An Evening out on the town in Pattaya... my first Authentic Thai food experience!!

Even the clouds in the afternoon were beautiful in Pattaya. After a long day at the pool, the clouds were welcomed! An afternoon shower isn't unlikely... especially during rainy season in Southeast Asia.

I surely didn't miss out on the opportunity to get some sun during my stay. (Hey!! I was just making up for the lack of sun I got in Hawaii last week... ;-)

The girls on our way to dinner: Andrea, Jill, me, and Stefanie. Stopping at the many "elephant" landmarks along the way!

This local man made "Chili Paste" on the side of the road and sold it to people that walked by. Fortunately, we didn't give in to it... but it was neat to see!! (We actually tried some at dinner later that night... BLLEECCCHHH! That is just NOT my thing... ;-)

There are HUNDREDS of girls standing outside these local "Beer bars" in Thailand... where you can get ALOT more than beers, let me tell ya!!!! Yikes!!! Thankfully, though, they were pleasant to us. We just 'kept on walkin'...

This street was particularly filled with bars and men scoping them out.

And ironically... across the street from these bars, was a statue idolizing the king of Thailand. "Long Live the King!!!"



The front desk suggested we try out this "PIC Kitchen" for an authentic Thai meal, just steps away from our hotel.



As soon as we walked in, the waitress told us we needed to take off our shoes to sit on the floor in the upstairs part of the restaurant. Andrea clearly, couldn't get over the fact that we were going to have our first authentic Thai meal on the floor!!! HOW FUNNY!!! I LOVE her face. She is such a riot!!



WOW... Is this straight out of a movie or what?? Can't even believe I am here in Thailand!!!!



The group at dinner... Philippe, Me, Jill, Stefanie, and Andrea.

Jill ordered the most delicious "Hot & Sweet" soup ever... that was served boiling in a kettle over a small fire!! So neat!!!

Cheers!!

-Lisa :-)

Continuing our day off in Thailand: Poolside

As the late morning sun finally burned off the clouds we saw earlier, we all got pretty comfortable around the pool; participating in poolside games and having the occasional cocktail. What a PERFECT day it was!!!

Whoever's idea this was to place the pool chairs in the shallow water is a genius!! I can't possibly explain how warm and humid it was, even without the sun shining for a few hours in the morning!!

Here's most of our crew... staking out our poolside chairs for the afternoon and getting some much-earned R & R after our long commercialing day!!

11am... Poolside games start. This is tennis-golf... the object is to hit the tennis ball into the goal/net!! Whoever can do it wins a FREE DRINK ticket!!! Is that a sweet deal or WHAT?? :-) Philippe signed up immediately...

Andrea had her shot at it as well...


Neither Philippe or Andrea won, but they sure do get a round of applause for trying!!! ;-)

Posing poolside with my favorite man! Mai tais in hand. YUM!!

"Back to work!!!" Philippe and his favorite girls. :-)

Poolside entertainment and music all day long. Absolutely one of the best layovers I've ever had... with the greatest people, too!! :-)

The fun staff came out and danced to "Stayin' Alive" later in the afternoon.. and asked us to join. How could we resist??? :-)

Rounding out the day with an intense game of water volleyball. Too bad Philippe & Stefanie's team didn't win!!! "3, 4, Hoo-ahh, HOO-AHH!!!"

Cheers!!

-Lisa :-)

Everyone deserves a day off: Ours just happened to be in Thailand!!

Good morning, Pattaya!!!


This was the BEAUTIFUL view from my balcony in Thailand.

Luckily the hotel's A/C was on full blast 24/7 while we were there, because it was about 90 degrees and HUMID every single day!! It was funny... the first thing I wanted to do every morning was step outside onto the balcony and see what was going on at the beach and by the pool. I also would want to take pictures, but after keeping my camera indoors all night in the "arctic tundra" which was my room... I had to wait a couple minutes for the lens to de-fog!

Isn't this view unreal?? To the left was a downtown area with loud music and lights on until the wee hours of the morning... and the area where we stayed was much more laid-back, yet still had activities going on throughout the afternoon. (Perfect, in my opinion.)

Rumor had it there were also speedboat rides you could take from the hotel's beach property to the downtown area for around $25 per person... but with a 5-star hotel, delicious restaurant and bar food, poolside cocktails, fun water sports and contests in the pool area, and staff waiting on us non-stop, why would we want to go anywhere else??

Starting our day with a little tour of the hotel grounds... Stefanie, Me, and our other great friend and crew member Jill Litton. Us girls had such a great time together! Can't believe this is our "job"!

