howzit my bru (Cape Town)

On the 28th of September, I returned from a 9-day holiday in Cape Town. 28th Sept 2007, exactly a year ago, I left South Africa to join Emirates. Can you believe it, a year has gone - my first anniversary. How nice to land and find out your country is without a president, hehe.

Apologies for the people I didn't get to meet. I honestly didn't make an effort, as I wanted to see my Pookie and my mom and just needed a holiday. It was great seeing the ones I did though. So, Pookie and I zipped around town with our bikes (me on the Yammie this time:), ate out a lot, had a fabulous National Braai Day with a whole bunch of people we didn't know, he showed me a few new venues in gorgeous Cape Town (like Juleb), I did my usual shopping (things you don't find anywhere else - like All Gold tomato sauce) and we had the Rubik's Cube party (getting dressed in 3 different colours, then ending up in one colour by swapping with others). It was marvelous fun as usual - Cape Town is just absolutely the best there is out there:) As much as I love it, I'm not sure if I'll go live there again, or at least soon. It is lovely visiting.

That's that.
How are you all doing?

Loving life, grateful for everything and focusing on abundance
Hugs to y'all
A

Ps. no photos, didn't even take camera:)

Hakuna Matata (Dar E Salaam, Tanzania)

Jambo
and karibu my friends

I just returned from a short and very sweet trip - to Dar E Salaam, Tanzania. One of those experiences which showed me once again that you do get what you ask for and guidance is always around. Internet research didn't help me much on what to do there and the hotel concierge said everything is far:( But I was hungry to explore and didn't know where to go. So I just walked out of the hotel, to be swept off my feet by a cheery Rastafarian called Simba (which means Lion in Swahili by the way). He took me to a stinky, dingy fishmarket and I ended up sitting with him sharing dinner in a chaotic place (that they call a restaurant) while learning a bit of Swahili. I greeted everyone staring at me (as I was the only whitie ofcourse, hehe). The food was rather, well, unique. I got on REALLY well with Simba. He caught on to my sense of humour almost instantly and his English was superb!

With an allowance of 78500 shillings, I felt like I hit the jackpot (but just sounds a lot, heehee - although I only paid 100 shillings for a boatride)... Which lead me to the other side of the Peninsula (looked like an island from the view of the hotel) where I went to Sunrise Beach. A jampacked dala dala (minibus taxi as we know it, but this one is African style man) dropped me in the middle of somewhere, and I just followed my nose down to the seaside (1km walk) where I spent a glorious day with Jimmy (another Rasta that I met on the beach). We went for a dip in the gorgeous lukewarm ocean, a long walk along the beach (which we almost had to ourselves), fresh coconuts and playing with (few) days old little baby goats. It was wonderful!

I hope to go there again soon. Dar E Salaam has a lot to offer (apart from Kilimanjaro)... you just have to listen around. And it is really beautiful. Zanzibar is only 2hours away by boat...

I won't have any more news till next month... will be coming down to Cape Town soon..

Asante
You all take care now

Kwaheri,
A

Alta in Malta (Malta)

Bongu!!

Finally I got to go to Malta!!! (Malta is in the Mediterranean sea, near Italy) and at first it was everything I thought it would be (after meeting Maltese in Dubai, and doing a bit of internet research), but MAN, did this place blow me away! It is a strong mixture of Italian and Arabic (the language especially) and the buildings are built from limestone, which gives the cities this distinct colour (boring yellow, clay-brown) but not boring at all. To me it felt like Venice and Mauritius combined (and is now my favourite layover) The weather was gorgeous again! Summer, hot and sticky. No wind. Just perfect. The hotel we stayed in in Sliema was LEKKER! We had our own balconies and I spent mornings reading my book there (we had a two-day stay).

