Live.Laugh.Love

If anyones wondering whether im still alive in this world; i am. Life threw me into an emotional roller coaster ride (as always no?) and truthfully i could not be in the mood to do anything much less write. Most of the time it was a mixed state of confusion, self loathing, conflicting complications, unnecessary self-induced stress and more confusion.

While it would be personally highly embarrassing and inappropriate to share with the public world what exactly it was about, i'll let you know how a dutch ex-actor yoga teacher snapped me out of it. If you didnt know already, i am especially fond of dutchies since my student exchange days 2 years back. Now all my dutch friends are polite joint smoking fun loving people; so meeting an ashram-going meditating yoga teacher was sorta out of the norm.

10minutes of conversation was all he needed to diagnose me with a disease of modern day denial of self happiness. Oh it was easily curable; just mix a slap in the face, a stab in the chest followed by the unstoppable flow of tears gushing out of the eyes (overdramatic of course; its just symbolic but you can imagine how it felt like).

C'est la vie. There's a reason why things are the way they are. You've got a great life; and even if you think its insignificant, you're making a real difference in people's lives. So why not just live in the moment instead of worrying about the future.

whisky whisky

i hate to be stereotypical but if there’s a flight that every crew just dreads doing; are those to india. don’t get me wrong, some passengers are the most beautiful ever but there’s always a few that just ruins the image. the thing is, a lot of them do not speak english. and as far as i know, the word “please” is not in their vocabulary. so the one-sided conversation is devoid of any manners like “please” or “thank you”. thus they always always come across as rude, brusque and plainly demanding.

they also love scotch whisky. i have a feeling they do not understand what they are drinking, but because they have found out that they are complimentary on flights, they take advantage of them as much as possible. of course they don’t only order 5 whiskies from a single crew, but from different crew hoping we don’t find out how much they’ve been drinking (we know, we keep a tab on you alcoholics). once the random stranger finds out what their neighbour is ordering, they ask for the same, even if they don’t know what it is. then comes this chain effect of everyone wanting to have a scotch each.

you see, the brand of scotch we have on board is famous grouse (its yummy, but i’d recommend the glenfiddich or hennessey  more). these people don’t know the name of it. they just know that on the bottle there's a picture of a chicken-looking-bird and its whisky. so they call it chicken whisky. imagine me trying to argue with them that there is no such dish as a whisky-infused chicken.

let me paint this picture for you; an unruly indian man in his 40s; obesely overweight who god-knows-what sort of health problems he has and can barely fit into his seat. he keeps ordering whiskies and half an hour later, he feels sick and completely threw up onto his dinner tray because he could not get out of his seat fast enough to head to the bathroom. this grown up man then feels really embarrassed because now pretty little ladies have to help clean up after him like a big baby.

 

seriously, if you cant hold your drink. don’t start. just because its free doesn’t mean you need to binge on it.

cute kids and dads

i meet lots of random people in flight. some are horrendous. but some just makes me just melt inside. over time i’d hope to share them with you. because stereotyping customers is hell-a entertaining.

its quite amazing how many single parents travel alone with their child. alot of them are going to a destination to be reunited with the other half, yet there are many who generally doesn’t have a partner and is raising their kid single-handedly.

there’s so many good looking dads lovingly taking care of their child in flight. these kids are usually very shy and reserved. but they warm up to you once they see you bringing toys around for them. :D ah they are so eff-ing cute i want to kidnap them!

the bucket list - skydiving

i crossed out one of the entries in my big list of things to do before i die.

its a long long list. and truthfully, this is one of the only achievable things at the moment. the idea first came upon me when my elder brother did one in sydney, and came again after watching flo rida’s ‘wild ones’ video. so when my housemate announced that she was leaving dubai; we decided that this was one thing that we needed to do before she left. so we booked ourselves 2 spots in skydive dubai for a tandem skydive.

from the very start things were just so quick that i barely had any time at all to process any feelings that came to me. once we signed in a guy on a cam started video-ing me as the intro, then my tandem skydiver strapped me up and began explaining what i should be doing during the jump. basically 2 things; smile and be a banana. meaning arch my body upways like a banana and do nothing like a banana.

