Flying at 35,000 feet! 空服员の日记

January roster 2010!!!

2010-01-10T01:19:00.000-08:00

January roster 2010:

1.2-4 First flight of the year...Beijing China! again???!!! i told you i dont need chinese flight! smelly flights!!! disgusting smelly feet on those chinese flights...wondering how comes they are so smelly more than others!!! bummer!!!

1.7-8 Manila, Phillipines (not so interesting layover...24 hrs)
1.9-10 OFF
1.11 Athes, turn around...bloody long!!!
1.12 OFF
1.13 Nairobi, Kenya (turn around!!! can u believe that? 10 hrs flying time...is a turn around!!! only EK...)
1.14-15 OFF
1.16-18 Dusseldorf!!! (oh yeah~~~this is what i need!!!)
1.19 OFF
1.20-21 Rome, Italy!!! (pizza, pasta, cafe, Coliseous!!!)
1.22-23 OFF
1.24-29 Singapore Melbourne 6 days trip!!! (swapped with my NYC flight!)

In general, i am happy with my roster after all swaps were done! apart from chinese flight, i have nothing to say! yehaaaa~

have a nice one! thanks for reading! ;o)

December roster~~~China! language speaker lol...

2010-01-10T00:57:00.000-08:00

Dear readers,
First of all Happy New Year to you all, hope you have enjoyed your holidays along with ur loved ones!!! I havent updated my blog for quite long, many reasons behind this late post is because i have been flying more than usual, flying hours more than 100 hrs per month! So getting really lazy and lack of energy to update my journey...hehehe...sorry to you all~

My last month december roster is detailed as follows:

12.10 Airport Stanby 06:00-09:00

(here, i need to say something...i swapped one turn around flight on the 11th, because it was a midnight departure flight, so Dec 10th is my rest day...this is a very senseless policy! I didnt touch my rest day when i swapped for extra day off...therefore i could stay 4 more days at home with family and friends. Guess what this company had done to me...they changed my rest day to 'CAN USE' duty!!! which means they can either give me a day off or any standby duty! but 11-14 are my days off, i wrote an email to my manager and got no response...at the end some management people replied me saying that they can't change my can use duty to a day off!!! I explained to them how difficult is for me to go home only 2-3 times a year! Costa Rica is located another way around the earth!!! He said...' I understand the difficulty for you to go home, but we do expect you to come back earlier at the end of ur leave to ensure you have enought rest before your next duty!' this is just annoying and ridiculous~~~what kind of understanding is that! If you really understand how tough for me to go home twice a year, you should be flexible and change my can use duty to a day off! You bastards, made me come back to Dubai on the 9th and then the next day...assigned me for Airport standby starting 6am!!! i just landed back from Costa Rica the night just before my standby day! I hate you!!! then you guys didnt pull me out! made me sitting there for 3 hours for nothing...i was damn exhausted...are you sure you really understand my difficulty? we need to be wherever and whenever you request us to be, but when u need something just so minimum...ONE DAY OFF!!! it was so hard for you to change that! You didnt need me for that standby time! you did it on purpose! I have never experienced this kind of nasty threatment before!!! I am very upset recently because of that! If you can really think about it...what have you done to me, have you ever appreciated my hard work on board, have you ever thought of how hard for us to go home 16 hours flight plus 3 hours and half everytime we fly back home??? Thus, I dont deserve this kind of demotivation!)

12.14-16 Beijing China (yeah i am language speaker, but please i dont want it coz I am not from China!)
12.20-23 Singapore 50 hrs! (swapped from my Shanghai flight...once again i dont want chinese flights!)
12.25-27 Beijing China !!!OMG~~~you really wanna upset me! :o(
12.31 Chennai, India....fabulous...you give me this flight more than once...what have i done to you??? I need layovers!!! hate turn arounds~~~

This is my personal space to express my words and feelings, no offence to anyone! Please be happy! ;o)

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!! ;o)

November roster!

2009-11-09T13:17:00.000-08:00

NO TURN AROUNDS!!! wohoooo~i love my roster! top bid and didnt get any turn around flights...because i bid for avoid turn arounds~hahaha...here you are November roster:

11.1 OFF
11.2-4 New York JFK!!!
11.5-6 OFF
11.7-9 Kolkata, India...(my first layover in India)
11.10-12 Moscow, Russia (freezing!!!)
11.13 OFF
11.14 rest day
11.15-17 Osaka Japan!!! (going to Kyoto to see red maple trees~)
11.18-19 OFF
11.20-23 Los Angeles USA!!! (Swapped with my Singapore 50 hrs...i regret a bit now...)
11.24 start my holidays!!! til 12.08

Thanks god, i got all i asked for! this is the first time i got everything i wanted except Kolkata, Moscow and Singapore (now L.A)

Very excited to go to L.A~~~Hollywood land! but i heard the flight itself is a crap! 16 hrs...with 'interesting' & 'demanding' passengers on board...now i regret...i wanna go to Singapore!!! way much better than 16 hrs L.A (Orz///)

Wish me luck!!! ;o)

Octuber roster---revised! I am a swap master~

2009-09-28T20:11:00.001-07:00

When i got my Octuber roster...i almost fainted! 5 turn arounds~~~nightmare! 2 Mumbai, 1 Bahrain, 1 Chennai, 1 Tehran! Looks like the worst roster i ever had...only good things is that i got 2 Osaka which i bid for...but again originally i had 3 Osaka...then they removed me and put me to Cape town~~~i am so pissed off with the rostering people...why there are people rarely get turn arounds or maybe 1...but i got 5 in my second top bid position?! Anyway, i used my swap skill and managed to swap away my 2 @#X$%^!* BOM flights and SHORT BAH flight for something else...this is the final result:

Octuber roster:
10.01 in Brisbane (continue my last trip on the 27th)
10.02 Brisbane-Dubai
10.03-05 OFF (maybe going to Rome!)
10.06 Rest day
10.07-09 Osaka, Japan!
10.10-12 OFF (going to Dusseldorf to see mein lieber!)
10.13-15 Hamburg, Germany
10.16 Rest day
10.17-19 Jakarta, Indonesia!
10.20-21 OFF (what to do? mmmm...Athens perhaps?!)
10.22 Rest day
10.23-25 Osaka Japan!
10.26-27 OFF (what to do again? mmmmm...no more money to spend on tickets hahaha!)
10.28-29 Chennai India (long turn around...lol)
10.30-31 Tehran, Iran (havent done it for a while...)

See...my 2 shitty turn arounds to BOM are gone!!! hahahaha~thanks god~sorry Mr Scheduling I am not Indian and i dont speak Hindu! okkkkkkkkkkkkkkk~~~stop giving me hard time loooooooooooool....i have very good performance on board all the time!!! ;o))

Cheers! Have a safe flight to all flight attendants! ;o)

September not so innovative roster...

2009-09-04T05:40:00.000-07:00

This is my september roster...it came out on time but i am missing my Osaka flight! As i checked before it came out and i saw i had one Osaka flight...but when the roster was released it was gone!!! Dont understand why they removed me instead of other girls...i am 3rd top bidding position!!! But anyway i got 4 days off and 2 Dusseldorf flights which i bidded for...and now I only need to get rid of Mumbai...for a day off!!!

Sep 1...OFF
Sep 2-3...Vienna, Austria (my 5th Vienna in a year! nice layover~)
Sep 4-5... OFF
Sep 6-8...Dusseldorf, Germany (mein lieber!!! mein Schatz!!!)
Sep 9...OFF
Sep 10-12...Dusseldorf, Germany (yeah another one heheh...)
Sep 13-15 Milan, Italy (trying to swap for Osaka!!!)
Sep 16...Mumbai (noooooooooooooo~~~~~~~~~~~~need day off!!!)
Sep 17-26 On Holiday!!! (yeah going to Sweden!!!)
Sep 27-Oct 2...Brisbane & Auckland trip! (another long journey!)

Overall, this roster doesnt please me much except 2 dusseldorf flights and days off...all other layovers are just repeatitive and not attracting at all. I wonder why they keep giving me the same destinations over and over...please give me new ones next month okay! and i need my osaka flight back~ ;o)))

August Roster~

2009-08-17T23:52:00.000-07:00

well...forgot to post this month roster, anyway is not as wonderful as i thought...didnt bid anything and this is what i got...4 layovers and 3 turn arounds...apart from roster was delayed seriously due to short of crew, and many of them are taking unpaid leave~what an awkward thing! very annoying when we couldnt see the roster on the 26th! let's hope next month roster will be out on time!!!

8.1-8.4 Days off
8.5-8.10 Dubai-Brisbane-Auckland! (My first Auckland trip!!! had Q.Q. rice!!! yumy~)
8.11-8.12 Days off
8.13-8.15 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia! (good eat and good shops!)
8.16-8.17 Mumbai...X@#$%7 (called sick at the end...thanks god! why always got this flight???)
8.18 OFF
8.19-21 London Heathrow!!! (tried to swap but impossible~)
8.21-23 OFF to see mein lieber in Dusseldorf!!!
8.24-26 Munich but swapped for Dusseldorf
8.27-28 Bangalore India...another unwanted turn around!
8.29 Day off
8.30-31 Beiruit, Lebanon (looooooooool....too many turn arounds!!! are we short of people or what?)

So, last month i didnt get any turn arounds...but this month yeah...3!!! I dont like turn around flight at all, doesnt matter is a short one or long one! Please stay away from my monthly roster! Thanks~ ;o)

Prague~a city full of history and art! (unfinished...)

2009-07-23T07:28:00.000-07:00

Since i got 5 days off in a row, therefore i planned a trip to Czech Republic which i would say that is one of the best place you can't miss out. However, July is a peak season to travel around and is a tough season for airlines crew to travel on standby tickets. With no exception, i am one of the examples. I had purchased 2 tickets, one to Vienna so i can take a train later on to go to Prague and the other was to Frankfurt which is the second choice if Vienna flight was full...Indeed, it happened exactly what i had forcasted lol...I arrive at Dubai Airport just hour and half for standby luck and along with me there were 2 serbian crew same as me but they were heading back home but via Vienna as well...which means i had nearly no chance to get on the flight as Vienna flight that day was overbooked and as a result we couldn't get on the flight to Vienna...then now comes the second option which is going through Frankfurt and of course no way i will take a train or any land transportation to Prague, as it might take 9-12 hours traveling...lol this will drive me insane! Hence, 3 of us we came back to the airport for the FRA flight and i did check previously and the load was optimist so we had no problem and all went on FRA flight. The only tricky thing we had to do upon our arrival into Frankfurt, we gotta buy a zed fare ticket to go to our different destination. And luckly they issued the ticket for me to go to Prague with Lufthansa but arriving at Prague around midnight...and i had no idea how to go to the city after 00:00 from Prague airport~

Seems like i was pretty lucky when i arrived in Prague, there was still bus running every hour...so i took the bus and head to Prague downtown around 1 am...i ended up so tiring in a budget hotel which was the only option i could find with my budget! hahaha, don't laugh! not all flight attendants are rich hey! :0( anyway i am very impressed that most of the czech people can speak quite good english maybe because it is a very demaning and attracting to tourism so English has become their common language...just guessing.

The history of Prague spans thousands of years, during which time the city grew from a castle known as Vyšehrad to the multicultural capital of a modern European state, the Czech Republic. Check out the photos below which i visited. What an amazing and historical castle!

July amazing roster! updated

2009-07-10T07:08:00.000-07:00

For my surprise, July's roster is a stunning one without bidding any flight! Only layovers no turn arounds!!! Check it out:

7.1 back from Vienna
7.2-7.6 Five days off!!!!!!!! (went to Prague, Czech Republic~~~)
7.7 Nujum day (was a very different experience and it actually touched my heart!)
7.8 Dubai-Johannesburg, South Africa
7.10 J'burg-Dubai
7.11 OFF
7.12 Dubai-Dusseldorf, Germany
7.14 Dusseldorf-Dubai
7.15 rest day
7.16 Dubai-Mauritius!!! (36 hrs layover in an all-included system resort!)
7.18 Mauritius-Dubai
7.19-20 OFF
7.21 Dubai-Hamburg, Germany (will fly with Carlo from Costa Rica!!!)
7.23 Hamburg-Dubai
7.24 OFF
7.25 Dubai-Dusseldorf (swapped for it because i have someone there! hehehe...)
7.27 Dusseldorf-Dubai
7.28 rest day
7.29 Dubai-Mauritius (another Mauritus but this time in a different spa&resort!)
7.31 Mauritius-Dubai

i couldnt believe it when i saw my roster, without bidding anything and i got a great roster! compare to last month's!!! the moral behind this is: If you dont bid, scheduling "might" give you a nice roster beyond your expectation!

Enjoying myself in Ticolandia!

2009-06-22T14:59:00.000-07:00

Pura vida! Ticolandia is called by all costarican people (Los Ticos), means our own country COSTA RICA! However, we name it in diferent ways such as, La Tiquicia, Ticolandia. Because we are TICOS!!! Oh eh oh eh oh eh oh eh...ticos ticos~~~hahahaha this is so funny! So us! I am very proud of being costarican, our unique identity, our uncomparable tradition. I always recommend my colleagues and friends to come to Costa Rica for tourism, as you can find different patern of joy spending your holiday, either going for mountain side or ocean area, you can always have a big time without enforcing it.

2 days left before going back to Dubai, i have started feeling nostalgic and wish i could stay longer, though i have JED and DEL flights right after my leave and having a hard time to swap it! On the DEL flight i will be the only male crew thus a big barrier to swap flights or days off, because i can only swap with male crew!!! what a rule~anyway, this is flight attendant's life. I cant wait to get over these turn arounds and go to Vienna at the end of month for a short break! Seriously, i am tired of this pathetic roster! Please give me a nice one next time okay! (Voice up! Like me, hard working crew with stunning performance, doesnt deserve this kind of roster!) Ahhhhhhhhhh~~~~~

Going home for 8 days! My b'day is coming up~

2009-06-15T12:49:00.000-07:00

Surprisely, i managed to swap my bombai flight for 2 days off so make my leave a bit longer though. People ask me how i swapped it? well...of course not free! Is my first time paying money to someone to do the flight for me! So actually after the second day SEP recurrent exam i am flying back home in the midnight. This time i purchased zed ticket with LH (Lufthansa), really looking forward to experience their service and hopefully get upgraded for busienss class~hehehe... My journey is routed thourgh Frankfurt and then down to Miamia, 5 hrs boring waiting, American Airline flight back to San Jose! Quite exciting this time, because my b'day is coming on the 21st~dont ask my age! LOL... let's have a big party then!

Now, updating the previous journey to cape town, south africa...

Finally did Cape Town flight on the 8th, but wondering why they way back the entire passenger profile changed completely, full of indian people and 154 special meals requests, all of them in group and without any previous notice to our cabin crew, they swapped their seats as crazy, therefore caused a big delay on delivering our special meals and also delaying the normal meal delivery...wondering why there are so many people like swapping seats and love standing in the aisle during boarding phase...dont they see more passengers are coming through the cabin with big luggages? and most of them pass up and down of the aisle just trying to swap seats among. Seriously, we had a hard time on the way back...with 2 hot meal services, again never seen that much special meals before, i think we should introduce either hindu meal or asian vegetarian meal on certain high demand routes not only for indian flights...anyway this is all about the drame i had on this 9 hrs flight to South Africa~

As now it is winter time in the south ephemeral, the temperature was quite nice around 15 degrees, and blue sky, the only place i went to was the water front harbour, having a great food and local wine! short stay in cape town not much can do, last time i already did the sightseeing thing, so i didnt want to go out with rest of the new crew for touristing. Had a great manicure session close to hotel, was the first time i got all my nails polished! look really nice and healthy!

The worst roster of the year!!! updated version...

2009-06-02T10:41:00.000-07:00

May reserve month...
Got 3 turn arounds and 1 long layover ONLY!!! what the hell is going with reserve month! really not equally distributed the flights to people, some got rosters some didnt like me and having shit turn arounds. my performance is always good but why i deserve this kind of shit roster? this is really not nice at all~

3 turn arounds are: AMD india, DAC bangladesh, and MAA india...lol full of india and long turn arounds...

