Showing posts with label FA life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FA life. Show all posts
Travel diary - Thailand
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bangkok,
beaches,
buddhism,
buddhist temples,
chiang mai,
chiang rai,
culture,
FA life,
jet setter,
phuket,
sunshine,
temples,
thai,
thai food,
thailand,
travel,
travel blog,
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I've been lucky enough to have my parents living in Phuket in the south of Thailand from September 2010 until August 2013. And maybe even luckier that the company my dad worked for would pay for a certain number of family flights per year, so I would get to spend every holiday from university out there.
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| Long tail boat off the beach in Phuket |
It really is a beautiful country, and I wish I had gotten to see more of it. I mostly spent time in Phuket, as that's where we lived, but I also visited Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Chiang Rai.
Phuket
Phuket is a very touristy part of Thailand. Some people say it isn't like "real" Thailand, because everything is artificial and set up for the tourists. I think this is a shame, as it discourages people from visiting for the culture. If you want to go to a beach resort and lie by a pool for a week then you can go to Spain for much, much cheaper - the Thais don't seem to understand that that's not why a lot of people visit Thailand. We're often more interested in seeing the beautiful natural scenery, such as the deserted beach at the end of our driveway, or the waterfall surrounded by jungle just a short walk from our house.
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| Buying chillis at the market |
While I was there, I enjoyed doing "non-touristy" things, such as meeting the people, such as the teachers at the Good Shephard school, who were trying to educate children to a good enough standard that they could be accepted into Thai schools, or the volunteers at the Phuket Has Been Good To Us Foundation, which helps children - particularly orphans from the 2004 tsunami - to learn and improve their English.
I also frequently went shopping at the local markets for ingredients and then learnt to cook delicious Thai dishes such as red curry, massaman curry, penang curry, pineapple fried rice, tom yum soup, pad thai and mango sticky rice.
Possibly one of my favourite memories from Phuket is that of Songkran festival - or Thai New Year. It is celebrated by everyone having huge water fights in the streets. We went on the back of a pick up truck with water guns, and the locals found it hilarious to try and throw water on the truck full of tourists. Maybe wouldn't be such fun in England, but when it's 30 degrees and full sunshine, it's brilliant!
Yes it is cheap to buy things there, and yes it is usually sunny and has lovely beaches - but those are not the only things that to like about Phuket.
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| A gypsy village at one of the islands off Phuket |
Bangkok
I only stayed in Bangkok for a few days, so I didn't have much time to really get to know the city. It is a classic example of an Asian city, being quiet(ish) in the day time when the sun is at its strongest, and then coming alive in the evening as everyone finishes work and congregates at restaurants and street food stalls for an evening socialising.
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| At Cabbages & Condoms, Bangkok |
There are many street markets and food stalls, similar to Phuket, but my favourite place that we ate was a restaurant called Cabbages & Condoms. This was set up to promote awareness of sexual health, and to make contraception more available. As Thailand has a generally high HIV rate, I thought this is a fantastic way to go about promoting something that is desparately needed in the country. All the restaurant's proceeds go towards promoting contraception and safe sex, and to fit in with this theme they decorate the restaurant appropriately - condom lampshades, condom flowers as a centrepiece for tables, and even a condom with your bill instead a mint at the end of your meal. An ingenious idea that has been a huge success - they have now opened up a restaurant in Oxford!
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| Condom flowers! |
Chiang Rai
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| From the hill near the Royal Villa |
Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai are real Thailand - and I loved them. Very quiet and undisturbed compared to Bangkok and Phuket, and barely any other tourists are - I think I probably saw less than 10 other white people the whole week I was there.
In Chiang Rai, we visited the Doi Tung Royal Villa and botanical gardens, which were beautiful, and our taxi driver also took us on a tour through the local hills to a temple called Wat Phra That Doi Tung, which can be seen from the Royal Villa.
Also while driving around Chiang Rai with our taxi driver, he stopped off to show us the tea plantation, where we also had a lunch of green tea salad and green iced tea! There are literally hundreds of rows of tea, with workers - mostly women - out in the sun all day picking the leaves. Some even had their babies strapped to them whilst they worked. It's astonishing, and makes you feel as if you're in colonial India or somewhere.
In Chiang Rai, there is also a beautiful Buddhist temple called Wat Rong Khun. It's all white with sculpted hands coming out of the lake surrounding it, apparently to represent people in hell, with a bridge over the top representing your journey into the temple, and into heaven.
