So-called Christmas Drama

I have yet to write an entry about my whole of December but just allow me to rant about working on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day first.

This is my first Christmas that I will be spending away from my family. Last year, I was suppose to spend it in Los Angeles with my sister, cousins, aunts and uncles, still with family but not quite. I made tons of explanations and excuses to my mom just so that she’d allow me to leave after Christmas. And of course, I was successful. I left for the US, 2 days after the holiday. But this year, my hope of spending Christmas with my family is all just but a wish. Yes, I do have friends here in Abu Dhabi and ever since we have arrived here they have been my family. But, it’s different.

Right now, I’m on standby, I don’t even know if I’ll be spending Christmas Eve in the sky or will I spend Christmas Day in another country. With who, I don’t even know. I would rather get a short or medium haul flight today and be back tonight and celebrate Christmas Eve with my friends. Tomorrow I have Jeddah, fine by me; at least at the end of the day, I would be home and I could spend the rest of the day with friends. But being on standby today, you never know, they might just call me anytime for a layover and I would end up spending Christmas with colleagues I would meet only during this flight. Yes, I am thankful for this job. I wanted this. I have a great roster for this month. Lots of layovers, and few turnarounds but somehow, I still find myself drowning in self-pity. I was never used to being away from my loved ones, what more during the holidays. I’ve been trying to distract myself from the thought of Christmas but I just can’t. I’ve been trying to look at the bright side but I still end up in tears.

This probably is my most tear-jerking entry I will have for this year. I made a choice to be here and I will stand by it. I am strong and I will be strong. Sacrifices have to be made. I know in the end, this is for me and my loved ones. For now, I’m just thankful I have my friends here in Abu Dhabi I could call my family, and that the people I cherish the most; my parents, grandmother, sisters and brothers, niece and nephews and my special someone, are safe and well. For these reasons, that should make me valiant enough to get through this challenge.

OK, enough of the drama. I just wanted it out. Well, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas! Enjoy the feasts! Have fun! Eat, drink and be merry! Hahaha!

Jakarta, Dehli, the cancelled Manila, Manila on days off and Paris

Ola everyone! Ahihihi! Is it that obvious that I am getting lazy to blog? Honestly, I am getting lethargic. I don’t know how to create a good entry. I feel like my blog entries are getting duller than ever! However, I will still try my best to compose a decent and interesting entry.

Jakarta:

A lot of Indonesian crew wanted to swap my Jakarta for their Manila and other European flights; however, it was going to be the first time that I will be able to fly with my batch mate and good friend, Julia so I ended up not swapping with them. Just when the roster for November came out and we found out that we would be flying together, it made us look forward to the not so interesting Jakarta flight. Jakarta is almost like Manila flights, around 8 hours long, quiet and sleeping guests, not so much to do flight. The only difference for me is, when I have Manila I get to see family and friends; Jakarta, I sleep in the hotel and do nothing. LoL! Julia and I did not work in the same galley. She worked in the AFT and I was working in the FWD. Hence, we only got to chat once and for a while throughout the flight. Although Julia and I were freaking worn-out because of the flight, we went out straight away. We knew that if we went for a snooze that we would end up waking up in the middle of the night already! LoL! And so, Julia and I went to the mall to get some DVDs. It took us some time to find were the DVDs were located and when we finally did, we got stuck in the same stand for the next hour and half. They had everything Julia and I was looking for, TV series such as One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, Gilmore Girls, Will & Grace and a lot more. They also had new movies that I’ve been wanting to watch! I bought around 11 DVDs, Julia got more than 25! Talk about DVD shopping! LoL! When we got back to the hotel, wanting to unwind before going to bed, we decided to go for a dip in the swimming pool. When we got there, suddenly, Julia and I didn’t feel like swimming anymore so we just went to the wellness center or something like that. Whoa! It was wonderful! They had a Jacuzzi, a sauna and a steam room! Awesome! It only took 5 minutes in the Jacuzzi for me to feel the need to go to bed already! LoL! And just when I got back to my room, Zzzzzzzz!