1 long layover is BKK SYD, 8 days trip to Thailand and Sydney Australia...well i cant complain about it, i love both cities and during this lovely trip i was the galley operator throughout the flight~flew with 4 very junior crew was a bit challenging and the other two never took galley before so i too initiative to manage the galley for the 6 sectors flight...was the first time taking galley for such a long journey, but was a nice experience plus nice performance report was arised too hehehehe...

June "roaster":
06.01-06.05 RSV (actually being given days off only~lol)
06.06-06.07 Days off
06.08-06.10 Cape Town, South Africa
06.11 Day off
06.12-13 Jeddah turn around (not bad but full in a 2 class config, 777-300ER)
06.13-14 Kuwait turn around (short flight only about an hour and 15 mins, we served hot meal!!!! this is so crazy~was like a war delivering and collecting trays at the same time, no tea coffee, basically everything was in a rush! only giving them sandwish is more than enough!)
06.15-06.16 SEP recurrent exams!!! (Study a lot~)
06.17-06.25 Leave...going back home COSTA RICA! PURA VIDA! 21st is my b'day!!! wohoooooo~
06.26-27 Jeddah turn around...another one!!! why?????
06.27-28 Delhi, India...omg~what a roster!
06.29 Day off
06.30-07.01 Vienna, Austria! again...one of my favourite city!

As you can see, this is the worst roster i have received so far! Group 3 we are buttom bid group but still come on! all ppl i know from group 3 our roster are really really bad...full of turn arounds and only couple layovers! my total flying hours are 51 something...poorest ever! Trying everyday to swap for any layover even Lagos...crying :((~~~~~

Keep discovering...

Joke on the plane

2009-05-19T14:55:00.000-07:00

Joke 1:
Let me see if I can remember this conversation verbatim.
One day before the flight began and as passengers were boarding, the cutest little old woman tugged on my suit jacket."Hi there", I said. "Excuse me, sir?" She said. "Why aren't you in the cockpit?" I looked at her puzzled."Why would I be in the cockpit?" I asked. She looked back at me as if she just lost her puppy. "Aren't you a pilot?"I smiled at her. "No Mam, I'm a Flight Attendant." "Oh!" she said. "You mean a Stewardess?" "No." I replied. "A flight Attendant. Same thing, we just don't use that term much anymore.""Oh", she said again. "In that case I'll take a coke, no ice."I laughed. "I'll began beverage service as soon as we get to 10,000 Feet. I promise, you'll be the first person I serve."

Joke 2:
As soon as we finished delivering the menu in the cabin...minutes later...Ding~ (call bell!) from seat 42C, Me: Yes madam, how may I help you? Pax A: Yes, can I order my meal now? I want Okra Sambar (indian vegetarian) and my husband wants Curry fish! Me: Madam, we will be serving the meal from the front to the back so there is no need to order meal in anticipation! Moral-Aircraft is a public transportation not a restaurant!

Joke 3:
Helga is a woman pilot working for a well-known airline...
Anyway, one day Helga boarded the plane and was sitting in the cockpit with the door open. A man climbed onto the plane and was just taking his seat when he looked up and saw Helga. She saw that his face turned a shade of green and she heard him say to the air steward, 'Blimey, is that a woman I see in the cockpit?' Waiting a while Helga then heard the man say, 'Well, I suppose it's alright as long as they don't let her touch anything.'

More jokes will come to my mind as I fly more...

Osaka and Kyoto in 28 hours! wohoooo...

2009-05-16T22:50:00.000-07:00

My favourite destination...JAPAN! Despite of japanses passengers are very nice and easy to deal with, as they always demonstrate japanese culture and courtesy throughout the flight, featuring the "red eye" flight (midnight departure) much much easier~ After my London flight, i got 2 Osaka flights in a row, from 19-21 and 25-27 of May. Unfortunately, majority of cherry blossoms had gone but still some left behind the hotel but also some in Kyoto! This time Osaka weather was great to start my planned journey to Kyoto, 35 minutes by train (express one! but not Shin Kan Sen) from Osaka station, the good thing is the free hotel shuttle taking us to Osaka Station every 20 minutes. The train fare is 540 yen each way which was not okay not expensive at all.

Picture below, was taken in Monday morning, peak hour in Osaka Station! ppl walking like ants...FAST but ORGANIZED! If you dont respect the right line to go up or down, you could die under their feet!

Now, you can see these 3 Geishas walking on the streets near Kiyomizu Temple, you can always see them slowing walking down to the street! is real not a show! Such a good contrast to the modern life in Japan!

Now Kiyomizu-dera photo show~

Kiyomizu Temple, 清水寺 (built in 778, rebuilt in 1633), one of the must see sights in Japan and specially in this historical city Kyoto (京都), the antic capital in Japan but nowadays is Tokyo. Kiyomizu means clear water or pure water, you can always find those nature fountains with different meanings, to obtain blessings, love, luck, protection, such as amults can be purchased to bring home for more interests. Of course, I had to get some hehehe...one is actually now hanging on my door! Also i found a big charm walking in surounding area in Kiyomizu-Dera, is the streets with bunches of shops and local restaurants! Such a nice trip in Kyoto, beyond the words! Missing the red bean soup, those tempting japanses pickles! I brough some to Dubai but still eating them little by little...so yummy!! Also bought a Samurai sword which caused me 2 custom security checks in Osaka Kansai International Airport and back here in Dubai, even was just an imitation not a real one, but still had to go through that tedious process. That gorgeous sword cost me only 7500 yen! what a nice deal~the tip is you have to visit several shops and check their prices, sometimes the nice deal is just next to you! Those japanses people are nice to talk to, most of times credit card can be used!

The second trip wasnt much to do as the weather was aweful, next day was raining the whole day and quite cold, and my jetlag had started to claim for sleep...yawn!! Even though i still woke up around 10 o'clock in the morning to go to the charming city Kyoto again, but this time not to visit temples but shopping!!! guess what...bought so many skin care products, some for me, some for my mom! such as moisturizers, hand cream, masks, lotions...etc. Com'on! you cant miss going to those cosmetic shops and buy those skin care products, they are so good and at a good price! 10000 yen was gone in that afternoon~~~but with a good harvest of cosmetic things! the aircraft cabin is extremely dry, therefore, taking care of our skin has become a daily task! Keep my face and hand moisturized all the time throughout the flight, even during our rest time! I found DHC and Shisheldo UNO very useful and handy to bring on board with me, moreover, they are working great on my skin, has got my skin improved and prevent being dehydrated. Some crew joked at me, saying i have more "stuff" than girls! LOL....it is so necesary to carry those items with me!

Japanese cusine!

Tofu lunch! so tender and delicious!

My small toilet pouch comes with MUJI non-alcoholic sanitizer, L'occitane hand cream, nail cutis conditioner (hahaha...my nail cutis suxxxxx so dry! looks aweful if i dont start using this nice product), DHC face gel (moisturizer), hair gel for retouching. That's all~do you think that is too much for a flight attendant to carry in the cabin bag? Naaaaaaaahhhh, dont get me wrong. Leave your comment any good tip to care of our skin please be generous to share them please!

Attention cabin crew! Swine flu~~~~~

2009-05-06T16:00:00.000-07:00

As we all realized from different medias, tv, newspapers or radio, currently there is a outbreak viral virus called Swine flu spreading around the world starting from Mexico! Our job as cabin crew obviously needs to be taken care of by all possible preventive measures, however, our company has implemented a contigency plan to avoid and protect our working enviroment.

Should we wear surgical mask to avoid being infected? Wearing masks on the plane working with passengers sounds weird to everyone, but if the flu keeps spreading over the world we will have to apply this type of preventive measure. Just be careful for now, wash your hands often after dealing with customers towels, used items and meal trays, as they may contain important viral virus! Thus, we should be using hand sanitizer or wash our hands for 15 seconds with soaps and dry them with clean tissues. We do not want to see any of our colleagues being infected because of our inevitable duties. Keep sanitizer handy and do not fly if you have any similar symptoms related to swine flu, such as high fever, caughing, lack of appetite, tireness etc please call sick instead of coming to the plane and spread your virus to the rest of the crew on board. Even though the influenza is not a killer desease but if your inmuse system is quite low and weak, then your life is at risk!

Sincerely all flight attendants shall pay attention to the current swine flu situation since the alert frmo WHO has arised to 5, henceforward, everyone should be looking after each other and be safe and healthy flying to every cornor of the planet!

14 days in Costa Rica...sweet home!

2009-05-01T11:58:00.000-07:00

As I requested 10 days leave plus 5 days off they gave me...so in total i got 2 weeks exact time to spend my holidays with my family and friends back home. Had a great time with all my friends and they did spend their vacation with me as well, we went to Manuel Antonio beach and clubbing...also did a canopy trip with my friend Josue such a nice guy to spend time with.

This time i did not fly with Emirates back to Costa Rica, instead, I chosed Delta Airlines because they fly from Dubai to Atlanta and then Atlanta to San Jose, which is quite similar as my usual routing via Houston. The idea came along with the Houston flight is always full and the passengers are not americans...and so on. So I wanted to try other airlines also to find out how do they do in an ultra long haul flight! But Delta Airlines has absolutely nothing to compre with Emirates~we are the best for my opinion! Delta offered 2 meals, each one with 2 choices, always chicken or pasta, and prior our landing to Atlanta, we were served a veggie Pizza as it was a breakfast time! So pathetic...i couldnt believe the ameican airlines are that lean and mean to customers, poor meal tray with no presentation, and they set up a table with some sandwishes, chocolates, water and cokes during the flight which was okay for me. BUT yes serve yourselves! They rarely come to the cabin with round drinks, when they did, was only water! Another thing to highlight about Delta is that their cabin crew are OLD and literally OLD! I can tell their media age is around 45-50 years old! One of them, seems to be the senior, she has been working for Delta for about 39 years! My gosh~~~which means she must be over 60 already! and still doing this kind of UL flight. However the fact is that only senior flight stewardesses can obtain this kind of long haul flights...compare to the short flight between Atlanta and Costa Rica, the crew were mixed, young and old...

The good thing about this trip with Delta is an upgrade to Business Class on both flights between Atlanta and San Jose Costa Rica! What a surprise! Unfortunately, between Dubai and Atlanta all business classes were fully booked therefore they could not put me in business class! Their seats in economy class are aweful and old, unconfortable, cant recline too much, narrow seat, cheap blanket, the in flight entertainment system was just okay, that was when i started missing our ICE!!! but was a great experience to try other airlines service and observe how other cabin crew interact each other. Emirates is Emirates, Delta is way behind us! Cheers~ and thank you for offering Business Class!

Thinking to bring my dad and mom to Dubai in summer, but is gonna be so hot, maybe will take them to Japan as well! yeah~ Osaka trip detail is coming up soon, stay tunned!

Zurich~just like a picture!

2009-04-23T08:18:00.000-07:00

Zurich, cant believe it finally I am in Zurich even though it was just 24 hours short layover but worth it! Wasnt that cold, around 10 degrees and the hotel was not far from the city by train only 15 minutes away. We arrived in the evening so there wasnt much to do except having dinner and sleeping tight for the next day! I was thrilled that Zurich wasnt snowing while we arrived because people said it had been snowing for the past 2 weeks~i want snow AGAIN~

People sitting by the lake having their lunch and snacks, how relaxing is it! What a pleasure to have a lunch with them...hehehe

Early in the morning i woke up early in order to go to the downtown for my usual city walk! Walked down to the lake...and along the street I could see a lot of gooses, seagulls, doves and differents types of birds on the lake relaxing, was so cozy looking at them so nicely and confortably lying there~just like a picture. Those beautiful and antic churches standing around the lake, the entire view in Zurich is unique and unforgetable! So many places to go and shop, this time I didnt buy Nespresso coffee machine due to short of my budget...after the previous Milan, bloody shopping trip...LOL

The allowance was great and the layover has become on my top list...

Definitely Zurich is one of nicest cities to go on your days off and spend your holidays in this Multilingual and artistic city! German, Italian, French, English...depends on the zone you stay they speak different languages. Full of tourists, easy to travel around with their trams. Switzerland is absolutely gorgeous! Mountains, lakes and stunning sights convert Zurich itself into a picture hanging in the central of Europe.

GOOD NEWS!!!

2009-04-08T21:12:00.000-07:00

SKYTRAX RESULT:

AIRLINE OF THE YEAR 2009

1
Cathay Pacific
2
Singapore Airlines
3
Asiana Airlines
4
Qatar Airways
5
Emirates!!! (We are among the top 5!)
6
Qantas
7
Etihad Airways
8
Air New Zealand
9
Malaysia Airlines
10
Thai Airways

Also Emirates is voted for the Best Inflight Entertainment Airline.

Keep up the good job and let's do our best to become a 5 star airline!!!

Munich! danke!

2009-03-30T06:54:00.000-07:00

I love Muchen!!! Such a beautiful city, passengers were very nice didnt drink that much as people rumoured...it was an afternoon flight hence load was full as well and we landed at night, next day in the morning as I opened the window from my room...what??????!!!!!!!! SNOWING~~~~~wohooooooooooooooo so amazing, had been waiting for so long to see snow!!! Was really impressive so couldnt wait any longer to go outside and feel the snow! After having the breakfast in the hotel, I decided to go out to Munich downtown for shopping and taking some photographs...its a cliche for me! hahahahaha~

As I walked down to the shopping area, it started to snow again which was a fantastic view and could feel the snow wasnt that strong, therefore my umbrella was fine enough to walk under snowing condition. Guess what again...another LV! and found a MUJI shop in Munich!!! Of course no doubt, i had a great shopping day in there! Munich people are nice and friendly, beautiful sites and bars for people for hang around and meet up for a coffee and tea! So looking forward to visit Munich again in the near future!

April Roster! (Updated)

2009-03-27T04:24:00.000-07:00

Finally, the roster is out...but as i didnt realize that only 5 days off can be given after/before our annual leave, hence, I got 5 days off plus 10 days leave to go back home!!! Sweet Costa Rica!!! Right after my Bangkok Sydney flight, will fly the same day back home. Thank you Mr Scheduling...I got 2 Osaka flights which make me so excited! Thanks millions!!!

4.01-4.15 LEAVE (Costa Rica, Pura vida! Voy para la casa!)
4.16 Dubai-London Heathrow (swapped IKA for LHR)
4.17 London 24 hours!
4.18 London-Dubai
4.19 Dubai-Osaka, Japan!
4.21 Back to Sandpit Dubai...
4.22-4.23 OFF
4.24 Rest
4.25 Dubai-Osaka, Japan~2nd one!
4.27 From beatiful Osaka to steamy Dubai...
4.28 OFF
4.29 Dubai-Shanghai, China (My 2nd chinese destination...Pearl Towe, I am coming!)
5.01 Shanghai-Dubai (Then start my reserve month....huh~)

In general, this is my top bid month and so happy to get 2 Osaka! Watch out my wallet again after Milan~hehehehehe...

