tired but happy...

juz came back from jarkata nightstop... surprisingly light load on the way back. only 34 in economy. almost unbelievable. but it was a terrible stay in the hotel. some idiot called me at 5am, woke me up then at 845am, mosquitoes woke me up! there were like 4 bites on my neck n shoulder area, 1 on my cheek and i think got bed bugs! my legs were itching whole morning. horrrrrriiiibllleee.. so my gym/swim/tan plans were ruined. slept thru call time...

m tired but happy.. mayb not happy but glad? relieved? satisfied? in my previous post i mentioned tat sq 217 Melbourne is my 1st flight without probation and guess wat? i received my 1st compliment letter addressed to me on the return sector. it was from my complex leader. a fun n nice malay leading steward. 2wards the end of the flight, he asked me: "gabriel, a lot of crew like to say thank you right?" i was like... "ya. all the time". then he continued: " wats the pt of saying just for the sake of saying?" & promptly proceed to pass me a piece of paper. i was caught off handed & then almost speechless. its a crew feedback form. inside he wrote, " even though gabriel has just passed probation not long ago, his work could pass off as some1 tat have work for more than 3years...." he said, why not give me something that will go into my record rather then just saying thank you n hoped tat i will continue to be humble n hardworking n not bcome a 'zappy' crew like most of 'them'. to add on to my sense of achievement, the other LSS tat i worked with on the way up asked if she could add in her name. haha.. i must say i was in cloud's nine. (p.s. since i m boosting here might as well go all the way. duringmy 4th month flying, 1 LSS actually asked if i was a returning crew! =P)

ok.. enough of haolianess. i was telling timothy that this melbourne trip was 1 of the more fulfilling 1. i went out for lunch, did some shopping n had coffee. met tim's fwen, gabin. its nice to have fwens to hang out with when ya out stations. it makes u feel less lonely... =) thanks tim!

here are some pics by my personal photographer, tim.







gabin, tim & me @ max brenner

SQ 217

location: australia, melbourne, crown promenade hotel

damn nice lor the hotel. so new. so white... n casino so near. haha.. so i m in melborne now. beri cold still. 9 degrees. bleearrrggghh..

bad bad bad bad bad flight today.... oh my gaawwwd... actually i was quite excited bout the trip bcoz i luurvv melbourne n i m gonna meet tim n my probation juz ended n so got no more P plate next to my name in the crew list. but guess wat... in total there are 4 junior crews (including me) in the flight, so all cannot work business class, so all in economy, and so put all 4 junior crews together = ??? DISASTER!!! i was alone in aft with only 1 FSS n 1 LSS. so i was working like mad and fwd was super slow bcoz 1 of the fss only 1 mth flying. so we had to cover fwd until beri beri far n i also start to blur bcoz not enuf meals & trays in my galley so i was running around like mad dog trying to get trays!

i shall not talk bout work. the flight is over anyway n nothing matters liao. i juz need to eat n sleep n wake up n eat n work n sleep.

8th Oct Graze @ Rochester

finally got to meet up with tim and huiling together on tim's departure day. had brunch at graze at rochester. beri nice atmosphere. a bit atas. a bit ex. haha.. (back-dated post)

me, tim & huiling
ron & tim
travis & me
me & huiling

Rome Part 2

SPANISH STEPS (Scalinata di Piazza di Spagna) - The monumental stairway, of 138 steps, was built with French diplomat Stefano Gueffier’s funds (20,000 scudi) in 1723–1725, linking the Bourbon Spanish embassy to the Holy See, today still located in the piazza below, with the Trinità dei Monti church above. In modern times the Spanish Steps have included a small cut-flower market, a favorite place for eating lunch (now officially frowned upon and rewarded with fines) or picking up a gigolo!





VATICAN CITY (Stato della Città del Vaticano) - A sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a landlocked, almost completely walled, enclave within the city. The entire state is about 44 hectares and thus is a European microstate. It is the smallest independent nation in the world, created in 1929. Although it is governed by the Bishop of Rome (the Pope), the Vatican City State is not the Holy See but can be said to be the governmental capital of the Catholic Church.











I must say the trip to Rome was fun and memorable. The team that i flew with is so bloody nice. None of the typical aircrew bitchyness or zapping. Every1 worked equally hard. Every1 partied equally hard. Below are some random pictures! - up next - VENICE.

SQ 29

location: taiwan, taipei, sheration hotel

i m back from L.A! i must say L.A is quite boring.. the places are so far apart so u got to drive. end up hanging out with Jane (my best girlfwen) and her taiwanese fwens. n i actually played mahjong! lost 18usd... sobs sobs..

so now i m in jane's rm waiting for tat stupid woman to get ready... i m so so so hungry. woke up eary to go gym. was surprised tat i actually went lor. haha.. i think i shld start my gym regime again. i got so much free time when out station n most hotels tat we stayed in got gd facilities.

went to xi men ting yesterday. finally got to eat my mee sua! its so so gd lor. =P then walked around. never go shi ling ye shi. saw taipei 101. beri tall but beri ugly.

