SV 023

Hiya all! Been on a hiatus from writing despite checking my dashboard every single day. Bummer. 

I'm trying to figure out how to post personal photos here from my tab. I can easily do it through my lappy of course. I tried url-ing (sorry for the term) my photos but my tab crashes right away the moment I browse that specific photo. Waahhh.... :(

Alright so moving on, last Feb 2nd (JFK/NYC time) was the scariest moment of my life. Due to the bad weather (snow storm) most of the flights in JFK airport were cancelled, as twas in the news all through out. While at the hotel I was really hoping ours would get cancelled, too, so we could enjoy a few more hours in the hotel. But something else took place, something fearful. 

What was 40 mins ride from the hotel to the airport (and v. v.) became 2 hours to be exact. We were already hungry by then! After passing through the immigration we just found out our aircraft was not yet at the gate. Sigh! Pacifying a noisy tummy sure is a herculean task so off we wandered around looking for something to eat. Good thing there was a hotdog stand as it was the only food available that could make one full. Now here's one thing I learned, always bring cash! As they are only in cash basis. Thank goodness I kept some dollars with me because usually as cabin crew we are used to spend all the cash we have before the flight back. Or sometimes with 33 hours layover such as this we only rely on our credit cards.  

After the hotdog stint who knew we were bound to wait for so long. Deym. Our aircraft was just at the hangar and they had a difficulty towing it to the gate because of, once again, the bad weather. When they finally did it, next thing was de-icing it and this, too, takes a long process. Our schedule for take off was at 8:30PM (JFK time) but we already boarded the aircraft at 9:30PM. Le sigh... We closed doors at 11:30PM. So that was it? WRONG! The worse scenario is yet to come.

We went on and on at the runway while they kept on de-icing us. By on and on I mean by the hours! The captain tried his best to take off but the weather just wouldn't cooperate. The runway was full of ice, blocked ice actually. We already started the beverage service with Kitkat chocs. The pax were of course somehow fuming mad. Like who wouldn't?! :(

They've gone mad and that's understandable. But have they thought about us, hello. After the long hours of waaiiitteeennggg, we still had a 13 hours flight to beat. How about that. :/ 

At 03:00AM (imagine?!) we were already about to take off. The First  Officer announced, "Cabin crew, please be seated for take off." That was a sign of relief. But hell NOOO! After two minutes the captain announced, "Supervisor, to the cockpit." Waahh... So what could be wrong this time!? Next thing I noticed we were going back to the gate. Twas a rejected takeoff. 

The runway wasn't ready for take off obviously and our cockpit crew members were defying the odds. Scary... We were the only aircraft in the runway going round and round. They had to stop the aircraft's engine so the captain went out and checked what could have gone wrong. Then off we went with our take off attempt again. Twas soooo deym scary. For us at the back, we already prepared ourselves and the cabin for the emergency evacuation, just in case. We cleared out everything, secured every single scattered item, and prepared ourselves emotionally and physically. 

Me and my Sri Lankan colleague were already in tears. We held hands. Prayed all the prayers we could as we were preparing for what might be the last take off of our lives. From 9:30pm of getting on board, at 3:30am (?!?!?) we finally had our successful takeoff. What was a tearful moment  turned into an applauding one. Yey!!!!!!!

As we were already taking off I could see that we were the one and only airline at the runway. JFK airport is so huge but at that crucial time it turned out to be a deserted snowy arena. Kudos to the captains for doing their best. Undeniably they are so deym good. Saudia cockpit crew members are indeed one of the world's best. They truly deserve the four stripes and a star. Big thanks to my colleagues as they were hardworking and dedicated. Especially to our Supervisor and Purser who kept their cool the whole time. :)

Pax were a bit behaved except for some who were teeny tiny bit rude and sarcastic. But can't blame them though. 

I got 5 days off afterwards. Back to back legality of JFK and LAX. Woohoo.  The first three days were spent sleeping. I was busted out due to exhaustion that all I could ever do was sleep, sleep, and sleep. After being awake for 5 hours I'd sleep again. My body just switches off by itself. I guess that's how exhausted I was. No make it, drained.

Now here's what I learned from this, 

1. Always have some loose cash of the country's currency you are in. When I say always, I mean always! Sometimes cards just won't work and rushing to the next ATM is next to impossible.