Flight Attendants' note

2009-03-11T04:49:00.000-07:00

1. You can eat a 4 course meal standing at the kitchen counter
2. You search for a button to flush the toilet
3. You look for the "crew line" at the grocery store.
4. You can pack for a 2 week trip to Europe in 1 roll-aboard
5. All of your pens have different hotel names on them
6. You NEVER unpack
7. You can recognize pilots by the backs of their heads-but not by their faces
8. You can tell from 70 yards away if a piece of luggage will fit in the overhead bin
9. You care about the local news in a city three states away
10. You can tie a neck scarf 36 ways
11. You know at least 25 uses for air sickness bags-none of which pertain to vomit
12. You understand and actually use the 24-hour clock
13. You own 2 sets of uniforms: fat and thin
14. You don't think in "months"-you think in "bid packs"
15. You always point with two fingers
16. You get a little too excited by certain types of ice
17. You stand at the front door and politely say "Buh-bye, thanks, have a nice day" when someone leaves your home
18. You can make a sentence using all of the following phrases: "At this time," "For your safety," "Feel free," and "As a reminder"
19. You know what's on the cover of the current issues of In Touch, Star, and People magazines
20. You stop and inspect every fire extinguisher you pass, just to make sure the "gauge is in the green"
21. Your thighs are covered in bruises from armrests and elbows
22. You wake up and have to look at the hotel stationery to figure out where you are
23. You refer to cities by their airport codes
24. You actually understand every item on this list
25. Everytime the door bell rings you look up at the ceiling.
26. You change into you "galley shoes" to cook dinner at home!
27. You open your bathroom doors at home slowly incase someone forgot to lock it.
28. You only know 250 or 350 degrees on your home oven
29. When you ask your spouse when they will be coming home from work you ask for their "ETA"
30. You can spot out an airplane from the ground above and tell the other person what airline it is!
31. You go through each room at your friends place looking for magazines to read!
32. You bring home different grocery bags full of goodies that you can't get in your home town! and tell a story about it!
33. You know better NOT to date a pilot!
34. Your a fire fighter, a nurse, a security officer and a server all in one!
35. Your a GREAT multi - tasker!
36. You have mastered the art of walking very quickly down the aisle and not catching anyone's eye.
37. Your at a friends party and you start wiping your hands on their curtains.
38.You call for the car doors to be armed and cross checked before pulling away.
39.you answer your phone by saying "Hi its ..... at "position"
40. when you try and put the foot brake on your shopping cart.
41.When releasing your seatbelt in the car, you try to 'lift the top portion of the buckle and pull apart" and are confused when you can't find it.
42. When sitting in the backseat of your friends car, you check the seat pocket for garbage.
43. when your friends or family ask what time it is, you ask in what time zone!
44. When you're really tired and are staying in for the night, you tell you're friends you're 'slam-clicking'.
45. You remember the hotel phone numbers better than your home phone number.
46. You see rubbish dropped on the floor in your own home and instead of bending down to pick it up, you kick it under the sofa.
47. You have 400 mobile numbers in your adress book of crew you still wanted to meet up with....but when you finally get the time and browes for numbers you cannot put their faces and names together!
48. You locate all the exits when on public transport and learn the door operations.
49. You are standing in an elevator in your hotel and cant remember what floor you're supposed to go to, or what your room number is.
50. You can never make definite plans, otherwise you know you'll be delayed/called out, for sure!
51. You can't help saying goodbye to friends or anyone without sounding patronising... "b'bye now.. bye!
52. when you've finished your dinner you throw the dirty plate in the cupboard and kick the door shut.
53. If you check your breast pocket for a pen when you are going to write a shopping list at home.
54. You automatically uncross your legs, sit back, and fold your arms across your lap when you hear an engine rev up, whether you're a passenger on a flight that day or just in the car!
55. Every time someone ask's a question your reply is ... 'Just bear with me, or standby...
56. when ur going out from the hotel on a layover u smile and greet ppl u meet in the lifts... and ur not even in uniform! lol
57. You take out one blanket from the overhead bin or closet....and you hide it behind your back, running fast so no one sees it so you can use it!!!!
58. You know the water gague is showing empty and you grab a bottle of water and start washing your hands!
59. You spin around in the aft galley and yell, i love my job, i love my job....
60. You carry around ultra concentrated spray for the smells that come out of the lavoratory to protect you and your fellow co-workers!
61. You carry around a sharpie marker!
62. You work 18 hour days then go home and start cleaning up after someone else!
63. You have soo much time off you have 2 jobs!
64. Your dead heading on a flight and your sleeping and you wake up when they say "doors for departure and cross check" or when you hear the high low chimes in the cabin!
65. You tell people to turn off their cellphones or ipods.
66. If someone is smoking you show them the sign and remind them not to smoke!
67. You are ready to shop when you get to your destination!
68. You get so use to standing up while eating you don't even look for a chair anymore.
69. You hate people that slam their doors and call them slam-clickers!
70. You have soo many pictures, you don't know what album to start with and what pictures belong where anymore!
71. You don't like long walks at the beach anymore, cause all you do is walk the ocean, but 36,000FT above!
72. you stuff your cell phone in your bra while out clubbing in case you get a call from crew sked
73. you have mastered the art of putting on makeup in the car/bus/subway
74. you carry in your purse a stain-remover pencil at all times
75. you apologize for everything
76. you are no longer disgusted at stepping in dog poo: you've seen worse...trust me!
77. you appreciate time at home more than anyone else
78. when you ask someone a question, you stick your ear in their face and put your hand around it in order to hear better
79. you've developed an interest for astrology, and constantly ask "what's your sign?"
80. you're a pro of small talk and specialize in four categories: children, mortgages, divorces, and your in-laws
81. you've got a bunch of old worthless coins from the pre-Euro era
82. you bring your big suitcase on a one-day layover to get your groceries!
83. you know how to create a gourmet fondue using jersey milk bars, stale crew fruit, plastic cutlery and china from the business class cabin.
84. you bring home some passenger meal trays and wash them, then fill them with your own food and heat it up on board during your next flight!
85. you're dead-heading and you offer to place other passengers' luggage in the overhead bins, or bring them blankets.
86. you keep your crew tags visible when you are dead-heading, so that the flight attendants will know you are crew and offer you free food/booze.
87. you keep all your creams/perfumes/cosmetics in small pots and bottles so that they pass security cause you know its has to be under 100ML
88. You hear your cell phone ring even when it's not ringing
89. you bid flights according to the hotel at a destination, and not necessarily the destination itself
90. your fruits and veggies at home always go bad because you're always away(updated for crew members, written by you!)

So you want to be a flight attendant? Go to a resale store and find an old, navy suit that an army sergeant might have worn. Add a white shirt and a tie. Wear that same outfit for three consecutive days.Go to an airport and watch airplanes take off for several hours. Pretend you are standing by for them and they are all full. Go home. Return to the airport the very next day and do the same thing again.Fill several large boxes with rocks. Lift them over your head and place them on the top shelf of a closet. Slam the door shut until the boxes fit. Do this until you feel a disc slip in your back.Turn on a radio. Be sure to set it between stations so there is plenty of static. Turn on the vacuum cleaner and garbage disposal. Run them all night.Remove the covers from several T.V entrees. Place them in a hot oven. Leave the food in the oven until it's completely dried out. Remove the hot trays with your bare hands. Serve to your family. Don't include anything for yourself. Serve your family a beverage one hour after they've received their meal. Make them remain in their seats during this time. Ask them to scream at you and complain about the service. Scrounge uneaten rolls off the plates for you to eat 6 hours later when you're really hungry. Place a straight-backed chair in a closet facing a blank wall. Use a belt to strap yourself into it. Eat the rolls you saved from your family's meal.Ask your family to use the bathroom as frequently as possible. Tell them to remove their shoes and socks before entering, and see who can make the most disgusting mess. Clean the bathroom every hour throughout the night.Make a narrow aisle between several dining room chairs and randomly scatter your husband's runners and loafers along the way. Turn off the lights and spend the night walking up and down the aisle while banging your shins against the chair legs and tripping over the shoes. Drink several cups of cold coffee to keep yourself awake.Gently wake your family in the morning and serve them a muffin in a package. Don't forget to smile and wish them a nice day when they leave for work and school. After the family leaves, take a suitcase and go out into the yard. If it's not raining, turn on the sprinkler system and stand in the cold for 30 minutes pretending like your waiting for the crew bus topick you up. Then go inside and wait by your bedroom door for another 30 minutes for an imaginary maid to make up your room.Change into street clothes and shop for 5 hours. Pick up carry-outfood from a local deli. Go back home. Sit on your bed and eat your meal. Set your alarm clock for 03:00 am so you'll be ready incase you don't get your wake up call. Repeat the above schedule for three days in a row and you'll be ready to work your first international flight----------------

March roster

2009-03-02T05:54:00.000-08:00

This time i am kind of dissapointed of my roster, since I am second top bid and didnt get the top bids flights! such as Nagoya (which will be called off next month!) and Osaka (why not!) only got Zurich and 3 at once BUT they gave me 8 days trip BKK SYD which is okay for me! Sometimes just cant understand how they roster the people! I am second top!!! not buttom bid!!! So weird~hard to understand. Anyway, I swapped for some good flights!

Mar 1 OFF
Mar 2 OFF
Mar 3 Dubai-Hyderabad-Dubai (arriving the next day) turn around~
Mar 5 Dubai-Nairobi Kenya! (Oh yeah~ Safari)
Mar 6 Nairobi-Dubai
Mar 7 OFF
Mar 8 Dubai-Munich Germany (Wohooooo~gonna try some local food and drinks!)
Mar 9 Munich
Mar 10 Munich-Dubai
Mar 11 OFF
Mar 12 Dubai-Milan Italy!!! (OMG! Shopping paradise~~~watch out your wallets and credit cards!)
Mar 13 Milan
Mar 14 Milan-Dubai
Mar 15 OFF
Mar 16 OFF
Mar 17 Dubai-Zurich Switzerland! (Lovely and beautiful Zurich!)
Mar 18 Zurich
Mar 19 Zurich-Dubai
Mar 20 OFF
Mar 21 OFF (Waiting for a London flight!)
Mar 22 OFF
Mar 23 Dubai-Bangkok (cool~thai food and thai massage!)
Mar 24 Bangkok-Sydney (Again! I am based in Australia or what! hahaha...love Sydney!)
Mar 25 Sydney
Mar 26 Sydney-Christchurch, New Zealand-Sydney (a killer shuttle flight!)
Mar 27 Sydney (for 2 days!)
Mar 28 Sydney-Bangkok
Mar 29 Bangkok (shopping day! if possible Grand Palace!)
Mar 30Bangkok-Dubai
Mar 31 OFF and start my holiday for 2 weeks!!! Costa Rica...my HOME!

Bonjour Paris!!! Falling in love with you~

2009-03-02T04:21:00.001-08:00

My roster is wicked as always! So many surprises~well, this time I have Paris 24 hours layover, quite short but had a good time.

Bonjour~Merci~etc...many french words i learned on board but now not even can mention them all! hahahaha... Anyway, i was so exicted to go to Paris again after my 1st time back in December during my holidays. I was supposed to visit Louvre Museum this time however, the time we arrived in Paris was not so good to visit it, better next time ask for a afternoon departure one so i would have the whole next day to visit this historical museum and so looking forward to see Monalisa!

Once again, I visited Effel Tower and with a colleague we decided to go to Champs-Ellyse Avenue! which is my favourite routine to do in Paris. We went to Virgin's store and bought some DVD's and CD's which were on sale! cant miss them of course. Later on, I said to him we better go to try a fancy coffee in Nespresso!!! My favourite shop of coffee, we said to each other! please we must buy those coffee makers and capsules! I will do it one day this year soon! Even i know the fact that the coffee maker doesnt work without those capsules, but still~the smell and the whole coffee body knocked me out! Will show you guys when i get one!

Paris, so distinct from other european cities with wonderful sights. 24 hous is just not enough to get to know Paris~definitely has to go back again soon!

Hamburg...beautiful German city!

2009-03-01T10:01:00.000-08:00

As I bidded for Hamburg last month, guess how many Hamburg they gave me?? 3!!! hilarious~you want it and you got it!!! but 3 come one...too much~so i keep only 1 and swapped the other 2 for Kuala Lumpur and Paris!

The flight itself was pretty smooth, 6 hours and 40 minutes later we landed into Hamburg, located at north frontier with Denmark. We stay in a downtown hotel, very nice location where we can hang out and easily go to the city for a cliche! Why a cliche? For me it is a cliche to walk around the city and go into some shops and have some drinks and food, also buy some local stuffs...such as survenir, cups, grocery shops...etc. Since this is a 24 hours layover only, there is no much to do except my own plan.

Some of us we went out together to have a lunch and drink so to kill some tireness, had a vegetarian dish and soup i was ready for a walk in Hamburg. Only couple of us stayed more in the city, others headed back to hotel and zzzzzzzzzz. Even I was tired as well, however, I managed to keep myself awake and continued my journey in this gorgeous city. I bought some tea and had a great time walking around, grabbed a latte and kept walking~

At night, I went out for clubbing with a brazilian guy and we had a great time with his local german friends! I love german people and being that said, I will do more often german flights! people are nice and easy to deal with. Was kind of regret i swapped my other 2 Hamburg...anyway chances are coming, this route used to be a very demanding flight because we used to have a long flight pattern: DXB/HAM/JFK/HAM/DXB! but no longer exists. Only 24 hrs Hamburg and fly back to Dubai. But still, I cherish my roster a lot...no complains! See you soon Hamburg!

Change on my roster!

2009-02-18T23:30:00.000-08:00

Can't believe it...i just get rid of my only turn around flight this month which is Mumbai India~instead, now I have Manchester UK, a new destination for me! So happy~~~ i am currently connected in State Library in Melbourne Australia, soon heading back to hotel to get changed for a night out...woohoooo!

Feb 24-26 Dubai-Manchester UK-Dubai

Stay tunned!

Kuala Lumpur! You gave me a great time...

2009-02-16T04:39:00.001-08:00

In fact, I have been waiting for this layover for such a long time~why? because it was supposed to be my first layover after my cabin crew traning, but unfortunately I was pulled out for London just 2 days before my KUL 52 hrs layover! So scheduling took my KL out from the roster~~~ so sad huh!!! I was waiting if it will come back to my roster by itself, and of course never happened. Finally this month i am thrid top among the 7 bidding groups so I managed to get 3 Hamburg flights, thought about it what not just swap one of them for Kuala Lumpur! After spending the whole day searching for any KL available swaps requests, finally I got one swap for 50 hours in KL which is awesome and met what I really need! And swap was approved thanks god~of course thanks for the korean girl who accepted my swap...anyway i am giving a GOOD LAYOVER-Hamburg!

Note: We used to have such flight pattern...DXB/HAM/JFK/HAM/DXB...but is in EK history now! Many crew that had done that flight in the past saying that it is one of their favourite flight! No doubt i would say the same.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia's capital city, with the majority of muslim peoplea, same as Indonesia, you can always see ladies with the abaya around their head, the only difference in their traditional way to wear is the never cover out their face, the way far different from middle east ladies. Kuala Lumpur is such a lovely asian city, so exotic and full of friendly people around, plus its Public transportation system is so well designed so making this trip much easier to hang around and shop! The hotel we stayed is actually close to Petrona Twin Towers, which used to be the tallest 4 years ago! Now seems to be our Burj Tower in Dubai~

Dinning in Kuala Lumpur is so amazing and unbelivably cheap! This time I had to buy a new camera because the one I had was broken in a bar we hung together in KL...it never switched back on again...sadly I had to buy a new one~the only thing i can tell you guys is go to different shops and compare their prices and you can always bargain! The best place to buy an electronic item is in Sungai Wang Plaza full of shops and with good cameras! bare in mind shoppers!

In regards to crew, WAS THE BEST! What a wonderful set of crew i had got on this flight! SFS was so nice and outgoing along with the crew, we always hung out together for 2 nights consecutively, having drinks, eating, laughing, taking funny photos! Was an amazing layover, one of the best i can say. Smooth flight, best crew, great teamwork...I can't ask for more!

Global Financial Downturn

2009-02-09T01:08:00.000-08:00

Dear all,Just came back from my flight and heard some news from our flight purser and yet this can sound quite dissapointed but is truth which we should accept it at this point.

1. No bonus for this year, revenue dropped significantly
2. Recruitment has stopped all their planned open days and assessment days until further notice.
3. Cabin Crew Upgrade opportunities have been delayed as well.
4. Cost and budgeting cut will be assumed to pass through the global financial downturn.
5. Some routes have been either cancelled or reduced its weekly or daily frequency, such as Nagoya will stop at the end of March, Johanesburg has only 2 daily flights instead of 3 (the afternoon one will be eventually 4 times a week, and later may be cancelled).

Above are some concret and realistic points from our senior people after their meeting with management, not to scare of but bare in mind that the we have been affected by the financial crisis, as a result, our company will re-plan and re-assure departmental and organisational policies by making sure every path has put at the right place.

Best wishes for all those who want to join us, let's hope the bad time will pass quickly so we can see you all on line!

February Roster is out~~~（Updated)

2009-01-30T10:52:00.000-08:00

This time FEBRUARY roster came out quite late until 27th almost 9:00 in the morning!!! Everyone was so desesperated and ran out of patience...finally it was released, but as I forecasted and upon my research the day before...I got some flights I bid for hence I had an idea of my new roster before everyone~though I think i am quite good on searching my own roster by going day by day!