The next day, we had free buffet breakfast. Julia and I met up with the other crew and stayed in the restaurant for about 2 hours. I love the selection that the restaurant has. So far, the best free breakfast buffet I’ve had here in Etihad. Right after breakfast, Elis, Julia and I went to our rooms, got a pillow and slept/relaxed beside the pool. The weather was not that great but it ok. Stayed by the pool for about 2 hours and we went back to our rooms to prepare for the flight going back to Abu Dhabi.

Breakfast Buffet

Elis . Me . Julia

Dehli:

My only comment on this flight! Que Horror! :o

The cancelled Manila flight:

For a couple of days, Abu Dhabi had serious problems with the weather change. Fog was very thick. You barely see anything in the road nor can you see the runway in the airport. For this reason, a lot of flights, incoming and outgoing, has been either cancelled or delayed. Some Etihad aircrafts even had to divert to other destinations. Fog here in Abu Dhabi usually clears out after an hour or two, but on the night of my Manila flight, it did not clear up until the next day. It was the worst fog Abu Dhabi Airport has ever had. We were suppose to take off by 2am but nothing was happening. I, together with 12 other flight mates, were stuck inside the aircraft until 5am. Due to legalities, we were not legal to operate that particular Manila flight anymore. We went back to the office and waited for another 3 hours doing nothing, and finally we were just sent home by the crew control. In replacement for the cancelled Manila flight, they gave me 3 days off standby. For the first 2 standbys they did not call me. On the third one, they changed it to Peshawar. Light load going and back so it was not that exhausting.

Manila on days off:

Going home on days off is such a big risk. Abu Dhabi to Manila was not a problem but Manila to Abu Dhabi was always a full/overbooked flight. Since I travel using ID90, means that I only pay 10% of the ticket fare, I am the first to be offloaded when the flight is full. In other words, I am the last priority to be given a seat. I almost did not want to go home. I wanted my parents to visit me here instead. But they couldn’t. I didn’t know they had other plans; they were going to Vietnam and Cambodia with their amigos and amigas! And because I was upset of the cancelled Manila flight, I gathered up my courage and went home anyways. My mom picked me up in the airport and straight away, we went to greenhills to meet up with my brother, Ahia Lemon and his wife, Vanessa. [Ahia means older brother in Chinese] We had dinner in Tender Bob’s. I missed my brother so much. It was our first time to see each other again since I left to work for Etihad. He was going back to our province that same night so we didn’t have much time to bond. But it was good enough, it was better than not seeing him at all. Oh, Ahia Lemon and Vanessa recently had a civil wedding, which I was not able to attend, and on January 18, they will be getting married in church. And I’m one of their bridesmaids. I’m really excited. Ahihihi! After saying goodbyes to my brother, again, my mom and I went straight home to get some rest.

Next day, when I woke up, my dad was there already. He just arrived from the province early that morning. My grandma was in Manila as well. She’s 92 and she still travels from one province to another. Whoa! :o I love her so much! She’s the best grandma ever! Seeing her makes me smile. Had breakfast with them at home and then off to POEA to get my exit clearance whatever. Then next went to DLSU-Taft, my Alma matter, well not really inside the school but beside it. I’m proud to say, I’ve finally got my Animoism shirt! “Reign Supreme, Animo Team!” And then I went to SM Mall of Asia. I had my hair cut and got some hair treatments. I feel so bad for my hair. They’ve been suffering from too much hairspray and hot water! After pampering my hair, I bought myself a new luggage. Something I would use on my days off. And then went back home to change for a night out with friends. Ahihihi! But first, I had to attend a family affair. A relative’s death anniversary. I saw cousins I haven’t seen for over a year. Tito Martin was there as well. He is a friend of the family. He used to be like a second dad to me and my siblings. He was a good friend of my parents. I’m happy that I was home for that occasion, a not so happy gathering, but it served as a reunion to us. After the dinner, I met up with my friends. My mom dropped me off at Joseph’s place near La Salle again. Waited for Teeney and King and then we went to greenbelt. First stop, Krokodile grill. Everybody knows that I hate beer but because I love Teeney, I drank a bottle of Red Horse with her. Originally, I was suppose to meet my Iskul Bukul friends but they were a no show! Buhoo! You guys suck! Only Teeney was present. King aka Carissa, Joseph and Gold, their siblings, had to leave early because they had classes the next day. So, I ended up being with Teeney’s friends. They were really nice, but the thing was, I felt so old with them. They were so young! My gosh! We went to Temple bar, danced for a while, had some more booze and before heading home, we went grabbed something from McDonalds. I got home around 4am in the morning and by 9am I was up already. I still had another day before going back to Abu Dhabi but I did not want to push my limit so I came into a decision to give one day leeway. And so I was back in Abu Dhabi, Saturday night, with nothing to do. Man, I could have still partied in Manila. LoL! I just went to Etihad’s clinic the next day and had my vaccination then for the rest of the day, I slept.

