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

Toronto tales

Right now I’ve just got back from a wonderful trip to Bangkok, and a post about that shall be coming very soon. First on the agenda however, is an update about my much-awaited trip to Toronto!
If only all had gone as brilliantly as planned….

So the flight out was non-stop, super hectic and very similar to my Seattle flight. After around 14 hours with just a 3 hour break in the bunks and not a single chance to sit down other than that (let alone to stop and eat!) we finally arrived in Canada! Once we got to the hotel it was evening time, so we made plans to meet up the next day for some sightseeing. I ordered room service and having never tried them before, I can now say sweet potato fries (chips) are the best thing ever!!

Bright and early the next day a few of us headed out to do some exploring. Our first stop was the St Lawrence Market, a short walk from our hotel.

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Yummy gingerbread latte to warm us up 🙂

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We browsed around and stopped for some breakfast as well. This market was actually named the world’s best food market by National Geographic in 2012! I would love to have a market like this in Dubai where everything looks so fresh and tasty! 

After breakfast (which was probably more like brunch by this time) and a free mini gingerbread latte from Starbucks we walked across town to find the Christmas market.

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As we arrived at the markets it started snowing! It didn’t settle unfortunately but it made everything feel so much more Christmassy 🙂
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Giant Christmas tree! 🙂Image

We browsed around the stalls and although none of us bought anything it was a lovely market. Our next stop was the CN Tower, which used to be (I believe) the tallest building in the world, until the good old Burj Khalifa came along! Trust Dubai to want to be bigger and better! 😉 

We got zoomed up to the 112th floor, and the view was of course beautiful. There was a little opening in the sky just over the water and we also watched a few planes take off from the small airport you can see from the window! 🙂ImageImageImageImageImage

Standing on the glass floor!

There’s also a glass floor at the top which is pretty scary! After spending a while admiring the view and taking plenty of pictures we headed back down. Our plan for the next day was to rent a car between 5 of us and drive to Niagara Falls, so we stopped by a couple of car rental places but none of them could get us a car until lunchtime, which would have been too late. As I’ve actually already been to Niagara Falls before I wasn’t that fussed about going again (especially not in the freezing cold!) so 3 of the girls booked a tour with the hotel which was a little more pricey but the only option after not being able to rent a car. After our quick pitstop at the hotel we decided to split up, and I headed out to the Eaton Centre, a massive shopping centre. By this time it was already starting to get dark outside and I did get a little lost trying to find it! 😀 Once I got there though I managed to get a fair bit of Christmas shopping done 🙂 ImageImageImage

Lots of Christmassy decorations inside the Eaton Centre 🙂

In the evening I walked back to the hotel and had a nice relaxing evening planning what to do the next day. If only that had happened…. I woke up super early not feeling well at all, and ended up getting worse and worse! I also got a message from one of the other girls asking if I had been ill, as she’d been up all night in the bathroom! We had eaten the exact same thing at the market so we were pretty sure it was food poisoning! 🙁 What a way to spend the only 3 day layover you’ve ever had…. 2 out of 3 days in bed! I called our medical emergency number and they sent a doctor to come and check and he confirmed that it was food poisoning, who would have guessed it in a place like Toronto! 🙁

So that’s that, unfortunately I don’t have as many exciting stories to tell as I would have liked to from a 3 day layover, but never mind! Next time 🙂
(I have to admit I’m pretty upset that I didn’t manage to buy a magnet this time, I’ll definitely have to try and bid for the trip again!)

I deadheaded back (aka flew as a passenger) along with the other girl who got food poisoning but I just slept the whole flight. Thankfully I’m feeling much better now and was pretty much back to normal by the time my next flight to Bangkok came around. More on that trip to come! 🙂

 

P.s. If you want more regular day to day updates of what is happening in my life, follow me on Twitter and Instagram @rachelwwilson!

Frankfurt, Madrid and next month’s roster!

First of all my apologies for the long break since my last post. I didn’t even realise it’s been over two weeks since I updated on here! At the moment I’m actually on leave, however I decided to stay in Dubai and just enjoy a bit of time relaxing and not flying anywhere for once! My last post was about my amazing trip to Seattle, and after that I had two back to back Frankfurt flights and a trip to Madrid. 

