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 
|
Latest Updates
Saturday, March 03, 2012
So the first time I was in Cape Town, it was the final of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. I was pulled out from Standby and operating as a Business Class crew. It wasn't my favorite trip, as not only was the flight hard work, but everywhere in Cape Town showing the game was fully booked out, so there was a few hours of walking between all the restaurants in the Waterfront area just to have something to eat and watch the game. I was rostered the Cape Town again in February, and I was determined to make this trip count. Or at least get *some* photos unlike my first trip. When you travel between the airport and the city, it's hard to miss Table Mountain. Not having a lot of time, we chose the easy option to ascend, and at 8.30am were were on our way to the cable car base station.  Moustafa, from Algeria. He was on one of his first layovers, and pretty stoked.  Taking the car up. These are the old cable cars before the current ones were fitten in 1997. The current ones are great - the base rotates, so if you're facing any window you just hold your camera to the glass and in a few moments you'll get the window opening - open just long enough to get a shot. View from the base of Table Mountain  Everyone crowded inside the cable car  Note to self - make sure you get a crew who knows how to use a camera (and flash) before getting photo taken. Nice view though.    Stunning views of Cape Town city from Table Mountain. Now it is at this point that my camera decides to sh*t itself - the back light for the digital viewfinder is no longer working. I have a manual one but it is in Dubai - I'm basically shooting all this gorgeous scenery blind/from the hip. I curse myself for becoming so reliant on the viewfinder, but what to do. The camera is in the repair shop now...  Cabin crew getting their poses right.  Must have some proof I was there!  And here we have Table Bay and Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela was held for 18 years during Apartheid.  Surface rocks of Table Mountain  Vera from Serbia, and Irina from Moldova. We set up everyone's camera on a level rock, then set the timer. Once everyone set the timers for the maximum time, we'd run to where they were. There were about 7 cameras set, and we all ran, but mine was the only one not to get the whole group in. Shame.  Lizard sun baking in the gorgeous weather.  View from the cable car heading back down again. Labels: Layovers 7 commentsSaturday, January 07, 2012
I love my Paris trips. If I'm not catching up with Ben, then I'm either shopping at Galleries Lafayette, having a browse at Collete to see what the hipsters of Paris are into, or just taking a short stroll around the Tulleries for some fresh air. It's one of these layovers that, unless the city is closed down for, say, Christmas, then I always make the epic journey from the hotel to the city for a few hours. It's worth the money. I can't mentally cope well trying to save on allowance eating pot noodles in my room when I'm in Paris.One of the downsides to having a layover in a renowned 'world city' is that the traffic can be unreliable, and so the airline has us stay in a hotel at the airport, rather than where the action is. Well not *at* the airport, we're housed in a hotel in a village called Roissy, about 5 minutes from the airport, and it seems this is a specific hotel village, as there are some 30 hotels alone staying in Roissy. Not many stand alone restaurants in walking distance, but lots of warehouses and single storey office buildings. Horrible to go running as there is no clear footpath. To get to the city we have a few options. The hotel has a shuttle bus service where you pay 5 Euros each way to go to the city and back. Which would be nice if the timing was better - the trip from the city back to the hotel has us arrive after our wake up call - so that isn't an option. There's a shuttle bus from the hotel to the airport, after which you can either take the Roissybus to the city, or take the RER train and then the metro to the city. I usually take the last option (RER & metro), as you very rarely wait more than 8 minutes for a RER train, and you rarely wait more than 4 minutes for the next train to appear on the Metro line. I like to have complete control over when I arrive and when I leave Paris, particularly when it can mean the difference to getting a few hours of sleep before pick up, and not even making it to your pick up on time. So just the other day I had my Paris layover. Got to catch up with Ben. Got to do a little bit of sightseeing. Even managed to do a bit of shopping. When it came to making the trek back to the hotel from the Bourse I was well and truly shattered. I didn't really pay much attention to where I was standing or seated, once I got on the RER Blue line I was in my own little world. So at one point (at Aulnay-sous-Bois I think) I looked above me to figure out how far there was to go on the journey, and saw this...  