The World is My Playground

Rome, Italy & Mauritius

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 21:54:30 GMT

I’ve been lazy to post again these past few weeks. After my trip to Turkey, I had some turnarounds then I flew to Rome, Italy in the middle of November. I was very much looking forward to it because it’s been ages since my last visit there. As I’ve mentioned again and again before, I looove Italy! I just find it so beautiful – the picturesque place, gorgeous people, delicious food! Can’t get enough gelato, pizza, gelato, pasta, gelato…did I mention gelato?! *Drool*

Another thing was that I was flying with my friend Koko. It really makes a difference when you’re not flying with complete strangers. Koko and I have already been around the major landmarks in Rome before, but she’s never been to the Vatican so I decided to accompany her.

Welcome to the Vatican City!

St. Peter’s Basilica and the obelisk with my friend Koko

Inside St. Peter’s Square

Meet Emanuele, a rather charming Italian that we met inside the Vatican. :)

Koko and me inside St. Peter’s Basilica

With the Swiss Guards in their colorful uniforms

Goodbye, Vatican City! We were also able to visit the place where the popes are buried. Last time I went there long ago, we were still allowed to discreetly take pictures of the graves, but this time not anymore.

After visiting the Vatican, some of the crew we were with went to visit a nearby castle, but Koko and I were too hungry already. Next time we get to come back to Rome, at least we know where to go. After having our delicious Italian dinner, we went to the Fountain of Trevi.

It was my third visit to the Trevi Fountain, but I still threw a coin to the fountain to ensure my return to Rome. No harm in believing those legends anyway. :) I would love to go back to beautiful Rome again and again, even just for the gelato. Speaking of which, I had 3 scoops that night despite the cold weather!

My next layover after Rome was Accra, Ghana in Africa. It was a 24-hour layover there, and then we do a turnaround shuttle to Abidjan, Ivory Coast and come back to Accra and stay for another 48-hour layover. I’ve never been to Ghana, and I was actually looking forward to doing the Canopy Walk in the rainforest. Otherwise, there’s nothing else to do. Some of the crew went for the Canopy Walk, but – surprise! – I decided not to join. On any normal day, I wouldn’t have passed up a chance for a new adventure especially in a new country, but during that time, I just felt too exhausted. The forest was a 3-hour drive from Accra, and I wasn’t in the mood for a long drive on very rocky roads. Plus, the weather was so hot, and just thinking of having to climb a series suspension bridges under that heat (no matter how beautiful the view), was enough to make me feel faint already. I knew I really needed my rest, but I did regret my decision a little bit, because I felt like my layover was wasted since I didn’t do anything. It’s not often I choose rest over adventure and I’m sure my body is grateful that I didn’t push it to its limit this time.

Here’s me in uniform, a few minutes before our pickup, bored to death in my hotel room in Accra, Ghana. I was ready to go but still had extra time, so I took pictures of myself, practicing my no-teeth smile. I know, I’m such a loser! Haha. I usually hate how I look in pictures if I smile without teeth, but I think this one is not bad. I just need a little bit more practice… Vain, vain, vain!!! :p

I was supposed to have a turnaround and another Rome flight at the end of November, but I swapped them for a Mauritius. I was so frustrated with the unfortunate incident that happened last end of October that I immediately accepted the Mauritius swap that someone sent me. I really wanted to go to Mauritius, but after I flew to Rome, I wanted to go back! Too bad we couldn’t undo our swaps; otherwise I really would’ve taken back my Rome. But it’s ok. I had a blast in Mauritius anyway. I’ve only been there twice long ago, both 12-hour layovers only. Now we stay at a different resort and the layover is longer by a day, 36-hours! More time to enjoy the tropical paradise!

We now stay at the La Plantation Resort, a beautiful resort with lots of pools.

Off to the beach just in front of the resort

The beach in front of La Plantation – I love this picture!

La Plantation Resort, Mauritius

As I said, the resort has many, many pools!

One of the reasons I really enjoyed Mauritius was because the crew I flew with were a lot of fun! We had this crazy pictorial at the beach after dinner. That’s Nawale from France (too shy to show her legs, haha), Peach from Thailand, Nimo from Tanzania, Glendy from the Philippines, Edna from Kenya, Ashleigh and Thomas from South Africa, and yours truly.

I really like this fun picture! Nawale (2nd), really didn’t want to show her legs, so she just pretended to be scandalized. Hehe!

Show your right leg, take 2! Our French colleague really is stubborn. :p

The following morning, my Mauritian friend Yash, who works for Air Mauritius, picked us up and brought us to a bigger, better beach, the Mon Choisy.

Group picture at the Mon Choisy – me, Thomas, Yash, Ashleigh, Glendy

Sunbathing in Mauritius

Mon Choisy, Mauritius

Group picture in the water

This would’ve been a better picture if someone tried to hide his beer belly. Hehehe!

Me posing with a jet ski

After spending some time at the beach, Yash brought us to the capital city of Port Louis. It’s my first time to ever see the city in Mauritius!

Casino in Port Louis

Me and Yash at the Port Louis Waterfront

Me, Yash, Glendy in the city of Port Louis

We didn’t have much time to go around the city because we had to come back early so we could still sleep before our pickup. But at least we got to see it, even if we were in such a hurry. So that’s it for my November. This beginning of December, I have a bunch of turnarounds. Boo. I’ve already done a few, but earlier I got offloaded (taken off the flight) because my medical license had “213” printed on it instead of “2013” as its expiry date. I don’t really mind being taken off since it was a blah flight anyway. I have another long turnaround coming up, and I think they’ll have to take me off that one too since I still have to wait for my new medical certificate before I could fly. I hope I could get it soon because I’m flying to Birmingham with Ann in a few days! I really, really want to go to Birmingham since the last time I’ve been to the UK was early this year. Need to do some Christmas shopping over there. And of course, I really want to fly with Ann, too! Crossing my fingers I’ll get my medical certificate ASAP!

A Bite of Turkey: Holiday in Istanbul and Ephesus

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:06:21 GMT

It’s always the same story when I go on vacation and take too many pictures – I get too lazy to sort them out. I’ve posted about a hundred or so photos on Facebook, a mix of pics from my camera plus some others from Ann and Rars. For this blog, I need to cut down and just put the highlights of our trip or else this is going to be a very long post.

I’ve been itching to go see Turkey for the longest time. It always frustrated me that Istanbul is a turnaround flight for us, meaning we fly there from Dubai then go back straight away without going down the aircraft. People have been telling me what a beautiful place it is, a mix of Europe and Asia since the country is located on both continents. I told myself I’d go visit Turkey someday, somehow…!

Last September, I was chatting with Ann and venting out my frustrations about my cancelled trip to Egypt with Ellen due to overbooked flights to and from Cairo. I was telling Ann that I wish I could use my leave days to go somewhere else, but I had no one to go with me since Ellen preferred to go home instead. Somehow, we ended up talking about Turkey and making plans to go there in November. The only catch was that Ann had already booked her leave in November, but for me, I’d have to count on getting days off. By hook or by crook, I was determined to get them! Anyway, we invited Rars to come along with us, too. It was a struggle for both of us to get the days off we needed, but we somehow managed to find a way. Thank God we were able to fix our rosters and push through with the trip to Turkey! Finally!! (We had also invited Nadz, but she wasn’t able to get the needed days off. *Sniff*)

We spent 5 days and 4 nights in Turkey – 4 days in Istanbul and a 1-day trip to Ephesus in the middle. One thing that we can say about Turkey is that although there are countless tourists there, there is a shortage of Asians. Apparently they’ve never seen 3 cute Pinays over there, hehehe. ;p Because everywhere we went, people were treating us like we were celebrities! Strangers were giving us flowers, asking us out here and there, feeding us cheesy pickup lines, and approaching us to have their pictures taken with us. At first it was quite flattering, but after a while, it kind of got annoying. We even wanted to write “Philippines” on our foreheads so everyone would stop asking where we’re from or guessing that we’re from China or Japan. Sheesh. Locals also kept calling us “Angels,” but we only finally understood what they meant when someone went, “Can I be your Charlie, so you can be my Angels?” Haha.

We just took it easy the day we arrived in Istanbul. Our flight was a bit delayed, but at least it was quite empty and we got 4 seats each to ourselves. Our hostel was very conveniently located in Sultanahmet, so almost everything was just a short walk away. For our first day in Istanbul, we just walked around the Blue Mosque area (above), did some window-shopping, and then had kebabs for dinner and really good Turkish ice cream for dessert. Yum!

Good morning, Turkey! Day 2 was a full day of sightseeing in Istanbul. This was taken just right in front of our hostel.

With Rars and Ann outside Topkapi Palace, our first stop for the day

Inside the Topkapi Palace, we had a beautiful view of the sea.

Here’s a huge chunk of Turkish ice cream! The consistency is very different from regular ice cream. It’s really sticky and doesn’t melt as quickly.

The Hagia Sophia, famous for its massive dome, is considered the epitome of Byzantine architecture.

Ceiling mosaics inside the Hagia Sophia

At the Grand Bazaar with Ann

Yummy Turkish food for dinner!

For Day 3, we left our hostel at 6:15am to catch an Atlasjet flight from Istanbul to Izmir at 8am. From Izmir, it was a 1-hour drive to the ancient city of Ephesus. We had to book a day tour then fly back to Istanbul by 9:30pm!

Eastern Gymnasium and Baths of State Agora

Upper Agora and Basilica

With Kim, a Korean girl who joined our tour group, and Mehmet, the tour guide that really sucked (He had no patience with us when we wanted to take pictures!)

Marble Street of Ephesus

Temple of Hadrianus

The Library of Celsus

The Great Theater behind us

After Ephesus, we went to visit the House of Virgin Mary, which is believed to have been Mother Mary’s home before she died.

Near Mary’s house, you can drink (miraculous) holy water from the springs.

We went to a ceramics shop afterwards, but everything there was very expensive as compared to the shops in Istanbul. Unfortunately, it also started to rain really hard. The last stop for the tour was the Temple of Artemis. We drove over there but couldn’t go down due to the heavy rain. Sad.:( We proceeded to the airport quite early to catch our 9:30pm flight back to Istanbul and got back to our Sultanahmet hostel before midnight. We couldn’t believe we actually flew to Ephesus and back on the same day!

For Day 4, we just took pictures outside Hagia Sophia in the morning.

Then we inside the Yerebatan Sarnici (Sunken Cistern or Basilica Cistern). It’s a Sunken Palace where 336 marble columns rise out of the water.

That afternoon, we stopped by the Spice Market (a.k.a. Egyptian Bazaar), and then took a Bosphorus On Boat tour. It was an amazing cruise between the 2 continents, Europe and Asia.

Passing by the Rumeli Fortress during the cruise

Bosphorus Cruise – my favorite picture! :)

Late that afternoon, we went back to the Spice Market, then took the tram to Taksim, a very busy area filled with shops, restaurants and bars. In the evening, we met up for some drinks with Rars’ Turkish crew friend Erhan, who also happened to be home in Istanbul that day.

Day 5 was our last day in Istanbul. We had to leave for Dubai in the afternoon, so we only had the morning free. One very important landmark that we haven’t been able to enter was the Blue Mosque! We couldn’t leave Istanbul without going inside!

Inside the Blue Mosque, where we had to wear head scarves

That’s it for our holiday in Turkey! Ann, Rars and I definitely had a great time in this wonderful country and I’m just very, very grateful that our vague plans to tour Turkey turned into reality! Ü

Guangzhou, China and an unfortunate “Mauritius” incident, etc.

