Ohio Gozaimas Japan - Land of the Rising Sun :D

I was very excited when I accepted a swap for Osaka. My husband, Lionel was not so much after the tsunami and the nuclear disaster. He also told me that the airport was actually on an artificial island. It took a little bit of cajoling that Osaka was far from the disaster site, and that I would stay indoors if those were the instructions on arrival for him to relax. Just before the flight I remembered being told in training college that regular cellular services are unavailable in Japan and Korea. Was time for Lionel to cajole me coz I freaked out (I am a blackberry addict!). Lionel sent me saying it will be alright, I just need to relax and go enjoy the flight and I could call him first thing as I land back. In briefing I was that its super expensive to call from there but for a while now 3G phones are operable in Japan. That didn't help me. I figured the crew lounge would be available to so I could chat with Lionel in between my adventures and could buy a calling card and use public phones. Messaging Lio on the sly from the lav and back galley till i had to strap in for take off, I finally said goodbye and was airborne. This was going to be an adventure and I i lifted my mood thinking of returning and telling Lio all about it.

I've never been to Japan before. I've heard so much from crew as to how nice the flight and pax are. And how true it turned out to be. With the exception of a slightly cuckoo purser who was to the T-by the books and gave us minimum legal rest, the flight was one of the best ever. As a known fact, the Japanese are very polite and hospitable folk, very culturally sensitive. It was amazing to see most of the crew make an extra effort on this flight to make pax feel at home. As they understand very little to no English, we were sharing notes on a few words in Japanese with some help from the Japanese crew. It was odd to see so many Portuguese-speaking, Japanese-looking people who were coming from Brazil. Turns out parts of Brazil and Spain were favorite destinations to migrate to a few decades ago. Need to dig up the history on that. The flight was bumpy almost all the way as we flew over the Himalayas and got a magnificent view of the K2 peak. My first taste of authentic Japanese cuisine apart from sushi (that I've had twice in my life) was wheat noodle salad, fried chicken with rice and vegetables with a sauce and sweet-sour dip from the pax menu. Fair to say it was very edible but not all the crew liked it. And the flight passed with a very easy service, few call bells, a very friendly cockpit crew and just one slightly drunk old man whose wife got worried seeing him sick.

Off the flight, we took a shuttle train to arrivals at Kasai International Airport. We were each given an orange paper which served as our crew permit/visa and warned not to lose it as we must return it when we depart unless we wanted to pay a fine and be stuck at the airport. A few fingerprints and a photo later, we headed to the bus waiting for us outside. The air was so fresh and crisp. My lungs couldn't handle the pure oxygen I think as I couldn't even take a proper deep breath. We hopped onto the bus and rode on a long connecting bridge from this artificial island to the real islands of Japan. The sun was setting and reflected a golden hue off the seawater. At some point, I passed out and woke up every now and then realizing my mouth was wide open, thankfully the drool hadn't dropped yet. Lol! 

As many of us were in Osaka for the first time, we planned to head out site-seeing to Kyoto the next morning. A bunch was doing dinner a little later at this place the f/o (learn-first officer!!) highly recommended and with much convincing and temptation I said I'd meet them at the given hour in the lobby to head out together. The room had old-fashioned sliding windows with sheer sheets and a solid wooden panel, a comfortable bed, and a foyer stocked with Japanese green tea and tiny porcelain cups without handles. The combination of fatigue, laziness, and indecisiveness got the better of me. I actually threw chits saying "GO" or "NO GO" and ended up staying back. 

I called Marlene, one of the SFS (senior flight stewardess) from the flight and asked if I could pop into her room for a bit. We chatted about random stuff, intense discussions about fanatics and about life in general. She's Indian, brought up in Dubai and her husband lives in Muscat. We sort of had a connection knowing how hard it is to live away from your spouse. Soon we headed to the nearby drug store where she wanted to buy some stuff. I was in splits of laughter when Marlene did the V-sign which all Asians are famous for when posing for any and all pictures. I struck a pose holding up my hands as well. We ended up spending over an hour at the store going through all the aisles, trying to figure out what some of the stuff was looking at the picture descriptions coz not everything was printed in English. They sell some pretty cool stuff there like detox patches for the sole of your feet which work while you sleep, all imaginable hair products in various fragrances, a whole section for oils and balms, another one for tummy ailment cures, The works! The attendants loudly shouted out to one another in Japanese or to beckon customers while they worked checking people out and arranging the shelves which was rather weird and annoying to both of us (must be normal in Japan!). Eventually, we couldn't take all the shouting anymore and it was closing time so billed and walked back to the hotel stopping to pose on a locally made bike. Being exhausted we called it a night and split. I ran off to the business center for a quick chat with Lionel updating him on the plans and promising to come to chat either before heading out or after returning back to the hotel the next day.

After a good night's sleep, I managed to wake up nice and early to meet Marlene and Vanessa in the lobby. Keshan showed up shortly. We decided to leave when Fabio and Denise who also wanted to come along didn't answer their room phones after a couple of tries. We got directions and a map each from the concierge and headed to the train station. It was a pleasantly cool day. Vanessa had been here a few days ago and led the way to Osaka station which was just a few minutes away. We kept smelling food where there wasn't any (McDonald's where a bank stood!), we all must have been very hungry. We unanimously decided to grab something to eat from the convenience store at the huge station. Like the previous night, we stood looking through all the items on offer from burgers to puffs and sausages in this circular puff, sushi, sandwiches and unrecognizable foods. The foodie I am, soon I had my hands full and decided it was all too much to eat so I returned a few things. We walked out with French toast with cream cheese, a bacon puff, a sausage twisty roll, burgers, drinks and nuts. Not finding a place to eat, we stood in a corner stuffing our faces without a care in the world. Happy with full stomachs we proceeded to buy tickets and shelled out quite a bit for a return journey. 

