Layovers*

July 8, 2010

Destination #1: PEK....revisited
My very first flight on my new job was to Beijing, China. It has been at least 15 years since I visited. I still remember the first time visiting was with my parents, we went to The Great Wall of China, The Forbidden City and all those other tourist attractions. This time however was for business. I laid over for 24hrs and I was hoping to tour around the Olympic Stadium of 2008, but I chickened out from traveling alone. Anyways, so the story started on June16, 2010, my very first day on reserve. I received a call from Crew Sched (schedule planners of AC) at around 12pm, the gentlemen spoke and said "Are you ready for your first flight? You are going to Beijing. The flight number is AC031 departing at 14:50 and your check-in time is at 13:30!" I said Thank You and hung up the phone with shaking hands, I looked at my mom and we started jumping up and down! My heart was beating like no tomorrow, I was so excited but at the same time I was so nervous! I managed to get to the airport in 1 hour and met all the beautiful people that I was going to work with for the next 3 days. The crew members were super nice, I couldn't ask for a better crew. We got on to the Boeing777 and before the passengers started boarding all the other crew looked so busy in the galleys, they were stocking up on drinks and getting all the meals ready. I just stood there and didn't know what I should do. Then the In-Charge announced "They're boarding". The passengers started boarding and I was so confused! I didn't know what to do.. then finally "Safety First" popped into my mind. I got to do the briefings, I had to do my very first mother with infant briefing but in MANDARIN. I got stuck and couldn't successfully translate "Oxygen Mask" and "Life Vest" into Chinese..... EMBARRASSING! so anyways, I finally got that over with and managed to close all of the overhead bins and sat myself down for take-off. Right after the seat-belt sign was turned off, I had to prepare myself to do my very first bar service. The service went well and I didn't spill any drinks on any passengers, SUCCESS!! After the bar service, people started dozing off while we prepared for the first hot meal service. As we went through the Economy Cabin giving out the hot meals, I came across a weird scene, I found people laying flat on the Cabin floor in front of their seats sleeping!! I highly suggest who ever is reading this not to pick up such a gesture because for one reason its very dangerous, if ever the aircraft goes through sudden turbulence you will seriously get injured. And for the second reason, the Cabin floors are filthy, it may not seem so because its a dark coloured carpet, but the groomers don't ever take the time to wash those, they are simply vacuumed even when someone pukes on that floor! Anyways, so my first flight went very well and I managed to get an hours sleep during my crew rest time =)