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:20:15 GMT

I had airport standby a couple of weeks ago and I only had like an hour’s sleep because I really thought I wouldn’t get pulled out, but they put me on a flight to Guangzhou, China. I didn’t mind so much since it’s one of the very few layover destinations left that I’ve never been to. Usually, when crew go to Guangzhou, they just go shopping. But for me, when it’s my first time somewhere, I’d much rather go sightseeing. A colleague and I were thinking of getting a short tour, but it was so expensive. We decided to just go around by ourselves, and we managed to go to 3 major tourist spots in Guangzhou in just an hour and a half, which left us some time for shopping. But as I have always said, I don’t exactly enjoy shopping in China. It annoys me when you ask how much something is and they give you an amount x10 of the actual selling price and you’d have to waste so much time bargaining.

First stop – Western Han Nanyue King Tomb Museum

Just outside the museum

Inside the museum (I forgot what this is, because I wasn’t really that interested. Haha.)

One of the ancient jade displays

Right below the glass pyramid is the Tomb of the Nanyue King. From the outside, it looks like a mini Louvre.

A nicer shot outside the Western Han Nanyue King Tomb Museum

Second stop – Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall

Here’s the front view of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall. I found the place really nice from the outside, but I wasn’t really in the mood to go inside anymore.

On the way to the third stop, we got to pass by these really cute plants!

Cool stone frames!

One thing I noticed all over China is that there are so many statues!!

More statues

Third stop – Chen Family Ancestral Temple

There are supposed to be ancient relics inside, but once again, we didn’t bother going inside anymore. Maybe because we were so bored from the first museum that we just became too lazy. Usually, I’m always curious to see things, but during that time I guess I really just wasn’t up for it.

Last stop – Shangxiaju Road for a bit of shopping (Statues again?!?)

After Guangzhou, I flew to Durban, South Africa, a new destination for October. There were so many things to do, but not enough time. So sad! :( Another thing was that I started getting sick. I ended up just walking to the mall in front of our hotel to buy some food and that’s it. I felt like it was a wasted layover because I didn’t get to do or see anything. New destination yet no pictures. Boohoo.

I flew to Manila a few days later, even though I still wasn’t very well. It’s been 1 whole year since I’ve done a Manila layover! Before, I used to have Manila flights like once a month. But since they came up with that stupid, heartless rule of putting a 50% Filipino limit on Manila flights, I didn’t bother bidding or swapping for Manila anymore. Oh whatever.

A really irritating thing was that I was supposed to have a 36-hour Mauritius layover after my Manila flight. I was so excited for it already, since the last time I went to Mauritius more than a year ago, layovers used to be 12 hours only. Now we stay at a different resort, and I was really looking forward to snorkeling or dolphin-watching. Anyway, I was removed from the Mauritius flight due to some legality issues on my roster, which I won’t bother explaining. Instead, I got a day off, and – surprise! – a Mauritius TURNAROUND. It was only recently that we started having those Mauritius turnarounds. Since the flight is actually too long to be a legal turnaround, crew only work for the first sector going to Mauritius, then instead of having a layover there, we deadhead (fly as passenger) on the way back to Dubai. It was so ironic. Technically, I was still going to Mauritius, but not quite. I was already so pissed as it is, but that wasn’t even half of it.

When we were arriving in Mauritius, the Captain couldn’t land because there was no visibility due to the rain. We tried twice, but couldn’t land. We ended up circling and circling for so long, until we were about to run out of fuel!!! We had to divert to the nearby Reunion Island to refuel. There were other aircraft that also had the same situation, so we had to wait for our turn. The thing is, Reunion Island airport is just so small, they didn’t have enough fuel for all the planes that diverted! We had to wait so long for fuel because it still had to be delivered from Mauritius! Finally, when we were ready to take off, they couldn’t remove the steps they installed outside our aircraft because – get this – it ran out of fuel!!! My goodness, I didn’t even know those stairs needed fuel!!! So we had to wait and wait again for the steps to be refueled. After a long time, we were ready to take off again, when suddenly there was some kind of minor fire at the Reunion Island airport, so we didn’t have permission to take off anymore! What the?!? It was like a series of unfortunate events! Anyway, when we finally arrived in Mauritius, we were already delayed for like 4 hours. Plus, the bad thing was, we still had to deadhead back to Dubai instead of having a layover in Mauritius! So we had to wait another hour until we took off for Dubai. Another unfair thing was that half of us (me included) had to sit in economy class while the other half were in business class. After such a long, tiring day, how could we rest properly?! We landed in Dubai at around 6am (it should have been 1am if we didn’t have to divert and stuff), and I got back to my flat past 7am. To think that I took the crew bus to work at 7:30am the previous day!!! It was like I was on duty for almost 24 hours!!! Wahhh!!! :(

After that incident, I had a couple of days off in Dubai. I got to catch up on sleep, but a few days later, I had some problem (too lazy to write about it anymore) and I got sooo stressed out. I even ended up crying in my flat and I really felt like I was going to get sick from all the stress. Poor me. Finally, God answered my prayers because I found a kind soul who helped me. In times of need, some people can really be angels in disguise.

Anyway, I just had a long flight recently, Melbourne-Auckland-Melbourne. We got delayed for so long from Dubai that our first layover in Melbourne became so short! Then in Auckland, I just went out for a while but didn’t really do much. I managed to sleep for 15 hours! Wow. When we went back to Melbourne, a funny thing was that some guy that worked at the hotel where we stayed suddenly just asked me out for dinner/coffee because “I know it's kinda upfront, but i may never see you again…!” Haha! He was right about not seeing me again. I told him I was just there for 1 day! Anyway, our Melbourne layover got extended by about 13 hours, due to some problem with the aircraft. They even had to change our wakeup and pickup times twice. A really pleasant surprise was that we ended up doing a “ferry flight,” (zero-passenger plane) back to Dubai! It was a 15-hour flight and we had the entire plane all to ourselves. We got to sleep in first and business class, and I even got to watch 4 movies that I’ve been itching to see. It was so cool. If the whole Mauritius incident was so sh*tty, this ferry flight was the complete opposite.

I’ve something coming up tomorrow that I’m really thankful for – I’m finally going to TURKEY!!!Ü It’s a 5-day holiday with Ann and Rars. We’re going to have so much fun for sure!!! Ü

Punta Fuego, Batangas

Sat, 10 Oct 2009 21:25:28 GMT

Since the Egypt plans with Ellen were cancelled, I ended up going home to Manila towards the end of September. I spent 1 week there (so short!) and left the following day after Typhoon Ondoy. Thank God our home and the rest of our village were spared from the flood! Due to the typhoon, I thought I’d get stuck in Manila and not be able to return to work on time, but I didn’t care anymore. My problem seemed so insignificant as compared to the trauma and disaster my fellow countrymen were experiencing during that time. So devastating. :( :(

At the very start of my leave, I got to go to Punta Fuego in Batangas. (Thanks so much to Gail and Chester for letting me tag along!Ü) I had a great time there and I was planning to post pictures right after my leave. Although I did make it back to Dubai in time for work, I didn’t feel like posting anymore since all I could think of was the flood back home. It’s only now that I actually remembered these Batangas pictures!

Stopping over at Terrazas de Punta Fuego with Jabs and Janis

I absolutely loved the two-level infinity pool at the Peninsula!

We were at the lower level of the infinity pool here. From this angle, it doesn’t look infinite at all since you can see where the pool ends. Hehe. We were too lazy to take good infinite-looking pictures that day. :p

Not-quite-infinity pool

Beach group picture - Chester, Gail, Janis, Jabi, me

After dinner at Dalampasigan – great food and nice ambiance!

The following morning, we went to the smaller infinity pool at the Upper Beach area.

Now the pool actually looks infinite! Ü Janis, me, Jabi were counting how many islands we can see from there.

Me and Jabs in the small area by the end of the infinity pool

The best seat for a great view of the sea

Still a beautiful scenery from here

Me in between the infinity pool and the sea

This one is my favorite! :)

I met up with just a few friends during my leave since I was only in Manila for a very short time. Then when I went back to work, I had to do a couple of turnarounds in a row. Boo. One thing that really upset me when I went back to Dubai though, was that due to negligence, my dear camera fell. I had carelessly left it in a compromising position, and when it fell it stopped working. *sniff* My camera is already 3 years old, and even if it’s only 5 mega pixels, it’s very precious to me and I just love it. I never ever use high resolution when I take pictures, so I really don’t understand why all the new cameras need to have such high mega pixels. :( Anyway, I was so disturbed. I probably wouldn’t have minded as much had it stopped working because of old age. But since it’s because of my own negligence, I wanted to kick myself. No one to blame but me. I just wish they still sold brand-new, old-model cameras in the market.

The only layover I’ve done after leave is Hong Kong, which I came back from just a few days ago. Although I super duper enjoyed it when I went there on holiday when I was 11, I didn’t like it anymore during the 2 times I got to go there on layover. I don’t know why. I was bored and I didn’t like the shopping. Anyway, I’ve got airport standby in the morning. I don’t think I’ll get pulled out.

Cannes, France & North Africa: Tripoli, Libya + Casablanca, Morocco

Wed, 16 Sep 2009 04:27:52 GMT

I haven’t been updating this blog recently not because I’ve been my usual lazy self, but because I haven’t really had the time. It’s been a busy past few weeks and I’ve spent most of the little free time I had catching up on much-needed sleep.

I flew to Nice, France towards the end of August, determined to see Cannes. No one wanted to come with me at first since everyone else wanted to go either to the beach or to nearby Monte Carlo, Monaco. Good thing one of my Thai colleagues decided to join me, otherwise I would’ve felt a little uneasy trying to find my way to Cannes alone. Instead of taking the train, we took the bus to Cannes, which was surprisingly cheap at just 1 Euro. It was quite a long journey, about 1 hour and 10 minutes from Nice. When we got there, we practically walked all over the city.

The famous Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, where the annual Cannes Film Festival is held.

Now I can say I’ve walked the same red carpet as the stars! ;p

It was the perfect hot summer weather in Cannes and everyone was on the beach! I would have loved to go for a swim if only we had enough time. I was even wearing a swimsuit underneath just in case. Next time I’ll go swim in Nice or Cannes since I’m done with all the sightseeing.

One thing I was a bit upset about was that I found one of my favorite sunglasses broken inside my bag. :( Without my beloved shades, I couldn’t face the glaring sun and look at the camera.

The InterContinental Carlton Hotel in Cannes, the most prestigious place to stay at during the Film Festival.

The InterContinental Carlton Hotel at the Promenade de la Croisette

Love this picture with the French flag at the marina in Cannes!

The marina in Cannes

The Cannes Castle (left) and the Notre Dame Esperance Church (bell tower, right) are perched on top of a hill overlooking the city of Cannes and the Mediterranean Sea.

The Cannes City Hall (Hotel de Ville), just below the castle

We took the last bus back to Nice and fell asleep on the bus! We were completely exhausted because of the heat and all the walking. I slept well that night, and woke up the next morning with still enough time to hit the beach before our pickup. But by the time I got dressed, I was already so hungry. I went to a nearby open-air café but decided to just take the food back to my hotel room because I couldn’t stand the heat outside anymore. And even if I still wanted to go to the beach just in front of the hotel, I didn’t bother to go out again because it was just too hot.

At the beginning of September, I flew to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A few days later, I had to go to Training College for Nujoum, some kind of program all of us crew have to attend at some point. Then just this past week, I got to have 2 layovers I’ve never done before – Tripoli, Libya and Casablanca, Morocco. Tripoli reminded me so much of its neighbor, Tunis! I like Tunisia much better than Libya, though. But Casablanca is also very similar to the 2. They’re all in North Africa anyway.