Feb 1 OFF
Feb 2 OFF
Feb 3 Dubai-Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (49 hours layover! yeah~)
Feb 4 KUL
Feb 5 KUL
Feb 6 Kuala Lumpur-Dubai
Feb 7 Dubai-Hamburg (Yesssss, I knew it!)
Feb 8 Hamburg
Feb 9 Hamburg-Dubai
Feb 10 OFF
Feb 11 Dubai-Paris! (Oh yeah~finally i have a Paris flight...this time gotta go to Museum Louvre)
Feb 12 Paris
Feb 13 Paris-Dubai
Feb 14 OFF
Feb 15 OFF
Feb 16 OFF
Feb 17 Dubai-Singapore (Yeah...love Singapore! and this is a 6 days trip)
Feb 18 Singapore-Melbourne (34 hours layover~this time i can get to know MEL better!)
Feb 19 Melbourne
Feb 20 Melbourne-Singapore (arriving on the 21st)
Feb 22 Singapore-Dubai
Feb 23 OFF
Feb 24 Dubai-Manchester UK (Swapped my original BOM for a layover!!!)
Feb 26 Manchester UK-Dubai
Feb 27 Dubai-Dhaka (Short flight but with layover! thinking to visit Dhaka Proyect~)
Feb 28 Dhaka-Dubai

Thank you Mr. Scheduling for setting up my lovely roster! I have no complaint at all~Have a safe flight and happy new year of Ox! (Gong Xi Fa Cai~ 恭喜发财！)

Perth, what a lovely place to go!

2009-01-29T07:30:00.000-08:00

Perth, the only Australian destination I haven't been to so far...by also acknowledged of its long distance flight with only 27 hours layover, I made it! 10 hours and 30 minutes flight time from Dubai to Perth, full of passengers, midnight departure, most of the passengers were having their own dreams throughout the flight. Upon our arrival into Perth, was around 6pm and the sky was so clear and bright as if it were 2pm, local people told me that it will get dark until 9pm! yeah this is summer time in Australia~lovely because the day seems to be longer for me!

I didn't do much in Perth, apart from going to William Street and Hay Street Mall to have a walk and shop some groceries to bring home, something like what? FRESH VEGETABLES!!! Since those in Dubai are imported and not fresh for me...thus I bought some nice and fresh veggies to pack into my suitcase. One of my favourite thing to do in outstation...grocery shop! hahaha~

Next day, I took a bus to Cotteslow beach which is 35 minutes away from downtown...this time i didn't go out with the crew, I preferred to go on my own with much freedom and privacy to do what I want to do. Beach is so nice with white sands all over the coast~beautiful place to go for a tan or to get a nice and relaxing rest on the beach...well for me i had only 30 minutes to be there since I gotta come back to the hotel to rest a bit before the long flight back to Dubai...there is something negative on this trip is the fact that we had the worst senior flight attendant on board...she was such a weird person without education at all, how could she shut us in front of the passengers...all passengers saw her hace and vocabularies were absolutely unacceptable! even told us to go to the cabin every 10 minutes to check passengers!!! this is not even part of our standard i mean during 10 hours and half...how many times should you go to the cabin by doing every 10 minutes! so ridiculous~i heard that she already has many issues and problems with the previous crew, and this one with no exception, she made our life so impossible, one business class crew cried, no one could stand for her...and she seemed to be so irrational to not understand what people think of her...anyway some crew is gonna write her a report. I would not say anything but NOT looking forward to fly with her anymore! End of the story! hehehehe~

Vienna~yeah again!

2009-01-20T07:08:00.000-08:00

Less than 3 weeks I went back to Vienna again~wow! is my thrid Vienna already, for other crew was their first Vienna though. I can say i am so lucky to get Vienna quite often, thank you Mr Scheduling!

This time, Vienna was as cold as usual however it snowed the day before we arrived, therefore we could still see snow and ice on the sides of streets, even on the runway of the airport. During 24 hours stay, there was no snow but cold air! Instead of going far from downtown, I decided to have my lunch in a Japanese restaurant (the same one i went last time). Was supposed to go for clubbing the night I arrived, but i was tired and needed more beauty sleep~so I called my friend to come til next morning to have our Vienna Breakfast. This ocassion in Starbucks~hehehehe funny huh~but later on we walked into my favourite chocolate shop in Vienna called "Julius Melinl" specially its well known Spanische Schokolate Crema, so rich and creamy taste! mmmm~suddenly the happiness was floating around my cup! Thank you Wayne for taking me out to have a morning walk in Vienna! Good luck for your study in Vienna~

First time seeing a pony on the street~ and saw EVA Airways aircraft parked right next to ours! Feeling strange as it represents taiwan my original home town...

What a difference~Qatar aiways uses A320 for Doha-Vienna, instead we use 777-300!

Beijing 北京你好~

2009-01-20T06:28:00.000-08:00

Good morning Beijing! Yes...has been a long time i havent seen chinese flight in my roster, as the first month of 2009, i got Beijing for the second time when it was my second layover back in July~as now no chinese crew can fly to China for undefined period due to some issue with their agent back home (that's what I heard...) This time Beijing is in its coldest month January, was -7 degrees during my stay. Freezing cold when I walked out the hotel for sightseeing this time, unlike sumer, I wore scarfs and heavy coat to be able to walk around in the city.

Originally the first officer was joining me to go to Forbbiden City and Bird Nest (2008 Olympic Games Stadium), however, he needed a bit more sleep so he left a note outside my room so I didnt have to wait for him. Certainly he is a responsible person! At the end, I went out with the other phillipino crew...we had a great time haning out and had great photos ever~because of the custom we had to put on!

Subway system in Beijing is very complete and clean! Quite organized, similar to Singapore's. Chinese people have improved a lot in their infrastructure and turistic sites. But still selling fake brands is all around the market places...that's a critical characteristic...

Shopping days in Houston Texas!

2009-01-10T02:03:00.000-08:00

At the end, I swapped my London and Dhaka layover with Houston flight, which brough me more flying hours and some SHOPPING at my favourite store....Abercrombie & Fitch! Let's say...we used 16 hours and 28 minutes flying from Dubai to Houston, non stop! The longest haul flight in our company, i have done this flight as passengers twice but never as crew...this time i definitely experienced how tiring it is. During the briefing, someone important was missing! THE PURSER AND ONE OF THE SFS! hahahaha~yeah it is weird huh! Because both of them were pulled out on standby, so they will be getting late to briefing...even though the other SFS took leadership in conducting briefing...safe talk and positioning were done...and guess what the purser still hasn't showed up...all we were waiting! So captain said anyway we should go without her...lol~ later on the purser showed up on the flight, yeah quite late. She told us because she lives quite far away from CBC so she really needed time to get ready, when scheduling called her at 6am she already advised them that she needed some time to get ready, on the other hand, the departure time is 9:05...yes scheduling called her a bit late...or too late! Anyway she made it!

FUUUUULLLLL cabin oh yes~very interesting for such a long haul flight, the only good thing was not too many call bells! which was unusual for US flights, but the unusual thing happened as well....that we ran out of our water and as you like snacks!! No wonder how thirsty and hungry they were! 16 hours and half is really long for a human! As usual, I always take the second break if no one wants it. We had 5 hours rest in the crew rest compartment, which was okay...not bad! but the way back since the flight time is shorter only 14 hours so we had 4 hours and 15 minutes...which means yeah probably we deserved a bit more rest the way going to Houston, however, it was a full cabin so we couldnt finish our service earlier...as to gain more rest time.

Houston, the forth biggest city in USA, somehow it looks like a ghost city~rarely see people on the street walking not even tourists...well not many sightseeing places to go except NASA. So all I did in Houston during 2 days was shopping in Galleria Mall, the largest one in Houston, and why there!? Because Abercrombie & Fitch is there! Oh Yeah~my favourite clothes, has been a looooong time not going there. As we dont have ANF in Dubai nor other places and countries i have been...hence, this time I descided to buy some...i mean some....almost cost me $300 USD...hahaha~from shirts to jeans, from underwear to FIERCE cologne! hell~FIERCE smells so nice! smells so A&F! WHAT A CHARMING AND SEDUCTIVE PERFUME! it's A&F fans' must buy! Since then, I have been using it just couple drops and make me feel so Abercrombie! hehehehe~

Right, my Houston trip is indeed a shopping trip~same as other colleagues. Is that true all flight stewards/stewardesses love shopping around? No wonder why~I am feeling it now...

Freezing Vienna!

2009-01-09T03:53:00.000-08:00

Last time in Vienna back in August was summer time, everything was green and fresh plus lovely weather! This time at the end of december guess what...is winter time and was freezing!!! -6 degrees thanks god no snows so I could still go out for a bit sightseeing and crab something to eat. Vienna for me is one of the best layover I have done so far, besides Osaka Japan.

After we arrived at Vienna, i went out with one chinese girl we headed out for a japanese lunch and was great and tasty. I had a spicy nooddle soup and some spring rolls...yes doesnt sound like japanese cousine...hahaha~and no doubt Celine she had sashimi and sushi rolls...anyway I am vegetarian not many choices for me lah~

Later on, we went for a walk around the city centre and took some photos...I almost forgot in Europe during winter time the sunset is earlier...around 4.30pm it was getting dark...lol...we hadnt seen much yet, and it was getting late! By 6pm, the sun was completely set down at the horizont and which means my camara started to be useless (because the night mode in my sony camara doesnt work properly...crap! no many pictures this time!)

Next morning, I called my friend who has been living and studying in Vienna for past 3 months, to have a coffee and breakfast together. He took me to a nice restaurants where it ia famous of its delicious pastries and breads...next time i am sure i will buy some and bring them to Dubai! Oh yeah~tell you guys...I just swapped my days off for another Vienna trip! yessssss shopping and clubbing!!

Muuuuuuuaaaaaaaaaahhhh love you WIEN (VIENNA)! GUTTEN TAG~SHUZ

London, Paris and Strasburg!

2009-01-05T03:44:00.000-08:00

Crazy enough, after landed from Singapore I started my holiday right away which means I popped on the Virgin Atlantic flight bound to London to see a special friend where I stayed for 2 nights before heading to Strasbourg to visit my best friend from Costa Rica. Cant believe I flew 14 hours and 7 time zones in 1 day just to see a friend!!! How a human being can do so many crazy things in this life!! This time I really enjoyed London, a fancy city and full of elegancy and royality, walking around the city under 4 degrees finding my winter coat before going to France. Was a great holiday spending 2 nights with my friend, he showed me around the city including Towers of London, London Bridge...etc.

Since I was holding BA standby ticket so I decided to arrive early at LHR to get better chance to get a seat. The staff travel lounge was crowded with people traveling on standby condition, as well as BA staffs and crew. People waiting for their confirmation call, so I was anxious because the flight to Paris was quite full and only about 4 seats left meanwhile there were 5 persons listed on standby, thanks god I got luck and they gave me a seat...45 minutes later i was in CDG airport connencting my flight to Strasbourg...suddenly I couldnt find my standby ticket with Air France to Strasbourg!!! @@@@@@~~~~~ a bastard kept my ticket in the same envelop where I had all the tickets in there, including one standby ticket from Frankfurt to Dubai...lol...bad luck and good luck come at the same time! Since the ground staff didnt return me the envelop and i was on a rush to get to the gate in juts 20 minutes before the boarding is closed...huh! Anyway I bought a full fare round trip ticket from Paris to Strasbourg in the last minute, was so expensive but i had to do so otherwise I gotta stay one night in a hotel and catch a train the next day to Strasboug which means wasting my vacation for nothing. Get over it! I flew to Strasbough on the 17th night and finally met my friend after all the nightmare.

Strasbourg is really homy and cozy, alcesean style houses, an authentical city! Full of tourists from everywhere, there was a well known christmas market going on in Strasboug, amazing event where you can shop and taste the christmas! Vin Chod, hot wine! Lovely flavour, kept your body warm in a cold weather. We also visited the EU parlament and best of all we got in there! Wow~now i can say i have been to EU parlament! hahahaha~

Singapore & Melbourne

2009-01-01T09:41:00.000-08:00

This is a duty trip i did from Dec 11 to Dec 15, we had two 24 hours layover in Singapore plus 17 hours Melbourne layover... :(... yeah it is insane that we have this type of flight pattern. However this will eventually turn into a nice trip, starting february DXB SIN MEL SIN DXB will be a nice trip because Melbourne is gonna have 34 hours layover!!! which is absolutely great and that way crew can rest well instead of 17 hours sleeping without sightseeing.

This time I had my first layover in Melbourne and despite of its stormy weather that day, and moreover we delayed one hour departing from Singapore due to technical issue with the aircraft. First thing I did after arriving into Melbourne was to SLEEEEEEP, was exhausted. Next morning, I woke up a bit early and wanted to go to downtown for a walk...but but but...the weather was sooo stormy, windy plus rainy...the entire layover suddenly became a nightmare...when I asked the concierge for an umbrella unfortunately they ran out of them, so I had to walk out without it. Anyway, I poped on the tram and went to Melbourne downtown. In fact, I really like Melbourne due to its organized city design and people are very friendly. Walking around the shopping area and found a Coco chocolate store! Of course I ordered one pure hot chocolate, so rich and creamy, this is the best chocolate i have ever had.

Wish I can get a better Melbourne layover so I can visit some other sights as to know it better!

Singapore, was raining the way going and the way coming back...therefore this trip is a rainy trip, rain was following us from SIN to MEL and backworth...but Singapore is still one of my favourite destinations...LOVE YOU!

Happy New Year everyone! January roster has come...

2008-12-31T04:19:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!!!!

I just got off from Vienna flight and have been busy flying and sleeping...so almost no time to update my blog. Sorry for my followers and all public audience! hehehehe...I promise you guys to update pictures and journey as soon as possible. I went on vacation to London, Strasbourg and Paris. Then I missed my Hamburg flight...instead they gave me a Dhaka turn around...however I kept my Vienna! Ok...let's see my January roster, is not too bad but i am still trying to swap to trasnform my roster...hehehehe

Changes have been included after swaps...

1.1-1.3 OFF
1.4-1.7 Houston USA (Wow...going for shopping in A&F!!)
1.10-1.11 OFF
1.12-1.14 Beijing, China (After 5 months, PEK has come back to my roster...but now is freezing)
1.16-1.17 Vienna, Austria! (Oh yeah~i need this trip so bad to go on a Friday~)
1.19 Bahrain turn around
1.20-1.22 OFF
1.23-1.25 Perth, Australia (You are more than welcome to my roster! the only aussie destination i havent been to)
1.26-1.28 Casablanca, Moroco (Morocan bath again!)
1.29-1.30 OFF
1.31 Athens (Turn around!!! cant believe it...)

Keep discovering...

Warm regards,

On holidays in London and Paris!!!

2008-12-18T02:10:00.000-08:00

I will update my journey soon...had a fabulous time in London!!! now getting start my Paris trip! stay tunned!!!

São Paulo, Brazil...Obrigado!

2008-12-07T03:43:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah~São Paulo Brazil!!! I always want to go there and now finally I overcame my dream! Let's talk about ultra long haul flight...15 hours going to Sao Paulo and 13.30 coming back to Dubai~OMG...my first long haul flight and indeed was really tiring and exhausted! As per my friend's advice I took the second break which was only 4 hours and 30 minutes ...lol... huh....thanks god i managed to sleep and after woke up we had to set up the carts and prepare meals, was a different experience. Anyway, passengers were fine not so demanding however they enjoy gathering in our galley talking and talking, okay, I completely understand that because is a long flight and was FULL cabin in economy...i wouldn't have sit there throughout the flight.

We landed in Sao Paulo Guarulhos International Airport at 7:45pm, temperature was 17degrees C. Quite chilling though...we live in a great hotel! wow~the room was BIG and GORGEOUS...there is a hall walking to the bathroom and i got a nice view to Sao Paulo city, besides the entire room was just like a suite, best of all! Dunno why I felt soooo damn tired and sleepy, because I already made some plans to go out to experience brazilian night life...however, after having a drink with CA/FO/crews I FALLED ASLEEP~~~~couldn't wake up to catch a taxi...so I said to myself...28 hours layover in Sao Paulo is INSANE! I couldn't go many places specially night clubs since we arrived late and after 15 hours flight...so I am not a superman not even batman to do such crazy things. Hence, i decided to wake up early next day to go sightseeing and walk around in Sao Paulo.

Portugues is their official language, however you can still find some people who can somehow understand Spanish...I think they can understand more spanish better than spanish speakers understand portugues! Indeed, i could catch some words during a conversation, portugues sounds to me like a completely different language and probably Italian for me is easier to learn...well I guess...

