The Dubai Diaries: A Staycation Part III

This is going to be the final instalment of my mini “Staycation Series”!

As you may remember, my sister Lizzie and her boyfriend Jarett came to stay with me in Dubai. Lizzie had visited Dubai before (but not for quite a few years!) and it was Jarett’s first time visiting, so we tried to make the most of it and do/see as much as we could squeeze in!

On their last day, we decided to visit a lovely part of Dubai that we still hadn’t had time to see – the Marina!

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The Marina is a really nice part of Dubai. It’s full of crazy skyscrapers, and since it’s mostly Western expats, there are lots of nice cafes, restaurants and bars. It’s also one of few “walking-friendly” areas in Dubai, as there’s a path all along the waterfront.

We strolled along enjoying the lovely sunshine, and decided to stop at Pain Quotidien for a coffee.

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Jarett is ready for his coffee! ^ 😀

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Tips for a cabin crew interview!

I get a lot of comments on here and my social media sites asking for tips and tricks for open days and/ or interviews, so I thought I’d compose a little list with a few of my tips for the big day!

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  • Look the part!

This generally applies for any interview, however it is equally important if you’re going for an interview to become cabin crew.

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Houston, We Have Liftoff!

In January I was finally rostered a new destination – Houston!

Since I’ve upgraded to working in business class I’ve been solely on the A380, and with only around 30 destinations it’s easy to get rostered the same places each month. Houston only switched over to the 380 at the beginning of December so I was excited to be going somewhere new!

The flight is I believe the longest we have (along with Dallas) and clocks in at over 16 hours! That’s a very long time to be on a plane – not counting the hour or so before that we’re preparing everything onboard!

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On most US flights the route takes us over the North Pole, and the view is always incredible. I’ll never get sick of seeing beautiful snowy peaks and sunrises and sunsets.

The flight itself was a tough one. A full cabin with lots of demanding passengers, wanting to eat everything and anything we had onboard, meant that we didn’t stop for the entire time. We do get a break in our CRC (crew rest compartment; tiny bunk beds enclosed in a tight space in the back of the economy cabin) but what with babies crying, people talking loudly and toilets flushing constantly, it’s hard to get much rest even with earplugs and eyeshades!

I always wonder just how many steps I walk on these never-ending US flights!

We landed into IAH late afternoon, and even after being awake for hours and hours, most of us managed to make it down for dinner. Luckily we didn’t have to walk too far and although it was Saturday night I was far too exhausted to stay for more than one glass of wine!

The next morning we had arranged to meet bright and early to explore NASA, which is located not too far from our hotel. By the time everyone showed up we’d been hanging around for nearly 2 hours and at a total of 10 people, were 6 more than originally planned! Nevertheless, we booked 2 big hire cars and off we went.

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The Dubai Diaries: A Staycation Part II

Part 2 of Lizzie and Jarett’s stay here in Dubai is here!

After some tasty cocktails at a great little rooftop bar just across the street from mine (Level 43 Sky Lounge, at the Sheraton Four Points) we were ready for an early night.

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Because we had an early start the next morning…. off to Abu Dhabi!

We decided to get the bus as although I have a Dubai driving license I still haven’t driven here and it’s only 25 dhs each way per person on the bus (around 5 Euros).

Our first stop was a visit to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.

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Tapas in Barcelona

Barcelona is by far my favourite city in Spain (although I’ve only visited a couple) and when I saw it on my roster I was very happy! I actually lived in a town called Calella, which is around an hour from Barcelona, in 2010. I did an internship there in a hotel, and on lots of our days off we would hop on the train to Barcelona and hang out there for the day.

After a super easy flight which was less than half full, we arrived in the beautiful city!

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Our hotel is just opposite a large shopping mall, and with all the January sales going on, who could pass up an opportunity to visit the home of Zara!

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