Amsterdam

This month I have been lucky enough to visit Amsterdam twice. The first time I went there happened to be my very first layover as cabin crew for Emirates. It was the first time I got to walk through the airport in my uniform, and it was such a thrill. I was surprised to see that people were even taking photos of us!!!

It was freezing cold both times I went but I managed to fit in and see quite a lot in the 24 hrs we had there.

The first layover I had there was great! A group of us, including the Captain and the Purser, all went to the sex museum which provided a lot of laughs, then my friend Claire and I went to the Heineken experience. The place is amazing! Its got 4 levels of interactive activities and to top it off we got free beers at the end of it (although I am ashamed to say that I was still slightly hungover from the previous weekend so I wasn't able to finish all my beer)...

The second trip I took there was equally as good as I was able to briefly meet up with my one of my friends from back home, Lucy. It was such good timing as she has been traveling around Europe the last few weeks and happened to be in Amsterdam while I was there. 

When we were walking through the city an older gentleman stopped me and gave me two free tickets to one of the rides at a fair that was happening outside the palace. At first I wasn't sure if they were real so when I asked the guy who was running the rides if the tickets would work here he gave me a strange look and told me to hop on. You can see the ride on the right hand side in one of my pictures (it is something I definitely would not recommend to those who are afraid of heights). Meelis (another flight attendant on my flight) and I took in such an amazing view from up there, however it was so unbelievably cold that I was sort of happy when we made it back down onto land. 

After that we all went and grabbed a bite to eat, as well as treating ourselves to a chocolate drenched waffle and walked around the town (including the red light district) before heading back for a well earned rest. 

I have to say that the crew on the second trip were amazing, on the way back the two SFS and Purser played a practical joke on us and smeared chocolate cake all over one of the toilets and then told us someone had had an accident, and started yelling at us for not checking the toilets more frequently. This lasted a good 10 minutes and I have no idea what the passengers must have thought because after they all dragged us there to have a look we were gagging on the way back and complaining of the state and which the 'person' had left it in. We were convinced they were going to write this on our flight review, but then they couldn't hold their laughter in any more and told us it was all a joke, so the Purser had to go and clean the toilet (which never happens!!)

I was meant to be traveling to Cape Town tonight which I was so excited for, but they have changed it to Jakarta at the last minute, so the next post should be on that (although my wisdom teeth are coming through and are proving to be very painful which means at the moment I look a chipmunk, so I will have to see how I go to whether or not I call in sick)

Until next time.

Weekend in Dubai

So in order for me to rekindle my romance with Dubai I am trying to keep myself busy on my days off by trying to do new things. On Thursday night a group of us got together and went out. We were going to go to this club called Boudoir because we heard they were offering free drinks for ladies until 12am. After a half an hour of driving with a crazy taxi driver who kept showing me photos and home videos of himself we finally made it (for free I might add). We walked into Boudoir and it was empty and they told us there was no such thing as a ladies night on a Thursday. So we decided to check out a Mexican bar next door. It was great! There was live music and everyone was tango dancing, and the food looked so yummy so we have all said we must go back there for dinner one night. 

After a few hours there we decided to check out Crystal as most of other friends were there. That place never fails to impress me. It is at the top of a pyramid and you get a great view of Dubai from there. We managed to hop on a table where our friends were and score a free bottle of vodka, so we were set!

The next morning I decided to join some friends that I met out one night at dune buggying. I got picked up at my apartment bright and early and got driven out to the desert where they do desert safaris, camel riding, sand-boarding, etc. Although it was on the pricey end of things dune buggying was well worth it!

It was so much fun and I got to see my first camel so that was also really exciting. I am so glad I splurged and did this as I don't think I will get the opportunity to do it anywhere else with the same scenery. 

Anyway I better head off, I have a trip to Amsterdam tomorrow morning and hopefully meeting up with my good friends Lucy :)

Seychelles

Let me just start off by saying, the Seychelles were amazing!! We only got to have a 15hr layover there but boy did we make the most of it. When we were on the bus on the way to the resort everyone who had previously been there had warned us that the resort was not the best. However when we got there I was pleasantly surprised. 

The pool was amazing and the view of the beach from there was incredible. The Captain had mentioned to us that we should grab a bite to eat at the pizzaria restaurant next to the pool, however seeing as we arrived so early we had to wait another four hours for it to open. However once it did it, we realised that it was worth the wait. 

Emirates have a policy where cabin crew are not able to drink 12hrs before the flight, so we decided that we should make the most of the 3 hours we had so we decided to a sit by the pool and down as many local beers as we could within that time frame (it was heaven!), however seeing as it was 9am when we started we attracted quite a few odd looks from the other holiday makers. 

After spending all day in the sun, Laila, Alex and myself all returned home to Dubai with a lovely sunburn but heres hoping it turns into a nice tan :)

New Chapter

So it seems a lot has happened since my last update at Christmas time. I had an amazing New Years in New Zealand with my friends, I found out I got the job with Emirates and since February I have been living in Dubai. Seeing as I will now be traveling on a constant basis I have decided to make this more into a travel blog and a diary of sort so that I have something to look back on in years to come. 

This first post is going to be on Dubai. Wow this place is just insane, I told my parents the other day that it reminds me of a wanna be Las Vegas. Everything here is on such a large scale, they have the tallest building in the world, the largest mall which includes a aquarium and fountain show, and to top it off they even built an island in the shape of a palm...

I feel like everyone here is from somewhere else. I am yet to meet a local. The weather so far has been really nice, its dry and mild however I have been told that summer is absolute hell! Apparently when you walk outside the heat just hits you so hard it takes your breath away. (I am really not looking forward to that)

When I first arrived here I thought this place was awesome, however since I have started flying Dubai has kind of lost its appeal. It could be related to the location of where I am living (which is in the industrial area out of the city) or it could just be the place in general. So hopefully it gets better.. I might have to consider moving to a better building. Anyway I better head off as I have a flight to the Seychelles, which I am so excited for! We have a 15 hour layover so I plan to just chill on the beach and have a nice meal before we have to head back.