Toronto, Canada

It has been almost a week since I came back from Toronto. So, what is taking me so long to blog about it? Nothing really, I’m just overwhelmed of the thought I was actually in Toronto and I’ve finally seen Niagara Falls. I don’t know how to start this entry. Too many storied to tell, too many things I want to share and I can’t organize my thoughts! So in advance, I would like to apologize if I jump from one topic to another! LoL!

OK! Here it goes. I requested this specific Toronto flight with my good friend Ruth. She’s one of the few people I spend most of my time with during days off. She’s one of those I consider to have become my family here in Abu Dhabi. I am glad that I had the Toronto flight with her. Imagine working with people you’ve only met once for 14 hours! Whew! When you think about it, it’s not that bad, anyways, it will always happen. But being with someone you know makes it just better, way much better.

Abu Dhabi to Toronto

So, 14 hours of flight, what do you do? A LOT! We had to do 3 services, 2 hot meals and one is called mid hamper treats. The mid hamper treat is like a basket full of candies, chocolates and chips. We also serve fruits, sandwiched and juices. Mid hamper treats service is my personal favorite! Not because most of the guests are sleeping during this service but because we can also grab yummy chocolates and snacks from the baskets if there are any left. LoL! And because the flight is ultra long, we get 4 hours of rest, a big help to rejuvenate our energy and strength! Two days layover in Toronto! Wuhoo! I’m ready to explore!

Yey! I'm in Toronto!

Day 1: Rest. Eat. Relax.

Upon arriving Toronto, I felt like I was back in Los Angeles. [Oh, I stayed three months in LA in the beginning of this year, for vacation.] Not entirely the same but the ambiance, the mood, the environment, it was similar. I just knew that the layover was going to be a good one. Ruth was going to meet her relatives and so I came into decision to tag along with her. I was a bit hesitant at first but I then realized that it’s only every once in a while that I get to fly with a friend in a good destination. Right when we got to the hotel, I changed and fixed my things, ready to go wherever I had to go. Ruth’s uncle and cousins picked us up from the hotel and from there we went to their home in Mississauga to eat lunch! Finally, real Filipino dishes! Shrimps, pancit palabok, bibingka and even halo-halo! YUM YUM YUM! I have never eaten so much food for months! Relaxed a little then passed by to Ruth’s cousin’s house and then went to the mall. I wanted so many things to buy but tax in Toronto was shocking! A whopping 14%! I controlled myself not to buy anything expect for a Stilla lipstick from Sephora. Sephora is love. Not like the love I have for MAC make-up but close to it! LoL! After going around the mall went back to the house and took a nap. Snoozed until dinner time and after dinner went to a café called Demetre were I found the best crepe I have ever had in my entire life! It was like heaven! LoL! I’m a sucker for sweets and this just blew me off! LoL! We immediately went back home because Ruth’s cousins had classes the next day and we had to wake up early as well.

Crepe and I! LoL!

14 hours of flight and still alive and kicking!

Day 2: Niagara Falls. Meeting Tita Goya and friends.

Above all things that I wanted to see in Toronto, It was my visit to Niagra Falls that I was looking forward to the most. We had to wake up early because it was about an hour or two drive to go to Niagara. We didn’t have the leisure of time so we had to make the most out of things. First thing we saw when we got to Niagra was the Rainbow Bridge. Rainbow Bridge is the borderline of Canada and the USA. You could actually wave, Hello Buffalo, NY! LoL! But nothing was more amazing than the falls. The US side was already wonderful but the Horseshoe Falls in the Canada side was just mind-blowing! It was such a beautiful sight. I wanted to try the Maiden of the Mist, a boat that cruises near the falls, however, no one wanted to do it with me and when I saw that the boat didn’t really go near the falls, hmmm, I changed my mind as well. Instead, we went to a tunnel behind the falls. I found the tunnel trip more exciting and interesting actually. The tunnel had two paths, one going behind the falls and the other beside it. They gave us rain coats to wear and at first I was clueless what it was for since I thought we were just going behind the falls. To my surprise, going beside the falls was like going under the rain! The wind was blowing hard towards the terrace where you could take pictures! I was super excited that I didn’t give a damn if my camera was getting wet but misfortune came and my camera died on me! Argh! I charged it before I left Abu Dhabi and I’m still confused why my battery didn’t last me that long! I’ve charged it again lately and the battery is ok! Tsk! Good thing, Ruth was there to save me! LoL! So, I owe Ruth half of the photos I had taken in Toronto! After paying a visit to one of the most famous place on earth, we had lunch in a casino nearby. Once again, I pigged out for it was a buffet. Food was ok, I expected more selections but the food was great and I still ate a lot! LoL! I slept all the way back to Mississauga.

