So the past week and a half for me has been very hectic – first I had one of my best friends from Perth visit for two nights, and we managed to pack in a ton of stuff within the short stay that he had. Less than 24 hours after Paul left, my Dad arrived, and whilst it wasn’t a complete disaster like last time it still had its fair share of mishaps, including but not limited to...

• Mistaking the flight number he was arriving on, and not being at the airport to pick him up when he arrived. Worst thing was I was the one who booked his ticket :-( It took the generosity of a local lady to lend him her phone so he could call me, only to hear the whole “OMG Dad I’m so sorry I’m so f**king stupid I’ll be there right away OMG! OMG!” spiel.

• After insisting on sleeping on the couch cushions (last time I made him sleep in my bed, then he broke his nose and stained my 1000-thread count bed sheets with blood, so he felt kinda bad) he somehow managed to kick the coffee table in the middle of the night whilst asleep, so when I woke up I found blood stained tissues all over my living room. He didn’t want to wake me to ask where the bandaids and dettol were!

• I was originally rostered a Zurich and a Munich during his stay, and loads for both sectors were packed so I couldn’t take him with me. I had no trouble getting rid of the Zurich, swapping onto a Doha and Mumbai instead. The Munich flight was a pain to get rid of, I even offered up 300dh for someone to give me their turns instead. The best I could do was a Muscat and Beirut, but the girl said that she would only do the swap if I gave her my JFK at the end of the month. So what should happen? I approved the swap for the JFK, but then she swapped her Beirut with someone else, thus invalidating my request. I’m still very much seething about that one, so angry I was my hands were shaking. After a craze of texts and upping the money to 500dh some angel eventually took the Munich for their turns.

• The Doha I swapped onto was all going according to plan – passengers had boarded, we closed the doors on time. Then the dispatcher did something whilst in a fatigue haze that I won’t mention here, but will surely mean he’s looking for another job. As a result we had to switch aircrafts and I had to cancel Friday Brunch with my Dad, scrambling to finalise a booking for dinner without any access to restaurant numbers from the aircraft. 5 hr duty blew out to about 8 hours, and for a 45 min flight on both sectors this was not amusing.

• Arriving back home after the most enjoyable Mumbai I’ve ever done to find out that Etisalat had somehow come into my apartment and changed my landline phone number without my approval. Who the hell does that?

• On the flight back from Dubai we had Bollywood star Salman Khan seated in first class, who was pretty nice but he caused himself some problems by being the first to board the aircraft. Apparently the airbridge at the airport there can only reach the aircraft door in first class, so everyone had to board from there. Aside from being slow enough from boarding through one door only, it didn't help that every passenger was there to stop, stare, sat down next to him to chat and ask for autographs from Mr Khan. I suggested to him that maybe he should raise the privacy screens to avoid too much attention, and he was all "It's okay, I don't mind." Then someone from Economy stormed up to the front and with his mobile phone papped him, so he raised the screen and was buried in a blanket up until our decent into Dubai. He was very nice, and was happy to pose for photos with the first class crew. He asked me what time I left Dubai that day, and after I told him we had a 3.50am departure he said I had the most amazing energy he'd ever seen. I nearly swooned!

• The worst part of it all was trying to get my Dad back to Perth again. Twice we went to the airport, and despite the fact I was the most senior crew member listed for both Perth flights, he was denied boarding. Eventually we had to resort to purchasing a full fare Business Class ticket just to get him home.

As if things couldn’t get any worse – I operated a Hyderabad flight on Wednesday and on decent into Dubai I had trouble equalising my ears. It was strange because I hadn’t had a cold for at least 2-3 months, so I didn’t know why they’d be acting the way they did. At about 5000 feet they eventually pressurised, but afterwards I was VERY dizzy and had the most excruciating pain in my right ear. Went to the doctor who said I had Barotrauma and a bit of bleeding in the middle ear, and said I couldn’t fly for at least 3 days, but to expect the problem to clear in a few weeks. A FEW WEEKS!!! Nooooooo!

So crappiness aside, I did have a great time with both Dad and Paul, and one of the things I did with both of them was take them to the world famous Burj Al Arab. I hadn't been there before, despite living in Dubai for almost 5 years, so I was extremely excited to see what it was like and whether it lived up to the hype. The afternoon tea is the cheapest way you can gain access to this iconic building, and it's definately piqued my interest as to what the rooms are like. Will have to wait until next summer though to afford it.


The beautiful atrium, said to be the world's tallest (but isn't everything in this city?)


Only the best afternoon tea will do for my Dad.


Paul and I at the Sahn Eddar lounge.


Sandwiches and Scones. The passionfruit jam is absolutely amazing, it may even inspire me to make my own sometime!


The cappucino comes with a choice of Vahlrona chocolate or Gold dust on top, so I decided to go with the gold just to see what it was like. The cappucino didn't taste any different (Though dad was quick to quip that it tasted a lot like money...) and I kinda wished I had the chocolate dusting instead.

Now if only I can find a way to stay there on the cheap...

Labels: Around Dubai, Random Thoughts, Work

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