The metro map, with seemingly fresh blood stains. Was I shocked? Just a little. Was I surprised? Not at all. Most of the Parisian crew that we fly with are more than willing to tell you that both the RER Blue and the RER Green lines are some of the most unsafe lines you can possibly take in the city. Most of them take either a taxi or get family and friends to transport them around the city during their layover. The rest of us are left with the dodgy RER train. It made me wonder, especially since it was so high in the carriage, what on earth happened? Nothing that I could see around me was stained, so it had been cleaned since I had boarded. Was someone punched? Stabbed? Shot? Suffering from a projectile nose bleed? I think I might take the Roissybus from now on... Labels: Airline Stuff, Layovers 7 commentsMonday, October 17, 2011
I thought I was lucky at the time. Only 5 days after launch of the route, I was rostered to operate Copenhagen. It was to be the highlight of what was an undesirable roster – no where I bid for, 3 turns, the 5 days off before my leave that I requested were not granted, wheras others in my bid group who were less senior than I was were granted the days off they requested. I was going to be missing out on the Reykjavik marathon, and I wasn’t happy.I guess the first problems were that it was overbooked in Economy, so with an originally empty First Class this was expected to fill up quite fast. We arrived at the aircraft to discover that we were catered 8 out of a possible 12, but the ground dispatcher told us to be expecting a full house. As the galley operator for the flight, this is quite frustrating, since the catering personnel has to load the new catering by hand, and on the Airbus 330 there isn’t a lot of room left in the chillers for the dine-on-demand top up. Maybe back when we bought the aircraft and it was a scheduled full service the galley was useable, but with both breakfast and lunch for dine-on-demand it is just unworkable with a full cabin. When everyone boarded, we saw that about half of the passengers were upgrades, and the other half staff. Pilots, to be specific. When staff travel they’re not permitted to use the lounges in the terminal, so almost all of them will eat on the plane. The upgrades would have all had J/C lounge access, but after finding out they had First Class boarding cards, they ordered what they were not normally entitled to otherwise, such as the caviar and the Dom Peringnon. I take a lot of pride in serving our caviar – but the plating is extremely problematic and chews up a good 10 minutes of a single crew’s time just to make the plate look first class standard. Every single passenger ordered the caviar, some ordered seconds, 6 did so at the same time, and it really felt like I was working at McDonalds, but instead of compiling burgers I was plating caviar worth almost 100 USD a tin. The service just didn’t stop. The only time I had to sit down was in the cockpit waiting for the pilots to get their tray table out whilst I held their meals. We didn’t have time to eat, we didn’t have time to pee. It was probably the hardest I’ve worked in First Class in the last 2 years. After the flight had finally ended, all I wanted to do was just lie in bed with the duvet over my head and emerge only for the wake up. But then I thought, at the very least, I should shop for groceries , so I went to the nearest supermarket. On the way back I saw some bicycles parked outside the hotel available for hire, thought ‘I may as well’ then went for a bike ride around Copenhagen. I was so pleased afterwards that I did, the fresh air really lifted my mood. I took a few photos, nearly crashed the bike a few times, but you’ll have to excuse me for the lack of photos and detailed labelling as I was still recovering from that spirit-defeating flight.  Church of Our Savior - Love the spiral on top. Christiansborg Palace  Central Train Station  Entrace to the Tivoli Gardens.  Copenhagen Town Hall & Square. At the time there was a fashion show being held inside as it was Fashion Week.  Kunstmuseum   Later on in the evening when I was on my way back to the hotel on the hire bike I saw a massive gathering of people along the Kalvebod Brygge - What seemed like almost 1000 people donned their roller blades and roller skates, and with boomboxes in hand went for a sunset skate. Very cool. Labels: Airline Stuff, Galley Gossip, Layovers, Work 6 commentsTuesday, August 02, 2011
