Wednesday, June 27, 2007

July 07 Roster (Updated 04/07)

My roster for July:

01JUL DUBAI - VENICE (INAUGURAL FLIGHT)
02JUL VENICE - DUBAI
04JUL DUBAI - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM (INDIA)(ARR 05JUL)
05JUL THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - DUBAI
10JUL DUBAI - OSAKA
11JUL OSAKA - DUBAI (ARR 12JUL)
14JUL DUBAI - CHENNAI (INDIA)
15JUL CHENNAI - DUBAI
16JUL DUBAI - HONG KONG
18JUL HONG KONG - DUBAI
21JUL DUBAI - MELBOURNE (ARR 22JUL)
23JUL MELBOURNE - AUCKLAND
24JUL AUCKLAND - MELBOURNE
25JUL MELBOURNE - DUBAI (ARR 26JUL)
29JUL DUBAI - MANCHESTER
30JUL MANCHESTER - DUBAI (ARR 31JUL)

Friends & Family

Singapore, Melbourne was my first layover trip with Emirates and 6 months later I'm back doing it again. This time round I knew the aircraft like the back of my hand though! I had been looking forward to this trip all month as I was going to see my family in Singapore and Melbourne. The journey out to Melbourne was fine. When I was there I saw my friend Bardia for breakfast and then had lunch with my Uncle Glen. We went in the casino and my uncle won $100. I was lucky too and managed a win on Roulette gaining me an extra $15! When we got back to Singapore half the crew went out for a Chinese. The food was great this time and I'll definitely be having the lemon chicken again next time I visit. After 4 hours sleep it was time to get up and go and find my family's hotel on the other side of the city. They had just been on a cruise and were spending a week in Singapore after it. I arrived to find that their room was empty and after a slight panic (they don't do mobiles) I found them downstairs having breakfast. First it was over to Sentosa island on the cable cars, then after a quick walk around it was time to race them down the hill on some karts. We then went back to the mainland by monorail for lunch. I had a great day and can't wait to see them again!
A Melbourne street.
Melbourne's CBD.
A Melbourne tram.
The crew out for a Chinese in Singapore. L-R Me, Captain Dominicus (Holland), Isfarina (Malaysia), Naing (Myanmar), Nicola (England), Hanni (Ethiopia), Sarina (Singapore) and First Officer Sudesh (Malaysia).
Tiger, the local beer in Singapore.
The cable cars going over to Sentosa.
On the cable car above the cruise terminal.
Me, my brother Liam and Dad.
A Merlion statue on Sentosa.
My stepmum Debbie and Liam wearing their Luge helmets.
People riding the Luge carts.
Liam holding a python. He was so brave!
The family photo taken on my bed!
The Singapore Control Tower. You know you're here when you see this.
Bardia was on my flight between Singapore and Dubai. We took this photo hiding in one of the galleys.

Friday, June 15, 2007

Malaysia - Truly Asia

Reserve month brought another new destination to my visted list. This time it was Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. The flight over was half empty so I thought it was time to catch up on some Dr Who in the back row for an hour. :-) I was in charge of running one of the galleys on this flight and I have definately improved since I first did it. The hotel in Kuala Lumpur was excellent, especially the food. The weather was very hot and humid so I only went out for 2 hours but I did manage to see the main sights of KL.
Nicola (England) and I doing our 'Welcome on Board' poses.
I was upgraded to a superior room at the hotel and had this great view of the Petronas Towers.
The towers looking up from the base.
Looking towards out hotel from the base of the towers. It's the pink building in the centre of the picture.
The Kuala Lumpur monorail which I had a ride on.
The KL Tower.
The buffet at the hotel was amazing.
They had some really weird food though. This is sweetcorn (yellow) and yam (purple) icecream. Two flavours that icecream should definately not be! Green cherries too.
Me and the girls riding the airport shuttle train or 'Pintu Masuk' as we nicknamed it. L-R Nicola, Bianca (Australia), Me, Pungjai (Thailand) and Nadine (South Africa).

