First Layover - Singapore

HELLOOOO SINGAPORE!
We arrived late into the night after another, what's that? Delay? Yes.
Thankful that my luggage arrived safe and sound, albeit a little beat up, come on I'm crew now people, take care of my case! I'm not some worthless passenger anymore!
I ended up having a jerk of an SFS (Senior Flight Steward) on board who was the type of guy I've dealt with my whole life. The one who says feel free to ask any questions and then when you do he snaps at you and emotional abuses you. It's really fantastic. Then he put me in charge of the entire galley, this is my six flight here people, and third operational, I am not ready to have the entire galley under my command. I'm lucky if I find the sugar in the compartments at times and now I have to organize and cook everyones special meals! Gluten free, No beef, Child meal, Low Fat, Low Cal, Seafood, Vegetarian, Strict Vegetarian, Asian Vegetarian...the list goes on! Here's some biscuits and shut up! Haha! Anyways, I did okay, the girls helped me out and covered for me most of the time but he kept tapping his foot at me and telling me I am taking too long while sweat is pouring down my face. As soon as he left the galley the girls all came to help and said what a jerk he is for treating you this way and this shouldn't be happening, ask us if you need anything just ignore him. So I did. I ignored him to the highest degree. What an idiot.
Never mind coming home for a visit, I am moving back soon. I really thought there were going to be different kinds of people here, sure they are different but they are still jerks all the same, in Canada or in Dubai it doesn't seem to matter much.
Okay how about some pictures now, just so you know I did in fact enjoy myself and let the problems slide off my back!

 After we arrived at the Carlton Hotel Singapore a couple of girls and myself ventured out into the city at around 11PM to a place called the Night Garden, all of the plants and paths are lit up, it was really cool! You could see it from ages away because of all the pretty lights! 

That boat shaped building with three pillars holding it up is a hotel, I don't remember the name but it's really famous and the boat shaped top part is a giant pool area!

 All of the green is vegetation growing up and around this huge tree fashioned structure. It's branches went into the sky and were made of giant pipes. 

 The Singapore Skyline at Night with the Ferris Wheel I believe is called "The Fortune Wheel" or something like that? It has observatory decks just like the London Eye.

 Those tree structures with the vegetation are lit up in blue in this picture and we were very far away on a bridge as this point so you can tell how huge they were. There are two other giant white structures next to the blue trees and one of them is a Cloud Forest and the other is a butterfly Observatory. I wish the place had been open for us to go see them!

 Another shot from the same bridge of just the tree structures lit up! If you look close you can see a blue track circling some of the trees, it was called they Skywalk and you could go a couple hundred feet in the air and walk from tree structure to tree structure taking in all the city views! Too bad that' wasn't open either! Boo Hiss.

 Here's that fancy hotel up close. It's massive!

 Highway at night by the river. The lanes are even numbered like a race track, very peculiar! Also every sign is in english and they speak very good english, I didn't expect that! 

 Fish Spa!! I'm the one with the pink toe nail polish and the scrunched up feet because I was nervous what the fish would do! The silver polish is Alex from Poland.

 It's basically this open aquarium with benches all around the tank and you just sit down, relax (if you can) and pop your feet in! They wash and sanitize your feet before and after the pedicure! 

 They had different tanks of fish in the aquariums, these were baby ones and the water was warmer, plus these ones were nicer and didn't bite as hard. Haha! 

 I know it's crazy, but when in Rome! However please note I was in Singapore not Rome, and they get fish pedicures all the time...okay. And yes, they look at you.

 This was the first Singapore looking thing I saw, so I had to get a picture with it!

 We walked past a bunch of really pretty flowering plants on our way to the mall and when we looked closer we realized they were covered in butterflies! Take that night garden, no admission paid! It was orange, black and white, similar to a Monarch but it didn't have as big of eyes on it's wings like a Monarch does, they were a smaller circle eyes.

 Oh Marche Bistro and Bar, I will miss thee! Thank you for your insanely fresh and incredibly delis grub! I can't wait to return! This was a savoury crepe that was stuffed fill with vegetables and grilled balsamic chicken and it came with this light delightful yogurt mint dip! The water was another story! Finally free water (you pay in Dubai because they can't offer tap water so you always have to pay for bottled water) but this wasn't any old free water, they had infused their lovely tap water with cucumber, orange and mint! It was better than any drink you could order! 

