The Dubai Diaries
My life as a flight attendant in the Middle East!

A Rickshaw Run in Dhaka

After a short and easy night flight I arrived once again in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

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The last time I was here was in August, and aside from eating and reading by the pool, I didn’t do a whole lot!

This time I wanted to at least get out of the hotel grounds, so myself and a few of the other crew arranged to meet in the afternoon. Our flight arrives early morning and the hotel keeps the breakfast buffet open for us so we can go and have free breakfast before checking in. Who can say no to free breakfast?!

After a few hours sleep I was ready to do a bit of exploring. Our first stop was a restaurant which our purser (who is from Dhaka) had recommended, not too far from the hotel. The minute we stepped out we were surrounded by people asking us for money and food, which made me feel slightly uncomfortable!

We all ordered some butter chicken and garlic naan, which was delicious but very spicy!

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Sokolniki Park, Moscow

On my recent layover to Moscow, myself and one of the other business class crew, Raluca, decided to get a bit of fresh air and explore the area. Our crew hotel has changed so I haven’t been around the area we stay in before, and we started the day off with a coffee at Starbucks in the mall opposite the hotel.

After a browse around the shops (and some very interesting Russian fashion!) we headed outside. Within a few minutes walk there was a beautiful park, which we later found out is called Sokolniki Park.

On the way we passed by a lovely church, painted in gorgeous turquoise blue colours. If the sky wasn’t going to be blue, at least the church could show us some colour!

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Marvellous Mauritius

I was lucky enough to finally be rostered another flight to Mauritius! It had been over a year since I last visited and I was so happy to get the chance to re-visit the beautiful island I fell in love with last time.

The flight was nice and easy, busy but not too long. After around 6 hours we arrived in MRU just as the sun was setting. It was already dark by the time we arrived at the hotel but I could still see the pool and ocean glistening from the lobby!

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The hotel does a great dinner buffet, so we sat down to some delicious Mauritian food and had a relaxing evening.

The hotel is actually more of a resort and some of the rooms are spread out pretty far, you can even get a lift on a golf buggy if the walk is too much for you!

My room had a beautiful view of the ocean and all the lovely palm trees. It was the best feeling waking up on the first day of my birthday month and being greeted by the sound of waves crashing and the breeze blowing through the trees!

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Rostering Around – October

My roster for October has just been published, and although it’s my 2nd top bid I didn’t really get anything I asked for! I think that’s because as well as having 5 days leave I’m also scheduled for my visa renewal. I can’t believe how quickly that’s come around, sometimes it feels like I’ve only just joined!

I’ll be starting the month off with my Mauritius flight, which technically was from my September roster.

Then comes my birthday, and as of yet I still have no plans! Next up is:

  • KHI (Karachi turnaround)
  • KWI (Kuwait turnaround)
  • MAN (Manchester layover)
  • Leave (5 days, plus a couple of days off either side)
  • DME (Moscow layover)
  • IKA (Tehran turnaround)
  • DAC (Dhaka layover)
  • Visa Renewal
  • Can-Use (this is basically stand-by, if my visa renewal takes longer I’ll be in Dubai, if not I’ll most likely get rostered a flight).

Now, funny story for those last 3 flights. I was actually rostered a San Fransisco flight, but I’m not a massive fan of US flights so I put it up on swap shop to see if anybody had any good offers.

However, during my flight to Singapore one of the guys was asking around if anybody had any days off (which I did, 5 in a row right after my leave) and was desperate to take them. I wouldn’t normally give away my days off (understandably) but he was offering 2500 DHS (which is equivalent to just over 600 Euros!!) if I took his flights. 😀 Turns out he has a rich boyfriend who is willing to pay for him to get rid of his flights…and who can resist that kind of money just to swap a couple of flights?! I think that’ll pay for my next holiday on my upcoming leave, haha!

So there you go, that’s my schedule for next month! I would love to get rid of my turnarounds at the beginning of the month and maybe see if I can swap that Manchester, so stay tuned to see where in the wold I end up!

P.s. Follow me on Instagram & Twitter for day-to-day updates of my travels! 🙂

A day in the life: Flying High

So I thought it might be fun to do another “day in the life” type of post, something a little bit different here on my blog.

I’m currently in Singapore, and since this flight is the freshest in my memory, I thought I’d write all about it! Who knows, maybe it won’t be as interesting as some of my other posts, but here goes!

The flight departure time is scheduled for 03:05, which means I need to check in 2 hours early, at 01:05 in the morning. Not ideal timing, but luckily I manage a few hours nap beforehand. Since I’ve literally just moved apartments, my things are all over the place and I’ve packed a random jumble of clothes and hope I have something that goes together for the layover!

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Once my make-up and hair are all done (over the past few months I’ve gradually started wearing less and less make-up on flights so this only takes me 20 mins max) and my uniform is ironed, I get on the crew bus which stops right outside my building. I arrive just as my e-gate is opening so don’t need to sit around, and can go straight to the briefing room.

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