Frankfurt. Sucky Turnarounds. Beachcapade with Tina and Ruth. Sydney. finally MANILA!

I have a reason for the uber late blog. After Frankfurt I just had several turnarounds so nothing really special to blog about. I didn't want to blog about Frankfurt alone so I tried waiting for something excting to happen. And I got what I wanted. Things got exciting and busy! Thus, the late blog!

It has been more than 2 weeks since my Frankfurt flight and I barely remember the events that happened. Let me try to recall. I remember arriving in Frankfurt late in the afternoon. I changed immediately upon arriving the hotel to grab dinner in this mini resto called Asian box with some colleagues. Our hotel was in the airport. I bought chocolates to bring home for my Manila flight in the grocery where I had to pay for the plastic bags that I would use. Went back to hotel and slept the whole night. The nexy day, I went out with Salinee. We rode to train to go to the city. It was so hard to understand the railway system in Frankfurt. Everything was in German! Argh! We almost got lost and all. We ended up in Hauptbanhhof station. The weather was fab so we decided to walk through the city. I saw the biggest euro sign ever and this amazing church. I forgot what it was called but we went to this tourist must see area. Then walked back to the same train station we came from. Back to the hotel. Slept for a few more hours then back to Abu Dhabi. Sorry for the not-so-detailed story about Frankfurt. I should stop doing this, blogging too late because I forget details already. LoL!

My Frankfurt buddy, Salinee

The big Euro Monument

Hauptbahnhof Train Station

Note to self: Even if the entry will be short. Write 'em down already before you forget everything about it! =D

Turnarounds are ok, but I hate it. I'd rather have layovers. I mean, you finish the duty in a few hours and get paid for two days ain't that bad but you don't get to go anywhere! You stay inside the aircraft the whole time. You wait for guests to board, serve them meals/drinks/sandwiches, deboard them and then wait for the new set of guests that are coming! Wah! I totally despise it!

And then there was my beachcapade with Ruth and Tina. Tina, Ruth and I all had our 2 days off at the same time. We went to the mall to pamper ourselves, applied for internet, went to the uniform store to have my skirt fixed and claim our overcoats. We actually accomplished a lot from our to-do lists. But the most memorable one is our trip to Abu Dhabi's public beach. All three of us were so excited because it was everyone's first time to go to the beach here in Abu Dhabi. I actually ended up buying ipod speakers because we wanted to have nice chill music by the beach. But to our surprise, the beach was full of err... hmmm... how can i say it, ummm, the smell. People were by the beach in their jeans and long sleeves, a lot of those people were just there to stare at those people in bikinis. It was so messed up! No restrooms, no showers, no nothing. Wah! I thought I was already well adjusted here in Abu Dhabi but i guess not! And the worst yet funniest thing we experienced was walking for about an hour just to get a taxi. Apparently, since the beach was a bit far, taxis do not go to the area unless they had to drop someone off. We also tried calling up Al Ghazal Taxi but again, the operater told me that they are not allowed to pick someone up in the public beach. And so, Ruth, Tina and I walked! My Gosh! What an experience! Totally memorable. Good thing I was with Ruth and Tina, if not. I would have died right there and then. LoL! AND.. we have all decided, never ever to go back to the public beach! We would rather pay fees in the hotels.

In the beach with Ruth

and Tina

Then there was Sydney. I was actually called on standby for Sydney. I had 2 days off before the flight and enough days off after so I was legal to do a Sydney flight. Flights to Sydney is like a flight to Toronto, 14 hours in the sky! It was a full load and I like answering call bells to keep me up. I was really nice to the guest. But, there was this one fake blonde who was such a pain in the ass! Not only does she looks funny with her blonde wig, fake eyelashes and super long nails that already bends like eekk... She's was such a bitch. I'm sorry to use the term but she was. Right when she wakes up, she wants her coffee, NOW! Not after 1 minute.. but NOW! or else she'll scream at you like crazy.. complain, complain and complain as if she was in diamond first class! Argh. Anyways, I really can't escape guests like her, there will always be one like her. LoL!

oK, after 14 hours of flight, yipee, I was in Sydney. I've been wanting a Sydney flight for the longest time so I would get the chance to buy my UGG boots! LoL! I blame my cousins in Santa Clarita, California for my desire to buy such pair of boots. Tee Hee! And yes, I finally got my own pair of UGG boots. It was the first thing I did after resting for about an hour or two in the hotel. I also tried to calling my friend Miggz but too bad I was unable to contact him for some reason. I also tried calling, Tsarina, a family friend but I was also unsuccesful in reaching her. So, my last chance was to call my aunt's high school classmate who is also a friend of my mom, and I was able to find her! Good news, she invited me for dinner at their place. Bad news, she sprained her ankle just the day before so she couldn't bring me around. Bummer. I've already told my flightmates I won't be going with them because I assumed at least one of those three people I was trying to contact would be able to bring me around. I don't blame them, the trip was known to me a day before the flight so I didn't have much time to tell them I was coming. I was thinking not to go around but what the heck, I was in Sydney. My hotel was right in the middle of the city. I could see the Opera House from my hotel room for goodness sake. And so, I went out on my own. Walked in the beautiful The Rocks Village. I saw the Sydney Opera House. And yet another structure that made me WOW. In my personal opinion, the Opera House is better seen during the day than night. You don't really see the beauty of the building during night time. I also saw the Harbour Bridge. It was nice walking around Sydney. The weather was great! I mean, totally perfect for a walk. The combination of the sun burning through your skin and the cold breeze was just the right thing. I also got to try to ride their public bus to go to Tita[Aunt] Pinky, the friend of my mom I was talking about. It was ok, I didn't really have a hard time. She lives in Coogee Beach, it was nearly the last stop. Her house was awesome! It was on top of the hill over looking the ocean. Totally totally BEAUTIFUL. I would love to have a house just like theirs. It's a weird feeling because it was actaully my first time to meet her. My mom made me call her and I don't regret doing so. She was really nice. I didn't feel like it was just our first meeting. It was like she has known me for ages. Her husband and son was welcoming as well. Dinner was fantastic. Tita Pinky's son and his friends, brought me back in the hotel. Slept until 6am then around 8:30 went down to the restaurant to have breakfast buffet. I love the toasts! I wanted more but I was too shy because I've already had like 4 or 5. LoL!