Both of the Frankfurts were very uneventful! I get German flights pretty much every month, and I kind of see them as my chance to go to a nice supermarket and stock up on fresh foods, as well as getting some quality sleeping/ TV watching in! These two trips were no different. The weather was not very nice – cold, rainy and pretty miserable, so I just did my supermarket shops and had a couple of drinks in the hotel bar with the crew.

My last trip before my leave was Madrid. I was actually very excited when I saw this on my roster, as even though I lived in Spain for 3 months I was working 6 days a week so didn’t really have the chance to see many other cities. The flight out was nice and easy, only half full and a chance to practice my Spanish, which is getting a little rusty! 😉 We arrived around lunchtime and it was 5 degrees and pouring with rain. Definitely not what my weather app had predicted! Nonetheless, a group of us decided to venture out, have a little walk around the hotel and find somewhere to have a bite to eat. We ended up in a place called “Museo del Jamon” and all ordered plenty of plates of ham, salami, chorizo and cheese to share. Very unlike me I didn’t actually take any pictures, believe it or not!
After our late lunch we hopped on the metro to the city centre. By the time we got there it was getting dark and the rain was not stopping at all. So of course we spent way too much time in the shops! 😉 I was a little disappointed as I actually wanted to do some sightseeing and walk around the city, but the weather was not really on my side. Also, none of the other crew were interested in doing anything but shopping, so I’ll have to save it for the next trip.

Once I got back from Madrid I was officially on leave! I’ve been spending lots of time with Joey, going on walks around Dubai (now that the weather is finally cool enough to actually walk around) finishing season 2 of Homeland (so good!!), catching up on lots more TV whilst Joey has been at work…you get the point! 😉  

Yesterday the most exciting part of my month happened….roster day!!! Who wants to take a guess at where I’ll be going next month. . . 

  • Toronto! And not just your average 24hr layover, I’ll be staying there for 77hrs! 3 days! 😀
  • Bangkok! Haven’t been to Bangkok since June so that should be good, I’m hoping I’ll have time to go to the Tiger Temple.
  • Sydney! A trip to Aus means I can hopefully pop down to Canberra and visit my grandparents and auntie, uncle and cousin 🙂
  • Last but not least….leave at Christmas!

So that’s it – just 3 flights next month! I’ll be going home over Christmas which is very exciting, as Joey will also be coming with me 🙂 And then the 1st of January the dreaded SEP recurrent exams :O Which will mean lots of studying over Christmas!

So there you go, a little update on my rather boring life recently! I’d also just like to say a big thanks to everyone that reads, follows, comments on my blog, etc. Cheesy as it may sound it really does make my day when I see a comment on my blog 🙂

 
P.s. If you want more regular day to day updates of what is happening in my life, follow me on Twitter and Instagram @rachelwwilson!

Seattle!

My very first work trip to America took me all the way across America to Seattle! After a very long and  very bumpy flight (14 hours to be precise) we finally landed and made our way to the hotel. Since it was the first time going for quite a few of the crew, we made plans to meet for dinner an hour or so later, and spend the whole of the next day sightseeing and exploring.

For dinner 8 of us met up and walked down the steep hills (and when I say steep, I mean really really steep!) towards the waterfront. One of the girls didn’t realise how hilly Seattle is and only brought heels with her….we ended up pretty much carrying her the whole way! Once we were down by the water we decided on a restaurant called The Crab Pot. The queues outside were huge, but for some reason they managed to squeeze us in straight away! 

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4 people ordered this mixture of prawns, mussels, clams, corn on the cob, potatoes (who knows what else was in there!) and they bring it in a huge bucket and dump it on the table! 

After dinner we were all feeling pretty exhausted so walked back (uphill!) to the hotel. Once I was in bed however, jet lag hit and I lay awake for hours! The next morning we had agreed to meet around 9 to make the most of the day. 5 of us girls headed out and our first stop was a little cafe not far from the hotel called Cafe Abodegas. One of the girls had heard some good reviews about it and suggested we go there for breakfast. It was an excellent choice! Delicious coffee, and lots of real bacon!