Teeney . Peaches . Silver . King . Gold

Teeney and I

Paris:

Throughout the month, my most awaited flight was the Paris flight. Recently, I’ve heard almost all the crew complain about having minimum rest in Paris. I was supposed to have the same schedule last month but they took it out and gave me Sydney instead. This month I got lucky. I got 24 hours layover in Paris. I was so excited that I bought a whole new outfit, including my most beloved Louis Vuitton bag. It was a night when we landed in Paris. We were staying in a hotel near the airport which was 30-45 minutes train ride away from the city. It was really cold when we arrived Paris. According to the captain, it was 8 degrees Celsius, but I doubt it. I’m sure it was cooler than that. I wanted to go out right away but everyone was feeling lazy, plus, our cabin manager warned us about taking the train during night time. He said that if we wanted to go to the city, it would be better if we took the taxi. Hell no, taxi would cost like 40 Euros! So, I let it pass. Went to my hotel room, slept like a baby until the next morning! Originally, I was suppose to go out with Gayle, a Singaporean a flew with just recently. However, she wasn’t feeling well so she ended up not going with me. Instead, I went out with Tosporn and Sherwin. Tosporn has been around Paris so he pretty much knows how the tube/metro/train thing goes. We got the whole day pass which allows us to go in and out of the metro and the city buses as well.

Our first stop, Arc de Triomphe. Speechless. It was right in the middle of the city. Well, not really but if you go on top. You’ll see Paris 360 degrees. Hay. I didn’t try it though, it was too expensive. Maybe when I’m with my special someone. Next is walking in Avenue des Champs Elysees. Shopping center of Paris. I was trying to avoid the nice stores but when I saw the LV building, I couldn’t stop myself. I just had to go in. I wanted to buy a wallet that matches my bag so I asked around. And yeah, I was successful, in controlling myself not to buy. LoL! Note to self: Save more money. Stop buying things. LoL! We had lunch in a café by the street. Yummy pasta. Walked and walked until we reached the bus stop. And because I had killer boots on, my feet were starting to ache. Took the bus going to the Eiffel Tower and as we were getting close to Eiffel Tower, I felt as if it was only a dream. I never thought I’d actually see it. It was too good to be true. All I could say was, WOW! It’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I was so thrilled to be there and seeing it. Surreal. I only had one thing missing with me, my special someone. Oh, it could have been perfect! Someday. After the Tour Effiel, we went back to Avenue des Champs Elysees and took a bus going to Musee du Louvre. Because the bus system in Paris is really confusing. We were dropped off a bit farther than we expected. We didn’t have much time left as well, so we were already in panic. We walked and walked and walked and after 15 minutes or so of walking , we finally reached the famous Da Vinci landmark, Musee du Louvre. I wanted to go in but to my surprise it was closed. Musee du Louvre is closed every Tuesday! Ugh! Of all the days in the week, it had to be close on the day I was there. Argh! Anyways, I still wanted to go to Notre Dame but my feet was giving up already, literally shaking and hurting so bad, and we didn’t have much time left as well. So, we went back to the hotel. Rest for about an hour. Then again, the most dreadful part, going back to Abu Dhabi. LoL!

