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
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Okay, so woke up today and saw a comment alerting me to this: Yes, this very blog made it onto the Tabloid pages of Gulf News. In the same newspaper section that has articles about R&B singer Monica, TomKat, Lindsey Lohan and other paparazi fodder. Well, not really, it has a 'blogosphere' section. Regardless of where it is, it is certainly in there and I'm breaking out in sweats. When I first started this blog, I did so with the purest of intentions, just a place to post photos from layovers to show my mates back in Australia. Then when I realised how few people were actually reading it, I joined the UAE community hoping SOMEONE would read it. Someone did - Gautam, and it was he who pointed out the kind mention. (Thanks BTW) My airline are a great employer, I am having an absolute blast here. I love the fact that I get to fly everywhere, from Tehran to Tunis, and get paid for it. I love the fact that it has no union. I love the uniform. After 9 months I'm still in the honeymoon period. But please, don't make me become the next Ellen Simonetti. In Australia, Free Speech is exactly that - free speech. A prominent Muslim cleric can make comments comparing scantily-clad women to uncovered meat. Yes, he'll cop some flak for it, but he won't face legal action. In Dubai I'm not so sure what 'free-speech' is, or how free it is here. It's pretty socially advanced compared to other cities in the region though. Now I actually have to post something intelligent. And spellcheck them. And reference everything. I feel like I'm writing university assignments all over again... Just for the record, the post it's refering to is from someone posting on www.airlinecrew.net, refering to a passenger on an airline based in the states. At our airline we love all our passengers :-) 9 comments Friday, October 27, 2006
.jpg) There's this cafe in Dubai, which is almost an institution amongst the crew. The food it serves is soooooo good, and was one of the few places that opened during the Ramadan fast. It's also very very cheap, and came second in the Best Cafe category in the Time Out Dubai awards (it came second to Lime Tree cafe, which although good, doesn't serve any dishes al a carte - not cool in my book). So when Ash asked me to accompany her to lunch, I naturally agreed.
My lunch, which I couldn't help eating before taking a photo of it. This is the NZ lamb cutlets with tomato puree and pesto on good ol' mash. So yummy. 5 comments Thursday, October 26, 2006
Yes guys, read this and see what passengers we have to deal with - and know that flying first class does not always mean you're flying with quality passengers. From www.airlinecrew.net -"Well--let's try the 70ish mother with her 40 year old unmarried son who brought along her teddy bear collection. The whole gang of them were seated in FC, 1A and B. The woman asked me to clean off other people's used dessert dishes, while she dawdled over her food. Turns out she was planning to hold a "Tea Party" for her teddy bears! She told me each bear's name and history, as she divided up her food for the bears. Each bear was named after someone she loves or hates in her life, and she rewarded or punished them accordingly. When mom went to the lav, I very cautiously and respectfully asked her son about the mom's behavior. He laughed it off, and said ,"That's just the way Mom is." Mom later came into the galley to tell me about her hatred for her ex-husband, her son's ADD.....all sorts of stream of consciousness things. I was relieved when she went back to the Teddy Bear Tea Party....which I was only allowed to dismantle once the coats were passed out and we were about to land!!! SOOO--after that, when a FC pax took out his father's ashes from the overhead and asked me to pour a glass of Jack Daniel's on the rocks for Dad (pax and his wife were on the way to Dad's memorial service)...that didn't seem nuts at all!! It was charming (somehow) to serve Dad his favorite drink!" 0 comments Hello everyone, I hope you're all doing well. There's not much to report from my end of the globe unfortunately, aside from having done another Perth. The flight itself was very pleasent. The flight there was packed to the brim, people were very lucky to get two seats to themselves. (I know that a lot of travellers think this is a god given right - to score two seats whilst only paying for one). On the way back it was quite empty, and there were a few comments from passengers - "I didn't know this was a nursery!" - regarding the number of kids on board. There was a woman travelling by herself who had 3 very small kids and one on the way, and at one point all the Economy crew had a child in their arms to mind while the parent was in the loo. In Perth I didn't get up to much, just my fair share of grocery shopping. (Brett, who's went to my high school and works at the crew hotel, was even shocked at how many boxes of Cheezels I came back with). I also went and spent some time with mum, saw her eating lunch and what not. One of her Thai friends she used to see in temple is at the same hospital, so she speaks Thai to her which is good, but she kept on speaking Thai to me, and it took a while for her to register that I only speak English. Unfortunately, I don't have any photos. I would like to take some, just to have a record on the blog as to what I'm missing back home. Oh well. I'll be back on Saturday, and I hope all of you stay well in the meantime. I also hope I get to see more of you guys this time around :-) 1 comments Saturday, October 21, 2006
Having known quite a few graduates from Scotch, it doesn't surprise me in the slightest that this has happened...PRINCIPAL ACTS AFTER STUDENTS HIRE STRIPPER By Paige Taylor October 21, 2006 01:48am THE principal of one of Perth's most exclusive schools has summoned parents to a meeting "of critical importance" following reports of booze-fuelled public sex romps, weekend drug binges and boys employing a stripper whose act involves the use of vegetables. "Recent events have prompted a number of parents to approach me about initiating a discussion among parents due to the seriousness of some of the activities that have occurred," Scotch College headmaster Reverend Andrew Syme wrote in a letter sent this week to the parents of each Year 11 boy. ********* UPDATE - The Butchershop and Grill They don't know when to give up do they? "Hi :-) i though many time before i send u this message,but yesterday when i saw u i didnt know what happened to me...maybe its ur beauty,ur charme or ur magic?..but i wonder if i can have anothr chance with u,so if its ok u may only send msn,and if its no dont send anything ans belive me i will never ever call you again..." (Normally being the camwhore I usually am I would take a photograph of the mobile with this message, but alas I keep getting huge black lines across the screen which is of no use in blogging.) Just to emphasise things one last time... When I go to a restaurant, I go there to EAT. I do not go there to get picked up, or cracked on to. If I go alone, it is for a very good reason.
