The best restaurant in Little Italy, hands down! I go here (Fillipi’s) every time I have a layover in San Diego and I’m never disappointed. Just a word of caution: I had forgotten to order the lunch portion and ended up with this…
although I ended up boxing up my leftovers and took them with me for a yummy pasta dinner on the flight home.
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The RDO/Trade “gods” must be on my side this month because I’m off to work another new international destination….this time it’s Sao Paolo, Brazil! Never been so I’m reallylooking forward to it. It did mean giving up my Munich though but I’ve been there many times before and will be back I’m sure in the future.
Gotta go take a nap before working the all-night flight over! I’m sure I’ll be twittering so you can follow my adventure here.
(photo courtesy of Fernando Stankuns)
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: international, Sao Paolo, trips
Originally the trip I was supposed to be on was Amsterdam. But I received an email asking to trade for another international trip and so I decided why not. Another trip to Paradise is always a good option, right?
While I love the Hawaii layovers we have, the flight over is a LOT of work. The flights are always full, and full of unseasoned travelers. Much like Florida and Mexico destinations. Not my favorite flights but unlike the Florida and Mexico trips, the Hawaii trips offer layovers that make you forget your flight over. Completely. Just sitting by the pool, sipping on a Pina Colada while looking out at the ocean is enough to wash away the memories of the previous 8 plus hours.
Although I have to say, the trip over on this particular trip was really not bad. Not bad at all. It was a pleasant surprise. You kind of have to get yourself in that frame of mind to expect anything and everything. When I first worked this trip back in Coach, it was really, really hard. I never wanted to do it again. Even with the nice, cushy layover. But then I started to prepare myself mentally and now it’s a piece of cake. Er, most of the time.
So on this particular flight I was met with smiles, and very polite people while I was greeting. By the way, you can tell a lot of what the flight is going to be like and what kind of people you are going to have just by greeting at the door. Most people looked me in the eye and said hello. That says a lot. Really it does. The rest of the flight people used “please” and “thank you” and weren’t too demanding. Call buttons weren’t chiming to the tune of ”Carol of the Bells” like they usually are (thanks to my twitter friend for the song idea).
The layover was sooooo nice. I walked over to the shops by our resort with two other crew members where we did our shopping, (choco-covered macadamia nuts, fresh pineapple, big bottle of .99 water, banana-macadamia nut bread), and had a fish and chips dinner. Soooo yummy!
After getting a full night’s rest, woke up and walked the grounds of this resort. It is absolutely gorgeous! It has a variety of swimming pools with water slides as well as adult only areas (the best!). It also has its very own lagoon with water activities such as kayaks, water buggy’s and snorkeling right there on the grounds. And one of my favorite areas is the dolphin pool where for $200 or so you can actually swim with the dolphins!
This might be our last month here as the trip pairing changes next month to a Maui layover, so I was determined to get around and see everything. After the walk I settled into a nice comfy chair by the pool and sat and chatted with a crew member.
The flight back was the typical Hawaii crowd. Coming back can be even more difficult as vacationers have been waited on hand and foot for a week and they expect you to bend over backwards for them on the way home. But it’s also a long flight crammed into a tiny seat so I feel for them, I really do. We had seating issues on boarding as well as no pillows or blankets for the all-nighter flight home so we kept the cabin quite warm and everybody seemed to be happy.
(one of three ways to get around the grounds…via boat, tram or walking)
I also loaded up on this amazing lotion that you can buy over in Kona. The scent is Coco-Mango and it is soooo yummy! I wish I could install a scratch and sniff button on this post so you could take a whiff.
Can you imagine getting married in this wedding chapel with the ocean as a backdrop? If I had only known…
(P.S. If you’d like to know the name of the resort for more info, email me at thisflyingmum (at) gmail (dot) com.)
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Hawaii, international, layovers
I have seriously considered getting a t-shirt made that says this. I know for many flight attendants this may be no big deal, you’ve done it a hundred times, or you can handle flying a 14:30 flight with no problem. But for me, this was a pretty big. The longest flight I’d ever worked was Narita, which is 12 hours or so from Chicago. And that was long. Very long.
When I got to briefing it was a mixed crew of Chicago and Hong Kong flight attendants. I was second from the bottom so I actually got a choice in my jumpseat. However, as expected I was assigned to work in coach aisle. With 310 people seated in coach on this particular aircraft it is the junior position.
We had 7 working flight attendants in the back so all three services did go very smoothly. I think the hardest part for me on the way to Hong Kong was waiting to go on 3rd Break (it was 8 plus hours before I got a break). I did feel very fortunate to have gotten 3rd Break as 1st Break would have been way too soon (and is usually the junior break). Most of the Hong Kong crew requested 1st Break so it filled up rather quickly.