So I was fortunate enough to be rostered the 2 day Hong Kong on my July Roster. I knew that the trip wouldn't last for very long as the Airbus 380 fleet were bound to take over the remaining flights in the near future so I made sure that during a high bid month that I would bid for HK. To be honest, back when I was working in the Business Cabin, after being rostered 5 Hong Kongs in 2 months I was kind of sick of the trip, and the fact that the crew hotel had been moved from a great location in Causeway Bay to an Airport hotel made it even less attractive to me. But my friend Paul told me a wonderful thing - Hong Kong was notorious for housing the world's cheapest Michelin-starred restaurant. A tiny place called Tim Ho Wan on some back street in Mongkok, signage in Cantonese, a very modest place serving amazing Yum Cha. The queues outside had become almost as famous as the food - since it refused to take bookings, and refused to inflate the prices after being awarded the coveted star, it was not uncommon for lunchtime crowds to wait longer than 4 hours. So in an effort to avoid this, I turned up to Tim Ho Wan at 10.15am. The original plan was to arrive at 9.30am, but navigating through unfamiliar streets in Mongkok chewed up more time that I wanted it to. Even though I was there a good 2 hours before the lunchtime rush, the crowds had already gathered and after I received my queue number (#31) I was told I had an hour to wait. The last number called out was #4.  Waiting outside is in itself a show of resilience, there's no chairs or benches nearby - you had to stand, so the elderly were already going to find this challenging. A young couple couldn't cope anymore and rested on the seats of some nearby motorcycles, before one of the restaurant staff gave them a verbal smackdown in Cantonese. It was also incredibly hot and humid - you'd think that with living in Dubai I'd already be acclimatised to the conditions, but I still felt gross every time drops of sweat went down my back, or down my neck. The smart ones of the queue had wet wipes with them. And at some point some street workers got a massive hose out and sprayed the footpath outside the restaurant, spraying some grey gunk onto a few unlucky bystanders. But being the stubborn fool that I was, it was going to take something extreme, like a kitchen fire, to stop me having my cheap Yum Cha that day. There's a fierce looking woman outside whose job it is to keep the tables filled to the brim, to keep the turnover swift, and to make sure no one jumps to queue. To save time, the queue numbers are written on the top of the actual Yum Cha menu, so you can order your meal while you are waiting. I was in an even better position though, as since I was eating alone, I had my queue time cut by 20 minutes as they could fit me in on a table of 5. I was seated in the middle of 5 Cantonese speakers so I felt like a right loner, but it didn't matter - I skipped the queue!!! So after handing the waitress my queue slip/menu order I was served some pu-erh tea (which I later read was from China's Yunnan province) by the fierce-looking woman, which was super-cleansing and refreshing after 40 minutes of breathing in the Mongkok smog. In your mind it feels strange to be eating lunch at 11.15am, but your stomach knows what's coming, and despite also having breakfast that morning it wanted to be fed again. It didn't take long for the dishes to come thick and fast.  I ended up ordering only 5 dishes. I didn't want to over-indulge and finish my stay with a ton of leftover's I'd have to later lug around with me in Tsim Sa Tsui whilst shopping. I ordered the Har Jiao (Steamed Shrimp Dumplings), Steamed Spareribs with Black Bean Sauce, Char Siu Bau (Baked Bun with BBQ Pork), Stuffed Vermicelli Roll, and Steamed Pork Dumplings with Shrimp. I should also add that there's no drinks menu here, and you can't ask for the chef to do anything special for you (ie Vegetarian) since most of the dumplings are created before the restaurant opens - there's potentially hundreds of customers waiting outside for you to vacate your seat who are more than willing to eat from the menu as-is.  I don't know what to make of the food to be honest. I don't eat Yum Cha often, and whatever I've had here in Dubai has been so heavily altered for the Western/Arab tastes that I can't really tell the difference between excellent Yum Cha and rubbish Yum Cha. But I knew that above all I was there for the novelty factor, to eat at a Michelin-starred restaurant and knowing that I didn't have to go through the heartache of booking months in advance (which is pretty darn hard in this job) and pay through the nose. The prices, the restaurant and the staff were all unpretentious which I think was even more attractive to me than their food. It's a proper "Hong-Kong only" experience, that's for sure. The best part? The fierce lady handing me the bill after my meal. I only had to pay 82 Hong Kong Dollars, a mere $10.50 USD. Labels: Layovers 7 commentsThursday, July 14, 2011