Alex - ordered a duck, spring onion, tomatoe and hoison sauce pizza. We thought it would be a tiny pizza. They brought it out on one of those huge brick oven paddles! They used scissors to cut the pieces instead of a knife too! It was sooooo good!!

Half of it is in a take away box in Alex's rooms waiting for snack time onboard the flight home!

 Marche - I love you.

 I love you, I really do!

 What say you set up shop in Dubai and I will come eat there religiously and keep your business afloat?

 Took a side trip to check out Fairmont Singapore. Fairmont Macdonald is still the best.

By far.

 There was an art gallery next to the Fairmont so I popped in for a look. They had porcelain pigs decked out in Swarovski crystals in the pattern of camouflage. Classy pigs! Their sparkle was literally blinding! 

 A couple of other pieces.

 A walk down Peacock Alley took me to Godiva chocolate where I fully intended to end my evening out exploring on my own with a chocolate or two however their selection was rubbish so I walked away. Such a shame.

 Two Pink Birds - Outside the Carlton Hotel Singapore

 Blown Glass from Italy, they had lily pads, dragonflies and butterflies! 

 The blown glass centrepiece on the ceiling of the Carlton Hotel.

 Gorgeous!!

That's all for now! I better go hop in the shower, jump into my uniform and get ready for another duty on the way home. Here I come red eye.

Leanna xo

P.S I am a celebrity. I am on random peoples cameras with my uniform on. Loads of people wanted pictures with me on my way to Singapore and in Singapore. 

Roster Day!

It's about time for an update huh?
I had from August 21st-24th off, I did a lot of sleeping, shopping and fixing.
We received a new fridge a few days ago, and it's been lovely! You don't realize how much you depend on your kitchen appliances until one breaks! Especially the fridge, I was living on Ritz Crackers the last four days, which wasn't a big deal because I gave myself food poisoning testing the waters with the half frozen, half thawed food in the fridge. Horrible, terrible idea.
Lesson learned!
I had my first rostered flight last evening August 25th to Kuwait, just a quickie turn around in the evening. I left home at 1PM and my flight was set to leave at 4:15PM until we were notified of an aircraft reconfiguration and suddenly I went from studying the last two hours on Airbus to suddenly being safe talk quizzed on a Boeing 777. Sweet! That and we were delayed at HQ for 45 min. Even better! Made the best of it because I had an old batch mate with me, so we had time to talk about the last few weeks and what each of us has been up to!
We ran the flight with our heads cut off, it was such a small window for service delivery and collection, I kind of like the thrill of beating the other girls down the aisle way back into the galley with either a full trolly or empty depending! My competitive side is lashing out like a monster these days. Perhaps that's good?
My next flight is August 27th another turn around however this time a red-eye to Jeddah Saudi Arabia leaving home at 6PM, flight departs at 9:15PM and we arrive back home at HQ at 4:40AM then tack on another 40 mins and I will be home and into bed. Just enough to switch my sleep arrangments back to days and nights. I'm staying up all tonight to prepare for the red-eye. Sleeping in the day, staying awake at night. It's a bizarre schedule! Surprising easy to adapt to however!
My next flight is August 30th, my first layover! We transit through Colombo, Sri Lanka and then spend 26 hours in Singapore! I get back September 2nd at 6AM which means both the flight there and back is a red-eye so chances are I will be doing more sleeping in the hotel than sightseeing because my sleeping schedule will be flipped! Boo Hiss!
Today was lovely! Got to spend the day with Melandi! First we headed into HQ to pick up our hobo pay checks (It'll get better I hope!!) then cash it and I proceeded to make my rounds to take care of some dirty business, yelling at the bank manager about taking a month to open my account, the account of which I still haven't received my debit card nor it's number, which as you know is ridiculous and completely unacceptable! That got her moving fast, finally!
Then onto the Medical Clinic to deal with as to why I haven't received a call from the nurse yet seeing as how I phoned on Wednesday to make my TB vaccine appointment and haven't heard anything back yet. That is a whole different story, one I would rather just deal with as it comes. The answer is no I still don't have an appointment and no they are all out of the TB vaccine. I was assured by the doctor that should I be rostered for a flight to a location that is a possibility to contract TB that I won't be offloaded, I proceeded to explain to him that I would offload myself should this situation arise. Is everyone half retarded here? Honestly...sometimes!
Then we headed to Marina Mall near our apartment for a little grocery shopping at our latest haunt Waitrose (it's a British grocery store) which has a lot of similar things from Canada including the one and only (get ready for this Nicole!) Arizona Tea Ginseng and Honey in the pretty glass bottle! It could have come in a box and I would have bought it! I've been nursing a cold the last few days as well since I fixed the AC which is my guess on the culprit so I've been downing various vitamins from Boots Pharmacy (another store straight from the UK) and loads of fruit and vegetable drinks - Orange and Carrot anyone?
Then we stopped for a quick treat at Shakespeare and Co. which is an incredibly sassy tea shop with the most divine pastries and decor! It was all up my alley, so we both settled on the strawberry cheesecake and hot chocolate - mind you this was also our lunch! Then we hoofed it home because more importantly today is our first month roster day announcement!
I have a full roster to report for all of September and it's AMAZING!
From the top!

