Style High Club

Sunset...

2012-01-19T08:04:00.000+11:00

Taken a couple of days ago. You can see Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building to the left side. The pyramid-shaped building is part of an Egyptian-themed mall here in Dubai.

Tiger Temple- Kanchanaburi, Thailand

2011-11-15T01:30:00.000+11:00

Earlier this year, I once again found myself assigned to a Bangkok trip.Since my visit to the Buddha I hadn't done much there except indulge in lots of yummy food, massages and shopping for DVDs at MBK department store. So, when I found myself there again I was determined to get out and see something worth seeing. Luckily, a couple of my colleagues were also wishing to do the same thing. After looking through some of the possible tours available, we settled on a day trip to go see the famous Tiger Temple.

We boarded our minibus for the 2 hour trip. Our itinerary was firstly a stop on the famous Bridge on the River Kwai, getting to have lunch after the long bus trip before continuing on to the temple. Being super tired after our long shift the previous day, and having to get up super early at 6am to make the trip, we mostly slept the whole way until the first stop. I was glad I'd brought my iPod so I could listen to some music as I alternately dozed and then gazed out of the window at the sights going by.

One that caught my eye was this giant random duck. I'm sure it actually had some significance, but don't ask me what!!!

Finally we reached the first stop, the Kanchanaburi War Memorial and the Death Railway Museum. I generally like museums & historical attractions, even the morbid ones, so I knew it wouldn't be boring. As an Australian this place has a bit of significance as there were Diggers put to work on the railways and buried there. The museum was interesting; it had some full size replicas of the actual Bridge, along with reconstructions of camp life including the train carriages that the prisoners travelled in and a whole room covered only in photos of all the known people who died during the construction of the railway. We had a quick snack then headed outside to look around the cemetery before getting back onto the bus and going to the river for lunch. The cemetery is divided into sections by country, some people might say it's racisit or divisive but it just makes it easier for people to find who they're looking for.

You'd be amazed how many people in areas like this don't even show the common courtesy to not walk on the markers. Even in regular cemeteries I see people walk over graves all the time. It's just a bit disrespectful..

The tour guide explained that the Thai people felt a lot of guilt about what went on, because they kind of had to go along with what they were told to do by the occupying forces or have the same thing happen to their own country. There were actually a lot of Thais killed also which is something I didn't really know about before I went to the museum.

Next stop was the famous 'Bridge over the River Kwai'- most known from the Oscar winning film starring Alec Guiness. I'd actually watched this movie on a flight back from leave so was glad I had before going there. Of course the film isn't entirely accurate- a lot of artistic license was taken- but it gives an idea of the type of work these men were made to do.

This little boy was patiently sitting in the hot sun, selling woven grasshoppers made from reeds. They were really cool. I knew he was probably working for a 'boss', giving money and not getting a lot himself, but I figured at least he makes some money if I do and won't get in trouble for not selling anything.

(My colleague asked permission for his photo; he happily agreed & we gave him some extra money in turn)

The other thing I learnt in the museum exhibit was that the bridge sustained heavy damage in the air raids at the end of the occupation. The original structure is the round arches and the replacement is the squared-off sections. The bridgs is still in operation today as part of Thai Railways and you can take a train along a section of the original railway if you are going on a particular route. There are refuge sections along the bridge that you can step into as the train passes.

After we'd had enough of the bridge and the hot sun, we went to out group lunch. It was in a cute little pavilion by the river, with views of the bridge. While we were sitting there, a train went by and I imagined the guys in the movie waiting and watching to set off their explosives and destroy a train!

Lunch started with a yummy chicken & veggie soup. I used to be a chicken (no pun intended, honest!) about trying foods overseas, especially in Asia, but since I moved o/s I decided to just risk it and try new stuff. Been pretty lucky so far with only the odd upset tummy and no serious gastro (yet- fingers crossed!)

Next was a crispy fried chicken!!! It was really good...

Then a meat dish with cashews and vegetables. It could even have been chicken again. Maybe they figure most tourists are comfortable with it. (The usual response to foreign food being "It tastes like chicken" might also have had some influence on this- why waste good exotic food on tourists who mostly don't appreciate it)

Our tummies full, we reboarded the bus and after another 30min or so drive we arrived at Wat Pha Luang Ta Bua (Tiger Temple). We duly signed out consent forms, which basically said that if the tigers decided they no longer wanted chicken and ate us instead, that we wouldn't hold the temple responsible. Also that we wouldn't do anything stupid like run around pulling their tails or making sudden movements. Since it IS a temple, anyone with 'skimpy' clothing (sleeveless tops or anything baring above the knees) had to don a sarong or wrap before being allowed entrance. After a fairly unimpressive walk through some treed areas, spotting some cow/bison/buffalo looking animals, we arrived at the main attraction. Calmly lazing around in front of us, in a flat area dotted with trees, were some humongous gorgeous tigers.

It was pretty stunning to see them so close. The temple guides gave us strict instructions... don't move suddenly, don't made loud noises, walk behind not in front of them and NEVER walk between two tigers. He explained that sometimes that might give them to urge to play a sudden game of tug-of-war, and you do not want to be that person!!

As you can see from the photos, they were chained, but easily able to get up and move around a little distance. The guide explained that they are only chained for a few hours each day, and only after they have eaten as they can still be in a 'bitey' kind of mood and they want to keep them controllable when visitors get so close.

I'd read negatice comments online from other visitors that the tigers were allegedly drugged to keep them docile; I saw no sign of that. Their eyes were shiny and bright, they often looked around with interest, played with each other and looked generally alert, if a little bit lazy. One lady made this comment out loud, in earshot of one of the monks, and also said it was cruel to keep them. I felt like asking her if she had ever owned a cat. I've owned many, and these tigers behaved exactly the same way as my cat does after a big meal. They lay around, snoozing, occasionally looking around if they hear something and generally lounging.

At one point I was walking around and behind one of the tigers- I stepped on a twig which snapped and the tiger immediately sprang awake and turned to look at me with big piercing eyes. That was definitely an undie-changing moment (lol) and I stood stock still. After a stare down which I wimpily lost, he decided I was no theat to him and proceeded to roll over on his back to rub in the dirt.

Standard after-lunch pose.

Next up was the visit to the baby tigers. Our visit was timed well because the latest litter of cubs were old enough to play with visitors and the mother was chilled enough not to freak out about it. I'd been told it was an extra 500 baht to get photos with them, but sadly when we got there it was actually 1000 and I didn't have any more money on me. The other crewmember who wanted to go hadn't brought her camera with her so I loaned her mine on the condition that she let me keep copies of the cub photos.

Seriously, how cute are they?

My, what big paws you have for such a tiny baby!!!

Meanwhile I got a nice consolation prixe of petting a slightly older (but still a baby) tiger. It was so cute but kept trying to bite me when I was giving it the bottle. Had to give the bottle back to the guide, hehe.

I really love this picture of the monk with the tiger. The monk had the most epic tattoos as well but I didn't take a picture of those as it's a bit sensitive.

Later on, this jolly monk invited us to come sit with him for a picture with one of the more docile cubs, he liked meeting everyone and finding out our names. Sadly I forgot to write his down :(

This little deer/antelope managed to sniff out my emergency banana from about fifty feet away... the staff told me that bananas are expensive and a rare treat. Apparently this little guy is obssessed with them and will love to have mine. They told me he will eat the skin and all- and he did!!

Another attraction was the 'quarry walk' where the tigers are taken off their chains and onto leads, and walk down to the tiger quarry with the visitors following. If you're brave enough you can even take the lead for a few seconds, making sure to keep one hand on the tiger as you approach so it knows you are there. I did, and it was so fun, but it was more like being dragged than walking as the tigers seemed to love going to the quarry and wanted to get there fast. After the quarry was a stop at a temple on the grounds, and then back to the bus.

Interesting sign in the temple. Dudes can have at it, but the ladies are not permitted to even set a toe in the monk area.

After a long drive back to the hotel (which consisted of getting stuck in traffic and luckily for us, sleeping) we arrived late with about 30 minutes until our scheduled wake-up call. It was going to be a looooooong flight back. Happily for us, we had our fun memories of the tiger temple to keep us occupied and photos to entertain the other crew while trying to stay awake on the return trip. I enjoyed the tiger temple and if you want the chance to see these beautiful animals close up, it's definitely worth a visit.

Bunnies! Some kind of rabbit-shaped dumpling/cake in the supermarket for Chinese New Year.

Mmmmm, fresh juice!!!! :)

No-burg...

2011-11-06T10:39:00.001+11:00

Right now I'm in Johannesburg, South Africa!!!

Like me, your head might be full of lions, safari & colourful local people when you read the word "Joburg". Sadly for me, this layover has been quite uneventful.

One of my fellow crew agreed to join me and visit the Lion Park just outside the city. A few others told us they wanted to go too. As usually happens, by the time we reached the hotel, everyone but us decided they would rather sleep after our overnight flight. (Fair enough). What this meant for us though was that the cost of the ride to the lion park would cost more than our allowance once we paid for that and the entry fee to the park. My visions of cuteness in the form of white lion cubs evaporated. Darn it! My friends had been earlier in the week and had amazing photos with giraffe & lion cubs.

Had I known my ATM card was in my bag and not at home like I'd thought, I'd have just spent the whole allowance going to see the lions and used my ATM card to pay for meals. D'oh!! Hopefully next time.

Instead we walked around the hotel area and found a supermarket, stocked up on some goodies to eat during the layover and wandered around. We met a Polish man selling all sorts of yummy smallgoods. The other girl, being Polish, got us a good discount on some super yummy kransky-type sausages and we got a picture with the jolly stallkeeper and his wife. I just hope I'm allowed to bring this stuff back with me! The other crew assure me that it's legal, but I want to check just in case!

After that we wandered sleepily back to the hotel, having been awake for almost 24hours. We stopped for a few silly photos then went our separate ways. I went to the pool area to catch some sun, but didn't stay long. Sadly for me some people were being inconsiderate and had put all of their bags on the sun loungers, when they were actually sitting at a table as a group eating and not even in swimming clothes. I asked if I could use one since it didn't seem as though they were going to lounge and they said no! Considering there were only 5 lounges and one cabana (and they had all of them!) I thought it was pretty rude. Evidently so did everyone else who came after me that wanted to swim then dry off on a lounger. There was nowhere else to sit so after I finished reading my magazine I went back to my room for a nap before dinner.

Rubber duckies!!! (Not allowed to take with- boooo)

I am still there now after failing to set my alarm correctly and missing the crew for dinner. Boo. No clock in this room makes me very confused!! On the plus side, I have rubber duckies in my bath!!! :) For the rest of this layover I think I will take it easy and catch up on the sleep I missed this week. It's been a busy one with back to back late night flights scheduled and very little sleep gotten in the daytime. Room service dinner is on the way...

Until next time Joburg!!!

Dressing Table

2011-11-01T20:20:00.000+11:00

I don't really have a "dressing table" as such- actually a desk & drawers in my room, but a few months back I bought a set of shelves for extra storage. Here's some of the things I have sitting on top to make it pretty :)

I like to display cute things in my room.

On the left I have (out of shot) an oil burner from the Body Shop & some of their fragrance oils. My favourite two are Strawberry & Satsuma, both hard to find in Oz. Next is my In Essence candle in 'Zanzibar', a very exotic African-inspired fragrance. I'd left this behind at home and regretted it, so brought it back with me when I went home on leave. These are normally about $40 but I got this one for $20 on clearance at Priceline.

Behind the candle are two ceramc birds I picked up in Turkey. One of my favourite colours is blue and I'd noticed a little theme starting to occur of both blue and birds, so I've been consciously adding to it since I noticed the little collection begin on its own. The framed picture is by Matou En Peluche, a Sydney based illustator who is also on Twitter. I love the whimsical designs & I've also got two of her Deco Girls which I'll post about later.

It's a little hard to see but under the picture is a small square porcelain box; this was bought in Shanghai & holds some small jewellery items. The Matryoshka doll is from my trip to Prague. My O.P.I. polishes already featured in another post; the box they are sitting on is a gorgeous game board purchased in Turkey which also deserves a post of its own. I had to haggle hard to get the price down but in the end I won, very happy with this purchase!

Far right are some fragrances; a French perfume from Fragonard, Benefit 'Your Place or Mine Gina', Elle by YSL EDP, Miss Dior Cherie, a mini Lanvin and a Korean hand cream. I'm planning to post reviews about the Fragonard perfumes and the hand cream at a later date.

Finally at front is my cheap but super cute tree-print necklace. I love this to death & call it my "Lord of the Rings" necklace as it makes me think of the tree carving on the entrance to Moria. Hope you enjoyed some of the cute things that make me smile.

Have you bought anything lately, just because it was cute? Leave a comment & tell me what you got! :)

Retro Flight Bag

2011-10-27T06:31:00.000+11:00

It's no secret that I love me some vintage, and vintage airline stuff? Even better!! I have my own mini collection of books and bags, but if you haven't been lucky enough to score a Pan Am bag like me, or aren't a fan of bidding wars on eBay, then I saw just the thing in Typo recently. They have a retro-style airline shoulder bag, complete with the white trims so classic to this type of bag.

The cool thing is, they've updated it just that little bit, by adding the iconic giant aircraft, the A380. You have no idea how tempted I was to buy this, but since I have one of the coveted Pan Am bags from the tv promos, I left it for someone else to snap up. (Post on my Pan Am adventures to come later!) I love the Typo store and always have to restrain myself from spending too much whenever I go in there. Currently I've got my eye on their thermal mugs, perfect for work! :)

(This was not a sponsored post- though if Typo wants to send me some free stuff they are more than welcome, LOL)

O.P.I. Lineup

2011-10-24T06:02:00.000+11:00


6 so far with probably more to come!

On my recent trip home I finally succumbed again to the temptation of the '2 for $25' offer in the Aussie duty free stores. I usually wistfully gaze at the basket of colourful polishes as I walk by toting my crew bag, but never stop to buy any. Red is very high maintenance for work and I used to think it was too much hassle to change the colour for days off. However, I'm lately back into my love of all things colourful, shiny and cosmetic. I picked up two new polishes on my arrival (one for my sister) and then again on my way back to Dubai- how indulgent!!

The lineup as follows L-R:

#NL H19 "Passion" Nude Pink
#NL G01 "Aphrodite's Pink Nightie" Shimmery Light Pink
#NL B31 "Flashbulb Fuschia" Metallic/Shiny Hot Pink
#NL R53 "An Affair In Red Square" Metallic Deep Red
#NL R54 "Russian Navy" (A cult OPI Shade) Dark Shiny Blue
#NL Z21 "The Color to Watch" Shimmery Blue/Purple

I also purchased "Shatter" in Black for my sister, as she always wears dark nails & loves to try new things. I also have my eye on "Melon Of Troy" and "Blush Pink". I've tried other polishes, and several friends have recommended me to try Essie polishes, but I really love the range of colour that O.P.I. has. If I'm good and do the proper maintenance, the colour seems to last quite well. My job is quite hard on the hands so some chipping is inevitable. I really must practice some more as my DIY manicures just never look as good as the ones done by someone else.

Do you have a favourite polish/colour? Which do oyu love but never think you'd wear?

Beauty Goodies & Why So Expensive?

2011-10-21T14:45:00.000+11:00

This afternoon when I woke up from my post-flight nap, I was in the mood to tidy up my room, and settled on cleaning out some of the bags stored in my closet which contain some of the stash of goodies I've picked up on my travels. I just love buying makeup & beauty items, but being the hoarder that I am, I hardly ever actually get around to using most of them. It's such a shame because there's some really great items out there.

Beauty haul!! :)

Being that I'm pretty much a novice at anything complicated when it comes to applying makeup, my current range is pretty limited and I don't really get too adventurous with my makeup. I decided that I will have a little giveaway soon of some products. Since I saw today that my blog has 41 followers, once it gets to 50 then I will have a giveaway. I have three lots of items planned for giveaways so there will certainly be more coming if I can get my blog revamped and a bit more interest in it.

In the photo above, the row of nail polishes at the bottom is a local brand I picked up in Bangkok called I-Hana. I hadn't seen them before so I took the chance to grab a few. The range of colours was amazing from glitter polishes to metallics and even matte pastels. Wish I'd thought to take a photo of the table setup as everything was in colour-spectrum order and it looked really cool! These six are marked for giveaways or gifts for friends but I will definitely be picking up some for myself next visit so I can try them for myself and see how good they are.

Other items in the photo include a Heroine Make (Japanese) mascara I've been wanting to try for ages, cute animal-shaped hand cream pots from Etude House (Korea), my regular CoverGirl foundation and Nivea moisturiser and my two newest O.P.I. polishes. I love that you can get 2 for $25 in duty free in Aussie airports, when normally they retail between $20-25 each in Australia.

I really do think that we pay far too much for makeup in Australia; I didn't know any better until I visited the US where I bought a NARS blush for $26, and my sister's MAC foundation for the same price. Both retail for well over $65 in Oz and I cannot find a decent reason why that should be the case! Importing products does not cost THAT much that things should cost double to triple the price in certain countries. Anyone know why this is the case, I'd love to find out! Luckily for me, I can travel often enough that I can stock up and save when I go to the US.

What foreign products do you love but don't buy because of the markup in Australia?