next thing we know, we’re walking up towards this little propeller plane, my partner asking if i’m ready, my heart’s pumping like mad while i’m smiling to her saying yes lets do this. we climbed up to 13,000ft, her pointing to the view outside, but really who the fark leisurely enjoys the view when you know you’re jumping off the plane next.

oh my, crazy doesn’t even begin to describe how it felt. i just remember screaming and screaming and screaming the moment we jumped out. and after a few seconds of that i remembered i was being videotaped so i started to attempt some cool gesture shots. what an epic fail. freefalling makes its really really hard to move ANYTHING when you’re up in the air. i had to use every single little ounce of muscle i had to make a tiny effort of hand, arm or facial movements! it didn’t really feel like i was flying really, it felt more like a continuous fall that would never end.

it was really enjoyable for me. i was more excited during the entire experience more than afraid. lots of people naturally imagine what happens if the parachute doesn’t deploy, what if my tandem jumper faints in mid air (lol!). but seriously, they jump on an average of 8 times a day. if something does go wrong, that will be my fate then. HAHA.

after a few seconds of falling you get used to the feeling. and start enjoying the view, as if falling was so natural and you don’t think about it. at a certain height my tandem diver deploys the parachute and adjusts the straps to make us more comfortable.

then she pops a question; “you like roller coasters?”

me: “i love them!”

and she starts twirling us around like a little puppet. omg that beat any roller coasters i’ve ridden in my life. after a few seconds of intense g-force,squealing, laughing and god knows what, i had tears in my eyes and had to tell her to stop.

it was a perfect landing. =) no wobbly knees or fainting spells. more like a happy wide-eyed kid who just got out of the best ride of her life. the whole experience was so quick and mind-blowing i didn’t really feel much. nor had time to think about it.

it costs AED1750 / ~USD475 for a tandem dive including still photos and a video. in total the jump probably lasted only a couple of minutes but the whole experience took probably about 2 hours including waiting time.

if i had the chance, i’d definitely do it again. just maybe somewhere else =)

part of the job

i’m a flight attendant. i’m part of the cabin crew. i’m a freakin’ air hostess.

telling people what i do for a living still feels like the oddest thing to me. even though i’ve been doing this for at least 2 months now.

its a love-hate relationship with this job. i think i have a love-hate relationship with everything i do. architecture was a torture, but i can never stop missing the beauty of creation. working as a flight attendant has personally been very demeaning, but the perks has been fabulous.

let me list them down:

1) everything is provided for.

 

my apartment, my water bills, my electricity bills, my transport to work. i live with another malaysian and we both have our own bathrooms with a large bathtub. the apartment comes furnished, and my room is twice the size of what i had in melbourne. albeit a little old, but its so spacious i’m so grateful to be away from the tiny apartments in melbourne. also my apartment is right next to a metro station which means easy travel everywhere, at least 5 supermarkets surround me and being in bur dubai; its next to a very local community of textile traders.

because everything is provided for, we crew do save a lot of our salary. the only things we pay for are our food. shopping and entertainment will of course be on ourselves; and because of our weak currency i know a lot of crew who doesn’t save much at the end of the day as well.

2) the travel.

this was what i came here  for and its the best thing ever. the airline covers a lot of destinations; and being in the middle east is like being in the centre of the world. for each flight more than 4 hours, we get to stay at the destination we land in. usually for a good 24 hours. these are called layovers. Flights to the United States usually have layovers of 48 hours (2 days!). However, crew flying into the US require a special visa which i have yet to get, thus am kinda unhappy about the waiting.

At every layover they put us in a hotel. not dingy motels or backpackers. they’re usually 4 star hotels. most of the time these hotels are located in the centre of the city which makes it good location for sight seeing. some times its in the middle of nowhere but these are rare. then they give us ‘meal allowances’. meaning cash to keep us fed.

