Last month, I had a 20-hour layover in London. Our usual hotel was fully-booked so we were sent to the adjacent hotel, Millenium Baileys Hotel.

The hotel has an elegant but small lobby; it was crowded with guests and staff. They were also having a shortage of rooms, so the reception asked my co-flight attendant and I if we were willing to share their suite room which has two beds. We agreed and we were led to the room at the penthouse. We had to climb a narrow stairway to reach the room.

After changing to casual clothes, we ate at Byron. It was my first time to eat there. I tried their Byron Burger and Onion Rings; both were really delicious.

After the meal, we went to Waitrose to buy grocery items. Since I would be going home to Manila in a few days, I bought chocolates and biscuits as pasalubong for my family. When we ran out of money, we went back to the hotel to sleep. The following day, we had a quick breakfast before our flight back to Riyadh.

Last week, I had a 52-hour layover in Washington D.C. On my first day, I just rested in my room. I only went out to get dinner from Walmart beside our hotel.

3 out of 4 times that I had a layover in this hotel, they gave me this same room. 🙂

my dinner from Walmart

I was also in Washington three weeks ago. During that time, Walmart opened beside our hotel. My flying partner and I were so happy with the cheap buys from Walmart. During our layover, we went there everyday and always came home with bagfuls of goodies. We also shopped for clothes and shoes and watched Despicable Me 2 at Tyson’s Mall.

This time, I didn’t want to spend too much, I just stayed in my room and watched TV. On my second day, I only went out to have dinner with my high school friend at Cafe Deluxe. Then we went to Trader Joe’s to buy some Speculoos Cookie Butter.

After dinner and a quick trip to Trader Joe’s, we went to my hotel and took a dip in the hotel’s heated indoor pool. We swam for almost 45 minutes until the pool closed at 10 PM.

After swimming, we bid each other goodbye and then I slept.

The following morning, I didn’t go out again except when I had breakfast at the hotel. Then it’s time to go back to Jeddah.

Last week, I had a 26-hour layover in Geneva, Switzerland. It was my second time there. My flying partner and I rested for an hour after we arrived at the hotel, then we were off to explore the city. At the lobby, we saw two other Filipina flight attendant friends from another flight. We all decided to go out together. At the back of our hotel, we changed our money to Swiss francs. I successfully persuaded them to try out the Turkish Resto where I ate during my first time in Geneva.

The food was how my tongue remembered it: very rich in flavor. After eating, we dropped by our hotel. After freshening up, we rode the boat to the other side of the lake and then we walked towards the famous flower clock.

After taking photos, my friends bought Starbucks mugs. We also checked out some chocolate shops; some of them were already closed because most shops close early around 6 PM. We passed by an ice cream stall and, of course, I took the opportunity to try Swiss ice cream.

The ice cream cost 3.80 Francs or approximately 180 pesos per scoop. We walked back to our hotel while eating our ice cream. We entered some souvenir shops and my friends bought fridge magnets.

When we reached our hotel, my flying partner and I rested for an hour before trying the hotel’s indoor pool.

After swimming, we retired to our hotel rooms. We ate breakfast at the hotel the following morning, then we were off to Jeddah.

Last week, I had a 26-hour layover in Rome. I originally got a London flight for this month, but a batchmate traded her Rome flight with me because she needed to go to London. It was my first time in Rome and I was glad that a Filipina friend was part of the crew. We arrived in Rome around 2 PM and we immediately felt the scorching heat. On the way to our hotel, I took some photos:

Where we checked-in: the luxurious Boscolo Exedra Hotel.

After checking in, my friend and I immediately changed our clothes and went out.

At the hotel concierge, we inquired for the nearest ATM and money changer. We also got a city map. Then we bought a hop-in hop-off bus ticket in the booth just outside the hotel.

It was my first time on a tour bus. I usually make my way to the tourist spots on my own, but now I figured it was more practical to ride a tour bus so I can cover more sights within my short time in the city. When the bus started moving, we plugged-in the earphones given to us at the ticket booth to listen to trivia about each tourist spot.

Our first stop: Colosseo (Colosseum).

After taking photos, we had folded pizza and lemon soda.

