February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2009 December 2009 January 2010 March 2010 April 2010 May 2010 June 2010 July 2010 August 2010 September 2010 October 2010 November 2010 December 2010 January 2011 February 2011 March 2011 April 2011 May 2011 June 2011 July 2011 August 2011 September 2011 October 2011 November 2011 December 2011 January 2012 March 2012 June 2012 July 2012 August 2012 September 2012 October 2012 December 2012 February 2013 March 2013 May 2013 July 2013 January 2014 February 2014  Name: Melissa About Me Countries Visited (not including Turnarounds): Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Brazil, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Ghana, Great Britain, Greece, Iceland, India, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Latvia, Libya, Lithuania, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Moldova, Monaco, Morocco, Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, North Korea, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Singapore, Senegal, Serbia, Seychelles, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda, United Arab Emirates, United States, Vatican City London | Perth | Sydney | Melbourne http://tampaxtowers.blogspot.com/atom.xml tampaxtowers[at]gmail[dot]com Tampax Towers @melissaecholima Airline Crew.net Airline Uniforms Airline Meals Seatguru - Most Comfy Seats On Any Airline Trip Advisor Airtoons pprune.org - Pilot's rumour network Kangaroo with a Sweet Tooth Kronicles of Kris The Adventures of Alle Malice Joel's trek across Asia/Europe in a Hilux Phil's Wine Site Tray Table Airboy Lifehacker I Can Has Cheezburger The Flying Pinto Girl on Raw Things Bogans Like Bobby at Up, Up and a Gay Straight Guy in the Queer Skies Skin by Falter BlogSkins 
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Latest Updates
Monday, July 31, 2006
Hey guys, recently came back from Glasgow. The flight over was okay, the usual stroppy passengers who think that getting angry when they can't have chicken will make one appear out of thin air. There was the Bankstown RSL Pipe and Brass band on board too, who were a laugh. And the crew were pretty good too, very nice.Glasgow itself wasn't very nice. I went shopping for some lunch and the streets smelled like Northbridge on a Saturday or Sunday morning. Enough to make you sick. And whilst there's plenty of shops nearby, there isn't a great deal as far as tourist sites goes. I don't have my next flight until the 6th August, which is a Singapore Columbo. I want to swap it, however the only person to respond to my advert has an Athens and a London Heathrow, and after my Glasgow flight, I'm not ready to deal with poms again. With the trip I already have, I have 48 hours in Singapore and 48 hours in Columbo. I've been told to bring fresh sheets though, as the hotel at CMB isn't quite up to par with it's housekeeping services. Ewww. 0 comments Monday, July 24, 2006
Well, I'm back from Nagoya. The trip reaffirmed my belief that Japanese passengers are the nicest passengers to fly with. For 9 hours there and 11 hours back I was stuffing my face with sushi, instant ramen and dried mango, and everytime I checked the toilets there was nothing to clean (unlike some other gross flights I'd done).The SFS in charge hadn't done a Japanese flight before, and was a tad clueless about things. She didn't know that we had to fold the toilet paper into a triangle. She didn't know we had to serve Ni-hon cha (japanese tea) as well as normal tea and coffee during service. She didn't know you had to wash udon noodles, or that it took 15 minutes of steaming before it was fit to serve. All the crew ate fish because there wasn't enough omlettes for passengers, so I just ate more ramen and sushi for breakfast. I didn't complain, it was great :-) When I arrived in Nagoya though, I'd been awake for quite a while. About 30 hours or so. Went to Hard Rock cafe for a steak and chips (it was the only place with English speaking waiters. I didn't want to order something only to later find out it's tripe etc.) Walked around the city to take pictures only to find out THE BATTERY IS DEAD! Oh no :-( Here's what I did manage to take anyway. It's not much, but hey, it's something.
A picture of the main street of Nagoya city. We were lucky in that the hotel is right in the heart of the city and it was a very short walk to all the nice department stores. Osaka is on the main port and you have to take a train to get anywhere, and with everything in Japanese, it can prove a little difficult to navigate around.
And this is a picture of me in a Yukata, a Japanese lounging robe. After this shot was taken I got changed for a walk around the city at which point the camera died. There were only 2 things I wanted to do in Nagoya. The first was to get some cute stationary for both Kris and Corralee. Unfortunately, everything the department stores had was Hello Kitty, which I can get in Dubai anyway. The other thing was to get me a Rilakkuma plush toy (see the post before Paris for an idea). I saw a kid on my Osaka flight cuddle one while he was asleep, and I thought it'd be cute to have, esp with it's cute all black anime eyes, big head and small body. So cute. But I couldn't find and Rilakkuma toys or stationary anywhere. After visiting 4 different department stores, I went to Club Sega for some DDR action, and found in those claw machines many many Rilakkuma toys. It took me two trips and over 3000 yen, but I managed to score a Rilakkuma eating dumplings. :-) So my next flight is to London Heathrow, which I have fortunately been able to avoid so far. Don't know what I'll do, maybe go to Harrods or something. They only give us 50 pounds when we're there, which is nothing. Anyone have any cool suggestions let me know. 2 commentsWednesday, July 19, 2006
Righteo, I'm back from Paris. I had no sleep whatsoever before the flight, and rather just go to sleep after we landed, I went with the rest of the Economy girls for a walking tour around the city of romance. So, if I look pretty weary in the pictures, it's because I'd been awake for 40 odd hours.