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Friday, October 20, 2006
Hello guys, hope you're all doing well. Missing everyone at home dearly. Since the last 3 flights I've done have been to KL, I've decided to cram the trips into the one post lah!Malaysia (Truly Asia) Okay, after doing 3 KL's, I'm very much looking forward to doing a Perth, if only for the variety. Every single meal I had outside of the hotel was pretty substadard. Weather was humid, but I'd go to the pool and it would be too windy. On the bright side, everything was cheap!!! Meals I could eat for 12 Ringgit ($5 AUD) including softies, Shoes were selling for as cheap as 35 Ringgit ($16 AUD) and so on. Make up was cheaper than Dubai Duty free. I left there with over 200 Ringgit left to spare, all of which will be put to god use on my Perth layover. The crew on most flights were pretty great. There was this girl, Yasmin, whe was on my Korea flight and on the first KL, so it was good to at least fly with someone I knew and to ask them about what to do etc. There was this guy on my last flight though, a Brazilian guy, who had a lot of people try to guess his sexuality. Just in general chats with him I found out he's obsessed with musicals, esp. Sound of Music, and studied acting at college. He also likes to preen and purse his lips in the galley mirrors when he thinks no one's looking, and has his hair spiked up like Jimmy Neutron. Even had one male pax ask if he was single. So... one of the male crew just flat out asked him, turns out he's straight. Could've fooled me...
Sunday, October 15, 2006
Okay, whilst I do love a good landing with a view of the city I'm landing in, this is far to close too the water for my liking. This is at St Maarten, at Princess Julianna Airport in the Carribean, and it can accomodate Boeing 747-400 and 757-200! REALLY glad we don't fly there, esp since a ditching doesn't have a good survival rate. And a short update on what's been happening -
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Hi guys! Hope you're all doing well. I just came back from South Korea this morning pretty tired. I had intended to go to Aussie Legends pub and watch the AFL Grand final live (which was shown about 8am local time), but woke up around 1pm lying on top of my mobile thinking how on earth it got there from the floor.Korea was very nice, abeit not as nice as Japan, but still has that far east charm I love so much. Two things that you notice that do get to you however, is that it's very smoggy and the traffic jams are horrendous. Not a place to live if you drive and you have high blood pressure. The flight itself was pretty good, very busy. I was one of only 4 crew on board who weren't Korean or Arab. The Purser was pretty nice, but he was a hard-arse on one of the Korean Crew. It was kinda her fault though, there were questions in the briefing she should have known, and after getting the location of the First Aid Kit wrong she ended up getting assessed on the flight. So... here's some photos I took. There's not too many though, so I hope you all enjoy them anyway.  The tour guide outside the map of Changdeok Palace
 The building that was the King's Study area
The tour guide in traditional Korean clothes
The tour group I hung out with in Seoul, taken on Insadong street markets
 Anyone for fish??? Looks tasty doesn't it? Next up is a Kuala Lumpur flight, then anothr KL, then another KL, and then 2 Perth flights! Woohoo! Whilst I'm kinda shitty with scheduling's lack of variety this month, I'm glad that it isnt my time for a Lagos flight, and that I've been spared a turnaround for the 4th month in a row! Also, just wanted to wish Florence, this really cool chick at PCEC congratulations - she just gave birth toa baby girl! All the best to her and all the other PCEC crew I miss so much. Will be seeeing you all soon! 0 comments |
The complex mOre is in
"I miss you"? Huh?
Changdeok Palace, which houses the ruling area of the Korean Royal Family
The living quarters of the King and Queen of South Korea
The Throne of the King
The gates to the Changdeok Palace
Namdaemun market. Anything you can think of you need (and other things that you don't) is sold here, for the cheapest price around. You name it and you can get it.