I like Brazil, and brazilians are friendly, travelling by subway is a great deal instead of taxis. Whenever i got lost, I approached to people and asked them the direction to go, they could always show me the right way to get there. After having breakfast in the hotel, I took a taxi heading to PARQUE DE IBIRAPUERA, very green and fresh, people jogging and runng around the park, very healthy lifestyle! I forgot my tennis otherwise i would have gotten changed then join them! I felt the fresh air coming from every single leaf....ummmmm I need such pure oxygen to my lungs!!! In Dubai you rarely see those natural trees other than palms and sands...lol...

After visiting IBIRAPUERA park, I took a long walk about 20 minutes to catch subway...well this is the way to get around the city. No previous plan was made, I had a buffet lunch in Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant, so familiar to me and i loved it sooo much...delicious meal and for my surprise was crowded in lunch time! People in Brazil also love vegetarian meal hey~not only churrasqueria! (which means roasted beef in a metal stick then they cut it on your table). Walking in Consolação district I could really feel Sao Paulo, the financial center in Brazil and one of the most important in South America. Paulinista Avenue full of enterprises, business and shopps, next to it Rua Augusta, one of the famous night life areas where I should have gone to the night before. Next time...

Our company should arrange the layover time for us! is the way too short for crew to rest after a long flight! Why Houston got 48 hours layover and Sao Paulo only 28!? both have almost the same flight pattern but just 1 hour difference the way back...for me it is an ultra long flight! I talked to other airlines crew in the hotel, such as Delta, they came from Atlanta USA, 10 hours flight and they got 36 hours layover! even more than us! Why why why.... :-(((

Hopefully we open the route to Rio de Janeiro soon~hehehe inchala!

Johannesburg, no sightseeing....

2008-12-01T10:39:00.001-08:00

Well, this is my first Johannesburg and can you believe that I did not go for any sightseeing! Anyway, we left from Dubai at 4:20am...and i didn´t manage to sleep at all probably only 1 hour~upon our arrival into Johannesburg the weather was nice and lovely but i felt sooooo damn sleepy and tired, plus exhausted because we had a medical incident on board...

For my surprise I met one taiwanes crew, haven't seen her for ages...she was crew from another flight and we stayed in the same hotel. So Linda insisted me to have a lunch with her which I enjoyed apart from my tireness...after that I went out with 3 crew members to the shopping mall to have something to eat and just walked around, then we headed back to hotel to catch up some sleep zzzzzzzzzzzz............

After 4 hours resting on my bed, I woke up at 8pm and was starving...rather than asking for room service I went back to that shopping mall and found a lot of restaurants, and i ended up having my exotic and fancy dinner at a thai restaurant, cost me 108 rands was a good dinner though. And the next day basically i went back AGAIN to that shopping mall to have breakfast but this time with other 3 different crew who i met at the lobby by coincidence bcz they were about to head out for BF. blablablablabla~my 26 hours Johannesburg was over! and the way back to Dubai i was operating as Business Class crew, sooooo exciting and interesting! I loved it even though we took nearly 4 hours to do the full service, but was a fantastic experience for me and guess what! I finished successfully my 6 months probation!!! Dah....

COFFEE ART...so nice huh~

Edinburgh! You and your castles rock!

2008-11-30T09:05:00.000-08:00

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland since 1437. It is the seventh largest city in the United Kingdom and the second largest Scottish city after Glasgow. Edinburgh is one of Scotland's 32 loca government council areas. EK we only fly to GLASGOW instead of Edinburgh, personally, I prefer Edingburgh rather than GLA. We stayed in Glasgow downtown for 1 day, a short layover basically, however, I already made the plan to go to Edinburgh as soon as we arrive the hotel. Finally, 3 of us came to agreement and all of us were keen to visit this historical city in Scotland!

Edinburgh is also a busy, noisy place with a spectacular landscape of hills and crags. The buildings of this vibrant capital city, from the historic houses of the Royal Mile to the elegant Georgian terraces and crescents of the New Town, offer the perfect complement to the natural setting. The city's layout is linear, in a pattern set by Castle Rock and Castle Ridge, down which the Royal Mile descends to the palace of Holyroodhouse. North of this lies a shallow valley holding the lovely Princes Street Gardens, with Waverley Station, the city's main railroad station at the eastern end. Above the gardens, and to the north is Edinburgh's main street, Princes Street. This is an ideal vantage point from which to view the castle and Old Edinburgh.

We took the train, 45 minutes later we were in front of those gorgeous contemporaneous arquitectures, just like pictures, I loved them sooo much! Walking on the elegant streets brough me such a feeling as if I were born in the 15th century...The weather was chilling, cold, but not windy...between 1 and 0 degree...freezing! I bought 2 scarf with typical scottish design at only 12 pounds!

Edinburgh's famous castle is especially beautiful. Upon entering the city, it commands immediate attention. The eye of the visitor is drawn to the impressive structure rising high above everything else on its sheer granite cliffs. There are incredible panoramic views from the upper stories of the castle, including a clear view of the distant sea. The castle sits high on the huge rock formation that juts out as if in defiance of any who would seek to invade Edinburgh. Castle Rock, as it is known, is inaccessible on three sides, and has a long, descending ridge on the fourth side.

December Roster!

2008-11-30T07:54:00.000-08:00

For my surprise...my december roster is not bad at all! Only 1 turn around flight to Male, Maldives.

12.01-12.02 OFF
12.03-12.05 Sao Paulo, Brazil!!! Oh yeah...party!
12.06-12.10 OFF
12.11-12.15 Singapore & Melbourne (Only 17 hours in Melbourne...WTH~~~)
12.16-12.23 VACATION IN LONDON AND PARIS!!!
12.24 Rest Day
12.25 Dubai-Male-Dubai (hellooooooo~why give me a turn around for Christmas!!)
12.26-12.28 Hamburg, Germany!!!
12.29-12.30 Vienna, Austria!!! (2nd Vienna~loving it)
12.31 OFF...Okay no flight then my first New Year will be celebrated in Dubai!

In general, this is not a bad roster!!! compare to others...lol

Sunny Cape Town, quick sightseeing!

2008-11-23T00:40:00.000-08:00

Cape Town, is the second most populous city in South Africa, forming part of the metropolitan municipality of the City of Cape Town. It is the provincial capital of the Western Cape, as well as the legislative capital of South Africa, where the National Parliament and many government offices are located. Cape Town is famous for its harbour as well as its natural setting in the Cape floral kingdom, including such well-known landmarks as Table Mountain and Cape Point. Cape Town is one of the most popular South African destinations for tourism.

This flight most of the times is full of tourists and local people and the way back to Dubai was demanding as hell...don't know why? Drinking the way tooooo much and almost ran out of our wine stocks!!! By far this is the most demanding flight ever...Ok, back to the beautiful Cape Town, since we only have 24 hours layover for a 9 hours flight...uhhhhh~so annoying! I was damn tired after that sector and still had to meet up the crew in the lobby after getting changed in my room. Felt so sleepy and exhausted but couldn't waste my time on the bed...so yeah we took the shuttle bus to Water Front in which you can visit the harbour, shopping centre and nice restaurants...of course you gotta taste the authentic South African wines! Semi-sweet wine...which a lot of passengers had asked me for it on board~I am not a wine lover, so whatever~heee hee...

After clubbing the whole night, believe me~on Wednesday night everywhere was dead...not much to see plus we had a silly crew only brough his basketball short and one T-shirt to this beautiful city...I felt so unconfortable because most of the bars don't allow you in with shorts and tennis...but 3 of us went to have some drinks and he specially had his HOT TEA, because he was not feeling well and had sore throat...lol...plus his dress and hot tea...can you picture it???!!!

The next day one of the crew woke me up and convinced me to do a quick sightseeing with HOP ON & HOP OFF bus which I have never done before...and I definitely loved it! Only cost me 120 rands, so we left the hotel around 9:20am to catch the bus heading to the Table mountain and Camps bay beach!!! As shown on my photos below, as of a sudden, i falled in love with Cape Town, such a beautiful and charming city I have ever seen! Blue sky, blue water, white sands, table mountain, lion head, plus lovely people...there is a antique quote in China saying that: The perfect place always comes with mountain and water! which is true! no doubt! Hopefully I can visit Cape Town on my own in the near future!!!

Serious statement-cross cultural

2008-11-22T10:53:00.000-08:00

For those who had read my "Flatmate moved out" post and felt upset and angry specially regarding to such phrase "screening, no brazilian nor philipino" I would like to apologize and clearly state my position here again oficially:

Personally, I am not racist nor selective with any specific nationality. What I meant before was because my current flatmate he had certain issue and instances with their previous flatmate and I don't even know the history! What can I say about this? He said to me he doesn't want any of them...and for me I was shocked whatever he said...that's was definitely not what I wanted. He overreacted but still I am okay with ANYONE, ANY NATIONALITY. Tell you why?? My best friend is from Brazil, and I have couple friends from Philipine as well...so why would I say such stupid and impolite thing about those nationalities??? I think you (I really don't know who you are) misunderstood what I meant and never ever meant to hurt or damage any reputation of your people, however, the comments you left in my blog is absolutely unacceptable and absurd regarding to ME, all those words you used were even 10000000 times worse than being a racist! Who is racist now??? Costa Rica is famouse of picking pockets??? etc... PLEASE, you must reflect on the language and words you used here in my blog and at least respect the people who are reading them. My apologize to you that i didn't explain myself and you had misunderstood my post and the entire instance. Now, if there is anything you don't like about me PLEASE just ignore me, by the way I deeply love brazilian people and proud of being a costa rican! Be smart and open minded next time while reading my blog and leaving your comments in my blog. Hopefully you reflect on those bad words against me, and meditate your own action before criticize others.

I woule like to thank you for bringing me attention about my previous posts, and again no racist comment nor impolite comments will be accepted in this blog. Thank you and safe flying everyone!

Casablanca! Morrocan tea and bath~

2008-11-21T09:21:00.000-08:00

Instead of going to Seychellez 4.5 hrs going and coming back as a regular turn around flight, I swapped it out for a never been destination...CASABLANCA, MORROCO!!! I have been told that Casablanca is a really bad flights, passengers are demaning etc...well but for me i found this flight sooo much easier than UK or other Indian flights...really, even they are demanding but still I managed to answer all the call bells and meet their requests...as a team in Y/C we worked so hard but we kept the work load equally fair!

Upon our arrival to the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Casablanca, was a nice hotel but small room...anyway, cost saving for the airlines! Three of us (one from brazil and one from UK) we went to have a typical morrocan bath which means they scrub your skin and remove all dead skins we got for yearrrrrs...was quite weird though...they asked us to remove all cloth except underwear and then send us to the steam room to open our poles for about 10 minutes then one guy for each one...(not sexual thing hey~man to man and woman to woman, we were in a male only area and the other girl she was sent to female area alone...poor her~) the morrocan asked me to lay down so he could start with his technique scrubbing my skin with some tough and raugh cloth...here and there...without touching my prohibited area! of course not!!! Sometimes i felt painful and but relaxing since someone is washing me away those dirts! hahahaha~the other brazilian crew he felt the same, but was his idea to come to do this exceptional bath, if something bad happened here, he would be in trouble with me! hahaha~thanks god we came out from Le Pacha Spa with a new skin and fresh touch...feeling like a baby hey~

At night we went to have a typical morrocan tea which is made of mint, taste sweet but refreshing at the same time~! Unfortunately people in morroco don't speak much english, only arabic and french...sometimes italian...anyway, none of us speak their language therefore body language was applied once again to get our meal choice! This is the funny thing travelling around the world meeting different culture and people. That's how I like being a steward!

When you go to Casablanca, you can't skip without visiting the biggiest mosque in the world called "Hassan II". The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca was completed in 1993 after great expense and artistic labor, and the result is one of the largest and most beautiful mosques in the world. Its gleaming newness and tremendous wealth is a stark contrast against the rest of Casablanca. Designed by French architect Michel Pinseau, construction of the Hassan II Mosque began in July 1986 on land reclaimed (without compensation to the former residents) from a run-down area near the sea. The goal for completion of the mosque was King Hassan II's 60th birthday in 1989, but it ended up not being finished until August 30, 1993.

It is really amazing also a big wide square where you have to aross to approach the mosque, marvellous construction along with the arabic and north african belief, come to a big picture in front of me, this is just a moment to feel their pride in Morroco!

Flatmate moved out...

2008-11-11T04:52:00.000-08:00

Have been living here in 21st Century Tower for 2 months...suddenly one of my flatmates got a memo from accomodation dept saying that he has been offered a single accomodation since he is SFS (Senior Flight Steward), but the new building is located in Al Qusais, close to Sharjah...Stefan didn`t like the place at all but he couldn't say NO to the memo, otherwise he would be taken off from the waiting list for single apt application!! How ironic...anyway he moved out and me...as a good flatmate...i helped him move stuffs from 33rd floor to the ground then send them to his friends car...back and forth...we did at least 5 trips...up and down...finally he got everything on the car except himself....hahahahahahahahaha~~~ all his friends left with all the stuffs without him...i was in the kitchen preparing my dinner, he knocked the door and i was like...hey~what's wrong?? He said...oh my god! my friends left, 3 cars, and none of them took me!!! Now I am here and my stuffs are on the way to my new apartment! hahahahahaha~~~i couldn't stop laughing...was so ridiculous but hilarious enough!!! How comes people left him and only took his stuffs??!! I would have killed them alllllll....

well, he rang one of his friend to come back and pick him up! This is end of the story with this crazy and funny flatemate Stefan from Serbia. Now we are getting a lot of visits from other crew who want to move in...but my other flatmate is rigurous on picking and screening our future flatmate...since i am junior here i can't really decide anything though. He had couple issues and instances with previous flatmates before...that's why he has to be picky a bit.

FOR ME...As long as the new flatmate is considerable and respect everyone in the apartment despite of his nationality, then I am cool with that! So let's see who is gonna be selected for the new flatmate!

Yeah~another Singapore and Brisbane trip! 9 days...

2008-11-08T05:44:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned before, I was pulled out on the 30th of Octuber to Singapore and Brisbane plus shuttle to Auckland, in total 9 days trip! Well, nothing new to me because I did this trip already back in September. A lot of people want it so bad, for me this trip is just perfect to black out my reserve days for 9 days in a row! But also something made me really excited is because I love Australia a lot and Singapore for shopping some chinese veggies and vegan ingridents for my kitchen hey!

When I met the entire crew was nice, the purser was a funny man and he even took one bar cart during our service in economy! such a nice man~I haven't seen one purser doing this before, well quite nice to see that...okay there's something needing to mention about...@@@@@

From Singapore to Brisbane I volunteered to take the mid galley and that was my second time doing it, in fact, the first time was the same sector as well. So everything was just running smoothly as planned, until just minutes before we started the second meal (continental breakfast) was an easy service though, only had to set up 2 bar carts and 2 meal carts were already done only had to put crossants and yellas~(in arabic...which means go!) So something unusual happened, the captain elevated the aircraft and acelerated to climb more altittud, hence, this action caused the entire aircraft went up and became a bit shaky and then more shaky...okay what I want to say is the bar carts were already set up and being positioned by the LR3 door, basically in front of 3 passengers~! After those shaking moments, the right hand side bar cart with tea and coffee on it FALLED DOWN ON THE PASSENGERS!!!

Yeah~OHHHHHH MYYYYYY GOOOOOOOOD!!! I heard of people screaming and at that moment there were other crew in my galley, inmediately I went out to check what was going on in the cabin? HOLLY SHIIIIIIIIT....two passengers were hit by the cart and tea and coffee spreaded all over the seat and of course some of the hot liquid were unfortunately on their hands and legs...this was a complete chaos! The SFS ran to the cabin and tried to help...the purser came, everybody came literally...well the first thing was to remove all the mess and grab the first aid kit to render first aid! Silverdizine and bandage were used, one of the passenger had a slight leg scratch and the other lady had her arm slightly burned by the hot liquid! We did everything possible to avoid further injury, covered their seats with more blankets and offered them recovering service, such as wine and champagne things like that...well, all of us aplogized to them and apologize was accepted by them, both of them were not upset and were calm...therefore we thought they were fine with it and were not going to complain about this incident, since there is no one's fault...probably CAPTAIN'S fault...because he elevated the aircraft without previous notice, he said he was trying to avoid the turbulance...blablabla~he did all the way back too! Anyway...the passenger wrote an email to Emirates asking for an explaination of the incident !!! Such annoying thing ahhhhh...the SFS and the purser have to reply the company about every single detail of that accident on board, could be a serious issue if they want to sue the company for $$$...hopefully not!

