the FABIO-lous Feeling...

Something FABIO-lous happened in the Air France counter today..

One of the football superstars had graced our counters today.

Traveling First Class, was none other than the professional Italian footballer, FABIO CANNAVARO.

Honestly, I am not a fan of the football game, being, the Filipinos are more into Basketball and of course BOXING. I have asked for the help of Master Google and Brother Wiki (pedia) to know more about our dashing First Class passenger.

Brother Wiki stated that Mr. Cannavaro  "won the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 2006, making him the first, and so far, only defender to win the award, as well as the oldest recipient." 

"The 2006 World Cup stands as one of the most watched events in television history, garnering an estimated 26.29 billion non-unique viewers, compiled over the course of the tournament" -Wikipedia.

So that makes my NEW BOYFRIEND.. known to billions of people. Any ways, enough of the details.. here is my bluuuuuuuuuuurrrry to the highest level picture with my new love.. (ehehehehhe). Thanks to the forever-shaky-hands of YOUSEFF, I got this as a souvenir photo (grrrrrrr!)

Our picture is very raw.. not even edited, and sadly didn't give justice to his good looks at all. But blurry or no blurry... Love ko na Sya! He's been so patient to pose for a picture for all of us.. making him a sole target of the I-phones and Blackberry shooting squad!

Anyways, to compensate for the bad photo above, let me post some of  Mr. Cannavaro's (in my opinion) best shots.. (this site is not claiming any credit for the following images.)

ahem.... I lost my keys because of you... 

who the heck would open the flat door for me at 3:am in the morning?

Now I need to change the lock of my cupboards..

....get a duplicate key for my locker (hope the Admin. Head wouldn't nag).

All these hassle I need to go through because of one blurry picture and a smile that would haunt me forever! (naks!)

But darn it...... its all worth it! 

the Graveyard Shift...

time check: 4:10am

Dubai local Time

I, for the life of me, can NOT remember being so much awake at this particular time of the day..

After being rostered in the morning shift for the whole 5 years of my airport career, Virgin Atlantic Team, finally let go of me.

Today is officially my 12th day with the Air France Team. The sudden changed really surprised me! I have never been happy in my Dnata Life to the point that I nearly kissed Mr. A , and shocked the wits out of him when I barged in to his office and tell him how please I was.

The night shift doesn't necessarily mean an easier work load.. far from it, I have been rostered in the hours when the airport is at its busiest! Nevertheless, my shift change have SAVED me from "sliding" further and further down. The monotony of work in my morning schedule is killing me softly.. to the point that coming to work or even the thought of it is becoming a torture. Now, praise God above all, i have been enjoying my new work pattern.

I , however, needs to go through some major adjustments, on my first few days of duty in the evening, it felt weird of leaving the house for work just as everyone is going home from theirs.

Working in the airport requires a great deal of " quick pick-ups" and strong grasp on your memory. After almost half a year of not doing a certain flight and almost 5 years of doing the rest of it, in an instant you would be thrown on a flight that you haven't done before or you know nothing about. I practically just closed my eyes and let my fingers do the work in keying my flight entries. I totally forgot my codes and passwords!

my world was suddenly flipped upside down, imagine eating brunch at 2pm and having your dinner at 3 am the next day. i sleep at 5am and i wake up at 1pm ... it creates havoc to my body clock as it never recognize day and night anymore... and oh.. i lost track of the dates and days already!

But i am still happy... sometimes, we have to be rocked out of our comfort zones to enjoy the "other" side of life.

When was the last time i have ever seen the quiet road at DAWN?? when was the last time i have appreciated how blissfully cold the midnight air was? or how charming the city lights are?...it seems like a million years ago..

hmmmmmm..

NOW.......I am watching Sex and the City 2 while golfing down the chocolates given to me by a passenger.. triieeeeedd so hard to resist but he wouldn't leave my counter unless I accept it..

He cajoled.. C'mon it's only a chocolate!

I retorted... "yeah Sir..only chocolate.. but it will go straight to my thighs and stay there Forever!

His guffaws almost shattered the walls of the airport...!

This is the night shift. Graveyard shift as the others might call it.... but heavens above, I am loving every minute of it...

Have a Nice Day everyone...!

I'm off to sleep now.. ciao!

The Missing Flight

Just recently a shocking news of a missing Air France flight carrying 228 passenger en route from Brazil to Paris had shook not only the aviation industry but the world. No official announcement of a crash was made yet as the aircraft and any of its passengers has not yet been found up to date.

If reports are proved to be correct, it was believed that there were 32 nationalities on board the aircraft. 61 French, 58 Brazilians, 26 Germans, nine Italians, nine Chinese, six Swiss, five Lebanese, five Britons, four Hungarians, three Slovakians, three Irish, three Norwegians; two each from Spain, US, Morocco, Poland; one each from South Africa, Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Gambia, Iceland, Netherlands, Philippines, Rumania, Russia, Sweden and Turkey. It is even reported that there were prominent people on board the flght including Pedro Luiz de Orleans e Braganca - Prince - Descendant of Don Pedro II Brazilian Emperor 1822-1831.

Four hours after the plane left Brazil, aviation authorities are said to received message from the Flight 447 that they are experiencing electrical sytems failure. The rest was still, well, a mystery that they are still trying to solve until now despite all the theories that comes up, nothing gives an accurate answer of the real reason of what may have made the Air France down. It was reported that the plane is carrying a fuel which is good for a 10-hour flying time ONLY, obviously there is no way that the aircraft is still flying at this given time. The saddest among the saddest news is that, the chance of survival for any of the passenger is said to be "very, very small.. almost non-existent".

I have been a part of the AIR FRANCE CHECK-IN TEAM here in Dubai for almost 2 years. And almost everyday in that entire time the French Airline and its passengers have been a part of my daily living. When I heard about the news, i cant help but be affected. The first few questions that comes to my mind were "How many children were on board? How many Infants were checked in? It breaks my heart to imagine how much terror these young people felt when the unfortunate event happened. Everyday in the counter as i checked them in the flight I shared nothing but laughter and excitement with them. The young ones are always happy at the sight of the plane and "riding a plane" is supposedly a COOL experience. But then again, things happen, and these things are sadly not always within our control.

Seeing how Air France operates, their flight procedures , their systems and ways in assuring the safety of the passengers and the flight itself ( though I know nothing about the technicalities of aircraft maintenance), IMO, AF was one of the safest airlines that could grace the skies. They have young and well maintain fleets. If the records (based on estimates) proves to be correct, AF has considerably "clean records"based on fatal events against the number of flights taken since 1970.

My heart goes with the families of the people whose loved ones were with the missing flight. People of the world could only pray that somehow their emotional turmoil would end soon and may they found the answers to all the mysteries that surrounds these fatal event for the benefit of the people who are still groping for the tiniest hope of ever seing their missing love ones again, alive or otherwise.