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

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***

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!

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~

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...

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

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...

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!