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| Wat Rong Khun |
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| Wat Rong Khun |
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| Wat Rong Khun |
Chiang Mai
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| Lin Ping at Chiang Mai zoo |
One of the main things I was excited to see was the pandas at Chiang Mai zoo! We don't have any pandas in English zoos, and there are two in Edinburgh zoo, which is at the opposite end of the country from where I live. When I visited Chiang Mai zoo, they had 3 pandas - a mating pair, and a baby called Lin Ping, who has since been moved back to China. The zoo was definitely worth going to, as they have a fairly large selection of animals and seems to be a very well run business that cares for its animals well.
While in Chiang Mai, we also visited a Buddhist temple called Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. This is a huge golden temple that sits on top of a mountain, providing beautiful views of the surrounding Chiang Mai province.
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| Wat Phra That Doi Suthep |
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| Wat Phra That Doi Suthep |
Things to do while waiting for your training dates...
So I had my cabin crew assessment day just over 2 months ago, and am hoping to hear back regarding training dates sometime in the next couple of weeks. However, they can keep you in the holding pool for up to a YEAR before dates become available, so in the meantime here's some things you can do to keep you entertained while you wait for that all important phonecall...
1. Bake. Spend all day making some delicious cakes, brownies, cookies, scones, gingerbread men... Anything you like really. Then you get to eat them :)
2. And decorate whatever whatever you've baked! Honestly if you go all out and get creative, this can take hours.
3. Start a blog. About anything that interests you. That's what I did!
4. Read a book. One that you haven't read for ageeessss, or a new one completely. Sites like Good Reads let you put in the books you've already read and say how much you've enjoyed them, then gives you reccommendations based on that, so you're bound to find one you like.
5. Plan your next holiday. You could make a list of all the places you're going to visit once you start getting staff travel. #flightattendantperks.
6. Practise your cabin crew hairstyles. This ones just for the girls really, as I think male cabin crew hairstyles are fairly standard! But girls can check out youtube videos like this one to learn styles like pleats, doughtnut buns, ponytails and french plaits. Always useful for when you start work.
7. Gardening. Now it's coming up to summer, why not get outdoors in the garden. If like me, you're a student who will shortly be moving to a 1-bedroom apartment with no garden, you could always grow a windowsill herb garden. My tomato plant will be as tall as the window before long :) (oregano next to it isn't doing so well though...)
8. Spring cleaning. It's actually pretty satisfying. Maybe just start with one room at first, and give it a thorough clean, declutter and tidy.
9. Go for a bike ride. Either on your own or with a friend or two. Always nice to get outside when the weather's nice :) and while you're there...
10. Have a picnic. Great cheap way to catch up with friends and spend the day outside doing nothing. Take sandwiches, fruit, cartons of juice, scotch eggs, cocktail sausages, crisps, olives, and maybe even a bottle of cider or two.
11. Catch up on Game of Thrones. New series just started on Monday guys. Get on that.
12. Catch up on any TV series really. Sometimes watching back to back episodes of your favourite show is what you need. If we're going to stay on the aviation topic, I'd reccommend Airline - so funny watching passengers turn up 20 mins after check-in closes and then blame the airline for not letting them on.
13. Cook dinner. If you spend all day planning and shopping for an amazing meal in the evening, you'll definitely feel satisfied when you've pulled it off and everyone loves it! BBC Good Food have loads of recipes, or you can use Supercook to give you ideas for recipes by the ingredients you have in the cupboard.
14. Go to the gym. Or just do a workout at home. Go running. Do yoga. Go for a swim. See how many press ups you can do in a row. Might not take all day, but it will definitely make you feel good.
15. Write. A novel, a poem, a short story, a blog. Anything you like. Just write something and you never know it might actually turn out to be pretty interesting.
16. Draw. Get your GCSE Art sketchpad out and draw something. It doesn't have to be anything amazing, and you don't have to show it to anyone. It can be very stress relieving, and you may spend way more time than you intended on your masterpiece.
17. Watch cat videos. You know you're bored when you find yourself watching a 9 minute long compilation of cats saying "omnomnom." Sigh.
18. Write in your diary. It'll be nice to read again when you're older. I always imagine myself at age 80 looking back over my diaries and reading what crazy thoughts were filling my 21-year-old brain at the time.
19. Plan your wedding. If you're not on Pinterest already then you definitely need to be. You can pin pictures and ideas to your "wedding" board, and start dreaming up what your big day will look like. And it's not exclusively weddings - you can make boards about anything! Recipes, crafts, holidays, cute puppies... Anything you want.
20. Get a degree. Ok maybe it's just me doing this one, but you could definitely do some educational reading and learn about a topic that interests you.
21. Listen to music. Listen to music from years ago on your iTunes, or check out new music for free on Spotify.
22. Go through your wardrobe. Decide on an outfit for the next time you go on a night out. Sort out some clothes to go to charity. Mix and match pieces you've not put together before and create new outfits. You might dig something up in the back of your wardrobe that you'd completely forgotten about!