Eating was not allowed on the tour bus so we finished our pizza before hopping back in. A bus arrives and leaves every 15 minutes. The tour bus has 8 stops but we only went down on 4 spots because we were pressed for time. After Colosseo, it was Piazza Venezia.

We were lucky because we arrived at the Piazza before it closed. Then we were off to the next stop: San Pietro/Vaticani (St. Peter’s Square/Vatican City).

I was overwhelmed to see this place. I often see this place on TV and movies, so it felt surreal to actually be there. I felt sad that I was not able to enter the Basilica because I was wearing a sleeveless dress. We could have toured the Basilica for 30 minutes before it closed at 7 PM. We just decided to buy souvenirs from the shops at the side of the Square. I got fridge magnets for my collection and rose-scented rosaries for my family and friends in Manila. We went back to the tour bus. It was the last trip and if we get off at another stop, we would have to walk or take a cab back to our hotel. But we just couldn’t miss the Fontana di Trevi (Trevi Fountain), so we got off the bus.

After we tossed our coins into the fountain, we bought gelato from a nearby shop.

We met two Ukrainian girls. I asked one of them what she does for a living and she told me, “Right now I don’t have a job. I stopped my job. It’s OK. We are young. We can always stop our job and enjoy a gelato.” We talked with them for a while near the fountain and then the four of us walked together to the Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps).

We lost the Ukranian girls in the crowd but we met a handsome British guy. He was waiting for his friends there. We talked with him for a while until his friends came, then we walked back to our hotel. We stopped by the pizzeria near the hotel to take out pasta carbonara which we ate in my room. After eating, I soaked myself in a hot bath before sleeping. The next day, I woke up earlier than the alarm that I set. My friend and I ate breakfast at the hotel.

After breakfast, we checked-out the Furla store a few blocks away from our hotel. I wanted to buy a Candy bag because I saw on their website that they have them on sale. However, I didn’t like the colors of the bags on sale so I ended up buying one at its original price of 180 euros. It was still a good buy because as an Italian brand, Furla is still cheaper when bought in Rome.

We went back to our hotel, then we prepared for our flight back to Jeddah.

Two weeks ago, I had a 25-hour layover in Geneva, Switzerland.

It was my first time there that’s why I was so excited to see the place. We arrived at the Grand Hotel Kempinski Geneve past 3 PM.

Since it’s still early, I wanted to explore the city with my two fellow flight attendants. The hotel staff told us that since it was a Sunday, most of the shops were closed or were closing earlier than the usual. We immediately changed clothes and had our money changed at the reception desk. Upon check in, we were also given a free transport card to use for the boat and the train.

We all wanted to ride the boat so we boarded the one going to the old town.

It was a 10-minute ride. When we docked, we were welcomed by beautiful swans and ducks.

We just walked around without a map. We didn’t set an itinerary, so we were very excited on what we were going to see at every turn. Here are my photos:

When we began to feel tired, we walked back to the direction of our hotel. We passed by Starbucks where I got a city mug for my collection and a Venti Macha Green Tea Frappe to quench my thirst.

We passed by a food stall and I got a ham and cheese sandwich. Next, we passed by a souvenir shop. The items were a bit expensive. I decided to just go back the next day to buy souvenirs since I didn’t have any extra money with me.

As we continued walking, we saw a street act. He was pretending to be a statue.

After a while, my companions felt hungry and asked if we could already have dinner. They were both Muslims. There was no halal food along the bay area, so we went to a Turkish restaurant located just at the back of our hotel. We were so happy because the food turned out to be really awesome! I had lamb kebab and fries in a box.

The waiters offered us soda but we told them we just have enough money for the food. They said we can have it for free and they even gave us sweets for dessert. Later, we learned that they own the place. It was a 30-year old family business they inherited from their father.

After having our tummies filled, we called it a night and went back to our hotel rooms to rest.

The following day we had breakfast at the hotel.

I went back to the souvenir shop and bought a fridge magnet.

And before going back to the hotel, I took a photo of the famous fountain of Geneva.

Last week, I had a 52-hour layover in Washington D.C. It was my second time there. We arrived at the Sheraton Premiere near Tyson’s Corner around 4 PM.

