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

A special guest in Dubai!

As my 3 years in Dubai are creeping up, it was time to renew my contract, and along with it, my visa. Since this can take a few days at a time, I was rostered 3 days off in a row, and after swapping some flights, I had a nice little string of days off…perfect for a visit from my mum!

She flew out from Vienna and arrived late evening, just time to have a nice cup of tea on the balcony. Certainly makes a change from the chilly Austrian autumn weather!

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After a long breakfast on the balcony (now Dubai has finally started to cool down I couldn’t be without my balcony!) we decided a trip to the beach was in order.

We drove down to the public beach which is not too far from my apartment, and set up camp….quickly realising we should have brought a beach umbrella!

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November Roster

My November roster has been published, and it was my “top bid”, which means my group is the highest in seniority for bidding.

We did have a new bidding system roll into place this month, so I think that may be why I didn’t get everything I bid for!

In November (which by the way – where has this year gone?!) I’ll be heading to:

  • VIE (Vienna – originally I was rostered Manchester but someone sent me a swap for Vienna, of course I accepted straight away!)
  • 6 days off (to attend a wedding of friends in Mauritius, yay!)
  • AMS (Amsterdam)
  • LGW (London Gatwick)
  • PVG (Shanghai)
  • HKG (Hong Kong)
  • HKG (Hong Kong)

These are all subject to change as I may get sent some swaps or send some myself, I’ll keep you updated!

I did also bid for Orlando and Bologna, but all of the above flights are A380 flights (except Vienna) so it looks like the rostering system didn’t want to give me any 777. Shame, would have been nice to see some new destinations!

I bid for HKG to go and see my ex-flatmate Kirsty who lives there now, so I’m very excited to finally be able to catch up with her as I haven’t seen her since her wedding in August!

Do let me know if you have any requests for posts – my Macbook battery has been playing up a lot recently and I fear it may need to be replaced, which is why I haven’t been able to post as much recently.

Thanks to everyone who follows my blog and leaves me lovely comments on each posts, it’s really appreciated! 🙂

P.s. Follow me on Instagram & Twitter for more day-to-day updates of where I am in the world!

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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