There are many historical sites in Libya, unfortunately, they are all too far and our layover is too short to go there. But it’s ok since our hotel had a good location, right next to the Medina, the Old City. We met 2 locals at the Medina – Eman and Mohammed. Eman was the only one who spoke English, and she was so nice to us! Even if she hasn’t eaten the whole day (because it’s Ramadan), she still gave us a walking tour around the area and told us all about Tripoli. When she finally left, the locals started harassing us. That’s when we realized that Eman was such a blessing not only as a tour guide, but as a bodyguard as well! :p

At the entrance to the Tripoli Medina

Libyan Locals Eman and Mohammed, my colleague Antonette, and me inside one of the shops

Some local Libyan stuff at the market

My colleague with the same name – Ava from Hong Kong, Eman, Mohammed, and me outside the Medina

The walled Old City

At the Green Square

Ava and Ava, Eman and Mohammed near the Dragut Mosque in Tripoli

The Marcus Aurelius Arch in Tripoli, with the Gurgi Mosque in the background

Roman carvings at the Al Athar (The Ruins) Restaurant just next to the Marcus Aurelius Arch

View of the Marcus Aurelius Arch from the other side, with the Abdul Wahab Mosque in the distance

Traditional Libyan setting at the Ancient Zumit Hotel/Restaurant

Entrance to the Gurgi Mosque in Tripoli

Back in Dubai, my friends and I squeezed in some playtime on our days off to go ice skating at the Dubai Mall. It was sort-of a post-birthday celebration for Ann.

Ice Princesses Katy, Ellen, Ann, me at the Dubai Mall Ice Skating Rink

The next day, I flew to Casablanca, Morocco. I heard that Casablanca is usually a very busy flight, but mine wasn’t tiring at all since the load was so light plus a lot of the passengers were fasting. When we arrived, my colleagues and I hired a van and driver to take us around the city.

The Hassan II Mosque in Casablanca is the largest mosque in Morocco and has the tallest minaret in the world. It is also is the world’s 3rd largest mosque.

Somewhere near the mosque, but I’m not sure exactly what this place is… ;p

Arches at the base of the Hassan II Mosque

One of the mosque’s many beautiful doors

One of several sets of entrance doors to the mosque

We went to the Habous Market afterwards and bought some souvenirs. The stuff they sold were just like in Tunis and Tripoli!

One thing I’ve been wanting to try for the longest time was the Moroccan Bath, or Hammam, as they call it. I finally got to try it in Casablanca! At first I was uneasy to be in a room with all these naked women, but you get used to it after a while. My colleagues and I got the whole package. First, they soap you and put you in a steam room, then scrub you clean. It’s funny and disgusting at the same time when you see all the dirt they scrub from you! Eew. :p Then they put some seaweed therapy all over your body and wrap you in plastic. After rinsing comes the massage. People have told me that they’ve never felt so clean afterwards, but for me I didn’t exactly feel that way. I’m happy to have experienced it, but I don’t think I’ll ever do it again!

The flight back from Casablanca to Dubai was extremely light, and our Purser asked us for volunteers who wanted to deadhead (not work, but fly as passenger instead) back to Dubai. (Since they’re saving money and all, then they don’t need everyone to operate. You get paid half if you deadhead.) I was almost ready to fight over it, but before I could raise my hand and scream “Me me me!” I noticed that none of my colleagues said anything and most were even shaking their heads. Umm, hello?! Why’d they prefer to work when deadheading is the best?! You get to sleep or watch movies throughout the whole flight, yet you still get paid half the flying hours! What could be better than that? I was so surprised that no one wanted to volunteer. After a while, I volunteered, but tried to mask my eagerness, haha! Four of us ended up deadheading in business class seats, whoopee! Got paid to watch 3 movies during the flight. Haha, I looove deadheading.

Today, I was supposed to fly to Hamburg, Germany. I just swapped my Hong Kong for it. Yesterday, I found out that they took me out of the flight. (Part of the cost-cutting again!) I’m so pissed about it right now because they gave me a friggin’ Doha turnaround + Can Use (like Reserve) instead. I’m going to freak out if they change the Can Use into another turnaround. Aargh!!

Ellen and I took leave this month because we were supposed to go on holiday to Egypt. Wrong timing, because our leave dates coincided with Eid, the celebration of the end of Ramadan, therefore it’s impossible to get on the overbooked flights to/from Cairo. Boohoo. Ellen doesn’t want to go anywhere else except Hawaii, but I’ve already been there before so I’m not too eager. I had my heart set on going somewhere new, but no one can go with me, so I’ll just go home for my leave. I’m not even homesick yet…!

3 little missions in Paris; surprising positive feedback

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 04:26:37 GMT

Although I was a bit sad that I was no longer going to meet up with my brother in Paris because he had to leave just a few days before I arrived, I was still determined to go out. Last time I was in Paris was September last year, but I slept through the whole layover. So the only 2 times I’ve been out in Paris was in Christmas 2006 when I met up with my brother there, then 2 years ago when I was on holiday with my mom and sister. I’ve been rostered Paris flights countless times, but I’ve always, always swapped it for days off either to go home or to extend my holidays. But at this time of recession when a lot of crew are on unpaid leave, there is currently no surplus of days off. So even if I would have wanted to swap it away for days off this time, I wouldn’t be able to anymore. All of us are swamped with work because the company is trying to maximize its remaining workforce. :(

Anyway, one thing I don’t like about the Paris layover is that our hotel is near the airport and very far from the city. It’s a lot of hassle to go to the center of Paris. But I had 3 goals for this layover, so I still went out even though I was so tired I just wanted to sleep. I also said before that I no longer found their complicated subway system confusing, so now I had the chance to see if I could really manage without getting lost. Ü

It’s summer in Paris now and it was sooo hot!! I felt like I was melting as I was walking around. My first goal was to take a good picture with the Notre Dame Cathedral. I have a picture with my brother from before, but it was too dark because it was nighttime. I also have pictures from 2 years ago, but our snotty French tour guide parked our tour bus too close and was hurrying us up after she toured us inside, so the pictures were no good either. Now my mission was to have a Notre Dame photo at daytime, AND at a distance so the whole cathedral can clearly be seen.

December 25, 2006 – Nighttime picture at the Notre Dame with my brother

June 2007 – Took a picture of myself, doing my best to include the whole church; My sister, mom, me in front of the Notre Dame, but not much of the church can be seen :(

Aug. 2009 Mission #1 Accomplished: Nice, full, clear picture of the Notre Dame at daytime!Ü (I even wanted to hear mass because it was a Sunday, but there were too many people and they wouldn’t let us in anymore.)

Not part of any mission, but I got to pass by the Louvre, too! I already have loads of nice pictures there before, both inside and outside the museum. :)

Goal number 2 was to go to the Godiva shop at the Vendome. We’re no big fans of Godiva Chocolate, but my mom, sister and I tried the dark chocolate Godiva shake in Paris before, and it was somethin’ else! It was so good that we even went back to try the milk chocolate and white chocolate versions, which were sadly just ordinary. I know there are so many Godiva shops around the world that also make those shakes, but I just wanted to drink it again in Paris where I first discovered it.

June 2007 – The unforgettable dark chocolate shake at the Vendome

Aug. 2009 Mission #2 Failed: It was a bit tricky to find the Vendome, but I still managed to find it! Aug. 15 was a national holiday in Paris, so unfortunately the Godiva shop at the Vendome was closed! Boohoo! :( :(

June 2007 (Tried 3 out of 5! Yey!) vs. August 2009 (Closed! Wah!) Posters

Goal number 3 was to find the Moulin Rouge and take a good picture WITH it. 2 years ago, we met this Filipino guy in Paris who drove us to Versailles to see the Palace and also drove us past the Moulin Rouge. I only got to see the Moulin Rouge from inside the car as we quickly passed it, so it was quite frustrating for me.

June 2007 – 2 shots of the Moulin Rouge hurriedly taken from inside the car

Aug. 2009 Mission #3 Accomplished: I found the Moulin Rouge and finally have a picture with it! The area around was quite seedy, so many sleazy bars and creepy-looking people. Couldn’t wait to get out of there!

I would’ve wanted to revisit the Champs Elysees and the Eiffel Tower, but poor me didn’t have the energy anymore. Maybe next time. But I have a different mission for my next visit to Paris. I will go to Versailles to visit the Palace and see the beautiful garden behind it. It was sunset when that Filipino guy drove us to see the Palace of Versailles before, and we were quite far, so the pictures weren’t nice at all. And I’ve never seen the gardens behind, but my brother said it’s the most beautiful garden he’s ever seen in Europe. So that’s my next mission, though it will be much harder to accomplish since I’ll have to travel maybe 2-3 hours from Paris to get there. If I don’t get to go there then maybe I’ll just go back to Vendome for my dark chocolate shake. ;p

The Sheikha of Sharjah (neighbor of Dubai; another emirate of the UAE) was our passenger from Paris to Dubai. My sister once had Sheikha Latifah on her Paris-Dubai flight before, and she gave all the crew a huge amount of money. I was disappointed that it wasn’t her on our flight instead. Hehe. My next flight was a quick flight to Doha, Qatar. I was supposed to have a Moscow, Russia, but I don’t like that flight (nice layover but terrible flight) so I swapped it for something quick and easy. In briefing in Dubai, we were told that some royal family of Qatar were our passengers! Again, I didn’t care, because it wasn’t Sheikha Latifah. Another friend of mine also had Sheikha Latifah on her Doha flight before, and she gave all the crew so much money too! Now, I just had Paris like my sister, then Doha like my friend, members of royal families as our passengers, but not the generous, money-giving Sheikha Latifah!! Grrr.

Speaking of my quick Doha flight, I got a small, pleasant surprise. Doha flights are just a little more than 40minutes long, so once you take off, it’s time for landing! There’s hardly any time for service, so we have to rush to give the trays then start collecting right after, even if the passengers are still eating! So whenever someone asks for something, our usual line is that we’ll try our best if we have time, but we can’t promise. My flight to Doha was completely full, so we were all in a hurry. During the flight, this guy didn’t take a tray because he didn’t want to eat, but he asked me for coffee. I told him I couldn’t promise because there was no time. Somehow, I still managed to bring it to him right before we started collecting. Then right before landing, he asked me for a comment form. 99% of the time, comment form = complaint form. Passengers never ever ask for one unless they want to complain, so I asked him if there was anything he wants to complain about. No, he said he wants to comment because he was happy. Usually, all they ever want to do is complain, so that came as a surprise to me! I almost told him there was no more time for me to get a form because we were landing, but I still got him one anyway. After we landed, he gave the form to me. I was really surprised with what he wrote, because we never have grateful passengers who actually bother to write positive feedback.

Mr. Passenger must have been in such good mood for him to write this! It was a pleasant surprise for such a quick flight. Ü

Tomorrow, I’m going to Nice, France. I’ve been there twice and both times I went to Monte Carlo, Monaco. Tomorrow, I want to go to Cannes! I’m sure no one will want to go with me because most likely everyone will go to Monaco. I’m determined to go see Cannes this time, even if I’m just alone. I just hope I don’t get lost! Ü

back to work; Devonport, New Zealand

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 19:58:59 GMT

After almost 3 months of vacation, it’s back to work once again! I flew back to Dubai at the end of July and had 4 free days before I had to go to work. I needed those 4 days to do some reviewing plus run some errands that I’ve put off the past couple of months.

