I wish...

I wish everything could be clear, no doubts no worries, no second thoughts ! I'm sure all of you reading have been in that situation where a choice had to be made , but none was, there for creating a perpetual continuum of an unpleasant situation. I wish that when I want something it could just get out of my mouth, or I could make an action, but most of all I wish that what I want I could get ! But that would be being selfish, but why would it ? Are we not entitled to get what we want, why should we not ? Well obviously if it involves someone else, then it's not just what we want but also what that person wants. I wish I could settle for the simple things in life and not want more and more, which these days, is complication, but then again, if life was so simple I would probably find it dull. So then, I wish I could accept the simple things in life, and not challenge it , but what's a life with no challenge ? Living day by day is a theory that is hard to put in practice, considering we keep thinking about the future, for example, when I was doing my Paris flight and layover, I could not stop thinking about the next time I would be coming back to Paris, isn't that just time waisted ? Enjoying the present time is a real task, forgetting about the future and enjoying the present is where happiness begins. From time to time I do think and keep my brain activities thinking about the present moment, that impressive instant when the future becomes completely irrelevant and obsolete, because the present is so priceless and irreplaceable. This moment for me is mostly realized when I'm in good company of people I cherish, friends I care about, and know care about me in return, not to confuse with people we like and have no idea if it's reciprocal , or  a loved one whom we confuse attachment with love !  I wish and this one is a big wish, that I could just slow down and just think about myself by not thinking too much about myself, more that I don't expect to much from others and just give what I can and not think about what I will get out of it. That unselfish act has happen to me before and it is a place that I wish I could stay in for ever. Because what is a life spent on expecting others to give us exactly the same treatment that we gave them. After all isn't the biggest joy found in making someone happy ! Well easier said then done because of our selfish nature, Yes, we are selfish one way or another, it's what makes us human ! 

Ok, a bit too philosophical for one post...Today went out with the Brit and we invaded IKEA, probably , actually is blogging about it...and we had a blast making asses out of ourselves, that's the way to go, life is short no time to be serious about things, well at least things that don't matter ! Also picked up my new uniform as EK is putting the actual A380 uniform to the whole fleet, pretty classy , pictures should soon come up as soon as the uniform goes on line, which should be in may. The Brit and I also attempted Risotto, and was a major success, specially with a nice Australian red . We then went to a friend of mines birthday party and had another red this time a french. Originally felt like going clubbing but the enzymes of those reds got to our brain cells and we were left victims of our good taste in wine lol Even dough we are half a wake, we manage to spend the night imitating a certain group of people and eating kit kat ( it is past midnight ) Incredibly enough we are both blogging at the same time, when a few minutes ago for sure we were half dead near coma zone. I have slept so much the past few days, that I actually believe that my internal body defense system is sleeping too, as I think I'm getting a nasty cold, the only time I don't feel it coming is when I'm keeping active ( drinking not being one ). 

Today (March 30th), I'm on home stand by from 10pm to 6am , I don't know if I want to be pulled out, but if I do it better be a nice layover somewhere, if not, well I will try to make the experience interesting, as I'm always meeting new people, crew, passengers. 

Ok fools, I'm drained...later...

Ha..Ha...Ha...Paris and...

What a week ! After my Brazil stint I was sure I would not get another flight for at least a week, so Sunday night went out with Carine , fellow Montrealer and some of her friends (6 other girls), the night started a bit boring for me but ended up great as we switch from Barasti to Zinc lol One would think I would be tired or something, but no, I decided to go again for a second back to back dose of Zinc, but this time it was more a bust then a blast, oh well. Tuesday, I slept almost 11 hour s ( a record to be broken in a few days...read) I woke up at 4pm and had breakfast around 5pm, a mushroom omelette, I have to say that I'm getting better and better at cooking eggs lol around 1 am (Wednesday now) Brit calls me up for diner (Yes 1 am lol) , soon after a full stomach of good food, I call EVITA ( since I was on reserve from 4 am to noon) to find out if there was any changes to my roster, and there and be hold, I got pulled out to operate a Paris flight departing at 8 am, can I tell you how excited I was, finally I'm getting a flight where I am a language speaker and to one of the nicest cities in the world, a lot of flashbacks from my previous airline came back to mind, last time I was there was about 2 weeks before Zoom Airlines folded and it was my 3rd layover in Paris. Anyway, I had an hour left to get a small nap and get ready. Eventually no nap happened as I was excited like a baby, and thinking about french pastries and food, but more pastries lol As I got to the briefing prior to the flight, I realized that this was gonna be one of the best flights, there were 5 french speakers and all the crew was open and funny and relaxed, special mention to my purser who has to be one of the best so far that I had to work with ! The flight to Paris is about 7 hours, I enjoyed every second of it, I could not believe how much as I was talking to the customers (passengers for EK ) , speaking french was some kind of release for my, I just could not stop myself lol The passengers were especially happy to have someone converse to them in their own language, and I must say I did feel better also ! We land in Paris, and of course we stay in a nice hotel and from my room I noticed the old hotel I use to stay in, memories memories. No time to nap, took a shower and headed to the city, I kept falling a sleep in the train, I was seriously tired, but I would have the whole night to sleep it off. I immediately headed to LaDurée , supposedly one of Paris finest bakery. I can confirm that it was one of the best, I had an éclair and bought a dozen Macaroons (and ate every single one of them lol) I was in paradise, I will definitely need to have diner in their restaurant.

