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

March roster!

Just a short and sweet blog post today with a little update on my roster for March. I was supposed to be going on another trip to São Paulo at the end of February but unfortunately fell ill and fainted in the briefing room so that didn’t happen! Very disappointed as I’m losing out on a lot of flying hours and also missing the Brazilian carnival!

Somehow though I managed to skip my “reserve” month in March and got a nice roster with only one turnaround. So I’ll be heading to:

  • London Heathrow
  • Manila
  • Taipei
  • Perth
  • Osaka
  • Lahore (t/a)

Most people hate London flights as they are always so busy, but I like it as it means a chance to go to Primark (always needing more tights for work!) and also have a good stock up on English food at the supermarket!

I’m also very excited to have 3 new places – Manila, Taipei and Osaka magnets shall soon be added to the fridge! I originally had a Paris instead of the Osaka but when somebody sent me the swap I thought I may as well take it. Hopefully I’ll be there for the cherry blossoms although I think it may be a week or two early.

So that’s my roster for March! I’ve got some leave at the beginning of April and I’m trying to find somewhere nice (and not too far to fly) Joey and I could go for a few days – any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

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!

London with Lucy!

The day before yesterday I got back from a layover in London! Well, technically we stayed in Heathrow, but you know. As soon as I saw LHR on my roster, I arranged to meet up with my best friend Lucy. The last time we saw each other was when she came over to Austria before I moved to Dubai, so over 7 months ago! 

The flight was one of those horrible night ones, leaving at 2:30am, which means being at the airport at half past midnight. It’s always tough trying to get sleep before a flight like that but I managed a couple of hours and then got ready and made my way to the airport. The flight itself wasn’t too bad, most of the passengers were asleep which is always good! 😀 We landed around 7am and by the time I’d got to my room I had about an hour to get some sleep before I needed to leave to meet Lucy. I got the Heathrow Express (50% off for airline crew – nice!) and then the tube to Liverpool Street. Just as I got off the train we spotted each other! 🙂

We decided to get the underground to Oxford Street to do some shopping. First stop however, was a much needed coffee!

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Our main aim was to get to Primark, so we walked down Oxford Street and spent a good while and way too much money in there. Any time I get a London flight I try to stock up on skin coloured tights for work in Primark as they are at least twice the price in Dubai!

After a good couple of hours shopping we hopped back on the underground to have a little walk around Covent Garden and some lunch. After lunch we decided to walk down past Somerset House and cross the river Thames. We were being very touristy and taking lots of pictures all day! 😀

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We wandered down towards the London Eye and sat on the grass relaxing in the sunshine and people watching. The weather was gorgeous, sunny and hot. All too soon it was time to go, so we walked past the London Eye along the Thames to the underground, making sure we got a few last pictures in. We said our goodbyes and headed separate ways. However if all goes well I will be flying back to England on leave in August, when we will get to see each other again! 🙂

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Thanks so much for coming down to see me Luce, even if we only had a day together it was awesome! 🙂

London, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai – this month’s destinations!

The last time I posted (was that really 10 days ago already?!) my friends had just left Dubai and I had a flight to London. That was pretty uneventful; it’s an easy night flight and the hotel beds are to die for! I made the obligatory trip to Primark and stocked up on a few maxi skirts and dresses (essential in Dubai!) and of course, plenty of work tights.

Back in Dubai I had 2 days off, and to be honest I can’t remember what I did – probably lots of sunbathing and eating! That seems to be what I do best at the moment! 😀

After that I was back to Kuala Lumpur for the second time this month. We arrive at the hotel just in time for the start of happy hour, so of course a few of us made out way down to the pool and tried a couple of the buy one get free cocktails in the sun before dinner. A group of us took the metro two stops to the street restaurant area and all shared lots of delicious food!

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After dinner a couple of us stopped off at the market area and I got a new watch for work. The next morning a few of the girls were going to the caves and I had originally planned to go with them but I ended up sleeping in and then going to gym. Before the wake up call in the afternoon I decided to go to the Petronas Towers and have a browse around in the shopping mall inside. I also got some chicken satay for lunch overlooking some lovely fountains!

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After KL I had 2 days off again and then another trip to London. I was flying with Jess, one of my batch mates, which was great 🙂 Once we arrived at the hotel we decided to go straight out and go to Primark and also go for a big food shop at Asda! I stocked up on lots of bacon, sausages, crumpets, English muffins and wine! 😀

Once I arrived back in Dubai in the evening I got the bus home, showered and got ready as quick as I could and headed straight out to the Shangri La to meet all of the girls! I think this was the first time since training college that all of us were together! We had a really great evening and it was so lovely catching up with everyone together!

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On Sunday my friend Bruno invited me and a couple of his friends round for dinner – roast pork! It was so delicious and definitely just what I needed, washed down with a few glasses of wine and some cocktails!

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Yesterday Sally and I spent the day relaxing at Emirates Towers pool (free entrance for FACE card users, yes!) and getting a bit of sun. Even though it wasn’t the hottest day ever in Dubai, it was a refreshing change to have a bit of a breeze and some clouds! I still managed to top up my tan slightly!

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Thursday early morning I’m back off to Kuala Lumpur again, and then the May roster will have come out, which is very exciting, I can’t wait to find out which new destinations I’ll be going to! 🙂