September 1 - I will be coming home from my Singapore/Colombo Layover.
September 2 - Day Off
September 3 - Day Off
September 4 - Depart for a red-eye to CCJ (Kozhikode, India)
September 5 - Arrive home from the red-eye
September 6 - Layover in CPT (CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA!) - Great White Shark Cage Dive!
September 7 - 24 Hour Layover in Cape Town
September 8 - Arrive home from Layover
September 9 - Day Off
September 10 - Depart for a red-eye to CAI (Cairo, Egypt)
September 11 - Arrive home from the red-eye
September 12 - Layover in DME (MOSCOW, RUSSIA!!!!) - I cried I was so thrilled!
September 13 - 26 Hour Layover in Moscow
September 14 - Arrive home from Layover
September 15 - Day Off
September 16 - Day Off
September 17 - Layover in DME (MOSCOW, RUSSIA AGAIN!!!!) - I was jumping up and down!
September 18 - 26 Hour Layover in Moscow
September 19 - Arrive home from Layover
September 20 - Depart for red-eye to KHI (Karachi, Pakistan)
September 21 - Arrive home from red-eye
September 22 - Day Off
September 23 - Day Off
September 24 - Day Off
September 25 - Depart for a red-eye to BOM (Mumbai, India)
September 26 - Arrive home from red-eye
September 27 - Depart for a red-eye to DOH (Doha, Qatar)
September 28 - Arrive home from red-eye
September 29 - Layover in BHX (BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND!)
September 30 - 24 Hour Layover in Birmingham
October 1 - Arrive home from Layover

And that's an entire months roster! Pretty incredible! I am over the moon with all of my layovers! It makes all the tough red-eyes well worth it for sure! I had wished every night for a layover in Moscow at some point during my time here and then on my first roster I received two! I must have done or said something right to be this lucky!
I'm sorry there hasn't been an update in awhile, I have been doing a little covert planning of my own for coming home as well as Mum and Dad's big 12/12/12 birthdays coming up in December! It's not for sure yet, but we are all so excited! The plan is for the three of us to go visit the Queen for a wonderful full week together, yes London! I've been searching out some of the most creative ideas, I'm looking forward to finally showing my parents a taste of my divine lifestyle and passion! Each day we can't wait to talk about new ideas and findings, that in itself is the best adventure! We are all super stoked on this!
Keep you updated of course!

Leanna xo

P.S Please place your Singapore, Cape Town, Moscow and Birmingham Orders Early in order to receive shipment for Christmas! *wink*
P.P.S I found a couple of photos from my last day at training college in Service below on my camera!

 Take a close look, this isn't real. It's a wall in the simulator! It was convincing for even us! Also, this was after a three hour service final exam so please forgive the bits of extra shine on my pretty face!

