snacks and souvenirs, we explored the surrounding town. As it was located near to the University of Kentucky campus, there were a lot of students in the area.

Since we were in Kentucky, I had to try fried chicken and decided on Raising Cane's chicken fingers.

It wasn't like the best I've tasted but it was ok. 

We headed back when the sky looked like it was going to turn dark. By the time I got to my room, I was so tired that I slumped into my bed and slept until 8pm! I ate Korean cup noodles for dinner and finished my conference notes before sleeping at 11.30pm (11.30am Singapore time).

DAY 4 (Conference Day 1)

I didn't wake up at all throughout the night, even though I eventually woke up at 5.30am! Since I couldn't go back to sleep, I headed downstairs for breakfast. Breakfast was totally different from what I was used to! It looked more like dessert than breakfast to me! 😅

After a whole morning of learning from like-minded professionals, we had lunch.

The conference organisers presented me and my fellow Singaporean participant with the award for travelling the furthest to the conference! It felt good to be appreciated! 😄

The afternoon sessions were good but I had difficulty staying awake as my jetlag kicked in! When the conference ended, I returned to my room for a nap instead of going to Walmart with the rest of the group. I had FOMO but I knew I needed to rest in preparation for my presentation the next day! 

DAY 5 (Conference Day 2)

It was the last day of the conference! I was glad that I slept well, though I couldn't sleep past 6.30am.

After the morning presentations, I grabbed a sandwich for lunch before heading to my presentation venue.

It was finally my turn to present at the first breakout session after lunch! 

It was a good session and I learnt a lot from the attendees! 😊

After an afternoon of breakout presentations, the conference came to an end! I'd consolidate and share my learning with my organisation when I return! 😃

Since we had time before our dinner reservation at 8pm, we explored downtown Lexington. We shopped at Urban Outfitters at The Square, which was probably the only store that's still open at 6pm.

As we walked around, I really enjoyed taking pictures of the beautiful architecture as Lexington is a historic city! 

Having been indoors for most of the day, it was also then that I realised the temperature had dropped to 15°C! It was colder than expected but I loved it! 😊

We walked past the Old Fayette County Court House, which houses the VisitLEX Lexington's Visitor Centre. I've been wanting to visit but their opening hours (10am - 4pm) didn't match our schedule.

It was sunset but we were still too early for our reservation. We got fried chicken at our hotel's Blue Fire Bar & Grill while waiting. It was good! 😊

It finally came time to have dinner with Dr Lyons and his friends at ItaX. Apparently this restaurant was very popular, hence the difficulty in getting an earlier reservation.

I really enjoyed the good food and conversations over dinner! 😄

It was a good end to my last night here in Lexington! I had an amazing time, thanks to the warm hospitality of our hosts and friends that I had met! 😄

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Continue to >> USA Day 6: Disney's Coronado Springs Resort

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Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for the rest of my posts on Lexington & Orlando, United States of America as well as other travel itineraries! 

You can also follow my travel adventures on Instagram via the hashtag #madpsychmumtravels! =)

USA Day 1-2: Arrival in Hyatt Regency Lexington, Kentucky

I was given the opportunity by my organisation to present at a conference in Lexington, Kentucky! To get there, I'll need to take 3 flights and transit at 2 airports!

This epic trip marked a lot of firsts for me! It was my first time:

• visiting the USA, which is the furthest I've travelled so far!
• traveling for more than 24 hours!
• having to transit more than once per way!
• going through 7 airports in one trip (to and fro, excluding Changi airport)!
• going to theme parks for 5 days in a row!
• flying ALONE!

To be honest, the last time I had flown without my kids was in 2013 and I don't think I've ever flown alone before! I was understandably quite nervous 😅

I packed my luggage with lots of cup noodles (super Asian I know!) and checked in at Changi Airport Terminal 1 to catch my flight. It was cheap thrill that I could finally use the automatic lanes after 10 years of queuing at immigration counters with kids younger than 6 years old (who can't use the automatic lanes)! I was also invited to use the Morhaba Lounge, which offered light snacks and drinks! This was another new experience for me! 😃

I had about an hour to enjoy the lounge and have some snacks before my flight.

I was flying with American Airlines but the first flight to Tokyo was operated by Japan Airlines as part of the OneWorld Alliance co-share programme. 

The plane departed on time at 1.50am, which was in the afternoon in USA, hence I had planned not to sleep on this flight in a bid to reduce the effects of jetlag on arrival. However, no matter how hard I tried, I still ended up sleeping for about 3 hours! 😅

We were served our breakfast about 1 hour before landing. Other than the very dry and not very tasty noodles, the rest of the side dishes were ok.