At the station I took over navigation, I like leading the way. Hehe. We just missed the train we were to board while we tried to figure if it was the right one. A grumpy European-looking man by the door wasn't much help as he chose to look away while we asked him bout the train from the platform. So we waited for the next one departing in a few minutes. We found seats and all plopped down for the long ride to Kyoto. Half chatting and half restless we finally reached Kyoto station. Marlene and Kesh ganged up against me the whole time and we were teasing each other like kids. By themself, they were both very nice to me, but together they turned out to be monsters which I found out all through the day. It was all good fun though. We found our way to the right exit with some help from a ticket refund desk lady. We pondered over a huge signboard regarding buses to the site-seeing spots and went to the bus ticketing office. Unable to decide if we should do a bus tour through the city, we asked the staff there. We figured a day pass on the route where we wanted to go was way cheaper than the bus tour so we qued up and were told we could buy the ticket on the bus. 

Our first stop was Kiyomizudera Temple atop a small hill where we were told we could buy gifts and souvenirs that we wanted. The bus driver was a stern-looking fellow, talking to pax on the PA system from a hands-free as they got in asking if it was the right bus to where they wanted to go. This shouting business seems to be quite rampant in the service industry here. We managed to get seats in the front and watched on as we drove through the streets till we finally reached our stop. Clueless about which way to go, we asked a shopkeeper lady and strangely she had no idea where this place was. Right about then a group of 3 kimono-clad ladies walked by. We asked them and they pointed us in the direction after consulting the same shopkeeper we spoke to! With not many options we headed that way and walked for a while and then decided to ask another guy how far we were. This man looked like a tourist just like us. He pointed us to the opposite direction and said he was going that way and he could show us. So we followed trusting he knew where he was going as unlike us he wasn't carrying a map. Turns out this guy was right and the way to the temple was very close to where we got off the bus. We thanked him and as he turned back we realized he came this far just to show us the way. So we set off walking on the very narrow sidewalk on the already very narrow road up the hill. Groups of kids in school uniforms with maps in hand swarmed the place and we thought they must be on an excursion. They found us fascinating and stopped to stare or say a shy hello in English before giggling off. There were many shops selling porcelain crockery, tiny glass animals and hello kitty effigies, hand-made fans, bags and jewelry. We stopped at a cafe for a drink break in the pleasant sun and chatted while I tried to hide in the shade at the table. Back on the road, we reached a point where vehicles were no longer allowed. I couldn't resist a green tea ice cream which was so refreshing. 

Peering into shops every now and then looking for magnets we finally reached the entrance to the temple. Our first glimpse was of the red top of one of the temples. Eating there was not allowed so everyone had to wait while I gobbled up the cold delight including the crispy stick they gave as a spoon. Merlene and Kesh got bratty on me again and started pulling my leg. Did I say swarm of kids on the road during the climb? This place could have been a school for the numbers here. Seems to me the Japanese ingrain their culture into kids with actual visits to historical places. All these kids carried around notepads and sketchbooks. A group came up to us asking us a few questions to practice their English while referring to a paper they carried, and then they wanted pictures taken with us-we were celebs! After walking around the whole place and taking loads of pictures, we came upon a board indicating that the Kiyomizu temple is a world heritage site. There was a small fee to enter one of the structures which opened up higher into the mountain. Except for me, the others weren't too keen on doing the tour inside as it looked uninteresting to them so we decided to head back down and to our next stop on the map. We took a different route while going down and judging by the massive crowd, this was the main way to the temple. There were even more shops here selling local artifacts, masks, kimonos and packaged sweets that all the kids were making a beeline for. We all bought some magnets and gifts and returned to the bus stop.

We were told we might get a glimpse of some Geisha's at the Yasaka shrine so we looked at the board indicating the bus route trying to figure out which bus we must take. A girl waiting there helped us see we were obviously clueless. It was a short ride this time and we managed to find our destination easily. We walked up the stairs, through an arch with pillars housing statues of Japanese musicians. This place mostly had stone structures in a maze of a yard. There was an area for washing up to one side. There were trees bearing flowers and one which had red leaves which were so appealing to the eye. We exchanged cameras once again taking each other's pictures as we walked around. I noticed this place also had a corner like the previous temple where people had written out wishes and prayers on tiny planks of wood and hung them on these stands with a red ribbon. There was also a metal stand with rods on which pieces of folded paper were tied in a knot with wishes written on them. A counter selling the wooden wish planks stood next to it and the ladies painted some Japanese inscriptions on sheets of paper. I tried to find out if I could have one printed but it was an impossible task to communicate with them. This place is almost deserted, I didn't have an option of getting help translating so I soon gave up on the idea. In the middle of the courtyard was a structure with hundreds of white lamps inscribed in black hanging from it. We guessed it was another wishing post. To one side was the temple with bells hanging in the front. People tugged at the long ropes attached to it and threw coins over the barricade which was a form of prayer as one could not enter the temple. 

We continued on our search for the Geisha's and wandered into a garden. Everyone was tired and decided it was time to head back, but I was inquisitive to see what was beyond this circular island where we had stopped. I ran off to take a look while the rest rested. I found there was a beautiful little lake with a bridge going over it towards the hill. There were a few benches on one side where people sat looking at the lake or feeding pigeons, and a man with a professional video camera filming the surroundings on the other side. I returned to my colleagues telling them they had to come along as it was a beautiful spot to take pictures. They agreed and off we went to be snap happy again. There were huge grouper fish and ducks, and also a turtle who thought my finger was food and came to snip it as I bend over the water trying to catch it. Soon it was time to head back so we could grab a bite and catch a small nap before the flight. I got a lovely shot of two umbrella-bearing kimono-clad women walking over the bridge and also bumping into 2 young girls who were probably being trained to be Geisha's, but not the Geisha's themselves. We were soon on a bus back to Kyoto station and the traffic made the journey tiring and long. Vanessa dozed off most of the way and we giggled watching her head bump along the ride. 