So off I went to the city called Valetta (on the bus I met 2 Afrikaners - WOOW) and just got lost in its identical streets. I was in awe that people live like that. Almost like Venice, just without the water. People sitting outside on the street chatting to neighbours, fat aunties gossiping the day away, a man talking out loud on his phone and gesturing aggresively, laundry hanging, even the streetlamps hang from a wire in the middle of the street above everything else. The buses and public transport are oldschool (Cuban style). It is amazing! I walked down to the harbour and watched the sunset. Men (as gorgeous as ever) flirt openly. Just like the Italians. I would go live there:)

The next day, another crew member (Swedish) and I took a boat cruise to the island Comino. At Blue Lagoon we swam and snorkeled the afternoon away in crystal blue water. Also took a speedboat to the stunning caves that surround these islands. It was something out of a movie. With these experiences, I simply am so grateful for having this job:)

I explored some more around the hotel's area in Sliema and St.Julians. There is actually a little beach just down the road (as in 30meters away). Ag, Malta is so cool.

I was going there again on the 8th (it's a rare flight to get, especially the 2day one), but someone was desperate to go home, so I swapped her flight for mine. So next I'm visiting a place in Africa. Keeping the news for later:)

Caw for now
A

love you long time (Venice, Italy)

Ciao signore e signori

I went to Venice twice this month, with a visit to my sister in Joh'burg in between and thought I'd write the news in one letter:)
I love Italy!! The best place to do people watching:) So often you'll see an old Italian lady just watching people from the window or balcony of her first floor apartment, the sound of bikes and scooters, flowerpots, laundry, a couple having a passionate argument in Italian and being sunkissed in that gorgeous weather.

And yes, Venice is magnificent! Romantic, with a slight arrogant humbleness, expensive and just ultimately unique and beautiful to the eyes!! Pictures and movies do illustrate it well, although it is definitely worth going there to see for yourself. The doves are almost like the cows in India - you have to walk out of THEIR way. Haha. And tuna sandwiches are big!! I know it might be silly to mention now, but one day you'll laugh when/if you see it and remember my words;-) These guys are not shy with their fillings.

A bunch of us went into Venice all the way to San Marco. Saw the Basilica di San Marco, walked over Rialto Bridge and did all the usual things tourists do:) Venice is blooming awesome! No wonder so many architects and builders try to copy it. And it is so rich with history and left with all those stunning buildings which are constantly being restored..

On the way there on the watertaxi (there are actually stations where you get on and off, it's like a bus station), we would see men on their little boats or sometimes even just standing at the stations or anywhere possible - fishing. A funny sight.

Back at the hotel (we stayed approx 7 kms away in an area called Mestre), I decided to go to the Italian supermarket again. I'm becoming fanatic about different countries' shopping venues and styles.

Wonderful and fabulous!

Ciao!!
A

08_08_08 (Beijing, China)

Hallo

Yes, I was there. In Beijing on the day of the opening ceremony. And we met judges and opening participants on our flight and the spirits were high. Even though the weather in China was very misty, we organized a tour to the Great Wall, which gave it a mystical effect;) After being physically attacked by hawkers afterwards, we went for lunch and then our tour guide offered us a free tour to the Tea Garden. Here we were taught how to drink and taste tea as it were 20yr old whiskies. There is a certain way you hold the cup and things you do and sounds you make while sipping. It was a lot of fun, funny

We drove passed the Olympics Stadium, which I thought was a stunning design (but what do I know) and we saw new area expansions which are called the Olympic area, including new buildings - one of them called the Olympic Torch building.

During our flight there was a lot of amazement and enthrallment as we flew over the mountains of Pakistan, bordering China (when I googled it, it came out to be the Karakoram mountains - not entirely sure about this). These mountains are really gorgeous. Brought me right back to fond memories of flying over mountains from Leh to Delhi (the Himalayan mountains)

And another excitement is our move to our new Head Quarters (HQ) and Crew Briefing Center (CBC) (crew tend to talk in abbreviation mode at all times, haha). It is a huge building with lots of things going on. It feels futuristic with all the thumb scanning, card readings, announcements on big screens (from where the bus is picking who up, to where your suitcase will be coming out) and a lot more superb organizing. This company amazes me with it's operations.

Anyhoo, this is it for now. Got a lot of flying this month.

I hope you are all doing great and loving yourselves
Looking forward to hearing from you

Huggies,

A

mind the step (Mauritius)

Bonjour!