This was my 3rd time to work a trip on the 747 with the upper crew bunk room so it was nice to be able to actually sleep on my 3-hour break. The flight time went by slow but at the same time went quicker than I thought it would. We walked through the cabin with glasses of water every 45 minutes so that would break it up a bit.
Our Purser was very nice and when I told him it was my first time to Hong Kong he drew maps and gave me a list of things to do. While on the layover he even took me and another crewmember over to the popular pharmacy for flight attendants and even made sure I had a harbor view room at our hotel. It’s so nice when you have nice senior flight attendants on the flight. You just never know though when you get to briefing. They are usually either really nice or really nasty. Luckily there more nice ones than nasty.
(somewhere over Russia)
When we got to Hong Kong it was late in the afternoon a day later. Once we arrived at our hotel everyone pretty much crashed. I know my head hit the pillow and I was out. Until 3:30am Hong Kong time. I usually don’t have a problem sleeping through the night but I didn’t take into account the 13 hour time difference! Since I was wide awake I ended up reading for a few hours and then managed to take another 2-3 hour nap. Got up and ate at the incredible breakfast buffet at the hotel with some fellow crewmembers.
(harbor view of Kowloon)
It ended up being a really windy-rainy day so it was hard to really plan anything. The plans I did have with some of the other flight attendants started falling through when they decided they didn’t want to venture out in the rain. So I made the most of it and took the train to Kowloon (the area across the water from Hong Kong island, where we stay) and walked around some shops, saw where the Night Market is and the Jade Market. Took the train back and walked around the area by our hotel for a few hours. Went to dinner with come crewmembers and then called it a night. I know, not very exciting but a big part of my layovers is for resting. I have two small children at home so while I always try and get out and do something, I always want to make sure and relax!
(night view of Kowloon)
The trip home was a lot harder than the one coming out. And we had a 70 less people in the back! I was just ready to be home and be done with this trip. I’m glad I had the chance to do it, but I’m not in any hurry to do it again. Maybe once my kids are older and when my seniority gets waaay better to hold a premium cabin (20 years from now if I’m lucky!).
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Hong Kong, international, layovers, trips
I just got a call from the Crew Desk informing me my open flying request had been granted for…..drum roll please…..HONG KONG!
I’ve never ever been to Hong Kong, never been to China so this is a huge deal for me! I’ve done Narita, Japan once about 6 years ago and it was that one time that has made me avoid Asia trips like the plague. Seriously, why would I want to work a flight that was over 15 hours long? Well, I guess I’m about to find out….
Stay tuned…
(photo courtesy of cnmark)
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(photo courtesy of ChrisIrmo)
Well, it’s that time of year again. Summertime travel which means full flights with lots of unseasoned travelers.
There have been lots of changes in the last few years with air travel, and most recently with the swine flu. So I thought I’d whip up a quick post with some suggestions for those that don’t travel frequently and who may find themselves among the masses who fly during the Summertime season.
1) Dress appropriately, meaning the air conditioning will be on and with the swine flu outbreak, pillows and blankets have all but disappeared. I know my airline is only providing them if they have them in a shrink-wrapped package meaning they are fresh and clean and there are very limited quantities. On my recent all-nighter from Hawaii to Chicago, we didn’t have a single one. So if you are one that gets cold easily, bring your own blanket and don’t show up in just shorts and a tank top!
2) Bring your own headphones. While my airline does provide headsets in seat pockets, sometimes they do not work and we have very limited extras. Besides, wouldn’t you rather use your own than one that has been used by who knows how many other people?
3) Bring your own food on long flights. Or bring a credit/debit card to purchase food on the airplane. Free meals, at least domestically, are a thing of the past. Most people are aware of this but every once in a while I’ll have a passenger that insists they ordered a special meal with their travel agent. No matter how many times I told this passenger and how many flight attendants he talked to, it didn’t change the fact that there were no free meals onboard. Also, even though you may be sitting in First Class and get a free meal, that doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be getting another one. Or that we have extra snacks. Always, always, always bring extra snacks no matter where you are sitting on the airplane for long flights!
4) If you plan to bring your luggage on the airplane, pack light. Airlines are cracking down on the 2 bag limit (we can get fined by the FAA for not complying) so don’t be surprised if when you arrive to the gate and have more than 2, your 3rd bag will get checked. Plus, as the saying goes, you pack it, you lift it. If it’s too heavy for you to lift, it’s too heavy for your flight attendant to lift.