Sydney Opera House

Sydney Harbour Bridge

Going back to Abu Dhabi was excting. Not because of the flight, because I was trying to catch the flight going to Manila! ^_^ I had 3 days off so why put the 3 days off to waste. It was my first time to go back to Manila sa I was praying really hard that I would be able to catch it. Good thing I had packed my things before Sydney flight already. Imagine this, touchdown in Abu Dhabi was around 11pm and my Manila flight was leaving 2pm, so I had to be checked in an hour before. Deboarding passengers and getting through immigration would take about 30 mins. Taxi would take about 20-30 mins from the airport to my building. Changing and preparing took me only 10 minuted. And viola, I got back to the airport, 10 minutes before the counter closed! hahaha! I felt like I was the cartoon hero, Flash. But it was all worth it. For the first time in 4 months, I was a guest/passenger. LoL! But the greatest thing was, after 4 months, I would see my family, my friend and my Dave once again. I know some will kill me for saying this, but I'll be posting my Manila homecoming next time. Maybe tomorrow. LoL! Of course. I have to make another entry for my first ever trip back to Manila since I left for Abu Dhabi. Tee Hee!

Sick in Jakarta, Riyadh and Medina. Animo Lasalle

Yes, I got sick in Jakarta. On the way to Jakarta, I was feeling totally fine. Guests were nice and the flight itself, though long, wasn’t tiring at all. We got to Jakarta around 1 or 2 in the afternoon local time. I was supposed to meet Elizabeth and Bree 4:00pm but I felt so tired, I couldn’t even stand up and get myself a bottle of water. So, I called Elizabeth, told her that I won’t be joining them anymore. Buhoo. I knew right there and then that I was going to get sick and I missed my chance to buy DVDs! Argh! I slept the whole afternoon and woke up around 9:00 in the evening. Just when I woke up, first thing I hear is my stomach growling. Being the lazy me, I just got room service. Read my new book, Can you keep a Secret by Sophie Kinsella, same author of the famous Shopaholic series. I’m proud to say I finished the book in less than a week. I’m not the reader type so that was an achievement. And I want to start reading books again. OK. Back to Jakarta, after about an hour or two. I slept again so that I would have a good rest for tomorrow’s flight, hoping that I would feel better. To my surprise, when I woke up the next day, my throat was worst than yesterday. It was so dry and itchy! I couldn’t miss the free breakfast buffet so I still forced myself to go. Called Amalia so I had someone to be and can I just say, wow. I just have to say, it was a beautiful breakfast buffet. Yummy! I tried drinking hot tea with honey for my cough but It didn’t even help. I was still coughing bad. Going back to Abu Dhabi, I felt more and more sick. Flight wasn’t hard but my throat was itching so much. Tried gargling warm water with salt. Drank a lot of hot tea with lemon slice. But none helped ease that coughing! And I started having colds as well. Just when I arrived Abu Dhabi and rode the bus on the way back to my accommodation, my phone rang and it was OCC(Crew Control) telling me I had a flight to Riyadh the next day. Argh! Being new to the company, I was too scared to call in sick so I went to the Riyadh flight. My gosh! It was the shortest flight I have ever had but it felt like to most tiring of all! Landing was horrible! I couldn’t hear, I felt like my ears was going to pop! Now I know what they mean when people told me not to fly with flu! By the time I got back home, I had a very very bad headache already. I felt like there was a big rock on my head! Took some medicines and slept the whole day. I had two days off after so I just stayed home and took some rest so I would feel better.

I thought I was feeling better already, so I went to my Medina flight. I guess not. First, I forgot my ID at home so I had to go back and get it. Second, my ears and my nose were still hurting during descent. Medina flights are chartered/special flights. We only have it during Ramadan and from what I’ve heard during December. Since it was a chartered flight, we had no guests going to Medina. So, we had the chance to use the IFE and watch movies. On the way back to Abu Dhabi, flight was full. Good thing I was in a B position, which means I don’t really have a whole area of responsibility, because I couldn’t concentrate in working because my ears and nose were hurting. I was double ending with another crew but from time to time went inside the galley to blow my runny nose and ease the pain. Decided to call in sick for 2 days, and here I am blogging. Just got back from Etihad’s clinic to get medications and sick leave approval.

And yes, once again, my alma mater, De La Salle University-Manila, champions of the UAAP men's basketball! Wuhoo! ANIMO LASALLE!

My entry is a bit scattered. Can't think straight. I want my bed! I want to sleep! LoL!