Swimming with dolphins

This week I had been rostered to get my US Visa, so with five days off a few of us decided to go swimming with dolphins!

When we first walked into the enclosure I was a little nervous as I wasn't sure how friendly they would be towards us (I think this came from watching multiple youtube videos of things going wrong with animals kept in such small enclosures..).

The instructor lined us up and quickly briefed us on what to do and what not to do, and before we knew it we were jumping in the water.

To my surprise the dolphins were beyond friendly! They would close their eyes and roll over when you starting patting them, they would wait for you to hold on before they took off when we were swimming with them, they would smile in all the photos, and they even let us hug and kiss them!

After our time was up we decided to stick around for the dolphin and seal show, and despite the bad start with the magic show the rest did not fail to impress. I was so shocked at how well the dolphins and the seals got along. At one stage they were even playing together with a ball! 

Our day was so amazing! I will definitely not be forgetting it any time soon. 

Beijing

I have been wanting to do this trip for so many years now, and it definitely did not disappoint.

 When we arrived we booked a tour that was cheaper then the one the hotel was offering and it was to take us to the Ming Tombs and The Great Wall. 

The next morning we got up bright and early so that we could get an early start and start exploring the wall. 

When we arrived down at reception the tour guide informed us that we were to stop off at four factories along the way and that because of this we will now not have time to go and visit the Tombs. 

After an hour long heated discussion and many phone calls back and fourth to the company our Purser finally lost his cool and after calling the tour guide a 'fucking idiot' she sped off in her van yelling abuse at us out the window. 

By this time all the hotel run tours had since left so it looked as if we weren't going anywhere. 

However somehow we managed to convince the receptionist to call in his cousin, who then drove all 8 of us out to the Tombs and the Wall in a rental van. 

After 2 hours and 1 car crash later we finally arrived at the Tombs. 

It were a lot smaller then what I was expecting but it was still very interesting. 

The next stop was lunch followed by the wall. 

We decided on getting the cable car up to the wall and then toboggan down, however once we got to the top a thunderstorm started to roll in so they closed the toboggan and we were forced to catch the cable car back down, which was slightly annoying. 

Many people say that when they reach the wall they are slightly disappointed, however this was not the case with me. I do believe that we possibly didn't go to the best entrance as we were in a valley and couldn't see the wall span over the hills for miles, but it was still amazing! 

I am so glad I was finally able to tick that box. My aim is to go and see all the wonders in the world, so I still have quite a few more to check off..... 

Visitors

Last week my parents came out to visit me in Dubai. 

It was the best 6 days I have had in a long time. It was so nice to see them again after being here for 4 months. 

We stayed in the nicest hotel that overlooked the creek, and everyday we got free use of the minibar, so I now have a cupboard full of yummy snacks.

We did all the touristy things on offer in Dubai such as the Dubai Fountains, Madinat Jumeriah, Silk Souk, Gold Souk (where mum bought a really nice ring), Dhow Dinner Cruise, etc. 

Even though I was still in Dubai it still felt as if I was on holidays, as it gave me a chance to escape my apartment for a couple of days and do all the touristy things that I would never normally do. 

I was pretty sad to see them go, but it's not long now till I head home for my annual leave. 

Tunisia

Wow what a beautiful place!

It looks exactly how I imagine Greece would look. It's filled with white building, blue roofs, cobblestone pathways and alleyway shops. 

Our first stop when we arrived was Catharge. 

Catharge is a site that is full of ancient ruins that is spread out over the main hill in Tunis.

We check out the museum and explored the ruins for a few hours before heading down to the main part of town to wander the streets and grab ourselves a bargain. 

I feel so sorry for Agniezska as every corner we turned I was asking her to take a photo of me in front of the amazing blue doors. 

The place is like a movie a set. Every corner you turn is just picture perfect. I had a hard time choosing which photos to add to this blog so I apologies for the amount I submitted. 

We ended up having dinner at a restaurant on the cliff that looked over the marina. Sooo many nice boats!  

I have decided that I will definitely be bidding for a trip back to Tunis in the following months. 

My parents were meant to be arriving today for a week long holiday, however flights out of Hong Kong are fully booked so they are stuck there unfortunately, so hopefully they will arrive tomorrow. 

In the mean time I am off to the Park Hyatt to make the most of the free bar that comes with the room they booked for tonight. 

Surfs up!

Today a group of us headed to Jumeriah Beach to go paddle boarding. I was so excited as I have always wanted to try it. When we got there we were told that the water was a little roungh and that we should try surfing instead. 