Back at the station, after asking the attendants we found the correct platform and boarded the train to Osaka station. Luckily we got the express service and made up for the time we lost in the traffic. On returning we went to the mall next to the hotel looking for Japanese tempura and dumplings. After a round of the food court, Kesh and Vanessa decided they would just call room service and headed back to the hotel. Marlene and I were on a mission. We went back to the signage where we had seen an advert for a place that served dumplings. The floor map was all in Japanese and we actually matched the alphabet to find out the restaurant. It was a she-she fu-fu-looking place and none of the servers spoke English. Pointing out what we wanted from the menu and using sign language we gave our order of 2 pieces each of shrimp tempura, pork and veggie dumplings and hoped it wouldn't be a blooper. When the food arrived it was all accompanied by different sauces and we dove right in. It all disappeared pretty fast. Not knowing how the tipping system worked we asked the cashier and he refused to accept a tip. We found out later it was considered rude to leave a tip in this part of the world. Reaching the hotel we split as Marlene wanted some more of the drug store shouting, lol. I headed to the business center for another brief chat with my love. I excitedly spilled the days' happenings to Lio and with much reluctance logged off to catch a short nap before the flight. The return sector was as uneventful as the one coming in. I was excited all over again as I was gonna fly off to Chennai after landing back in Dubai. This was indeed a de-stressing flight and I hope to fly back to the land of the rising sun soon. Till then Arigato!

So our honeymoon was a sudden last minute plan. With tickets for Colombo booked about 10 hours before we were to leave for the airport, we frantically looked for a place to stay as most hotel didn't have vacancy. We made reservations at Galleface as suggested by the friendly neighbour, Ashok. Then it struck me that we could ask some friends who went to Colombo. Jumbo as we call him with love, (and for obvious reasons LOL) suggested we stay at the Eden resort and spa where he recently stayed with his family. We checked the website and it really was beautiful. After much telephonic conversation we were told that the reservation system wasn't working but we would be able to go stay there on arrival as they had vacancy. After confirming again that they would have a room for us when we reached, Lionel finally hung up and now I had to make the frantic call to Galleface to cancel our previous booking, Thankfully they hadn't swipped the card for payment but just taken the card number for making the booking. The guy on the phone very sweetly said it was alright to cancel when I lied that my husband made the booking the same time I was making one and now we had 2 reservations. :P

After the stay was sorted, we were super excited as this would be out first real vacation. It was just gonna be just 2 days due to the instinctive decision and for the fact that I had a flight to catch the next day back to dubai and then another flight for work. We tried convincing Sasha, Ashok's gf to take off work so we could all go together but that wasn't happening as its her last month in her job. So with a few clothes we found fit enough for the beach and an extra bag to bring back the shopping, we left from home with two friends, Nandu and Suni driving us to the airport. It was unexpected heavy traffic for the hour on the airport road and a lil worry about missing our flight started creeping in. The traffic was thanks to a barricade the cops decided to put across an already narrow road to prevent people from taking a u-turn even though there was no u-turn for the next couple of blocks!

Finally we reached the airport, took are bags and rushed inside. Scan, weighed and checked in bags, we happily waved our boarding pass as we headed for immigration, customs and security checks. We were finally on our honeymoon exactly 3months after the day we got married and we couldn't contain our happiness. Boarding started almost immediately and we took chennai airports first travelator to our gate, went down the stairs, on the bus and boarded the aircraft. The flight was full and we were moved to exit seats where we happily stretched our legs and sat doing what passengers do on a flight-check out the crew. Hehe! After much careful observation we concluded that the Spicejet uniform skirt has a bad design. This one poor crew had somehow stuffed herself into it and it was unsightly. This group of pax with some young boys joked and laughed bout it mercilessly ofcourse without her knowledge. Take off after midnight, some food and an hour later we were in Colombo at about 2am local time.

The weather didn't seem as bad as I thought it would be. The airport terminal was not very big but very clean. Immigration was quick and soon we walked into the arrivals hall with a bottle of Martini champange and Bacardi we grabbed at duty free to celebrate :D Looking out for taxi hire company's we went to the only counter with a lil activity and attendants who weren't sleeping and booked a cab to Beruwala town where the resort was situated. We were shown on the map that we drive right through colombo to reach Beruwala, which would be about a 2 1/2hr drive. Shana, the attendant showed us to the taxi and we got his number to call for a cab the next day to return to Colombo city. We drove into the night but it was hard napping in the car. I had silly thoughts of being driven in an unknown country by an unknown person and I realised I wasn't a very trusting traveller. These thoughts I kept to myself as I was sure they were as ridiculous as I thought them to be, and I didn't know how Lionel would react. And now as he reads this he's gonna say,"sweety why didn't u tell me u were scared? Muahhh ". Some fears are best left untold I believe.

The gates to our garden of Eden were shut when we arrived. A sleepy watchman came unlocked it for us and an equally sleepy porter helped us with our bags. We were seated while yet another sleepy receptionist was ushered to check us in. We were shown to our room which looked so cozy with a balcony facing the resorts pool. It was raining and we hoped the weather wouldn't ruin our plans for the beach bumming. Tired we decided to sleep and wake up early for breakfast which ofcourse didn't happen and we woke up around noon.

