This morning I got back from a flight to Osaka, Japan. We arrived at our hotel early evening and arranged to go to dinner. We couldn’t decide between sushi and another Japanese speciality (which I have now forgotten the name of!) but on the first officer’s recommendation we chose the latter. Close to the hotel there is a whole area full of restaurants so we walked over, ready for some dinner.
I’d forgotten that so many restaurants in Japan display all of their dishes in plastic versions in the window!
Let’s be honest, it doesn’t look very appetising, at all. I don’t think I could tell you what’s inside either, but it’s always fun to try something new!
The next morning a big group of us had made plans to go to Kyoto, however when I got downstairs only 4 of us had made it. The others had obviously seen the pouring rain and decided to stay in bed! We walked to the train station and got on a train, hoping it would take us in the right direction! Once we arrived in Kyoto, we had all assumed we would just be able to have a nice little stroll around and see all the temples. It is actually a pretty big city and walking was definitely not an option, especially as the rain had not stopped. We got on a bus (luckily it had a TV screen in the front with the name of each stop in English!) and made our way to the Kinkaku-ji Temple, also called the Golden Temple.
The temple was beautiful, such a shame about the rain as I’m sure sunlight reflecting off it would look lovely!
Despite the rain we had a lovely stroll around the grounds. We decided not to go and visit any other temples this time, so I’ll have to make sure I get another flight to Osaka!
I also got my roster for April while I was away, and this month I only have one new destination. I have leave at the beginning of the month (11 days, yay!) and then I’ll be going to:
- Bangkok (going to try and go to the tiger temple if I have time)
- Bangalore turnaround
- Chennai turnaround
- Kuala Lumpur
- Bombay turnaround
- Perth (again?!)
- Durban (my one new destination!)
I don’t count turnarounds as new destinations, as we don’t actually get off the plane. I didn’t bid for anything as I’m at the bottom in bidding seniority this month, so I’ll have to try and see if I can swap some of my flights and go somewhere new. My leave starts in 2 days and I still haven’t decided where I’m going to go yet! I’m contemplating the idea of going to Alberquerque to visit Lizzie (my sister) which would mean trying to get on a flight to America, my best bets are probably Houston or Dallas, and then get a connecting flight. If I do that then I’ll try and stop off in Austria on the way home to see my friends and family. Got to get my lovely Lahore turnaround out of the way first and then I’ll officially be off for 11 days! I’ll keep you updated as to where I go on my leave 🙂
I’d also like to apologise about the dreadful quality of the pictures; even though I charged my camera overnight, when we arrived in Kyoto it refused to turn on, so I had to use my iPhone. I’m hoping it’s just a glitch and that it’s not broken 🙁
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!
I just found your blog and have enjoyed reading it. About ‘Rainy Osaka’… It’s pity you could not enjoyed a Kansai-styled Okonomiyaki and a sunny day in Kyoto. I hope you will come back to Osaka soon, and Tokyo as well!
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Glad you like it 🙂 Hopefully I’ll be able to come back to Japan, we also fly to Narita and Haneda and I’d like to visit, although I have been to Tokyo before and loved it! I actually tried Okonomiyaki but it wasn’t my favourite! 🙂
Thank you for your reply. Well, you might have a try Hiroshima styled Okonomiyaki which is different from what you ate in Osaka.
By the way, I like your fashion! I look forward to your upcoming posts 😉
I’m jealous you fly to Japan. Would love to go back for some decent Japanese food.
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I’d love to go back again. I had some weird dish that wasn’t very good, think I’ll stick to the sushi next time!
Great post dear Rachel it was a pleasure to read:)
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Thank you 🙂
Hi Rachel I just wanted to thank you for such a great blog that I’m always excited to read 🙂
I just have a question that I thought you may be able to answer. I’m an Australian citizen who will be in the UK for a few months. There is an Emirates Open Day on in London while I will be there and I was wondering if I attended would I be able to actually go through the rounds and be hired that way (If I was so lucky to be selected of course!) as I am in that country just visiting and am not a citizen of that country? Or does it not matter and you can attend an Open Day and be hired anywhere, regardless of where you are from?
Thank you soo much if you know the answer as I have tried googling around and cannot find anything!
All the best on your travels!
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Hi, thanks for reading 🙂
Absolutely, I’m British and was living in Austria at the time that I applied. However my closest open day was actually in Munich, Germany, and it was no problem at all. There were quite a few other people from around Europe that applied there as well.
One of my good Australian friends was actually living in London and applied there as well, so I’m sure it’ll be fine 🙂 Good luck!
Yipppeeeee! Thank you SOOO much for your reply and your answer makes me so happy 🙂
Enjoy your trip and I can’t wait to read your next post 🙂
Hi Rachel. Wonderful blog. I’m curious if you have made some good friends working for your airline? Do you get to see your cabin crew friends much?
Have fun on your leave! I also hope you enjoy Durban, if you ever make it to Cape Town in South Africa, you should take the cableway up Table Mountain!
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Hi, glad you like my blog! Yeah I have made some really good friends here, sometimes it can be difficult to meet up, especially if we’re all flying at different times, but we just have to make time on our days off 🙂
I did get a layover to Cape Town and I was planning on going up, but unfortunately due to bad weather it was closed 🙁
Hello from Portugal. I really enjoy reading your blog and ap
Hi Rachel, I also love your blog! I am also interested in knowing how old the cabin crew are. I am thinking about applying when my working visa for Canada expires next year, but I’ll be 30 then – is this too old?
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Hi, thanks for reading 🙂 I wouldn’t say this is too old, some of the girls in my batch were late twenties/early thirties, and you often fly with girls who are at least 30. Good luck! 🙂
Hey Rachel, thanks for this beautiful post!! How old are most cabin crew when they start to work for EMirates and how old were the girls in your training batch? Thank you, Laura
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Hi, thanks for reading 🙂 I was 21, but it varies…I’d say most girls start somewhere between 21 and 30 though 🙂
Hey Rachel so excited to know that you will be visiting our lovely country South Africa im even more excited that you will be in my homwe city which is DURBAN!!!. Hope you have a wonderful stay and you enjoy your stay..take care Naseehah
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Thank you so much, I’m very excited to explore and I’m sure there will be a blog post afterwards 🙂
South Africa is beautiful and Durban is a great example of our lovely country.. Hope you enjoy it!!!
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Thank you 🙂
Hello Rachel! I really love reading your blog posts! So exciting to hear about all your adventures. I’m especially excited to hear you’ll be coming to Durban. I’m sure you will enjoy it here!
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Hi! Thanks for reading 🙂 Yeah I’m also excited to come to Durban, any tips for things to do there?