5) Get to the airport early to make sure you are seated with your traveling partners or family. On my Hawaii trip on both legs there were people that were very upset that they couldn’t sit together. We were fortunately able to move them around but sometimes it’s not possible. Especially when it’s a full flight and most passengers are traveling in groups already themselves. We can ask others to switch seats but we can’t force anyone.
To my fellow flight attendants out there, do you have any other tips for Summer Travelers?
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: summer travel tips, travel tips
I’m in the middle of an awesome trip at the moment. And I got the trip while sitting at home, minding my own business, away from the computer.
Apparently I’ve become way too attached to said computer. Here’s an example: my 2-year-old son came up to me and pushed my laptop screen down, saying, “no, Mommy, no”. That my friends is a sign that I’m slacking off in the mum department! So I obeyed obliged him and off we went to play with play doh.
While creating monsters and spaghetti with play-doh I got the phone call and several hours later I was off to Kona!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Hawaii, international, layovers, trips
I got a call while at lunch a few days ago. It was a message from a flight attendant whom I had emailed to offer to pick up her Amsterdam trip. She was calling to take me up on it! So a few clicks on the computer later it was official. For the next several hours I had to work out the logistics of childcare as I have two small children, but thankfully both sets of parents are in town so it all worked itself out.
This was to be my 2nd trip to Amsterdam. When I got to briefing I recognized the Purser and to my surprise, I found myself with the option of working the First Class Galley position (this usually goes super senior)! On this particular aircraft the Purser starts out working the aisle position in 1st Class and eventually drops off to help in the other cabins. Wanna know why? Cause there’s only 5 passengers in 1st Class!
Let me tell you it was soooo nice for a change to work in a leisurely yet timely manner. It was soooo nice to get to know my 5 passengers a little bit better. It was sooooo nice not to have 100’s of people constantly saying, “um, miss” every five seconds. Not to say there wasn’t drama on this trip. Just not in my cabin. 
During boarding we had 4-5 different family’s with small children that were all seated in different seats. Just not by each other. We also had a rather large senior citizen tour group that were sitting together, but would not give up their seats together. Not that I blame them. It’s just that it made the whole boarding process very difficult. As flight attendant’s we do our best to try and move people around to accomodate family’s that have random seats. However, we can’t force anyone to move.
During the flight there was a woman traveling with her sister. She had some health issues going on and progressively felt worse as the flight went on. By the time we landed she could not move, she was in so much pain. She was German and on her way somewhere to have some sort of surgery. She and her sister had been to Vegas for one of their birthday’s. Smart place to go if having health problems, huh. So after we landed (we were late as it was due to the seating issues) it took an additional 30-45 minutes just to get this woman off the airplane because she couldn’t move. Oh, did I mention her sister had insisted we page a doctor during the flight just to get pain meds? Apparently they had them with them but had packed them in their luggage which was in the belly of the plane.
En route to the hotel we had been told by the crew flying out that the hotel had no air conditioning. While it was by no means hot over in Amsterdam, the rooms can get a bit stuffy if there is no circulation. Long story short, the hotel manager met our bus and insisted that it was working just fine. By the time we all got in our rooms it was too late to do anything as the AC did not work after all.
But enough of the drama! The best of the part of the entire trip was that one of my flying partners and I hopped on a bus tour to the Keukenhof Flower Gardens! If you ever get the chance to see them, it’s a must. Check out my pictures:
There was row after row of beautiful Spring flowers.
The scent in the air was so amazing…you wanted to bottle it up and bring it back with you!
Pretty hyacinths.
Stepping stones in the pond.
My flying partner posing on the grounds.
Relaxing on a bale of hay while leaning on a pitchfork.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Amsterdam, international, Keukenhof Gardens, layovers, passengers, trips
After our service was done, we really had nothing else to do for the rest of the flight. Most of the service people slept, some listened to their iPods and some of them ventured into the galley to visit with– us! We got to touch and hold their heavy guns. I didn’t hold it for long, its heaviness freaked me out a little bit. But the part I enjoyed the most was listening to the different guys talking about going home. One guy in particular was a lot of fun to be around.
I first remember James as the troops were settling into their seats. He was the loud, boisterous one. I’m pretty sure he made the first comment about my Bears pin. During our service, I came upon him on the other side of the airplane attending to another soldier. That was when I found out he was the squadron’s medic. Along with his backpack and weapon, he also carried a medic kit. Talk about a load! His nickname with the guys was “Doc”. Pretty cute.
I really enjoyed talking with him. He was very transparent, sharing what was ahead of them before they were completely released to go and be with their families. First they had to go to the base and go through some debriefing. In the weeks to follow they would have therapy sessions, dealing with Post Traumatic Stress issues relating to what they had just been through.