More Toronto

2011-10-02T12:06:00.000+11:00

After collapsing into bed after our big Niagara tour, a few of us met for breakfast & filled up on bacon, waffles & eggs. (Yay!!) before meeting up to explore a bit of the city.

The architecture in Toronto is pretty cool; lots of new mixed in with old. Despite it not being the depths of winter it was still cooooold. Leaves were orange on the trees which I was fascinated by as we tend not to have deciduous trees in Oz- they just suddenly die & go brown if at all, or they stay green throughout. Being so dry things tend to go green in winter and brown in summer, total reverse haha!

It was really great to be in a mall that wasn't a gigantic, air conditioned fridge. I really liked all the displays they had up and the mood leading up to Christmas was very festival with cool window dressings and even a big Christmas tree!

We also visited the CN Tower, once the tallest freestanding structure in the world (Enter Burj Khalifa, circa 2009). I'd always wanted to go since hearing friends talk about it. Also, I decided it might be fun to visit all the tall things I could on my layovers. I've done Sydney Tower, CN Tower, Eiffel Tower, London Eye, Auckland Skytower, Petrin in Prague (ok not such a big one but hey) and of course when my family come to visit I'll be hitting the Burj! :P

The views are pretty cool, they even have the see through toughened glass panels in the floor so you can have fun freaking out your friends by pushing them onto it. Of course lots of silly pics ensued, with us trying to make it look like we were falling though the floor.

Obviously their copy needs some re-editing ;)

By far my favourite part was being able to see across to the island in the harbour where the (imaginatively named) Toronto Island Airport is. I recall it being actually name after some sports guy, but can't remember what that sub-name is. (Billy Bishop, thank you Wikipedia!) It was really cool being able to watch the planes take off and land; if we got staff tickets on Porter Airlines I'd be so tempted to just take a flight somewhere and back for fun next time I'm there! I want to see the Porter uniform up close, lol the things that amuse me!

Trains far far below looking like a scene from Thomas the Tank Engine.

It was FREEZING!!! I am wearing my goose-down jacket which I bought in Korea for the bargain price of 40,000 won. (About $35AUD) It is super warm but it wasn't enough. Underneath I had my super duper thick Korean long leggings (seriously they're like jodhpurs) and jeans, a long singlet, a top, a jumper a scarf, gloves and a beanie! This jacket got passed around when I went to Niagara when one of the poor crew realised she'd left her coat at home and couldn't even leave to go buy coffee!!! :( She said it saved her life, haha. Lucky I packed two coats in a fit of outfit indecision...

We basicalyl walked around looking at the sights & trying not to die from the cold- remembering that we'd come from close to 50'C to about minus a million. AFter only 30 minutes we were scrambling to find a coffee shop. Finally we found one- attached to a pet store no less- where dogs were enjoying their "puppacinos" with their owners. Strange, but kind of fun!

Sad story on the harbour about a man and a bird.

It says "For the past six years, Thomas Pitkin of Scarborough, Ontario would meet Charlie, a black-crowned night-heron at this location every day between mid-April and mid-October to feed him roast chicken. A natural fish-eater, Charlie spurned any type of canned fish in favour of his chicken treat. The two bonded over this daily feeding and afforded countless site visitors and up-close view of this special bird. Thomas Pitkin passed away in May, 2010. He is sadly missed by his many friends but none more so than by his pal, Charlie, who still shows up at this location forlornly looking for Thomas." :(

Toronto is a nice city to visit, I just hope next time it'll be in summer so I can enjoy the outdoors instead of freezing my butt off! At least I'll be within throwing distance of my good friend Krysta!

Photo Post: Visit to Niagara Falls!

2011-09-25T17:23:00.008+10:00

It's been awhile since I've made any 'proper' posts. Sometimes blogging feels a bit overwhelming, especially when I've been working a lot and feel tired. The fact that posting pics on Blogger is a bit of a PITA doesn't help. So, I've been looking back through all my photos that I need to post about and there are a LOT. Also, since it's been a long time since I took some of those pictures, I've forgotten a lot of details.

What I've decided to do for the older ones is to just post some highlight photos from those trips, and if you really like them I can always post some more from that place. More recent or memorable trips will probably get some sort of commentary. I'm just not in the mood for writing a lot and I figure at least posting some photos is better than nothing- anything to get out of this blah blogging mood!

Last night I took some time to just go through my folders and use a batch editor to resize copies of the photos to make for easier uploading. I can remember as far back as when I went to Niagara Falls, and I don't think I posted any of those pictures yet so I'll start with them.

I'd never been to North America before, and all I kept hearing about was how difficult and tiring the flight is, and how COLD it would be there. Luckily for me, I got the longer 3 day layover, whcih gave plenty of time to sleep and recover from the flight, sightsee, then get soem sleep before the return trip.

While the flight was long, it was nowhere nearly as bad as the horror stories had led me to believe. I think this was in part due to the miracle that the flight (for once) was only half full- good for me as I'd stayed up late hanging out with a friend the night before and had got no sleep!

A few of the crew decided to take a bus tour to Niagara Falls; the first stop was a wine college where we did some wine tasting and got to walk around outside. It was pretty but COLD. Then we were off to visit Niagara-on-the-Lake- a totally gorgeous little town full of old houses and which probably cost a bomb to purchase property in. We didn't get as much time in the town as I would have liked, but I did manage to run around snapping some photos to take i nthe prettiness and also grab a pastry to eat before we were off to the next stop- a lookout with a view over the river.

We were all very excited to get our first glimpse of the Falls, but we had to wait impatiently while our driver found us a parking space in the proper spot for tour buses. We were then released for a certain amount of time before we had to meet for lunch. Of course we ran over to take photos immediately :P

The power & sound of the falls is amazing- according to our tour guide the Falls weren't even at their peak when we visited... they divert a lot of it for electricity & to stop the rock eroding so much.

The weather, while cold, was perfect, with only a little bit of mist & spray and just enough sunshine to throw rainbows everywhere. It was so cool and of course perfect for our pictures.

We ate lunch in this restaurant which overlooks the falls, it was great to just watch all the rainbows come and go. Afterwards we still had a bit of time to look around and enjoy the nice day.

Our next stop was to a museum to see some films about Niagara and also some of the items on display which included a variety of vessels that people had used to go over the falls throughout the years. They ranged from simple barrels, to barrels with oxygen tanks and up to sophisticated spaceship-looking pods.

By the time we left the museum it was getting dark, on our way back to the bus we saw some Christmas lights in the park so ran over to have a look. Of course while Christmas is observed by some people in Dubai, there are not as many lights and decorations as we are used to back home so the chance to go look at sparkly lights was too good to miss.

I found this placement especially interesting- the Islamic mosque placed next to the Jewish menorah...! the other in this series was the three wise men and the star.

This blue arrangement made me think of aliens and UFOs, it was sparkling but I couldn't really get that in the photo very well. Soon it was time to head back to the bus, a good thing as we were all starting to get hit by the jetlag and just wanted to go back to the hotel for food & sleep.

I really enjoyed my visit to Niagara Falls and hopefully can go back one day during the summer!

Dubai Snapshot

2011-09-15T09:22:00.000+10:00

Gold Souk Atrium, Dubai Mall

Glimpses of Hong Kong...

2011-08-28T22:55:00.000+10:00

I haven't really been in the mood to blog lately, so I thought I'd just let the photos do the talking. These are from a recent trip to Hong Kong. On the recommendation of a friend, I went to visit Stanley. I'd also planned to go see the giant Buddha, but it was very hazy so I ended up in the mall instead. (Surprise, surprise!)

Mongkok Shopping district ^^^^

Cute signage in Harbour City Mall. (This mall also had an awesome, free mobiel phone charging service, which saved my butt when both my camera and phone batteries ran down. 15mins and my phone was fully charged. Win!)

Taken from the train on the way into the city.

Hah- I've seen some interesting station names, but "Hang On"???

Light & Sound show. I lucked out and went on a day they do the show in English. Not bad for a 3mp camera phone photo!

Fish in the supermarket. I liked the colours.

Stanley Harbour. Pretty place, but it was very hot. To my dismay, shortly after I took this photo, I realised I'd left all of my spare camera batteries in my cabin bag. Luckily for me, I still had my phone. Phew! Not an entirely wasted photo opportunity then. I also visited the Martime Museum which was surpringly fun.

Various moscaic murals lined an alley that I traversed on the hunt for Mel's Michelin-starred dim-sum restaurant. Sadly for me, I got lost and turned up too late to eat before they closed. I'd have happily have taken anything, but the door-lady was firm!!!!

Ramadan

2011-08-09T11:18:00.003+10:00

Ramadan. The time of year that most expats tend to complain about & dread. Long hot summer days with nothing to do, nowhere to eat during daylight hours and most of their friends escaped from Dubai or working.

But, Ramadan isn't all bad. For those who haven't had much exposure to the Muslim culture, Ramadan is about consideration for those less fortunate than yourself, appreciation for what you have and self improvement to be a better person.

One of the more achievable goals during Ramadan is being charitable to others. Of course, this is something that we should try to do at other times as well, but if you've been lost for something to do, Ramadan month can be a good motivator to get started and get ideas.

Back in my home country, myself & my coworkers used to collect the toiletries from our hotel rooms when we stayed in other cities. There was a collection bin in our main office where we could drop these off and the company would then send them on to charities and hospitals to make use of them. Lots of hospitals loved these items, as often they had families of sick & injured patients coming at short notice to stay, often with whatever they happened to be wearing at the time and no luggage. With Australia being as large at it is, some patients were flown in from remote areas for treatment and had nothing with them. So, all of the small shampoos, soaps and toothbrushes came in very handy.

Since arriving in Dubai I have still been collecting the items, but was unsure what to do with them.

I discovered the website Helping Hands UAE; an organisation that helps labourers, abused maids and others in less fortunate circumstances with donations of toiletries, food and other items given by donations from expats and others. I got in touch with them and the lady that organises these things said that they are always in demand of hotel items. They can be transported easily and are a good fill-in measure for people who just need a few items until more permanent arrangements can be made.

So, if any of my fellow cabin crew or foreign, travelling expats are reading this, I urge you to do the same- collect the toiletries and other small "giveaway" items that you don't use and send them on to others who will. Helping Hands also accepts other donations, just contact Elle (via their website) to see what is required. Ramadan especially is a busy time for them and all help is gratefully received!!!

(Please note, I am talking about the items I am expected to use in hotel rooms, such as soaps, shampoos etc. I am not taking anything such as towels, robes or the like as this would be stealing. I also do not use any items from onboard the aircraft in accordance with company policy. My airline has their own arrangements for charity and I support those also where I can. This post was written solely by me as a result of my own experience and Heping Hands UAE did not request me to write such a post. However, I am sure they would be happy to hear from you for anything you may be able to give!)

Mixing It Up

2011-08-01T22:58:00.003+10:00

A week or two back. my friend Robyn came through Dubai on her way back to Australia for holidays with her family. Now Robyn actually is qualified as a raw chef and makes lots of yummy things that are also super-healthy for you. Me, well I'm a bit of a sweet tooth and have found it very hard in the past to stick to a healthy diet as I just love my sweets too much!

Lately though, I've been managing to get to the gym quite often (at least once every three if not every 2nd day or even oftener) and I wanted to have the right food to go with working out more.

Robyn & I went for lunch while she was here in Dubai, and afterwards we traweled the mall as all good Middle East-dwellers do ;) The fruit & veg section of Carrefour was duly visited (and raided!!!- I bought lemons, oranges, and some fresh mint) and then I decided that I was finally going to stop putting off getting a blender!!!

I settled on the Kenwood 3-in-1 Wizzard, as I wanted something that not only would blend but I also could chop with. It wasn't the fanciest model but at 129dhs instead of about 179, it was a good price.

Really glad I got it, have used it a few times already now, and it's very easy to use and the attachments it comes with are just what I wanted.

So, here's a recipe I thought I'd share with you, for a yummy cold juice.

1 orange
2 or 3 slices of pineapple
1 or 2 kiwi fruit
ice cubes
lemon or lime to taste

(I don't have a juicer yet but I used the old fashioned hand juicer. The Kenwood comes with a big measuring/smoothie cup so as I mixed things in the chopper part I'd put the blended fruit in the cup to mix more later...)

So:

1. Juice the orange and put juice in the cup
2. Trim the skin off the kiwi and blend it, add to cup
3. Blend the pineapple and add to the cup
4. Add a squeeze or two of lemon or lime juice if desired
5. Add a small amount of water to thin out the mixture
6. Use the hand mixer to blend the ingredients together in the cup

You could pour the juice over ice, but I was naughty and used the hand blender part to crush two small ice cubes into the mix (I shouldn't really as the manual says it won't do ice but it seemed okay, but I'll limit this as much as possible.)

This was so refereshing in the summer heat!! Next time I might try adding some strawberries or mint too if I have them on hand.

Burgundy & Gold (Outfit Post)

2011-07-23T05:47:00.003+10:00

I've always liked the combination of burgundy & gold, especially when accented with black and/or white.

I remember seeing Nicole of Gary Pepper Vintage wearing an amazing burgundy pleated skirt in one of her posts, and when I was last in Sydney, pleated skirts were popping up everywhere in the store windows including Dotti and Valleygirl. Sadly, they looked kind of wrong on me.

While on my visit to AdelaideI was very happy to discover a similar, non-pleated skirt in Supre. It also came in black, bone and a tan colour. I really liked the tan and if it's still there next time I get to Sydney I think I'll buy it as well. In the last couple of years I've thought Supre clothes are quite expensive for what they are, but as I wear long skirts all the time in Dubai this purchase would be worth it.

Today I wore it for the first time in Dubai, this test run was to the mall for a nice dinner on my own.

Detail Shot:

This shows what I like to call my 'Lord of the Rings Tree' necklace. I can't recall where I bought this but I know it was $5 or less. I LOOOOVE this necklace & have been wearing it to death lately.

These are also the first pictures of my new hair colour. The lighting is not that great but it's quite red now. Last time I got it coloured it was more a darker, red-brown than a true red-copper brown.

Skirt: Supre
Cardigan: Crossroads, about 4 or 5 years ago
Belt: ICE Brisbane, about 3 years ago
Necklace: Bargain, probably Diva or similar
Shoes: Forever21 New York City
Hair Colour: L'Oreal Excellence #44 ;)
Makeup: Dior Lip Glow, Maybelline Colour Sensational #55 Pinkalicious & Dior Addict Ultra Gloss in #557 with CoverGirl TruBlend Mineral Powder (no longer on sale) :(

Tee Vee

2011-07-16T06:06:00.000+10:00

After convincing myself for ages that I didn't *NEED* a tv, at least not for a few more months, the searing temperatures in Dubai finally made me cave & I figured summer & right before Ramadan is as good a time as any to get a tv. So, I went out and got myself a nice shiny 32-inch flat screen tv. The good thing is, I can connect my laptop to view photos and videos, and watch all my DVDs that I have in a list waiting to be seen.

The tv I got is a Sony Bravia, I had wanted a Samsung but it didn't have a VGA port for my computer (which doesn't have HDMI) and it didn't have a headphone port either. I prefer to have the option in case I want to watch movies in the middle of the night, I won't feel bad about making any noise!!

Next time I go home on leave I'll probably bring back my Nintendo 64, or if I can find one for a reasonable price online, a Super Nintendo. I love me some retro games!!!

I'm Coming Home...

2011-07-05T12:37:00.000+10:00

After a very laid-back layover in Beijing, I put on my uniform and got ready to head back to Dubai. It was a very easy trip, and I spent most of my time running around doing duty free and taking cups of water to sleepy passengers. It was quite good as I made a tidy commission; I've been putting my duty-free earnings into an envelope as savings so it's a little something extra.

Soon we landed, much earlier than I had expected, and on the urging of some other crew I ran to check the flights home and whether there were any seats. Before, the system had shown zero seats on the Sunday flight, so I had booked to go on the Monday, but lo and behold there were now LOTS of seats free- I guessed maybe they had changed the plane to a bigger one. Whatever the reason, I sure wasn't complaining!

I raced home, threw my uniforms in the wash and began madly packing my suitcase, hoping that I wouldn't forget anything important in the rush. I managed to get my bag packed so quickly that I even had a little bit of time to check my Facebook & email before I left, important for a slight internet geek like me :)

Then it was off to the airport in the hope that the figures on the travel website were correct and there were, in fact, seats available. I only needed one!!! I took my bag to the standby counter and to my luck the guy checking people in told me that I didn't need to wait for the flight to close, he could just give me a boarding pass right away. He asked me if I would like "3 or 4 seats".... errr, what??? Turns out there were so many seats free, he marked the ones next to me as last to be allocated so hopefully I'd have some space to lie down and sleep. I really needed to, as I had 2 hours of sleep before my flight back from Beijing, and none since then. So really, I hadn't slept much since the first night in Beijing.

I went through to departures, where I stopped in the store to buy some water, some snacks and a magazine or two to read on the flight. I also somehow miraculously managed to visit the restroom and get myself something for breakfast, all in the 20 minutes I had before boarding started. I'm not sure why everyone else seems to find it hard to find the toilet,or buy water but see, it can be done, travellers!!!! Haha.

