New York-- I've flown 40 hours in 5.5 days time!

Think our job is easy? Think again...

More often than not, we get a schedule pattern like this:

16/17 Jun 2345/0725: KUL/ICN (6 hrs 40 min)
18/19 Jun 1100/1340: ICN/JFK (13 hrs 40 min)
20/21 Jun 0050/0355: JFK/ICN (14 hrs 05 min)
22 Jun 1655/2220: ICN/KUL (6 hrs 25 min)

When I looked at it, I thought it is kind of amazing that I have easily flown more than 40 hours in just 5.5 days' time.

I have a total flight time of 65 hours this month-- thus making my New York trip, which pays 80% of my June salary, a significant one!

And tiring enough, we have merely stayed for 30 hrs in JFK! Put aside that the 14-hour flights have gifted us with new bruises, hand-cuts, and more dehydrated skin.

The Company has indeed trained us to be one of its kind-- the Superwoman.

Hanoi

Since a number of us have been assigned to join the recurrent training on the 11th this month, we have been assigned some mid haul flights to accommodate the time for ground training.

So here we go- Selwyn to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), Swat to Cebu, Cheryl to Singapore and me, to Hanoi. (Note: These places are all very near to KL, BUT we are flying from Seoul instead. So they are all mid-haul for us, not short!)

Very excited, we left KL for Seoul, and then to our respective destinations.

Hanoi! It is said to be a humble, peaceful city with a high population, and a history of almost a thousand years. Oh well....

Here I saw people squating down to eat and carrying things above their shoulders, walking around for sales. Oh and I must mention the roaring motorbikes that woke me up in the morning!

I must admit that I did not enjoy the trip. Not because I was travelling alone. But the poverty. However, the people are friendly. 

Look at the photos. We are indeed, more than fortunate. :)

From the eyes of a 6 year old

My little cousin sister drew something during my last visit.

It is a map.

She started with the scenery around her house. Flowers, shops, houses, hotels, butterflies.

Then she drew two person with long hair, wearing skirt.

"Who are they," asked my brother.

"Mum and me," she replied, promptly.

"Where is your Dad?" we wanted to find out why she did not draw the father.

"Working," she said, at the same time adding a person with pants into the drawing.

But the person is far away from them-- at work.

I smiled, thinking of how brilliant kids these days are! They can have very sharp observation and matured thinking. Much more smarter than us during our olden days.

______________________________

I remember a captain sharing stories about his kids. This friend of mine has two sons (one in LA, another in Malaysia) and a daughter in Taiwan. The youngest daughter of his, who is 9 years old, told him one day that she found picture of her elder brother driving in Malaysia. But it was a picture of the car interior- not the driver. When asked why she knew it was the brother in Malaysia, not the one in LA?

She said, "Pa, just look at the steering wheel. It is on the right hand side."

Genius! :-)