And while everyone else has been wearing the new company uniform since June, it was going to be my first time to use it this August. I think it looks so much better than the old one. Although I had been dreading going back to work, I was a teeny bit eager to don the new uniform. ;p

Anyway, my first flight was Brisbane-Auckland-Brisbane, 5 days out of Dubai. I was a bit nervous at first, because the company has been implementing a couple of changes the past 3 months I was away. I kind of felt new, lost and ignorant all over again. I was also dreading the briefing, which we do before every flight, because I was scared I wouldn’t be able to remember the answers to questions I might be asked. Luckily, majority of us on the flight also came from unpaid leave, so we were all on the same boat. And everybody was really easygoing that we ended up getting along and having a good 5-day trip. I’ve just returned from it Saturday morning and I’m happy to say that coming back from leave, it was a good first flight to do.

Since I’ve been to Brisbane, Australia countless times before, I didn’t do anything new this time. It’s just a short 24-hour layover, so there’s really not much to do anymore unlike before when we used to stay a few days. As for Auckland, New Zealand, it was only my 2nd time there. The first time was last February but I didn’t really get to explore the city. Now I’m glad I got to see more of Auckland. I took a ferry with 2 other crew and we went to this charming seaside village called Devonport.

We took a 12-minute ferry ride from Auckland to Devonport. In the background is Mt. Victoria. We just had to walk a few minutes to reach its summit.

View of North Head Volcano from Mt. Victoria

The Rangitoto, the largest and most recent of Auckland’s volcanoes, rose from the sea 600 years ago.

Great view of Devonport and the Rangitoto Volcano from Mt. Victoria

Fort Victoria Disappearing Gun 1899

Beautiful view of Auckland City from the summit of Mt. Victoria in Devonport (See how the Sky Tower stands out!)

The following morning, we walked to Albert Park, a small park just near Auckland’s main shopping street. From there, we still had a good view of the Sky Tower.

After Auckland, it was back to Brisbane for another 24 hours, then back to Dubai. Up next I have a flight to Lagos, Nigeria, which I really tried to swap away but no one would take it. :( Then I have a Paris middle of August. I was actually looking forward to that Paris flight since my brother is going around Europe for 3 months and had agreed to meet me there. But he had a change of plans and has left Paris and is now in Nuremberg in Germany. Sad. It would have been so nice to meet up with him there again, just as we had last Christmas 2006.

I’ve actually caught up with updating this blog! Ü It’s not delayed anymore! Haha. ;p

Long Leave Part 10: 5 Weeks in Manila

Sat, 08 Aug 2009 18:53:02 GMT

This is the last part about my long leave, I swear. It’s the second half of my entire vacation but worth only 1 entry since I hardly did anything but live a bum’s life in Manila. Towards the end of June, I flew almost 16 hours from LA to Dubai and watched 5 movies on board because I couldn’t sleep. I had the intention of staying 1-2 days in Dubai because I had some errands to run, but after staying a few hours in my flat I decided that those errands could wait. Even though I was just dying to sleep on my bed, I unpacked my US/Canada suitcase, packed for Manila, and then went back to the airport to catch the next flight back home. It was a dream come true for me to be able to just rest at home. I felt like I was a student on summer break! Work was the last thing on my mind and I loved not having to worry about anything for a while. In the 5 weeks I was home, I didn’t even go out of town. Sometimes I’d meet up with friends, but most of the time I was just happy being anti-social. :p

Shami, Janis, Jabi, me, Ann, Tini, Pat in our favorite Pepper Lunch

Pat, Ann, Janis, me, Tini, Jabi after ice cream desserts :)

Dinner with Grace and Pia (Our fingers spell out “AVA” haha!)

Tini, Kat, Karinne, me, Zarah at JM’s spankin’ new mansion

The gang at JM’s barbeque – Marjoe, Ysa, Jacob, Zarah, Karinne, Kat, me, Tini, Angela, Jm

Ira, Kamille, Baby Seth, Aimee, Angge, me, Jose at another Pepper Lunch branch :p

Lunch in Makati with Jessica

Watching the live ADMU-FEU UAAP basketball game with Jabi (Go, Ateneo!)

Thumbs up for Ateneo – Jabi, Karinne, me

Dinner with Kamille, Baby Seth, Donna, Angge

With Angge and Angela

Pre-Saguijo “Webcam” picture with Janis and Jabi

Jabs and I ran into Twinkle! Ü

Outside Mall of Asia with relatives visiting from the US (whom we visited in Virginia last year) – Paul (oldest brother), Matthew (1st triplet), Mark (2nd triplet), me, Vincent (3rd triplet), Auntie Mai

Group picture – Auntie Mai, Paul, Triplets Matthew, Vincent and Mark, Tita Marinette, Peter, mom, me

We brought the triplets (who are now 12) and their older brother Peter try this out. They’re like hamsters inside an inflated ball floating in water. I probably would have loved this when I was younger. It’s not even too late to try it out now. Weight limit of 150 pounds and no height limit!

Joann, mom, me with matching white, silver, gold sandals Ü

Vincent, mom, Auntie Mai, Matthew, Joann, Tita Marinette, Paul, me, Mark in BHS

Dinner with college friends the day before I left Manila – Lynch, Aimee, me, Tini, Pat, JM, Pepe, Jabi, Clauds, Charles, Janis, Mark

That’s it for my long holiday! 3 weeks normal leave + 2 months unpaid leave = no work for almost 3 months! Sounds like a long, long time, but I still felt like it wasn’t enough. I would have wanted a longer break, but longer than 3 months away from work meant I had to take 2 days of recurrent training, so never mind. I’ve just finished that annual recurrent training end of February and I don’t want to have to study for those gazillion tests again quite so soon. It sucks to go to work in August when it’s hot as hell in Dubai. But break’s over, and it is time once again to make a living. ;p

Long Leave Part 9: Back in LA; Universal Studios

Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:10:18 GMT

We went back to LA after the 4-day tour for the last part of our long US/Canada trip. I was quite sad to have just a few days left there. Boohoo. We didn’t have the desire go to the usual touristy places anymore since LA was already a familiar place for us because we’d sometimes go there for the summer when we were much younger. We still wanted to go to a theme park but decided to skip Disneyland since Joann and I just had an overdose of Disney in Florida less than a year ago. Universal Studios seemed to be a better idea instead. It was cool that we got to meet the Simpsons there. Haha.

Picnic in Redondo Beach with Auntie Emma, Joann, mom

This is like a scene from Baywatch! But then I shouldn’t have been wearing a dress. ;p But It was too windy to go swimming.

I like this Baywatch picture better, but the lifeguard is gone. :(

We walked for almost an hour until we reached the boardwalk. It was hot but very windy.

Cute pelican! (And yummy frozen choco-banana!;p)

Korean Friendship Bell with mom and Auntie Emma

Outside Wayfarer’s Church

With Auntie Lucy, Auntie Emma, Uncle Tony for Joann’s birthday dinner at Cheesecake Factory

The Simpsons Ride at Universal Studios

Me, Homer Simpson, Joann, Joann’s friend Pia

Marge Simpson and her nice hair ;p

Lisa Simpson!

Bart Simpson and his balloon sword (?)

Group picture with the tall dude! Joann’s friends (Mau and family) drove all the way from San Francisco to visit theme parks for the weekend.

Mom and me with the star of the Waterworld show

With the cast of Waterworld (The guy on the right is cute, but very small!)

We wanted a picture with the sign but were too impatient to wait for those 2 people to leave…

Outside Universal Studios

Universal City Walk

Marilyn Monroe made out of Jelly Belly jelly beans!

That’s it for the first half of my long vacation. The whole US/Canada trip took almost 6 weeks and I really, really got to enjoy myself the whole time! Goodbye, North America! :)

Long Leave Part 8: Around West Coast USA

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 11:56:28 GMT

After 2 weeks in Vegas, off we went to Los Angeles, California to stay at Auntie Emma’s house. For our first few days there, Joann’s friend Kaye took us around. The day after we arrived, Kaye brought us to the CBS Studios to watch the taping of a comedy show, The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson. It’s just like The David Letterman Show, except hosted by some Scottish guy. I’ve never really heard of Craig Ferguson before, but it was interesting to be part of the studio audience. The only thing I didn’t like was that we were all told to laugh and laugh and clap and clap at Craig Ferguson’s jokes. It didn’t matter even if we didn’t get it, we really just had to pretend it was hilarious. The show wasn’t exactly that funny, so by the end of the taping, my mouth was tired from all the fake laughing and my hands hurt from clapping. Too bad we weren’t allowed to take pictures inside the studio. After the taping, we walked to The Grove, a very pretty commercial area that I first visited with Ann 4 years ago. Anyway, we spotted Tim Allen walking on the street! We wanted a picture with him but he was walking too fast we couldn’t keep up. But he isn’t exactly an exciting celebrity to encounter, so it’s alright. I have a picture of his back, which is enough already. If it were some other big Hollywood star, I would’ve chased after him or her for sure. Anyway, the next day, we got to visit 2 beaches.

At The Grove in Los Angeles with Joann

Kaye, me, Joann at the Grove

Santa Monica beach

A shady part of Venice Beach, where the crowd looked like druggies (No, not THAT guy!)

My mom, sister and I were all staying in LA with Auntie Emma for almost 2 weeks, but Auntie Emma booked us a 4-day tour for the middle part of our stay. I don’t really know the name of the tour because we just went to so many different places around the West Coast. I think the highlight was supposed to be Lake Tahoe in Nevada. But the funny part was that the tour also took us to San Francisco. To think that Joann and I started our vacation there because we had extra time to kill before going to Vancouver. The only difference this time was that we were with our mom instead of Trix!

For our first stop on Day 1 of the tour, we went to Solvang, a quaint Danish village in California.

We explored the 17-Mile Drive in Pebble Beach, California and stopped at the Bird Rock, home to countless shorebirds, seals and sea lions.

Bird Rock at the 17-Mile Drive in Pebble Beach (cute bird to the right!)

The Lone Cypress, the tree on the right, has prevailed on its rocky perch for over 250 years and is the eternal symbol of Pebble Beach.

For Day 2 of the tour, we went to San Francisco. Mom and I took a picture at the bottom of the crooked Lombard Street but Joann didn’t even bother to leave the bus anymore since we were just there a month ago!

The Colonnades at the Golden Gate Park with mom

At the Palace of Fine Arts in Golden Gate Park

Golden Gate Park

San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge with mom and Joann

At the Fisherman’s Wharf, mom and I got to try the famous clam chowder. Yum!

Mom and me with the noisy seals in Pier 39

We slept at a hotel in Reno, Nevada after San Francisco. For Day 3 of the tour, we visited the Nevada State Capitol in Carson City in the morning.

Lake Tahoe in Nevada is the largest alpine lake in North America and the second deepest.

Lake Tahoe is also known for the clarity of its water.

Joann, me, mom in Lake Tahoe, Nevada

We made our way back to California and stopped by the California State Capitol in Sacramento. We were hoping to catch Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger outside his office! :p

The California State Capitol in Sacramento

On Day 4, the last day of the tour, we drove around the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. The General Grant Tree in Kings Canyon National Park is the second largest tree in the world! It’s just not obvious how tall it is in this picture since we were too near. I had to put my camera on the ground just so the whole tree can be seen.