23. Paint your nails. You could do your hands and feet, and even try out some cute nail art. Again, you will definitely be able to find tutorials for this on Youtube and Pinterest.
24. Stumble. Check out Stumble Upon - you basically put in your interests, and it will give you pages from around that internet that you might find interesting. From photos to articles to games, you will definitely find something entertaining.
25. Sporcle. This website allows you to test your knowledge about various trivia. From countries of europe to Harry Potter characters, you can quiz yourself on literally just about anything, and it's actually pretty fun!
26. Go for a swim. You're going to have to swim as part of your training, so you may as well practise before you start!
27. Sunbathe. If the weather's nice enough, get started on your tan and you'll look lovely and brown when the time comes to take pics in your new uniform.
28. Do some crafts. You can find loads of craft and DIY ideas on Pinterest.
29. Rearrange furniture. Your bedroom can look completely different if you just switch your furniture around every now and then. Freshens up your bedroom decor without having to buy new furniture or paint any walls!
30. Sewing. Mend that hole you've had in your jumper for the last three weeks, or sew on a button that's been missing for ages. These things often get overlooked in everyday life, but when you're bored you've got a perfect opportunity to catch up on some chores like this.
31. Build a blanket fort. Doing this with friends is probably more fun than on your own! Just get some chairs or use furniture already in the room, and drape blankets over them and pin them together with safety pins if necessary. Then take pillows, duvets, speakers, food, lamps and fairy lights inside and enjoy!
32. Volunteer. There are hundreds of charities out there that need volunteers, and often they'll be thankful for even just a few hours of your time. There's loads of different things you could do, from collecting money on the high street to dog walking to helping run activity groups for children. What a brilliant way to increase your karma!
33. Listen to an audiobook. If you're not a fan of reading, you can get a free audiobook when you sign up for a free trial on Audible.
34. Learn a new word. Grab a dictionary and learn a new word - then try and use it in conversation within the next 24 hours. If you do this everyday, just imagine how eloquent you'll be in a year!
35. Play a game. There are literally thousands of games you can play on iPhone, Facebook and just on the internet. You could even go old school and play a board game. Just whatever you do, don't get addicted to Candy Crush.
36. Check out cabincrew.com - there's loads of artcles, advice and forums written by new and old cabin crew, so if you have any questions or worries about your new career, here is the place to go.
37. Go to a museum. In Britain there are loads of museums and, even better, loads of them are free! A particular favourite of mine is the Natural History Museum in London.
38. Pamper yourself. You can get face masks for about 99p from the supermarket - pop one of them on, put a conditioning mask in your hair and put some cucumbers over your eyes for half an hour.
39. Give blood. If you're over 17 and are in good general health then you are probably able to give blood. I've done it a few times and while it's not fun voluntarily having a needle stuck in you, you do get free tea and biscuits afterwards, so it all works out okay. Find out more on their website here.
40. Go camping. Grab a group of friends, a tent, a gas stove and some food and head out into the countryside for a few days camping.
41. Redecorate. As long as you're not living in rented accommodation, why not redecorate a room in your house. Just grab some paint or wallpaper from B&Q and let your interior design skills blossom - check out this DIY ombree wall for inspiration!
42. Stargaze. See if you can recognise constellations like Ursa Major and Orion. This website will give you information about exciting things happening on certain dates in the sky.
43. Have a barbecue. Invite a loads of friends over and tell them to bring burgers, burger buns and drinks. You can get a cheap disposable barbecue from most supermarkets in the summer, so this actually works out as a pretty cheap but fun way to spend the day.
44. Get a job. Get some money while you're waiting for training dates and then you can spend it all on staff travel once you start!
45. Go rock climbing. You can find an indoor climbing wall here - they normally don't cost too much for you to have a go, although you will probably need an instructor to help you if you've not done much climbing before.
46. Bingo. Yes it's normally full of old people, but if you go with your mates then it can be fun and you might even win something!
47. Go to the beach. If it's warm enough, take your swim things and a towel and go get some ice creams. If it's not that warm, a walk along the beach followed by fish and chips is still just as good.
48. Go to a roller disco. Have a look on the internet for local events - they look soooo fun.
49. Go to a theme park. You can always get 2-for-1 deals for Alton Towers and Thorpe Park on things like crisp packets and cereal boxes, or alternatively you can use Nectar points and other loyalty scheme rewards to get tickets.
50. Actally start learning cabin crew stuff. Even though you don't know exactly what you need to know yet, you could definitely start learning some basic things, like what routes you'll fly, types of planes, basic first aid, airport codes and the phonetic alphabet. You can get most of this info on google or youtube - it's not hard guys, there's no excuse.
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