Roma, Italia

I am at my happiest that finally I have visited Roma and of course the Vatican.

The flight from Jeddah was only over four hours with only (-)1 hour difference from KSA time. Not bad. I had only a day here so I took the hop on-hop off bus for a more convenient tour. I didn't alight at most of the stops, just the most important one: Vatican. Seeing the Vatican is way beyond amazing. Twas heart-pounding, heart-blasting, and the last time I experienced this was seeing the Eiffel Tower for the first time.

And now here are my photos:

Our official residence: Boscolo Exedra Luxury Hotel. Paris Hilton and Leo diCaprio once stayed here. Dang, why wasn't during my stay?!

my room = lalalove

my hairdo. half-braided. half twisted

The Vatican

Rome is like a huge museum.

The Coloseo. I wanted to come here after dinner but I was already too tired.

Venetia

a sculpture on a door. freaky but cool.

souvenirs galore

The Vatican. I just had goosebumps. Such a heart-pounding experience!

My delicioso dinner. I know I should dine in an Italian resto but I opted for, well more of craved for, Chinese dishes. I'm always eating pasta and pizza in my domestic layovers so now I'm heading on to Chinese restos. :D

 But of course a cup of gelato is a must!

The hotel at night.

I'm fascinated with huge, intricate doors. :)

My loot. :) That lighter is for my BFF.

Sad to say the famous Fontana de Trevi was under construction. 

Here's a funny story:

Suddenly woke up after a deep sleep and I don't know where I am! Asked myself repeatedly, "Where am I?! What time is it?! Did I miss the wake up call?! Why didn't I wake up through my own alarm?! Where am I?!!" I got so scared - like really, really scared - and I almost had a mini heart attack. It took me a couple of minutes before realizing my location. Lol. Old FA stories are true. Come a day you couldn't anymore remember where you are neither where you had been. Looool. 

That's it for now. I'm still in my bed rest mode. I am sooo over super duper extremely exhausted. My whole body is shaking due to exhaustion and stress. I ignore my body calling for a time out so now I'm paying the price. 

Exciting Events

Tomorrow morning KSA time I'm flying to Rome. :D It's my first time in Italy and I'm undeniably excited. I haven't yet packed because I'm still indecisive on what to wear especially in Vatican. Weather forecast says it's going to be hot, around 28'C. Wow. That is hot. For sure I will wear something nice but conservative. It's just I couldn't decide which among those dresses I own I should wear. This is always the case in my every layover. Ho-hmm... Of course, I need to bring extra dresses for dinner and breakfast, plus another extra in case of something unplanned. For a 26-hour layover, yes, bringing of multiple clothes is a must! Teeheehee. 

There are always three things that excite me each time I go for an international layover, even if it's my nth time in that place: 1) explore 2) wearing nice clothes and 3) fine dining. :D 

Aside from Rome, I'm also looking forward for our July's rosters. This is the suspense we get each end of the month - knowing what's our next month's schedule. I'm really, really hoping I will get last week off for July because I'm planning to connect it with August's first week off. Dear God, I know nothing is impossible with your power. Amen.

That's it for now. Hopefully next time I can already write something with my own pictures. :)

Welcome Back to Me!

Last time I blogged was my 5th month of flying. Now, lo and behold, it's already my 24th month! Unbelievable. I have just completed my 2 years in this wonderful field - flying. My heart is about to burst. I want to write so many things. All my ups and downs, all those moments that crushed my heart, and those million of times my soul was in total nostalgia. 

Everything is still surreal. I can't believe I am seeing three countries in a month, plus count my homeland as the 4th. Navigating the world in a spin is one crazy thing, and I do this crazy thing all the time, just days apart. Incredibly unbelievable! Of course, how can I not mention shopping. It's our favorite past time, hobby, stress  buster, and routine - a tedious one. Once a steward said, "Sometimes you don't want to go shopping, but you have to." True. Preach to that brother! If it's that hard for him, then how much more us, ladies?