My flying partner and I went to Pike Center at 5 PM through the hotel’s shuttle service. When we got there, we had a quick dinner at a Thai Resto.

Then we went to Marshall’s to check out their items on sale. I got a pair of Steve Madden sandals for only 31 dollars.

It was 7:30 PM and the shuttle should’ve already come back to pick us up. We waited for another 30 minutes but no shuttle arrived. I thought of just walking back to our hotel because it was just a kilometer away, but as I started walking, I saw a warehouse store, entered it, and guess what, I was able to buy another pair of shoes for only 15 dollars. My flying partner and I just decided to wait for the next pick up at 9:30 PM, but again no shuttle arrived. A Sudanese guy was talking with us while we were waiting for the shuttle and he soon offered us a lift. It was a gamble to trust this stranger and get on his car but we were so tired coming from a 14-hour flight and almost 4 hours of shopping. We thought that if he wanted to try something bad, he would have a hard time carrying out his plan since there were two of us. The Sudanese guy turned out to be a real nice person who just wanted to help.  We were back at our hotel around 10 PM. We informed the receptionist about what happened and then we retired to our hotel rooms.

The next day, I had breakfast with my flying partner and with another Filipina flight attendant who was with her fiancé in the flight. I remembered that last April, the breakfast was a buffet service, but now they offered us a menu and so we just ordered our meals. I tried their plain pancakes. After eating, I went back to my room to rest and watch TV while waiting for my high school friend to pick me up. He lives in Baltimore but he was in town for the weekend because he was attending some events. He picked me up around 1 PM. I haven’t seen him in 11 years and I was really happy to see him. We met two of his friends; one of them was celebrating her birthday that day. We had late lunch at M & S Grill in Reston Town Center.

After lunch, we bid his friends goodbye, then we continued to walk around the place. There was a shop named Francesca’s where I was able to buy some sale jeans for only 11 dollars. We got some drinks from Starbucks then we headed to Georgetown. When we arrived, there was a very long queue outside the famous Georgetown cupcakes store so we decided to just check out the other stores first and just go back there later.

I was able to buy some sale perfumes from Zara.

We went back for the cupcakes but the queue was still long so we just took a picture outside the store and went on our way.

We went back to my hotel but then I remembered that I needed to get some food before I turn in because the room service in the hotel closes at 11 PM, and since we did not have dinner, I knew that I’d be hungry later in the night. I bought a triple decker sandwich from the nearby Italian Resto. I told my friend that I would go to the grocery the following day and he said that we can still go to the grocery that night so he drove us to Giant. I got most of the stuff that I needed there but not the Cookie Butter that my friend from Jeddah was asking me to buy, so we went to a nearby Trader Joe’s store.

Finally, we called it a night and he dropped me off at my hotel. The following day, I had poached eggs benedict for breakfast. Then I just watched TV in my room and then after a few hours, I was off to my flight back to Riyadh.

Last week, I was in Paris again for my third layover there since I started flying as a first-class flight attendant in April.

After checking in at our hotel and resting a bit, I went out for more or less three hours to check and buy the bags my friends in Manila asked me to buy for them. While walking along Champs Elysees near the Arc de Triomphe, I saw this old lady tourist. I couldn’t resist the urge to take her photo while she was consulting her Paris City Map. I was amazed at first because her age did not stop her from travelling and going around the city. I thought, ‘Well, you can never be too old to travel and explore the world if you really want to.’ But then I started to worry that she must be trying to figure out the map by herself because either no one was with her or whoever her companion was left her where I found her.

For lunch, I went to George V Cafe and ate the same steak I had back in April because I remembered that it was really good. I also ordered a glass of smoothie this time.

In the mall adjacent to our hotel, I was able to buy a set of two Starbucks demitasse to add to my collection.