Slathering on lots of sunscreen we headed down ready to relax. The humidity made the camera lens foggy and the cloudy weather didn't help with the clicking of pics. But it was pleasant because of the previous nights showers. We went around lookin at the whole place and saw a gate which opened up to the beach. While I fetched some towels for us, Lionel struck up a deal with this local named Bingo (everyone seems to have english names these days) for a boat ride into the mangrove forest. We jumped into a motor boat went with Bingo and his mate into the marshy waters. They showed us these huge reptiles Bingo liked to call water lizards basking on tree branches and swimming in the water. Everytime they spotted something they would kill the motor and ease closer to the creature. I was excited to see a crocodile but all we found was a tiny baby which got scared when Bingo threw a tiny stick at it so we could see it better. Lionel and me tried hard to spot something amidst the murky water and the clustered branches and dangling roots, he saw a kingfisher or two but my eyesight failed me. Some whistling rustled up the fruit bats in the trees high above and we saw a white tree frog sitting a leaf and dangling in the air. After a nice long ride we reached a tiny bridge where we turned around and headed back. Bingo insisted we go to one of the many herb gardens found there, just to have a look he added as this particular one belonged to his brother. We were given a tour around while the man pointed to the uses of oils and creams made from each of the pepper creepers, coconut trees, ginger stems, lemongrass plants, medicinal pineapple runners, sandalwood barks and what he claimed to be asparagus which had no shoots! There was a tiny table with bottles of oil and jars of creams which they took the liberty to apply on us as a demo, lemongrass oil to ward off mosquitoes and a patch of sandalwood hair removing cream on Lionel's leg. Lol. We were told that we could buy all that stuff and even if we didn't, a tip would do. We left wit a bottle of pepper oil for vericose veins and the sandalwood cream. Haha. And he wanted a tip as well! Cheeky fellow.

We finally reached the beach by our hotel and were being offered another deal for a ride to town by tuk-tuk which we said we'll think about. A man was selling tiny souvieners carved out of coconuts in the shape of elephants, monkeys and tuk-tuks which were over-priced. While Lionel went back to the room to bring his wallet to pay Bingo, I settled in a beach chair under the shade of the umbrella which refused to open fully. When he was back we strolled to the waters edge and walked in the shallow bit. The sea was rough so that was all we dared to do. Getting hungry, we headed back inside the hotel gates and to the outdoor cafe for some grilled lobster with fries and refreshing drinks. Lionel couldn't resist sending some pictures to Ashu and Sashu to tease them, and it worked. Lazily we settled in the recliners in the garden facing the beach with a plate of fries between us,which we left for the crows to snack on eventually. The view was obstructed by trees if you were lying down. So we strolled to the beach. Another local tried selling a joint to Lio for 15dollars saying its imported from Kerala! Lio couldn't stop laughing for the fact that he is from Kerala. Least to say that deal didn't work out for the insisting local who walked off disappointed. I walked at the water's edge while this happened. We walked hand in hand for a while and figured our next option was the pool since we couldn't splash about on the beach with the rough sea.

Some splashing we did! Carrying Lio around in the water with the weightlessness and giggling at his attempt of swimming and squishing bubbles from his pocket which looked like farts in water we spent the afternoon. There was this fat lebanese looking guy with another uncle of smaller size there who we thought were a gay couple and found hilarious coz of their size difference. We sat sipping cocktails and playing the fool at the bar in the center of the pool. All the waterproof suncreen turned white in the pool which annoyed Lio very much. He tried rubbing himself and me clean of the white residue with a frown. And yet there were patches here and there. So we headed back to the room to shower and get cleaned. But what do you know, I ended up sleeping for 4 straight hours. Lio got up earlier and decided to take a walk around the place. He called to let me know I could find him in the snooker room. When I eventually woke up and got dressed for dinner, he was almost done playing. Tired from all the horsing around in the pool, we decided to stay dry for the rest of the evening and checked out the seafood restaurant called Beruwala maalu. Grilled crab and crab bisque soup it was this time. By now the mallu in Lio was missing the spicy food and rice and wasn't too happy seeing his crab in a white sauce. I gladly offered to finish his plate for the glutton that I am. I saw a couple go to the beach and knowing the gate was still open we followed suite after finishing. I ran up to the room to grab the bottle of champagne to drink on the beach. We walked in the light from the resort, and a dog followed us around wagging his tail the whole time. Soon after the fat man and lil man landed up on the beach and went off in a different direction for their romantic walk while we both sat on a log of wood sipping some very sweet champagne from the bottle.

Taking a quarter of the bottle back with us, we went back to the room as there was nothing else for us to do. After some convincing I ordered a nasi goreng for Lio so he could have the rice and spice in his system again. Time didn't seem to pass. Eventually a few hours after watching a nineties set movie we passed out.

Next morning's breakfast also didn't find its way to our stomachs. Lio woke up ahead to be a darling husband and go arrange for a cab and check the bill and stuff while I lazed a lil longer. We planned to head straight out to colombo in the hotel taxi coz this time Lio was a bit wary about flagging down a cab in the middle of nowhere. The cabbie was a nice guy who said he had been to India on his first foreign trip, to Chennai infact and said would like to return some day. A friend, Vijay recently moved to Colombo so we got hold of him for meeting up the evening. He was kind enough to offer us his place to dump our bags while we shopped, but we had got the empty bag to fill it up with the shopping. We asked the cabbie which place wud be best to shop at and he suggested House of Fashion as lots of Indian go there, Odel and Majestic is more of an attraction for Europeans he said.