Recently I'm all the more hooked to shopping (since when was I not???!). Alright undoubtedly I'm engrossed to it to the nth level, but at the moment it has been a different thing. It's like an addiction, a serious case of shopaho-lism. Just like alcoholism, an alcoholic increases its dosage of drinking day by day regardless of how much he has consumed. Same as for a shopaholic like me. I shop till I drop, tagging with me my medium (?!) size trolley. I get home, excitedly opening each purchase but after seeing them all lying before me, I want more. I want to "increase my dosage." To shop "more." To head back to the mall right away the following day to buy "more." After coming from a long flight, regardless if I already did some serious shopping in the layover, I want to head to the mall right away and shop again for more. Waaa! I'm getting worse, seriously worse. But of course I'm controlling myself. I'm financially conscious and I know my limits. Seriously I do though my FB friends think I don't. Lol. 

On another note, this time I will do my best to stay committed to blogging, whenever, wherever, of whatever. Especially my travels and daily randoms, much like before during my Multiply days. God, I missed to write and I'm surprised everything just flows out of my fingertips. I'm typing like crazy, typing spontaneously. :)

Soon I will post my travel photos and will relive all those epic memories, or shall I say epic fail. Haha. :D

That's it for now. Will try get some more sleep after sleeping for 7 hours. :D Haha.

World, you are the world to me!

Saccharine Changes

Before I hopped into this flying profession, every single thing is far from my reach. Everything involves monetary concerns. I only shop at thrift stores/ukay-ukay and even if they're already that cheap, I won't give in until I can buy for less than a hundred pesos. Bench, Penshoppe, and other local brands are familiar yet stranger to me. I find them expensive or at least impractical. I can't buy a good pair of shoes right away, I need my mom's consent first and 1,000 pesos for shoes meant a whole lot to me. Even 500 pesos pair of shoes would still make my eyebrows raise. Or even if I know the value-for-item is very reasonable, I cannot still afford it. I frequent cardinerias/cheap eateries to cater my grumbling stomach. Of course I'm very much satisfied with the food they sell - cheap + delicious. Very homemade taste. 

Before I still need to save, save, save before I could buy what I want - one at a time. I don't even step into these branded stores, never. For what? For salesladies to look at me from head to foot, all the more if I come out empty handed. Dining out means saving a lot first and from the menu I will select the cheapest. 

But I was happy no less. I believe that I'm still blessed because my family supports me with whatever I wanted to buy, though of course I don't ask much. I know my limits and theirs, too.

Now... At the moment I stepped into this awesome job, everything changed. 

All the doors of branded and signature items opened up for me. I can pay a visit anytime and I can come out with purchases of anything I want. Dining at fine dining restaurants is like a decision of a whim. No need to save up and I can even bring my friends with me.

Shopping in high end stores is like shopping in street markets. Filling in the shopping bags - no not bags but trolley! - is easy peasy. Aside from a trolley almost about to burst, hands are also full with  heavy shopping bags. And as if that's not enough, more items are still looking for to purchase. Like one time in Delhi, I shopped like crazy in this shopping stretch. I already have a looot but seeing my wallet still with money, I still scouted for more items. I really, really, really want to consume all the rupees I have with me but my body cannot coordinate anymore. I am so effin' tired. For the first time I literally experienced "shop till you drop."

If Parisian (shoes), Bench, and Penshoppe are hard to afford before, now I already own a big Mango bag and I'm still planning to buy one, lots of Vincci pairs, and thick folds of foreign branded clothes.

It's all so surreal... Like a dream...

This month is my 5th flying month and I can't wait to buy every girl's dream bag: Louis Vuitton! Can you believe that?! And no we're not talking about the small speedy one, it's something bigger than that of course! 

Oh my, I never thought all these will be possible.

Fine dining, heavy shopping, and world tour... ALL THE TIME.

Thank You, Lord. Thank You so much.

Haste is Waste

What's up with these people who push you to get married ASAP?! Love, wedding and marriage are three different things. 

Love is why you two decided to tie the knot. 

Wedding is the fancy, glittery celebration of the union.

Marriage is where reality sets in that after the one-day celebration, it takes more than love and romance to make things work.

Thank you.