Missing my Friends

oh i wish i had a lot of time in my hands then i would go out and meet my girl friends. we haven't seen each other for a looong time.

cyril and noanne are both pregnant while dulce is busy taking care of her new spa business. wouldn't it be nice for uh... me to host a baby shower inside a spa? i believe this is a wonderful idea but i don't have the time. am i a thoughtless friend?

it's just hard to do a lot of things in 3 or 4 days of my day-off. during these period i spend my days with my son catching up for lost time. most often than not i forego things that i usually do when i was still single like having a mani & pedi a day before my flight or watch a movie with hubby. having a baby really changes everything.

another bit of a hassle is that our circle live at opposite ends. noanne lives in tarlac, dulce in bulacan while cyril is in paranaque.

oh well... friends will always be friends no matter what.
we'll see each other soon.
i'm working on it but i just need ... time.
this was taken 2 years ago at a couple's shower for mark and cyril.

Aqi's First Taste of Ice Cream

tasting something cold is new to him thus the expression on his face.

One Good Deed

twas nice to know that i made someone smile in my own little way.

during a recent flight, a junior korean crew was in so much stress because a senior korean crew seems to be picking on her. i had to agree because this senior crew would always call on this junior to do a lot of things. my gahd, she's still a newbie give her a break! and i noticed that senior crew has a different way of doing things which absolutely makes things a lot more difficult.

while this senior crew was having her rest at the bunker, this junior crew poured out her feelings to me. she told me that this was the most difficult flight that she has been to so far and that she wasn't able to sleep at all in the layover because she was haunted by the thought of the senior crew and all the booboos she apparently made.
she also added that she was very thankful to me because i helped her in most of her chores and uplifted her spirit throughout the flight. she said that everytime she would pass by me i would always have a smile on my face. i had a positive aura and that made her make it through the flight.

haaay... it's nice to know that you unknowingly helped someone make it through the day.
wouldn't it be nice to work in a place where everybody is just plain nice? no bitchiness, no seniorities. work wouldn't be work at all!

Internet is for P*rn

haven't been able to blog for a couple of days because i was home in manila.
arrived midnight of june15 and flew out on june 19.
busy busy busy coping up for lost time with aqi and hubby.
June 15 -- since it was father's day. i invited everybody to eat out. we ate at Outback upon the request of my dad. bong and i took turns in eating because aqi would grab everything that was on the table.that evening hubby and i watched Avenue Q. it was hilarious! it was a fun fun show. we especially liked the Internet is for Porn song. see it here in youtube (by the broadway cast).



June 16 -- played with aqi in the morning and fed him during lunch time. it was hard feeding him! it was either he's not fond of eating or he gets bored right away. it's such a big production every mealtime for aqi. toys should be out and entertainers should be present. hehehe... it's usually ghia, our helper who does the entertaining part. everytime aqi sees her he laughs and opens his mouth which signals my mom or me to put the spoon in his mouth. my mom says that this behavior was totally me when i was a baby. may pinagmanahan. hehehe...
tried using Sansfluo (baby toothpaste) on aqi and brushing his teeth was such a breeze! he loved the orange-y taste!

June 17 -- aqi and i tagged along with hubby to his workplace. he brought pizza for everybody since he'll be having an indefinite leave to take the physical therapy state board exam in the US.
it was the first time everybody has seen aqi so it was but expected that everybody doted on him. you know what aqi did? he cried! and was a snob to everybody. geez .... partypooper itong si aqi.
not cute at all.... hahaha.... he probably has stranger anxiety, again... like me when i was little.

we also went to my in-laws place. aqi cried again when his lola carried him but was playful already when he was able to settle down after an hour. he played with his 2- year old cousin andrei. they are fond of jumping in the bed.

june 18 -- went out to buy my essentials for travel and was back to do another mealtime production with aqi.

june 19 morning -- aqi woke me up and we played but had to pass him to his yaya coz i was already running late but he didn't want to. shucks....he wants to be with me. teehee!

good thing my flight is just seoul-sfo-seoul. i didn't cry before leaving.
i'll be back on the 25th!

SFO layover

yes......

it's good to be back in one of my favorite cities in the world-- San Francisco.
we are staying right now at Hotel 480 which i really like because it is located right smack in union square. unlike a year before we were staying at the ramada hotel which is only a couple of blocks away from the shopping area but it was the land of the homeless! walking in broad daylight would still give me the creeps.
Hotel 480 doesn't have a big lobby but the rooms are spacious. it's clean and their complimentary toiletries are from bath and body works.

since I was flying deadhead i had ample rest. in less than hour after check-in i was ready to roam the streets of san francisco or rather i was ready to shop shop shop!
i must admit i had spent a lot. *gulp* but it was still less than my shopping days before. i'm still adjusting on being a mom who needs to save a part of her paycheck for her baby's needs.

mygahd there were so many cutesy stuff at BabyGap. i wanted to buy them all! there were also lots of toys that i wanted to bring for aqi but it wouldn't fit my crew luggage.

*~*~*~*~*~*
hubby texted me and told me that aqi already has 6 teeth out.

whoa.... too fast too soon.....

sigh..... i missed another milestone.