Beautiful Niagara Falls

Jump for Joy!

Behind the Niagara Falls

In between Ruth and Rhea(Wife of Ruth's cousin)

Ruth’s cousins were suppose to bring us to downtown Toronto where I was to meet Tita Goya, a very good friend of my parents in the Philippines [Tuguegarao], but they didn’t have enough time because it was Ruth’s aunt’s birthday celebration that night. I really wanted to meet up with her so she picked me up instead. It was great that she picked me up. Finally, I was with someone I’ve known for a long time, before I even joined Etihad. It felt like I was back in the Philippines, in my province, with my family. We had dinner in this restaurant called Richtree, it was like a market wherein there was a wide selection of food, too wide that I couldn’t decide what to eat so I ended up ordering this very scrumptious salmon steak! After dinner, we met up with my Tita Goya’s friends in a cheese and wine café. Ambiance in the café was really nice. Candlelight tables, soft good music was playing in the background, it was a good place to hang out with friends, old ones if you get what I mean. LoL! But nonetheless, I enjoyed the place but most especially the people I was with. We actually got carried away with our stories that we didn’t notice it was pass midnight already and my wake-up call was 6:40 in the morning! So, I had to say goodbye to my Tita’s friends and to my Tita Goya as well. Promised them that next time I would have a Toronto flight I would spend time more with them. Arrived the hotel around 1:00am and went straight to bed.

Toronto to Abu Dhabi

I woke up about almost an hour before wake up call. Watched a little bit of cartoons and then I started to get ready for the flight. 15 minutes before checking out, Ruth and her cousins were knocking on my door and had Tim Horton’s coffee and pecan pie with them. I must say, Tim Horton’s coffee is better than Starbucks, and the pecan pie was really good. Ruth and I said our thank you and goodbyes to Ruth’s cousins, hoping to see them again in my next Toronto flight. Flight going back was supposedly shorter than going to Toronto, 12 hours and something, but just our luck, there was no visibility of the runway in Abu Dhabi so we had to divert to Dubai. We didn’t leave the airplane but the guests, because of the long flight, were already impatient. We were on ground for about an hour! Whew! After almost 20 hours of being on work, finally, Abu Dhabi! I have never been happier to have landed Abu Dhabi! LoL!

Before I end my entry and forget about it, I’d like to thank Ruth and her relatives for allowing me to tag along with them. I had so much fun in Toronto because of them. And also to my aunt, Tita Goya for picking me up all the way at Mississauga just to have dinner with me. LoL! Why do I feel like I’m making a speech as if I have won an award! LoL!

OK! Back on track! I will miss you Toronto! I will see you again soon! Hopefully! Ahihihi!

And yeah, I had a Jeddah flight yesterday. Tsk. I really hate medium haul flights. So little time so much to do and they are the worst guests. I don’t know why but it feels more tiring than long haul flights sometimes.

Those days..

I recently recieved an e-mail asking me if I wanted to continue my portfolio website. My Site will be going down this 26th September 2007 already, which means no more http://www.peachesvalera.com/ by tomorrow. Yes, I decided to discontinue it. Why? Simply because I don't model anymore and I have no use for it. Besides, my multiply and flickr are still alive. LoL!

i miss..

Johannesburg: Safari Experience

Last Wednesday night I was on standby and I was hoping not to be called because I felt so tired already. I just finished cooking my dinner and then my phone rang. It was OCC, they told me that they will send me a cab in 30 minutes and that I will be doing a Jo'burg flight. I was upset and thrilled at the same time. Upset because I was called on standby and I wanted more rest. Thrilled because it's Jo'burg, South Africa. Though we were only to stay in Jo'burg for 24 hours, I knew I would love it there.