        

Got back to Dubai at midnight, and crazy as it my seemed, I slept a whopping 13 hours from 2am to 3pm, I just don't understand it lol I really think it's the Air conditioning that's causing my hibernation lol and I'm loosing more and more my appetite, people are telling me how thin I'm becoming, I certainly don't feel it, except on my pants that keep falling lol , I guess it's a good thing, but I will try to at least get the daily nutrients one needs to be alive into my body.

Before I end this post, I came to a sudden realization that I should not worry so much on things that don't need so. 

And here is a cute picture of the Brit at the Beach :

April roster is out : Auckland , Brisbane, Milan, Athens and annual leave to Montreal.

Later :)

Trigger

What makes people tick ? In my case a lot of things, and the same amount of that can stop me and put me in a state of paralysis. Who does not wake up one morning and think they are going to have the best day ever, have everything laid out in their head, and of course destiny and this unpredictable life of ours will shatter all of it from the moment you open your eyes for the first time of the day ! I use to resent this occurrence that life keeps throwing at me ... but now (better late then never) I've come to accept it as who am I to think that I can control this life, I'm just here for the ride, so I better try to enjoy and appreciate every single moment of it . If only it was that easy ! I think that we are put in this state of conflict with our selves and our desires just so life would not be boring. What would be the point of having it all with out any obstacle in our way ? Life would be boring, as it's those challenges , those mountains (would say Moses lol) that really drive us, make us tick, work, think, for the good in us or the worse in us. I also need to learn to give and not expect something in return, and just seat back and appreciate the good or the smile I put on someone's face. Just Imagine how much better we would feel if we all started doing that, giving and caring freely for others with no strings attached ! It is quite an impossible task in real life, as we are also driven by our own personal needs which would be hard to put in a back seat ! But I wonder, have we not all had friends that put them selves second just to put a smile on our faces ? We should remember those instances when faced with the choice of making someone's day or ours ! And it's the simplest things, the small gestures, sometimes just a good morning or how are you doing that can make a difference in others life. How do we get there, now I don't have the answer to that ? But really, do we honestly even try ? I honestly can say that these past few days I try to put myself second, but it is tough to forget about ourselves for the sick of others, but the gratification of seeing the other happy is priceless. So go and makes someone's day ! (yeah yeah Emirates uses that also for us to apply to passengers and make their day).

In other news, I have not flown in a week !!! But went to the beach twice lol 

Later, as Britney would say, you fools lol

Hyper active imagination looking for trouble !

Before I get to the title, I must say that I have finally tasted the salt waters of Dubai. I went to the beach ! once there, Jumeirah Open Beach, I was wondering why I did not do this before, it's like in Montreal I never went skiing in 7 years living there thinking I would always have time and the snow will always be there. There is something not quite magical but more smoothing of dipping yourself in the sea ! For me it is complete relaxation and temporary shutdown of the brain and all it's unnecessary thinking and over thinking (read previous posts). I went there with Deon (aka Britney) and of course we had the bests of times (more with our eyes then anything else lol) , later on, we finally had the chance , well more him, to go to Zinc on a monday night, what's so special on monday night one might ask ? Besides the fact that it's labelled a particular night but also that it's retro night, so 80-90's music, had a blast, and met up with superstar Airboy (lol ok overated he might say...). 