America's Next Dance Crew

was watching America's Next Dance Crew at channel mtv and was amazed by this group SoReal Cru. they are from houston, texas. i think they are filipino or rather fil-ams that grew up in the US that they don't know how to speak filipino. but still... i'd support them all the way.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bWyITjicAU





vote for them here

another group that i saw was Team Millenia from fullerton, california. too bad they didn't make it as representatives of the west coast. they were awesome!! but i had to hand it down to the judges because the crews from the west coast were all great. probably if they represented another region they would've gotten in. this group is composed mostly of filipinos... again....fil-ams but they are proud to be one. one of them was interviewed and told the crowd that she got her talent from her mom who balances a candle while dancing which is we all know is Pandanggo sa Ilaw. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ayKVDsZG_M

i'm here in seattle right now. we are billeted at the double tree airport hotel. far from downtown but the rooms are nice and cozy and they give out yummy chewy chocolate chip cookies upon check-in. i'm flying with cristina, another filipino crew.
the flight to here was smooth and the passengers were well-behaved. there were a lot of babies on board. there was this caucasian couple who i assumed adopted the baby they were carrying because the little one looked very korean. the baby kept on crying and the mother couldn't pacify him. she was so helpless that she was on the verge of crying. good thing ajumas (married or old woman) who were sitting nearby offered to help calm the baby. i just hope that the baby was just teething and not having stranger anxiety with his new mom. i wonder how the real mother could've given up an adorable and chubby little thing.

we didn't do much during our layover because it kept on raining which is not a surprise though (hello?! it's seattle!). we went to the southcenter mall (because that is the only place that the complimentary shuttle would go) to do a little shopping. i expected to find a foodcourt but unfortunately it was under renovation so we had to go out, cross the street and get drenched in the rain to reach the thai restaurant nearby. mygahd, i ate a lot!
after that we walked over to Target to buy some dry items. i was able to buy Aqi a toy, camo shorts, sandals and a bath wash. i regretted buying shorts yesterday from Gymboree for $6 because there were a lot of $2 shorts at Target.
and oh i lost a shopping bag yesterday with a blouse inside and i don't know where i lost it. good thing it was just $8 but still!

*~*~*~*~*~*~*
i got hubby his plane ticket to new york and mygahd the tax was so expensive! it was an FOC (free of charge) ticket but then we still had to pay for the tax. i forked over 88,000 won which is around $88.

The Crew That Eats Together....

got this from the Fly Away Cafe
didn't know that it's the same way with other airlines.

Q: Does the whole crew get together for meals on layovers?

A: Rarely, although a lot depends on the size of crew.

With smaller crews typical of commuter carriers, a crew may be three people — two pilots and one Flight Attendant. In those case it is fairly typical for the entire crew to get together for dinner. Those layovers tend to be in smaller cities, which means fewer dining options, and it’s easy to coordinate preferences for only a handful of people.

At the major carriers you are talking about a crew of at least five — two pilots and three Flight Attendants — and it goes up in numbers from there. Since that’s the work environment that I’m accustomed to, it’s the one that I can speak to the best.

I haven’t been out for dinner with the entire crew since longer than I can remember. Crew members have their own interests - whether it’s visiting family on a layover, pursuing a personal interest, working out, shopping, or even slam-clicking (going into your hotel room (slam), locking the door (click), and never being seen or heard from until the flight the next day). It’s not typical for everyone to be on the same page about what they want to do on a layover.

Despite what might be portrayed in movies or on television, we don’t always like one another very much. I don’t mean that we hate one another either, but most of the time you don’t share a lot in common with most of your co-workers. If you are fortunate enough to fly with someone that you like, you’ll probably go off and do something together. But no one wants to spend quality layover time with someone that you have nothing in common with.

Another reality is that crew members have different budgets, and that carries over into meal choices. While some might enjoy going on for a leisurely meal and glass of good wine, others subsist off of cheap fast food eaten in a hotel room. The two extremes rarely can find common middle ground to make everyone happy.

Some crew members view their layover time as a time to be alone, away from family at home and passengers on the plane. The layover is a time to decompress, relax, watch mindless television, read a book, etc. The last thing they want is to be around co-workers.

Most Flight Attendants have made all of these choices at one point or another in their career. I know that I have. It’s all about making a personal choice, and rarely is an entire crew going to make the same personal choice.

i just came from a seoul-cebu-seoul flight. aircraft assigned to this flight is the scarebus-321(airbus321). i don't like this aircraft because it is quite small with a single aisle. the galley is so cramped and it's difficult to stow items for the flight as there are not enough space to keep them. we usually end up stowing it in the overhead bins. malas na lang the passenger seated near the galley if he has a big bag to stow.
since the flight was on a sunday we had a couple of honeymooners onboard. fyi, in korean culture couples usually are dressed alike. and they usually take the flight right after the celebration. so just imagine a couple dressed exactly alike from their sporty or casual top down to the shoes with the female still in bride mode hair and makeup. it's like noah's ark inside the plane. hehe...
we also had a couple of families with little kids in tow. apparently for koreans cebu is a honeymoon and a family destination.
we had a smooth inbound and outbound flight. inbound seoul was the best because the passengers were all asleep as the flight was at 1 am.

our hotel in cebu was the Hilton Cebu Resort and Spa. the hotel facilities and service was superb but i didn't like the location though. it's located in mactan island an hour away from cebu downtown. if you will take a taxi it would cost you 700pesos roundtrip. good thing they provide a complimentary shuttle service to the downtown area for their guests.

i have nothing much to share during my layover there because it was quite short. i just went around ayala center to eat and have a pedicure. my korean colleagues on the other hand had a massage outside the hotel. they have a korean contact and according to them the massage is really good.

Aqi Updates

At 1 week short til he turns 8 months, Aqi already has 4 teeth with 1 more starting to come out.
I am quite surprised that his teeth came out so early one after the other. Good thing he wasn't irritable during these times. I just wish that we'll have a peaceful and enjoyable dental hygiene habit.

Aqi All Around Me

Every time I see a baby I always see Aqi's face in them. Every cry and every smile they make would always warm my heart.
Somehow it makes me less homesick when I take care of them during my flights. I can totally relate to the mothers who travel with their babies because it is quite a very challenging experience. This is why I exert extra effort and give them more attention to their needs.