Got on the plane and settled in, deciding which movies I'd want to watch on the way while waiting for lunch to come around. Luckily for me, the flight was quite light so the seats next to me remained unused. In fact it was so empty that everyone else who wanted to move to a row on their own got to, without having to sit next to me. Yay for a row to myself!! :)

Typically, I didn't sleep much on the flight. I dozed off until one of the crew woke me for lunch, then I watched a movie (From Prada to Nada which is apparently a remake of Sense & Sensibility) and after that I just. Couldn't. Sleep. Argh!! I spent the time reading the in-flight magazine, my book and wandering around the plane, occasionally chatting to the crew. I must add, they were really great, coming around regularly with water & juice, and one of them even left me a bottle of water & toothbrush on my seat after I had mentioned not going to sleep the night before. Yay you guys!!!

Soon it was time for the "dinner" meal, and I figured I'd try fit in another movie before we landed. I decided on 'Tangled', having heard good things about it, and I wasn't disappointed!

I thought it was a great movie, the graphics were brilliant and the little chameleon sidekick is quite possibly the cutest ever in a Disney film.

I think the lantern scene is my favourite, it's just so pretty!

Soon it was time to land & after spending about an hour in customs & quarantine, I was home free into freezing cold Perth!!! I think I underestimated just how cold it is & really wish I'd brought my fluffy pyjamas. Thank goodness for electric blankets & kitties that want to sleep on your feet! ^_^

Down Time

2011-06-28T14:28:00.000+10:00

The last few days I've been feeling sorry for myself, as somehow, somewhere in the potential bacterial breeding ground that is a giant aircraft, I managed to pick up some sort of bug and was now sniffling and snuffling through the day. As always, I began knocking back the echinacea, vitamin C and water in the hope that it might chase off whatever I'd caught in the minimum of time.

I'd felt fine the morning of my Hong Kong trip but by the time I got up the next morning I had a touch of a sore throat. Nothing to keep me from sightseeing though! But by the time we'd got back to the hotel at the end of (a very long) day, I was fast sounding like the penguin in Toy Story that lost it's squeaker.

Thankfully today I'm mostly back to normal so hopefully I'll be able to fly my next trip. Of course I'll call sick if required but unfortunately as I have leave after that I'll cop an 'absent from work' on my roster and I'd really rather not thanks very much... but, it can't be avoided if I'm sick. Ugh. I was doing so well, not getting sick with anything like this since just before I moved overseas!!

Today was spent in a somewhat frustrating and time consuming process of trying to fix a problem with the tickets for my leave. Getting home was no problem, but going elsewhere that I needed to go was fast becoming an issue. Normally, we just book tickets online but for some reason the system wasn't letting me. Online help wasn't, and trying to phone through to the call centre went unanswered for hours. Finally, I did what they told me to do last time and made the trip into the office to visit the ticketing desk.

Again, as last time, they refused to help me, until I had to plead my case and explain that as no one was answering the phone, and had been giving me the wrong info for weeks, that today was the last day I could possibly get the tickets. Normally, I could have requested them today and picked them up right before my leave, but with tomorrow being a public holiday here I didn't wat to risk missing the ticket collection. (I can't get these emailed to me like I can with everything else).

As with many things in this country, it took a lot of waiting around, a lot of re-explaining my story to several different people and a LOT of errors and wrong info before I finally had tickets in my hot little hand. It was an epic four and a half hours waiting until I got them, so needless to say I am glad to be back at home recovering and away from the freezing a/c of the office. I'm only a bit ashamed of getting a tad emotional with the supervisor but I think it was what finally convinced him to make them help me!! :P

Not much else was going on, as I was pretty much just resting and doing things around the house. I did go to the mall to pick up a few things, one of which was a scrapbook as some friends and I are planning on starting a 'craft n wine' night- bring whatever we're working on, have a few glasses of wine and watch some tv box sets. Yay!!!!

It's getting really hot in Dubai now, I felt the need to be outside for a little bit, so went to the pool with my book but I only lasted 40mins before the heat sent me scurrying back inside. It's sure going to be a change being in Oz during winter- family tells me there was a huge storm the last few days and it even hailed in my city!!!! I'd better pack warm clothes...

Things I'm Loving

2011-06-25T09:07:00.000+10:00

* DVD box sets-
with the weather heating up (50'C is not uncommon now) a good, addictive tv series is just the way to go. I've been watching The Hills Season 6, Boardwalk Empire, Downton Abbey (which I finished in about 2 days) and Big Bang Theory Season 4. Yay for good tv

* My $9 Jackets-
During my Sydney trip I stopped by SES on a whim and bought 2 semi-military style light jackets- one in a bone/beige colour and the other in charcoal. I have lots of 'cold' jackets and cardis but nothing really in between. I've been wearing the beige one almost constantly since I got back. Shopping this cheap is guilt free! :D

* Staff Tickets-
I really am lucky to be able to make use of discounted airfares to go travelling. As I already posted, I went to Prague for 2 days recently and am taking my sister to Adelaide during my leave so we can visit our grandparents. I'm going to try to aim to do a mini trip at least once every 3 months, if not oftener.

* Twitter-
Aside from keeping in touch with friends, I've been able to find out some great travel info, recommendations of places to go and best of all, I saved money on my credit card by talking to my bank on Twitter! They managed to sort out some issues I'd been trying to have fixed for at least 6 months and all it took was one phone call. I don't like to plug things but National Australia Bank is definitely taking a step in the right direction with the way they're using social media.

* Saving (Well, not spending as much)
As you might know, one of my goals this year has been to pay off my credit card debt- happy to say I've been making progress (with some help from NAB) and have been very good- I went to Sydney and didn't use my credit card once, not even for hotel bills or anything, which is very unusual for me! I'm on track with my car loan and in about 5 months it will be finished so I can use that money towards my credit card and start paying it down even faster.

* The Internet-
Well duh, this is an obvious one for me, but I do love it. Aside from my blog, it allows me to keep in touch with friends and family, and get things done that I would otherwise only be able to do when I go home on leave. Sometimes just a silly random email from a friend is just what I need. Currently, normal everyday emails from a friend about the progress of the house she is building are keeping me a little bit at home.

Prague!

2011-06-23T11:01:00.000+10:00

Recently I took a 2-day trip to Prague, Czech Republic. Blogger hasn't been co-operatong with uploading so I'll have to wait until I can get all the pics up before I make a post about. Sorry for the lack of new posts, it's just been one technical glitch after another!

On the plus side I did a Sydney trip again which was great and also went to Paris (which I may have mentioned already). Next month I'm off home to see the family which will be nice, it's been 4 months since my first trip back. Not looking forward to it being cold though, living in the desert has turned me into a wimp!!! :P

Highlights...

2011-06-06T21:26:00.000+10:00

I'm finally starting to feel in the mood to blog again, but me being me, there are a zillion other things I'd also like to do. I have some leave at the moment, and as I probably won't be travelling home this time, I'll have lots of extra days to try and get thigns done. I've only just realised how many layovers I have still to blog about- all the way back to my Niagara Falls visit- in November!!! :O

At the moment I'm procrastinating by tidying up my room, and as this mood strikes me rarely I'd best take advantage of it. So to tide you over until I make a proper posts, here's some photo highlights of upcoming posts & past layovers.

I survived the Great Wall of China!!! (Tough climb though, glad I wore summer clothes!)

Ticket to Temple of Heaven, Beijing

Visiting the tigers in Thailand

Another view of the Great Wall.

In the mix there'll also be Niagara Falls, more New York and another Paris trip =) See you soon!

Lady Sybil

2011-05-27T08:50:00.000+10:00

The past few days I've been obssessed with watching the BBC drama "Downton Abbey". It has everything I love- plenty of drama, interesting storylines and of course lovely costuming. I'm planning to post mor on it later but I stumbled across this "Which character are you?" quiz. This is what I got:

I like Lady Sybil so I'm pretty pleased with that, though I'm not sure I'm entirely like that. Then again, these things ARE just for fun! I remember doing tons of quizzes back in high school, and sharing with my friends!

Doesn't hurt that I love Sybil's clothes too =P

Catch-Up

2011-05-20T12:43:00.000+10:00

Been awhile since I made any posts. Not really any excuse aside from the short Blogger outage and a general lack of motivation. I'd had a draft post about my Doha trip sitting in my dashboard for a little while now; I was adding bits here and there but it seems that the most recent additions I made disappeared. I think other people have had the same problems with their comments disappearing!

Of course, I like to blog for fun so when it starts feeling too much like work, I tend to get bored and would rather do other stuff. But, I don't want to leave it too long without any kind of update so I thought I'd just post about some other things that have been going on. I have a list somewhere of all the back-posts I have to make so hopefully I won't forget anything once I start putting up some more photos :P

As I probably mentioned, I finally got a trip to Sydney and it was a fun time. It just so happened that my Twitter friends Nicky and Gavin would be in town at the same time, so we got to catch up which was really nice. Post on that to follow of course.

I've seen a couple of movies at the cinema and gorged on far too much popcorn than is probably good for me (I just can't resist proper movie popcorn!). I saw "Something Borrowed" which while funny in places was frankly just a teeny bit depressing. The other was "Water for Elephants" which I was pleasantly surprised by and liked a lot more than I expected to. I totally adored most of Reese Witherspoon's wardrobe, of course, especially her black and white outfit at the end and all of the gorgeous accessories.

My other recent trips included Bangkok/Hong Kong and yesterday I came back from Beijing for the first time. Took quite a few pictures on that trip which I will try to post a few of once I've uploaded & edited them.

Today has just been a rest day, catching up on laundry & emails and wasting time checking out all the neat stuff for sale on Etsy. Got my eye on a few vintage airline pieces so maybe just maybe I will buy a little something for myself with our bonus payment after I bank most of it in my savigns account. I thought it was pretty good to get a bonus, while some people said it should have been more, something is better than nothing and it sure is something at least!!! =)

In other news I met a blog reader randomly on the way back from supermarket, it turns out she also works for my airline AND we even live in the same building!! :) So if you enjoy reading about the FA lifestyle hop on over and say hi to Nicole at her blog "The Trolley Dolly". Nicole is a newish FA who comes from Cape Town.

Hope you're all having a nice weekend!

Stormy Weather

2011-05-04T08:08:00.000+10:00

Living in the desert, it's easy to forget what "normal" weather is like. Sure, I don't live in the DESERT desert, like other people, and there are plants and trees and greenery around. But the weather, while mostly nice, can be downright depressing on occasions.

In winter, it's very pleasant, nice temperatures and the odd cloudy days perfect for going to the beach, every so often a windy day and occasionally a sudden dust storm will blow up out of nowhere. Those can be quite scary! During summer it's about 5 months on endless furnace temps (50'C is not uncommon) and the wind only makes it worse...

One thing I do miss living here is rain. Sure, at the time I used to moan about how annoying it was, getting from my car to the house and car to work and getting soaked. But I do love lying in bed & listening to the rain fall, it's soothing. I also love how the air smells after rain, it's fresh and earthy, like eveything is clean.

The other day a friend & I were talking about this exact thing actually, how nice it is to be snuggled up under the covers & listening to the rain on the roof. The weather forecast said there was supposed to be some rain the next day. We pooh-poohed it as probably coming to nothing like most rain showers here. I commented how I really missed the rain and how nice it would be to be able to do just that, hide under the doona while the rain comes down.

Funnily enough, about 30mins later I got a text from said friend telling me that at their place it has just started bucketing down rain, and was it raining at my house yet? It was starting to drizzle a little bit by this time, so I went downstairs. All of a sudden it was like someone turned on the tap- water coming down in sheets, thunder and lightning (very very frightening, haha) It was GREAT!!!

I stood in front of my building under the eave, still getting partly soaked but loving that we were in the middle of a storm and it was still WARM!! I was getting odd looks from everyone else takign shelter in the building lobby. A stack of delivery bicycles and motorbikes was slowly growing in our driveway as the poor food delivery guys ran to the lobby to get out of the rain.

It was awesome, and the rain probably happened again about three or four times that night, and again the next day. The storm seemed really close from 20+ floors up! My friends down the road are more than 40 floors up & said that it felt like the lightning was going to come inside the apartment! I woke up at about 4am with rain pelting my windows. I recalled seeing the window cleaners out all that day prior to the storm and felt sorry for them, all that work wasted and probably lots of gunk washed down from the top of the building to keep them occupied for another month!

So weird that I had just been saying I missed the rain, and not an hour later here was a storm! Now, about that million dollars I've been wanting...

Cosmetic Review: Besame Classic Color Lipstick

2011-04-16T06:36:00.006+10:00

I've been very behind with this blog post but finally I'm glad to be able to share it with you. Part of the delay was in getting some good photos that I was happy with, but the other night I finally managed to get the elements together that I wanted for the photos.

The lovely Gabriela from Besame Cosmetics sent me a 'Classic Color' lipstick to try out for myself. I'd long been an admirer of the range both for its vintage appeal and also the natural pigments- the reds of which are reproductions of the shades used in old Hollywood films. How glam! :)

Of the ingredients, Gabriela says on the website:

Formulations that I consider responsible luxury, non-toxic, natural, and beneficial to your skin, while still retaining the feel and performance of a truly luxurious product. A mix of today's cutting edge technology and some wonderful natural ingredients that have proven benefits to your skin.

Aloe, ginseng, olive oil, green tea, jojoba oil, rose waxes, lavender flower extract, avocado oil, just to name few. Ingredients that go beyond the glamour and contribute to your well being, delivering the quality that has become synonymous with Besame Cosmetics.

The lipstick arrived in my mailbox the morning I left for a trip, I was excited to try it out but had to wait until I got back. It went in my suitcase and gave me something to look forward to when I arrived at the hotel.

This version of their lipsticks comes presented in a cute velvet pouch for safekeeping. The case is a nice metal embossed with the signature chysthanthemums and the Besame name.

It is heavy enough to be substantial but not too heavy. The size is a little bit smaller than my Maybelline Color Sensational, but still plenty big enough.

The lipstick itself is in the old 'blunt bullet' shape which means you can use either the edge for lining or the blunt face for coloring. Very handy actually!

The shade I tried out is called 'Dusty Rose'. It's a nice, slightly dark pinky brown. The Classic Color comes in 12 different shades, with a good range including a coral-type for those girls who like their bright colors.

I also got a pamphlet in the package which tells a bit about some of the Besame range. The Classic Color lipstick includes Vitamin A, E & C as well as aloe and green tea. I definitely noticed this when I tried it out. Felt very moisturising, but not too shiny or slippery- almost like a balm which is a nice change from the usual drying-out feeling I get from some other lipsticks. (The website describes the CC lipstick as "semi matte"). It also has a slight but pleasant fragrance, nothing too strong but quite soothing which I am guessing is from the aloe and other oils used in the products such as jojoba and avocado.

Photo showing me with makeup but before applying the lipstick.

The colour coverage was great; It only took one sweep to get a deep colour. While I didn't do any heavy-duty eating, I did have a drink out of a glass and while there was a little bit of transfer (usual I think with moisturising lipstick) it wasn't anything major. For me, I usually reapply after eating or drinking so personally I wouldn't find it a problem at all had it been more left.

As I don't usually wear a lipliner for everyday (non-work) wear, I tested this the same way, with just the lipstick. I didn't notice any feathering, even though the colour is quite dark on me. I hate it when my lipstick feathers so this was a plus for me. I think for a deep red a liner would be a good idea anyway, but for this shade it wasn't really necessary.

Another way I tried this lipstick was to put it on & then blot some of the colour away, leaving more of a stain and then some gloss on the top for a more understated look. I liked this method for times when I didn't want so much colour. For night time wear, I'd probably wear it right out of the tube. The only negative would be if you don't like a lipstick that's not matte. In which case one of the other formulas might suit you better. For me, I don't like totally matte so this is a nice compromise.

Overall, I really liked this lipstick, and when payday allows will be getting one of the reds for work. =)

Currently the Classic Color is available to purchase online for $22USD. Considering the packaging I think this is very reasonable. In Australia, the Maybelline I used everyday retails between $12-16AUD and my L'Oreal between $22 to $30AUD. Those are lipsticks I don't know the ingredients of and also with plastic packaging. Besame Classic Color comes in a very attractive tube which is more substantial and an accessory in itself!

(For those of you who are eco-conscious, metal tubes are great for re-using once your colour is done- just Google for how to re-make your lipstick using the tubes)

Overall, I was very happy with the product and think any girl would love to have a little bit of glamour back in her makeup bag, without breaking the bank.

Thanks Gabriela!

Be sure to check out the Besame website as there are some cool instructional videos and other vintage-styled makeup products that might be just what you're looking for to complete your look.

(Note: In the interests of transparency; my Classic Color was sent to me as a gift from Besame Cosmetics. All views are my own and aside from the product gift I was not paid for my review. You should read my review in conjunction with the Besame website to decide if this product is right for your personal circumstance.)

Makeup: Cover Girl Advanced Radiance Foundation in Buff Beige, CG Eyeshadow Quad in Country Woods, CG TruBlend Minerals Powder Compact in #2 Creamy Natural, Maybelline The Colossal Volum' Express Mascara in Black & Besame Cosmetics Classic Color Lipstick in C212 Dusty Rose.

LV = Leave = LOVE!

2011-04-12T08:07:00.000+10:00

Finally the day rolled around where that blessed green box appeared on my roster: XX followed by two weeks of 'LV LV LV LV LV'. Woo hoo!!!