Arc de Triomphe

Avenue des Champs Elysees

Eiffel Tower Up Close

Eiffel Tower

Musee du Louvre

Busy month? I would say yes. Exciting though. Lots of new adventures. New amusing stories. Until my next entry. Adios!

Kuala Lumpur and Karachi

Starting the month of November was fun. First flight of the month is Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Out hotel in Kuala Lumpur is amazing! Great ambiance, beautiful lobby, wonderful rooms, awesome view, a flat screen television, a comfortable bed and pillows, bathtub and shower and the location of the hotel was just fab. It was only 2 minutes drive “buggy”/golf cart away from the famous Petronas Towers/KLCC Mall, how convenient is that?!? We reached the hotel around 4 in the afternoon and straight away went out to get some food and check out KLCC. There were a few of us that were supposed to meet in the lobby after 30 minutes but only 2 of us came. And so we went to the KLCC mall. The mall was humongous! So many stores, so little time! LoL! I particularly liked this store called Vincci. They had a great selection of shoes and they were cheap too! I ended up buying just 2 pairs. I wanted more but of course I had to control, I was just starting the month for goodness sake! LoL! We ate dinner at the food court and then went back to the hotel to rest.

Petronas Towers

The next day, woke up early to have a breakfast buffet. The restaurant was great but they didn’t have pork. Buhoo! That was what I was looking for. LoL! After breakfast I went to Kuala Lumpur’s central market with Dahlia. There wasn’t really much to see, it was more like a big tourists’ mall with all the souvenirs and cultural stuff that I can find all over Asia. After an hour of going around the mall, Dahlia and I went back to the hotel. Oh, we actually passed by KLCC first then went back to the hotel. Dahlia drove the buggy back to the hotel. We were the only passengers so the hotel personal said yes to Dahlia when she asked him if she could drive the buggy! When we got back to the hotel, we went up to the rooftop; they call it the “Sky Bar”. WOW! The view was amazing! You could see the whole Petronas Towers and the park in front of it. Plus, there was the bar, a spa, a jacuzzi and a swimming pool. It was perfect for a chill out lounge. I wish I had my friends with me, I’m sure they would love the place! Stayed in Sky bar for a while and went back to my room. After an hour, Uma and I decided to visit Aquaria. Obviously, it’s an aquarium. Hmm, nothing really impressive to see, it wasn’t really new to me, I’ve seen something similar in Singapore already. Oh, just this big frog that freaked me out big time! And because of that frog, I was jumpy the whole time Uma and I was walking through the pathway. We ate lunch in the food court near the Aquaria then went back to the hotel to get some snooze. Left the hotel 6:00 in the evening and took off for Abu Dhabi by 8:45pm. Arrived Abu Dhabi just about after midnight local time, slept the whole day. Woke up in the evening and I was off to Karachi.

Kuala Lumpur's Central Market

Aquaria; Can you see the shark?

When I first saw Karachi in my roster I was so disappointed. I did not want to do it. But then, I heard from other crew that they sell good leather jackets in the airport duty free and that got me excited. I’ve been wanting to buy a leather jacket but they are so expensive! They told me it was real, good quality leather. So, it made me look forward to my Karachi flight. Oh, I did not do anything in the flight! Light load, well no load. I was assigned in Diamond First Class and we had no guests, and I’m not really trained for Diamond or Pearl. Pearl business class only had like 2-3 guests so they did not need my help. I went to visit the Coral Economy Galley as well, and they had everything in control! So, I had really nothing to do. We only had an hour ground time in Karachi and there are currently political ramblings in Pakistan so I wasn’t sure if the captain and cabin manager would allow us to go out to the duty free but luckily they did, BUT, for 15 minutes only! We rushed to the duty free, saw the leather jackets, started trying them on, and viola, in more or less 15 minutes, I managed to buy 2 leather jackets. LoL! Now, let me see, where to wear them? Hmm. I wonder. LoL! I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Ahihihi!