Due to some requests to write about Flight Attendant beauty tips, here are some stuff that I personally do for my face and body. While I don’t consider myself an expert on this subject and what works for me might not work for you, here it is anyway… 🙂

1. Choose foundation and powder that match your skin. For me I use BB cream from The Face Shop, CC cream from The Face Shop or BB cream from Missha instead of foundation because it has more skin benefits like moisturizer and SPF and all that.

http://international.thefaceshop.com/index.jsp

http://www.missha.net/

2. Invest on good make up. The expensive ones are not expensive for no reason. I have noticed that especially with lipstick and mascara. Usually when I buy a cheap one, I end up not using it too much because it’s not really good. So it turns out, you thought you saved money, but no, you’ve wasted money. 🙂 My favorite of all my make up is my Clinique blush on. It’s a little bit expensive but I’ve used it for more than 2 years now. It’s almost finished and I will use it until it’s really finished. Now that’s value for money. 🙂

http://www.clinique.com/index.tmpl

3. Never sleep with make up on. Need I say more? 😉

4. Exfoliate face and body once a week. For my face, I’m using an exfoliating cream or an Apricot Scrub; for my body, regular body scrub or liquid soap paired with loofah. I exfoliate sometimes twice a week, sometimes once a month. It varies widely but ideally I think it should be once a week… 🙂

5. Wash face twice a day and use toner to tighten pores. They said toner should be everyday but for me I don’t put it everyday… maybe once or twice a week only because I don’t like putting too much stuff on my face. After washing my face with facial soap, I usually skip the toner part and go directly to moisturize.

6. Moisturize face and body everyday. Otherwise, the air in the aircraft can really make your skin sooo dry. I have two types of moisturizers. I use the one with sunscreen if I will be going out in the sun and the one without if I’m just staying home or during night time.

7. Eat healthy foods. (I try my best to do so…)

8. Drink 1.5-2 liters of water everyday to moisturize yourself from within. 🙂

9. Drink vitamins. Yes, we don’t get all the nutrients that we need from food alone. And yes, nutrition affects beauty. A lot.

10. Sleep for at least 8 hours a day. (I am really strict with this)

11. Exercise regularly. (This, I must admit I don’t do… but I know I have to… )

12. Have a facial with diamond peel once a month or every two months. (That’s the ideal. But for me it’s like twice or thrice a year only.)

13. Go for a massage every month. I believe the benefits of having a massage are endless! Plus it’s just so relaxing. 🙂

14. Have a hair spa or hot oil treatment every month or you can do some hair treatments at home every week or every two weeks. When my hair was newly rebonded and newly permed, I used to treat my hair with a deep-conditioning cream twice a week because it was really dry.

15. Have a manicure every week and a pedicure every 2-3 weeks. I don’t have a problem with this because I do my own nails. 🙂

16. Brush teeth  twice daily, use mouthwash and dental floss (for me, just whenever I feel like it…uh oh…), and visit a dentist at least once a year.  To make my teeth whiter and to maintain it that way, I’m using Crest Strips. It should be continuously for 2 weeks when it’s your first time and then for maintenance perhaps once a month or every two months. For me, when it was my first time, I think I was only able to make it continuously for 5 days because it’s really making my teeth sensitive.

http://www.3dwhite.com/crest-products/whitening-systems/

17. Do not smoke. Drink in moderation. We all know the negative effects of smoking and drinking excessively. 🙂

18. Smile. When you smile, you instantly become more beautiful than when you don’t. 🙂

19. Always have a positive outlook in life. Positive people are beautiful people.

20. Be confident. When you think of yourself as beautiful, other people will be inclined to believe that you are. But when you don’t see yourself as beautiful then how can other people do so? 🙂

Wow… I never thought I’m doing all these (or at least most of these) to be beautiful. I think it’s like this: when you take care of yourself, when you are healthy, and when you are happy, you become beautiful. 🙂

Two weeks ago, I had a 33-hour layover in New York. When we arrived at The Garden City Hotel in Long Island, we proceeded to the dining area for our free lunch. Normally we only get free breakfast during layovers, but since we arrived around noon, this hotel gave us free lunch instead.

After lunch, we put our bags in our rooms. I slept for about an hour then I went out with another Filipina flight attendant. We crossed the street to the train station and rode three connecting trains to reach Central Park.

We strolled and took some photos at Central Park.

We saw a bike rental booth. It was already past their cut off, but the staff informed us that they have another booth in the park and that it closes at 10PM. She said that if we’d still be renting bikes, she would give us a 20% discount from the original price of $28 for 2 hours. However, we learned that the booth was located near the park entrance. We decided that we were too tired to walk back to where we came from and we really didn’t want to bike for 2 hours, so we begged off from her offer and just continued walking.