I arrived from New York at about 9pm, then right away I started doing my washing and getting my bags ready. Of course, after being so tired on the landing and through to the bus trip back to my apartment, by this time I could not fall asleep. I probably had about 2 or 3 hours of sleep by the time my phone rang to wake me up. I decided to skip getting a taxi to the airport and use the convenient Dubai Metro instead. It was a short walk from my building to a station and then onto the train. It took maybe 15 or 20 minutes to get to the airport. From there it was easy to take my bags and check in. Phew, my bag weighed right on the 30kg limit, lucky!!!

I spent awhile looking around the shops and the airport in general. It's only when on leave that we actually get to see inside the airport; usually we get taken direct to the plane from our crew centre and so miss seeing all the goings on of the airport. I picked up some supplies for the flight (bottled water and some snacks in case I didn't like what was being served) then had myself a quick breakfast before boarding. (See, it's not that hard to do, passengers who tell me you can't buy water in the airport!!!)

I went to the gate as it said boarding, but silly me didn't actually look outside of the window and check if there was even a plane there. (It wasn't there yet). After waiting about 45 minutes, the plane did show up and was cleaned ready for our flight. While waiting, I got talking to a girl sitting by me, as she wanted to plug her iPhone to my laptop to charge it. No problem. It turned out she used to work in a town that one of my previous airlines flew to. We even knew some of the same people. Small world indeed!!!

Once boarding was called for my section I headed onboard, putting the things I needed immediately in the seat pocket (and making sure I didn't block the aisle while I did so). The size of people's carry on luggage still never ceases to amaze me. I had the smallest of small rollaboard bags, others were bringing stupidly large bags plus myriad smaller items, then getting annoyed when there was nowhere to put them. Of course, putting things under the seat in front (in their own legroom) was out of the question. The lady in front of me wanted to put her bags in MY legroom (Um, no thank you was my answer).

Soon everyone was settled and off we went. I was going home!!! Despite being tired, I didn't (or couldn't) sleep. I ate my lunch (which was the fish as they'd run out of the choices) and it wasn't too bad. Of course some people made such a fuss, so when the poor crew got to me, he nearly had to ask me to repeat myself when I said that whatever he was serving is fine. I wasn't using a crew bag so I don't know if he knew I was crew- his reaction said probably not. After the meal was done I watched some movies. "Morning Glory" with Rachel McAdams and "Never Let Me Go" with Carey Mulligan. I quite like her, aside from her cute awards show outfits she has an interesting face.

Anyway, the flight was okay, weird and uncomfortable for me because I'm not used to sitting for so long. Eventually, we arrived and it was nearly time to meet my family. Yay!

After a brief stop in duty free to buy Moet for my sister's birthday, it was out to Arrivals & my family. We got my bags into the car then headed home. Being around 3am by this time, we were all hungry and I requested to make a stop on the way home.

Hungry Jack's!!! For those of you who like Burger King, imagine it but ten times better. I still haven't found any Burger King anywhere in the world that even comes close to Aussie Hungry Jack's- not even in NZ.

Getting home, I dumped my stuff in the foyer and we descended into the lounge to devour our burgers and fries.... man it was sooooooo good!!! All the while watching 'Jersey Shore' (don't ask) re-runs and me answering myriad questions about my life in the Middle East.

I'm not one of those people who can keep a good gift under wraps for long, so of course then the unpacking of bags in the middle of the lounge room floor followed, I like seeing what people think of the presents I got for them. As it was my sister's 30th birthday I splashed out a bit and bought her the new Dior Cannage makeup palette, she said it was exactly what she had been thinking to buy for herself and the cool thing is onc eth emakeup is gone the case can be used as a clutch bag. Cute!!

For my aunt I got an 'I <3 NYC' t-shirt and glass Arabic perfume bottle and for my sister's BF I got him a set of new york shot glasses with the Subway symbols on them which are really cool looking.

The first few days of leave were spent doing boring stuff like Dr's appointments, car service and all that fun stuff. We didn't really do a lot, I hadn't planned much before I left and we just went with the flow.

Most nights we had a dinner together followed by cocktails and watching tv. During the day it was so hot, which resulted in spending lots of time at the local pool or the beach. I loved going to the beach, here are real beaches, not the yuvky rubbish-strewn ones I'd seen in Dubai. I didn't need to worry about creepy guys taking my photo. SOme nights it was so hot that we went to the beach at 10 or 11pm. I'm also kind of ashamed to admit that we did have our fair share of meals at Hungry Jacks or making stops for M&M McFlurries from McDonald's. The last big meal I had in Oz was fish and chips at Peter's by the Sea, in Scarborough. It's been there since my dad was young and was THE hangout by the beach. Happy to say the chips are as good as ever and the fish was really nice, batter golden crispy and piping hot. As always there was lots of chicken salt involved. Yum!!!

This probably makes for a boring post, but just being at home and hanging out with the family was great. While home, I celebrated my 28th birthday, along with my gorgeous nephew who turned 1 on the same day. We had a big BBQ with delicious food and of course, cake- or in our case- cakes :P

The times when my family were working was when I did all those things that one does when on leave- bank stuff, getting my fillings re-done, sorting my boxes which were in storage. That part was kind of fun (despite the heat) and it was almost like shopping as I got to clothes I had wished I'd brought with me when I moved. Now, I have much more choice when it comes to what I wear in Dubai.

Too soon it was time to get on the plane back to Dubai. This time I had to share the row of 3 with a couple, about my age. All through the flight the girl kept going to the bathroom what felt like evry five minutes. She wanted me to trade my aisle seat for the window. Normally, I'd agree but they had been annoying me so much, sticking their elbows into my space, trying to put their bags in my foot space & so on... plus, I hate being in the window as sitting down for that long is hard enough as it is without being trapped. Eventually, I wandered down the cabin and found another seat as she just kept climbing over me without warning, not giving me the chance to move my legs. Win for the inconsiderate passengers! :P

Finally we reached Dubai. I lugged my bags outside the airport but having never come through the arrivals since I moved here, I got lost and couldn't find the way to the Metro (the odd directions from one of the staff didn't help, either). After about half an hour I managed to backtrack & find the right way. Arrived home at the apartment & typically couldn't sleep! It was okay as I had a day before my next flight.

Soon enough it was time to get ready for work again. This time I'd be going back to Bangkok!

Month of Blah

2011-04-10T06:45:00.000+10:00

March roster. The dreaded reserve month rolled around. I didn't mind that I'd be on reserve for one month; I figured it'd be fun to be surprised about where I'd be flying to and maybe to get a flight to Sydney (like most of my friends) or to be assigned to fly somewhere new.

No such luck!! I'd finished February with a nice Bangkok trip, and then I waited expectantly to be assigned a flight- any flight. The days went by without any calls, and I was surprised, but just figured that it was the start of the month & not many people were calling in sick yet. Towards the end of the month is when people usually start deciding they're too run down to go to work or can't rally as much as they can at the start to go to work with say, something minor going on.

I had a couple of home standbys, and I was ready with suitcase (almost) packed and uniform ironed & hung up. (I wasn't sure how much notice I'd get if I was called for a flight). I needn't have worried- I still didn't get any calls. Must be a slow month, I figured.

Finally, on the 11th, I was assigned an airport standby. I knew there were several flights short of crew, so on arriving at the standby lounge at the airport I fully expected to either be pre-assigned a flight or to receive one shortly. A London Heathrow departed with another girl on it. The time crawled by. I wasn't feeling too good that day as I'd had a fight with a friend the day before; that wiped out any chance of sleeping in the quiet room until they called me. Finally, I saw the standby officer on the phone. He was mentioning JFK (New York) and kept looking at me. I was kind of tired for such a long flight but the hours would be good. He saw me looking at him, got off the phone then told me they weren't using me for that flight either, even though it was only an hour or less until departure time. They called someone in from home standby. No flight for me!!

I went home & crashed out, exhausted from the tension of waiting and going so long without working. I was starting to worry about not having a good pay next month, but there was nothing I could do about it. One more home standby followed and again without a call. That night, around assignment time at 6pm, my roster changed to - finally - give me a flight. Manchester. It wasn't the best but it'd do. I hadn't been to the UK in ages.

It ended up being a good trip, which deserves a little post of its own, and soon enough I was back in Dubai, waiting to see what woud be next. I had some days off, then some more standby, followed by a New York that appeared a day in advance on my line. Thank goodness, good hours!! Even though that flight has a bit of a reputation, I was glad to get more work. That trip also has a post in the works, so I won't go into too much detail here, but it was fun!

Back again to Dubai, my body clock screwed up by arriving at night, therefore making me unable to sleep which sent me into about a week of being up all night and sleeping all day. Mushroom shift, I call it- only out at night ;P

I waited for the inevitable end-of-month rush, filling my time by reading, cleaning house, sitting at the pool trying not to get burnt, and other things like that. Had the odd outing with friends when I was released from home standby 'prison' (chained to the phone, lol) and yet... no flights. It was excruciatingly boring, especially when all my friends were going to Hong Kong (with a layover) Bangkok or even the long Sydney Auckland trip. I was dying to go back to Oz, and started to get really homesick.

People were flaking on plans made & friends were popping up on Facebook in photos of fun nights out, days at the beach and other fun things, all while not replying to my messages or saying they were 'too busy'. One of two people were reliable but I really got a glimpse of just how flaky life in Dubai can be... the saving spots were a nice dinner with my new Dubai friends Tai & Robert (yummy food as always; I was sent home with dessert carefully wrapped by Tai) and the few little explorations I made into new parts of Dubai I hadn't seen before. And some good books! I finalyl found a copy of Impossiblecat's book here and devoured it in about 2 days (thoughts on that later)

Roster day was agonisingly slow; it was 2 days late and as always, Facebook was full of people asking if anyone had their roster yet. I was anxious to see what I'd be doing in April, hoping against hope I'd have a busy month and maybe a flight to Australia in the mix. Finally, on the 28th, the roster came. Three flights. I got three flights for the whole month!! I'm bracing myself now for the inevitable two months of really low pay packets. I'm a little bit worried; I'll barely make enough to send home to cover my car loan & other bills, but there's no use worrying about that. Hopefully I can pick up more work in May. Fingers crossed!

April had me going once to London & twice to NY. I was hoping for a Hong Kong trip as it's the last month we'll be doing the direct flight, but I didn't get one. Quite disappointing as people in my group were getting two or three each for the last 2 months, even off reserve. I spent hours on the swap system, trying for a Sydney, but either people or were unwilling or illegal to swap. The standby day inserted in front of about half the Sydney trips was really messing with my ability to get a trip - we can't swap standbys, don't ask me why!! I somehow found a guy to swap with, but he ended up having no US visa, so the swap was invalid. I guess I'm just not meant to go to Sydney this month.

Finally, someone wanted to swap my New York for a Hong Kong layover trip. It was a really hard decision, as I'd lose hours, but eventually I decided that I took this job to see new places & I should seize the chance to go to HKG while it was there. I was going to be poor next month anyway, it didn't really matter how much... :P

So, that ends the Month of Blah that was!!! I know it sounds like a lot of complaining, and normally time off would be great... but I wanted to work ;) We'll see what the May roster brings...

Finally to Sydney... (part 2)

2011-03-27T05:55:00.000+11:00

After stuffing ourselves full of yummy Mexican food (and margaritas) we headed back to the centre of Auckland.

I was tired but torn between going straight back to the hotel, or out for more drinks with the crew. I really just wanted to sleep, but our first officer was so keen to show us this bar he liked and all of the other crew but one of the girls piked out, so we went.

It was nice but by midnight my eyes were closing, I couldn't laugh at any more jokes and so off to bed I went. Slept like a baby, then woke up the next morning and made a trip to Gloria Jean's for an iced chocolate and free wifi. Looked around the cute little gift stores but didn't buy anything. Soon it was time to go back to the hotel to get ready for the flight back to Sydney.

As always, it was a quick flight and busy. Back at the hotel I made the usual pilgrimage to Woolworth's to stock up on some more groceries, then to McDonald's for wifi. This is probably a sign of the jetlagged hostie's forgetful brain, but I am pretty sure that on this trip was when I met up with my friend skyhighboysyd and the lovely Bernie from Twitter. We did a look round the shops, stopping in the toy department in Myer where B got some cool Lego for the kids. Had I had the room in my suitcase I probably would have bought some too.

Cute "Year of the Rabbit" banner on the street.

After farewelling those two there was just time to get a few more errands in before I needed to go back to the hotel and get some sleep before the flight. Unfortunately for me, I only dozed fitfully for a couple of hours and never really fell asleep. It was gonna be a loooong night. I got up, showered and put on the uniform, getting frustrated that I couldn't seem to tame my hair and it was getting all frizzy.

We piled onto the bus, listening to iPods or BBM-ing our friends back in Dubai during the ride to the airport. Security were particularly grouchy and I got interrogated for over 20 minutes by a new guy who clearly needed to re-take the test on regulations for screeners. He told me there were liquids in my bag, when I knew there clearly were not aside from my clear LAGS bag, which was separate in the tray as required. He refused to tell me what he was looking at on the screen and put my bag tbrough THREE times, refusing my offer to physically show him the contents of my bag so he could see for himself. He then took away my bag another time and when it came out of the machine he started going through it.

At this point I asked him to stop and bring the bag in front of me, and search it in my prescence (as required under the regulations). Eventually the supervisor came over and asked what was wrong. I told her that he was now delaying me getting to the flight and she would need to explain to my senior why I was 20mins late, holding up the flight, and also that he had started searching my bag while it was out of my direct view.

It turned out he was looking at a bar of soap, which is neither a liquid or a gel. Clearly needeed to go back for re-training. The supervisor told him to stop and give back my bag, and apologised for holding me up "unnecessarily". Thanks, still makes me late though doesn't it? Whole thing could have been avoided if he'd just said where he was looking in the bag, I could have told him right away what the solid lump was & shown him.

Anyway, you see it's not just passengers who have to deal with the annoyances of screening procedures. It just annoys us more due to the security checks we undergo to get this job in the first place!! :) Having said that, I am always polite to the security people.

I finally got to the plane, luckily it was also a bit late and the incoming passengers had just disembarked so I wasn't too behind. We got onboard after the cleaners were done and did our checks, prepared all of the pre-departure items and welcomed our passengers onboard. I came back to the galley and heard one of the crew saying something about a "delay" while they replaced a small part of some kind.

The next thing we knew, the captain was on the PA apologising but that unfortunately the flight was cancelled for safety reasons. First we knew about it! In the end, something had been picked up by the engineers & first officer at the last minute, and the airline in consultation with the manufacturer decided that they would rather delay the flight overnight to give them more time to inspect the issue. Of course, this is always the correct decision, you can't be too safe with so many people on the plane!!

The passengers took it amazingly well. With only a few audible grumbles, almost off of them got up, got their stuff, and filed back into the airport. Arrangements were being made to put them up in hotels and get their baggage back. As I was watching them go, an elderly lady came up to me, crying. She didn't speak much English. I managed to decipher that she didn't know what was going on and was worried by everyone leaving the plane. She didn't know where to go or what to do. I eventually managed via 'sign language' and drawing pictures of a plane and a sad face to tell her the plane was broken, and people were going home to sleep.

She gave me a piece of paper with a phone number on it, which was for her son who lived in Sydney and spoke English. She had no phone, and as I had credit on my Aussie phone to use up anyway I called him and explained what was going on. I then gave his mother the phone so he could explain to her. We went back and forth, me telling him where she needed to go to get new tickets and him telling her he would come to pick her up. She was so sweet, at least she stopped crying and as she left she gave me a big hug, aaaaw....

So, it was off the plane and back to the hotel. Problem was, the next incoming crew had already arrived and the hotel had no extra rooms for us. We got on the bus, not knowing where they were sending us. To our surprise (and I must admit, delight) the bus took us to the suburb of Bondi! As the accommodation was not an approved crew hotel, and merely a standby option, it was admittedly lacking from what we were used to. But- it had hot water and a bed. Sadly, the couple of cockroaches are something probably unavoidable near the beach, in a room with a door accessing outside in the middle of summer.

Despite it being past midnight, we were determined to go for a walk on the beach. Also, we were starving, and having been given no cash allowance (again because the hotel was not prepared for us and did not have enough money on the premises) we headed to the only thing open that was also cheap: McDonalds. Luckily, we got there 5 minutes prior to closing and persuaded them to cook for us, pleading our case that we hadn't eaten since before dinner and wouldn't get anything until breakfast time. The free wifi didn't hurt either ;)

We had great fun running down Bondi Beach, chasing sleepy seagulls and writing our names in the sand to celebrate our 'stranding'. As far as delays go, it could have been much worse.

Reluctantly, we headed back to our rooms to sleep. From arriving at the hotel to taking off again, we'd only get 12 hours so we had to make the most of it. As usual, I couldn't sleep, and the fact that the hotel had an open-plan style with an atrium lobby meant that you heard every noise and every door slamming. There's a reason aircrew only stay in certain hotels; this one was full of holidaymakers, people coming back from the pub and lots and LOTS of crying kids :P

Seeing as I couldn't really sleep anyway, I wanted to make the most of being at Bondi and got up early to go walk to the beach before it was time to be picked up. As we didn't get any per diem allowance, the company had agreed with the hotel for us to be able to eat at the breakfast buffet. The room was packed full of families and I was having trouble finding a seat until I finally recognised two other crew at a table, so I sat with them.