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Islamabad - Not That Bad Actually

The crew have many crazy stories about operating flights to Pakistan so naturally I was dreading my first trip there. It came in the form of an Islamabad. I was called off reserve to work on this flight because half the crew had called sick for it. I was pleasantly surprised. Everyone knew what they wanted to eat/drink and there were hardly any call bells.

Islamabad Airport.

Friday, June 08, 2007

My First Call Out

My first call out from standby was to Perth. It was great to be going back again. The flights had only 60 economy passengers each way in a cabin that holds up to 250 so it was a very easy service. I managed to get 4 hours sleep in a Business Class seat on the way back. While I was in Perth I managed to do some catching up with family and friends. First stop of the day was the ferry terminal in Fremantle to surprise my stepmum as she came off the ferry from Rottnest Island to go to work. Unfortunately she was working on the island that day so I ended up being sat alone with two coffees! Hopefully I'm going to see her and the rest of the family in Singapore later this month. I also managed to have a chat with my new friend/avid blog reader Bardia. It's a lot cheaper to call him in Melbourne from Australia than Dubai! He's going to be on one of my flights later this month so look out for a picture of him soon. :-) Next I travelled down to Pinjarra (the town where I grew up) to see my Nanna & Grandad. We had a nice lunch and a walk around the town. I also popped down the road for an hour to see my mum's friend Sadie who lived across the road from us when we were young. After that it was time to catch the train back to Perth and I invited my Aunty and cousin to the hotel for dinner. The food in the hotel restaurant was excellent and I can't wait to go back again. I had Kangeroo! After all the day's excitement it was time for bed and I managed to get 6 hours sleep before the flight. Now all I need is another Manchester so I can see the rest of the family!
Pinjarra from Space.
The Australind train that runs between Pinjarra and Perth.
The hotel we stay in.

Sunday, June 03, 2007

Hamburg, New York

This trip is one of the most sought after by Emirates crew who have their US visa. I loved Hamburg and can't wait to go back again. Everything is close to the hotel so you don't have to go too far to find what you need. The allowance is also very generous at €72 for a 24 hour stay. Breakfast is served on the top floor of the hotel with a fantastic view of the lake and city. The flight between Hamburg and New York only had 50 passengers and First Class was empty so we each spent 3 hours in one of the seats having massages (by the seat, not the crew) :-) and watching films. In New York I stayed in a different hotel to my first visit. This time it was in Brooklyn instead of Manhattan. The shopping around the hotel was great. On the way back to Hamburg we got up to mischief in economy while our supervisor was sorting out paperwork in another cabin. You can see what we did in the photos. I'm now on reserve so my next flight will be a surprise. Maybe I'll be seeing you soon.....
The lake in front of the hotel. You can see the top floor of the hotel just to the right of the crane.
Having dinner in Hamburg on our first night of the trip. On the left you can see myself and Zaneil (from the famous Sydney, Christchurch trip we did) and on the left Chloe (England) and Sameer (India) sat at the front of the table. The other people are cabin crew from the return trip who decided to join us.
After dinner we all went out to the clubbing area of Hamburg which is called the Reeperbahn and also happens to be the red-light district!
Arriving at Hamburg airport for our next flight to New York.
The crew checking-in their suitcases.
As we approached the Canadian coast we could see large sheets of ice which had broken off.
A view of the Brooklyn Bridge and New York City taken from the Manhattan Bridge.
Times Square at night.
Chloe and Waffa (France) made me take a picture with this policeman. It turned out that he is the police captain of the Times Square area. He recomended a nice pizza restaurant for us to visit.
One of our pizzas being made.
The pizza was fantastic. L-R Zaneil, Chloe, Sameer, Ziad (Lebanon), Eva (Lebanon) and Waffa.
We walked down broadway before catching a yellow cab back to the hotel.
One of the shopping streets in the suburb of Brooklyn where our hotel is.
On the return flight we got up to mischief. We pierced the tops of the water bottles and had a water fight.
Then we filled a magazine with talcum power and when Zaneil came into the galley it was flung over him!
The famous hand/fruit holder in the Hamburg hotel room.
Hamburg from the bridge.
And again from the waterfront.