11.29.2008

"Would you like a snack??"

Hello again!!!!

It's about 2 hours from our initial descent and it's time to go through the cabin and offer snacks to our 150+ troops on board that are halfway through their second movie!

Who WOULDN'T want these fun, spunky flight attendants serving them peanuts, candy bars, and chips on their way home from Kuwait?? :-)

Danny is SUCH a riot... only we would come up with this makeshift hat for him to wear while he kept our troops happy!

Can I get you anything else? Coffee? Water? Tea? A blanket?
SO SYMBOLIC. Wearing our favorite snacks atop our heads PROUDLY!!!

They don't serve snacks on commercial flights like THIS anymore now, do they??? All the more reason to fly RYAN!!!!! :-)

CHEERS!
-Lisa :-)

Good Morning, Kuwait!

RISE AND SHINE, Kuwait!!!




Usually the hotels we stay at have a breakfast for us for no charge. This one in particular was too good to pass up!!





Talk about starting your day off on the right foot! Delicious!
CHEERS!
-Lisa :-)

11.28.2008

My first stay in the 'State of KUWAIT'!!!

Hello again!!

Well, as I mentioned before, I'm out on another long International trip until December 5th!! And I couldn't be happier to be seeing yet EVEN MORE new places on this trip that I've never even DREAMED of seeing in my entire lifetime!

Right now I'm updating from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Kuwait. My crew and I commercialed in here Wednesday night-Thursday afternoon (Yes, it was THAT LONG of a flight! 14 hours! Ha!), and we're just packing our bags now for our first working flight we have scheduled to Ramstein, Germany departing tonight at 0200.

Anyway, Kuwait has REALLY surprised me at how beautiful it is! The pride they take in their culture that is unlike anything I have ever seen before. They have been very welcoming to us and we haven't run into any problems whatsoever with the cultural adaptation (thank goodness!). We're staying at a SUPER nice 5 star hotel with an amazing lobby with tons of shops and FIVE fancy restaurants. The outdoor pool and spa isn't too shabby, either! ;-) Especially with the 75 degree weather we had here today!


This is the view of the exterior on Thursday night when we checked in. So beautiful! I LOVED these tall bamboo-type doors leading into the hotel.

These are the main doors in the lobby, and as you can see, there are portraits of all the Middle Eastern religious leaders hanging above. Very beautiful!

This is the room I stayed in... I LOVED the color and lighting scheme they had going! I also had an interior balcony that opened up to the main lobby with a gorgeous view and just the right amount of background noise to fall asleep to... :-)
A super modern bathroom as well! Loved it! I love that sink!
Here's the view I had overlooking the main lobby. It was so neat to stand out there last night and people watch!
The hotel's sushi restaurant is to the left there with authentic little Japanese huts where guests were seated. If it weren't on average $18-$21 PER ROLL, I would have eaten there for SURE! Oh well, it was neat to look at and imagine how yummy it must have been... :-) You can also see the balconies across the way... that's what mine looked like!
A view looking in from my balcony... I LOVED the fresh fruit they had waiting for me when I checked in! ;-) "It's a VERRY NICEE!!!"

Philippe and I casually checked out the menus at EACH of the 5 restaurants and finally decided on the 'buffet-style' American restaurant. Hahaha... surprise, surprise! It was still pricey, but we made the MOST of it! The salad bar area had ALL my favorites... delicious green salads and dressings, olives, cold cuts, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, and for the main courses all sorts of freshly-cut meats, fettucine alfredo with mushrooms, falafels, you name it, you could find SOMETHING you liked! And the BEST part was the DESSERT BUFFET... We wanted to try EVERYTHING, and between the two of us, I think we DID!!!


Here is Philippe and I proudly displaying our dessert trays! We each had a cup of coffee after dinner too and relaxed to the background noise of a live Middle Eastern band that was EXCELLENT and SO authentic. We also people-watched and got to check out their dress... I think it's safe to say we stood out like sore thumbs in our American-inspired blue jean GAP look, you think?? :-)


We took a stroll outside the hotel after dinner (Or, waddle, rather... we were STUFFED beyond belief!) and checked out the pool area. Isn't it beautiful?


What a beautiful stay in Kuwait I had! I can't WAIT for Ramstein, Germany. Which reminds me... I better clean myself up & pump my body full of coffee soon. I've got a long night ahead of me on this 6 hour flight!

Also, I hope everyone had a GREAT Thanksgiving! Never forget to take a minute to realize how lucky we are to have been given the family, friends, and lives that we were blessed with! It is truly a gift.

CHEERS! :-)

-Lisa

11.27.2008

727 Training and The Hyatt Place: MIAMI

Hi guys! Long time no talk!

I had about 13 days off after my last Iceland-Budapest-Poland-Romania trip, and they were spent WELL back at home with my family, Philippe, and my kitties! But now I'm back on the road again for another long international trip, and I've even got some REALLY exciting news about a new opportunity I was chosen for for a new contract my company just picked up for the winter! I bet you're just DYING to know what it is, but I'll get into more of that a little later. ;-)

Everyone loves a new assignment, right??