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After breakfast we decided to walk around the city. It was the first time for all of us so we just strolled around to see where we would end up. We may have popped into a shop or two on the way …. 😉

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Walking towards the water we went to visit one of Seattle’s famous landmarks, Pike Place Market. Every other stall was filled with beautiful bunches of fresh flowers, or piled high with fruits and veggies. I wish there was something like this in Dubai! I wanted to buy some bunches of flowers (they were all so cheap – 5 or 10 dollars for huge bouquets!) but I’m not sure how well they would have lasted on the flight home 🙁

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The market also has a downstairs area, which we had a good explore of. It was full of quirky little shops selling the most random things ever!

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We came out of the market from one of the downstairs entrances, and happened to spot a sign for the Gum Wall. So of course we had to go and check it out, and it really is as disgusting as it sounds!

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A whole wall covered in multi-coloured pieces of chewing gum! You can even smell it before you see it!

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After a quick detour to everybody’s favourite American shop, Target, we headed down towards the very first Starbucks. We had a quick browse inside but there are no seats/tables and it was extremely busy, so we carried on walking to find somewhere to have lunch.

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Trees! Autumn leaves! So exciting!

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We decided on the top level of this area next to the ferris wheel and had a yummy lunch overlooking the water. The weather was so lovely, I was expecting it to be rainy and windy all the time, but it was nice and sunny and just a little bit cold!

After lunch we decided to go and see the space needle. 3 of the girls decided they were feeling a bit tired so they walked back to the hotel to catch up on some sleep. However I was not finished exploring! We got the monorail to the Space Needle, paid the entrance fee and took the lift up to the top. The view was incredible. We got there just as the sun was starting to go down, and the sky was constantly changing colour as we walked around the observatory.

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Afterwards we got the monorail back into the city centre and popped into Macy’s for a little browse. My bank card was not thanking me after the “browse” turned into a “buy”! By this time we were both feeling pretty worn out so walked back to the hotel. While we were checking in the day before the concierge had told us about some dinner thing going on where lots of restaurants were offering a 3 course meal for just 25 dollars, and we had originally made plans to go and eat dinner somewhere, but we ended up all falling asleep really early and not leaving the hotel!

The next morning our wake up call wasn’t until lunchtime, so I decided to go and have a typical breakfast somewhere. After much consideration I decided upon the most American place I could find, IHOP! The hotel had actually given us a list of 24 hr restaurants (they must realise how jetlagged we get coming from all the way from Dubai!) and IHOP was on there, with directions. I double checked on google maps and it was a straight walk down the road in the opposite direction to where we had been the day before. After a quick stop at Rite-Aid (can never resist all that American make-up for half the price of what it costs in Dubai!) I was there! I have to admit I was holding on to my handbag quite tight, as the area did seem to be very dodgy! Never mind, pancakes were calling! I ordered the most enormous breakfast ever; I’m sure it had thousands of calories but I couldn’t even manage half! 

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All too soon it was time to go back to the hotel, put on the uniform and the red lipstick and get ready for another 14 hour flight. Luckily it wasn’t as turbulent as the flight coming, and with a nice little break in our crew rest compartment before we knew it we were back in Dubai. 

Seattle, thanks for having me, and I will be back ASAP!

 

P.s. If you want more regular day to day updates of what is happening in my life, follow me on Twitter and Instagram @rachelwwilson!

 

Next month I’ll be going to…

My November roster came out yesterday. Roster day is always highly anticipated, and I was pleasantly surprised for November! I didn’t bid, and there are lots of mixed opinions on bidding. Some people do it without fail each month, some people never bid and swear they always have the best rosters. I didn’t bid in October either and only got 1 turnaround, and as I’m always hoping they’ll give me new destinations anyway, I decided to see what luck gave me! 

And luck was on my side! I’ll be going to: 

  • Seattle (so excited, my first layover in the States, and its 50 hours!)
  • Frankfurt
  • Frankfurt again (have to say these 2 aren’t my favourite, but never mind!)
  • Madrid (even though I lived in Spain for 3 months, I’ve never been to Madrid! Exciting!)
  • Jakarta

I also have 5 days leave as well as lots of days off! So far I don’t have any plans to go anywhere during my leave, but you never know something might just pop up! 

So there you go, just a quick post of where I’l be heading next month!