SQ 30

location: taiwan, taipei, taoyuan, monarch hotel

jus had lunch (hotel buffet). the spread is not bad... got sashimi, handroll, lamb, beef, salad, oyster, seafood n dessserts. only $NT420. ate sooooooo much.. haha. 1st buffet tat i went tat offer so much variety for drinks! got kopi, tea, hot chocolate, lemon tea, rose tea, fruit tea, oj, cranberry juice, lemongrass tea and dunno wat... =)

slept super early last night. after touchdown, went opp the hotel to buy yen su ji (crispy salted chicken), spicy fried beancurd & cha ye dan (herbal tealeaf egg)! beri nice! i cant wait to come back from L.A to Taipei (will stay in the city area) so tat i can eat AH ZHONG MEE SUAI @ ximenting!!!!!!!! have been dreaming bout it since my last taipei nightstop. its so so so delicious. esp the chilli sauce. travis wld definitely love it.

i think i go swim a bit. the hotel pool like beri nice. then will sleep a bit b4 reporting for flight. 14hrs. can die. but i will be meeting jane! yay yay. can go party with her in L.A. she is doing this flight 1 day after me so she will be handing the aircraft to me.

will try to finish posting my rome pics when i back to sg. got 3days off! n i think i gonna play mahjong with my tai tai khakis! havent played with them for many months liao.

24th April 06 Rome

THE COLOSSEUM - In Ancient Rome, a prime spot for entertainment which holds as many as 50,000 spectators at one time. It took ten years to construct & stands 160 feet high, containing windows, arches, and columns. Each layer contains 80 main arches. Before each show, spectators would fill in through 76 arches. Wooden flooring was utilized to hide the underground chambers in which the props, people, and animals were kept prior to their performance. In most tournaments and games, death played a prominent role. Professional gladiators, primarily condemned criminals, prisoners of war, and slaves fought either animals or eachother, often to the death. This form of entertainment in Ancient Rome was fundamentally political.







MONUMENT OF VITTORIO EMANUELE II - In 1870, Rome became capital city of the new Kingdom of Italy. And neoclassicism, a building style influenced by architecture during the late 800s, became a predominant style in Roman buildings. Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II or "Altar of Fatherland", where the grave of the Unknown Soldier, that represents the 650,000 Italian fallen in World War I is located is one of the best-known symbol of Roman neoclassicism.




TREVI FOUNTAIN (Fontana di Trevi) - is the largest, standing 25.9 meters high and 19.8 meters wide, and most ambitious of the Baroque fountains of Rome. A reported current legend is that it is lucky to throw coins with one's right hand over one's left shoulder into the Trevi Fountain. If you throw one coin, you are ensured a return to Rome; two coins to get married; and three to get divorced!





to be continued...

a lazy afternoon...

n a sleepy 1... i fell asleep at 430am, woke up at 630am n tat's it. cant get to sleep again... eventually i got tired after playing travis's psp n slept at 10+.

at starbucks, the cathay. surprisingly cozy and nice! got free connection. with ryan, jas n travis. gonna catch scoop. hope its nice.

i think i m getting the blogging flu liao. haha..

okie.. movie time!


jas & me.


ryan & me

love 愛

gay, straight, bisexual, transexual. we are all the same...

old fwens...

met up with huiling and timothy today (separately)... all of us r supposed to meet for dinner but as usual tim is so busy that he cant make it. so i met huiling for dinner n then tim after dinner. huiling mentioned tat we are not his 1st priority n i juz found out the reason why! (to tim: he is really cute! =P)

both are my really close fwens from poly. its funny how tim use to bitch me in school. he being the ang mo pai, me the cheena 1. haha... 2wards end of year 3 he started to hang out more with huiling n me, picking up mahjong along e way! playing mahjong with tim is so so hilarious. we have to converse in english n he would say "pong" with tat bit of ang mo accent. instead of "hu" he will say "oh! WIN!" or "WAIT!!! game!".

i shld meet up with huiling more. i remembered how i used to bunk over her place at times. sleeping on the foldable spring bed in the living rm with her falling asleep in the toilet... haha. miss ya too! hugs!


huiling & me @ hongkong cafe novena


tim & me @ specialist shopping centre

its 7am...

the sky is a moodly blue n birds chirping... its almost 7am n i m still awake. guess its jet lag again.. gosh.. my whole system is a mess. now i juz sleep whenever i feel tired. be it bight or dark...

juz came from london.. 320 is a shit flight. no1 sleeps. n damn, they drink like a fish!

went to st james power house. dragonfly, 1 of the 9 clubs in power house. devil's bar no2. nice deco n huge stage. sly guest performed. dj set was gd. weird mix though... chinese live songs then funky english dance tracks complete with hot dancers. but i m say the whole set up's refreshing n fun.

went ktv with jas, chris & travis. hardly goes karaoking until i met travis n jas. at least i sing 1 or 2 songs now. tone-deaf. haha... but with them i dun seem to care much. juz sing n torture their ears!

started this blog aftering reading jas's. good to write again. can put some of my time during my off days to use. want to share the amazing places tat i managed to visit after getting into this job. rome, new york, s.f, copenhagen, hk, venice, tapei, shanghai, l.a, tokyo, osaka, india, seoul, london in just 5 mths. more places to come n looking damn 4ward to it. =)