Apart from that unfortune thing, the 9 days trip was very pleasant and relaxing, again I went to koala sanctuary with the crew...couldn't go to the gold coast because last day was raining a lot...as a result of it, I stayed my day around the hotel, had something to eat and go back to have a good rest before flying back to Singapore!

Singapore is a heaven for shopping, and for me as a vegetarian, I found a restaurant with tons of vegetarian ingridents such as vegetarian ham, ball, etc...i was sooo happy so i bought a lot! Threating myself with goooooood vegan food!!! Poor me~flying so much and so tiring...of course I deserve some good food, unlike here in Dubai, in the desert, veggies are so freaking expensive and not many options for vegan life...that's why I love Singapore sooooo much! Specially, I met a nice guy in Singapore this time... :-))

Surprise for my airport standby!!!

2008-11-01T05:47:00.000-07:00

First all, I was soooooooo~lucky! On the 30th airport standby after 10 minutes waiting with my laptop opened...scheduling called my staff number 392011!!! i was shocked...so quick!? Then I approached to his desk and ask where I have been pulled out for? He said: You are going to Singapore & Brisbane 9 days trip!!! I was ufffff...thanks god I packed my suitcase for 9 days as well. Suddenly all the people around were looking at me enviciously~Well this is my second SIN BNE trip which I did it first time in Sept. Now Singapore is still hot and humid as always, however Brisbane is having its lovely spring! I am loving this job now~~

Hello~ here is the new updated roster after all my effort on swapping flights!

Nov 1-7 Singapore and Brisbane trip! (Starting on Oct 30th)
Nov 8-12 Reserve
Nov 13-14 OFF
Nov 15 Dubai-Casablanca, Marruecos (Oh yeah~Northen africa! Exotic)
Nov 17 Casablanca-Dubai
Nov 18 Cochin, India (lol...again! Wanna call sick though...)
Nov 19-21 Cape Town (wow~I got it too! South Africa, I am coming!)
Nov 22.23 OFF
Nov 24-26 Dubai-Glasgow, Scotland (Lovely city but it will be very cooooold~)
Nov 27 Rest Day
Nov 28-30 Johannesburg, South Africa again!

I am loving this job seriously!

Writting this blog at a cyber cafe in Brisbane...

November roster! Magic works~~~

2008-10-28T07:51:00.000-07:00

Well, this is the new roster! With my expertise on swapping flights...this is what I got finally!

Nov 1-12 RESERVE (i went on leave for 2 weeks...that's why my reserve has been extended..)
Nov 13-14 OFF
Nov 15 Dubai-Casablanca, Marruecos (Oh yeah~Northen africa! Exotic)
Nov 17 Casablanca-Dubai
Nov 18 Cochin, India (lol...again! trying to swap it out)
Nov 19 Rest Day
Nov 20 Dubai-London Heathrow (Layover 24hrs...trying to swap it out)
Nov 21 London-Dubai
Nov 22.23 OFF
Nov 24 Dubai-Glasgow, Scotland (Lovely city but will be very cold!)
Nov 26 Glasgow-Dubai
Nov 27 Rest Day
Nov 28 Dubai-Johannesburg, South Africa
Nov 30 J.burg-Dubai

How nice is now my roster! hahahaha~~~ :-)

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania! FIRST AFRICA!

2008-10-28T05:42:00.000-07:00

I was on standby 5 which means from 04:00 to 12:00 and i had a bad sleep after 4am i couldn´t sleep anymore so i kept checking my roster but nothing had come up...after 1 hour finally i falled asleep thinking that they might not pull me out for any flight! uhhh~7:15 in the morning the phone rang! since i was very sleepy so whatever the scheduling said i only heard i was pulled out for xxxxx salam or sort of eran...suddenly i understood Tehran (Iran, turn around flight...) so i woke up so mad and asked him again..excuse me! where i am going again? So he cleared his throat and said to Dar es Salaam! OH THANKS GOD! Now i am happy!!! hahaha~because is one of the best hotel we stay, so i said to myself this is another 24 hours hotel vacation!

Fair enough, I stayed with the crew in the Kempinski Kilimanjaro Hotel which is located close to the sea port from there you can see the boats and local people walking in front of the hotel...swimming pool is so cool, such as gym, spa and guest room everything is great! except the restaurant in the looby where we had our dinner and had the worst experience ever, it took nearly 1 hour to delever our meal and drinks and some of the meals specially lamb was not cooked perfectly upon request, so including the purser Andrea and another egyptian girl requested the lamb to be cooked again only for "couple minutes" but they redid the entire dish...so it took another 30 minutes, which was absolutely ridiculous and not acceptable at all! Finally the purser went to talk to the waiter and told him she didn't want her meal anymore, she had lost her appetise and no longer hungry (but angry...) however the waiter kept apologizing and saying he had stayed in the kitchen to ensure the meat was cooked perfectly but Andrea and the other girl were very pissed off and rejected the meal. well...after the that fight we went to the bar to have a drink and this time was quick though!

Breakfast buffet was really amazing and was free for the guest! After having a good breakfast i rested a bit and headed to gym to work out some muscles and burn out some excess fat! Just before our next flight back to Dubai I had 1 hour nap which was really helpful to keep me enegized for the next flight eh~

Another thing to mention about this African trip is the flight condition, both flights were very bumpy and windy....specially the way going to Dar es Salaam, was my first time felt air sickness! not only me but other crews felt the same as well...such a bad experience and for the return flight we were doing the bar service while the captain requested us to take our seat inmediately due to the unexpected turbulance was soooo bad! I felt sick again~lol~ I said if every DAR flight is this bad, I will not do this flight anymore! But apart from this, the entire crew was lovely and people were not demanding (only couple of them...) I remember one passenger was touching the damn call bell every 3 minutes, and that drove my nut and insane! We told him and explained him not to touch the call bell unless he really needs something!! GUESS WHAT! He started to ask drinks and drinks...i mean very weired passenger!

Pax A: Coffee and Pepsi!

Me: I am sorry did you say Coffee and Pepsi???!!!

Pax A: Yes! (But I thought he only said pepsi, because his english was so poor and didn't mean to say coffee, because i never heard of coffee and pepsi before!)

After 2 minutes, I went to his seat to give him his pepsi then he found out there was no COFFEE so very deseperately asked me WHERE IS THE COFFEE? And I said, Sir give me one moment i will bring it to you! Ok~

Sir, here you go! bastard!...well i said bastard in my mind...hahahaha~

As a flight attendant, there are times you can encounter weird and unfriendly passengers with abnormal requests...don't be surprised! For this kind of flight, everything could happen really!

Time to return to Dubai...desert!?

2008-10-22T14:22:00.000-07:00

Time really flies! 2 weeks is over and finally got on the plane and flew back to Dubai (another long hours trip)...such a long flight~3 hours and 20 minutes from San Jose to Houston, then 6 hours boring transit at the airport...at last, 14 hours and 20 minutes from Houston to Dubai NON STOP! Thanks god this time I managed to sleep 9 hours because no people were sitting next to me, so 3 seats became my bed! then only woke up to eat then went back to sleep...until we landed into Dubai. As I figured out already, we were parked to the brand new terminal 3 in Dubai International Airport, which is stunning and well organized plus its brand new design made me feel really special for this welcome back home~! The whole process to go through immigration and baggage claim was smooth and easy to find the way out...caught a taxi and here I am...in my flat, 21st Century Tower on the Sheikh Zayed Road.

Hard to describe what I am feeling now here, at a sudden i was in Costa Rica...20 hours later i am here in Middle East...what a big change! No time to feel strange at anything...everything is normal, I can feel Dubai seems to be my second home town now! yes i know, but you won't believe me...I still miss Costa Rica a lot, my family and my friends! See you guys next year!

Cahuita beach! Costa Rica, my sweet home!

2008-10-22T13:21:00.000-07:00

I had the best vacation ever in Costa Rica, my sweet home! After spending 2 weeks with my family and my dear friends (even though some of them I couldn't see bcz i had no car!...please don't hate me those who are reading my blog now~~~) Basically I arranged a weekend to go to the beach and having fun with my best friend Josue! We had so much fun, originally our plan was going to Pacific coast but unfortunately it had been raining tremendously so roads were being covered by floods...sadly we had to change our destination to caribbean coast where the weather was fabulous and sunny! BIG CONSTRAST WITH PACIFIC COAST.

We rented a car and spent 2 nights in Cahuita, one of the famous beaches in Costa Rica. Caribbean coast has its particular characteristc and its people bring thousands and thousands tourists to this beautiful site! Cahuita has a very natural beach and forest, being that said, a national park to conserve this god blessed land and avoid being demaged by humans. Therefore, you can see all kinds of wild animals in the park...well I only saw couple of white face monkeys and snake skin...we walked at least hour and falf to reach the farest point of Cahuita, Punta Cahuita. White sands and choral around us, such a paradise! all worth it for walking that long...

I will recommend you guys to visit Costa Rica and don't forget to spend couple days in our natural and gorgeous beaches! TICOS we all love our natural spots such as beaches, volcanos and rivers!

At home! Finally

2008-10-10T07:39:00.000-07:00

After 20 hours trip from Dubai to San Jose Costa Rica...uhhhh...I was dead! Such a tiring trip but finally we landed despite of turbulance due to storm in Costa Rica! Really, compared Continental Airline to us...they are far behind us...the aircraft we went on had no entertainment system at all, no music, no headset...such a POOR airline and was cramped! My colleague and I we were being assigned to the last row where seats are not reclinable! Anyhow, I managed to sleep a bit...definitely I love Emirates!

Costa Rica, as now is the rainy season and therefore it is raining everyday! Missing the rain by the way...After woke up the next day I had to go to reactivate my mobile phone since it had been disconnected since August...can't believe I could recover my original number without asking for it...
I really miss a lot my friends here in Costa Rica, I have to organize my 14 days holidays here to visit all of them and of course catch up the old times...hehehe!

Beirut before my leave...

2008-10-04T15:33:00.000-07:00

Just checked my roster, and for my surprise they rostered me for Beirut flight on Monday Oct 6th departure time 17:00 coming back on the 7th at 01:00...which means I am not assigned to any home standby or airport standby...and I can change my travel date back home to the 7th too! well could be...I am not sure, Houston flight departs at 9am..so that means also i can still come to me flat and pack my stuffs then get a cab straight down to the airport! Such a rush trip!

At least i gain 1 more day for my vacation! that´s absolutely fine...since i can sleep on the way to Houston! Flight load is very light and that will give me a full row of 4 seats to sleeeeeeeep... I don´t care THIS TIME! I will be a passenger (well...I will be identified as EK STAFF on the PL-PASSENGER LIST) but anyway i am not crew this time. uhhhhh! 16 hours flight is waiting for me...the good thing is that I will be flying with Javier, one of the costarican crew and also my neighbour in CR! YES VIVA COSTA RICA!

My dream is to fly!!

2008-10-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

Gosh...my first standby was today from 4am to 12md, couldn´t sleep well because i was thinking about when the phone is gonna ring and where i am going to! Unfortunately...Mr Scheduling missed me and didn´t call me during that long 6 hours! I already have 2 days OFF, now they gave me another 2 days off until Oct 6th...I don´t want so many days off and I don't need them at least you give me 4 days off at a time so I can go home earlier!! scheduling is just joking me!!! If you want me on standby please GIVE ME A FLIGHT! or GIVE ME DAYS OFF to hit my annual leave!!! this reserve month is killing me...

Just went to Mall of the emirates...full of people due to today is weekend and Ramadan holiday...so I couldn´t wait to get home, and while stepping out of the mall and...i found the taxi queue was soooo long... well let's say this is normal in Dubai, why am i surprised for? hahaha...lol

I want to do a short turn around flight or a short layover so I can go home on the 8th! Otherwise this month is gonna be sooooo poooor. :-#

Ramadan is over!

2008-10-02T06:32:00.000-07:00

What is Ramadan?
Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar. Every day during this month, Muslims around the world spend the daylight hours in a complete fast.

During the blessed month of Ramadan, Muslims all over the world abstain from food, drink, and other physical needs during the daylight hours. As a time to purify the soul, refocus attention on God, and practice self-sacrifice, Ramadan is much more than just not eating and drinking.

During Ramadan, every part of the body must be restrained. The tongue must be restrained from backbiting and gossip. The eyes must restrain themselves from look at unlawful things. The hand must not touch or take anything that does not belong to it. The ears must refrain from listening to idle talk or obscene words. The feet must refrain from going to sinful places. In such a way, every part of the body observes the fast.

After introducing this religious tradition in Muslim country such as UAE, we know understand how important it is for us to respect their culture living in this country. Indeed, we shouldn´t be eating or drinking in front of them during the day, it is considered unacceptable even though you are not muslim. To learn how to respect people is a must living here, however, being respected is a challenge I must say!

Yes this is the taxi queue in Deira City Centre! sometimes could be more than that...i gues about 500 meters!

For example, taxi drivers are not always polite and friendly depending on their moods if they want to take you to the place you want to go...they stop the car and ask where are you going? and then you tell them the place name (i.e City Centre mall, is in Deira and close to Sharjah, usually a lot traffic) and some of them could have drove away and left you as an idiot standing there...some of them nicely made some excuses and said my time is over, can´t take you....(so why you stopped then!!?? it is senseless...they work but they choose people and destinations!)

Taking a taxi here in Dubai is insane and crazy sometimes, believe me oftenlyake 1 hour waiting in a shopping centre within a taxi queue...yes i mean queue to wait for a taxi!!! such a drag! Now teh government is enjoying their 4 days holidays after finishing the Ramadan month... Henceforward, all the stores are now open during the day and eating outside is no longer an impossibility! hey, and therefore people start eating as they haven´t eaten for ages...lol

check this out! http://www.videosift.com/video/Nandos-Ramadan-Advert-very-funny

This is true, but once again RESPECT please! Don´t show your teeth while laughing...

白爛對話

2008-09-29T12:13:00.000-07:00

白爛對話...

雞: 熊貓好玩嗎? 你有沒有跟他打架? 他有沒有表演虎鶴雙形??
羊: 沒有他們大多都在昏睡不過有一隻很活躍大概跟你一樣
雞: 那蛇拳呢?
羊: 想太多他連賣麵都不會還蛇拳
雞: 噗就是照片裡這張在小溪邊表演洗澡秀的這隻嗎? 還小露黑色香肩一下
羊: 西低光天化日三點全露一刀未剪超級香豔板
雞: 有啊他有穿啦羊: 穿個屁啦
雞: 黑色的部分就是他的衣服
羊: 黑色丁字褲喔 (來自宇宙雞的謎之音: 誰剛說誰很天真了?)
雞: 而且還戴眼罩和耳罩只是大陸那麼熱帶耳罩不熱嗎
羊: 那是熊貓界的流行你不懂就不要批評這個流行已經很久了但歷久不衰
雞: 那也流行個幾百年了這太久了啦已經過氣了
羊: 像你還不是四季都穿得很露熊貓也沒說你沒sense
雞: 就像你去中南部看到的閃亮魚鱗裝到了國外發現也有台灣女生去夜店穿你會覺得這是流行咩? 還是說哀ㄜ~~~三十年前的東西還在穿
羊: 反正人貓殊途啦

傑: 哈明明就是黑色四角褲
雞: 他沒有!!! 你們都亂講他穿的是黑色連身泳衣明明人家就很保守**(看出疑點了沒??)
傑: 不是兩截式的嗎這麼悶艘
雞: 所以熊貓來中東一定很受歡迎因為連眼罩都帶了
超級保守傑: 來中東是黑熊比較受歡迎
全身都罩著雞: 靠那白熊不就會被逮捕了? 妨害風化!
傑: 不會啦他們都在北極

Octuber, My Reserve month...means standing by for 35 days...