So we landed up at House of Fashion, and after depositing our bags at the counter we went through the place top to bottom. It was a bit of a chaos with saris and bags and mens and sportswear together, and kids wear with toys and a winter wear clumped on another floor and the ground floor being a selection of shoes, house hold items and check out counters. We picked out gifts for each of our friends and a few for me and hurried off to billing coz by now I had elephants crying in my stomach. This time with a lil help from a girl on the street we headed to Odel after she put us in an auto so we cud eat first and then shop again. Yummy burgers and chilly cheese fries and a few fresh limes (that went wrong coz they were sweet and salted when we asked just for sweet) later we entered this tiny place which had mostly designer stuff. Nothing of much interest apart from a trinket we picked up for Renu and a shop selling cupcakes from where we were shooed off coz I clicked a picture! We went up and down and up and down again looking for a poker chip set which disappointingly was out of stock. Next stop was Beverly Hill and with 2bags in hand we were making it more than obvious we were tourists so the tuk-tuk drivers took good advantage of the same and made some mollah. By now Lio was fed up of shopping coz he doesn't have the patience to look through stuff, one gaze and he has to like the stuff to buy it. He perched himself on a parapet while I whizzed around quickly and grabbed a few things. The tuk-tuk driver waited for us outside and suggested we go for a massage. Having nothing else in mind for the moment we let him take us to this place which turned out to be an ayurvedic treatment centre. We both did not think we wanted any heavy-ass treatment, just a regular salon would do but we were told this is what's available here and this is what people come to do so we should atleast check it out. So reluctantly we walked inside this cottage with a heavy incense odour, looked at the catalogue and walked out as they did not have any regular massage-just all long smelly treatments! Exhausted Lio got hold of Vijay and it was decided that we wait for him at his apartment.

It was a quick ride to Vijay's place. His wife, Anu was warm and hospitable. We chatted with her about life in Colombo. She was still getting a hang of it in the few weeks she was there. She told us how afraid some locals are even now to live a normal life because of the Tamil Tigers and LTTe incidents in the past years to the extent that her maid's family splits into father-daughter and mother-son duo and take different buses while travelling. We were shocked and amazed hearing this. I was very impressed at how well spoken Anu was while she told us about the amazing night life and beautiful resorts in Sri Lanka. Soon it was time for their lil girl, Ananya to wake up so Anu left us two alone to freshen up in the guest room. Vijay joined us soon after and Ananya was stuck to him like a baby monkey for a long time, it was so adorable. The boys, (yes I call them boys coz both for their age are still jumping, getting crazy...LOL) had a drink or two. Lio and me decided to skip dinner as we were keen on going to the casino at Bellagio and we were surprised to know that it was right next to Beverly Street but we missed it. Clubbing wasn't gonna happen either as we had to leave for the airport around midnight to catch our flight back. While we headed to the casino, the other trio went for dinner with some friends and Vijay would pop in at the Bellagio after he was done.

Now this Bellagio is probably the world's smallest casino. It really was tiny compared to casinos one sees in movies. There were no slot machines, just roulette, black jack and poker tables with a bar to one side of the wall. This was Lio's first time at a real casino and I was excited to gamble with him. We walked around to have a look and settled at one of the roulette tables which had a seat. I explained the game to Lio and he watched as I bet for the first few spins. He wandered off to find an empty poker table as he thinks roulette has very low odds of winning. By the time he came back I had lost some money. He sat down next to me as all other tables were full. Changing some more money for chips, he started betting with me and turns out he enjoyed not knowing what he was doing. Eventually he got the hang of the game and we played together and played to win. Guess he was gonna be proven wrong tonight. I ran off to book cab at the reception for our ride to the airport and check on Vijay while the new-found roulette fan made some more money. It was good fun just the two of us. Brad, an african-american guy on our right was at the table since 4 in the evening and kept saying it was his last bet everytime but couldn't get up and leave as he was winning. His work collegue on the other hand kept losing at different tables and took what brad was winning to go play again. Another very drunk local propped himself between Brad and us and was on a lucky strike as well. When Vijay walked in he commented that it looked like a scene from a James Bond movie and laughed. He sat down for a round of black jack after watching us play for a bit. Soon it was time to leave and we encashed all our chips , which to our delight were much more than the money we put it. Lets just say our stay was paid for courtsey Bellagio.

We collected our bags from Vijay's place and drove off into the night towards the airport about an hour away. Another snapshot with a money fan sent to Ashok and he was almost in tears they didn't come along. A piece of advice, exchange your currency in the city or encash your chips for dollars at the casino. They had funny rules of not issuing more than 100dollars per person at the airport, and you must have a reciept for when you exchanged money into Sri Lankan Rupees in the first place. The airport was was a chaos with no que to go through customs, just a large mob of black and brown and white faces. If it wasn't for Lio I would have probably would have never come through to the other side. Check in took forever but thankfully immigration was a breeze. Another speciality of this airport is that they do not accept local currency for any purchases made after immigration, only major currency. Its the first time I've come across such a rule! We quickly grabbed some alcohol that a friend had asked for and walked around looking at the other shops there.  We figured we couldn't buy even a bottle of water as we didn't have any dollars left so we waited at our boarding gate, checking out the ground staff this time. Conclusion - Lio thinks Sri Lankans have very good features and I think they are a bit weird, but we both agree that a mojority they speak terrible english. We were settled in our seats in no time and with content hearts we flew back home. It was a perfect trip and we were both very happy. Any longer and we would have probably got bored not having all the friends back in Chennai around. :)

lagos part 3/3

So Lagos for the third time round and I was a pro telling all the crew about the hotel, the facilities and ofcourse the allowance. At the airport we saw the shocking news about the tsunami hitting Japan and asked after the well being of one of the Japanese crew's family. She paniced slightly as she couldn't reach them while we were on the bus to the hotel. but by the time we reached she has news that they were all safe. I skipped giving the hotel staff's welcome speech/briefing this time and they were quiet upset that they would have to do their job themself this time around.

