Having a huge break this week; 7 full off days (with one standby in between that I wasn't activated) and pity it's been pouring every single day! Don't know if this is the right platform to vent my frustration but for the first time in 3 years I've been feeling so vexed at work. Things haven't been going well, I'm overly exhausted and tired from all the consecutive trips and can't help but really start questioning if the time is now. It's been really incredible so far but I don't think I see myself doing this for life (not that it's wrong because some people have been flying their whole life anyway) so maybe it's time to start weighing my options.

Here's 2 brilliant movies that I caught recently!



Had my reservations for this one because the trailer was extremely bad but the reviews said otherwise; in fact I haven't heard a single negative review at all so the expectations were high. And I'm glad to say I won't be the first to criticise this! REAL STEEL is the real deal this year! One of the best films ever and totally didn't look anything like some dodgy Transformers makeover. Hugh Jackman tugs at your heartstrings throughout and (completely unrelated) but he's lost a huge deal of weight here! Go catch it!

robocop-o-meter: 5/5 !



Haven't heard anything about this show at all but the premise of the film was engaging enough and it's based on true events in the 80s. Jason Statham has been deployed by an Iraqi Prince to avenge the deaths of his 3 sons and in turn free his partner Robert de Niro. Statham's task is to kill 3 of the murderers and make their deaths look like an accident.

This reminds me a lot of Hanna, a film I reviewed a couple of months ago (and I loved that show!) and Statham hardly disappoints in this. Hardcore and nail-biting conversations between the characters was gripping and the action was fresh and nothing from your usual hit-and-run films. Gives you good bang for your dough so I recommend this as well!

i-will-keel-you-o-meter: 4/5

The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting it into the box.

"There are 7 things you need to know..." he told the pencil, "...before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be."

"One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in Someone's hand."

"Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil."

"Three: The most important part of you will always be what's inside."

"Four: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make."

"Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write."

"Six: Use your ability to erase appropriately, help others to correct mistakes and not to run them down and negate their mark."

"And finally Seven: You need to work alongside other pencils to see beautiful things achieved. There are times when a darker shade of pencil needs to be used and there are times when a lighter shade is essential."

The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.
Now, replace the pencil with YOU. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.

Once there were three trees on a hill in the woods. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, 'Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty.'

Then the second tree said, 'Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take Kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull.'

Finally the third tree said, 'I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest Tree in the forest. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches, and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.'

After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, 'This looks like a strong tree, I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpenter, 'and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest.

At the second tree the woodsman said, 'This looks like a strong tree. I should be able to sell it to the shipyard.' The second tree was happy Because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship.

When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, 'I don't need anything special from my tree, I'll take this one,' and he cut it down.

When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for.

The second tree was cut and made into a small fishing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end.

The third tree was cut into large pieces, and left alone in the dark.

The years went by, and the trees forgot about their dreams.

Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time.

Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and He stood and said 'Peace' and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat.

Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to realize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it.

The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, God will give you great gifts.

Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined.

We don't always know what God's plans are for us. We just know that His Ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

May your day be blessed. And until we meet again, may God cradle you in the palm of His hand.

I've always stressed that in our career, it's more important to find job satisfaction and happiness than taking home a big pay check. And in these past couple of months I've known to realise the truth in this statement. Lost 2 batchmates when Finnair opened a base in May and almost 6 months on, I'm hearing that both of them regretted this as they 'chose money over happiness'.

Don't get me wrong, Finnair is a great airline and they pay almost double what I'm getting now and they work only half the month. The crew spent one whole month training in beautiful Helsinki in a lovely accomodation with glorious food. But I honestly can't think about working in an airline that flies only one destination for the rest of my career. Yes obviously I would die to go to Finland now; not many people get the chance to go there (oh well, ironically with Finnair now, I might have to retract that thought) but as it stands, I'm already sick of being an Aussie citizen so let alone Finland! Also hearing stuff about how emo the flights can be - the ratio is about 10 Finnish crew to just 3 Singapore crew. In my airline terms, that's being 'eaten alive'.

Bottom line for me - though it's important to find a job that feeds you, we should not compromise that for a good working environment, wonderful colleagues and personal enjoyment. And I'm glad to say that while I'm not paid big bucks in my current job, I've ticked off many boxes and that's more important to me than anything else.

Back once again and I've had one of the best ever 6 days trip. Finally went back to Japan after almost a year! It was so surreal, I completely forgot how the service flow on the flight was, where's the pickup point, but once again so blessed to have an awesome bunch of colleagues the past 6 days. Cairns was amazing as well, and would have been much more exciting had we pre-booked our trip to the Great Barrier Reef because the morning we tried to get on the boat, it was already full but maybe next time! So wanna go back there again.

Some pictures of our last night in Cairns, clubbing like the locals do in shorts, tees and slippers!



One tequila shot is all it takes!



The ubiquitous hand stamp, where I've had passengers exclaiming 'so you went clubbing yesterday night!' when I'm checking boarding passes.











And so, the never ending saga continues..