When you look at the ocean it looks calm but as soon as you head out in it, its a completely different story! The water here is soooo salty that it was stinging my whole body. Not only that but it took us about an hour to catch a wave because we kept getting dunked and dragged back to the beach. 

Even though I failed to stand up I still had so much fun! The place where we hired the boards from was full of Australians, so that was kind of nice. Felt like I was back at home. 

Definitely keen to head back there on my next day off and try to stand up this time. 

Manila

The trip to Manila was a mix of good and bad. 

I don't really know where to start with this post so I guess I will begin with the bad as its always better to sign off on a positive note. 

The crew on this trip for some reason didn't seem to gel. I think it was a combination of different cultures, strong personalities, and experience. The service on both legs seemed to be all over the place, and to top it off there seemed to be a lot of bitching going on behind peoples backs. 

 Emirates have a policy where they don't allow employees to speak in any other language except English whilst working onboard. Its put in place in order to avoid crew conflict and it just makes it easier for everyone to communicate effectively with each other. However the more flying I do the more I notice that people tend to ignore this rule, which in turn makes it harder to not only interact, but also to work with fellow colleagues.  

So with this being the case it was pretty clear that no one was really keen to go and explore the city together. I on the other hand had big plans and decided that I wasn't going to miss out, so I went on my own. 

We stayed at the Crown Plaza Hotel, which is perfectly situated in the center of town, right next to Robinson's Shopping Mall. When we arrived at midnight there was a lovely fruit bowl waiting for us in our room and a selection of english TV channels (they had E! !!!) so I was set for the night. 

In the morning I planned on going to one of the markets, so I looked in the hotel information book and it suggested an indoor market place (Greenhills Shopping Plaza) that was air conditioned and offered everything that I was after. So I set off to go and spend all my allowance. When I got there I was shocked at how huge it was! They sold everything from iphone covers, to clothes, as well as DVD's. I managed to spend a couple of hours there before I realised that I should probably head home and grab something to eat before our flight back. 

So when I got back to the hotel I decided to quickly pop into the shopping center and check out what they had on offer. Unfortunately because I had spent most of my money at the markets the only thing I could afford at that stage was lunch. So it was off to Maccas (don't judge).

Although the crew weren't the best, I actually really enjoyed my trip to Manila. I got everything I wanted to get out of it shopping wise, and it was nice to be back in Asia (believe it or not I am actually a little bit over Europe)

Next up Tunisia!

P.S I have recently become aware of how shocking my photography skills have become since finishing my degree, so I promise to up the anti on that front from now on :)

My week of turnarounds

Ok so it feels like forever since I last posted on here. I have had a week full of turnarounds, well three but that seems a lot!

At first I was meant to go to Chennai, Cochin, and Karachi, however before my Karachi flight I noticed they had taken me off it and given me a day off so I was thrilled!

My next flight was then meant to be Milan and I was so excited! I had packed all my bags, and got myself all ready for the morning when I decided I should double check the timings, and thank god I did because I saw they had again taken me off the flight and instead given me a turn around to Islamabad (to say I was shitty was a understatement). 

I was pleasantly surprised with all the turnarounds this week. With past experience I was expecting the worse but everyone on board was polite and said please and thank you so it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. 

One good thing that came out of this week was that I seemed to have a lot of days in Dubai when all my friends were here. 

We got to do so much I don't really know where to start. 

My friend Monique and I have been planning on moving out together so this week we set about to find an empty apartment in her building. We managed to find one, through the help of security, and we were so excited because we had heard it had been free since March so we thought it should be ready for us to move into almost immediately. I was so excited! All week I was dreaming of decorating this place, getting a pet (we agreed on getting a kitten), and just moving to a nicer building with a better view (as I currently look onto an abattoir...)

However after submitting the forms into accommodation they told us it was going to be a year and a half wait list to find a two bedroom apartment and that was the case for ever single building Emirates own in Dubai. I was shattered and soooo angry! I think this was the first time in a couple of weeks that I began to feel homesick again. Accommodation have always been known to be completely useless, and now after dealing with them I completely understand how they get that reputation. Their procedures don't even make sense. 

Anyway on the upside of this week I met up with a few friend and we went to the Mall of Emirates for dinner and to see the Hunger Games. Great film! 

I also got to see into Ski Dubai from a viewing window at the mall so that was pretty amazing! 

I managed to get my nails done, laze by the pool on multiple occasions, go to an aerobics class and not die, as well as go on a shopping spree and finally we headed out to my favourite bar in the whole of Dubai, Barasti, for a friends birthday. 

So all in all it has been an extremely busy week and tomorrow I am off to Manila!!

P.S You can probably already tell from the picture but, I FOUND FOUR AND TWENTY PIES IN DUBAI!!!