Proper Photo - Batch 2052 Last Day Together

Get Your Goofy On - Batch 2052 Last Day Together

Breaking Point

Freezing point. Boiling Point.
Our fridge broke, two days ago and we just discovered it last evening after all the things had thawed beyond repair in the freezer and into mush in the fridge.
Fabulous!
I want to go back to the happy times: the cockpit times: with oreo cookies, smiles and rainbows.
You haven't been truly frustrated until you have dealt with a foreign maintenance and security company.
I was told six times that it would be okay. They seemed to be under the magical influence that all the food in the fridge would come back to life and we could all smile and be friends again. I chased the first guy out for telling me that by switching the freezer to low then in ten minutes turn it back to high that everything would work out and the freezer would begin to work properly again. What an idiot.
Spent the better part of my evening off dealing with throwing out meat in the freezer before it started to smell, and trying to contact someone to fix the situation. I was told by the building maintenance staff that someone wouldn't be able to come until Thursday. Such service!
I guess the damsel in distress bit doesn't fly here?
Either way, having to head into HQ tomorrow (they know me by name now) to deal with this and a few other bits I have been adding to my list the last few days since my last visit!
1. Mailbox Number
2. Vaccination for TB
3. Leave
4. Face Card - Discount card for being an Emirates employee
5. GCAA license update
6. Fridge/Stove/I'm going to burn my apartment down if something else breaks or craps out

Is anyone coming to visit my glamourous lifestyle soon?

Leanna xo
P.S I fixed the Air Conditioner in my room and unclogged the sink, call me handy! 

Red Eye's Indeed!

I was eating Oreo cookies in the Cockpit at 4AM, I love my life.
A red eye flight is a very different experience, one I don't know if I will ever fully get used to. Everyone is like walking zombies, it's a miracle I didn't fall asleep standing up or drop anything on the passengers in the aisles. Now I understand how Auto-Pilot works..you are doing all the same motions I did from my previous flight but without knowing it. I am handing out meal trays and when I am back in the galley I wake up and realize where I am and have to check the cart to ensure that what I thought I was doing I actually did!
I had another wonderful flight, it was extremely difficult for me to stay awake but I did for the most part until I was in my jump seat in the Cockpit preparing for landing back into DXB and then I crashed. Thank goodness I had the loveliest flight deck crew again - David and Tim. David had the pleasure of getting me back awake and placing my hat on my head so I could be sent out to bid farewell to the passengers. The cabin crew all congratulated me on a successful journey and said how surprised they were at how well I had done both with the service and staying awake for everything!
My safe talk question was: "Leanna - How will you contact the flight deck in an emergency?" This answer I spit out because it was so wonderfully easy - "Release the handset and press PRIO CAPT"
And just like that two briefings and safe talks done! Ta Da! I was in briefing room 1 this time and I was all alone at check in, I didn't have any batch mates with me like on my Iran flight.
It was a longer flight to Bangalore India so it wasn't nearly as rushy, we even had time to sit down and snack a little if you were hungry. The crew is constantly drinking water and munching on fruits or veggies. I did a beverage/bar cart on my own and did pretty brilliantly, I didn't ask for help once, nor did I spill anything or mess up a drink! Then I double ended a meal cart and clearance cart again, so I am really getting my hands dirty for my first operational flight when they will be expecting more of me. I got home this morning at 10AM and went to sleep immediately but not before calling Evita to check if there were any changes to my roster and sure enough I was reporting for duty the next evening again as per the message.
You have been informed of a duty change - MED Saudi Arabia Flight 6807 Departing August 20th at 1:15AM and arriving back to DXB at 8:15AM. Equipment type is a Boeing 777. Receiving this message confirms your compliance. Thank you. Goodbye.
So I will stay on the same time of being awake at night and sleeping during the day to prepare for my "now" first operational! This flight snuck up on me because I was thinking since I already received two SUP flights I would have the next two days free but they must love me, so back to work I go!

Second Red Eye:
What a horrible experience. Everything and everyone was rushy and disorganized. I was able to stay awake the whole flight with no problem since I had prepared two nights previous to my flight but I was disappointed with the outcome of my experience. I was given operation of a door (L4) that is the fourth door down on the left side of the plane (port side) It was stressful at best. People do some of the strangest things, they touch the lever and lean on the door, they unbuckle their seat belts and begin walking around as we are taking off and landing, they ask for six different drinks and then can't fit their meal tray anywhere near them. It was a very frustrating experience. I tried my best to stay positive and smiley, but a lot of the crews behaviour was really getting me down. The passengers were testing me ten fold, I had to be commanding with people on my very first operational flight, something I didn't expect. But when they are that daft to get up during take off, I mean come on! I will yell at you so loud the entire flight can see how foolish you are. I am glad it's over now, and I hope I never have another experience like this. My fingers are crossed, otherwise I will be home much sooner than expected.

