A night out in Melbourne

For a few days I've been ranting how crew control have been changing all my standby duties and availables into either XX=rest day or OFF. I don't really like complaining about my schedule, I just let it be. I was really grateful when they changed my last standby of the month to a Melbourne flight. Another good thing about it is, the supposedly Moscow turnaround on a Airbus 320 I had was also eaten up by the Melbourne block.

I had no plans to go out in Melbourne, until I saw a friend of mine from Brisbane post a status in facebook that he, and 2 other more of our friends, will be in Melbourne for the weekend. I right away sent him an IM and made plans to meet them. It was all good timing since I was arriving on a Saturday night. Straight from a 14 hour flight, grabbed a light dinner and met them at Seven Nightclub. OK, skip what happened to Seven, it wasn't really fun, we ended up going to Amber Lounge. It was all good. New Friends. Good Music. Booze. Poles and cages. LoL! After clubbing we grab some Mc Donald's and then back to the hotel. Arrived the hotel just before 6AM, Melbourne time. Basically, I was awake for more than 24 hours. Oh wait, I had rest for about 2 hours in the crew bunks in the aircraft. LoL! Going back, I pretty much slept the whole day until wake up call. And then, another 14 hour trip back to the sandpit. LoL!

Jed, Rommel and JR.. Brisbane boys..

Summer in Paris

Summer in Paris is amazing! The combination of the warm sun + cold breeze of the air was just perfect. The last time I went around in Paris was during winter season and I didn't like it that much. I hate the heavy clothes, though I totally love wearing boots. What made this trip to Paris more fun was that I was flying with a good friend, Tina. She's been around Paris more than enough that she knows the metros which was good because it's a bit confusing.

Our first stop, St. Michel and Notre Dame de Paris. We didn't go inside the church anymore because there were too many people. Plus, we only had a few hours coz we only had 26 hours layover. Buhoo!

St. Michel

Notre Dame de Paris

Next stop, Eiffel Tower. Honestly when you're there the Eiffel Tower is not so wow as you would expect it to be. But in pictures, it's just beautiful. I wanted to hang out more in the garden area but we didn't have enough time since we still had to go to Champs-Elysees. We didn't even have time to visit the Musee de Louvre. We thought of going back near the area before we head back to the hotel but we got too tired after so we decided just to go home.

=)

Summer in Paris

The Eiffel Tower

Kid at heart

with Tina

Our last and final stop, Arc de Triomphe and Avenue des Champs-Elysees. Shopping district of Paris. We were walking for about 2 hours just lurking and window shopping. Ahihihi! I'm totally proud of myself. I was able to control and not spend anything for myself, though I did buy something for someone in Louis Vuitton. LoL!

Arc de Triomphe

Louis Vuitton at Champs-Elysees

Time to go home..

By so far.. this is the best Paris layover I have had! I wonder how it is during spring in Paris. It must be more wonderful!

Harry Potter Movie Date

I have only watched in a movie house here in Abu Dhabi twice. First time was over a year ago and the second one was when I watched Transformers 2 a month ago or something. The first movie I watched here in Abu Dhabi was Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix with Ruthie.

So, this was the third one. Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. It was a date with my favorite girls minus a whole lot more. LoL! Summer is freaking hot here in the UAE so we all decided to wear either shorts or skirts. We looked like we were ready to do a dance number. LoL! It was nice to pretend like a group of high school students who just finished and passed a major exam... Hahaha! The movie was not as amazing as I expected it to be. Less magic, more talk, and according to my friends who have read the book, it still wasn't enough explanation. Next movie to watch in the cinema, Twilight: New Moon! I have had the chance to see the preview and I can't believe how Jacob has evolved. He is so much hotter now! LoL! Can't wait for November for another movie date with my girls. :)

Geri . Janice . Me . Tina . Noemi . Ashbel

Popcorn + Nachos + Sodas + Good Friends = Perfect Movie Date!

with Harry =)

New York

Ever since I got trained for Business and First Class, I've only done JFK flight twice. The first time, I didn't go to the city, just in the nearby mall of our hotel to go shopping. But the last time, I went to the city and slept over at my high school and college classmate's place, Katsy and Christina, although Christina wasn't there.

Arrived the hotel around 5:30pm and left for the city around 7:00pm. Met Katsy at 66th and Columbus. Had dinner at a lovely Japanese Restaurant and walked for a few blocks. Katsy introduced me to Pinkberry, frozen yogurts, which I keep on craving for these past few weeks. Damn! I wish I have New York soon. LoL! Went back to their place and just talked and chit-chat til the wee hours of the morning. The next day, we woke up early to watch Transformer at the iMax theater. Transformers is amazing! Totally worth watching in iMax theater. After the movie, met up with Bree and Carl at Shake Shack. BEST BURGERS in the east coast! Had our lunch at Central Park, had another round of pinkberry's frozen yogurt and then back to the hotel. Nothing much happened but seeing Katsy after one year was just fun. Plus, now I know how the subway works! =) Ahihihi! Til next time Katsy

Yummy Burgers!!

Shake Shack for lunch at Central Park

Casablanca

After 2 years in working in Etihad. They gave me my first Casablanca flight. I had no plans to go out in Casablanca since I've heard horrible stories about the place. The food's not good, the people are aggressive and all sorts of negative things. And for most of the crew I've known, they dread Casablanca flights. Well, maybe it's me and how I perceive the world, but I had fun in Casablanca.

Yes, I did not have plans to go out in Casablanca so I did not bring any proper clothes for anything. I had with me my "just in case I go out" clothes, which is a pair of jeans, my chucks and a regular top and my PJ's and that was it. I knew someone in the flight so I asked her before hand if she was going out but she said no, so yeah. But when I got in the flight, the crew was just fun. Some of us decided to meet up just after we arrived the hotel to have some drinks and party. Supposedly I was on detox for a month but I just couldn't. So went out with 5 other crew and partied in Casablanca. The next day, originally having no plans of going out, I stayed in my hotel room and slept the whole day. Bad hangover. BTW, we finished 3 bottles of vodka, so technically, it was 2 person per bottle. LoL! Not really how you should be exploring a place but hey, who doesn't like to party. Maybe on my next Casablanca, I'd actually go out during daytime and look around the area near the hotel. Besides, there was a souk just a block away. All in all, Casablanca wasn't that bad or maybe I was just lucky I flew with a good crew. Anyhow, what matters is that a had a great time.