Before the flight my uncle who happens to be living in Lagos managed to get hold of me so we had plans to meet. However, once in the hotel room, like the previous time I couldn't reach him. But this time I had his wife's number as well so she was the mediator. It was decided that he would come pick me up from the hotel in a few hours and take me to his place where we would do dinner. I was already dressed thinking he would come fetch me right away. But I dozed off while watching the live coverage of the tsunami telecast due to fatigue.

I was pre-warned by my mum that I must take some present for my cousin so I came prepared with a few packs of chocolates. When asked by the SFS how old my couz was, I embarassingly din't have an answer. Now the thing is I havent't been for any family gathering in a really long time as I've been living far from my hometown, so I don't rem how long ago i saw this couz or how old he was then. I just rem him being knee high. So to be safe I got cute gummy bears, some cool soda bottle candy and chocolates and he had to like one of them.

When my uncle finally reached the hotel, I rushed down aftr a quick wash and was driven by his driver, Friday to his apartment which was in the only high rise building I came across so far. We chatted after years and it was so good to catch up. My uncle being a jovial guy played a prank on my aunt sayin we would take long to reach his place when we were just turning into the apartment compound. She was happy to see me and chirped away about how glad she was to have company. She said Lagos was like a golden cage and so lonely. Arjun, my couz was out for his salsa lesson. She questioned me about flying and the job and everything while we waited. Her maid was called Happy and I found that very amusing. She explained that its her english name and her real name was something unprounouncible. Arjun did finally arrive and he was a young sharp boy, just a lil short of shy. Eventually he opened up and showed me his charts and played the keyboard. My uncle told me that a few of his friends would be coming by for dinner and drinks and one of them who lived close to the hotel would drop me back. I dreaded in my mind my uncle offering me a drink. Its like he's family and our culture isn't exactly very open about girls drinking though it happens widely. It was out of respect the thought struck me.

Soon my aunt started getting the starters ready. I was amazed as I saw this thin nigerian woman cook Indian food that my aunt had taught her to make. My aunt had dished out some amazing spring rolls that she made from scratch and my uncle made some dry chicken with a rum flambe which was too amazing not to capture on camera. Slowly the guests arrived and the quick bites disappeared really quick. My uncle did ask me if I'd be drinking any wine to which I politely refused hoping my cheeks weren't colouring up. I had stuffed myself even before the maincourse was served. So after much insistance I ate a tiny dinner much to my aunts dismay coz she had cooked quiet a bit. my uncle's friend chose this moment to express his unhappiness with some crew when he last took an EK flt coz the crew refused to help thsi tiny man put his bag in the overheadbin (which he couldn't quiet reach) saying its not my job to carry bags. Now this guy was really pissed off and said some crew are so rude and racist. He vent out all his frustration about the incident in front of me because I am also crew with EK. After a few uncomfortable moments where I tried to save my airlines reputation saying there is always a bad fish and he must not hold it againt EK. Finaly itt was time to leave, so I said my goodbyes and my uncle's friend and me were walked down to the car. My uncle said it was his last week and Lagos and he was glad he had family visit before he left. It was good to see them to I told him.

On our drive back this friend of my uncle, being about my dad's age decided to give me a lecture of how youngsters these day don't respect the culture or elders...blah blah blah. I wanted to dig a hole and just disappear. I mean we just met and here he was lecturing me. Then he went on to tell me stories about his years spent in Lagos and how unsafe it is. Also how people who come here are destined to return. I breathed a sigh of relief when we approached the road to my hotel. I thanked him for the ride and ran off to my room. Since I got the same room as last time with the nonfunctional overhead light, I huddled up with my quilt in the bath tub yet again for some skype time wit Lionel before going to bed. The next day was lazy as ever with not much on the charts. There was some more online entertainment and socializing before getting ready for flight. And me and another crew volunteered to exchange everyone's currency at the airport for them while they go ahead and get the aircraft ready for boarding. Yet another time I saw two of the officers taking some sort of bribe for letting a man go through customs and another one carry something prohibited in his hand carry. Its scary and I informed crew of the same so atleast now they would be motivated to do thorough security checks preflight. Off to dubai with another lipstick fan and lotsa red wine we went!

lagos part 2/3

Now for the 2nd of the series of 3 Lagos flts I had this month.

Once again it was a series of red wines going out like hot cakes. Not so much of pineapple juice this time though. The newest crew member, a girl from Senegal was slightly stuck up and din't take too kindly the advice I gave her to not use bars which are meant to be kept for crew on the return sector. Like the previous flight I gave advice to crew about the hotel, allowance and the buffet which I stuffed myself with. I had  promised the hostess who receives the crew and checks us in, that I would do the briefing on her behalf. So like a pro I did her job and kept my word and was given a round of applause from the hotel staff, with some crew wondering if I sneak there and work part time. LOL. 