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Also thought I’d add in a little picture of my ever expanding magnet collection! I shall be adding to it later today when I fly to Hamburg! 🙂

 

P.s. If you want more regular day to day updates of what is happening in my life, follow me on Twitter and Instagram @rachelwwilson!

Seoul searching

I’m pretty sure that there are a fair few people who have also used this title for a blog post about Seoul, Korea…but oh well, I don’t have to be original all the time!

My most recent work trip took me to South Korea, a country I’d never visited before, but was very excited to explore. The flight going out was pretty hectic, because although it was a night flight and most passengers were sleeping, in between the services we got 45 minutes rest and I was also given the task of being duty free operator! I’ve done duty free a couple of times, but it’s not something I particularly enjoy as it involves a lot of counting and trying to sell items when everybody is fast asleep! Once they all woke up however, shortly before landing, I was inundated with requests to buy! Unfortunately there just wasn’t enough time to sell to everybody so I didn’t make any commission 🙁

Once we got to the hotel (the flight was around 8 hours, plus over an hour getting to the hotel) all my tiredness from waking up at 1am the night before was suddenly gone and I was very ready to go and try some local food….Korean BBQ!! The pilots, along with a few other girls were arranging to meet back down in the lobby so I headed down once I was ready and off we went. The other girls must have changed their minds or fallen asleep as it turned out to be just me and Mihaela from Romania, along with the 3 pilots. We set off on the short walk from the hotel to one of the typical Korean barbecue restaurants. As it was both mine and Mihaela’s first time to Seoul, we let the men be in charge of ordering the food and were very excited to try it when it all arrived!

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Korean black raspberry wine. More like a strong shot than wine!

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A variety of lettuce, sauces, kimchi and more arrived before the main bit…the meat!

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The meat cooks pretty quickly, which is lucky as we were all starving! 

The trick is to get a bit of everything on top of your lettuce leaf, pop on a piece of scorching meat and try not to burn yourself as you devour it!

After our meal the pilots headed out for some more drinks, and Mihaela and I walked back to the hotel for some much needed sleep. In the morning I got a call from one of the other girls, letting me know that they were heading down to breakfast and would be going on a tour afterwards. I decided to join as I didn’t know how else I was going to explore the city and it seemed like a great option. Breakfast was delicious (I’ve noticed breakfast always seems to be pretty great in the hotels we stay in, but this one was really tasty!) and soon enough the minibus was at the hotel to pick us up.

Our first stop was the Seoul Tower. We walked up a road surrounded by beautiful trees to a stunning view at the top.

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So much green! I always miss nature when I’m back in Dubai.ImageImageImageImageImage

Beautiful views from the top of the whole city.

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Just trying out some Korean masks!

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Love trees…full of padlocks!

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Once we had walked all the way around the top of the observatory at the tower we headed back down towards our next stop, the “Secret Gardens”. Located at Changdeokgung Palace, these are some incredible gardens tucked away along with all of the palaces. We walked around (along with at least 100 other people who had decided to join us at the same time, slightly disappointing as it meant that it was very crowded!) but the gardens were beautiful, so that made up for it.

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So many hidden ponds, lakes, and gorgeous areas full of trees!

After a long walk around the Secret Gardens we got back into the bus to go to our next stop, a little Ginseng museum/factory/shop. I’m not really sure what to call it to be honest, it showed us how ginseng is grown and made into different types of products. Which they then tried to sell to us, for an extortionate amount of money. Who know a plant-based product could cost hundreds of US Dollars! I have to say this was the part I liked the least. None of us were expecting for it to take so long, and I feel like our tour guide must have been getting commission as they really tried to pressure us into buying the stuff. 

Our final stop was Namdaemun market. I love a good market, and this one was huuuuuge! Due to our limited time however, we only got a very quick stop here before we had to head back to our hotel 🙁 I made sure to pick up a fridge magnet though! 

Once we were back at the hotel I walked up the road to get a quick bite to eat at Starbucks as we hadn’t had a chance to eat since breakfast, and then I got a couple of hours sleep before the long flight back home. The flight was nice and easy, only half full, and I managed to get an hour sleep on my break. I can’t wait to go back to Korea, I’d love to explore the city so much more!