 

how can anyone not like this!? travelling. hotel paid for. food paid for (most of the time with excess money). we crew also get discounted tickets (up to 90% off) for ourselves, immediate families and extended family (meaning cousins and sister-in-laws) not only on the airline i’m working for, but on partner airlines as well! my brother pilots for malaysian airlines and i can say they aren’t as generous as this!

3) the extra time.

i work half the time i did back home (then again i was a workaholic) and am getting just as much. of the many things that came with the job, i’m appreciating this the most. i now go to the gym more often and get the time to spend on my hobbies more often. and since coming here, i’ve realised that i have ALOT OF HOBBIES.

there are many more little perks of being here. dubai, the parties, the free delivery, major discounts everywhere, but these are the extras.

4) easy work, easy money.

this job is like a joke. it really doesn’t require a lot of brains. everything is set out so the high company standards are met. you do this this and this. of course we need the skills to diffuse difficult situations like drunk passengers or medical cases but really, most of the responsibilities goes to the seniors. so my job becomes like a new social party every time i step onto the plane. i meet new people, learn about them, gossip about the crazy seniors and the crazy passengers. i don’t say i go to work like normal people do. i just say i have a flight to do.
 



now lets get to the not-so-great part.

1) i work like a slave.

its not a glamorous job. that view is so 1960s Pan Am era. we’re here primarily for safety and security reasons, but somehow along the way we have turned into waiters, waitresses, butlers or maids. personally, it is incredibly demeaning for me to be here doing this. i go back and forth bringing people their requested drinks. i have to fake a smile and be nice to rude and irritable passengers. i have to pick up the dirty trays after the meal service and push it strategically into the cart so everything fits well. when a call bell lights up, i have to be there right away to attend to whatever request there may be. i have to periodically check on the lavatories to make sure they’re clean (usually they’re not but i just spray some air freshener and that’s it. haha) god what did i get myself into.

so while all this is going on, i switch off. and think about the next destination. and fool around with the other crew at the back of the plane. haha

2) crazy crew, seniors and unrelenting management.

when i say crazy, i mean that they aren’t sound of mind. difficult passengers are nothing compared to these people. there are bullies, backstabbers, plain mean, racist, anything you can think of. whenever i encounter these people, i just go about doing my work quietly and shut my mouth. not only because i’m new and a junior, but more because they aren’t worth my time to retaliate. half of the time thinking what’s wrong with these people.

because the hierarchical structure is so prominent in the company, everything is so controlled. every word you say can be used against you. every little mistake you land you in trouble with the management. there is no leeway. there is no flexibility. which is such an irony with the core values of the company. from the very beginning, they brainwash you; we got to be flexible to attend to the customer needs, we got to be personal to bring the best customer service. oh yes we do all that, but we don’t get any back.

3) rostering and scheduling.

no we do not get a choice to where we get flights to. just take what is given. shut up and do your job. since i started i've flown to colombo 5 times, which can at times be much more than someone who's been in the same company for 3 whole years. we have no control on what destinations we go to or when we go. okay so we have annual leaves that we can request, but these are to be bid for half a year before. i cannot plan my future so far ahead! also like any other person working abroad, we miss out alot on our families lives; birthdays, first baby steps, anniversaries. and these are the most important things in life. just the fact of being there.


even with the good and the bad, i have to admit; things has been pretty entertaining so far. wait till i bitch about the passengers.

sri lanka pt.I

i’ve had 2 flights to colombo in sri lanka. From Dubai to Colombo, we do a transit stop to Malé in the Maldives, so you can imagine how many honeymooners there would be on board. Which is both lovely and disgusting as the same time when i’m trying to give them food yet they insist on displaying their affections in public. If gobbling up each other fills you up, don’t come back to me complaining you’re hungry.