I have the next four days off until my weeks roster begins with a flight to Kuwait, Jeddah and finally my first layover in Singapore! I will still be checking Evita like a crack addict because I am so nervous that she will assign me a flight on my days off (which is IMPOSSIBLE!) but I am still scared it will happen and I will miss a flight.

Leanna xo
P.S It's almost payday! :)

Rollercoaster

Update time! It's been a very busy past few days!
The last two days of service training flew by with more mock up flights and another 100% on assessments and practicals and a final review and feedback presenting me with another Advanced Status in Service! Who knew!
Then two days off on Tuesday and Wednesday to prepare for our SUP flights.
Phoned Evita in the morning (She's the automated voice system that gives us updates on our scheduled rosters and any changes) and she reported my very first flight was going to be to Tehran, Iran. A quick turn around, leaving DXB (Dubai) at 6:45PM and arriving back home to DXB at 12:15AM.
The morning of my first flight I slept in, had a late breakfast and then went to the gym to work off a little stress for the coming days experiences. Packed some snacks, hopped in the shower and donned the famous uniform. Triple checked all my necessary documents and walked out the door to board the bus to headquarters.
I studied hard on the way there for my aircraft type: Boeing 777 and had 45 mins to spare at the terminal when I arrived before check in (I wanted to be early). Then the time came when the light flashed on the status board that it was time to proceed through security and into the briefing room.
Card scan, finger print scan, another card scan, bag scan, body scan and down a long hallway to briefing room #24. The room was surprisingly full when I arrived, almost all the chairs were taken. I put on my friendliest face and pretended like this wasn't my first time here. I managed to fool a couple of people sitting nearest me. (Yippy!) Until the time came when we horse shoed around the table introductions and then I was caught out. Everyone clapped and said how excited they were for us and that we were going to have a lot of fun on this flight, they would make sure of it! My face showed excitement but my hands were sweating like crazy and I couldn't concentrate, all I could think was when they were going to ask me the big question pertaining to anything we have just learned over the last two months and expect me to give a perfect answer. I was so nervous. The Purser (Martina) saved me for last and just when I thought I had gotten away with it and I didn't have to answer a question I suddenly heard my name and she was looking up at me.
"Leanna - Where are the emergency evacuation command switches on the aircraft?" Immediately the correct answer popped into my head but I fought it thinking that it must be a more difficult answer, it was too easy. So I sidled off saying "L1...." But she stopped me quickly and prompted me with "Which doors would we evacuate from the aircraft type B777-200?" I stopped dead in my tracks, theres a big difference between a B777-200 and B777-300.
I immediately reverted back to my original first thought and said "All doors and the Cockpit." Confidently I smiled at her and she smiled back and everyone clapped. It felt like a giant weight was lifted off my shoulders, first briefing and safe talk completed! It wasn't quite as hard as I imagined it would be but it's still very nerve wracking! It helped that when everyone else around the table was asked their question, some also needed prompting and thankfully I knew all the answers to their questions. I do know the information, I just second guess myself far too often.
I did have the pleasure of meeting the Duty Manager as well during my briefing to pass along some new information he had regarding my GCAA license.
Now comes the roller coaster story..
My entire group (four batches) received our GCAA license (we signed them back when we collected our first pay checks, passports back and the uniform collection day, remember?) on the last day of training college Monday and I realized that surprise I had a restriction on my license that I had to be wearing contact lenses and have a spare pair of glasses in my cabin bag at all times. I don't wear contact lenses so where had this come from that now suddenly I was being ordered to wear them as per my flying license?
My two days off, when I should have been relaxing and enjoying/celebrating my success I was at headquarters for 10 hours dealing with the GCAA license issue. Having had to convince three doctors and the GCAA that in fact NO I do not wear contact lenses, nor have I said I wore them at any point previous to my employment or during my employment with the company and that I do not wear them now. Checking into my profile they discovered that when I did my eye test on the medical clinic day during my induction week in Dubai that my eye sight is of acceptable standards for both Emirates and the GCAA, which I already knew. Duh. They decided it would cost me 200DHS to get it removed from my license. Fine. It's a lot cheaper and less painful direction then getting contacts and a brand new pair of emirates standard glasses at $400CAD a pair. Ridiculous. I love surprises. Honestly, I do, just not from Emirates. Ever.