Flight was 8 hours, light load and very polite guests. We arrived Johannesburg, 10am local time and were in the hotel about 11am. My colleagues and I decided to rest until 3 in the afternoon. Ning, Nina, Jannet and I went to Mandela Square, it's a big mall which was about 2 blocks away from the hotel. Bought some souvenirs. I soo loved this small music instruments. It's like a tiny drums made out of real animal coat. Everyone was telling me that Jo'burg is known for their steak so I just had to eat some. We ate in the best steak house! I was too excited to order and eat, I forgot to take note of the name of the resto. LoL! I can remember where it is located though. Ahihi! I ordered the Argentinean Style Rump. It was yummy! Best steak I've ever had in my life, juicy and a lil bit smoked which was just perfect! *drool* The price was not too expensive as well. It was just like eating in Friday's. We were suppose to pass by the grocery after we ate dinner to get some water and some snacks but to our surprise, groceries in the mall closed at 6pm! whoa! And so, we just asked the chauffer of the shuttle of the hotel to pass by a gasoline station so we could at least buy some bottled water. I was tired from going around so I slept early and for me to be able to have a good rest for the next day's flight as well.

The famous Nelson Mandela Statue

Ning, Nina, myself and Jannet

Following morning, woke up 5am, two hours before our wake up call! :o I couldn't go back to sleep so I just started to watch a movie. After a while, I remembered I wanted to have a dip in a hot tub, and so I did. It was very soothing. I was in the bathtub for about 30 minutes and then I heard the phone. I thought it was the wake up call but then I realized it was too early for the wake up call. It was Roisin, our Cabin Manager, telling me that our flight got cancelled. Immediately I thought of calling my colleagues and ask them if they wanted to go to a Safari trip. Called the concierge to ask them about the tours and packages they have. Too bad we couldn't join the whole day safari anymore because they left really early, so we did the half day safari instead. I really wanted to do it the day before but everyone was unsure since we didn't have much time, so this was my chance to convince them.

It was I, Ning, Nina, Satinder and Yasmina who went to the safari. The rest of the crew has done the trip so some decided to go back and take some more snooze and the others joined the city tour. We went to a preserved area called lion's park. I couldn't be more excited and overjoyed. I have been dreaming to do a safari trip ever since I decided to apply as a cabin crew. I wanted it more than a euro trip. The park was just beautiful. For some time I was just speechless of what I was seeing. It was more than I imagined it to be. I like nature a lot and it was just wonderful. We saw jackals, zebras, ostriches, antelopes, cheetahs, hyenas, giraffes, buffalos and of course lions, lionesses and their cubs, there were also some white lions.

Different animals

Clockwise: Top Left: Lioness with her cubs, white lion, Athena the cub, sleeping lion

I was most amazed by the lions and how they looked. Yes, I've seen them in photos but never in real life. The lions' mane makes them look bigger and stronger. It was WOW! The closest we can get with the lions was around 5-6 feet away. Oh, we were inside a van of course. LoL! They were sleeping under a tree so our van stopped right beside them and of course, it was opportunity for us to take photos. We opened the windows and we could even hear them breathe. It was that close! I just loved it! They looked cuddable, I just wanted to get out and pet them. But hell no, I was still in my right mind. LoL! We also had the chance to pet some cubs. There were 3 of them and they got their names from Greek Mythology, I could remember Athena and Achilles. Could not remember the other cub’s name, she was not in a good mood, she just had a shot. I also got to meet Gambit and Purdy, the giraffes. Don't know who's who but one of them was a show off. He was always near the stairs, he loved being fed and taking pictures! LoL! Oh, funny story, there was a cheetah who thinks he's a lion. He got injured and was placed in the same area as the cubs, a different cage though. Trainers tried putting him in front of the mirror and he went like crazy! He didn't know it was his own reflection since he thinks he looks like lions. He's scared of the other cheetahs so they have to introduce him to them slowly. It was really funny seeing him run away from other cheetahs. I stayed so long inside the cubs’ world! I couldn't stop petting them and looking at them. They were so cute! It was prohibited to carry them because a year ago, a cub died because people often reacted when the cubs act as if they will bite you and of course people would let go of them and let them fall on the ground. I felt bad when I heard the story so I was ok giving them tummy rubs. I almost didn't want to leave the place! But yeah, it had to end. Back to the hotel, ate dinner with colleagues. Once again, yummy steak. *drool* Went to sleep and the next day back to Abu Dhabi.

Athena, the friendliest cub!