One little kid was riding a scooter thing in the dining room and left it in front of the buffet counter. One of the waitstaff asked the parents if they could please move the scooter and put it under their table. The mother was totally rude and I really wanted to point out that the staff could have asked them to take it out of the restaurant completely! Honestly...

Naturally we stuffed ourselves with as much food as possible (including the bacon & fresh fruit) before using the last of our remaining time to explore. As is my tradition, I wanted to buy a fridge magnet from that place to mark my visit. Funnily enough, I couldn't find any that said "Bondi Beach" in the style I collect, but I did find one that said "Australia: It's a Bloody Long Way". Sums my life up nicely I think!!!! :P

I headed up to the hotel pool area to take some pictures. Although the hotel was maybe 3 star, the view was definitely 5 star! Great scenes of the beach and Bondi in general.

I don't know how much the rooms are, but it would be quite cute for a holiday getaway for 5 days or so. The rooms actually had a sitting area and everything but a stove. Not a problem with some nice pubs, fish & chip shops & restaurants nearby.

Nice view if you can get it!!!! :P Sadly it was time for me to go get ready for the flight back to the sandpit. I'd had a good time in Sydney and I couldn't wait to get back. Sadly I don't have any Sydney trips for April, but hopefully as I move up towards top bid month I'll be able to get back there!

Going back to the airport.

Sight to make an Aussie homesick!!!

First NYC Trip!! :)

2011-03-07T23:59:00.002+11:00

After the disappointment of having to call sick for my first rostered New York trip, I was happy to see that I finally was assigned one the following month. (Perhaps the rumor that they give you the trip you called sick for as 'punishment' is true- I need to call sick on a Sydney next then, no??)

As you can imagine, I was pretty excited at the fact I'd be going to the City That Never Sleeps, city of scenes from movies I'd been watching all of my life. When I called sick in December, one of my disappointments was that I'd be too late to see the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center. After seeing it in the 'Home Alone' movies, I'd wanted to go and look at it for myself.

Since joining the airline, all I'd heard was how hard North American flights were, and how demanding the passengers were, asking for this and that. While we worked hard, I can't say it was the worst flight I'd ever done. I just had to keep reminding myself that while *I* knew 15 people had already asked me for stuff, as far as one passenger was concerned, I was probably doing nothing in the galley. So I tried my best to keep smiling even though they'd ring a minute later to see "where I was" (hunting down the last ginger ale in aft economy, if you must know)

Despite the busy flight, the crew were amazing (especially our lovely supervisor in the aft) and the time passed quickly with lots of laughs and teamwork. I think our good mood must have rubbed off on the passengers because aside from one or two sad-cases, they were quite nice, much nicer than the stories had led me to believe.

When we arrived and headed to the bus, it was SO cold!! I have yet to be issued an overcoat so braved the chill in just my suit jacket and skirt. Even a scarf would make a difference but unfortunately we cannot wear either it or gloves without a coat :( We settled on the bus for lots of chatter, excited to be in this big city. I was very happy to see snow on the ground, all white and pretty. Soon we got to the hotel, checked in and received our allowances and room keys.

Greenbacks!!!

Although we were tired, about six of us made plans to meet fairly soon to grab food and then go ice skating in Central Park. A short stroll form the hotel was a Ray's Pizza branch. We filed in, ordering in our various accents and excitedly awaiting the delicious smelling pizza. Of course I took the opportunity to order a slice with pepperoni (REAL pepperoni!) and we chatted while waiting. The guy behind the counter was happy when we thanked him in Arabic, after hearing him speak to his colleague. He asked us where we were from and how we knew what he was saying. Finally we got our pizza and boy was it good! I almost inhaled my piece in seconds, I was so hungry!

Next we made our way to Central Park. Along the way, I happily snapped photos of the interesting architecture.

I was so happy to see it, just like in the movies. It gave the crew great amusement to see me happily running at the snow covered grass yelling 'Snow, snow!!" - and promptly falling on my butt when it turned out not to be soft powdery snow but solid ice... oops!

Not snow, but ice! (Still looks- and was- cold though!!)

We got to the skating rink only to be disappointed- it was closed for a private function and wouldn't open again until far after jetlag had claimed our weary selves. Accepting the fact that skating wouldn't happen today, we headed out of the park and decided to walk down Fifth Avenue towards Rockefeller Center and the shops along that way.

Americans are so patriotic. There's so many flags everywhere, more than I've noticed in other countries. They're on all kinds of buildings, not just on major landmarks or official places.

I love the variety of architectural styles in NYC. You've got old and classic alongside modern and sleek. There's always interesting details like these red canopies & banners as seen above.

Bulgari store along Fifth Avenue. Can't really tell from this photo but the window decorations were these cool bubble-like globes. Neat.

Old next to new. I love seeing contrasts like this between buildings. I have a bit of a thing for parallel lines, as well. They're very graphic and sleek. This picture below almost looks like those fake backdrops they use on tv to show a lit-up cityscape at night :)

Being just after Christmas, there were still decorations on the streets and in the storefronts. This giant snowflake was suspended above the road. We also saw a really cool animated light installation of moving bubbles and snowflakes on the side of a building near Rockefeller Center.

Got to love the straightforward New Yorker attitude. Even the street signs tell it like it is!

More US flags adorning buildings- you literally see them everywhere...

After a brief stop at GNC (so the boys could buy protein shakes, of all things) we finally got to Rockefeller Center. I rounded the corner, and there it was:

The Christmas Tree!! Despite being early January, the tree was still there, looking just how I remember it in 'Home Alone'. I think even the angel statues are still the same! All of us gleefully ran down for a closer look.

Although it was only decorated with lights, I still liked the tree. I could just picture Kevin sitting there wishing for his family. I was happy to see one of the things on my 'list' of things to see, as basic as it was. We still really wanted to skate, but the line was long and jetlag was starting to bite us in a big way, so we trudged on in search of coffee.

The next stop was the Starbucks at Times Square. We armed ourselves with a hot beverage and again went outside to brave the cold. (I had hot chocolate, not being a coffee drinker)

You know you're in New York when you're standing in Times Square. It didn't really hit me until then and this was when I really started liking NYC.

US Forces Recruiting Station. You could be eating a burger in Times Square one minute, and enlisted in the Army, Air Force, Navy or Marines the next. Kinda scary thought.

At this point, two of the girls and myself somehow got separated from the others, so we continued on by ourselves despite being tired.

All of us are big kids at heart, so of course we had to stop by two kid-friendly places near Times Square: the M&Ms Store and Toys'R'Us. (At this stage, I had no idea that Impossiblecat and her husband had been here just a day or two before- clearly great minds think alike, lol)

The Toys'R'Us near Times Square. Home of the indoor ferris wheel, massive Barbie aisle, cool Lego sculptures and giant T-Rex from Jurassic Park. Great for kids small and large, haha.

'Elmo'. Somehow not as cute in the large version. But I felt sorry for the guy as no-one was taking photos (he wanted tips for photos, fair enough). So I took one for a laugh.

Chocolate town! Hershey's & M&Ms are right near each other.

Of course, there were lots of hyperactive kids running around. Like the big kids we were, yes we looked around the store and played with all the stuff.

Cute jumbo screen above the M&Ms store, showing Red as King Kong over the city. I love the look on his face!

Found my perfect match! Hahaha! I've always loved Red & Yellow, the ads are funny and very clever. I liked the 'Colorblind' campaign back when black & white M&Ms were around.

Custom colour M&Ms. I hoovered down a whole bag of these last time I visited Mel's house. (Sorry Mel, I owe you more on my next JFK trip!)

There was even a wall featuring M&Ms as figurines in different countries. They had Australia (yay!)

and here's one for Robyn:

We scoured the gift shop and I bought my standard magnet, as well as a tiny shot glass in the shape of a beer stein with Red on it.

By this time we were well & truly sleepy, so it was time to head back to the hotel. True to form, by the time I had a shower & changed into my PJ's I didn't feel sleepy at all!

The next morning I woke up hungry, but as it was almost lunch time I felt justified in having more Ray's Pizza for br/lunch :P then a short walk through Central Park again and down 5th to look at the Lego Store in Rockefeller Plaza. I also decided to go check out the Chrysler building, but as this post is very long already I'll save it for the next installment.

(For those of you wondering, yes I am aware my yellow coat is similar to Gwyneth Paltrow's in the film 'View From the Top' and no, it wasn't intentional) :P

Kitty Therapy!!!

2011-03-01T23:14:00.000+11:00

Like many cat owners, I find that they can provide a general feeling of comfort when times are tough. Here's an example of my two, as seen on my arrival home on leave.

Too cuuuuuute!!!!!

Going Home!!

2011-02-10T07:13:00.003+11:00

Hello everyone!!!

Yes I've been very lazy with posting lately, due to a lot of Ultra Long Haul flights, and getting out & about on my days off.

Some highlights included:

* 2 New York trips
* Seeing falling snow for the first time
* A day out with new friends at Al Ain air show
* a really awesome crew to New York
* Another Bangkok/Hong Kong trip where we saw tigers

Now for the best part- I just got back from JFK and tomorrow morning I'll be getting on a plane to fly home for leave. HOME!!!!

After eight months (yes EIGHT!!!) away from my home & living in the 'Sandpit', I'll get two whole weeks with my family!!! :D

Of course updates to come on my return. Depending on how busy I am, I may even finish the Sydney and New York posts, but I'm not sure yet.

After my leave I get to crash down to reality with reserve for March.... yuck!! Still, I might get some great flights from that, so fingers crossed!!! :)

Finally to Sydney... (part 1)

2011-01-23T12:02:00.007+11:00

Hello again!!! I'm currently awake at 3am, having got in from my Sydney trip last night and now my sleeping pattern is way off. I went to bed at 4am and slept until 10am, but fell asleep again at 5 and woke up at 11pm. Not good, as now I'm wide awake and really need to be sleeping nights as I'm going to New York tomorrow morning. Such is the jetlagged life of a flight attendant! :)

Now I know I said I had some planned posts about my last NYC trip, but first I need to let you know about my latest trip to Sydney, as it was pretty eventful!

As you may recall, I was pretty bummed about not getting a Sydney trip this month, and had been madly trying to get someone to swap with me. Every time I thought I had a swap, it fell through or was invalid. Finally, I got lucky and another homesick crewmember gladly took my Manchester flight along with a Jeddah so that she too could go home. Yay!!!

I was totally looking forward to spending some time back in Oz. I didn't have anything special planned, just being there around familiar things is enough. The flight was pretty good, as always the passengers were nice and there was lots more 'please' and 'thankyou' than we often get.

There was a family travelling with four kids who were so sweet, they were so polite and had gorgeous manners. They had been through Europe and were making scrapbooks about their travels. Since kids can't visit the flgiht deck any more, I took the notebooks to the cockpit and the pilots signed them, and told me some facts that I wrote down in the books for them.

I told the kids to come to the galley whenever they wanted, as we had a camera and we'd take their picture. Two of them came up and we dressed them up in our uniforms. The girl wore my hat and jacket and we put the boy in the purser's jacekt and tie. They looked so cute! When the senior saw the photo she got us to get them back to the galley and take another photo to send to headquarters to put on our corkboard in the departures area. At the end of the flight the family came to see the cockpit after we landed and got some more photos. I love nice kids and will do anything for them to make their trip memorable.

We arrived in Sydney at around 8am, I went right to my room and unpacked then got changed and headed out.

It was kind of weird wearing summer clothes again, even though I've been living in the desert, I rarely wore anything above the knee, so it took some getting used to! As always my first stop was to get a bacon & egg roll for breakfast, then I headed into World Square to get my Priceline fix. I'd been looking for my usual L'Oreal moisturiser for ages but it seems it's been discontinued everywhere except Dubai. I didn't want to buy it in Dubai though as the version they sell here doesn't have SPF and I suspect has whitening ingredients in it.

I had just about decided to buy the new range from L'Oreal when on the bottom shelf of the display I saw my item, AND it was discounted to $9.95 from about $40 to make way for the new stock. Bonus! So I bought 2 of the day cream and 2 of the night cream. Later in the discount chemist I saw the collagen treatment for 50% off so I got that as well. Can never have too much moisturiser when you fly in a dry cabin air all the time!

I also made my usual trip to Maccas's for a bacon & egg roll hit. Oh yeah, bacon is always so good, and I am always so hungry after arriving in the early morning! Then of course to Pricleine and when I was done there I made a quick stop at Ally. I just love browsing in the clothing stores back home in Oz. A lot of the clothes in Dubai are ironically far too short for me to even consider wearing in public. I finally found a just-above-the-knee denim skirt like I'd been looking for, for a long time. It even has cute heart-shaped pockets (win!)

For the rest of the day I just enjoyed wandering around Pitt St, checking out the new Sportsgirl store and being in the sunny (but not scorching) weather. Headed back to the hotel to drop off my bags but ended up falling asleep until 6pm when I just wanted to 'close my eyes for a bit'.

Early to bed and of course up early again the next morning for the flight to Auckland which was really busy. Once in Auckland, a few of the crew decided to meet up for early dinner. Our first officer told us about a cute Mexican place that had good food so we headed there. I got a chicken burrito and maaaan was it good. Huge, too, so I only needed one. We also had frozen margaritas :) At the restaurant, there were these little birds that cheekily hopped right inside the restaurant and sat on the backs of our chairs, waiting to be fed leftovers. Hahah they were too funny!

Cruising...

2011-01-23T08:40:00.000+11:00

Finally got a great mountain photo that I've been after. The captain was kind enough to call up when we passed over them so I could come to the cockpit and take some pictures.

These were just past France, on our way back from Manchester. Yay for photos!! :)

Tick Tock...

2011-01-16T03:56:00.000+11:00

Since my last post I've done two trips; one to Manchester and one to New York. Of course I took lots of pictures in New York, so a post for that will be following shortly. Manchester was fairly quiet but still worthy of a post so hopefully I will be able to write about that on my next days off.

Of course the big news this week was the floods in Brisbane. It's been quite surreal to see something like this happening in my own country, albeit only on tv. It almost doesn't seem real, but for the emails & Facebook posts from my friends from and in Brisbane.

Luckily the worst of it seems to be over, but the cleanup will take a long time. Now I've logged onto Google and seen that Victoria is now under threat of flooding. Actually, some areas are already cut off by floodwaters. What on earth is going on???

As the authorities are asking for us NOT to donate physical goods at this time, I made a small donation online today. This is the most immediate need- financial aid to get the recovery & cleanup efforts starting immediately. Material supplies aside from food can come in later on. I'm planning to sort out some of my things in storage when I go home on leave and donate the excess. I also have a large stash of hotel toiletries which I collected during the flooding in Pakistan last year, but by the time I got back from my trip the company had asked for no more as they had received more than they could handle. Hopefully I can take them with me when I go on leave, or get someone taking a Brisbane flight to take them for me.

If you want to make a donation too (however small or large) go HERE- every bit helps!!!

I'll leave you with a photo of the retro airplane clock I bought on my travels... cute no??

Oman

2011-01-15T08:44:00.003+11:00

Photo taken in Musandam, Oman.

Our work social club had organised a day trip from Dubai to Oman, including a trip through the fjords on a traditional dhow boat complete with lunch cooked by the boat captain.

I have yet to post all the photos from that trip, but this picture was taken by Krysta during aour brief stop at Telegraph Island, a former British outpost and site of one of the first cross-ocean telegraph cables...

The water was colder than it looks and aside from the (imagined) sharks and other creepies in the water, it also contained miniscule jellyfish which turned us itchy for a little while afterward.

All in all it was a fun day!

I'm in Auckland, about to head back to the hotel to get ready for the flight back to Sydney. More to come...

2010- The Year that Was

2011-01-07T08:55:00.000+11:00

Happy New Year, everyone!!!!

I'm a bit late but here's a round-up of some of the things that happened in 2010.

January
Rang in the New Year with my fellow crew while on layover in Adelaide. We drank champagne and annoyed fellow guests by blowing our party horns :P I reminisced about favourite childhood toys, discovered Pretty in Pink at the Rocks Markets in Sydney and decided to start taking responsibility for my finances.

February
I found the perfect black & white Chanel-style jacket, fell in love with OPI nail polish all over again, started cleaning out my wardrobe via selling on Ebay and turned 27! I got the best birthday present of all when my third nephew was born ON MY BIRTHDAY!!!!

March
On the spur-of-the-moment, I attended a walk-in interview for a big foreign airline cabin crew position. Visited the new pandas from China at the Adelaide Zoo while on layover. Got the phone call that would turn my life upside down- I would be moving overseas to work!!!

April
Enjoyed my remaining flights & layovers in Oz. I had my wisdom teeth removed and was poked with more injections and blood tests than I care to remember. The Great Wardrobe Clearout continued, with me getting around $400 for all my unwanted stuff on eBay. I also took a lovely 5-day vacation to Bali for my good friends' wedding. I loved it!

May
Re-discovered my childhood love of video games when my sister gifted me her first-generation Nintendo DS (the one that also plays GBA games). Finished preparations for the Big Move Overseas. Loved every last minute of my final few weeks of flying, got some great photos then sadly fell victim to the flu so spent my final Melbourne layover sick in bed at the hotel.

June
Started to panic as my departure date grew closer. Had lots of fun times with my family and final catch-up parties with friends. Finished packing up my life and said goodbye to my family before boarding my flight the the Middle East. Arrived shell-shocked into the hottest part of the Middle Eastern summer, with temps above 50'C in the daytime.