I was very tired and passed out, and overslept my supposed to be short nap. Not to mention I was so late I expected all the crew to have had dinner and gone back to their rooms. luckily I did find the first officer, David, Mahmoud, Zach and Soukeyna at one of the dinner tables. The Senegal girl and the first officer took leave no sooner they were done signing for their meals. The remaining 4 of us sat there randomly chatting while they finished their drinks. Zach ended up knocking a glass and shattering it to bits because of his over enthusiastic hand gesture. Finally 3 of us except Mahmoud decided to head out and check out the club across the street. So we made our way after making a few enquiries about the safety, hours of buisness, etc. On our way out we met Aditya, the Indian SFS who had come down for a smoke as all rooms were non-smoking. To our disappointment the club was showing the same soccer match being played at our hotel on big screen with the volume blaring. The highlight was probably a murky looking glass case wit a few inches of equally murky water with a sign saying-"point and we cook fresh catfish for u". This got David a little excited but after the buffet dinner and couple of glasses of wine, he really could only look at the catfish longingly. Exclaiming that he will come have it the next day or next layover he reluctantly followed us out of the place. 

Back at the hotel we bumped into Aditya again who joined us for a drink at the bar. I tried a Nigerian special which was a rather refreshing mocktail. Eventually David and Zach retired for the night and I sat chatting with Aditya about north Indian people in general as he came from Shimla. The bar tender suggested a brandy cocktail which to my disgust was too strongly flavoured with sum sort of spice I couldn't quiet put my finger on. After a few dwindling sips I gave up on trying to finish my drink and decided to go back to my room and chat wit Lionel.

In the room, after setting up the laptop and huddling in bed I realised the main light in the room wasn't working and so it was quiet impossible to be seen on skype. I gathered my quilt and pillows and headed to the bathroom, making myself comfortable in the bath tub. Thankfully the bathroom is well lit with a plug point which can be used for electronics apart from shavers! A few hours passed chatting wit Lionel and a friend, Hitesh. I decided to call it a night and slept almost till it was time to get ready and go on flt. A short chat with lionel before heading off back to flight kept me smiling as always. 

The incoming crew weren't as nice as we were, so we got empty bars which we supposed to be restocked for us. Also alcohol, juices, etc were used from the containers meant to be kept sealed for us. We cursed the crew for being so inconsiderate and thanked our stars the flight had a fairly light load. We finally landed back in Dubai ahead of scheduled arrival time and I hoped my 3rd flt would follow suit as I plan to catch a flight right after to Calicut for the wedding registration work. But I would know only when the day comes. Until then lets get some rest before round 3 of 3!

Lagos part 1/3

So I have 3 Lagos flights rostered this month which means staying in doors on the layover unless I can round up a fair number of crew to step out AND a more than decent layover allowance. With not enough sleep I headed for my almost 8hr long flight. I was glad to see 4 known faces in the briefing room, which I might add is a rare occurence coz there's just so many of us you hardly ever see people again after a flight.

A general thing discussed in briefing for this flight is that you have to leave all your prejudices behind, and not get offended at how pax on this sector may try to get your attention or the way they speak with you, that's just how they are even to their own people. So ignore all the pst..pst..hissing, the sleeve/skirt tugging and the ocassional cute guy calling you 'sista' like everyone else. Also one will repetitively hear phrases like, "I wanna ease maself" (meaning they wanna take a leak) and "do urself a fava n gimme a pineapple juice" (jst their lingo) and ofcourse "gimme 2 of those" (2 of almost everything we serve onboard). Now don't get me wrong here, I'm not stereo typing, only stating what gets some crew pretty pissed off I fail to understand why.

Nick, an aussie guy who is fairly new in the company is keen on going out clubbing in lagos as he has heard much about it. And I in general am waiting for a chance to venture out and explore. I've somehow managed to get Sean (fellow-indian) to agree to come out coz he doesn't want me to go out alone, which I didn't plan to anyway. Semeret, the ethopian girl said she will have to stay in and study for her reccurent exam. And so the flight got over uneventfully with lots of red wine and coke being served, all baileys running out and a generally cheerful atmosphere prevailed among crew. Almost uneventful shall I say. One guy got drunk, annoyed a few of us and refused to sit down even when we started descent, and I had to ask his co-pax to take him away and put him in his seat. Also, we heard the captain having a heated conversation with an Air Traffic controller who came to the aircraft to see them as we disembarked because he failed to communicate that there was another plane within 2miles (or was it 2000ft?? I can't remember) which our pilots thankfully realised with aid of an advanced anti-collision device fitted on most modern aircrafts. Close call!

Finally we signed our register, collected our bags and headed outside to our bus which is escorted by 2 armed police men bearing AK47's in a minivan towing along our bags. In the bus as a procedure we received a briefing by the 'commanda' who instructed us to fasten our seat belts, to keep doors and windows locked at all times and to not panic incase of an emergency as our safety was his prime concern, and he and his team are thoroughly trained to handle any situation. Makes me think of what our passengers go through when we give safety briefings. Lol. Off we go to our hotel where we are greeted by friendly staff and welcomed with refreshing ice-tea and mango juice while checking in.

The captains suggested we meet for dinner at 6.30pm local time which was a few hours away. I was to call Semeret if I was gonna go. Sean was hitting the gym before any plan materialised and I took this chance to get off ma ass and work out as well. Thanks to a call he made to ask if I was gonna go down, I changed and hit the gym. Hard enough to feel a few aching muscles later. Then for a quick shower before meeting Sean later to head out later. When I did go down, I found Nick nd Sean at the bar sippin beers. Along came Fei, one of the SFS and all my pleas to step out before it gets dark were drowned in their beer afflicted chatter. Clubbing post dinner lurked somewhere in the background though as there were 3 very good clubs nearby. So I figured might as well call Semeret, more the merrier. The captains arrived soon after. I was too hungry and tired to have fun watchin others get drunk so I lead them to the buffet which looked delicious.That led to several plates full of food down our starving bellies including nigerian chicken stew and rice cooked with tomatoes,onions and bananas. We chatted non-stop about flight safety and culture diffrences and how old or young everyone at the table was, etc etc. till slowly people started retiring to their rooms. Clubbing got canned just like my plan had.