Now back to the subject at hand. My brain confuses me sometimes, if I think of something, the wildest and most impossible things, I will actually try to make it happen or even believe that it has already materialized  , and this with the fact that there is no way that it can take actual physical or living form . I think my brain is wired to interpret No's as Yeses and vice versa. I know curiosity is at it's peak when you are a child, but I seem to be more and more curious as I'm aging , it is starting to wear me down and I feel like I'm running a marathon, trying to take back control of my wildly brain activities lol a certain queen of pop would call my behavior as being Psycho... and I agree ! I think that boredom has a big role in this particular situation ... when I'm bored my mind goes into a bunch of scenarios and so well planned out that I actually believe it and take it for something that is real ! Scary, I think so too. I'm not totally at fault here, I am or was (well temporary hiatus) a soap opera fan and addict, sometimes I think my mind plays a trick on me (several actually) and a distortion between reality and fiction happens (maybe I'm in the matrix - see what I mean ) . I am having such a hard time disconnecting when I find myself in that situation, the only thing keeping me sain and close to reality so far has been going out and avoiding staying trapped in my room ! But then again, my brain gets it's energy by being alone and away from normal human socialization ?!?!? Blogging and Facebooking ain't helping it either... What to do ? What to do ? I'm writing this and thinking, boy I'm crazy, but at the same time, I think I'm lucky to be able to live out this sort of adventure and drama that my brain generates for me to play out and discover, I'm only getting to know myself better and also my limits ! The other good thing about it, is that I am conscious of my actions and that has to count for a bit of sanity in me (more of it hopefully then being mentally ill ).

That's it peeps...so far no flying since my Brazil stint and again I have a parade of days off...

Oh and Day at the beach pictures : click me !!!

Sao Paulo, Brazil and Moving and Yes I can !!! (Updated)

The past 3 days have been really a series of unexpected activities for me. On the 12th I had airport stand by from 7 am to 10 am, my second for the month, last time I was pulled out for Dusseldorf in Germany, and this time luck would have it for me, and I got the jackpot , Sao Paulo in Brazil, always dreamed of going there one day, and there and behold, without notice here I was heading there, but at what price lol . I have to work a 15 hour flight going there and 13 hours coming back, and all a 28 hour layover, I would have to wire my system in other to make the most of my stay there. The flight thankfully was uneventful , however we had a Purser who's dedication to Emirates service delivery is quite remarkable and inspiring, that said, we work like horses to please the customers and pleased they were, first time I see passengers deplaning with huge smiles on their faces after such a long flight. Once there, the rest just not start, we had an hour and half bus ride from the airport to the hotel, I just could not believe it, my body and my spirit was aching for a shower !!! I must say, I really love this job, the hotel was one of the best I stayed so far, and my rating system for the Hotels is mostly base on the shower lol Because I'm a tall guy (not big TALL) not all the shower gives me the best comfort, for the curious my showers can last up to an hour lol I was spoiled this time, big spacious, open and a rain like shower head , what could I ask for more, well there was space for 3 or 4 people lol After taking a long and much needed shower, went to the crew lounge and binged on facebook (so addicted the past few days, and what's up with the new changes ???) then went to sleep in order to wake up early and soak up as much as I can of the city. Morning came, took another shower lol and went for breakfast, met up with fellow crew members and we were already planning the day, beautilful Liliana from Portugal was heading downtown and knows the place a bit, so I went with her. Sao Paulo must be the inspiration for Dubai because the traffic there is just ridiculous, I guess I will appreciate Dubai's jams better. Did I mention how humid it is there, breathing became a sport as I was sweating for every breath I took. Never the less, enjoyed the heat. So after walking around the city center, we were off to lunch at this place where you can eat as much as you can , but the beauty of it, they come to your table with all kind of meats and boy was my mouth melting, another weakness of mine , RED MEAT.

With a full stomach we headed back to the hotel, but on our way there, all the humidity of this place came to stop as out of nowhere it started to rain hard, reminds me a bit of Miami, with its unpredictable rain showers at any given time of the day and on sunny days. Once the rain had stop off we were to the hotel, and got 4 hour sleep before the wake up call and flight back to Dubai... after 15 hours from the time I woke up and got to the bus to the hotel back in Dubai, I called Britney (lol guess who) and asked what was up !!! the plan was to go out and party like there was no tomorrow, but first I was hungry like a nymph prostitute who had not had a client for a year lol I am a bit graphic when it comes to describing what I feel lol so I headed to Mcdonalds, by this time it's well over midnight... thinking that I would be dancing the night, we decided that we should use this energy to move to our new permanent accommodation . That we did ! Are you still keeping track of how many hours I stayed awake non stop !?!?!? Tooke me about an hour to jam pack everything into 3 suitcases 2 carry ons and 4 large shopping bags. The junk I have and keep, I do not understand ! Finally got to the new place around 2 am and it's about 4am and I am wrapping up this post... Yes I can , or am I some kind of vampire lol

Sao Paulo pictures : click me !

Later.