Sporadic internet posting ensued due to lack of internet in my flat until my 5th week in the country.

July
I was still settling in to my new home. Training was very intense yet fun and I made a lot of new friends & learnt about the culture of my new home. Started nesting by decorating my room and making it feel more like 'mine'. We received our uniforms and had extreme fun playing dress-up. We completed our final weeks of training, learning how to do the service onboard.

August
I discovered Polyvore, spending hours procrastinating doing my homework to make fashion sets online. Lol. Through this I came to know about the fashions of Emma Pillsbury from 'Glee', but as yet did not start watching the show. I took my first supernumerary flight as a cabin crew for the new airline. I went to... LONDON!!! My first operating flight was to Paris.

September
Visited Bangkok for the first time. Finally got a taste of home with a 6 day Sydney/Auckland trip. It was SO good to be back 'home', even if it was in a different city. Stocked up on Aussie goodies in Woolworths, had a bit too much to drink on a night out with the crew in Auckland and generally had myself a whale of a time. Had an eBay relapse & bought a Sonia Rykiel dress for a fraction of the price. Took my first trip to Seoul, South Korea and fell in love with Daiso, a Japanese discount store.

October
Another trip to Sydney, where I visited the Chinese Garden of Friendship.

I also returned to Seoul where I rode the metro for the first time and came home with a baby cactus plant for my room. Went to Manchester for the first time, getting to fly with fellow blogger Krysta and hit up Primark for a teeny shopping spree :P I ended October with another Sydney/Auckland trip, where we happened to layover in Sydney on Halloween. The crew all decided to have a last-minute costume party in the hotel crew room which was hilariously fun (and also got us kicked out of the lounge for being too noisy). At the time I didn't know it would be the last Aussie trip I'd have for the foreseeable future, or I wouldn't have bothered sleeping :p
My life became complete when I discovered the hilarity & plain craziness that is Hyperbole & A Half. Seriously, go look!

November
Just the same old, same old!! As I didn't really blog my trips I can't really tell you what I did. Actually, I took my first trip to Toronto, Canada (which I have yet to post about, but it's on my list) and I visited Niagara falls!!! =) I also discovered 'Glee'!

December
Began my month with a trip to Jeddah, had to call sick for my first New York trip (boohoo) which was then replaced with yet another Jeddah turn. Then off to Bangkok/Hong Kong three times, with the month ending with Jeddah again. Christmas was spent in Bangkok. I also hit the 6-month mark in Dubai and passed my probation period to become fully-fledged cabin crew for this airline.

At least the last Jeddah got me New Year's eve off, along with the first three days of January! I rang in 2011 with four cool fellow crew, dancing on the beach to live music and watching the fireworks go off at the Atlantis Hotel on the Palm Island.

All in all, 2010 was a pretty great year!!! Here's to 2011 being even better!

My ~~resolutions~~ aims for the year to come are:

* Continue to pay off as much of my debts as I can

* Research the possibilities for getting back to my flying (pilot) training

* Enjoy travel as much as possible & take advantage of the perks of this job for as long as I can

* Don't overthink too much in life or worry about what other people think; do what feels right and stop worrying so much about everything. Be happy with my life & who I am, and stop worrying about being single. If someone is meant to come along, they will!

* Be grateful for the good things when I'm having a bad day

Buddha & Bangkok (Part 2)

2011-01-02T07:07:00.000+11:00

On to the second part of the Bangkok photos. As I mentioned earlier, it was quite hot, so we tried to stay in the shady parts and look around there.

I think there would be probably a hundred of these statues all around the temple. Some of them were covered in plastic due to renovations, I noticed they have little number plaques on the base. I'm not sure if that's for the temple staff or if each statue has a particular significance.

In this hall of Buddhas I noticed that they use energy-efficient lightbulbs! :)

The outsides of the buildings had lots of tiles and mirrors on them, it really was quite pretty and almost blinding at times in the bright sun. The photos really don't do it justice.

Eventually after leaving our shoes, we made our way into the hall where the Reclining Buddha rests. It was a nice cool change from outside. As you go in you can hear a repetitive metallic clinking noise, along with the variety of tones of voice of people all speaking in different languages. As I walked along I could get glimpses of the Buddha through the columns holding up the roof.

This is one of the Buddha's feet. All over the soles of the feet are inscriptions & pictures, sadly my picture of this didn't turn out very well. As we rounded the other side of the Buddha, I saw a long line of metal pots on stands lining the walls. These were the source of the clinking noise I mentioned before. Visitors were holding small bowls of coins and walking along the line of pots, dropping coins in until they got to the end.

There wasn't really any explanation of this, but I guessed maybe it's something similar to doing a rosary where each coin is meant to be a prayer or maybe a nice thought. The noises I thought were maybe to bring luck or some such thing. Anyway, I decided to get a coin bowl (20baht) and walk along the line. As I dropped my coins I was trying to think a nice thought for each one, or for something I wanted to do or achieve in the next year. As I neared the end, I saw I sttill had plenty more coins, so started putting in a few at a time instead of one. I found the clinking noise as I dropped the coins strangely satisfying =D

On our way out of the Buddha hall, I spotted this sign, warning about pickpockets operating in the temple grounds.

It's amusing how they stress it's "non-Thai" pickpockets. I guess they want us to know that good Thai people are not pickpockets :p

Found this cat taking a nap in a potted tree in the temple grounds. He looked very relaxed, and doing what I wanted to be doing that afternoon- having a nice sleep! We made a quick stop at the gift shop to buy some postcards before making our way outside to find a taxi. It was too hot and we were too tired to continue on to the Grand Palace.

Outside the temple walls were some merchants selling souvenirs. I didn't really want anything but did notice these little brass bells (with the pink ribbon attached, above) and decided to get one. I always hate bargaining and I know the Thai sellers are less aggressive than elsewhere in Asia, still I thought 450baht was a bit much for the smallest size of bell. In the end I was about to cave and offer the lady her best price of 150 when she said she'd take 100. Win! If only I had a window that opens, so I could hear it ring! It's hanging on the wall next to my desk.

We hailed a taxi only to find that the driver was pretending not to know which hotel we wanted to go to, said the traffic was very busy and wanted to go off-meter and negotiate a price. The one he quoted was way too high, I smelt a scam so we got out and instead walked back through another small market, on our way to the boat pier at the stop before the one we had disembarked from.

After a slight detour around yet another stinky fish-section, we spotted this cool guy making juice from dragonfruit.

He was really nice and very jolly, we nicknamed him the Hippie Juice Guy. I do wonder if he was Thai or from somewhere else, as he had a different demeanor than the rest of the local people, maybe one of his parents is from somewhere else.

Anyway, he happily gave us our juice, told us all about the benefits of the fruit and was very careful to mention that he uses no water or ice, only the juice and it's very good for you with lots of antioxidants and fibre. I thought the colour of the juice was really cool. He told us this jucie is "happy and the colour of love" Awww! Hahaha, anyway, I will definitely go back if I''m in the area again to visit the Grand Palace. I liked the juice, and I was happy that the fruit was tasty as well as looking good, unlike some other cool-looking fruits which taste gross.

We took the boat back to our starting point, then walked to the hotel.

Hungry, we went to a nearby restaurant for a nice lunch, before returning to the hotel for a nap before the flight back to Dubai. Instead of my usual pizza or fish cakes, I tried the mozzarella, tomato and basil along with some garlic bread which was very tasty. Yum!!

The flight back was uneventful, with it being about 2/3 full in economy. I even got to play in business class for awhile after we had finished our service in economy. The cockpit crew were cool enough to let me sit in the cockpit for landing, sadly it being nighttime it was impossible to take photos, but I saw Burj Khalifa very clearly and even my apartment building!! :)

I'm heading back to Bangkok later in January, so hopefully I'll be able to get back and see the Grand Palace.

Bangkok & Buddha (Part 1)

2010-12-31T05:39:00.000+11:00

As promised, I finally managed to get the photo editor working so I could resize pics for posting. I really do wish Blogger would get a bulk uploader like Facebook has. I prefer being able to set the upload then go do something else, instead of waiting for every 5 photos to upload before choosing more. Oh well!! At least the resizing worked, so uploading them doesn't take as long as it used to (i.e., forever)

I've been doing a LOT of Bangkok flights over the last roster, actually 3 this month and I have one more midway through January. Considering these are 4 days trips that was pretty much my entire roster for Dec aside from 3 (yes three!) side trips to Jeddah in KSA. Which as you probably gathered from my Twitter are extremely busy, and often frustrating flights. Boarding takes FOREVER due to using buses, and with a plane the size of the one I fly on, well, you do the math!!

As always, the first afternoon was spent visiting the famous MBK mall to get DVDs and on this last trip I once again squeezed in a visit to the Jatujak weekend market. I picked up some cute dresses which I hope to list on Etsy, most of them are not my size but were too cute to pass up! One or two have tempted me enough to keep them, naughty me!!! I also got the cutest vintage clock, which I'll need to post about later on.

Anyway, on to the pictures!!!

Just before we started approach into Suvarnabhumi Airport. The river/s looked really cool from the air. I love taking photos when I can but I had to sneak these in the last minute rush to pack up before landing :P

As we flew (and arrived) on Christmas Day, the decorations were in full swing at the hotel and in the public areas nearby. The hotel had cool reindeer-shaped lights in the windows. This Christmas tree was near a shopping center, I actually took this photo on Boxing Day as I didn't have my camera the first time I saw it. (Bad blogger!)

On the second day of our trip (where we fly a shuttle service to Hong Kong and back) I spotted this cute display in the (BKK) airport. Basically it was a way for visitors to vote on which department they thought gave the best service. Again, like everything in Asia, it was totally cute...

On the third day of the trip (the one with the most free time) I went with a batchmate of mine to go visit the temples. Originally we wanted to see the Grand Palace as well, but we got quite tired and it was hot, so just decided to focus on Wat Pho and visit the Grand Palace on another trip. On the walk to the ferry pier we stopped so my friend could buy some street food. I'm always too chicken to try street food (except for that one time in Korea) but she is pretty brave with it, so off she went.

These leaf-wrapped things were some kind of cooked potato snack, I'm not sure what they were called, but she said they tasted pretty good. We continued on to the pier, stopping along the way at a cute stall to buy cheap shoes (as you do) and nearly got onto the wrong pier where men were selling time on private boats. We politely declined and found the corrcet pier for the public ferry. The tourist boat was about 150baht but the public boat was only 14baht for the trip. Of course we chose the public boat!!! It was just as good as (if a bt more crowded than) the tourist boat.

How cute are these boats? They look like little houses on the water. I eventually figured out that these house-type boats are the shuttle boats for different high-end hotels along the river. Cute, and easily identifiable.

These houses perched on the water remind me of Venice. Okay, so a not-quite-so-pretty version, but still... it's very much like Venice :P

At first we thought this white building was a fancy hotel, but on closer inspection I think it was actually very posh apartments. Either way, I really like the detail on the facade. The round windows are very church-like.

After we got off the boat, to get to the temple you pass through a small market area. My companion decided she wanted to buy some fruit. This lady was selling mangosteen and some other fruit we couldn't identify. She told us the name but we still had no idea! Mangosteen is meant to be very good for immunity and things like arthritis; my mum used to order the juice from o/s before it became known in Australia. She said it really helped with joint pain and so forth. (Mangosteen in the back, weird red fruit is the one I'm holding that we didn't know the name of)

We just enjoyed walking around the little market, seeing all the sights and smelling the food. Again, the street food smelled amazing, but was just sitting out in the open (along with several flies) so we decided not to chance it this time, and I took this picture instead. Mmm, hungry just thinking about it though.

The not-so-pleasant section was where the dried (dryING) fish were, it was very stinky but I stopped to take a picture. Something about the orderly rows of fish with their silver scales appealed to my camera eye :P I don't know if it was 170baht per fish (which seemed kind of expensive) or maybe it was the price per pound/kilo.

After a slight delay getting a) lost and b) having some shady guys try to trick us into a "side tour" (I knew better and my intuition told me they were up to something- a local later confirmed my suspicion and said it was good we did not go with them) we finally found the entrance to Wat Pho, otherwise known as the Temple of the Reclining Buddha!

It wasn't as busy as I had expected, so we didn't really have to line up for very long, although by the time we got to the actual Buddha there was a lot of people, the line still moved very quickly and it was only the work of a minute to take off our shoes. My travelling buddy was wearing a strappy top so of course had to 'rent' the requisite scarf/sarong to put over her shoulders. Funny how the men can wear whatever they want!!!

Entrance fee was 50baht (about 5-7 UAE dirhams or not even 2 Australian dollars) which compared to the Grand palace is very cheap. I suppose this temple is a lot smaller and thus requires less upkeep.

We quickly looked around the main courtyards and the outer structures, as it was starting to get quite hot and we wanted to see the actual Buddha. While walking around the grounds we saw a small procession with a casket, my buddy wondered if anyone was actually inside or was it a ceremonial casket. We noticed ropes tied the lid on so guessed it must have been an actual funeral. Weird that while they were mourning, all these tourists were wandering around snapping photos of the temple. No one took any photos of the funeral though, which I was relieved to notice.

I really liked all the colours and of course the golden accents on everything. Some of the spires reminded me more of Indian/Hindu temples and reading the poster near the entrance, apparently this style of temple is Thai-Chinese. You learn something new every day!

I'll continue on with some more photos next time, to keep the post from getting too long. Hope you enjoyed this first part!! :)

And Happy New Year to all, hope 2011 is a great year. Do you have any resolutions??

Sneak Peek...

2010-12-30T19:04:00.003+11:00

Hello again all!

I know I've been very lazy with updating the blog lately, well hopefully in the next week or two I can fix that. I wanted to post about Bangkok yesterday but my photo editing program wasn't wanting to co-operate. In the meantime here's a couple of photos from my latest Bangkok trip.

Today I'm off on a quick turnaround flight to Saudi Arabia. Hopefully things go well and we get back on time (just after midnight) in which case I'll try again to upload the Bangkok photos. I also have more photos from Seoul and some from around Dubai that I want to share with you.

Hope everyone had a great Christmas wherever you were, and if I don't post before, Happy New Year!!

Lucky me has the rest of the 31st & 1st January off. First time in a few years, I'll be celebrating the new year with my friends. Yay!

Blog from Bangkok

2010-12-17T03:18:00.002+11:00

Check out this pimped-up tuk-tuk!

Was interesting trip so far. Definitely one for a future post, haha

Test Posting From New Phone

2010-12-15T21:31:00.002+11:00

Hey all! Just testing out if phone blogging is working. So many interesting things to be seen on the road :)

Do the Polka

2010-12-13T05:07:00.000+11:00

Okay, so I'm a sucker for polka dots. One of my favourite dresses as a kid was a white summer dress with rainbow polka dots and a big bow on the back. I've always like a classic black and white polka dot print, but something about red with white dots also speaks to me. Maybe it's a throwback to 'Pretty Woman'- I always liked that outfit which Julia wears to the polo match.

Here's a couple more dress patterns from Etsy. How cute are they!

(Top: Cottage Lane Treasures and Bottom: The Craft Portal on Etsy)

Parisian Pink

2010-12-06T06:18:00.000+11:00

Yet another dress I'd love to have. I can just imagine this with a white cardigan, for a day of strolling Paris, seeing the Louvre, sitting in a cafe watching passers-by and taking pictures near the Eiffel Tower.

(Pattern from Kallie Designs)

Snapshot from Toronto

2010-12-04T06:46:00.002+11:00

Couldn't resist the combination of colours in this scene. Coming from a country where we don't really get colour-changing leaves, I was pretty excited. More pictures to come from the trip to Niagara Falls!

A Little Bit Audrey

2010-11-25T05:50:00.000+11:00

Further to my pattern-browsing adventures, I saw this cute pattern & just had to share. I'm not really a fan of plaids, but this outfit is quite cute.

Do you think the 'model' looks a lot like Audrey Hepburn?

(Pattern from Bluette COurt)

Flight Pattern

2010-11-20T02:45:00.000+11:00

One lazy night at home, I was browsing on Etsy and got to looking through all the listings of vintage sewing patterns. I've always liked the artwork on the pattern envelopes, especially on vintage patterns.

I remember as a little girl when my mum would take me to the sewing store. She'd put me on a seat at the pattern book table and I'd happily look through all of the pictures of the clothes, while she went to buy the things she needed. I'm actually quite surprised then that at that time, I had no desire whatsoever to actually sew. At that age I was more interested in a) playing in the sandpit with my trucks and Legos, and b) in drawing & painting then sewing.

When I was in high school, I preferred Edwardian and 1940's styles to anything later, though a nice full skirt would ocassionally get my attention. Of course, since becoming a flight attendant - and researching the history of my profession- I've fallen in love with the late 50's/early 60's fitted pencil skirt/dress style.

Here's a few patterns that I like from Etsy. They could easily be used to make an outfit for a costume party or Halloween if you wanted to go as a traditional "stewardess", or even for a 60's/"Mad Men" themed party.

This blue dress on the right would be perfect with a jaunty hat.
(From RRebelGirl)

(Bluette Court)

(ClayFletch)

(Studio G Patterns)

(Wildrose Primitives)

Finally, this cute Misses Pattern from Historically Patterns.

Oh, now if only I could sew!!