I was called towards the end of my days off by Crew Scheduling to tell me that I'd had a 'change in my schedule'. That's of course, what they ALWAYS say, so I grabbed a pen and piece of paper to scribble down what they had lined up for me for the following week. It turns out, I was one of (roughly) 15 flight attendants that was chosen to be trained on the Boeing 727 for
a new contract! I was told I had a one-day training in Miami on Monday, November 23 and I'd be commercialing out of O'Hare on Sunday to be ready for class at 8am sharp Monday morning.
I also got a phone call from my two in-flight supervisors later on that morning offering congratulations that they had ME in mind for this special contract and they were VERY excited about it!

The five of us that were chosen to complete certification during this session were myself, Philippe, my friends Andrea and Kendra from my training class, and a super nice girl I had never met before named Robbie. They are ALL In-flight supervisors (lead flight attendants) and/or upgradeable leads, except for me! This is a VERY good sign that I MAY be asked to become a lead sometime in the near future. Let's just keep our fingers crossed... :-)

We stayed at the Hyatt Place in Miami, and the rooms were SUPER cozy and fancy!



I walked into my room on the 5th floor and was in AWE by the large and cozy living room area, the bed tucked away in the corner, and the HUGE 42 inch PLASMA TV in the middle of it all!! :-)


This couch was SO great for studying on Sunday. We got in around 1pm so we relaxed for a bit and grabbed a bite to eat around 3, then the rest of the night we hung out on the couches and quizzed each other on this new aircraft. Prior to training, we had to pick up some study workbooks that had to be completed when we walked into class. Boy were those time-consuming! But we got them done... :-)

This bed was SOOO comfortable and I had the air conditioning cranked on high that night to keep me nice and cool while I slept. I WAS in Miami, after all... having a taste of that 75 degree weather on Sunday and Monday sure was a nice treat! And, of course.. the BEST thing about this bed is that the 42 INCH PLASMA TV (Did I MENTION how much I loved that TV!? Hahaha!) that swiveled for viewing from the living room area into the bedroom area!! And the AMA's were on that night! During Beyonce's performance, I SWEAR I felt like I was on stage with her bouncing around. Hahaha! (I WAS dancing in my room, I'll admit!) :-)

Check it out... Just gorgeous!
These hotels never cease to amaze me. There is NOTHING like checking into a hotel and slipping your key in the door, putting down your stuff, clicking on the TV and getting comfortable. ALSO, knowing that it is entirely paid for by my wonderful company. "Miss Lisa Garland, thank you for your stay, you owe nothing." (They SERIOUSLY say that ALL THE TIME when I check out.)
No, THANK YOU!!!!! :-)
(Sorry to keep you waiting, but, details on this special contract will be posted SOON! I know the gist of it, but there are LOTS of little details that I don't want to jinx by writing about it too soon. Gives you a reason to check back here now, doesn't it??)
I'm BACK and READY TO BLOG!!!!
CHEERS!
-Lisa :-)

11.05.2008

BUDAPEST: Home of the most perfect dates! Part I

Well hello again!

As you all know... I had another 2 day layover in Budapest this trip, and I was LUCKY enough to be able to spend some time with my favorite lead (and also my favorite person in general...), Philippe. He had a different crew, and a different schedule, but we still managed to find some quality time to spend together in OUR 'exotic Budapest'... showing me places I've never been to and holding my hand the entire way!

We started our afternoon with a walk down the "Mean streets of Budapest"... American as we are, and loving all the looks we got!

WE LOVE the streets of BUDAPEST!!!!

We tossed around the idea of getting an afternoon beer and he took me to this 'underground bar' called the Submarine... with beers as big as our heads! SO FUNNY!

We didn't realize just how dirty the bar table was until we saw this picture... But was it FUN... YES!!!!! :-)

We emerged from the Submarine and found a BEAUTIFUL sunset on the Danube... How can we complain about our jobs?? Is this what everyone does on a Sunday afternoon??
Setting our camera up on a green garbage can to capture the moment- What a GREAT job that can did. :-) No one but us!!!
The beautiful Danube at sunset...
Going out to dinner at our favorite restaurant on the river... JERNEY Wine bar, OUR TABLE IS AVAILABLE! (We've been here before...)
Look at our view... loving every minute of it!
So handsome! Wine? Appetizers? Dinner? Whatever you want... :-) 'We're on vacation...'

"We're International Flight Attendants... It's who we ARE, It's what we DO..."

Beautiful Budapest at night... the Chain Bridge, and EVERYTHAANG... :-)

SOMEONE has to pay Ryan back for all the hard work they instill upon us. I'll get in my 'Monkeysuit', do a flight, but come back to my girl. This is a TOUGH job, I tell ya.



Philippe's motto is, "Stress free, Drama free, = NO PAPER WORK FOR PHIL"... He is a FANTASTIC lead flight attendant and always gets his crews home safe. Come home soon!

CHEERS!

-Lisa :-)