We took some more photos at the park.

When we were halfway through the park, we decided to have dinner. We ate at Shake Shack. I ordered Shack Burger, fries, and chocolate shake. The burger was so awesome!

From there, my friend went on to meet with her boyfriend. I waited for my stepbrother who was coming from his work. He ordered burger and fries when he arrived. Then, we went to see the Brooklyn Bridge. Along the way, we passed by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and decided to check out the place. We took photos of the place even though it’s already closed.

We drove through the Brooklyn Bridge then went to the small park separating the Brooklyn Bridge from the Manhattan Bridge. Even with the low lighting, we tried our best to take some nice photos.

We stopped by my stepbrother’s apartment in Queens so he can give me his pasalubong for our family back in Manila. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped by a bar named Sangria and yes, we ordered Red Sangria. It’s my first time to drink Sangria, which is like a fruit punch but the alcohol is Rum, I think, instead of Gin.

Then we stopped by a Dunkin’ Donuts store for some bagel with cream cheese and some chocolate frosted donut. The bagel was so delicious!

When we reached the hotel, it was already five in the morning. We were dead tired so we immediately fell asleep. We woke up around lunch and ate at a Chinese Resto near the hotel.

We went back to the hotel after lunch. My stepbrother took the things I brought for him from Manila and packed my trolley with his pasalubong for our family. I’ll be bringing his pasalubong on my next days-off. Then we said our goodbyes and I was off to the airport.

I was back in Paris three weeks ago for a 29-hour layover. When we arrived at the hotel where we usually stay, I immediately noticed its new name: Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile. But upon entering the hotel, there was no other noticeable change in the interior, staff, and service. I guess it was really just a name change. I was hungry, so after checking in and taking a quick selfie in the room, I went down to the lobby for the free breakfast buffet. And then I noticed another new thing: rice was being served in the buffet table!

I slept after eating and woke up at 12 noon for a city walk with another Filipina flight attendant. We asked the hotel concierge for the bus that passes by Galeries Lafayette. He told us it was bus # 43 and we can board it in front of the hotel. The bus took us to Trinite station. It was my first time to ride a bus in Paris. The fare was 2 Euros.

We took photos of the beautiful church at the Trinite station. Then we walked for about 150 meters following the street sign to Galeries Lafayette.

Then, I was finally at Galeries Lafayette. I must admit that I expected a classier and more upscale establishment, but Galeries Lafayette turned out to be just like an ordinary mall crowded with shops and stalls. The big difference with other malls of course is that this mall only features the most expensive brands in the bags and fashion industry. Some brands like Louis Vuitton and Chanel even have multiple stores in the Galeries. I counted three LV and three Chanel boutiques. Here are some of the luxury brands available at the Galeries Lafayette:

The shoes section was at the mall basement. I tried on a pair of blue peep-toe shoes. I wanted to buy it for my wedding shoes but I thought that I can still find a better pair, so I put off buying it. My friend bought a pair of ballerina flats from Repetto, a French brand.

We checked out the shops. We needed to fall in line at the entrance of some stores because there were just too many customers and the stores cannot accommodate everyone inside. Finally, we went to a Louis Vuitton shop. I bought two bags for two of my friends in Manila. It took me a while to complete my purchase because of the long queue of customers at the entrance and even at the cashier.

We ate at Cafe du Mogador before going back to the hotel. We had sirloin steak, french fries, salad, and Coke. The food was fine at 13.90 Euros, but I think the bottle of Coke at 4.70 Euros was really expensive. With that amount of money, I can buy five to 25 bottles of coke in Manila.

We took the same bus to go back to the hotel. While waiting at the bus stop, we met a Filipina worker. She told us she had never gone home to Manila since she arrived in Paris three years ago. I felt sad for her. I would already be depressed if I were in her shoes. Two months is already a long time for me to be away from my family. We chatted in the bus until she got off. She told us her name but I failed to remember it.

When we reached the hotel, we went to the nearest Starbucks Café so I can buy a tumbler or mug for my collection but the cafe was already closed. My friend just went to the grocery and I retired to my hotel room. I went online for a few hours before preparing for the flight the following day.