Their surprises give me heart attacks and jeopardize my career here. Their surprises end up being very expensive and time consuming. Not my idea of a surprise.
So back to the duty manager, all the information had to be passed around from department to department from my Cabin Crew Manager to ensure that everyone was understanding that my GCAA license I was operating under for my SUP flights contained a mistake that is no longer valid and I will be issued a new one within the next few days. He was just confirming that everything was going to go smoothly for my flights and that I shouldn't have any trouble with any management to try and off load me from the flight for not operating correctly according to my license. (It's all so serious here!)
I was glad that this issue is almost being put to rest, I am excited to have my new license soon with NO restrictions on it! Thank goodness!
Back to the flight now..
So we left the briefing room, took an elevator to the basement floor of Headquarters and boarded a bus that was meant just for our crew going to our aircraft. It winded around going up and up to the light and the tarmac level of the airport. We drove around aircrafts and watched them land and take off, talk about taking the scenic route! It was incredible. Then we pulled up next to our Boeing 777 standing alone on the tarmac ready to be loaded with crew and passengers. The aircraft became a flurry of activity. Every nook and cranny was being eyeballed and the galley was being set up and the ovens turned on early since it was a short flight we were trying to gain some extra time.
It all looked so exciting, so I just jumped right in. I saw one girl putting out headsets so I grabbed a handful and helped her, then I went back to the galley and started setting a big silver tray with toys for the kids on our flight, while two girls danced around me with cups of boiling water getting the hot lemon towels ready to be handed out during boarding. Everyone was organizing their bags, jackets, shoes and vests into the side compartments of the plane and locking them.
Before I knew it passengers were coming down the aisle towards me (I didn't even have my hat on yet, it was so crazy busy) So I dashed around the back of the plane to retrieve it, placed it on my head and gracefully pranced back out to my station to assist passengers finding their seats and stowing their luggage. I got another good work out!
It was so fun, you just stand and smile (Two things I am very good at!) open your hands towards them and do a lot of gesturing to locations. A little old lady kept wanting to hold my hand and tell me I looked like her favourite granddaughter but as lovely as it was I was holding up the line up of people behind me in the aisle so I promised to come back and visit with her after. Before I knew it again, the plane was full to the brim, it was the strangest thing not sitting in a seat on the plane with the others. Then I got the call, it was time to enter the cockpit and take my jump seat there. I was nearly dying of excitement! I will never forget the lessons the Captain and First Officer taught me. They let me touch buttons on the auto pilot and talk into the mic through the headset. After my SUP flights I will never see this again in my life. I asked to take photos but they said they would just end up blurry since it was night and the lights were dimmed so they could see and plus it was a security issue. Didn't hurt to ask!
I served the Captain his dinner, it looked incredible just for the record. It was served on real ware, not plastic! He had little mini bottles of fancy dressing for his chicken salad and what looked like a raspberry cheesecake with white chocolate drizzle. My dinner was chicken and rice in the back galley, dreaming of the fancy salad. Haha!
I was surprised by how much Auto-Pilot actually does during the flight. Even during taxi, I was sure that the pilots were steering the plane onto the runway..no..that's auto pilot, the Captain and First Officer aren't touching anything, they are busy filling out checklists and talking to Ground Control. Even during take off the Captain is only assisting Auto-Pilot, he does have the power to over ride it but he is just ensure it does everything correctly. Only during Landing do they disengage Auto-Pilot completely. So yes the Captain lands the plane all on his own! And my Captain did the loveliest landings! It's a totally different story being in the Cockpit, everything happens so quickly, all of a sudden we are taking off and then landing, being in the back as a passenger it all seems like things take forever! As soon as the plane was levelled out at 39,000 Feet the Captain