Manila Homecoming

After 4 months of waiting I finally got to go back to Manila. I would have loved it if I had the chance to go home to Tuguegarao as well but it was better than nothing. How do I exactly start?

Well, I got to go home twice this October, and it was back to back.

After Sydney, crew control was nice enough to give me 3 days off so I had the chance to go home to Manila. I never thought I would miss Manila. I was sure I would miss my family, friends and Dave but Manila itself, I was sure I would not. But I was wrong, the traffic, the side street vendors, the rainy days. I missed it.

Day 1: My mom and dad picked me up in the airport. It was raining really hard but it was all good. I missed the rain. Right when I we arrived our condominium; I gave them my “pasalubongs”. Unpacked my things and unwind for a while. After taking a nap and a shower I was off to Greenhills. Dad decided to stay home and rest. Mom was going to meet her high school classmates and I was to visit Janice’s place. The rain was terrible which caused horrendous traffic; it took as more than an hour from our place to my mom’s friend’s house in San Juan. Good thing Janice’s place was near my mom’s friend’s house already so we were in Janice’s place in like 5 minutes. Last time I was in Ninni’s place was last April; I actually lived there for 2 weeks. I was ecstatic to see everyone there, Ninni, Brian, Chester, Inri and of course Dave. I decided to wait a while before going out to eat because of the traffic. It was just like the olden days, hanging around at Ninni’s place, the only difference is Dave was there and so was I. It was always either Dave was there and I was not or vice versa. We went to Gerry’s grill for dinner, my favorite restaurant. I missed the sisig, calamares, baked mussels, kangkong, shredded adobo, yummy! *drool* Being around my closest friends was great. It was like no worries, that I had no job to worry about. We laughed like there was no tomorrow! After dinner, I was suppose to pick up my mom right away and go home to rest, but when I called her up she was enjoying her time with her friends and so did I and so we both said that we can just go home a ‘lil bit later. We went back to Janice’s place and just hanged out. It was more comfortable anyways than staying in the restaurant. We talked about everything! Not seeing Inri and Janice for 6 months! My gosh! There was so much to catch up with! Around 12 in the evening, mom called me to tell the driver to pick her up already and so he did, she wanted to see everyone as well so she went to Janice’s place as well. She wanted to talk to Janice about her experience with Atlasjet Airlines. And so, it took us about an hour or more before heading home. We got home around 2am and woke daddy up and from there we all could not sleep. We all stayed up until 3am, until they drank their sleeping pills. LoL!

Brian, Dave and I, Inri and Janice

Dave and I

Day 2: We woke up 9am, and since there is just so much to do and mall open at 10am, by 10 I was in SM Mall of Asia already. LoL! First in the list, get a manicure & pedicure/foot spa, facial and have my eyelash permed. I went to my favorite spa clinic, Let’s Face It! I stayed at the spa clinic for 3 hours to have everything done. I also wanted to have my hair cut and a hot oil but we didn’t have much time because I had to do my groceries, shop for things I needed and go to a designer to have myself measured for a gown for my brother’s wedding on January. Next stop was Shoe Mart, I bought new undergarments, hairnets, stocking, pins and a lot more. It was a Wednesday, so our car wasn’t able to be of use because of this coding rule in Manila. Good thing, Ate Vilma and Kuya Allan was there. Ate Vilma and Kuya Allan are good friends of the family. They picked us up in Mall of Asia and drove us to New Manila to the designer, had my measurements done and choose the design of my gown then we went to Greenhills shopping center. I met up with Dave in Greenhills. He was going back to Tuguegarao that night so I did not want not seeing him before he left. We just went around the mall. Looking for the perfect bag for my PSP, unfortunately, they did not have what I want. We had dinner at Italianni’s with my parents, Ate Vilma and Kuya Allan. I paid for dinner, and it was just fulfilling to see my parents overjoyed that I, their youngest child, can already treat them in an expensive restaurant. As a child, I was always scared of not pleasing my parents. I wanted them to be proud of me and that night I did. I wanted to cry when my dad kissed me in the forehead and thanked me for the dinner. I knew they were both proud of me and I that made me extremely happy. I would love to do it over and over and over again just to see them be proud of me. It was also the first time Dave and I in a expensive restaurant, I always wanted to eat fast food, the oily French fries, burgers, barbeque sticks in the streets and Mc Donald’s chicken nuggets, my favorite. Right when we finished dinner, we went to Chester/Janice/Brian’s place for Dave to pick up his things already. We brought him to the bus station and said our goodbyes. I felt so bad saying goodbye to him again. I won’t see him for quite some time again. I almost didn’t want him to leave but he had to, he had to enroll in school.