So after being rostered a Melbourne-Auckland and a Kuala Lumpur-Melbourne for the end of June, I thought it was about time I did another My Perfect Layover post. I love Melbourne, aside from being born there it has a great vibe to it that even makes the Sydney, Brisbane and Perth mates I have want to move there. The weather is horrible though, constantly changing. So good luck if you're visiting and want to pack light. I had my Hunter Wellington boots on pretty much the entirety of my stay.First place I'm going to feature, and the one place I cannot miss out on in Melbourne above any other is Cumulus Inc.  I love this restaurant. I love how close it is to the hotel. I love the decor, the name and even the logo. And I especially love their breakfast. The baked eggs, also known as the shakshouka, make me happy. I cannot rave enough about this place. My only complaint is the price. And the chef's hat it now has means everyone is going to dine here. Oh well.  I think I've mentioned before that some of the best things I've ever bought have been at art gallery gift stores, and one supplier of these is Third Drawer Down. It's most notorious for the tea towels it sells, all of which you can get stretched over a frame ready for hanging.  The last item I bought from here was a thermos mug disguised as a Canon lens. Awesome no?  So just around the corner from Third Drawer Down and Arcadia is one of those places that for some reason I never plan to visit, but I always end up here for a muffin and a coffee.   Trust me guys, if you order only one thing from this cafe, make sure its a muffin. Last time I was here I grabbed myself a Coconut, Boysenberry and Chocolate muffin. I think the muffin batter was around the 20% mark, whereas the rest of the filling was the remaining 80%. It was full of flavour and so moist. A joy to snack on :-) So a short 5 minute walk later and you reach Brunswick Street, which is a great place to go if you don't know what to do for the day and don't mind window shopping. Everything can be found here - thrift stores, rug shops, restaurants, cafes, pubs, art stores, clothing shops, and everything you can think of. It also has Panelpop.  I've mentioned Panelpop on this blog before, and everytime I go there my eyes light up seeing the art they have on display, imagining how my apartment will soon take shape. Last time I was there I walked away with some Drew Funk graffiti artwork and a gorgeous Beth Emily piece, and I'm itching to go back to buy more.I only found Panelpop whilst walking towards Clear It, which is a factory outlet store. They mainly stock Alannah Hill clothes, which is my favorite Australian designer, and the first 3-4 times I was in Melbourne for work my sole mission of the layover was usually spent shopping here. Worth checking out anyway... Lygon Street is a must do when you're in Melbourne. Every cuisine imaginable is available, but the best stuff is the Greek, Italian and Turkish food. Thai, Indian and Chinese are in abundance as well, and all of it is reasonably priced, especially compared to the restaurants in the CBD and Southbank.  I wish I could just nail down one place for you guys that is just the epitome of awesome, but I really can't. There are so many hidden gems here, and you probably need about 2 weeks stay to dine at all the restaurants along here, there's bound to be something here for your tastes. I'm partial to the Italian food here though :-) So a short walk back to the city, and you'll find Flinders Street Station...  Nothing says Melbourne to me more than Flinders Street Station. The building is gorgeous, and is a flurry of activity at all times of the day and night. And it's just directly opposite from...  Federation Square. Personally I think Federation Square is worth seeing for the architecture alone - whether you love it or hate it, it is certainly eye-catching. It houses the tourism office in case you get lost, it houses the National Gallery of Victoria and has a bar called 'Transport' if you're at a loss as to what to do on a Tuesday night.So a short stroll from Fed Square and in 5 minutes you end up at the best cafe in the Melbourne CBD - Brother Babba Budan  Strange name aside, the CBD isn't really the place for amazing Melbourne coffee, but this place was recommended to me by another crew member, so I decided to check it out. It's very difficult to find without having the address beforehand, there's no sign outside the store. You just have to know... It's more catered to take-away orders as there is hardly any seating space, but the coffee is worth it. And the decor is pretty cool to boot. And for my last recommendation, just a short stroll north is the Queen Victoria Markets. If you do one thing at these markets, you simply have to get yourself a doughnut from this van.  The jam donuts from this van are freshly made, coated in the sugar and served warm, and are for sale for 6 for $6.00. I really had to restrain myself from buying 15 of them, but they were so good with the take away coffee from Brothers Babba Budan. The Market itself is well worth a browse, and I've lost track of what I've bought here - I visit so often. I'm currently in love with this jar of passionfruit butter I purchased from one of the fresh fruit and vegetable vendors. Definitely a place I recommend for anyone visiting for the first time. Images from here, here. EDIT - As per a wonderful suggestion from Sodwee, here is a map of all the locations. I don't know why I didn't think of doing this sooner... View My Perfect Day - Melbourne in a larger map Cumulus Inc - 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. Open Mon-Fri 7.00am-11.00pm, Sat-Sun 8.00am-11.00pm. Third Drawer Down - 93 George Street, Fitzroy. Open Tue-Wed 11.00am-5.00pm, Thu-Sat 11.00am-6.00pm Arcadia - 193 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy. Open Mon-Fri 8.00am-5.00pm, Sat-Sun 9.00am-5.00pm Panelpop - 117 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy. Clear It Factory Outlet - 188-192 Brunswick St Fitzroy. Open Mon–Thurs, Sat 10.00am – 6.00pm. Fri 10.00am – 7.00pm. Sun 11.00am - 6.00pm Lygon Street, Carlton. Various Hours Brothers Baba Budan. 