2. Drop by at Target after having some breakfast and grab some food. I did the former but not the latter. Le sigh. Grab something to munch and drink. A food will always come in handy anyway.
3. Most important of all, never again to bid for JFK flights during the peak of winter. IAD sounds much better and not to mention LAX. 

This gotta be my first time to blog about how bad my flight turned out. Forgive me but I just have to blog this out!! My apologies as I wrote something negative after the hiatus. Hoping for a much better entry next time and hopefull by then personal photos are included. 

Fresh from four international trips

Just arrived from Istanbul (Turkey), Manila (Ph), Macau, and Hongkong. That's 3 countries in a week. Whew! Hours after arrival from my personal trip with my family, off I flew again to complete my 3-day schedule. Getting cray-cray with all this flying but what can I do, this is the life I chose. :)  

I'm happy with all these and I never thought come a day I'll have a day like this! :) 

That's it for now, photos shall be uploaded soon. :)

Beating the Red Lights in Hyderabad, India

This is my third time in one of the progressive cities in India. I love it here especially the hotel - Taj Krishna Hotel - as it's near to two high-end, modern malls with all the brands I love: Mango, Levi's, Benetton, etc. As for the hotel  itself, it looks so elegant, more of a palace, as one Malaysian crew said. 

We arrived around 9 in the morning which gave me ample time to take a breakfast, have a good rest, and get ready for another fun-filled day. OR so I thought. What I expected turned out to be a disappointment. I ended up paying a lot to the tuktuk driver for nothing. We just went round and round but he couldn't get me to places I want to see, or at least to any architectural places. He speaks a little English and obviously is not good at handling tourists. Boo-hoo. Here's a round up of how my day had been:

Selfie at the tuktuk :P #camwhore

I wore a Kurta. :D A traditional Indian blouse. My last Hyderabad mall experience gave me goosebumps. I was wearing "normal" clothes then several men started chasing after me at mall. Call it flattering, but it's not! I'm not saying that I'm sooo beautiful that men lurk after me, I just look different, exotic actually. Lol.

Alright so while doing some shopping, one DOM approached me and said, "Are you a Filipina?" Obviously he's trying to "buy" me. Another group (!!!) of black men sent feelers. Then the scariest of them all, an Indian man probably in his 30's started chasing me at all sections of the mall! He was where I was no matter which floor and it started to terrify me. I couldn't concentrate on shopping then all of a sudden he went across my way and whispered something to my ear. I got so scaaared! It's his country, if I'm going to scream he can tell all lies at their own language. The safest thing I did was to stand beside a mall guard, and off he left. Good riddance! So from then on, I decided that each time I go malling in Hyderabad, or in any Indian destination for that matter, I definitely have to wear their traditional clothes for safety reasons. Surprisingly it worked. 

  

Hotel lobby

Lobby

Hallway

the bar

Another part of the lobby

It's a nice park but you need to remove your shoes to step inside. So i ditched it on my list.

Here's how crazy it was on their road!

1st - 5 people on a motorcycle! I was not able to capture the total headcount but there were really 5ive of them!

2nd - it's like a sea of motorists

3rd - see how close we are to each to other!? My goodness. 

The last point of my so-called tour: The Charminar - built in 1591, a monument and a mosque. All I thought it's really a majestic place since it's the main tourist attraction here.  

But the crowd is just shocking! There were vendors of all sorts and the people were so close with the vehicles, so crazily close! I did not even dare to step down the tuktuk I was riding at. OMG. I can't believe my sissy dared to step here, even thrice! OMGEEEE!!!

Sarees of all colors. Seeing all these now made me realize that I should have bought one, too. 

So since I'm running out of options of tourist places I should go, I just decided to hit the malls, those I mentioned near the hotel. 

Everything's on sale!!! Yeay!!! :D  

McDo for snacks - haven't eaten since I boarded the aircraft till I finished my tour!

After several rounds of shopping, I bumped accidentally with my Malaysian co-worker. She was also looking for me so we decided to have some dinner together. We opted for Chinese cuisine. Yummm!

The Aroma of China - they have a very cozy and awesome ambiance.

