Milano my love

One of my favorite countries, Italy.  I always love coming to Milano, it may be the umpteenth time I’ve been here and I love it every single time.  Always fun to fly with your best friends, this time I am with Jc, Ram and April.  A little sad because this is the first flight without Kristine, Tin and I would always have a Milan flight, one of our favorite flights to request for.  

This layover was 37 hours, just enough time to go downtown in the city center called Duomo.  Duomo is actually translated as church in Italian.  The Duomo di Milano is basically called Milano Cathedral in English.  This is where all the shops and restaurants are located and for us crew, we casually call it ‘going to Duomo’, meaning the city center where we shop and eat.  So we did just that, ‘went to Duomo’ to shop and eat.  

We are in Italy and of course the menu will be pasta, pizza and gelato!  Another one of our favorites is the iced coffee, just black coffee not on ice just chilled, no sugar or anything.  It’s amazing.  

Always a treat to go to this marvelous city.  

Milan, Italy November 10-11, 2013

No goodbyes.

We first met in Manila as we were preparing to take on our new jobs as Cabin Crew for Oman Air. We shared a meal in Chowking in Manila while waiting on our next steps in getting our visas. We sat next to each other on the bus in Muscat while we were going to our new home and decided right there and there that we were gonna be roommates and the rest as they say is history.

I can still remember the very first night we had in Muscat, they had given us food to eat and a well stocked refrigerator and all the essential appliances we need. When the rest of the bunch didn’t eat the food they gave us, Kristine and I devoured that rice meal like there was no tomorrow. It was our first meal in our new home and a start of our new life in this whole new world which was the Middle East. I think we adjusted really well considering the circumstances we were in, having friends made it so much easier to be away from our parents, siblings and friends in the Philippines. And up until now, I don’t think I could have gone through this four years with out my girls.

When you live in another country the people you are with day in and day out become your family. Kristine was more than just a roommate to me, we were sisters. And as our stint as roommates will soon come to an end, I know that our relationship as sisters will forever be.

There are so many memories to think of when you think of four years with a person. From our training days, boeing flights and airbus layovers. Our times in Muscat when we would just hang out at the malls or just stay at home and watch our TFC. I still cannot grasp the thought of Kristine not being in the same flat anymore. Even if her room is practically empty, something inside me still says she’s coming back, even if she isn’t. It’s a bittersweet time really, I am extremely happy that she is moving on with her life, getting married to a wonderful guy and I am only thankful that we got to know each other and have become great friends.

I cannot even begin to write what I am going to miss about Tin. We have gone through so much in the last few years, we have seen the best and the worst of each other and yet we stick by each other. Usually these instances have involved the men in our lives, haha, you gotta love them. We had our fair share of tears of sorrow and more importantly tears of happiness. I will miss our late night talks in our little dining area where all of us love to gather even if it’s the smallest of all the flats in our building. Our breakfast talks in the morning over pancakes and eggs. Our walks to Istanboly for Shawarma and Labneh with Honey and/or lambchops and boneless chicken. Us hanging out in each other’s room to watch the same TFC show and only recently OSN. I will surely miss our flights together. The fitting of outfits before the flight. Our shopping trips and sprees on our layovers. Our food trips and just being together, even on the turnaround flights. I will miss you being the big sister to everyone here even if I am elder of all of you guys. I will miss your bacham food and of course the adobo that you are oh so famous for.

Our flat will always remind me of you and I guess among all of the girls, I will miss you the most. The fridge full of magnets will only be a reminder of all the places we’ve been to and will always make me smile or even cry.

I wish you all the best in this new chapter of your life, Tin. I cannot wait to see you happily married with little Tins and Peemays running around in your awesome Perth home.

Someone said that you should give your friends in MCT two months and they will forget about you when you leave, let’s prove them wrong and keep in touch and be friends for life.

I love you Kristine. I will miss you everyday. No goodbyes!!!

Airbus 330 Recurrent training

It’s that time of the year when I, as a Cabin crew have to go through our yearly recurrent training. Today would be the second time I’m doing this oral testing called the VIVA. The last time I did the test there was a black out on the whole compound where this building is located so we didn’t have a choice but to go home and reschedule our testing. We were halfway done then so it’s a bit of a hassle to have to do it over again. Looking at the brighter side of things, I already know what the examiner will ask and I guess I am better prepared for the test.

We are waiting for our turn for the test so there is a lot of time to write. Hoping I will do well on this exam so I can relax a bit and not have to think about it for another year.

Done! And it was a success!!! The examiner was having fun with us and was playing jokes on the crew as we did the evacuation drills. Happy to know I passed and had fun doing it too!! Thank you Lord for another year. Happy flying to me!!!

Oman Air Mockup building Ghala, Oman October 31, 2013