Back to my room I realised my internet voucher was almost reaching its 5hr limit so I ran across to Nick's room to steal his so I could skype mr.husband. After a long tiring day our conversation didn't last very long. I passed out almost instantaneously. Woke up a few times to check bbm, and finally woke up so I could talk to lionel a lil more before flight. My bb as always refused to work every now and then while everyone around happily texted away. We sent additional position crew to exchange currency for everyone as Nigerian Niara cannot be taken offshore by foreign nationals. Even if one did, the exchange rate you'd get would be pathetic. We got on board after a short wait, started our pre-flight safety and security checks and boarding followed. I dint get to say bye to ma hubby darling which sure as hell left him worried till I replied after landing back in dubai. I had a few fans on flight with a lady asking what shade lipstick I wore and insisted on writing the info down, and a couple asking another crew, Vesna to enquire what watch I was wearing. And an annoying lady who insisted I clear her trays away as she was travelling with a child (who occupied a seat) immediately just as I stood in the cabin holding a silver tray in one hand and a pot of hot tea in the other. Where do some people leave their brains when they come onboard I wonder! But that pretty much sums up the flight and ofcourse the usual one very drunk talkitive pax.

I was right about Lionel being worried sick coz he didn't know when I would land and why I suddenly disappeared without saying bye. Got worried myself when my bag didn't show up on the assigned carousel for our flight. It was just that the loader had decided I was his object of ridicule and loaded ma bag on the neighbouring carousel. Made a dash for the bus so I wouldn't have to wait another 15minutes for the next one. And got home, happily bbming the whole way. Was a refreshing feeling even after the long flight. Got in bed cuddling on bbm (its pretty much like oxygen) till sleep took over. The venturing out will have to be for another one of the Lagos flights I guess.

"I wish a wish for u...I wish a dream comes true, I wish now and wish forever that all ur wishes comes true "

So many tiny lil wishes, dreams i wish came true...would ma interest wane? would this lifetime suffice? Only time can tell. I'm a dreamer, I'm also a lazy whiner at the best...hehe. And sometimes when ma heart is all out for something, circumstances have a way of making sure it doesn't happen. Such is life as Lionel says. :) No harm making a wish list now, is there? And Im also allowed to contemplate it all in print :P Another attempt to compile ma wishlist. Here goes....

1.Be a DJ in the real sense.
Play music again, play better than before and be the hot DJ again ;) Wait for exams to get over, revamp music, save to buy laptop and gear, I don't even own a decent headset, and one that was gifted to me by Sudhin I managed to lose :( Sometimes I wonder do I really have the inclination? Don't expect to be no superstar Dj, but get ma act together. How easy or hard its gonna be while in Dubai I dunno.

2.Bungee jump

As scared as I am after being told by a friend that when ur head goes under the water, its literally like ur life is taken out of u. And when u emerge the gasp of air is like getting a new life literally. Till now I only wondered if I'd have the balls to jump facing forward, settling with the thought that I'll just do a backward free fall which i love anyway. Now I gotta worry bout ma dislike bout water in my nose,ears,eyes and everywhere :P

3.Sky-dive

Now the fact that being so high  wouldn't really be a hurdle in the way of jumping out of an airplane seems the pressing factor here. What concerns me is the whiplash when t chute opens. Do or not to do. Hmm. Good I haven't done the Aukland flight yet since I haven't made up ma mind yet...hehe.

4.Shoot a portfolio

Oh yes, for I dunno how long I've wanted to get all the hair and make up done, be dressed in designer shoes(and clothes!) and snapped just for the fun of it. If I had a better waistline and nicer legs maybe I would consider it more seriously. Wish ma designer and photographer friends came togther and worked on this!

5.Write

If only I spend a fraction of the time I spend mindlessly surfing on this blog instead I'd be getting somewhere. Publishing would be a different ball game altogether. The lil I wrote is all gone with the past. Alas me and my shortfalls which I do nothing about :P But isn't this blog being published on the World Wide Web anyway? A writer in ma own way...

With these are many other wishes of wanting to fly a plane, being more in control of my life, buying a nicer camera, doing more for ma family, etc etc. Oh, I also wish I wasn't such a confused being most of the times!

But the things that TOPS all of these is wanting to be with Lionel. Wanting him next to me. Doesn't matter where we are cause we will make the most of it. Be the happiest we can be, share all the love we can share. Not just with each other, but with everyone because that's what we are most capable of doing. I wish the most that this world doesn't come to an end if its supposed to...I wish we both live long healthy lives with each other happily. Seems right now that life has come to a standstill, like I've ceased to live in some way. Like im losing the time I could have been with him. Man proposes and God disposes also as Lionel says.

God has a plan and it will unfold when it has to. Till then we wait and hope :) And ofcourse WISH some more. Maybe I'll come back and write epilogues to this post.

I love u because...

The love u make me feel is js sooo amazin, I smile from within...I also smile in hope of the day we wont be so far apart...though right now there are tears swelling in my eyes, the smile refuses to leave my lips.
I pray for happiness for us, I pray ur mine to the end of time and beyond. I believe ur my soulmate n ur mine to keep. I cant imagine life without u, n I love dreamin bout life wit u
I trust u more than myself, my faith in u is undying and love everlasting. I've learnt more bout myself through u and I an can truly be myself, the person even I'm afraid of being sometimes.
I know we will get through anything together. Ur my strength, my hope...
I love u and no words cn ever fanthom how I feel for u
Can hardly wait to be ur wife.
Lionel I love u