One end of a fallen tree trunk at the Grant Grove

Giant Sequoias at the Kings Canyon National Park

The whole tour was ok, but our tour guide sucked. We were with an Asian tour group and our Chinese tour guide would talk first in Chinese then translate in English. What was annoying was that his English translations were so short that it seemed to be just a small fraction of what he said in Chinese. Whenever he talked, either in lengthy Chinese or short broken English, I felt like I was listening to a lullaby because I always ended up sleeping through his speeches. But at least we still got to appreciate all the sights of the tour, and that’s what’s important. Anyway, after the tour we were brought back to Los Angeles and we stayed there for a few more days. :)

Long Leave Part 7: 2 Weeks in Las Vegas

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 06:41:21 GMT

When I was much younger, I used to say that Las Vegas was my favorite city in the world. With all its themed hotels, I felt like Vegas was the whole world crammed in one city. I was able to go there when I was 13 and 15, and since then they’ve already put up countless new hotels. I was so eager to get to visit Vegas again and find out if I’d still love the place as much as I had years ago. I’ve been to so many wonderful places since I last visited Vegas that I thought I might not enjoy the City of Sin as much anymore.

We never used to have any friends or relatives in Las Vegas, so our past stays there used to be limited to only a few days since hotels were very costly. However, my Auntie Inday, who used to be based in Los Angeles, is now based in Las Vegas. That meant we could crash at her house and stay much, much longer this time. Ü We ended up staying for 2 whole weeks and we didn’t even want to leave anymore. A big bonus was that my 4th grade best friend Lorraine now lives in Vegas too. I was so excited to see her there! Thanks to Lorraine and her friends for showing us one helluva good time!Ü

Mau and Alfred (Joann’s friends from San Francisco who took us to Napa Valley) also happened to be in Vegas when we arrived. On our first night there, they took us to watch their favorite musical, Phantom of the Opera. It was quite good!

Buon giorno! I love the Venetian in Las Vegas. It’s just like the real Venice, only much, much cleaner. ;p

Alfred, Mau, me, Joann inside the Venetian

Inside the beautiful Bellagio, where Mau and Alfred were staying

Bonjour! It’s the Eiffel Tower in Las Vegas, as seen from the Bellagio

Every 15-30 minutes, there’s an amazing water fountain show at the Bellagio.

We also got to watch The Lion King musical at the Mandalay Bay. When we were in New York last year, we really wanted to watch it in Broadway but weren’t able to. This time I’m glad we did, because it really is the best show ever! Our seats were pretty far but we could still appreciate everything. I was really impressed.

We saw fake tits everywhere in Vegas. Hahaha.

One hotel that really disappointed us was the Luxor. I remember how it had so many Egyptian sculptures before. Now there aren’t many left and the hotel just looks old and boring.

Lorraine took us clubbing at the Palms, in this place called Moon. That night was one of the most fun nights of our whole trip.

So who’s the cutest of the 3?;p

Paparazzi photo – Joann, me, Lorraine in Moon

After clubbing, Lorraine and her friends brought us to this videoke hangout for early breakfast. We didn’t realize how late (or early?) it was until we stepped out and the sun was already shining!

My cousin Ann-ann doesn’t live that far from her mom, Auntie Inday. When we visited her house, Joann and I were so overwhelmed with her Barbie collection. This isn’t even half of it!

Lorraine also took us to Treasure Island to watch the show Sirens of TI. Thanks to Lorraine’s connections, we got to watch it from the VIP viewing area exclusive to Treasure Island guests. Ü

Lorraine, me, mom, waiting for the show in Treasure Island

Group picture! Lorraine, me, Joann, Joann’s friend Kaye, mom inside the Venetian

$1 margaritas! :p

The girls outside the Flamingo

Auntie Inday also brought us to this pretty place in Green Valley called The District, which had nice shops and restaurants.

That’s Auntie Inday and her brother-in-law, Tito Henry with me, Joann and Kaye. I loved Tito Henry’s house because there’s a lake right behind it!

Clubbing in Moon take 2 – Joann, Kaye, me, Lorraine, and Lorraine’s friend Joy

Me, Joann, mom at the Serendipity 3 restaurant in Las Vegas, very different to the Serendipity 3 in New York

At the Pussycat Dolls Casino inside Caesar’s Palace

Kaye, Joann, me at the Italian fountain inside Caesar’s Palace

At the Caesar’s Palace Casino – but we didn’t gamble even once for the entire 2 weeks!

Outside the Parisian

Inside the Bellagio, they have the World’s Largest Chocolate Fountain – 8 meters tall!

Another show we got to watch was the Blue Man Group, an award-winning and supposedly unique production. It was the worst show I have ever seen! It was a complete waste of time and money. I couldn’t believe we even paid for it. I wouldn’t even watch it for free next time.

Me, Kaye, Joann with 1 of the 3 Blue Men

With the rest of the cast of the terrible Blue Man show

It was Auntie Inday’s birthday a few days before we left. My cousin Ann-ann treated us all for buffet dinner at this new hotel called M, which had a very lovely lobby.

This is Vegas at daytime. New York New York is on the left and MGM Grand is on the right.

The Excalibur

The Monte Carlo

At the M&M’s store in Vegas

At the Coca-Cola store with the Polar Bear mascot

I guess I can no longer say that Las Vegas is still my favorite city, but it is still definitely among my top favorites. When people ask me what’s my favorite city or country, I can never really answer just one. As for Vegas, I don’t think I’ll ever get bored if I live there. It’s just so alive and there’s always so much to see or do. I wouldn’t mind going back there again and again. Ü

Long Leave Part 6: The Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 02:27:15 GMT

We were dropped off back in Vancouver after the Rockies tour and we had plans to check out the famous Butchart Gardens the next day. Butchart is quite far from Vancouver so we considered booking ourselves a package tour that included a sightseeing tour of Victoria before going to the gardens, but it was too pricey. So instead, we decided to skip the tour and find the way to Butchart ourselves. It was quite a long and complicated journey. We had to take 2 buses, and the second bus went inside a ferry. We had to disembark the bus once inside the ferry and it took an hour and a half to reach Victoria. The ferry ride was an experience in itself, but it was too windy out on the deck that we opted to stay inside. Once in Victoria, we took a taxi to the Butchart Gardens. It took all morning just to reach Butchart! I expected to see such incredible gardens that would make all the hassle worthwhile. To be honest, it wasn’t that great. I mean, it was pretty, but it was nothing exceptional.

Me, mom, Joann, Auntie Inday at the entrance of Butchart Gardens

The Sunken Garden

The Ross Fountain

This is at the Rose Garden, but there were no roses. :( So sad it wasn’t the rose season. Had there been roses, I would have enjoyed this place a hundred times more.

There were so many bees hovering around these flowers but I still risked being stung just for this picture. I had to pose hurriedly because I could hear them buzzing near my ear and it got me a bit scared.

Group picture with the flowers

Pretty, pretty tulips

It’s raining yellow flowers! And they match my bag! ;p

We spent one more night in Vancouver and flew to Vegas the following day. Goodbye, Canada! Hello, Sin City! :)

Long Leave Part 5: Canadian Rockies Days 3-4

Wed, 15 Jul 2009 17:35:26 GMT

Day 3 of the tour started off with a visit to Lake Louise, probably one of the most breathtaking sights ever. The scene looked straight out of a postcard; I couldn’t believe I was actually in the middle of all that natural beauty. Afterwards, we went around Banff National Park to explore more of nature’s wonders. The town of Banff is actually known around the world as a place where some of the most beautiful, mountainous land on the planet can be found.

The picture-perfect, half-frozen Lake Louise

The scenery of Lake Louise and Victoria Glacier – too beautiful for words

Lake Louise

Chateau Lake Louse with Auntie Inday and my mom

Castle Mountain

At the Johnston Canyon in Banff National Park

Me, mom, Joann, Auntie In and the frozen waterfalls

Johnston Canyon

Johnston Creek

On the way to the Lower Falls

At the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel

Mom and me along Banff Avenue

Group picture in Banff

The Cascade Mountain in Banff

Mount Rundle and Vermilion Lake

Another great view in Banff

Bow Falls

Bow Lake

View of the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, known as the “Castle in the Mountains”

Stopover at the Glacier Park Lodge on our fourth and last day, as we made our way back to Vancouver

Before heading back to Vancouver, we stopped for lunch at Log Barn 1912, a small homey place on a farm nestled within the mountains of the Okanagan Valley in Armstrong.

At the Log Barn 1912, you can’t help but feel nostalgic. It’s as if you went back in time, where everything was so simple…

Log Barn 1912 sells fruits and vegetables, plus home-baked goodies and sweets, but it is best known for its sausages and freshly baked pies. I’d say the sausages were quite ordinary, but the pies were delicious!

Log Barn 1912 is in the middle of a serene farm in the Okanagan Valley. I wanted to stay longer there because it felt like a good place to just relax and daydream all day.

That’s it for our tour of the Canadian Rockies. Goodbye to the magnificent postcard sceneries and hello again to the bustling city of Vancouver!

Long Leave Part 4: Canadian Rockies Days 1-2

Tue, 14 Jul 2009 11:47:13 GMT

I didn’t really know what to expect from our 4-day Canadian Rockies tour. I knew we’d be seeing beautiful landscapes, but I didn’t know how picturesque they’d be. Our tour started from Vancouver and it was the most breathtaking drive as we went east towards Alberta. It reminded me somewhat of the scenery when we went around Switzerland 2 years ago. Nature couldn’t be any prettier.

Stopping over at Kamloops for lunch at the start of the tour

We spent our first night in the tiny town of Valemount. We spotted a moose and 3 wild bears along the way!

Mount Robson – our first stop for the second day of the tour

Me, mom, Auntie Inday at the Maligne Canyon

The Maligne River

The Athabasca River, which flows all the way to the Athabasca Falls

In the small town of Jasper in Alberta, Canada

Jasper National Park

The best part of the tour was going up the Columbia Icefield by the Athabasca Glacier!

Mount Athabasca? Not sure. So many names to keep track of…!

Yellow Snowmobile

The four of us went up the Columbia Icefield via the Brewster Snowcoach.

Joann, Auntie Inday, me, mom all smiles despite the cold

Meet Matt Riva, the best guide ever. He was the driver of our snowcoach and he is the most charming guy we’ve ever met! He made such an impression on the four of us that even if our encounter with him was so short, we couldn’t stop talking about him for days! It was because of him that this experience was so unforgettable!;p

We shot a short video from here, which I posted in Multiply and Facebook long ago. We also have some similar snow-filled pictures from 2 years ago when we went up Mount Titlis in Switzerland. Both were wonderful icy experiences, but this one was more fun because of our super charming snowcoach driver! Haha!

I loved taking pictures with all the ice in the background. I couldn’t believe I was actually up there in the glacier!

Breathtaking view #4321 (Like I said, I can’t keep track of all the names!)

Picturesque mountain #1234

This is a waterfall but it’s frozen!

With Auntie Inday and Joann by the frozen Bow Lake

Still too many postcard-pretty pictures for the next 2 days, so I’m splitting this entry into 2 parts.

Long Leave Part 3: Vancouver, Canada

Thu, 09 Jul 2009 13:42:36 GMT

Joann and I flew from San Francisco to Vancouver and arrived there just a few minutes before my mom arrived direct from Manila. Our timing was just perfect and we got to meet up at the airport with no hassle. I’ve always heard that a lot of Filipinos who migrate to Canada prefer to live in Vancouver because the weather is more pleasant than in other parts of the country. I was pretty surprised to find out that it was still quite chilly there even though summer was just around the corner. (That was like 7 weeks ago. Again, way overdue post.) Apparently, it rains a lot there, too.

We got the 5-star treatment in Vancouver thanks to Tita Minnie, my mom’s ex-officemate from way back before I was born. She and Tito Ver were our full-time tourist guides and they took us to all the beautiful gardens and tourist spots all over the pretty city. There were even some forest-y places that we passed by where the view kind of reminded me of the setting of certain scenes from the Twilight movie.