(I'm hoping to learn at some point, what with the days off we get in Dubai- especially in the reserve months)

Gym Time...!

2010-11-19T07:47:00.000+11:00

I admit it. I've been really slack in the gym department over the last few months. It's quite shameful really, considering that the apartment building I live in has a gym and pool on the premises. There's really no excuse!!

Back in October, I'd decided to get my act together and work out regularly. I'd go to the gym, even if for 40 minutes. Then after a particularly tiring trip, I spent the next three days sleeping during the day and awake all night, and any gym routine went out of the window.

Over the last two weeks, I've been pretty good. I've been going to the gym at least every second day and doing about 20 minutes on the cross trainer and 10-20 minutes on the rowing machine. I'd love to do some weights and I really need to get some toning in my abs but I have no idea how! Not being a gym bunny in any respect, I always feel like a total loser trying to use the exercise machines aside from what I already use.

I also have problems with motivation. I have my ipod and I work out to music or podcasts, but I'd love to find some other ways of keeping motivated in the gym. If you have any suggestions or advice to stop me falling off the wagon again, please leave a comment!!!

Flashback...

2010-11-16T06:08:00.000+11:00

So today it's been 5 months since I arrived in Dubai. It's gone really fast, and I can't believe how quickly I started referring to my flat as "home". Of course, Australia will always be HOME home, but I guess for ease I might as well have 'Home 1' and 'Home 2'. While here I do want to learn more about this country and the Emirati people. One awesome wish of mine is to make friends with a local girl my own age. I know this is probably very unlikely, but you just never know. I've joined a few social groups online which organise events for ladies only, so maybe I might just make a new local friend here.

Here's the first photo ever of me in Dubai. I took this in the car on the way from the airport to my apartment building. How tired/shellshocked do I look! Haha...

On arrival I was extremely tired (only slept 3 hours of the 12 hour flight, and had been awake all night for days before leaving) and the driving scared me. (I'm used to it now but still ALWAYS wear my seatbelt in cars/buses) I snapped this photo right before we got onto Sheikh Zayed Road.

Despite my jetlag, I was still pretty excited to get my first glimpse of Burj Khalifa. Nothing like a giant wonder of architecture to wake you up from a jetlag-induced coma.

After spending the eary hours of the day unpacking & getting settled in, I ventured outside to find a store to purchase some food & bottle water. After dropping this off in the flat, I made my way to the Metro station (luckily for me, right near my building)

bought a Nol card and visited my first shopping mall, Mall of the Emirates. There I bought a few things for the apartment and a mobile phone. Later, some of my new colleagues said they didn't go outside until their flatmates got home and were amazed I was brave enough to do it. Guess I'm not such a chicken after all... :P

Briefly...

2010-11-08T22:35:00.001+11:00

* I need to make a post about my Sydney trip. It was really fun. And, I got to see my sister for the first time since moving overseas =)

* Seoul flight was really busy. But the layover was good.

* My camera cable broke and my card reader that I got from ebay doesn't read Olympus cards like the prescription said. So I need to get both of those.

* I got my tax refund, yay!!! I can stop worrying about money so much!!!

* Had to say bye bye to my Aussie number :( Will get a prepaid next time I'm in Sydney

* Still waiting to hear back from doctors

Posts to come as soon as I can get the photos up =)

Coming Home

2010-11-06T06:30:00.000+11:00

Well, to Dubai-Home.

I took these photos yesterday morning on the way home from the airport. Everyone else on the bus was snoozing away, but I love the early morning light so I always stay awake to watch the city light up.

Burj Khalifa. There was actually a really cool reflection/flare of light but the camera couldn't capture it properly. I really need to get a 'real' camera. Maybe the tiny Sony with the changeable lenses. (Please Santa?) :P

Looking towards Sheikh Zayed Road. I live in one of those buildings.

Is strange but I think of Dubai as a home, pretty good after four months.

The Future is in Dubai

2010-11-04T23:37:00.005+11:00

This is a post for Allemalice. She and I were talking on Twitter about how some buildings look like the belong in Star Trek. Of course, the world centre for skyscapers is now Dubai and while other cities have futuristic buildings, a high proportion of those in Dubai fit into this category.

So, here you go Alle, some crazy sci-fi buildings in Dubai.

Address Hotel, Downtown Burj Dubai

The next two are of the 'Fashion Avenue' clothing & accessories section of the Dubai Mall

Address Hotel in the daytime

Metro Stations which look like alien pods or something from 'Coccoon' :P

Dubai from the air. It is a futuristic-looking city, no?? Of course with the addition of the Burj Khalifa it looks even cooler...

Hope you enjoyed looking at these! I'll be keeping my eye out for more unusual-looking buildings on my travels.

On the Road

2010-10-31T08:00:00.002+11:00

Hey all. Quick update from Auckland. I'm sitting in Gloria Jean's eating my breakfast & enjoying a hot chocolate while I catch up on my emails and so on.

Flight to Sydney was pretty full-on, quite busy and as we had 5 crew under 3 months on the flight it was a bit of a challenge to say the least. They did well though considering and hopefully now the return flight will go a little more smoothly.

We'd been delayed 2 hours leaving Dubai so arrived into Sydney and got to our hotel rooms just before 9am. I would have loved to just collapse itno bed, but alas, plenty of errands to do.

I discovered that yet again, Vodafone had cut off my phone. Which is awesomely useful to me as I need it for the 2 days that I'm in Oz. I headed to Vodafone to sort it out and found that they had not only blocked my phone but they had blocked INCOMING calls! How dare they! I get blocking me from MAKING calls, but I do not think it's right that they stop other people from calling me. Really mad at them and I plan on making a complaint to the relevant consumer protection department when I get back to Sydney. That block resulted in my family being unable to contact me while I was home. So they had to then make interstate calls to the hotel, which is really unfair when they can call me on mobile plans for no extra cost.

Anyway. Flight to Auckland was good, not too many problems and the service went well. It was one of the girls' birthday so we pooled some money and bought her a present from the duty free. Even the pilots chipped in which was nice as often they don't. Got to the hotel and planned on seeing a movie but I never got a call from the others saying when/where so skipped it. Went for a look at the shops down the road. Really tempted to buy a lamp in the shape of an owl but I didn't as a) I'm not meant to spend lots of money and b) how would it fit in my luggage, hahaha.

Crashed out from 9pm to 9am, was so tired I even fell asleep fully clothed on top of my bed. (Not before watching half an hour of Bear Grylls on tv though)

Going to have another quick look at the shops and then read a bit of my book in the park across the road. Weather here is gorgeous and sunny, yay!!!!

Back to Sydney tonight, will hopefully catch up with sis again before I leave. Saw her the other night and we had dim sum for dinner in Chinatown, but only briefly. Then in Sydney I need to try get an appointment with a specialist. Going to find out once and for all about getting my pilot's license medical. Been getting vague answers everywhere so I just need to pony up the cash and get it looked at in person. Eyes are the problem, as usual!

Got some cute photos of a vintage store here but I didn't bring my camera cable so they'll have to wait.

I also forgot my phone charger so I might try find a USB one now.

Catch ya!

Downtown Burj Dubai

2010-10-29T06:39:00.000+11:00

Here's a few pictures taken on a recent trip to the Dubai mall. I enjoy watching the fountains and the general atmosphere of people milling around, catching up with friends and the vibe of the place.

While night time is obviously spectacular, with the lights and music and fountains, I enjoy the moments at dusk just before the sun sets, throwing nice orangey lights over the glassy buildings.

Gratuitous 'tourist' shot with the Burj Du- I mean Khalifa*. I'm one of those people who unashamedly takes photos everywhere I go. At first, I'd get lucky with a few amazing shots at the end, but now I'm starting to enjoy taking my time to compose a photo and think about different angles and camera settings when I press the button. Eventually, I'd like to get a decent SLR camera.

Souk Al Bahar. This place is on the list for further exploration. I've seen the fountains on at night but one day I'd like to go, watch the sunset AND the fountain show together.

(* -a saying ~~stolen~~ borrowed from my friend Mel, who frequently starts to say 'Burj Dubai' then corrects herself midsentence, as she lived here while BK was originally known by that name)

Read At Your Own Risk...

2010-10-25T19:32:00.000+11:00

Seriously.

I don't know if it's the writing, the deviousness or the hilarious cartoons, but this is one of THE funniest blogs I've seen in a long time.

Hyperbole And A Half

You'll laugh 'til you die. I'm not kidding, I woke up my roommate.

Do not miss 'God of Cake'.

SZR

2010-10-25T06:04:00.000+11:00

View of Sheikh Zayed Road, the main road in Dubai (which is really a highway). Taken from outside the Crowne Plaza Hotel

Sunnies

2010-10-23T01:21:00.005+11:00

During the time when I was having a crappy few days last week (homesickness, mainly) I was a bit naughty and succumbed to retail therapy.

Since I wear contact lenses when I fly and mostly during my layovers, I have some cheap'n'cheerful sunglasses as my good (read: expensive) ones are prescription. During my shop, I spotted some cute retro-style sunnies. I like some vintage styles, but they always look stupid on me; also, I tend to shy away from overly large styles. I saw a cute pair with stud detailing & liked them. When I saw the price was 30 dirhams (about $10 Aussie) I snapped them up!!

I love them!!! (However, I think I need to wear my hair out with these, as having it back combined with the large size of the glasses doesn't seem to be so flattering, haha)

I also bought a pair of aviator style glasses

(but not in the cobalt blue/silver tint I've been lusting after), this shirt from Zara- which looks way cuter in my pic-

and some new towels & bath mat for my bathroom. (That last one is boring so I won't show you!!)

Oh yeah and a Grazia, a Kinder Bueno (yum!) and some rose face cream (for half the price it'd be in Oz!)

Yey shopping! Now, I'm eating tinned soup until payday in 4 days' time... hehehehe

Off to Manchester...

2010-10-20T20:20:00.006+11:00

Earlier this month, I had my first trip to Manchester. I must admit I'd heard a lot of stories from other crew and wasn't entirely thrilled to be doing the trip, but decided that I should wait and see for myself before having an opinion about the kind of flight we would have.

Of course, the flight was busy, but I didn't find anyone rude and while yes, they loved a drink (or four), people were for the most part friendly to us and we didn't have any trouble. I always love going to the UK, as a bit of an aviation geek, I always find interesting aircraft or airlines to look at.

One of the interesting ones is BMIbaby, which of course has a cartoon baby as the logo, but I didn't see them this time to be able to take a picture. I did see this Thomas Cook 767- WITH WINGLETS!!!

I always wished our 767 had winglets when I flew on them. Yes, I'm easily amused!

One cool thing about this trip was that I got to fly with a girl whose blog I regularly read, I found it right before I joined the airline & it was great to get an idea of how the trips and lifestyle were. (So hi to Krysta if you're reading this!!!)

After we arrived at the hotel, it was decided that a group of us would make the trek into the town nearest to the hotel and indulge in a little bit of shopping. I headed to my room, laughing because Krysta & I had been put across the hall from each other. At least if either of us fell asleep while getting dressed, we could wake each other up for the shopping trip. (Not sure what would have happened if we BOTH fell asleep?!) I unpacked my bags quickly, and got changed, taking a minute to snap the obligatory "I'm staying in a new hotel" photo.

Mmmmm, comfy bed! I do like the mattress toppers & I WANT ONE! So much nicer than my company issue bed back in Dubai.

Since we were all in a sleepy mood, we decided to pay the 7 pounds a piece and take the hotel car driven by the hotel driver, Neil. He'd drop us in town and pick us up later. I warned him that we'd be going to Primark & it was quite possible we'd be calling to extend the time :P We spent the car trip chatting quietly, until we finally arrived in the town centre. I was happy to see a variety of stores as well as some nice buildings. Of course, I snapped a few pictures.

As we walked along, our sleepy conversation was quickly replaced by excitement when we saw this:

PRIMARK!!!! Now I know it's mostly cheap and all mass-produced and not at all eco-conscious (well, maybe some of it) but it's Primark!!! If you know what to look for you can get some awesome stuff. We all decided on a time to meet back at the main entrance and then we were off! This was the mother of all Primarks (that I've been to) -three floors of clothes, shoes and homewares. Since I am only using my allowances on layovers, I knew that I couldn't shop a lot. At first I was caught up in the excitement, grabbing things left and right and putting them in my basket. I probably had a hundred pounds' worth in 5 minutes! Then reality sunk in and I knew I should shop sensibly. I should buy things I needed, but hadn't found in Dubai.

In the end, I bought one long dress, some belts (I never seem to have the right one that I need), stocked up on cheap undies, some pretty bras and a mid-range "in-between" jacket in a military style. Also got some ultra-cute laundry bags to put my smalls in, so next time I go through Customs in London, the entire crew doesn't get to see my dirty laundry! (Honestly, they seem to think I'm a criminal as I get selected EVERY single time in Heathrow for the 'random' check!!) I had wanted to buy a hooded casual jacket, but they only seemed to have coats or workout wear.

Checking my watch, I actually had half an hour until I had to meet the others. I was starving, so I grabbed a Burger King small burger and fries, and ate them sitting outside Primark on a park bench. There was an old man one seat over, who possessively placed his half-full can of Coke on the empty seat between us, as if to stake his claim on that seat too. Pretty soon, two of the girls arrived to wait with me. We decided that it was too cold, so took our huge shopping bags back inside Primark and sat with everyone else on the low ledge near the doors until the rest of the group joined us.

All that shopping made us hungry, so we headed to a nearby food court for some eats. I got Subway, because I love being able to buy Subway with REAL SALAMI & HAM in it!! Dubai Subway is fine but an Italian BMT just isn't a BMT without actual pork salami. There was a bit f drama when a woman collapsed near the Burger King, there were some security guards standing around not doing much, we offered our help but they waved us off and left the woman on the floor while radio-ing someone for help. Shrug. Off we went, what could we do? While the others were eating, I quickly ran to the newsagent to buy my trashy UK magazines (Closer & More!) Love the fashion pages more than anything, as I don't know any of the celebrities aside from Kylie and Cheryl Cole. Then we succumbed to Mickey D's dessert & I convinced the girls to try the limited-edition Aero Mint McFlurry (Sadly, it's discontinued now, waaaaahhhhh)

As fatigue was hitting in, we decided to call it a day as it was almost time for our van pickup back to the hotel. As we were walking to the pickup spot, we passed what we thought was some statue or installation art. Then we saw a guy was peeing on it! Was actually a new-fangled arty outdoor urinal. EWWWWWW! And there was nowhere for them to wash their hands! We burst into hysterical laughter at the thought of pee-covered man-hands touching all the ATMs and railings around town after visiting this strange toilet! Luckily, no one was taking any photos at the time before we realised what it was. Imagine explaining that away...

Waiting for our van pickup...

Once we got back to the hotel, I just geeked out on the internet, checking my emails and catching up with friends on Facebook before heading to bed. Next morning I stuffed my face on the buffet breakfast before getting ready for the trip home. It was still really hectic, so by the time I reached my apartment I was so ready for some sleep!!!

Yay for Primark! I don't think a (female) crewmember exists who has had a layover near Primark and hasn't gone! :P

That's it for now, I have some more photos up my sleeve I'll try to post over the next few days. xo

Coat: Glassons in DFO Melbourne
Scarf: Cotton On, years ago

New Look

2010-10-14T22:49:00.000+11:00

I finally changed my blog layout, what do you think? Thoughts, comments, problems??? :)

More Shopping In Seoul

2010-10-12T03:57:00.013+11:00

Hello again!!!

Yesterday I got back from a trip to Seoul, South Korea. As we arrived just after 4am, it was straight home and to bed for me. I slept until 3pm and then was a good girl and went to the gym, thinking that I'd have a relatively healthy dinner of Subway (seeing as my cooking skills have not yet improved sufficently to make me brave enough to attempt using the stove again). However they were closed and in a fit of hunger I resorted to good old local Delma Delivery and got a chicken and salad roll. Accompanied with watermelon & kiwifruit, so not too bad I guess.

Seoul was a fun trip, although the flights were quite busy. One of the crew doing duty free was so sweet. Like me, she was new at it and so we were exchanging questions and I helped her with a few things and told her some of my tips to make sales. At pickup time in the lobby, she gave me a cute little parcel from a Korean makeup store- she'd bought me a nail polish as a thank you for helping her. Awwww! It's a nice brown shade which I don't have any of so will be nice for winter.

As usual in Seoul, I stocked up on cheap beauty loot. I also visited the Face Shop and got a few face masks, some nail polish & the very cute BB Balm.

Pink makeup brushes, some nail supplies, bag clips in the shape of frogs & masks from Daiso.

Nailpolish in an awesome blue-purple iridescent, a clear with pink hearts in it & the BB Balm, which is just like Benefit's Bathina but a LOT cheaper (even if the container is smaller)

Could not pass up this eye mask, which at first glance appears to be just eye shades. BUT- inside it is a gel eye pack so you can heat or cool it for headaches/tired eyes etc. Totally cute & soft =)

Here's some pictures I snapped while walking up to the CoEx Mall a few blocks from the hotel.

It was a long walk, so on the way back I decided to brave the metro system, and I didn't get totally lost, yay me!! Foreign metros always scare me at first, but then I ride them and think, "What was I worried about?"