With Gambit or Purdy?

United Etihad

Satinder(Indian), Ning(Thai), Achilles the cub,

Peaches(Filipina), Nina(Ukranian) and Yasmina(Swedish)

Definitely this Jo'burg trip of mine will be unforgettable and will be hard to beat by other destinations. I'm planning to go back to do an overnight safari. Maybe with my parents, I know they've been wishing to go to Africa. I think it's the only continent they have never been to. Ahihihi!

Kuwait, Dhaka, Beirut and Munich

It's been a while since my last entry and I don't even know how to start right now.

Two layovers and two turnarounds. My turnarounds were ok. Nothing to comment on. However, Dhaka was unforgettable! It showed me the not so glamorous part of being a cabin crew! It was, by so far, my worst flight! The whole experience was just traumatizing! It made me want to resign! I won't go into detail anymore but it was just bad.

But then again, there was Munich. Hmm.. yeah, ill stay as a cabin crew. LoL! Munich was wow. I loved the structure of the buildings, the shops and the pretzels. Beers were sold everywhere as well. LoL! I want Munich again for October so I'd get to see the real OKTOBERFEST! Though, Etihad has this habit on putting us crew on a hotel far from the city proper, I still had fun going around the small town we stayed in. I went around with Sabrina and Serena, they're both Singaporeans. I was the only Filipina crew so being around other asians were the closest I could feel at home.

View from my hotel room

With Sabrina

It was a light load in the Coral Economy Class on the way and back so it was not tiring. We had a stretcher case going back to Abu Dhabi, a 14 year old girl. Don't really know the details, i only know that she suddenly collapsed 6 months ago and now she is totally parallyzed. The main attraction going back was not the girl though, it was her doctor! LoL! The doctor was German and he was just sooo handsome! LoL!

Munich Airport

OK. I admit. I'm starting to get lazy on updating this blog. But a promised myself when I created it that I will update it regularly. Note to self: Keep your promise!

First Operating Flight: London Heathrow

Finally, after a week of waiting, I got my license already. I also received my schedule for September already and buhoo, still no Manila. I have Dhaka, Munich, Toronto and Jakarta for my layovers. They did not give back my Geneva! *sob*

Streets of London

Anyway, I was off to London Heathrow. I know that almost everyone expects me to go around London and see the places since this is my very first Europe trip but I did not. I was too tired and exhausted from the flight. Coral economy class was full and the aircraft that we used is the big one too! Super dooper tiring. We only had roughly around 24 hours in London. We arrived London at around 7ish in the evening local time and because we were all too drained and sleepy, we all agreed to just go to our rooms and sleep. I passed by the crew lounge for a while and checked some things online. I bumped into Princess, my batchmate. We didn't really have to chance to chat since she also had to rest, her return flight was in the morning mine was in the evening.

with Kelly in the bus

Going to Hounslow

The next day, I went out with Kelly and Rex. Kelly is terrific to be with! She's has been working for Etihad for more than 2 years already and Rex is an aircraft engineer, they're both Filipino. We went to Hounslow to go shopping! It's the ghetto area of London according to Kelly. But I heart primark and poundland! LoL! I was expecting that I would spend a lot in London but no, I only spent half of what I brought with me or less even. The captain was in the area as well, he was alone so Rex invited him to go with us instead. We ate lunch in a Chinese buffet. Yum yum yum, and the best part, PORK! LoL! I miss pork like hell. Since Abu Dhabi is primarily compromised by Muslims, pork is only available in one grocery and it's hella expensive too! Going back, I was so full, I ate like there was no tomorrow! LoL! Oh, the captain treated us for lunch. Ahihihi! His name is Tyrone and his Jamaican, such a nice captain. After lunch, we went back to the hotel to rest.

Poundland is love...

Chinese Buffet with Kelly, Rex and Captain Tyrone

Flight back to Abu Dhabi was tiring as well. Full flight as well, but the aircraft was a bit smaller. Turbulence was bad as hell! I got dizzy for some time! Everytime we started the service, it would get bumpy! It was quite irritating. Usually going back seemed to be faster than going to the place but this time around, going back to Abu Dhabi was taking forever! Arrived this morning and to my dismay, air conditioning in the building is messed up! Argh! I couldn't sleep well! I was having messed up dreams as well! Whoa!