Me outside the Notre Dame Cathedral
The Louvre building. Like Notre Dame, it's a lot grander than you can anticipate.
Now, I wonder what this thing is??? 1 commentsSunday, July 16, 2006
Wow, haven't been here for a while, almost 2 weeks actually. To be honest, nothing overtly interesting has been happening lately. Since my Singapore Melbourne flight I've been on Standby 3 twice, and spent the entire time bumming around at home not being called up. Whilst I'm technically working, I'm getting 3.5hrs flying pay every time I don't get called up, but if I got called up for a Bahrain, which is 1.5hrs flying pay, I'd be paid less. So the pay slip should be very interesting viewing next week.I also had to get a Twinrix jab today, so my arm is killing me. Twinrix is the combined Hepatitis A & B vaccine. I was meant to go yesterday, but silly me forgot to take my vaccination booklet along, so it was a wasted taxi trip :-( Tomorrow I'm flying to Paris, which should be interesting since I don't know a single work of French, and they tend to be a bit snooty towards English speakers. I remember Sabrina saying that when she went there she spoke Italian because she was worried the French would think she was from England rather than Australia and treat her like crap. So yeah I'm kinda worried. At least in Dubai or any Arab country they treat you nicely when you try to say "a salaam alaykum" or "shukran" etc. I just want it to be over and done with so I can go to Nagoya and grab me one of these :-) 
0 comments
Monday, July 03, 2006
Hey there guys. Just a short update on things. Currently in Singapore feeling grosss and tired.I decided not to call in sick, and they assigned me a 5 day Singapore/Melbourne trip, the same one I did early May. Considering I had only 1 hours notice about the flight, I don't think I'm goign to be able to see anyone I know, which is a real shame. On the bright side, while I'm in Melbourne for a measly 18 hours, I can actually check out the Alannah Hill clearence outlet, which should prove very daunting for my credit card. I can also head to Dymocks and find some real reading material as the selection in Dubai is virtually non-existant. The crew however, range from very boring to downright crazy. On the DXB-SIN sector, the acting SFS (who's actually first class crew, and got shunted back into economy when the SFS didn't rock up for work) spent most of the time with cart linen wrapped around his large waist, as well as a napkin tied around his head, talking in pirate talk. He kept all this on even when passengers needed to pass through the galley. Methinks he needs to lay off coffee, red cordial, dexies and any other simulant for the next 2 years. He was a downright lunatic - I was scared :-( There's this other guy who's working his second operational flight, very excited he's going to Australia for the very first time. But he's boring as batshit. I ask him a question, for example, "Were was your first operational flight to?" and before long he's going on about training, his home town, his family, his favorite type of music etc without me uttering another word. I just hope he stays away from me or I might fall asleep during a conversation. Right, I'm gonna stop my bitching there. I have another 3 hours until my breakfast - banana pancakes with maple syrup and whipped cream with bcon on the side. Mmmmmm. Soooo excited about it. 0 comments Sunday, July 02, 2006
Hey guys, nothing overtly new to report. I've just caught this god awful cold, which meant that I had to call in sick for my airport standby. I have standby 4 in a couple of hours (11pm to 11am - yuck!) and I think I'm well enough to operate should I get called. It'll be worth it should I get called out to do an Osaka or Rome, Paris or Athens.The last few days have also seen my new roommate make herself at home. She's a sweet girl, nothing like Bridgette and I like her lots already. Most nights she's out with her mates though, which is cool by me. I just ordered another BBQ Beef Bento from Sumo Sushi, and am very hungry. I hope they turn up soon. In the meantime, I'm gonna put up a couple of photos of Dubai which I've taken at random times. Gives you an idea as to the type of architecture Dubai is capable of. Here's the Dusit Dubai hotel, which in my opinion is one of the prettiest buildings in Dubai. It's also on the street that I live on and I can see it from my room :-)
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Inside the Notre Dame Cathedral. It's a lot grander and more beautiful than can be represented in the picture. And I didn't see Quasimodo anywhere. 
Taken from inside the Louvre, this shows the bridge and the building of the Ministry of Justice in the background. 
