Wednesday, March 19, 2008

I'm currently working my reserve month - many days not knowing where you're flying to, even more spent sitting on your arse doing nothing in Dubai getting very bored. So when I got pulled out for a Lagos, despite what I had heard about the place, I was just happy to be out of the sandpit for a while. Plus it's a pretty lucrative flight - one of the best allowances in the company, and if you get duty free you can make an absolute killing.

So I got to CBC, collected my allowance, and tried to sign in for the flight. Wasn't working - OK maybe it was to do with me being on standby, but I went to the desk anyways. They told me I was taken off the Lagos, and I was going to Shanghai instead. I was a bit annoyed, partly because it was an almost $60 US drop in allowance, it was an incredibly demanding flight, and I'd already been there before.

To be honest, the last time I'd done a Shanghai flight, I was in economy, and the one thing that stuck in my mind was seing my collegue Freya picking up a used sanitary napkin someone had dumped in the aisle. But this time around in business things were alright. Everyone was pleasant, crew were easy to get along with, and the timing of the flight was such that I could actually go into the city for a change and sightsee. But I guess judging from the low amount of photos I actually took before calling it quits to fatigue, I barely did any of this.

The famed Oriental Pearl tower.

The Jin Mao tower, the 7th largest tower in the world, standing in front of the Shanghai World Financial centre, set to be the 3rd tallest skyscraper in the world once it's finished construction.

Apartment complex that somehow seemed out of the ordinary compared to other types of Chinese housing.

Statue of outside the Shanghai Science and Technology Museum. Would never find this type of architecture in Perth for sure...

Saw this whilst on the bus back to the hotel. Kinda got freaked out, especially as I was the only passenger on board. I guess though it's a good thing the driver keeps it wrapped up, hehe.

BTW, following my standby-freakout in my previous post, I was pulled out for a flight quite early (45 minutes notice as well!) so I mercifully did not have to put up with a powerless apartment for too long. When I heard I was going to Sao Paulo, Brasil, it was a mad rush just to get everything packed, and then trying to leave room for all the Havaianas I was sure to buy. So silly me ended up forgetting my shampoo, conditioner (which was fine I could just use the hotel's), my mobile phone charger and my camera. So no photos of Brasil for you guys unfortunately.

Had the most amazing lunch though. The Portugese crew took most of us out to this Churrascuria place, and I don't think I have eaten so much meat before. They have this diagram of a cow with the different cuts of beef on it, you point to the cut you want and they bring it to you. And even when you're chewing through one slice, they still come up to you offering more beef, chicken, lamb, offal, pork and rabbit. I don't even know why I went to the salad bar to be honest - was a waste of time and stomach space... It was very cheap too - around 60dh/$18 AUD all you can eat. Will definately be going there again next time I'm in Sao Paulo.

Labels: Airline Stuff, Layovers, Work

Posted by Melissa at 12:39 am

13 comments

Labels: Random Thoughts

Labels: Homesick, Layovers, Random Thoughts

Hey guys just to give you all an update

• Currently have the internet down in my apartment at the moment - has been out for 3 weeks. Apparently some fishing boat dropped an anchor on the cables in the gulf or something along those lines, so for a while internet in the UAE was a bit dodgy. Most of it has been restored but mine's still lagging which is soooo frustrating.
• This month is my reserve month, so I have no idea where I'm going. If it's anything like the last reserve period it'll be just heaps of time for me being paid to watch DVD's. I have Scrubs seasons 2-5 to chew through though.
• Flatmate number 5 has moved in. Flatmate number 4 ended up being a rejoiner, who had already paid rent on a place in Umm Suqeim months in advance. She didn't really move in, just used the bedroom for storage space. Then got a place in company accomodation in the Garhoud area, so she left which was a shame. Number 5 is really nice, an abinito from Melbourne, but I'm finding it hard to cook for her as she doesn't eat pasta.
• Finally got my US visa, so hopefully I can do a few flights to New York before August when the equipment changes to the Airbus 380. The company has asked us all to apply for the jumbo, but I have absolutely no desire to operate it. Main reason being it doesn't go to Perth, and with my mother's health deteriorating I like the current rostering I have of approximately one Perth per month. Plus with the exception of Houston and Toronto, there isn't a place it plans to go that I haven't already been to.
• Just before my leave I was on the 4 day Milan layover, which was just beautiful. Went to Florence, San Giminiano, Sienna and Pisa. Hopefully I can be on the net long enough to upload the photos.

That's all for now guys. Hopefully I get the net soon so I can update more and upload stuff :-)

Labels: Random Thoughts