Someone once told me to request a seat in the flight deck if we were ever flying over the maldives, so naturally when i had the opportunity to; i did. and it was mind-blowingly beautiful. i refrained from taking any photos (the flight crew aren’t supposed to allow me in in the first place) just so the pilots don’t get into trouble, but imagine seeing little islands dotted around clear blue sea with little brown chalets and a variety of white yachts.

photo credited to justpasteit

sunny all year round, unspoiled beaches and incredibly touristic; i can understand why newly wed couples would come here for their honeymoon to do nothing and make sweet lovin’ on the beach (there really is nothing else to do anyway).

on my airline we always strive to make someone’s day a little more special. hence on occasions when travel agencies actually informs us that they have honeymooners on board, we surprise them with a free cake with a big ‘congrats’ written on it and 2 glasses of champagne.



most of the time passengers turn up delighted from the little extra attention. however we had this one japanese couple that looked at us quietly unimpressed and said “but we’re not married”. then there was the few seconds of awkward silence between the couple and the crew.

before i replied; “you can have the cake anyway!”

okay so we landed in colombo airport which is actually almost an hour away from colombo city. we the crew get put into this lovely hotel in the tropics which is 5 minutes away from the airport. there’s nothing near the hotel but a main street, a couple of mini markets and fruit stalls, and the jungle…



yes it was naturally really beautiful tho. after putting up with so much of sand in dubai, i never realised how much i missed the greens until we touched down to be greeted with the lush green jungle. oh yea and the mozzies as well.

we landed during dinner time, and most of the crew decided to stay in for the night, wake up early (like 5am) to take a 2 hour bus ride to visit the elephant sanctuary and ride on elephants. Imagining waking up at 5am for a 4 hour return bus ride made me think twice if i really wanted to join them as i’ve already done some elephant riding in bangkok. So this male purser managed to convince me instead; “don’t bother with some stupid elephant ride, by the time you get back you’d be so tired and you have to do the flight. come with me and i’ll bring you somewhere fun and cheap”

so guess where he brings me to; a casino. now before you judge my senior for his destination of choice for my very first colombo layover, i have to admit, i did have a lot of fun. absolutely random but eye opening at the same time.

 

“ballys” and “balenciaga” were part of the same group of casinos in colombo. it wasn’t a huge one compared to the ones i’m accustomed to in melbourne or singapore, but they still had the normal tables of poker, roulette, pontoon, baccarat and more. however as long as you were a patron of the casino and you spend a little money on the tables, there’s a buffet table ready for you and unlimited drinks to be ordered. alcoholic or non. oh my how happy i was. there was a live band, free food, free drinks on the price of whatever you lost in the casino (or win as a matter of fact)

still early, the crowd has yet to arrive.

so we ate drank and won some money which paid for our taxi ride there. i was sooo glad to sleep in the next day, instead of waking up at some ungodly hour. i thought the hotel was pretty cute; as they had a yoga channel and a yoga mat in the wardrobe. so i woke up at midday, did an hour of good stretching and yoga before heading down for the breakfast buffet.

   



it seems like that’s what i’m living off right now; hotel breakfast buffets. anyways i did skip this one in colombo and ordered a lamprais/lampreys/lumprice from the alacarte menu instead.





so what is a lamprais? you may ask. i asked the same question after my new found hotel chef friends recommended me the dish. Its a very traditional sri lanakan meal where spiced rice is wrapped in a roasted banana leaf with sides of curries, vegetable masala and chutney. it had a boiled egg and fried mashed potato in a little ramekin on the side, but to my knowledge, some places don’t. the banana leaf-wrapped-meal is then baked in the oven allowing all the flavours and spices meld together. it was certainly very yummy and flavourful but its not something i would eat everyday as it can get a little dry. well worth a try though, if ever you’re in sri lanka or come across a sri lankan restaurant.



after lunch was just enjoying the green green jungle and some cheap grocery shopping; but that’s part two =)

st. petersburg pt.II

After a session of cam-whoring at the winter palace, we ran into the nearest restaurant for food. the meal was pathetic really. but what do you expect from a joint along the main street meant to attract tourists. however, we did try the russian beer; Baltika, and that was good.

as i waited for the restaurant’s bathroom, i did met the proprietor of the restaurant and his friend a street photographer. from first impression i was intimidated, because the owner looked like part of the russian mafia. instead they were friendly, and started speaking to me in russian. A lot of them don’t know english, so we were having a little trouble communicating to one another. when all fails we use sign language and gestures. i’m pretty sure we looked like dancing monkeys.