Once we arrived in Germany, the troops got off the airplane to go hang out at a hangar before they made another plane ride home to the States. Unfortunately my crew would not be doing this final flight. We had to get off and layover before heading back home ourselves the next day. As we were deplaning we noticed several different soldiers posted throughout the airplane. They were to stay onboard the plane and “guard” the guns.
And just like that it was over. That part of our trip anyway. The most important part. It was kind of a letdown as I had built it up so much in my mind. But it was everything I thought it would be. And more.
Once we finally got to our hotel in Frankfurt, we all crashed with the intention of meeting up later in the afternoon to head to the Christmas Market which had just opened that day.
We had Gluhwein, which is hot wine in a mug. You could get buzzed just inhaling the stuff. Seriously! It was pretty cold so the wine really warmed us up as we walked around. And what would a trip to Germany be without a Bratwurst!
On our flight home we were supposed to deadhead home. However, the Crew Schedulers decided to wish some of us a Happy Thanksgiving by converting us to work the flight home. There were 13 flight attendants working a practically empty plane. We were tripping over each other it was ridiculous. Despite this kind of ending to the trip, it couldn’t overshadow the incredible experience I was able to be a part of. Will never ever forget it!
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Germany, international, layovers, MAC Charter
(To here how this incredible trip all began start here.)
As I donned my blue polyester uniform, I actually felt a sense of pride. Not so much that I was employed by such and such Company, but that I was about to bring men and women back to their families, out of harm’s way. It’s a feeling I cannot not explain and may never experience again. Just thinking about the flight I was about to work, brought such overwhelming emotions, I seriously wondered how I was going to serve these men and women without crying!
A phone call advised us that our flight would be delayed an hour, so I was able to get a few more minutes of sleep as our flight was scheduled to depart after midnight. Once we all gathered down in the lobby of the hotel and got loaded onto our bus, the journey to the airport began.
We were ushered through security and then to a secured area on the tarmac to catch another bus that would take us to the air force area at the Kuwait airport. Initially we were turned away and had to go back to the airport holding area due to our plane not being there yet. Once we got word that our aircraft was waiting for us we headed back to our 747 aircraft, boarded and started transforming the airplane. Some flight attendants had brought signs, red, white & blue streamers, American flags, red/blue bandannas–we took everything we had and tried to make it look like a “Welcome Home” party plane. We also had been given catering supplies so we got those ready…putting a sandwich plastic pack (w/ chips & a candy bar) on each seat so they could have something to eat right away. We were told pretty much every seat would be taken.
After the plane was decorated we waited to get the first glimpse of our special passengers. I was so nervous but so excited. I was going to cherish every moment of that five hour flight!
We got the official word that “they’re coming!” and all took our positions for boarding. We were advised to stay out of the way initially and I understood why as I watched as they all began to board. Each man or woman was dressed in their military fatigues, and were carrying a weapon as well as a huge military backpack. Their superior had them file in and fill in seats with backpacks still on. At different intervals the superior would give the okay to stow their bags and weapons and take a seat. Imagine how full the bins were with those huge, packed to the brim backpacks! The weapons were stashed on the floor within arms reach. That was definitely surreal…seeing those guns lying on the floor! (They were not loaded of course.)
I have to admit that I was kind of disappointed that they were all very subdued. I had expected them to be excited and jovial to be going home, but the majority of the troops seemed exhausted, keeping to themselves mostly, not very talkative. But, it was very late and I’m sure they just wanted to get this part of the journey over with and be with their loved ones. However, there would be some fun once our flight took off.
Once we were all loaded and cleared for take-off, it was very comical to watch their reaction to our actual take-off. My jumpseat was all the way in the back of the aircraft so I had a great view of everyone in front of me. When we started accelerating on the runway a bunch of them raised their arms up in the air, like they were on a roller-coaster. A few minutes later when the Captain announced we were over Iraq they held up their middle fingers in the air and said a few choice words.
(taken on my iPhone so not very clear—the “rollercoaster” take-off)
During our service, the respect we were given was so refreshing…everyone, and I mean everyone said “please” and “thank-you”. I wanted to reach and hug every single one of them. I had chills as I served these heroes. My mouth was hurting by the end of the service from smiling so much. I had put on a Chicago Bears pin on my dress, thinking some of these guys were most definitely sports fans. I got so many comments about that darn thing—as these soldiers were from Indianapolis and were huge Colts fans!
Next up: the rest of the Flight, and the Christmas Market in Germany.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: international, MAC Charter, stories, trips