Day 3: Last Day, the only thing I was able to do was open a bank account for my savings and get my Jollibee! LoL! I missed Jollibee, I wish they’d put one up here in Abu Dhabi soon. I know they have one in Dubai but I barely go there. Expecting the flight to be full, I went to the airport early hoping to get a sure seat, but no, it was too overbooked so I had to wait for the captain and the crew to ask for a jumpseat. I was with another cabin crew, her name’s Sugar; she’s really nice and pretty. We talked to the captain together and yes, the captain was nice enough to allow us to sit in the jumpseat.

My Parents

with Kitchie

Going back to Abu Dhabi was a bit tiring. It’s not really comfortable trying to sleep in a jumpseat of an airplane. Good thing there was an extra passenger seat, Sugar and I exchanged every once in a while. I arrived the flat around 9pm in the evening. Slept pretty much the whole day, and I was off back to Manila for my flight. This time around I wasn’t a passenger, I was a crew already.

Touchdown in Manila was 2:00 in the afternoon; we were in the hotel by 4pm. My parents were waiting for me already. I slept for a few hours and then we left for San Juan, to have dinner with my Ninang Wilma, my godmother, and her family. It was her birthday so they had a mini birthday celebration at their place. I was so tired that I fell asleep in the couch. I was suppose to meet a couple of friends but complications and all I was unable to see them. Instead, I made plans with Inri and Janice again. Faye also just arrived from Hong Kong so it was a mini reunion as well. I haven’t seen her since last year. She works as a dancer in Hong Kong Disneyland. My parents dropped me off in Oyster Boy in Greenhills where I was to meet the girls. Ben and Al were also there, Janice and Inri’s boyfriends. It was my first time to meet Al, he’s a basketball player and he’s freaking tall! I also met Aira for the first time and I heart her already. She’s so fun to be with. Being with the girls once again was fabulous. Fun, fun fun! Although it was liquor ban, we were able to get some booze! Dara and Ken also came later on the night. Just to see me. That’s why I heart Dara so much, she makes ways just to see me. LoL! I got back to the hotel 3 in the morning already and to think I had a flight the next day. Whew! Superwoman! LoL! I asked my mom and dad to sleep in the hotel with me. Good thing I didn’t wake them up when I came in. My mom woke me up around 10am because I had to get all the groceries I wanted to bring from our condo. My luggage was so heavy! I had longganisa, bangus, daing, puto-pao, and canned goods! It was crazy but they don’t weigh our luggage anyways so what the heck! LoL! Flight was great, full but it was ok. After 8 hours, again I was back in Abu Dhabi! I was dead tired. I slept right away. Well, after bringing out all the frozen food I had with me then I slept.

Peaches, Faye, Aira, Ben and Janice, Inri and Al

They missed me

with Dara and Ken

It was great being back in Manila. Really! It was totally worth it. I didn’t care if it got me tired and all. Seeing my family and friends was awesome! Nothing compares to the time I spent with them! I can’t even find the right words to express how happy I feel!

PS: My mom has our pictures together in me in uniform. I’ll post them as soon as I receive them.

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!