At the Van Dusen Botanical Garden

Tita Minnie, me, mom, Jo at the Van Dusen

With Tita Minnie and mom at the Queen Elizabeth Park

Love the combination of the pink and blue flowers!

White tree!

I’m so proud of this dragonfly photo! I took this using my old and rusty Canon Powershot, but I think it looks professionally taken. Yesss. We found this injured dragonfly on a rock, and Tita Minnie picked it up with a stick. It couldn’t fly anymore, so we had to put it back on the rock. Poor dragonfly. :(

Still at the Queen Elizabeth Park with Tita Minnie

Tita Minnie, me, mom at Stanley Park

Totem poles at Stanley Park

The Thousand-Hand Buddha at a Buddhist Temple

At the garden of the Buddhist Temple

Meet Casper, the sweet, super cute dog of the Tiongson family. He looks like an oversized baby here. He’s so adorable!

The Capilano Suspension Bridge – one of Vancouver’s best attractions

Joann, mom, me about to cross the 450-ft. long, 230-ft. high hanging bridge

You can’t cross the Capilano Suspension Bridge if you’ve got fear of heights. As for me, I even enjoyed looking down at the Capilano River. I didn’t feel queasy at all.

In the middle of the forest

Tita Minnie and Tito Ver treated us to a fine dinner at the peak of the Grouse Mountain. We had to take a cable car to go all the way up there. We had such a lovely view of Vancouver from the restaurant.

View of Vancouver, just outside the restaurant in Grouse Mountain

Still at the Grouse Mountain – the snow looks so fake!

Grrrowl!

With the Tiongson family, our very hospitable hosts – Jm, Zari, Tito Ver, Tita Minnie, with Auntie Inday, mom, Joann, Casper, me

Auntie Inday just flew in from Las Vegas on our 4th day in Vancouver since she will be joining us for the Canadian Rockies tour leaving the next morning. We felt so at home in Vancouver that we didn’t want to leave yet. I wanted to kidnap Casper!!!

Long Leave Part 2: Napa Valley, California

Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:17:08 GMT

After Trix left San Francisco, we still had 2 days left before we had to go to Vancouver. Now where to?! To fill in the gap, Joann and I stayed with Joann’s college friends Mau and Alfred in their home in Antioch, about an hour away from San Francisco. Alfred picked us up lunchtime on our third day in San Francisco, just a few hours before Trix was scheduled to leave for Dubai. We had lunch at the Fish Market before heading to Antioch. Later that evening, we went to Walnut Creek for some drinks. The following day, they took us to Napa Valley, famous worldwide for its wines, for a winery tour followed by some wine tasting.

After lunch at the Fish Market – me, Joann, Alvin, Alfred, Zac

Alvin, Alfred, Mau, Joann, me at the Pyramid Alehouse in Walnut Creek, where we got to sample 5 different kinds of beer

At the Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa Valley with Alfred and Mau

Me, Mau, Jo at the entrance of the winery

Behind us is the vast vineyard

Winery tour

Me, Joann, Mau and the vineyard down below

Countless wine barrels

Artsy photo by Alvin during the wine tasting

Cheers! We got to sample 3 kinds of wines during the wine tasting. I must admit I am totally clueless when it comes to wine. I am so not sophisticated, haha. I never saw the point of sniffing wine then swishing it around the glass, etc. But I did enjoy the wine tasting because it enlightened me just a teeny tiny bit.

After the winery tour

Me me me

We went to this place called Mustards Grill for lunch. There was a long waiting list but we stuck it out since the food was supposed to be really good. “Sorry everything is delicious”?! While waiting, we even heard some people who were leaving gushing about how great the food was. I had very high expectations, but I wasn’t disappointed at all.

This is Zac, Alfred and Mau’s 3yr. old son. He’s so adorable. When he first met us the day before, he was a complete snob. (Check out the first picture.) But eventually, he warmed up to us. He didn’t know our names, but if he’d see either Joann or me alone, he’d go, “Where’s the other auntie? There are two aunties!” So cute!

Our flight to Vancouver was very early the next morning. Since where we were staying was an hour away, we thought it would be more convenient for Alfred and his family if they brought us to the airport late in the evening rather than having to wake up really early in the morning. So for our last night in San Francisco, Joann and I slept like bums at the San Francisco airport. Nothing we haven’t done before, so it was alright. Ü

Long Leave Part 1: San Francisco, California with Trix & my sis

Sun, 28 Jun 2009 14:44:25 GMT

Long time no blog. I’ve been on vacation around the US and Canada since the second week of May, so I haven’t really made time to sit down and post something. But now I’m home in Manila, and I have until the end of July to bum around here. Ü Might as well start updating.

The original plan for our May holiday was supposed to be a cruise. My Auntie Inday, who is based in Las Vegas, was going to join us. We were considering an Alaskan Cruise, but after some considerations, we changed plans and booked ourselves a tour of the Canadian Rockies.

Vancouver was the starting point for our rockies tour. My sister and I were supposed to meet our mom there a few days before the tour, and Auntie Inday would just follow. The thing is, my sister and I managed to get ourselves a couple of days off long before our scheduled date to arrive in Vancouver. That meant we had free time to go somewhere else first! Hmmm… Where to?!

Trix had a scheduled flight to San Francisco coming up. The first and only time I’ve been to San Francisco was with my mom way back in 1996, so I definitely wouldn’t mind going back. Both Trix and my sister have never been there, and I thought that it would be a great idea if Joann and I got on Trix’s flight so the 3 of us could tour the city together. I asked Trix if Joann and I could pretty please crash in her hotel room during her 2-night layover, and luckily for us, she didn’t mind. Yay! So that’s the story as to why my sister and I suddenly ended up kicking off our long, long leave in San Francisco. Ü

The flight from Dubai to San Francisco was like 16 hours long. (Too long! I’m so glad I never ever do US flights for work!) Joann and I both got roomy exit row seats, which made the flight much more bearable. Plus, we had Trix as crew taking care of us. Hehe.

Lucky to be a passenger on Trix’s flight to San Francisco

That afternoon we arrived in San Francisco, Trix’s husband’s cousin Ate Ann and Kuya JF picked us up and brought us to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was a very windy day, and we wouldn’t have survived if not for the extra thick jackets Ate Ann brought along for us. But what was so frustrating was the dense fog which completely covered the Golden Gate Bridge.

There’s Joann, Ate Ann, Trix, me, and ummm… the Golden Gate Bridge playing hide and seek with us. Grrr.

Ate Ann and Kuya JF took the 3 of us for dinner at the Cheesecake Factory in Union Square. It was located at the very top of a building and from there we had a great view.

Dig in! Brownie Sundae Cheesecake = YUM!!!

The following day, Ate Ann brought us back to San Francisco’s most famous landmark for another chance to take pictures. At least it wasn’t too foggy that the bottom half was visible enough.

Joann, me, Trix with the shy Golden Gate Bridge

Sisters at the Sister Bridge

Nix in San Francisco

San Francisco = Cable Car!

From the top of Lombard Street – the world’s most crooked street

Lombard Street from below

Ate Ann dropped us off at the Fisherman’s Wharf in the afternoon. Trix, Joann and I ate lunch at In-N-Out Burger because I remembered how I loved it so much when I got to eat there in Los Angeles in 2005. This time, though, it didn’t seem as good anymore.

A funny thing that happened to us while we were walking along the street was that we got offered a free limo ride. This old guy driving an empty limo slowed down and tried to pick us up because, according to him, “I like Asians! My ex-girlfriend was Asian!” Duh. We declined, of course. It would have been more impressive if he were the limo’s passenger, or perhaps 2 decades younger. Haha! ;p

Jo and me at the Fisherman’s Wharf

Cute statue of seals

Lazy, noisy, stinky (but cute) seals at Pier 39

One of my fondest memories from my first Frisco visit when I was 13 was munching on the biggest strawberries I have ever seen. I got to relive that memory 13 years later. Ü

Cable Car driver

Cable Car passengers

The temperature began to drop slowly as the day went by. Trix even had to buy herself a jacket and lent me the cover she was previously wearing. Still, the wind was too chilly for me.

Trix and me at the Ghirardelli Square

We were dead tired by the end of the day, but it was all good. Super thanks to Trix who let us crash in her hotel. I was so sad that Trix was leaving the next day. :( As for me and Joann, that was just the beginning of a really long, enjoyable holiday. Ü

Melbourne & Singapore; Manila vacation for April

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:41:39 GMT

The month of April was half work, half vacation for me. After having spent 2 weeks home in Manila, I’m now back in Dubai because I have work tomorrow morning. I’m flying to Sydney, staying there for a day and a half, and deadheading (will not work but will fly back as passenger) back to Dubai on the double-decker Airbus 380. Only a handful of crew are trained to work on the A380 so I’m pretty curious to check it out since I’ve never been inside it. At least that’s something to look forward to. Plus, it’s always nice to deadhead because you don’t work yet you still get paid half. Hehe.

Anyway, almost a month ago, I had a Singapore-Melbourne-Singapore flight. I’ve done that flight several times before, and the Melbourne part always sucked because we only stayed 17 hours there. That’s why I never really got to see Melbourne because I always just slept through the layover. Recently, they changed it into a 34-hour layover, which is not bad at all. And what was really great was that my friend Pia was also there for work the same time I was there. As for the 2 Singapore layovers before and after Melbourne, I hardly did anything.

Me, Pia and our skinny Aussie friends in Melbourne, Australia

Libraries bore me…

Melbourne’s Federation Square a.k.a. Fed Square with Pia

After the Dubai-Singapore-Melbourne-Singapore-Dubai flight was another Singapore layover, so technically I was in Singapore 3 times for the beginning of the month! But the third and last one was good because it was 2 whole days there.

Just a little flashback. On the first Singapore layover, the one before going to Melbourne, I was inside the hotel elevator late in the evening with some middle-aged Caucasian man. He suddenly turned to me and asked, “Will you still be in Singapore tomorrow?” WTF, I thought he was trying to be sleazy. I scowled at him and muttered, “What?!?” To my surprise, he handed me a small piece of paper and goes, “Here, you can have this. I’m flying to Bangkok tomorrow.” It was a $50 gift certificate for a fancy seafood restaurant in Clarke Quay! I felt so guilty for thinking he was a DOM that I couldn’t remember how many times I said thank you.

So anyway, during my 2-day Singapore stay, I invited my cousin Ben for dinner at that seafood restaurant so we could use the gift certificate. Thank you again, Mr. Stranger. Glad I was in that elevator at the right time. Hehehe.

Me and my cousin Ben at Clarke Quay, Singapore

And I just have to post this cute picture that I found recently! That’s me and my tiny Alaskan cousin Ben celebrating the New Year (hence, the masks) maybe almost 2 decades ago. Notice how the height difference is the other way around now. Hmph. :(

Right before my leave, I went to Birmingham, England. I thought I could pick up some stuff to bring home to family and friends, but all the shops were closed because it was Easter Sunday when I was there. I had a lonely Easter, boohoo. Anyway, I tried to go home afterwards, but I got bumped off the early morning Dubai-Manila flight. I had to wait all morning at the airport, but at least I got on the next Manila flight 6 hours later. Had 2 whole weeks in Manila and enjoyed meeting up with friends, despite the sticky, hot-turned-rainy weather while I was there. I really missed them since I wasn’t able to go home for 4 months. That’s the longest for me ever.