They had station guides in English, but the attendant didn't understand my awful accent when I pronounced the name of the place I wanted to go in English. So, I went to the map, took a photo of the Korean station name and showed it to him. I reckon this is one of the best travel tips when you're dealing with foreign subways. Take a picture of the station you left from (and one you need to get to). That way if you DO get lost, you know where you need to go back to.

I actually ended up one stop further down than my hotel, but it was okay as I actually had wanted to go to the shopping district, but couldn't remember the station name and didn't want to get lost. So it ended up perfectly. I didn't need to take a long walk from the hotel AND I had more shopping time =P Hehehe

How funny is this- in the rest rooms they have an "etiquette bell". You press it and music comes out to cover the tinkle noises when you use the bathroom!

So it's not only the Japanese people who don't like sharing their toilet habits with everyone else. I actually kind of like this, as I hate being in the bathrooms and hearing someone else not caring how noisy they are, gross! :P

Of course I had to take a photo of this building. It's some sort of airline staff training academy. I can still remember when the A380 was called the "A3XX" but they've changed the tail to their acronym. Cute!

These jazz-style singers on a building reminded me of all the cool vintage blogs I've been reading lately, especially "Gatsby & Me". (Honestly, go read it, the photos are awesome!)

WANT!!! I always wanted a bike like this when I was a kid, and luckily this one is girly enough without being too childish for a grown woman to own. (Yes the owner was a woman)

Q-Garden, the vintage store I discovered on my last visit. No luck this time, as all the things I liked were WAY too small for me, but still fun to browse nonetheless. I always like to see what they have in the windows and they have some AMAZING (but expensive) shoes from a

In other news, I'm thinking about doing a new layout for the blog. I liked the pink & blue, but it doesn't really fit with my blog any more. I'm not entirely sure which direction I'll go in, but I'm sure it will be fun!

Finally I got myself a plant. Actually, two plants. One is a tiny baby cactus and the other one is- well, it looks like an aloe plant actually. I bought them in the Daiso shop in Korea (my favourite) and carried them carefully in my cabin bag so they didn't get squashed.

Meet Spike II.

My sister had a cactus called Spike but our flatmate killed it (funny story but not repeatable here) so this one is named after the first one. Haven't thought of a name for this aloe-looking plant yet, so if you have any suggestions, leave me a comment! :)

Finally I found a comapny that does some sightseeing tours of Seoul, so on my next trip I'm planning to do a half-day tour to go and see the palace, North Seoul Tower, Namdaeung Market and all the rest. Yay, can't wait!!!

Snapshots From Bangkok

2010-10-06T12:30:00.000+11:00

Now I could have sworn I already posted about Bangkok, but for the life of me I can't see the post in my archives. For once, the flight over to BKK was about half full, a welcome relief from our usually chock-a-block aircraft and never-ending service. We actually got time to sit down and eat, and being the geek I am, I even got in some "cockpit appreciation time" in the flight deck. I love sitting up there and watching the clouds go by. (And secretly geeking out by seeing how many of the instruments I can actually read and remember how to use)

On to the pictures. On arriving, most of the crew made plans to either eat, shop or go for massages. I was starving, so went with about 5 other crew to a local eatery for some late dinner. Of course I ordered fish cakes, my staple item whenever I eat Thai food. They were pretty good, about a 7.5 out of 10 I must say.

For the mains I ordered this mango/pineapple chicken rice dish. It actually came presented IN a pineapple!!!! How cool.

After dinner, a couple of crew decided they wanted to visit some night markets. While they shopped for what they wanted, I decided to check out some clothing stalls. I like the atmosphere, it's busy and all the lights are on at night. It reminded me a lot of Bali, only less stinky.

As is my habit, I made sure to visit a supermarket to get some snacks and bottled water. I was very happy to see this:

Oh the cuteness!!! I also got some Pocky. (On opening the packs later, it wasn't the traditional Pocky, but pre-dipped Pocky sticks. Still good but not quite the same.)

There's pink taxis everywhere!!! "Ladies' Taxis" I believe they're called, though I don't know if they're really for ladies only.

Me at the night market area. (Yes, I'm drinking a Coke. It's either that or bottled water; 2 things at least that I know are safe to drink.)

While at the night market & waiting for the others to come back, I spotted this neat vintage-style dress. Snapped it up after a bit of hesitation and was glad I did. Just waiting for the weather to cool down a bit so I can wear it.

It was quite a late night so I went back to the hotel & slept. In the morning I met up with a few crew to go to the famous MBK department store. While everyone else bought DVDs, I just got some food and a few little souvenirs. I saw the cutest little sailor outfit, really wish I had bought it for my nephew but he'd be way too big for it now. After MBK, everyone wanted to go for massages, but I wanted to explore a little bit. Next to the hotel were some markets, so I went for a look around and bought a few things.

We took a tuk-tuk to MBK. At first I thought I was going to die, but then it was fun. :)

Small temple altar outside the hotel. I like seeing these traditional type things when I travel.

Street food. Even though this was just coconut I was too scared to buy something from a street stall. (I really need to harden up.) I dislike cocount so maybe next time I'll look out for other fruit.

I went for a walk to a little arts "village" down the road to buy souvenirs. I found this cute little shop with all kinds of things to buy. I loved the stone cat figurines but by this point didn't have much money left, so I got a card to come back next time. The lady was so nice and cute.

It's a giant cat!!! (I'm a sucker for kitties!) I also bought a card holder for all my licenses at a store just near here. It's really popular with all the crew for buying shoe and makeup bags, and all that kind of stuff. It appeals to my inner OCD-ness as you can buy matching sets :P

More supermarket haul. I always go for the cute stuff, not caring how it actually tastes. Have discovered some really cool things this way!

Another vintage-style dress. Wasn't sold on the colour originally but now I really like it. (Less than US$10) Fits great too.

Thai sweets from a stall in MBK. Crispy cashews and some jelly-type lollies.

Was very humid so I bought this fan, it's much sturdier than the Chinese ones & pretty too. I got this from the same arts village where the cute shop was.

My favourite thing of the whole trip. This little wooden frog figurine is actually a musical instrument! You use the "drumstick" stored in his belly, and run it along the spikes on his back. It actually sounds exactly like a frog. I fell in love with these immediately, and as he was the only green frog in a basket of brown ones, I knew he was the one for me! (He now sits on our tv cabinet)

Yes, those are Thai Twisties!!!!

All in all, I really enjoyed Thailand. Can't wait to go back, and when I do I hope to get to see some more traditional sights around Bangkok.

Pearl Harbor Style...

2010-10-04T23:00:00.007+11:00

A few days ago I posted about a plane trip I took in a vintage aircraft. (You can read about it here.)

For that outing, I dressed "1940's style" to celebrate the occasion and the fact that you don't get to fly in a beautiful classic aircraft like this every day. (I also wanted to bring back a bit of the glamour to flying, hehe)

My outfit was inspired by Kate Beckinsale's character in Pearl Harbor, I simply loved all her clothes in the movie and knew that a black and white outfit was the perfect choice and would be fairly easy to achieve in the short preparation time that I had.

I already had the dress, a B&W bird print frock from Target. The suede platforms were borrowed from my sister, the bag was vintage reproduction and the hair flower (frangipani like Kate of course!) was found in a hair supply store.

Here's some photos of Kate in the film.

Since the plane ride, I purchased a dress from Alannah Hill that has a strikingly similar ribbon print to the dress that Kate wears in the film.

From a distance it would look almost identical. Of course, the shape on mine is different but adding some small shoulder pads could make it more 40's-authentic! (Of course, the model is way taller than me, so when I put it on, it falls just below the knee, the way it should for the 1940's look)

If you're a fan of 1940's style as well, and like Kate's "off duty" 1940's beach bunny look,

check out this cute sarong-suit pattern from Wearing History patterns! How adorable is it...

(Photos: from Fanpop website, copyrights are owned by the filmmakers and are for inspiration purposes only)

Visiting China... In Sydney

2010-10-02T06:43:00.000+10:00

During my latest Sydney layover, the weather was so nice I didn't want to waste the day lounging in my room, or in the shops spending money I didn't really have. While there were a few things I wanted to buy, I didn't want to go to Pitt St, so I decided to head to Darling Harbour instead. Just for fun, I took the Monorail- something I haven't done in nearly ten years!

After my shopping, I was wandering around, enjoying the day and people watching when I passed the entrance to the Chinese Garden. I'd always meant to visit but somehow never actually made it. The entry fee was a reasonable $6, and as I was curious to see what it was like, I paid my money and went in.

At the moment, they are doing construction work around Darling Harbour Park, so there was lots of cladding up. Luckily, they've made it nice and interesting with murals, photos and historical information. I liked this toucan; he reminded me of the old Peter's icy-pole ad.

Stone lions outside of the main entrance to the Chinese Garden of Friendship.

Once inside, the first thing you are greeted with is a really neat display of tiny Bonsai trees. I snapped some pictures, but didn't notice until now they tiny bridge on one. How cute!

The garden is really beautiful, and peaceful, despite its city location. I could hardly believe I was i Sydney. It's also much larger than it looks from the outside, and has many different areas including pagodas, a "mountain", bamboo forest, and of course lots of water ponds with koi (carp?) fish.

The greenness was so nice after being in the desert for nearly 5 months! It's the type of vivid green you might see on a tree frog, not the cikly artificial green of trees kept alive with desalinated sea water.

A group of school kids were dressing up in traditional costumes, they looked so cute I had no choice but to sneak a picture! Adorable!

There were LOTS of these guys around, one scared the life out of me but once I knew they were there, I saw lots of them.

I loved these secret-looking stairs!! This would be a great place for prom or wedding pictures. In fact, they were setting up for three weddings at various locations around the garden.

Lizard vs Rock. Lizard wins!

Proof we're actually really in the middle of Sydney!

I found the gardens well worth a visit, even if gardens aren't really your "thing", the peaceful environment is just the thing to take a break from the hustle-bustle of the city or spend some time with your special someone or friends. A tea-house is on site for casual meals and the venue can be booked for functions. It's an easy walk from the Sydney CBD, or indulge your inner child and take the Monorail!

You can check out the CGF website here.

Classic Wings

2010-10-01T00:20:00.006+10:00

A year or two ago, I had the chance to take a flight in a vintage airliner. A former colleague of mine had set up a sightseeing business with his father, taking people for flights in this gorgeous aeroplane that they had restored. Sadly, due to the economy they were forced to sell the plane and so had a "last hurrah" champagne flight over the city to say goodbye.

To celebrate the occasion I decided to dress in the era of the DC-3. As it was short notice the outfit wasn't as accurate as I'd hoped, but I think I got the overall 'look'. (My inspiration was Kate Beckinsale in 'Pearl Harbour'- post on her outfit to follow)

(I have to apologise in advance for the formatting of this post, I'm not sure what went wrong but I couldn't fix it without starting over and it's taking AGES to upload photos)

I already had a cute shirt dress in a black and white bird pattern which would do nicely, and I found a frangipani hair flower (favourite of pin-up girls) and I think tropical enough for the Hawaii part =)

I would have loved to wear a suit and hat but as it was the height of summer it jsut wasn't possible. At this point I hadn't yet learned to do victory rolls in my own hair, so I made a quick trip to the hairdresser. It wasn't exactly what I wanted, but as the girl had no experience with vintage hairstyles I thought it wasn't too bad, and had the right 'feel' for 1940's.

It was a gorgeous day for flying and the view was beautiful! A really neat feature of the plane was a 'bubble window' that was specially installed to allow people to take unobstructed photos of the views. You could sit right out into the bubble and be about a foot outside of the fuselage of the plane. How cool!

I just loved the retro seats with the white vinyl trim and the curtains. Flying at least LOOKED more glamorous back then! In reality I'm sure there was a lot of airsickness, oil stains and windswept hair on the ladies :P

I would have loved to fly as "stewardess" on this flight, and had the sale not had to happen so suddenly, they would have let me do it. Can you imagine, how NEAT would that have been?! I still have hopes to maybe do this in Melbourne when I come back to Australia to live.

Outfit details:

Dress: B&W bird design from Target
Bag: Thrifted (sadly ruined in storage last year)
Shoes: 1940's suede platforms borrowed from sister
Hair Flower: Price Attack
Cherry Earrings: Diva

Certainly was a great day, I had a fantastic time and also checked off one of my "bucket list" items at the same time. If you ever have the chance to do a historic scenic flight, I highly reccommend it!

"Gooney Bird" flights with ShortStop Charter Melbourne

Dashing Dress

2010-09-24T06:02:00.000+10:00

Wow, I'm doing ok with keeping up the posts lately (Better not tell work or they will think I'm not flying enough) :P

Here's a catch-up post of one of the dresses I bought shortly before my move, I'm hoping to get some of my own photos but for now these ones taken by 'Trashy Vintage' will have to do.

I'm not normally one for bold designs but this dashiki dress in hot fuschia pink really caught my eye. How fab for wearing around the pool or to somewhere like Bangkok? I can wear it casual with flats or dress it up with a belt and some awesome jewellery for night!

There's such a melting pot of cultures here in Dubai, and I love that a lot of the women still wear the traditional dress of their homelands. I see lots of Indian women in colourful saris, Gulf ladies in colorful abayas and scarves, and of course the Emirati women, while wearing black robes, still have embellishments on their shaylas (headscarves), colourful designer bags and fabulous shoes. I feel like I can get away with a dress like this here much more easily than I could back home.

Have you bought anything fun lately?

Floral Feet

2010-09-22T07:29:00.003+10:00

While in Auckland on my last trip, I ventured out of the hotel in search of food (feeling rather seedy after a night out I might add) and happened upon a cute op-shop called Paper Bag Princess. I only intended to look but these rather cute floral heels caught my eye. Just for fun, I tried them on. My size!! (It was a sign.)

They were only $10 and appear to be unworn. I've seen similar styles in the chain stores in Dubai and London for well over $60 Aussie dollars. Bargain! Of course they happily followed me home in my suitcase.

All along this street near the hotel were some cute vintage stores and gift shops. I totally intend on going back to explore properly on my next Auckland trip later this week. I'm hoping to get some photos too! :)

Paper Bag Princess

Surprising Seoul

2010-09-20T21:44:00.008+10:00

Hello again all, I'm back for another post! it's amazing how time seem to fly here in the sandpit, I suppose the fact that I spend most of my time away and flying probably has something to do with it.

After a slow-ish month in August, this month so far has been a lot busier what with work and also some nice meetups with friends and outings on my days off.

Since my last post, the trips I've done were:

Seoul, South Korea
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (a there-and-back flight)
Sydney/Auckland (my favourite trip!)
London (which I just got back from this morning)

Now I have 2 days off and a standby before my last flight for September, which is another Sydney/Auckland 5 day trip. Lucky me, back to Australia twice in one month! Although Sydney is not my home town, it's nice to be back in my country just the same. All the stores and familiar and I can get in & out of the supermarket quickly as I don't have to spend ages searching for what I want. I always stock up on 'essentials' while there :)

On to the highlights of SEOUL!!!

View from my hotel room, isn't it pretty

I had big plans to sightsee and was really excited to go to Seoul. Sadly, none of the crew wanted to sightsee as they had all been before, and unless you speak Korean, it's quite difficult to get around to all the places of interest as they are quite far from the hotel. Also, it rained quite a bit which really curbed my desire to get out and about. I plan to do some research online & get one of the Korean crew to write me some notes in Korean which I can use to get to where I want to go on my next trip.

Instead, I went with 2 of the girls to the high street shopping area about 6 blocks from our hotel. We had a look around and then found a place to have dinner. At the time I didn't know that anything red-coloured in Korea is extremely spicy! I had some BBQ chicken which while great, just about burnt my eyes out, the look on my face was apparently priceless. However, there was this strange yellow pickle thing which I venture to try & it was actually quite good.

Next day I returned to the main street for a little bit of shopping with my

allowance money.

Cute French bakery- the food they have here is soooo good (and cheap too!)

I got some local foods like sweets & chocolate before stopping at Daiso, the "1000-won" type store. It's so good! Everything there is very cheap 1-3000 won (about USD$1-3) and there's such an abundance of cute stuff! I picked up lots of art stuff like origami paper and some makeup brushes, bathroom supplies etc along with some other 'cute' items like a photo holder and a coffee mug.

Face Shop was closed for renovations so Skinfood had to do. Didn't find much that I liked but the girl gave me some samples. I bought a really nice redcurrant hand cream from 'Banila', a cosmetic store which reminded me of Benefit. The packaging is so sweet! :)

Wall mural in a little back alley

Street view

Even the packaging on potato chips is cute!! So adorable I wanted to buy it just for the bag :P

Finally I rounded out my trip to Seoul with a visit to Q Boutique, a cute vintage store I discovered in a back street. Vintage stores seem to be uncommon in Asia (at least that I have seen) and although on the increase I was happy to find one, especially a shop that was quite large and with a good range. The owner was really helpful and although she didn't speak much English I was able to get her opinion on my choices by use of mining and gestures :P I ended up buying a late 70's/early 80's sleeveless summer dress in a tiny floral print. It's really cute with a thin black belt (photos to come at some point in the future when I wear it out) Following week I was mad to see that Topshop had a dress in nearly the same print. Why must they copy everything, argh!!!

View on the way to Seoul.

That's it for now as Blogger refuses to upload any more pics, coming up I have some outfit posts and what I did in London & Sydney.

Hope you're all doing great!