And, of course... traveling with Philippe is ALWAYS fun for me, too!! :-)

Heading down to the Hotel's beach property in the daytime... the tide sure was lower than the night before, but it was so nice to see what it looked like in daylight!!

Starting our "day off" on the right foot, I must say...

Cheers!

-Lisa :-)

Our first night in Pattaya, Thailand!!

WOW!!!!

As we checked into the hotel in Pattaya, we suddenly forgot about the LONG day of commercialing we had just gone through to get to the opposite end of the world!!!

After we got all settled into our rooms, we all met downstairs to take a walk around the hotel property. The beach was just STEPS away, and it was so beautiful at night!!

Stefanie, me, & Philippe REALLY love it here!!! And we ALSO love the fact that we have a 60 hour layover before we have to work a flight to Dubai. Couldn't have gotten luckier with this trip!!! :-)

Cheers!!

-Lisa :-)

My First "Around the World" Trip!!

Hello all!!!

There are a couple different ways that a flight attendant such as myself can be "placed" on a trip. You can either be sitting on Reserve and be "ready to fly" at any time they may need you, or you can ALSO bid for what we call "Open Time". Open time trips are usually last-minute in nature, and its a great way for flight attendants on their off days to pick up extra hours if they'd like.

Well last Friday, I was sitting at home 'minding my own business', when I received an email asking for 5 flight attendants to take an open trip that had just come up... TO THAILAND AND DUBAI!!!!! Wow!!! I immediately responded to the email and luckily, was awarded the trip later that afternoon that was departing on Sunday morning. I had a day and a half to scramble together some stuff... although warm weather clothes are ALWAYS easier to pack, so it wasn't THAT difficult... and I was on my way West commercialing with my crew all the way from Chicago to Seoul, Korea!!!

Philippe and I BOTH got the trip, so we commercialed out of Chicago O'Hare together. How nice!! :-)

Korean Air is now my new favorite airline. They had little "Comfort Packs" waiting for us on our seats of the SUPER CLEAN 747 we flew on. Inside the zippered pouch was an eye mask, a pair of comfortable socks (which was PERFECT for me... I was wearing heels that I was dying to take off!), a tiny toothbrush and even tinier tube of toothpaste, and a lanyard to hang the bag around your neck, if you'd like. (I didn't... didn't go with the outfit. HAHAHAHA!)

Lunch is served!!! Philippe, myself, and our dear friend Miss Stefanie Glidden were fortunate enough to share a row for the 14 hour flight!!! Helps to be near people you both KNOW and LIKE on long flights like these!!! We also each had our own personal television screen with TONS of movies available. Thats what I did the ENTIRE flight! I watched "Confessions of a Shopaholic", "Bride Wars", "Marley & Me", "Revolutionary Road", and a couple episodes of "Friends". I didn't WANT to sleep with all that entertainment!!! :-)

This is the 747 that we came into Seoul, South Korea on. My first time on a Boeing 747 and it was a BEAUTY!!!! Loved it!!!!

CHEERS!!!!!

ALOHA!!! Hilo, Hawaii trip, May 2009

MY FIRST HAWAII TRIP!!!!

I was SO excited when I saw this trip pop up on my schedule!! We don't usually fly to Hawaii, but it was a 'special mission' of sorts that Ryan was fortunate enough to do for the Department of Justice.

Good morning, Hilo!!! This is the view I had from my balcony at 6:30am at the hotel in Hilo, Hawaii.

When you walked out of the hotel lobby, the first thing you saw was a beautiful view of the Hilo Bay.

Soaking up the sun while we could! One of my favorite co-workers, Debbie Reeder loves the SUN even more than I do!!! She was out at the pool at 7am that morning in Hilo. We were only there for a mere 16 hours, but we made the most of it!!! :-)

This was one of the best and healthiest-tasting sandwiches I've ever had in my life!!! Made by a local on the island... thick wheat bread, turkey, tomatoes, sprouts, and cucumbers. I could make it myself at home... but it won't ever taste as good as it did in Hawaii!!! :-)

Not many people will ever be able to travel to Hawaii for "work"... let alone have an amazing overnight there and have it paid for by the company! We LOVE Hawaii... and we LOVE our jobs. :-)

From the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific... I'm still loving my job, now more than ever!!!

Our awesome crew we had: From top left: Lindsay Mitchell (Lead Flight Attendant), Shelley Holt, Stefanie Glidden. From bottom left: Debbie Reeder, Raashi Weaver, Chaniesa Peal, Me

Lindsay is such a fantastic lead! She is so even-tempered and super cool when things go "pear-shaped". A great lead F/A is determined by how they react in unexpected situations. She always keeps her cool!

CHEERS to Hawaii!!!!

-LiSA :-)