Me, Mabes, Angela sharing 3 yummy cakes; Angge, me, and a pizza Ü

Kamille and the cute, super chubby-cheeked, 3-month old Baby Seth

Jabi, Twinkle, me, Gigi out for Japanese food

Me, Aims, Jose, Mabel meeting up for some good news ;p

Gel, Marlon, me, Gigi all happy with our Arabic feast

Lunch date slash expat-spotting with Grace and Pia; Greenbelt nights with JM, Jabi, Angela

I wanted to post photos of our nights out in Ponti and Mondial, but we only used Angela’s camera that night and she hasn’t sent them to me. Argh. (Angelaaa!) I was also a bit sad that I wasn’t able to go to Boracay for this summer. We were planning to go before, but because an event we were supposed to attend this April was cancelled, the Boracay plans didn’t push through as well. But I was still able to go to the beach, just a quick day trip to Batangas.

La Luz at Laiya in Batangas with Mabel and our dear helper Bening

With my Godmother, Ninang Ren

Mabel, me, my mom

Me and Mabel, in hiding

We found beautiful greens at the end of the beach and felt the urge to pose. Haha.

Posing like a mermaid ;p

Batangas was fun, though our stay was too short. We didn’t even stay long enough for me to get a good tan. If only we could have stayed overnight, but all rooms were booked already. The following day, just 2 days before I left, I got to meet up with Tini, Justine and Janis and we literally laughed the night away.

Catching up with Tini, Janis and Justine

I got bumped off for the Manila-Dubai flight. Sigh. Exactly the same story as when I was going home Dubai-Manila 2 weeks ago. I had to wait 6 hours again for the next flight, and thank God I got on. I was so stressed and worried that I will get stuck in Manila and not make it on time for my next work.

Our company announced openings for unpaid leave at the start of this month. I got very, very excited when I learned about it that I couldn’t even stop thinking about it for days. For me it’s like a dream come true, the fact that I can take a long break without actually having to resign. I’ll find out by next week if it gets approved. Can’t wait…! ÜÜ

Brazil Holiday Part II: Rio de Janeiro!

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:57:49 GMT

Rio de Janeiro is probably one of the most interesting places I’ve ever been to. I loved the mountains, the beaches, the people… everything! Getting there was just a quick 45-minute plane ride from Sao Paulo.

The next day after we arrived, my mom and I took a day tour of Rio. We went to so many beautiful places and had loads of fun. I enjoyed that day very much!

Our first stop: Metropolitan Cathedral in Rio de Janeiro

Favelas (shanty towns) are very famous in Brazil. They are units of irregular self-constructed, poor-quality housing crowded into hillsides. They are usually unlicensed and illegally occupied. Most of the crime in Brazil are committed in favelas.

One of the major highlights of the tour was going up the peak of the Corcovado Mountain and seeing the Christ the Redeemer statue up close. It is the tallest statue of Jesus Christ in the whole world, and an icon of Rio de Janeiro and Brazil. Our tour guide Neto taught us to pose this way. Hehe. Cute picture!

When we were up there, it was so foggy. There were times when you couldn’t even see the statue anymore. We had to wait for it to clear up before we could take nice photos.

Then we went to the Maracanã Stadium, Brazil’s famous football stadium. I’m not exactly a fan of football, but I posed with Ronaldo’s footprints anyway. I also have one with Pele’s footprints.

One thing I really enjoyed was that my mom and I got to dress up in Brazilian costumes. They use these costumes for their carnival. (But believe it or not, when we asked Neto, our tour guide, about the Mardi Gras, he said he has never heard of it. Fran had the same reaction too. Strange.)

Afterwards, we drove by Rio’s beaches. Behind me is the Leblon Beach. Further on is the Ipanema Beach. It’s really just one strip but it’s divided into 2 beaches.

The Two Brothers Hill at the end of Leblon Beach

The second major part of our tour was going up the Sugar Loaf via cable car. Before we could get there, we had to take a cable car to the Urca Mountain first.

Gorgeous view of Rio de Janeiro from the Urca Mountain

The Sugar Loaf Mountain, as seen from the Urca Mountain

This is on top of the Sugar Loaf! Had a breathtaking view from up there, but it was too foggy!

Back at the Urca Mountain with our very charming and super nice tour guide Neto.

On the way down from the mountain, we saw some tiny monkeys! Funny they were really eating their bananas!

That was the end of the day tour and we returned to our hotel to rest a bit. Then in the evening, we went to have dinner at the famous Garota de Ipanema bar. According to the myth, the popular 60’s song “The Girl from Ipanema” was inspired by a girl who used to stroll past this bar on her way to the beach. When the song became a hit in the 60’s, the bar was renamed after it.

Garota de Ipanema a.k.a. The Girl from Ipanema

Lyrics of the popular song are displayed both outside and inside the Garota de Ipanema. There, I also got to try Brazil’s national cocktail, the Caipirinha. My gosh, it was so strong. I got a bit tipsy after just one drink. I wanted a second drink but my mom told me she wouldn’t drag me back to the hotel if I get drunk. Hehe.

We had the option of going island-hopping the next day, but decided that we’ll just take it easy and check out Rio’s famous beaches. Our hotel was in Copacabana, and so we went there early in the morning.

At the Copacabana Beach

There weren’t a lot of people yet at the Copacabana since it was still so early.

At the Ipanema Beach

You can see the Two Brothers Hill from Ipanema. There were lots of people on the beach but no one was swimming since the water was too cold.

In the afternoon, mom and I went to the Jardim Botanico (Botanical Garden).

According to our guide, this tree is the biggest type of tree you can find at the Amazon Rainforest (still in Brazil, but 7 hours away by plane!).

I tried to copy their pose, but I won’t go as far as stripping my clothes off. Haha.

We went back to Ipanema to watch the gorgeous sunset.

Behind me is the Arpoador, a small peninsula between Copacabana and Ipanema.

We went to the Apoador and there was a photo shoot going on! It was cool to watch the 2 Brazilian models do their thing in front of the camera. They were so skinny!

The other model was finished with her shoot, so my mom and I talked to her while she was waiting for the other girl. Her name is Erica Damasceno. I had no idea if she was popular or what, but she showed us her portfolio and we saw her ads for big time brands like Calvin Klein.

From Ipanema, we walked all the way to Copacabana. My Brazilian colleagues had warned me that Brazil, esp. Rio, is not safe when it gets dark. I couldn’t imagine how it can’t be safe when the beaches were all well lighted and there were countless people playing football on the sand. Some were even very, very young kids.

Cute painted sand sculpture at the Copacabana

We also checked out the market in the street just across Copacabana. They were selling nice souvenirs but we didn’t buy anything for 2 reasons. First, we were going back to Sao Paulo and were planning to check out a shopping street there called 25 March, which was supposed to sell inexpensive stuff. We thought that we probably could get better deals there. And second, we only had small cabin suitcases and we didn’t want to have to pack extra stuff back to Sao Paulo.

The next morning, we left Rio to go back to Sao Paulo. I was so sad to leave Rio. I wanted very much to stay longer. The view from the plane was so pretty. If I’m not mistaken, that’s Copacabana Beach on the left side. Goodbye, Rio! I will miss you!

Fran picked us up in Sao Paulo and then mom and I went to check out the 25 March street. I felt like I was in Divisoria in the Philippines. We didn’t find anything nice at all. We left the place early because we were so uncomfortable there. It didn’t feel safe. Anyway, what made me so sad was that I wasn’t able to buy souvenirs as I had planned!:( Nothing for me and nothing to give my friends. Boohoo. We still had the whole day in Sao Paulo the next day, but we were so tired that we just opted to rest. Fran cooked delicious dinner at her house and we also got to meet her nice nephew Hian.

Hopefully someday, I can go back to Brazil and visit the Iguassu Falls, the world’s biggest waterfalls. (I heard Niagara looks like a shower compared to it.) We tried to fit a visit to Iguassu into our schedule, but it was out of the way and the plane fare was too pricey. Then one day, hopefully I’ll also get to visit the Amazon Rainforest and go to the other countries in South America.

So that was our fun-filled holiday in Brazil. I can’t stress how much I enjoyed it. I’m really grateful. Like I said before, I wish I could be on holiday forever. (Then again, who doesn’t?!) ;p

Brazil Holiday Part I: Sao Paulo

Sat, 04 Apr 2009 20:32:44 GMT

I had such a wonderful holiday in Brazil. I had 8 days off for the end of March and I was so happy that the plans to go to Brazil with my mom actually pushed through. We couldn’t even make any final plans such as airline tickets and accommodation for Rio de Janeiro since we weren’t even sure if we could make the flight from Dubai to Sao Paulo because it was overbooked. Luckily, we got on.

I’ve been to Sao Paulo once in April last year. It was such a short layover that I didn’t really get the feel of the place. I never wanted to do the flight again as crew because it was too long and tiring – more than 14 hours from Dubai. At least as a passenger I can sleep and watch movies all I want.

My mom and I first spent 2 nights in Sao Paulo. We stayed at the house of Fran, a mother of a Brazilian cabin crew, who has made Sao Paulo city tours for Emirates crew a part-time job. She was such a lovely person, and it was a great experience staying at her house. We felt like it was an authentic Brazilian experience to stay with a local, rather than at a cold hotel. Fran was the warmest, sweetest person, and we immediately felt right at home at her place. Oftentimes, she even cooked meals and desserts for us! We felt like we had family in Brazil!

It was nighttime when we arrived in Sao Paulo, and my mom and I were exhausted from our long plane ride that we just slept early. The following day was a Sunday, so we heard mass at lunchtime. In the afternoon, Fran took us for a tour around the city.

Catedral Metropolitana da Sé with my mom

At the Cathedral Square – that structure between us marks the centerpoint of Sao Paulo

Father Jose de Anchieta, one of the founders of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro

The Patio do Colegio (School Yard) marks the site where the city was founded in 1554.

Behind me is the Municipal Theatre of Sao Paulo

At the Republic Square

There is a market every weekend at the Republic Square. Here with me is Fran, our lovely host/tour guide for Sao Paulo.

Late that afternoon, Fran took us to the flat of her nephew, Angelo. It was his birthday that day, and a couple of their friends gathered at his place. They were all such nice people, especially Angelo’s girlfriend Soneia, who was so charming and friendly. Then later in the evening, Fran took us to this place which was some kind of a cultural center. We even got to watch a free concert.

The next day, we continued our city tour of Sao Paulo. We dropped by a Havaianas shop, but I didn’t buy. I’ve never bought my own pair of Havaianas, but I have 2 precious pairs which I brought with me for my vacation (so the slippers can visit their homeland, hehe). The first pair I ever had was gold, a Christmas gift from close friends Jabi and Janis. The second was black with pink, given by my sister Joann when she and her friend also went to Brazil on holiday last year. I’m already contented with those 2 pairs that I didn’t really feel like buying any more. (Besides, they weren’t exactly cheap in Brazil. Just a bit cheapER.)

Afterwards, we went to the Ibirapuera Park, kind of like New York’s Central Park. There were so many Brazilian guys jogging/biking topless. I can probably spend hours there just admiring the eye candy. Haha!

These aren’t trees behind me. It’s just ONE tree! It’s amazing!

While we were walking around the park, I caught sight of a group of guys jogging while chanting in chorus. They were probably military guys. The leader would chant something in Portuguese, and the rest would repeat it. Anyway, I thought it would make for a cute picture, so I rushed near them to have my picture taken. Suddenly, Fran started laughing so hard. According to Fran, the boys suddenly chanted this:

“Que morena bonitinha!”
“Ela veio da TV!”

Literally translated in English, it means: “What a beautiful little brunette! She came from TV!” Hahaha! That was hilarious! I wouldn’t have understood their chant if Fran was not with us to translate. It was so funny, it made my day. Hehe.

