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This is it...we are heading on the road! Over the next year and a half, Tiffany and Leslie will be on their first round-the-world. Bear in mind, we don't have a round-the-world ticket....those have become way too expensive lately. Interestingly enough, I found out few weeks ago, that I was myself on a 3 months round-the-world, my fourth one, and yes, it's pretty stupid to find after I started it...damn planning...

We left Saigon airport....with 7 bags in check-in, that's a good 160kg, and easily 60-70kg in carry-on...and we made it, no excess bag charges...ouf...our first 2 flights were Saigon-Hong Kong and Hong Kong-Chicago...with the amount of bags...and our crazy schedule, we ended up camping in HKG airport...not a first for Leslie and I. This turn out to be way easier that going to a hotel....the cathay lounge closed at 3am, and re-opened by 5.30am, we just had to camp in front of it for a short 150 minutes!



Than it was on for 15 hours on a plane...long...long ...long...I went creative...plane was full with only 2 seats available in economy...forget about even trying to upgrade with 2 kids....got myself the exit row...and landed one of the two empty seats for Leslie and Tiffany....3 seats for 2 of them...not far away...couldn't have done better to survive the ordeal, even on Cathay. Well, for once I would catch up on a few movies... Next...Try to move around with 230kg and 2 kids....only way, staying in a hotel close to the airport....we did...and tried the new Aloft, not bad, nothing to rave about either...



This is the first visit of Tiffany and Leslie to Chicago, and my fourth one....and we had some amazing weather...actually, you can call this a heat wave...above 32 degrees....good news we are pretty used to this in Asia! We were ready to spend two nights around Chicago O'Hare airport, leaving us a full day to explore Chicago downtown using the subway to reach it.



It was going to be a very long day....we took an early subway to the city...and a late subway back from the city to our hotel....in between, we used our legs...and a little boat trip from the Navy Pier to Michigan Avenue.



Our day started by a queue...at the Willis Tower Observatory...queue as we arrived 10 minutes before the opening at 9am, but it was worth it, as the place was pretty quiet...the best way to enjoy a first visit for three of us...and what a view! The front picture of this blog was taken in the new sky-deck of the observatory, a pretty fun experience. For info, if you didn't know, as I didn't, the Sears Tower has been renamed Willis Tower since 2009. As of today, this is still the highest observatory deck in deck in North America.



Next stop, I name my prefered US Art Museum, the Arts Institue of Chicago. I love the place, this is a compact museum, but full of wonders! They had a special exhibition of Roy Lichtenstein...I have not much knowledge of his work, but Leslie did, thanks to Ms Charlotte, his Year 6 teacher. So thanks Ms Charlotte, as we enjoyed a nice guided visit....by an 11 years old kid...and trust me, he astonished me more than once in the museum that morning...wow...I'm a proud Dad...



Next, little mexican lunch, before hitting the pavement....we walk...we walk...we shop...we walk...stopping first for new school shoes, new school bag, jeans, sport shoes...the all lot...and way cheaper here...next...the Navy Pier...and yes, we walked all the way. Ok, for info, that was a pretty disappointing place...we won't go back to the Navy Pier. From there we took a boat taxi back to Michigan Avenue...with our next mission, stocking on the new Lego Friends collection for Tiffany birthday. Here came the biggest disappointment of the day...they were simply out of stock, in a Lego shop! I manage to spend only 6usd...nada...out of stock...I'm lucky my little girl is growing up fast...and could understand...we were all disappointed. Where we live today, these toys cannot be ordered online, so we will have to wait few weeks for my next little jump on an airplane to some Lego shop...



The last part of the day was spent stocking on books for Leslie and Tiffany....few more kilos to take on our next flights....and a last junk dinner...hot-dog time! It was time to get back on the subway...the picture says it all! They were happy, but dead!



I'm writting this from the middle of nowhere...as usual a little late on blogging, with so much that has happened the last 4 days...I can tell you, Leslie and Tiffany are currently super excited...non-stop....for the last few days....



Let's the adventure start...and more blogging coming...

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