And I need to commend their delicious selection of dishes. :)

Plus my loot of course! A Puma bag, two dresses for me and sissy, a blouse for madear, some scarves, socks, cosmetics, and lots of BB cream (sorry forgot to include in the pic). I got them all at a bargain!!! :D

Thanks for the crazy but fun experience, Hyderabad. Till next time. :)

Back to the grind

After taking almost a week off to recuperate, I'm now back on spreading wings. I'm currently blogging in Hyderabad, India. I love spending layovers here. The hotel is cozy and accessible to two huge and modern malls. Right now I'm still here lounging in my room with my bathrobe, so let me share first what took place last night.

Sissy and I had a fabulous dinner at PF Chang's. 

We ordered for prawn dimsum, fried noodles, sweet and sour chicken, and banana spring roll with ice cream

Food is really good but considering it's not a 5-star hotel, I find them expensive. I could just toss them in my own kitchen - if so to speak. Well I guess it's really different if the dishes were cooked a chef.

Then off we went for some shopping. She was fitting shoes for her then she told me to buy a pair, too! We got to take advantage of the sale so surprisingly here's what I brought home. :D

my second pair of awesome-ness. lol

Sissy said I should collect Lacoste as well, just like her. O.o But I want to collect different brands and the next one I'm planning to buy is a pair of Armani, if they are on sale of course. Heee!

Thanks to heaven for such an awesome night. :)

Happy But Not

Here I am on my bed rest. I have already reached my limits. I've been neglecting my body for the longest time. Been flying like crazy for so long without taking time to unwind and regain strength. Rome flight was so tiring, one of the most tiring I did in my entire flying career. After Rome we had a 20-hour layover in Riyadh. It's not even enough to recover from stress and extreme exhaustion. I could not even get up from my bed. I slept for about 15 hours but it's not really enough. I just forced myself to walk upon knowing 'twas already 30 minutes before our wake up call. I could not even go to the bathroom and pee. 

It doesn't end there. After the Riyadh layover we have yet three domestic flights to operate with changing of aircraft and 2 hours ground time. It's tiring as h-e-l-l! I felt like my arms were already falling apart, my legs were shaking, my feet were throbbing, and I had a very terrible headache. Imagine that. I could not even stand during boarding, I was already sitting on  a passenger's arm rest (empty seats of course). But that's not enough, the worse that could happen to me was doing a violation against safety! OMG. I could have lost my job if the purser and captain had been so strict. I got the shock of my life! Unbelievable. I'm very careful each time I fly but all of a sudden a big no-no happened. 

On my jumpseat I was shaking, my entire body was, like how our feet throb due to over-walking, that's how my entire body was. I never felt so exhausted until that very moment. So realization took place. I could no longer fly the following days. My whole body is wrecked. I was there sitting, wanting to cry, wanting to vomit out of extreme exhaustion. I just fly and fly, trying to hit the highest flying time I could so I would of course receive a higher salary in return, compromising my wellness. After several months of doing so, here I am, lamenting over my mistakes. 

While on my jumpseat, it's like the whole world was on my shoulders. I was screaming to myself, "I deserrrve an LV every year! I deserrrve the best things in life! I deserrrve a grand personal vacation! I deserrrve all those shopping, heck, I even deserrrve more shopping! I deserrrve them all!"

My sister said I deprive myself of the good stuff. I don't buy gadgets or anything pricey. My reason was, "I'm saving." She said, "No. You're hoarding your money!" Stupid me, she's right. I want to save a lot of money for my family's vacation come July-August in Hongkong-Macau. It's just a week but I don't know what's driving me crazy to fly a lot to earn a lot. Ah yes, I know - Moolah.

Realizing what my sister said was true, off we went shopping for gadgets. Finally, at long last, I already bought an Ipad Mini 2 and a new camera: Canon SX510 HS Power Shot with wi-fi. I love how classy it looks like, like a posh DSLR but so cute and small! She's been nagging me about those for sooo long but the bummer me was just ignoring her. Plus one more item that will add to my footwear collection, a pair of blue Grendha sandals. :) Yey! I already have 2 pais in nude and a pair in green, so time for a new color! 

 So now, here I am, finally feeding my gusto. Thank You, God, for all the blessings. Though I'm in a bad shape right now, I could still say flying is the best job in the world. :)