turned around and said we were free to go. So one at a time we have to check through the peephole into the cabin, twice, then whip the door open and slam it quickly behind you. Going into the Cockpit takes practice. You have to check all the little compartments and the lavatory in the hallway leading to the Cockpit door in a sequence ensure that no one is hiding anywhere. Either knock on the Cockpit door or press the code in (Sorry it's a secret!) and then keeping your back to the lavatory door behind you and your left shoulder against the Cockpit door still keeping your eyes looking down the hallway to the cabin wait for the Captain to see you on the camera outside and then activate the door open, if at anytime the situation changes the door must never be opened, if all is clear after the buzz sounds you swing the door half open, rush forward and slam it behind you. I loved being in the Cockpit, it's the safest place! Bullet, bomb and anything else people can come up with proof! Plus the jump seats have fur on them in there! Oh la la!
Exiting the Cockpit I rushed down the aisles to help with the meal service that was the quickest marathon I have ever witnessed! I double-ended a meal cart with another girl and I handed out trays and drinks while she handed out the hot meals behind me. When I ran out of trays to hand out I left her to finish her side and went back to the galley to get the other trolly's ready to go out as well as the coffee and tea trays to make their way down the aisles as soon as the meal carts are cleared. It's all a very intricate dance that happens. I can't explain it better than that. I then helped with the meal clearance cart with the same girl and we killed it! Then it was time to head back to the Cockpit for landing into Iran. Landing is by far my favourite part. You feel like you are suspended in the air when the thrust is slowed down just above the city and immediately the Captain centres the aircraft to line it up to the runway filled entirely with little yellow lights, it looked like Christmas lights but way more incredible, there were millions, perhaps trillions of them! Just an alleyway of lights leading us in. The ground control and auto pilot are all counting down to the ground and buttons are being pushes and levers are flying forward and back, their hands are a flurry of activity doing everything that needs to be done to land the plane safely. The First Officer is counting down the speed and then suddenly we touch down and you get thrown forward against your four point harness in the jump seat as the Auto-Pilot and Captain engage the braking and steering systems. Auto-Pilot taxis us into the terminal gate and as soon as the plane comes to a stop, head sets get ripped off, harnesses are release and the Captain and First Officer are all smiles and hand shakes on a job well done (For real, it's adorable!) and they shake our hands too. (Probably in thanks that you kept quiet and didn't throw up!)
We had an hour before boarding began for our journey back to DXB. So the SFS (They are one step below the Purser) had me practice opening and closing the door with nothing below the plane, just 7 meters down solid concrete tarmac. The door was much more heavier than it was in training college and it's a lot more crazy opening a real door in a real life situation and on top of that there is nothing below to catch me or protect me, just a bad fall and a lot of broken bones most likely. Then it was time for a quick dinner in the back galley! I put some cookies in my pocket to munch on when we were back in the Cockpit for take off. Everything was repeated again on the way back, I had time to hand out toys this time to the children and that was really fun! Then I did the meal cart and clearance cart again and back to the Cockpit for landing into DXB. Back in the Cockpit, the Captain and Auto-Pilot were lining the aircraft up to the runway and all around us in the darkest of darkness you could see all these little twinkling lights, what looks like stars, they were in fact other aircrafts surrounding us. This was my favourite part of the entire experience. We saw a plane pass us as well right over top, you could see everything! I was hoping I could see the whole city lit up in lights during landing but it was awfully sandy and so I could only see the lights of the Burj Kalifa. :( Oh well, maybe on my next flight tonight?
Yes tonight.
My flight departs at 9:45PM and arrives back into DXB at 6:45AM it's a red eye to Bangalore, India on an Airbus 330 I believe? So more studying this afternoon but for a totally different aircraft. I don't know how people do this, switching from aircraft to aircraft!
So wish me luck again this evening!
I loved my cabin crew and flight crew on the first flight, it was so much fun and unfortunately there wasn't enough time for pranks to be pulled, perhaps tonight?! Oh I hope so! I love a good laugh!
That's all the news I have for now.
I can't believe this is my life and I get paid for it.