2008-09-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

September 26th...the exiciting day for most of the crew because the roster has been released...many happy faces but also frustrating ones....and what about me? I AM ON RESERVE NEXT MONTH!!! what can i say about it? I had experienced that uncertain CU (CAN USE) after we graduated from training college and i got 3 turn arounds and 2 layovers. Now is actually a LONG RESERVE...35 days per Emirates rule. But something makes me happy is because I have 14 days leave to go home! Costa Rica! Pura vida!

No idea what flights they will give me, no idea when can be pulled out. Turn around or layover? Please give me only layovers....hehehe thanks a lot Mr Scheduling!!! No standby 3 please!!! Give me only Standby 1 or Standby 5...no airport standby because suitcase is heavy and don´t want to take it back home after 6 hours waiting for nothing! Or if you want to give me airport standby please do give me layovers otherwise why i have to pack my suitcase then...hehehe.

After having 2 brilliant rosters consecutively, now is the time to be surprised by Mr Scheduling. People being on reserve this month are not lucky, because of Ramadam and no one wants to stay in Dubai...few people called-reported sick...one of my friend actually had only 4 flights...3 turn arounds and finally gave him a layover in Perth. The other one only got 3 turn arounds...sucks...a poor month ah! No flights no pay...come on, I got paid 86.69 hours for August! I need to fly a lot before and after my leave, best regards!

(Seems like i am writing an email to Scheduling...lol)

韩国, 汉城 서울（Seoul），South Korea

2008-09-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

Flying over Himalaya!! Wow we were at 36000 feet...

After Japan obviously you must see Korea! So i got Seoul as well...lucky?! hahaha yeah i guess so.

Seoul, one of the crowdest city in the world...is true! But also its skyline is cool as well. Namsam tower located on the mountain close to Itaewon (clubbing area). The way going to Seoul was less than 8 hours (can't believe it was so quick) but the way back took almost 10 hours though! 9 out of 16 crews were Koreans!!! So basically I felt like i worked for Korean Air...lol how funny is that.

The hotel was quite nice and the subway system is just so complicated to me...from the hotel to Itaewon we spent almost an hour because had to change 2 lines of subway...but is cheaper taking subway than taking a cab. We had the best allowance in Emirates 170300 won (iguals to 170 USD) for 30 hours layover including 2 diners, 1 breakfast and 1 lunch!!! With that money i covered my meals and gifts and still $34 left for my wallet! Good deal hey!

Gyeongbok Palace, you can't skip it! It is a historic and memorial palace where you can see how Korean culture was created and some similarity with Chinese culture, in fact, either Japan or Korea was influenced by Chinese culture, was founded by chinese more than thousands years ago. But i can tell the physical difference between a japanese and a korean... :-D

Seoul is quite expensive though if you don't care enough money with you...talking about food..."kim chi" is their typical and traditional entrees, for me the spicy level was overwhelming!!! so RED and so much garlic...i still love taiwanese kim chi (we call it "Pau Chai" in mandarin) it is mild spicy and taste better not too garlicky.

I had a great time with a libanese crew because we went out together and most importantly we took photos to each other...that's what crews are for!? :-P

日本国 Japan!! 大阪 Osaka...irasshaimase！いらっしゃいませ

2008-09-27T09:47:00.000-07:00

いらっしゃいませ...means welcome in Japanese.

No complains to my roster, just perfect. I got Osaka, Japan 30 hours layover! Too short to get to know this awesome city and charming culture...it is a pity that Emirates flies daily to Osaka~

After 9 hours flying over himaraya and Beijing...finally we landed at the Kansai International Airport which is built on an human made island. It is huge but well friendly designed so you won't get lost! Osaka is a beautiful city, commercial and tourist travelers favourite city in Japan. Personally I enjoyed japanese culture and people are just so educated...so nice to meet them everytime you walk in a store all you can hear is "irasshaimase!" welcoming you to their store, and always smiling at you. Even though you can't speak japanese they threat you as they do with locals. The most challenging thing is to pronounce their street name and get a cab where the driver can speak a bit english...anyway I had a great time in Osaka!

Next day i took a train to Kyoto (is located north of Osaka) 35 minutes only. The way going took longer because I took the "ALL STOPS" train instead of "EXPRESS"... hence took me almost an hour to get there. Kyoto is famous of temples and is the oldest city in Japan (that's what i heard...), you can't go to Osaka without visiting Kyoto at the same time! Is charming and adorable, people told me to come back in autum to see maple leaves falling...and all brown! how exciting...hopefully Scheduling officer will give me Osaka by then...(finger crossed!!)

I went to visit one of the nearest temple close to Kyoto Station, took some photos and feed those crazy doves flying around me to get those corns on my hand...annoying though! some even grabbed my shoulder! quite scary...hahaha.

Back to the beautiful Osaka, I had the local food which was yummy loved how they prepared the food for you and add all garnishes to your plate as it looks too gorgeours to eat. Salad noodles was my first time having it...is a cold dish but really flavourful and tasty, for the desert i had Creme bulle...they only make 20 per day! And i had one of them...heavenly texture and flavour was great! Such a nice french desert in Japan! can wait to actually taste french one, maybe when I get Paris flight.

I love Osaka...see you soon!

Brilliant Singapore and Koala´s hometown...Brisbane!

2008-09-27T07:48:00.000-07:00

Well...i finally got the longest 9 days trip in Emirates, consisting of Singapore and Brisbane and shuttle to Auckland. 2 days in SIN and 4 days in BNE. Tell you guys the reason why I wouldn´t mind doing this flight every month:

1. Good allowance in BNE, we got 423 AUD which equals to almost 400 USD!!! Money saving and have days off out of Dubai.

2. Is a 9 days trip, therefore I can get away from DUBAI oven for a while!!!

3. Singapore is a brilliant city very organized and basically I can eat a lot of Bread talk´s!!! (yummy)

4. Brisbane is Koala´s hometown, and I deeply love Koala!!! Go to Koala Sanctuary and you can also see Kangaroos and actually feed them. They are so lazy to get up...and there you can cuddle koalas! (YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR THE PHOTO...)

Singapore, just lovely. So tiny but so busy, too small to be seen on the map, but too attractive and brilliant to be ignored! More you see more you like. From Chingi International Airport to Subway, and from streets to restaurants...all well done and organized in a friendly way. You barely see a rubbish on the floor, sometimes I asked how they did it! Chowing gums is prohibitted and punished by law! Well people, wake up now...this is how Singapore being named as the best city, best airport, best airline!

Brisbane, located at Australia eastern coast, 729kms from the capital Sydney. After previous Bangkok and Sydney flight, this is my second Australian flight in 2nd month flying with Emirates. I can tell ya...I love Australia and can actually live there!!! People are nice (friendly and physically talking...) everything looks so nice, not much contamination and easy to hang around the city. A lot of fabulous places to visit during summer or winter. As I pointed out before, Koalas and Kangaroos are his prides. I missed the trip to Sunshine coast and Gold Coast because I went to see those cute and cuddly animals, as most of the crew had done that before already...i had to go there alone by taking a bus and the Koala Sanctuary is only 45 minutes away from Brisbane city.

CLUBBING....LET´S GO!

Shall I bid for this flight again? Oh yeah...definitely!

Moscow! Red Square plus cold weather and cold people!!!

2008-09-23T01:01:00.000-07:00

I was crazy though...after BKK and SYD flight the next day i did the swapped flight to Moscow!!! Always wanted to go there, since last month they changed my Moscow to Vienna which was not bad at all...but still i need to go there to have a look!

The flight time was short enough, less than 5 hours, great crew and passengers were not very demanding as usual, russian people drink a lot (no doubts!) oftenly they come to the galley and ask for more drinks...beers, vodka, whisky, whatever you have left in the bar carts...give it to them! They are happy drunks! lol...

From the airport to the hotel took nearly one hour, the traffic was horrible...but the other crew who had been there before said sometimes it takes 2 hours!!! my gosh...we only have 24 layover in Moscow, minus 2 hours coming and 2 hours going back...only 20 hours left...minus sleep...is no longer 24 hrs! After we reached the hotel (Holliday Inn) we got changed and took the subway to Red Square! I was soooo impressed of those Russian people, as cold as the weather, it was begining of September, and the temperature was 10 degrees Celsius! Why COLD PEOPLE, because most of them don´t even have facial expression, not really nice to talk to. I was wondering why they couldn´t even say hi back to you when I was boarding passengers. Only when they want to order alcohol and that´s when they open their mouth and be nice with you...so bad. On the other hand, we went to exchange some US dollars to russian rubos, the COLD and VERY COLD lady returned my money without saying a word!!! so COLD...i was freaked out. :-////

Finally I saw those colorful churches and red sqaure of course, being my first visiting Moscow, I was quite {lucky} because the access to Colorful Churches (castles...) was closed!!! @X$%^&... due to some even and improvement going on there...sadly I could only take photo from Red Square as you can see on my photos...a bit far from where i was standing, but fair enough at least i saw it!

The next day I went to have my first russian breakfast, indeed for me was like any western breakfast, coffe, eggs, and some weird SWEET pancake with cheese and potato...there is not much to see in 24 hours, hopefully will get another Moscow to see those colorful churches closer...because i could hear the song...COME CLOSER! COME CLOSER~~

count how many russian dolls are there on the table, actually they were all inside the big one and we had to open one by one...the last one was soooo kawaiii (japanes means cute/adorable)

Bangkok and Sydney in 7 days!

2008-09-21T11:52:00.001-07:00

Need to catch up with the delayed posts...has been couple weeks flying and lazy enough to update my blog, my apologize to those who are following my journey so far.

I got a nice long trip about 7 days to Bangkok and Syney then shuttle flight to Auckland. First of all, I really enjoyed Bangkok stay specially their Budhism culture and friendly people, and of course the famous Thai massage which was soooo relaxing and made me feel sleepy before the flight. In total we stayed 2 days in Bangkok and 3 days in Sydney. 2 crews and myself we took a boat to visit the temple, unfortunately the Grand Palace was closed that day so we changed the plan to visit only temples and then way down to MBK which is a big shpping centre for those who enjoy buying stuffs without caring if is fake or real brand...anyway shopping is a must do thing in Bangkok even though bargaining there is not like China, but still you can bargain for a good price! Believe this time i did learn to be smart and bought a lot of things to bring back home. Bangkok was quite hot since is summer...after finishing my shopping went back to hotel for a good massage then rest about 2 hours for the next flight.

Sydney, a lovely city, very modern and at the same time is a friendly city. One of the crew is Ran from China, very nice person and after we arrive the hotel at 8:00, the first thing was to sleep couple hours before heading out to Sydney downtown. We had a 15 minutes walk to china town to have our lunch and then walk around the city so he showed me some cool places to hang out and dinning sites. Finally I saw the beautiful Opera House... was a dream? Nooo...was for real! I was actually in front of it...so exciting! Then the second day along with some other crew and first officer we took a ferry to Manly, was extremely cold and windly, i know it was winter season but still...COLD! We had lunch and walked a bit sightseeing after all then head back to hotel for some drinks. It's definitely a good deal having lunch or dinner in the hotel, because as cabin crew we are offered 50% discount on the total bill...such a great deal, so turned out to be much cheaper than you going outside. Besides, it was a french restaurant, quite fancy and their food was well prepared!

Even though it was a 7 days trip, the crew was overall nice and helpful throughout the flights we did. I didn't have enough time to get to know Sydney better, but 3 days was enough to visit the biggest and most famous sites in Sydney. Didn't see koalas but stay tunned...my Brisbane trip is coming up!!

Hong Kong! The Oriental Pearl

2008-09-19T10:54:00.001-07:00

Swap system really helped! I swapped my 3 days off with Hong Kong flight just right after my Jakarta...i came back from Jakarta on the 15th and the next day I did HKG flight! How crazy is that...I want Hong Kong so bad, and now i want it i got it!

Such a beautiful and amazing city...so tiny but so brilliant! Is too small to believe it is one of the busiest community and bring millions and millons visitors every year to this fabulous place. Now they have Disney too!! I had no time to visit evey single place, only did some sight seeing and hanging around the shopping area...25 hrs layover @X%$#^! what happened to my company...they always give us such a short layover in a big city! why they don't give us 72 hours layover in HKG instead of Jakarta...lol

Anyway, can't really do many things in HKG...great food, great buildings, great people...I am first time so close to Taiwan after 13 years away from him...i was thinking 45 mins i could have taken a flight to Kaohsiung...sadly I couldn't since this is a 25 hrs layover not 72...otherwise i would have done that...hahaha.

Asian Big Apple...see ya soon~!

Jakarta!

2008-09-19T10:54:00.000-07:00

So tiring after flying 1 month from the desert to Jakarta, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Sydney, Moscow, Singapore, Brisbane and Osaka...finally I have 4 days OFFFFF to blogging a bit and update my journey with EK.

Back to 1 month ago I went to Jakarta for 3 days layover which was quite long for Jakarta! Why? Because there is not much to see in there, besides animal wild safari and shopping, there is really not much to do though! The traffic is horrible and mosquitos attack in the hotel was a night mare... plus the ghosty and spooky stories with that hotel really scared me! To be honest someone knocked my door at the second night...was midnight and i heard it!!! Really weird noise from the bathroom as well, however, i was quite calm and did not want to check the origin of those NOISE @%$#X Animal Safari was amazing, the first time being so close to those wild animal such as tiger, lion and panther...there was a malteese crew he wanted us to keep the window open...what the fuck!? if he wanted to be eaten then nobody cares, but we were all fresh meat for them!!! i tried to keep my window close but kept a 5 cms gap to take photos of them.

Here comes my photos!

September Roster!

2008-08-31T10:08:00.001-07:00

Nice roster!!!

Sep 1 DXB-DME (Moscow 24 hrs!!!)
Sep 2 DME-DXB
Sep 3 OFF
Sep 4 OFF
Sep 5 DXB-SIN-BNE-AKL-BNE-SIN-DXB (Singapore & Brisbane 9 days trip!!!)
Sep 13 Back to Dubai...
Sep 17 DXB-KIX (Osaka Japan!!!)
XX (4 days off from 20-23, Jeddah was removed from my roster!!! yeahaaaa )
Sep 24 DXB-ICN (Seoul Korea!!!)
Sep 29 DXB-IKA-DXB (Tehran...again...)

It is such a great roster...i got Japan and Korea in the same month...not ususal! hahaha i am such a lucky crew... :-)))

Vienna! City of Music and Art...

2008-08-18T06:51:00.000-07:00

I was rostered to fly to Moscow on Aug 3rd but Mr Scheduling called me at 6:00 told me my flight has changed now i am going to Vienna, Austria!!! Which was awesome...
Despite of the aircraft techical failure upon our arrival into Vienna, severe cross wind and lost of hydralic...was kind of scary! But really loved Vienna! What a charming city but yes it is quite expensive everywhere and everything thing...i.e a Capucchino cost me 4 Euros...a simple breakfast cost me $12 Euros...
Captain and some crew we got changed and headed to Vienna downtown to have a drink, then I decided to take a long walk in Vienna, was amazing! saw a lot of arquitectures and museums...oh my gosh! the Saint Stephen Church so huge and antique aged with all religious decorations, people are cute and friendly even they speak German but most of them can speak English though. Bought some good stuffs in Zara, and ate good food...bought famous chocolates...
Mozart´s natal city so glamourous and full of enegy and beauty! Music and Art are all around...

Climbing Great Wall...

2008-08-09T02:40:00.000-07:00

Fabulous trip to Beijing! Did not expect to get PEK flight so quickly...since couple days before that 2 days Kuala Lumpur trip was removed from my roster I was pulled out for London Heathrow 24 hrs layover...then Sheduling found out i was very sad hahahaa....so he gave me Beijing flight to recompesate my sadness!

From Dubai to Beijing was full of chinese people and students also Malta team to Olympic games were on board. We had unexpected severe turbulance on the way to PEK... "Cabin Crew take your seat!" immediately I took the nearest jump seat and weged my cart...was kind of scary experience!

As soon as we arrived Beijing Capitol International Airport, the new terminal 3 was huuuge! Those chinese people invested money and money to improve their airport to receive 2008 Olympic Games! People said they have been waiting for this chance for more than 100 years and now they got it, hence, they got to do the best to welcome people around the world!