 

the photographer showed me his camera and collection of photos which were pretty rad. as i said bye he offered me one of his signed prints in exchange for a photo for him. of course i gladly obliged. how random. hahah.

 
baltika russian beer; the photo now sits on the corner of my dressing table right ;D

so now imagine 5 happy drunk crew making a ruckus in the middle of a foreign country. on a wednesday night. so we skipped hopped and sang in the middle of saint petersburg. then we came across an underground go-go bar! and of course we paid a visit to watch sexy (but not the most good looking) ladies dance on table tops!

so that was my first night and i got back to the hotel drunk and passed out on the bed without taking off my makeup. the next morning however i did manage to wake up really early (think 7am). i reckon i was probably just too excited being in Russia and wanted to explore. spoke to the concierge and found out nothing opens till 10am. what am i to do till 10am…

i found myself in Tepemok (Теремок), a fast food chain to try their blini. Blini is in plural. there's no such thing as blinis; and they are little Russian pancakes made of buckwheat flour.

the menu looks exactly like McDonalds and everything was horrendously in Russian. however when the waitress noticed me staring at the menu for a good 5 minutes, she whipped up an English menu beneath the counter for me. i went for the basic set meal; costing 280Rubles/USD9 which came with a cup of tea, borscht soup and a simple mushroom cream bliny. my it was yummy! Borscht is a traditional Russian soup filled with cabbage, minced meat and beetroot; hence the reddish color. The bliny isn't much different to a French crepe except it has a spongier texture having used a leavening agent. also the fact that the presentation is more of a dumbed-down meal compared to the French crepes. really, anything that has to do with french just has to be more sophisticated than the world.

i then took a stroll to the church of the saviour on spilled blood (Церковь Спаса на Крови). isnt that such a sadistic name. just saying the name gives me the chills. it’s built on the site where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated and the church it meant to be dedicated to his memory. while walking along the main street, it’s hard to miss the church as you’re crossing a certain bridge as its towering domes peek out between the promenade of buildings along the river. unless you’re staring into the ground while walking of course.

I’ve seen the beautifully marbled renaissance churches in rome, the tall intimidating gothic spires of the french and the rough masculine ones in england (not forgetting barcelona’s gaudiness); so this was a nice introduction to the elaborate mosaic tiled russian church. walking towards it, it was so picturesque it felt almost magical; like a page out of a fairy tale book.

of course i couldnt help but pay 300Rubles/USD10 for a ticket inside, and guess what. more mosaics. they really beautiful though. its not a very big church; it is however really overwhelming due to its tall spaces and detailed mosaics. church is open everyday except wednesdays; 1000-1900 during summer and 1100-1900 during winters.

okay hoo-haa; the visit to the church is done. time for more food and some souvenir shopping.

marhaba

i’ve landed in dubai 3 days ago. the first thing my employers did was to have escorts waiting for me at the arrival gate to guide me through customs, immigration and any other legality. man, i felt like such a big VIP being able to jump the queue and have someone handle these things for me. also, it is mandatory for everyone when they land for the first time, to go through a biometrics scan (for security reasons i’m guessing).

immigration officer: open your eyes please maam

me: *opens eyes*

IO: open them wider maam

me: *tries AS HARD AS POSSIBLE* that’s as big as it gets!

he had to repeat it 3 times; until i decided to use my fingers to pry my seedy eyes open. i’m asian dammit.

you make my smiles brighter each day

done as a print for a dear friend.

she's a dentist if you didn't guess already. and having her look into my teeth which i obviously do not take care enough of is odd.



we framed it up, and now sits on the wall of her practice. wonder if i made this into a print, if anyone would get it for their other dentist friends? ;D

mornings

lately i’ve been practising a technique to wake myself up in the mornings;

my cricket starts singing at 6am. you know that option in the iphone? makes me believe as if im waking up in the middle of a serene paddy field.