359 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. Open Mon-Sat 7.00am-5.00pm Queen Victoria Market - Cnr of Elizabeth and Victoria Street, Melbourne. Open Tues and Thurs 6.00am to 2.00pm, Fri 6.00am to 5.00pm, Sat 6.00am to 3.00pm, Sun 9.00am to 4.00pm Labels: Layovers, My Perfect Day 9 commentsFriday, June 17, 2011
So when I received my May roster there was one flight I was dreading - and for a change it wasn't a red-eyed Hyderabad turnaround. I had on my roster a 24hr layover in Malta, which sounds like a paid holiday but considering it features both ways a stopover in Cyprus (LCA) it can be a very tiresome pairing. I hadn't done this flight since I was a Business Class crew member, and have only had memories of the flight being demanding, tiring, and the service never ending. It was so bad in fact that the last flight I did in the 2 class aircraft I volunteered to take on the Economy position, and in the Business Cabin the service was so short on time that when the Captain made his decent PA in the cabin the other Business Crew were still on their first round of the Dessert/Cheese/Fruit trolley, with both second round and clearence of the passengers to go - at least another 40 min from finishing.So onto my Malta flight this time around, and I was glad to see the service department whittle down the service to one more appropriate for the flight time, however it was still incredibly busy in First Class during the DXB-LCA sector. But once you land at the tiny airport and breathe in the fresh sea air, your mood totally changes. I missed the scenic drive to the hotel (I had zero sleep the night before) but I booked myself in for a night time bus tour and gave myself a few hours to power nap. I stocked up on my energy supplies first by dining on some Rabbit Stew.  I'd been strongly advised to try this by a freind of mine, and at first I loved it to bits, but after I was halfway through the dish I'd has enough, and found the stew far too strong for my pallate. So onto the tour! Everytime I'd been to Malta I would spend the layover out to dinner with the crew, or spend it on the beach topping up the tan, but I'd never spent the layover sightseeing properly. I went during sunset, so the light wasn't the best for photos (nor was the moving open-top bus!) but I tried my best. Here you go.   Gorgeous Promenade.  I wish the exterior of my apartment was this nice...  I don't know why I found this picture worthy. I just love the easy miniature petrol pumps!  Random anchored ship in the bay.   I think that's Valletta.   Too many boats.   My sleep-deprived brain didn't register what this building was. I think it was the National Parliament.  View from the alleged National Parliament.  Big Bell, blurry.  Church. Very Pretty! So at this stage we were able to explore the ancient city of Mdina, but as it was night time there were very few places open, so you were left to appreciate the architecture.  Entrance to Mdina (pronounced Em-Deena, apparently)  Spooked?      Just Gorgeous! The next morning was spent jogging, as I want to compete in a 10k event in August (though I'm still pussy-footing around with the registration as my attendance depends on days off from the airline) and it was probably the most beautiful run I've ever done. The scenery was just breathtaking.  Random statue  Yet again more boats.  This road is just begging for joggers to test it out.   I was told to take a photo of these buses before I left. In June they were being replaced by more clean and more environmentaly friendly buses. But these yellow buses were notorious for their iconic 'flair' each driver would use near the drivers area to personalise their bus.  I thought it was cute how they use empty bottles of Fabric Softener as buoys.  Paparazzi Restaurant, which gave me a full English Breakfast for 7 Euros. Just what I needed.I was absolutely shattered (and sleeping for the last 30 min) when the tour ended, but the morning run really lifted my mood and my opinion about the island. After landing back into Dubai I thought that it was a really great trip, not one that I would bid for, but should one pop up on my roster I'm not going to actively get rid of the trip. I can understand why it was the paid holiday all the other crew had made it out to be - Malta is just gorgeous! If only I had more time... 7 comments |