Thinking (part 2) - Obsession

Obsession people, why does it happen ? why can't we control it ? why does it have a strong hold on our lives ? I wish I could answer those questions ... and it's the smallest things that can trigger them ... one obsession I have managed to control : Airplanes. I use to walk or drive down a street and literally stare at them in the sky and forget what I was doing...crazy, yes I must and do admit ! Now that I work on them it's less of an obsession but more a perfect marriage... Now some people might have different and more pathological obsessions, like for example, one glimpse of someone's eyes or smile for just one second can trigger a whole set of emotions and put the denial system in full blown overload ! It is a silly obsession at the very core, but such a dangerous one. You can lose all sense of rationality or logic, believe in things , see things your own way, which will most likely never happen. But the obsession can be even more dangerous, when the object in question shows signs that favor the reaction ! I see that kind of obsession like a marriage that should not have happen and needs to be annul as quickly as possible in order to salvage any sanity. When I applied for EK, I was not that interested, specially thinking that no way they are going to take on a +30 year old guy... but when I got through the first part, which for me is the trigger for my obsession to get the job at that time, I just could not let go, I was breathing, eating, digesting EK 24/7, and now that I'm here I can't even recall what I was really feeling, as if I'm ashamed of my obsessive behavior at that time. It most likely is due some sort of defense mechanism in the brain, protecting me from self inflicted embarrassment lol Ok I just lost track of my Ideas, but one way to get rid of these obsessions is to talk about it, and if its towards someone, a living breathing HUMAN, than talk to them and get things clear...it's a Killer lol

Later...

Thinking (Part 1)

Why do we meet people ? Why some are fun and others plain boring lol why do we instantly get attached to some while others we don't give them the time or day or a fighting chance to get to know them... My theory would be irrelevant as all of us have our own patterns that fit  into our comfortable ways of life...As for myself, I can be super shy but my tendency will be to for people who are outgoing, more living their lives outside of the normal box, challenging existence and the day to day tralala. Yes, I can spend days on not doing one damn thing but when I do act it is worth all the days of being in a coma. But what happens when you meet someone that seems to be a reflection of yourself and more, these people I put them in the category of special and that you don't won't do lose track of. The most dangerous I think are the people to whom an attraction exists and they are the complete opposite of what you want or see life as it should be ! Now that human social  trap of meeting and falling for these people is pure hell mixed with pure joy . What am I talking about ? you know, that girl or guy for which you have a crush on and can't even explain in a rational or logical way , WHY ?

It is quite worrying once you let yourself venture through the roller coaster called emotions and feelings , specially when the object in question is non suspecting. Even more crazy is when you divert your attention to a normal situation thinking that all will go back to normal and it doesn't. I guess that if these situations did not exist, our lives would be ever so boring, but then again how many of us decide to live our lives to a full potential, it does not take money to experience something extraordinary , special, unique, life changing, enchanting, unforgettable. It only takes a will to accept life as it is and make the most out of it with all the opportunities that presents themselves to you (Now I feel like the author of a motivational book i.e. Secrets). Now if I had to look back at my own life 10 years ago, no way I would imagine that I would be on the other side of the planet and this after being on the top side of the planet (lol Canada). I have been blessed to meet so much interesting and some rare wonderful people, let us not kid ourselves there are some mean A-Holes out there lol And the most amazing is , I keep meeting those rare individuals that make life hole for me, that makes me look at it and take a step back and enjoy every second, after all, we were given life, who are we to debate on and on about when it will end or how to live it, just enjoy the ride and make it as good as you can, forget about those eyes looking and preying on you when you fall, if you do, get up and continue, after all who has time to bother with what people do, ok ok, some people have too much time, but hey, more of the world for you to enjoy !

Please note that I'm writing this as I am utterly bored to death lol

Later...

Surprise : Dusseldorf, Germany

As previously stated, for the month of march I will be on reserve, which means I don't know where or when I will be flying, my first stand by duty was an airport stand by from 7 am to 10 am. The thing about airport stand by you have to pack for at least 6 days and for any season (i.e. winter summer) as you don't know where you will pulled out for. I get to the crew stand by lounge at EGHQ (Emirates headquarters , sort of emirates crew personal airport lol ) and after 20 minutes I hear my staff number called out and the lady there says : You are going to Dusseldorf ! I have to admit when she said that I was not actually jumping up and down, as I did not have a clue before I came to Dubai where that place was, she could have said Timbucktoo and I would not be the wiser. But, I was happy that it was a layover and I would be having my way wink wink lol This was one of the best flights I had so far, the German passengers are the best, and they flirt lol but people have a misconception about tall guys (me) they think that everyone will bow down to me, for example, and this is the second time, passengers are getting up while the seatbelt sign is on, and automatically I get called to go up and make them sit down, even if it's not happening in my area of responsibility, anyway, I don't mind lol 

Dusseldorf was nice, I definitely need to go back and discover it more... Nothing more to add ! Just that I want to go back ASAP ... so if I go , dear readers, you will get more yap yap about it !

Click for pictures =====>>>>>> Dusseldorf

Today is thursday and I'm already wondering if I will end up at Zinc, would love to try to go somewhere else for a change, but as long as I'm in good company and up to shenanigans , it's ok and it's alright lol 

Later...