Afterward we went to Silk Market to bargain price on our shops! believe me it was an awesome experience i ever had on shopping...the price could drop down from 1000 yuan to 100 yuan only! hahahaha such a FAKE thing selling around the market...D&C, Tommy, Abercrombie, Gucci, Lacoste, Swatch, Fossil, etc. They look pretty much similar to a real brand but yes they are all copies!

Here comes teh Great Wall, one of the 7 wonders in the world, the only human made construction can be seen from the NASA space! It was amazing such a LONG wall built over 3000 years old...the tour guide explained to us all its history on the way to Mu Tian Yu entrance, we paid 250 yuan for the trip, 2 hrs trip going and 2 hrs coming back...really exciting on getting on the Great Wall...never dreamed of this before...thanks for Emirates I made it~! We climbed 1000 steps to get to the top of the wall, and now i can say i did reach the top of the world...sounds weird but it is true saying this in ths trip! I had the best crew ever in this short Beijing trip 31 hrs layover, missing you all people!

Update my roster

2008-08-08T11:35:00.000-07:00

8.1 OFF
8.2 OFF
8.3 Dubai-Vienna (It was Moscow...but scheduling changed it to Vienna! Better even)
8.4 Vienna-Dubai
8.5 OFF
8.6 Dubai-Jedha
8.7 Jedha-Dubai (a shitty flight...)
8.8 OFF
8.9 OFF
8.10 OFF
8.11 Dubai-Jakarta (spa, massage, safari !!!)
8.12
8.13
8.14
8.15 Jakarta-Singapore-Dubai
8.16 Dubai-Hong Kong-Dubai (shopping and disney!)
8.17
8.18 Hong Kong-Dubai
8.19 US VISA
8.20 VISA PICK UP
8.21 OFF
8.22 OFF
8.23 OFF
8.24 Dubai-Bangkok
8.25 Bangkok-Sydney
8.26 Sydney-Auckland-Sydney
8.27
8.28
8.29 Sydney-Bangkok
8.30
8.31 Bangkok-Dubai

Good roster! But i will update it with more detail...

London! Loving it...

2008-08-05T11:02:00.001-07:00

Really enojoyed my 24 hrs stay in London, EVEN THOUGH they changed my Kuala Lumpur...not bad.

Sunny, windy but all sight seeing we did in one day...quite tiring but all worth it. I went out with couple of the crew members, took Underground heading to the London downtown...7 pounds! so expensive, can't complain about it because it was a 45 minutes trip...lol

Mr Scheduling for gods sake, gave me Beijing flight after London to make me happy since I never complained about my 5 turn arounds flights before the first layover...they heard me crying and whining at night hahahaha....

Beijing's Vienna's pictures are coming soon...

August roster!

2008-08-05T10:52:00.000-07:00

8.1 OFF
8.2 OFF
8.3 Dubai-Vienna
8.4 Vienna-Dubai
8.5 OFF
8.6 Dubai-Jedha
8.7 Jedha-Dubai
8.8 OFF
8.9 OFF
8.10 OFF
8.11 Dubai-Jakarta
8.12
8.13
8.14
8.15 Jakarta-Singapore-Dubai
8.16 OFF
8.17 OFF
8.18 OFF
8.19 US VISA
8.20 VISA PICK UP
8.21 OFF
8.22 OFF
8.23 OFF
8.24 Dubai-Bangkok
8.25 Bangkok-Sydney
8.26 Sydney-Auckland-Sydney
8.27
8.28
8.29 Sydney-Bangkok
8.30
8.31 Bangkok-Dubai

Good roster! But i will update it with more detail...

Roster updated...

2008-07-23T06:11:00.000-07:00

Hello people,
Has been a long time I don't have access to internet since the apartment i am living now has no wireless and I am not going to get one until I move to Sheik Zaid Road...yes...I am living almost close to the desert...in the middle of nowhere! sucks...

I have done 5 flights so far...all turn arounds!!! Not bad, but finally I get a 2 days layover flight as per below:

July 13 Dubai-Tehran-Dubai
July 15 Dubai-Amman-Dubai
July 17 Dubai-Doha-Dubai (Standby being pulled out)
July 19 Dubai-Cochin-Dubai (same thing pulled out...departed at 4:40am!)
July 22 Dubai-Pershawar-Dubai (airport standby 2-5am...being pulled out for turn around! @X%$^&*)
July 23 OFF
July 24 OFF
July 25 Standby from 6am-2pm (hopefully a short turn around or a long layover)
July 26 Rest Day
July 27 Dubai-Kuala Lumpur (2 days layover!!! yeahhhh)
July 28 In KUL
July 29 Back to Dubai...

So far so good...but yes looking forward to get more layovers!

Will post pictures later on...bare with me!

Graduation!!!

2008-07-11T09:29:00.000-07:00

Finally the 6 weeks of training had come to its end on Thursday July 10th...Such a nice training and had a lot of fun with my dear colleagues and trainers. For my surprise, Janice, a friend from Taiwan who have been working for Emirates for almost 5 years she came to myu graduation and gave me some well presented roses which almost made me cry...hahaha. I didn't expect any of those detail from her, she is really special and has great personality which I really admire on her. To update you guys about my first roster:
7.13 Dubai-Tehran (First Supy flight)
7.15 Dubai-Amman (2nd Supy flight)
7.16-7.31 CU (Can Use...means standby...but it will be changed once i hit the first supy flight!)
Here are some pics...

First Aid training done!

2008-06-27T23:27:00.001-07:00

What a boring and exhaustic training just finished! My score was 100 in written and practical exams! I feel like i had to become a doctor or so in one week...lol we had to learn a lot of medications and all kind of medical emegency situations and what to deal with them, such as CPR, fractures, air sickness, bleeding, Epilepsy fit, Anaphylatic reaction...etc. Our trainer was from Lebanon, also as online purser, he was nice and funny on transmitting his knowledge to us in a friendly manner! that helped us to be able to absorb all unfriendly materials in just 1 week. On the other hand, I am very excited because next week I will be able to check my first roster! can't wait to know where I am going as my first layover destination! Could be London? Paris? Bangkok? Sydney? Beijing? Rome? Hong Kong? Casablanca? Vienna?....hahaha I am high!

Finished the SEP!!!

2008-06-20T07:02:00.000-07:00

After 2 weeks intense training of SEP, we all finished and got a great score! Mine was 98 and 100. Feeling so great! Now I can fly Airbus 330, 340-300, 340-500, Boeing 777-200 and 777-300! Can´t wait to start flying...this is a tough week, because only 1 day off is given to us and we need to go to training college tomorrow Saturday lol...furthermore, is my Birthday!!! what a drag! Anyway, because of the training schedule otherwise I wouldn´t accept it...

The SEP training is not really hard, you only have to pay as much as attention as you can then it will absolutely save your time on studying at home...i only spend 2 hours studying per day and put my effort to go through all materials we covered. Thus, i am really excited and everyday feeling much better with this new job and be able to deal with different cultures and people around world. This Sunday we will launch the First Aid training and it will last for only 1 week...then we will start our last module of trainig on Service! and after that I will get my first roster and by then it will be posted in this blog though...and that´s when my journey starts with Emirates Airlines!

Passed the first SEP training exam!

2008-06-13T07:26:00.000-07:00

I am back again pals! I just had my first SEP (Safety and Emergency Procedures) general safety exam (Airbus 330)...and i got a 98, failed on one silly tricky question! otherwise it would have been a 100!! odd...

Gotta study for the upcoming exam on Monday...is gonna be a big one, but i think i will be fine and hopefully get a 100 next time! will keep you all posted though. Here is Dubai is just hot, but bearable anyway...many places to hang out at night, but waiting for taxi is definitely a big issue here in Dubai. last night some of us had to wait for 1 hour or so for a taxi to come to our hotel...and everyone was pissed off since the taxi drivers were rude and didn´t want to take all of us...only allow 4 and we were 6! but we made it finally...

More picture to share with you all about my journey this far!

First week training

2008-06-07T09:01:00.001-07:00

Just got some time to update my journey with Emirates, this has been a boring and tough week for me since they started with a very intense program of induction day, uniform fitting, grooming and SEP (Safety and Emergency Procedures)!! The trainer is actually quite nice but stiff...we went through first Airbus 330 turbulence and door operations which was my first being in the flight simulator and the whole thing feel so real...we did moderate and severe turbulance (anticipated and unanticipated)...got 5 home assignments (homeworks) and reading !#%^**^%
Let's take a look at some pictures I have taken so far in my first week in Dubai...hope you guys like it and comment them of course.
....the internet down here suckssss...plus the aire conditioning in my living room is not working...got to study 3 hours at least now...Henceforward...will be updating this blog once a week for now.

On my way to Dubai

2008-05-31T12:33:00.000-07:00

Guys, I am writing this whilst waiting for EK flight at Houston Intercontinental Airport, the lady said today´s flight is overbooked and asking for volunteers to give up their seats and get free accomodations and cam in frommeals for his kindness. WIFI is not free at IAH, $7.95 for 24 hrs access and of course I won´t waste my money since my transit is 6 hours only hence no necessity to get a WIFI here…

The departure time is 18:00 at gate D5, I landed here at 11:40am and had been getting around all terminals…however, my two hand bags are freaking heavy so my shoulders can no longer carry those dump bags until I get on the plane. So excited now because just see Emirates Boeing 777-200LR landed and parked to the gate…all this seems to be unreal…i had watched it in youtube but never got the chance to see it with my own eyes! Indeed, this is gonna be an amazing and hilarious experience ever flying to Dubai alone!!! Almost 15 hours flight is knocking my head…gosh, how am i supposed to stand for such a long haul flight! Hopefully the famous and well known in flight entertainment system (ICE) will hold me off on the air.

Will keep you posted once I arrive Dubai and tell ya more about the tiring flight!

Goodbye Costa Rica...See you Dubai!

2008-05-26T22:13:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, my farewell party took place at a fency and cozy restaurant. I was very pleased to see all my friends showed up at the same time...well some couldn't make it to come but we arranged for someday this week before i leave. Among laughs, wines and delicious dishes and appetizers...i was brave enough and trying not to use any tear to say goodbye to my cherished friends. Got some very cute and dedicated cards from them, really warmed my heart and moistened my eyes hahaha...here are some great moment to remember! you guys rocks! Love you all!!!

Final Briefing from Emirates

2008-05-25T08:46:00.000-07:00

Finally everything is sorted...car sold and lugguage sortly packed...and the most importantly my eticket and visa came in this morning!!! However, they booked me to leave on May 29 instead of May 30...probably May 30 flight is oversold and luckily I will get 1 extra day off before the induction day (June 1). Now I must rush my packing and taking photographs to take with me. Oh...such a relief! May 29 is right at the corner See you guys in Dubai, keep trying and keep discovering!

My itinerary is routed as below:
May 29 San Jose Costa Rica 0700-Houston USA 1142
May 29 Houston USA 1850-Dubai UAE 1845 (May 30)

Such a long haul flight...

Counting days to join Emirates

2008-05-02T19:37:00.000-07:00

Only 27 days remaning to fly out to Dubai from Costa Rica, lovely country. Finally I could talk with my parents about my final decision to move to Dubai and realize my dream to be a steward! They aparently did not like the idea but ended up accepting my decision, rather believe I am a good son and if this is my decision, I am the responsible one to look after myself and to explore my life from a different perspective and positively expand my global vision.

"Global Village must have Global Vision"

Let's move on to my friends circle, as of yesterday, I re encountered with my best friend Carlos...we missed the contact 3 months ago, because he was kind of upset and felt abandoned by his best friend...me!...:-( really don't know why he became so isolated and did not even give me a call or msn me. In fact, I thought something might have happened to him...so yesterday when I called him, surprisingly he picked up the phone and we talked...i couldn't be more than excited when recover his friendship and we went out to talk for a looooong time because i got home until 1am so tiring but worth it! Really cherish our friendship/fellowship and indeed he has become my main support of moving to Dubai as I know we will never be apart despite of the long distance between San Jose Costa Rica and Dubai...

FINAL APPROVAL!!!

2008-04-13T23:20:00.000-07:00

Dear Ming,
We are pleased to inform you that we have obtained the final approval on your application. For this reason, you may now tender your resignation so that you can join the organization as early as possible. Once done, kindly scan and email us a copy of your resignation acceptance from your present employer.

You shall receive the final briefing email along with the visa/ticket 4 days before the traveling date; please check your email frequently. You will be able to travel with the print out of the visa and ticket (E-ticket).

Please note that you are allowed to carry 50 kgs on Emirates Airline, please make sure that any suitcase you have shouldn’t exceed 32 kg.

Regarding accommodation, please do not worry, you will be allocated and will be taken you to your accommodation Note: You will not be allowed to join without providing us with the Resignation acceptance letter. If you have any further clarification, please do not hesitate to contact us. Welcome on board.
DOJ- 30th May 2008 – please advise if you cannot join on that date.

Best wishes.

Thanks & Regards,
Cabin Crew Recruitment Admin Team

After Final Interview...

2008-03-25T22:08:00.000-07:00

The final interview was very intense with extremely specific questions on previous customer service experiences...but I could deal them pretty well and gave necessary information the recruiter was looking for. I went out of the lounge and felt really good and secure of myself, my gut told me I did my best...so guys, let's sum up my journey really quick:

Here is my updated agenda with EK:
1/29 Attended OD
1/31 Final Interview
2/19 Got a call from EK asking for more personal detail
2/24 Missed 2 calls from EK (was 2:23am!)
2/27 Received the Golden Call DOJ April 18th
3/02 Received the Employment offer email with all medical forms.
3/11 Medical forms sent and passport coopy sent to process my security.
3/12 Got an email confirming all document were received and will get back to me shortly.
3/24 Got another email telling me to kindly wait for final approval email.

Successful achievement

2008-03-25T19:49:00.000-07:00

I attended the Open Day on Jan 29th and we started with 82 applicants and after the height test (which means you must reach out 212 cm with your arm and on toes, men with shoes and women without shoes) and groups discussion (2 topics) the number was cut down to 17 (amazing elimination though...some people felt so dismissed without any explaination), and unbelievablily I was among the 17!!!...then sometime later we started with the English Test for about 60 minutes, as you all know once the test result came up, there were only 13 survived...and again I am in. I finished the Psycometric test and I was invited to be there again at 8:30am for some more activity and elimination process...the 2 recruitment ladies are so friendly and easy access persons...one from Australia and the other from Iceland...both are wonderful.

Next morning Jan 30th, I sucessfully passed the second group discussion on a such a tough topic and situation...and we started with 13 and now only 10 of us are going to Final Interview, the last stage. But no more elmination until we get the "Golden call" from Dubai...so we are all going to the final interview under a different schedule. We are only 4 males and 6 females...and I encountered my ex-collegue among the 10 finalists!!! What a coincidence!!! Both of us are in, and we have passion to be flight attendants...and now seems like the reality has become true, well quite a bit. I am looking forward to hear from Dubai after the final interview, and hopefully not having to wait that long like others.

Finally, I was invited to attend the final interview on Jan 31st...well groomed and prepared! See my invitation letter from Emirates. Coming up sum up my journey with Emirates strict selection process...

Creating my first blog!

2008-03-25T18:39:00.000-07:00

Hello people!
Very excited to welcome you to my blog, I will start editing and updating this journey as much as I can. Finding myself on the way to explore my career as flight attendant (cabin crew) with Emirates Airlines in United Arab Emirates! Let me set out my journey starting with Costa Rica, my second home country.

I was born in Taiwan and have been living here for 11 years, holding dual nationalities, taiwaness and costarican at the same time. It's been a drag thinking of being flight attendant and be able to fly around the world, visit and explore different countries, cultures and people. I love planes so much and always wish someday become one of those cabin crews working on the plane...well, this dream stays in my heart for a very long time until January 2008 I attended Emirates Airlines first Open Day (Recruitment event) in San Jose, Costa Rica. I must thank my current coworker "Kathya", she was the one mentioned to me that the newspaper had a such advertisement with Emirates Airlines looking for Cabin Crew on January 29th 2008 10:00am. Suddenly, I was in shcok and talking to myself "Oh my goodness, this couldn't be true...am I dreaming or what?" Emirates! One of the best airlines in the world coming to Costa Rica to hire people to be part of their International Cabin Crew team.

How could I loose this great chance! So I applied inmediately online and since then I became so vicious on researching information about Dubai and Emirates Airlines.