then i automatically go into my favourite half tortoise yoga pose. at this point i’m probably flashing my ass into the wall with my inadequate PJs.

tuck your arms in and you get into the self named rock pose.

where i proceed to fall into another nap in this unnatural position. 5 minutes later my legs start cramping. haha what a way to force myself to wake. time for work!

you make it happen

as the new year arrived, i’ve had alot of people go:

“oh another sad boring year”. or

“i dont believe in making new years resolutions”

=_= wtf. why so negative. its a fabulous new year, time to let go of the past, anything you’re unhappy about, set some new goals that you’d like to achieve and bloody stick to it. its true we don’t need this to be the only occasion for change, but is it not a chance for us to look back and see what we improve with ourselves?

anyways, heres my resolutions for the year to come. just so i’ll know in 365 days, if i achieve none of them, i deserve to receive one big slap on the face for failing myself.

1) LOVE MYSELF MORE

haha. how hard can this be right? its freaking not. im not talking about buying material things (i actually hardly do this. half of the time im shopping for family and friends; depriving myself of luxuries on the pretext that i really DO NOT NEED it), but more about taking care of my health, going to the gym more consistently, not stuffing myself silly with sugar, getting enough sleep, do things that i enjoy more often. you get the point.

2) BE MORE ANAL

im so messy its annoying. i vow to make up my bed every morning. i vow to clean up the plates RIGHT after i eat. but i also promise to not take myself too seriously.

3) CREATE.

i’ve got a whole list of things. just do it.

 

happy new years peeps.

HAPPY 2012!

i promise not to be a silly drunk on this new years eve.

but life is too good not to party.

end of year

wtf, another year is coming to an end. i’d probably say the same thing a year from now.

then again, from the way predictions say that the world will end next year, maybe i wont get the chance to. HAHA

 

two o eleven has been an emotional roller coaster for me. was forced spluttering from graduation into the work force, and the rejection from countless potential firms just made me doubt myself.  found reassurance from the unlikeliest sources, special people that make you realize how wonderful you are. started a career, found myself in limbo, discovered what it takes to be a good leader. close friends moved on, yet never found myself lonely. got lied to, stupid enough to feign oblivious, but never felt freer when the truth came out.

how cryptic. this year i’ve dabbled in so things that i have never done, loved it, and yet im back to where i was before.

 

here’s to another year. and more happy wrinkles around my eyes.

creature beanies

There’s this store in the shopping mall, that sold the cutest beanies ever in the shape of animals; only for AUD10. I wanted one so badly, until my best friend told me i looked like an idiot in one.

That’s what friends are for. They tell you the truth, especially if it hurts.

all i need is you

Happy valentines to all you lovebirds.

home sweet home

i’m back in my home country, malaysia for the holidays. Being the thrifty (or should i say; scrooge-like) me, budget airlines is always my preferred choice. The flight was packed, and it was the worst ever flight i had in my years of traveling. I should’ve taken the advice of my dad; not to save the 200bucks for a bigger seat instead of enduring 7 hours of pure torture.



I get mixed feelings everytime i come back to here. One is happy to once again see my family, my friends and my home that i grew up in. The other is sad; sad to see so much dishonesty, corruption and inequality that plagues my country so.



politics; is all about how well you can brainwash your people. that’s what propaganda does. and the easiest way to get people on your side is when they’re dumb and naive. Education here is a sham. They don’t actually teach you things, they just force feed you into memorizing things without asking why, and somehow this becomes a way of life here. politics is so depressing. i hate it so i choose to ignore it. so if i don’t choose to do anything about it, it will only stay the same.

On another note, the Malaysian news is like a huge drama show. An opposition leader charged with sodomizing a male aide, a mongolian model blew to bits with a C4 explosive (wtf isin’t that just sick), and a journalist cum political secretary who fell out of the window of the anti-corruption office. Isn't this even better than what screenwriters can think of.





I shouldn’t say more. As if i’m THAT politically informed.