Leanna xo
P.S There's kittens for sale on the Carrefore bulletin board! 

Simply Epic

I feel like a pile of 100 dollar bills sitting on top of a cherry cheesecake.
Chalk my score card up to 3 - 100% exam marks over the last three weeks.
I am doing better at this than I even expected for myself. I love everything about this career. So far..
Today we had a mock up flight from DXB - DOH (Doha) it's a crazy short flight, 50 mins to be exact which leaves us 10 mins for service between push off, securing the cabin, take off, re-securing the cabin, decent and landing. The magnitude of serving 320 passengers in the Economy cabin ALONE in 10 mins is incredibly daunting to say the very least.
So two more days next week, Sunday and Monday and then it's all over folks.
I only have one more Bar Practical to complete and then two more mock up flights until the real thing is upon me.
I can't believe it. Time really did fly by.
I am also very thankful the weekend has arrived, it's been a long sleepless week. I've probably had less than 19 hours of sleep in the last 5 days. Every night was a late night no matter what I promised myself, I always ended up finding something else to read over "just one more time" before bed. Clearly it paid off, I also did a lot of standing up at the back of the class this week to avoid falling asleep during the lessons as well but you pick your battles. No alarm bells tomorrow morning, I plan to sleep the entire 48 hours this weekend (ha), I wish. I've got studying and homework to do, not to mention house chores and fitting in a little R&R by the pool! Let you know how it goes!

In other news, I need to find myself a new bandana. A killer one, I don't know what yet, but I am determined to find one.
Why the bandana you ask?
Check it:

I'm dying of excitement! I am so exhausted from this week and as soon as I saw this, I felt like well..like a pile of 100 dollar bills sitting on top of a cherry cheesecake. I bet you the whole pile of bills they are going to do "Little Girls Pointing and Laughing" and I will die. I haven't heard it live in almost 8 years. If I do nothing else this year, I must see this show. Nothing will get in my way. I'm going to be a little adventurous with it as well, since I have a license to fly, why not use it? Brazil, Australia, come on! I feel like my old self all of a sudden with the butterflies in my stomach at the thought of seeing their final performance. These guys have shaped such a large part of my life, I can't imagine where I would be without them.

Another awesome event:
Cancer Bats are playing across Europe in the month of January! I should be able to request certain flights on specific days by then, so that's going to be incredible! I'm thinking Barcelona and Berlin shows!

I could make a real habit out of this career! Shopping and seeing shows around the world! :)
Sigh!

Leanna xo
P.S I deserve a spa day.

Best News!

Guess who has internet?

Untitled

To start off, it's been a difficult past few days.
Last week where I left off, the next day was Nujoum Day and I am sad to say it wasn't at all what I had built it up to be in my head, it was quite disappointing. And that is where we shall leave that.
The next day was my first day of Service Training, the last program in my training leaving me a week and two days before I graduate. It was a long hard day. I wished it was already the weekend so we could rest instead of being pilled high with E-Learnings and the impossible task of getting through an entire workbook AND homework. I spent five hours on Friday at HQ to finish up 10 E-Learning Modules and then studying and did homework the rest of the day as well as all day and night Saturday. I didn't really have a weekend.
Sunday always comes too soon. Cue my first full week of Service Training.
It's been pretty awesome the farther I get into the course, it was a hard transition period at the beginning but I made it through. We had our first exam on Service yesterday morning and I studied hard all night until the wee hours to achieve another 100% well earned I took last night off to relax finally!
Tonight is a jumble mess of a quick trip to the grocery store for some lunch items and water (always running out of water here, you'd think I was in the desert or something?) then I have a lot of lessons to go over before tomorrow's first mock up exercise where we do a full service bit, starting from pre flight checks of equipment and the galley then we do an afternoon tea, bar beverage and clean up service on a  flight to LHR. It's going to be incredible! I am so excited!
I have gotten a ton of feedback from my trainers and it's nothing but lovely things so I am very confident that I can bang this one out of the park too (my fingers are crossed for another advanced status in Service but I know that's asking for pretty well the impossible since I am so new to this topic) but I will do my best!
I have a couple of photos to share since the posts have been a little sparse since last week. Surely you understand. I could use a little encouragement people! :)
Enjoy!

 This is from Nujoum Day outside the training college where I go each day, the building behind me is Building A and yes it's designed to look like an aircraft, with wings and everything and it's an office building.

 Just goofing around with a miniature of the airport.

 I did a little redecorating on Friday when I got home from HQ since I was tired of learning and wanted to do something fun! I bought the pillows and a new duvet cover. 

 New Living Room set up! Previously it was located in the bat cave where the TV set up is now.

 Bat Cave. TV is coming this weekend! Then sleepovers and movie nights with the girls!

The walls are so dull, I can't wait to get some photography or art portraits to cheer them up a touch!

Leanna xo
P.S There's a new bulletin on the cork board in my apartment building from someone selling a claw foot bathtub. Looks like a winner.