After a smooth 7-hour flight, my plane arrived earlier than scheduled at Tokyo Haneda Airport Terminal 3 at 9.40am Japan time (10.40am Singapore time).

I had almost 2 hours in transit, but decided not to shop as I didn't want to carry extra weight so early on my trip. I'd shop on my way back to Singapore instead.

My next flight from Tokyo to Chicago was also operated by Japan Airlines. The plane departed on time at 11.45am Japan time (12.45pm Singapore time). Not long after take off, we were served our lunch. Compared to the previous flight, the food was much better on this flight! We were even given special JAL Milk Tea Tart Haagen Dazs ice cream! Yum! 😋

The flight was about 11 hours 40 minutes and I spent most of the time switching between watching movies and sleeping. However, I experienced backaches because my body can no longer endure long flights like it used to! I kept checking the flight duration on my screen and was disappointed to find out that not much time had passed! It was very gruelling! *sigh*

I looked forward to breakfast, because I know we'll be landing not long after breakfast was served! Yummy! 

I finally arrived at Chicago O'Hare International Airport Terminal 5 at 9.25am Chicago time (10.25pm Singapore time). 

Terminal 5 was an international terminal, hence I had to clear customs and collect my checked baggage before transiting to domestic. The process was relatively fast and orderly, unlike the many horror stories I've heard from fellow travellers. Although there was a very long queue to exit the baggage claim area, the American Airlines counter to drop off my luggage was located just outside the exit. The staff made the process such a breeze and even directed me to the platform to board the train to Terminal 3.

The process to clear security at Terminal 3 was equally efficient and I ended up having to wait for more than 3 hours for my next flight! To make matters worse, the plane was delayed by 1 hour! It was already 2.30pm Chicago time (3.30am Singapore time) by the time I boarded the plane! 🥴

The American Eagle plane was the smallest I've ever flown on! Each row had only 2 economy-sized seats on each side of the aisle, a very small galley and just 1 flight attendant. Even the overhead compartments can only fit backpacks hence all carry on luggage had to be checked in at the gate.

The flight was only 1 hour 20 minutes and in that short time, our sole flight attendant single-handedly did the safety briefing, served snacks and drinks and prepared the passengers for take off and landing! Amazing! 😃

After travelling for 26 hours (including transit), I had finally arrived at Lexington Blue Grass Airport at 5pm Lexington time (5am Singapore time)!! 👏🏻😅

Lexington is known as the horse capital of the world, hence it is very common to see decoration of horses everywhere! Even the music to signal the arrival of luggage at the baggage claim belt was related to horse racing! 😃

After collecting my luggage, I tried to book a Lyft/Uber (USA's version of private hire) but I couldn't get one. In the end, I had to take a taxi, which cost me US$35 (excluding US$5 tip).

I checked in at Hyatt Regency Lexington, the conference venue and my accommodation in Lexington.

I can't wait to head to my 2 Queen Beds room, which I had booked at US$231.50 (special conference rate) per room per night. I wanted a room with a king bed but it was not available when I booked.

The room was huge and clean. There was also a coffee machine to make coffee/tea or get hot water. I've noticed that most hotels in USA no longer use electric kettles.

The bathroom was a decent size with basic toiletries like shampoo, conditioner, bath foam, cotton sheets, shower cap and body lotion.

However, the room lacked amenities that I'd been accustomed to in hotels in Asia. There were no toothbrushes, bedroom slippers, bathrobes or bottled water! 😞

I love the beautiful view of Lexington town from my room window! It's one of the things I'd miss about Lexington 😊

After washing up, I met up with my ex-supervisor, who was also my first mentor when I joined my organisation! She was attending the same conference and we agreed to meet for dinner. We both chose Triangle Park Cafe Senor Chimi, which was located just behind our hotel and had good Google reviews.

The weather in Lexington was 20°C, perfect for eating al fresco! We shared some tacos and a burrito, which were delicious!

After dinner, we walked to the nearest convenience store, Clark's Main Street Market, and bought a gallon bottle of water at US$2.30 each. We need water! 😄

After a very long journey, I was exhausted and so ready to bathe and get to bed! Good night! 😴

Continue to >> USA Day 3-5: TCOM Conference

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Visit MADPSYCHMUM TRAVELS for the rest of my posts on Lexington & Orlando, United States of America as well as other travel itineraries! 

You can also follow my travel adventures on Instagram via the hashtag #madpsychmumtravels! =)