Mauritius, aaah, beautiful Mu... interesting place with it's strong influences of French, Indian and African. Fields and fields of sugarcane, little winding roads, friendly people. This has been an amazing layover/little work holiday. We stayed at a resort for 2 days!!! I had my own little villa overlooking a lake. It was peaceful and serene, birds singing somewhere... Although we didn't receive an allowance on this trip, it included all our food and activities. I went kayaking as well as on a boat trip out to go snorkeling. It was awesome! Then I met up with Anju, aaah beautiful Ju, accompanied by her cousin and brother and we took a little drive around the island. Even though it was winter, the weather was gorgeous.

I watched telly for a while and was pleasantly surprised to see Afrikaans speaking people, some celebrities and other South Africans on there.

Crew were great and we had a lot of fun. I would go back anytime

Au revoir
A

Holy Cow (India, Himalayan Mountains)

Jullay!

Bobbing heads, cows, hooting traffic, heavy pollution, delicious curries, and stares were all a part of my every day journey for the past 3 weeks in India. We were 11 (at one stage 12) people that all had our own bus (tea and pee break whenever wanted) and as we left smelly Delhi behind, going up the beautiful, majestic, mystical, magical, great mountains of the Himalayas! Our first destination after a 24 hour journey, was Manali - a gorgeous and chill, serene little town with thick forests, hippy people, marijuana growing freely everywhere and just surrounded by the green beauty of mountains, rivers and trees. There were a lot of Israelis in this part of the country and further... I saw starry fireflies for the first time:) Our journey from here onwards was scary at most times. (This trip is not for the faint at heart:) It is a one-lane road, gravel mostly, and landslides cause worries of life or death situations whether the vehicle will make it or not. We clapped hands a lot out of pheew, sighs and relief. Sometimes we would get out of the bus, so that the drivers can cross waterfalls etc, on their own. But man, was it beautiful out there. It was emotional. Just forever surrounded by Earth. No photo can represent this in real.

We canceled a major part of our itenary because of exhaustion. It's a lot of driving. Instead we camped wherever we wanted, whenever we wanted, and ate and did whatever we wanted - and therefor called our bus the Holy Cow. The cows in India really do know their status and roam and graze wherever. There were these cute sayings on boards on the mountain roads i.e: "Safety on the road, is safe tea at home", Darling, I like you, but not so fast", "Are you going to a party, then why are you driving so dirty", "Work in progress, inconvenience regretted. Sinking road, inconvenience deeply regretted!" Haha. Cute!! And SOOO many more.

We had good food (which became one of the highlights on this trip), good rest and were keeping well and strong. I experienced altitude sickness when we reached the second highest road in the world at 17582 ft (the boys went cycling on the highest road at 18520ft !) !! Dizziness, nausea, disorientation, migraine, moodiness, and in general shortness of breath and low energy. One night we even found a place to sleep next to a stunning lake, with our own little waterfall, river, surrounded by rocks - my gosh - it was amazing. The whole trip felt like living in a fairtytale:) The clouds were a big bubblebath. Gill and I helped build parts of a road with some locals in Jispa.

Finally when we reached Leh in Ladakh Valley (our final destination), we were back in crazy traffic, street lights and internet. We hired motorcycles (a few of us) and I made my first bike accident. Fortunately, I only hurt my knee (which is still not well even though I'm going back to work tomorrow). We went to interesting monasteries (by the way, the people live and look like Tibetans as soon as you reach the foothills of the Himalyas already). The weather in Leh was so perfect. We stayed for 4 days. We gave our clothes in for laundry service, which means a guy is smacking your garments against some rock on the riverbank and drenching it through lovely gray river water.

The trip was very well planned by Pookie, whose birthday we were actually celebrating and scored us good deals (especially when getting free rooms as ‘tour operator’, haha). It was a fantastic experience.

Back in Delhi, the group started to split and eventually Param and I went to Chandigarh for 2 days where I met his awesome sister.

I got the news that my grandma passed away:(

Now, back in Dubai and Param is visiting me for another week. I’m soon off for more adventures though. Have a very promising roster for AugustJ

I wish I could tell you all more details about the trip. It will be a book if I did. Thank you for those I got to share it with in India. And thank you for those I get to share it with here.

Warmest love,

A

Namaste