At the Ibirapuera Park

The Bandeiras Monument

Nice ass. ;p

We also got to visit the Liberdade, home of the largest Japanese community outside Japan. Then that afternoon, Fran had to drop us off at the Villalobos Mall. From there, we took an hour-long bus ride to the Campinas Airport to catch our plane to Rio de Janeiro. We were able to get ourselves really inexpensive plane tickets care of Fran’s nephew Hian. He was such a big help. Without him, we would have paid more than double for our plane fare, or we might have taken a 6-hour bus drive to Rio instead. I can really say that the Brazilian people are all super nice!

Rio de Janeiro was so beautiful. Too many nice pictures there that I need to have a separate entry for it… Ü

Africa: Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Kampala, Uganda

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:16:33 GMT

I just got back from my holiday in Brazil and I’m itching to post pictures, but I have to post a bit about Africa first. I flew to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania for the first time 2 weeks ago. The flight going there was quite amusing. We had a super friendly African passenger who even sang to me in the galley. At first it was in his local language, then he sang an English version, which went something like, “Angel, I looove you. My angel…..” Then he bombarded me with exaggerated compliments and lots of silly flattery, such as, “Ava, you are the prime minister of my heart.” What a character! Hahahaha. Then we also had an Arabic passenger who drank too much white wine that he was creepily mouthing “I love you” to me repeatedly in the galley. I even pointed to my colleagues and asked him if he loved them. He slowly shook his head, pointed at me, and went “No. You.” Bwahaha. It was such a funny flight!

Unfortunately, there was nothing to do in Dar es Salaam. It was too late to go to the market when we arrived at the hotel. Since it was my first time in Tanzania, I really wanted to go out. But since there was really nowhere to go, my colleagues and I just walked along the street outside our hotel. No place anywhere to take nice pictures. Sad. But Tanzania is a good place for tourists because of the Kilimanjaro Safari. Too bad it’s too far. On a short layover, there’s not much you can do.

Due to the lack of photo opportunities in Dar es Salaam, I just took pictures with the corn vendor. Hehe.

In Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

More than a week ago, I had a flight to Entebbe, Uganda. I have been there 3 years ago, and there was nothing to do. To my surprise, we’ve changed hotels in Uganda and are now staying at a beautiful resort in Kampala. I was prepared to just sleep through the entire layover, and I didn’t expect to be so excited. The resort was located by the Lake Victoria and it was gorgeous.

There was a stable at the resort and you can even go horseback riding. Next time, I will go!

This is a beautiful horse! I love how they braided its hair, kind of like how they braid Afro hair. Hehe.

The pool was huge, probably Olympic-sized. But I didn’t bring a swimsuit!!

There were lots of those pretty, tall birds, too. I don’t know what they are called.

The beautiful garden at our resort in Kampala

Still at the nice garden

Lake Victoria in Kampala, Uganda

Bye-bye! I enjoyed Uganda. It was an unexpectedly great layover!

From Uganda, I arrived back in Dubai a few hours past midnight, went back to my flat to hurriedly pack my things, then went to the airport without any sleep to catch the flight to Sao Paulo in the morning. Off to my Brazilian holiday which I loved so much! :) Will try to post soon.

Munich, Germany with a Pinoy-hearted local

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:55:35 GMT

I have a new friend in Munich!Ü Michel, who is half German, half Indonesian, but is a true Pinoy at heart. He knows a little Tagalog, cooks Filipino food, listens to Filipino music, watches Filipino movies and, get this – is a member of a Philippine group in Munich that dances Filipino folk dances! He is almost more Pinoy than I am! Haha!

It was snowing the day I arrived in Munich. Brrr. I met up with Michel in the afternoon and we ate in a German restaurant and tried some authentic Bavarian food. Afterwards, we just strolled around the city in the freezing cold.

Me and Michel at the Marienplatz in Munich

Walking around the city centre

Then for dinner, Michel cooked some good Asian food, one of which was a Pinoy dish, chicken adobo! *clap clap* Capped off the night with some drinks at the hotel lounge. I surely enjoyed my stay in Munich, but of course, no German layover would be complete without me stocking up on my favorite German yogurt!

I originally did not post this, but Michel complained that he was so pangit in our pic above that he literally begged me to add this pogi photo of him. *roll eyes*

I have a bunch of turnarounds up next. Argh. I even have more turnarounds for the first quarter of 2009 than what I had for the entire 2008 last year. But at least my upcoming turnarounds are all short and easy, plus I’m flying with Trix in one of them, so they shouldn’t be so bad. Ü

Atlantis at The Palm, Dubai

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 13:41:29 GMT

I finally got to see the Atlantis! I was so curious as to what the fuss about this new resort was all about. Sure, it was a nice and pretty place, but I think it’s overrated. There were major attractions within the resort that we didn’t bother to check out anymore – The Lost Chambers, a maze of underwater halls and tunnels, and Aquaventure, a water park. I’m happy we got to go with Paolo and Ivy though.

Joann, Mom, me, Paolo, Ivy at the resort lobby

Ambassador Lagoon – a window into the wonders of the ocean

Our throne at the Atlantis

Ivy and me

The Atlantis is located at Palm Jumeirah, a man-made island. You can see other parts of the island from here.

Another lobby picture (which somehow reminds me of our photo at the Al Qasr in Madinat a few months ago)

All girls outside the Atlantis – Ivy, mom, Joann and me

Group pic! Paolo, Ivy, mom, Joann, me

All five of us went to the Dubai Marina Walk for dinner afterwards, but we had to go home early since I still had a quick turnaround to do past midnight. Anyway, I’m so relieved that my annual 2-day recurrent exam/training is finally over. I feel like a heavy load was lifted off my shoulders.

I got myself 8 days off towards the end of March by swapping my Milan flight away. My mom and I are planning to go to Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. We originally wanted to go to Seychelles, but my sister doesn’t have days off and will be jealous if we go without her. Haha. She’s fine with us going to Brazil since she already went there on holiday with her friend last year. I also wanted to go to Turkey or Cyprus for my days off, or maybe take my mom to see Malta or Tunisia. But we don’t actually have a lot of options since it will be difficult for my mom to get visas here in Dubai. :( So I guess Brazil will have to do because we don’t need a visa to enter. We haven’t finalized any plans yet, but I sure hope everything will push through. Ü

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia with my spontaneous, tag-along sister

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 04:10:40 GMT

My sister was hanging out in my flat 3 hours before the pickup time for my KL flight. Our conversation went something like this:

Joann: How long is your layover?
Nikki: 34 hours.
Joann (wondering out loud): Sama kaya ako? (What if I join you?)
Nikki (flatly): Eh di sama ka. (Then join me.)
Joann: When are you coming back?
Nikki: 22.
Joann (pondering): Wait, how many days off do I have? 1, 2… (gasps) PERFECT! Let's go!!!
Nikki (startled): Huh?! Are you serious?! SIGE, SAMA KAAA!!! GOOO!!!
Joann & Nikki (excited & clapping): YEY!!! TARAAA!!!

Right then and there, we went online and bought a ticket. Everything was completely spur of the moment. It was crazy.

Joann slept throughout the whole flight while I, of course, had no choice but to keep myself awake. We had left Dubai past 3am, and by the time we landed in Kuala Lumpur that afternoon, I was dead. I took a power nap first then we headed to Bukit Bintang in the evening for a body massage at the Pavilion. It was so good, but my back felt all bruised the next morning.

The following day, we just took it easy. We didn’t really have anything in particular that we wanted to see or do in KL since it wasn’t our first time there. We just killed time strolling around the mall next to the Petronas, which was just close to our hotel.

Me and Joann – Petronas Twin Towers by day

Inside KLCC (Kuala Lumpur City Centre)

Petronas Twin Towers – more beautiful at night

As we were walking back to our hotel that evening, it started to shower a bit. It was about a 10-minute walk, and halfway there it began pouring really hard. By the time we reached the hotel, we were drenched. It was so embarrassing to walk inside the lobby drippin’ wet!

That’s pretty much it since we didn’t really have a lot of time to do anything else anyway. Pickup was already before midnight. At least when I brought my mom to KL last October, we still had an extra day. (Joann nicknamed the trip as her micro-mini vacation. Haha. It’s no vacation for me as I was working!) Anyway, my mom is arriving here in Dubai tonight. Gotta go clean up and study for Wednesday’s test!

Windsor, England

Sun, 15 Feb 2009 01:55:34 GMT

I flew to London Heathrow a few days ago, and once again met up with Auntie Jane and Uncle Alan. They brought me to Windsor so I could see the castle, but there wasn’t much time left to go inside. But I’m still happy that I was able to at least see it from the outside. The castle looked huge!

By the statue of Queen Victoria, The Widow of Windsor
Queen Victoria retreated to the castle for privacy after Prince Albert’s death in 1861 and seldom visited the Buckingham Palace again.

The Windsor Castle in Berkshire, England is the largest inhabited castle in the world and the oldest in continuous occupation. Queen Elizabeth II still spends many weekends there!

Still the same part of the castle, just from another angle ;p

I love this – The Crooked House of Windsor, which is more than 300 years old!

Windsor shopping area

*** *** ***

About 2 weeks ago, I got to have a layover in Auckland, New Zealand for the first time. I haven’t been back to New Zealand since my Christchurch layover back in 2006. I think Auckland looks just like Australia! But I wasn’t able to explore the place so much.

Near the Sky Tower in Auckland, New Zealand

I’ve been really lazy since my last post. I think I just slept through most of my layovers. Zurich, Lagos, Singapore, Calcutta – all filled with lots and lots of zzz’s. I didn’t go out in Zurich because it was like –7 degrees when we got there. In Lagos, I went for buffet dinner at the hotel with the crew, but zonked out right after. I’m kind of frustrated that we’re advised not to go out in Lagos because it apparently isn’t safe. I want to see a bit more of the place and I want to take even just one decent picture of me in Nigeria! Then I also flew to Singapore without any sleep, so I snoozed loads over there. Right before pickup, I hurriedly got to meet up with Grace, who resigned from Emirates months ago and is now back in Singapore. As for Calcutta, I was so ready to go out and check out the Victoria Monument, but no one wanted to go with me. I’ve been out in Calcutta before, and since I wasn’t exactly eager to go out unaccompanied, I decided to kill time in dreamland instead. Then at the very end of January, I deadheaded (flew as passenger but in uniform) to Brisbane, then operated to Auckland, back to Brisbane, then back to Dubai. Starting this month, we only have short layovers in Brisbane, no more of those long Brisbane layovers that I used to really enjoy. :(

This morning, I was supposed to fly to Casablanca, Morocco. It should have been my first time there and I was looking forward, but I called in sick for it. I’m not sick, but my body feels sore. My right side was a bit painful when I woke up yesterday morning, and I got so paranoid that the strange disturbance I felt 3 months ago was back to get me! Then I realized it was a different feeling, and all the more I got scared. Finally, I realized (and I really hope I’m right!) that I’m aching because Ann let me play Wii the other night. I haven’t exercised in ages, and Ann let me use her Wii Fit. With it, I played balancing games, tried some yoga positions, played sports like skiing, etc., and the culprit – hula hoop! How do you say bigay na bigay in English? Hahaha! I really hope I’m not sick after all.

I’ve been mentally stressed lately. I have my annual recurrent training coming up soon, and I haven’t studied for it. I normally don’t mind cramming since last-minute studying has always been my style, but my mom is coming here to Dubai just before it, so I’m going to be distracted. Good luck to me. I can’t wait for those dreaded 2 days in Training College to be over!