My World As A Flight Attendant

There was a big surprise for me in Albany Airport!   I had been planning a trip to Albany to see the capital of NY state.  It's interesting to know what Albany has and why it became the capital.  But my attempt to visit Albany on a personal trip has not been successful. So I was glad that I had a work trip on March 12.   The weather was a little gloomy that afternoon we arrived. Even though I had time to go downtown, I decided to just stay in. I hope that next time I have a work trip here, it will be a longer layover and a better weather.   We had an early show up that morning. At the airport, this car was on display at the lobby. I got excited and asked somebody to take my photo.   Obviously, this car wasn't something I won in a contest, nor a gift for me.  I wish it was! Nevertheless, it's thrilling to find something like this, which I believe is unusual.  ...

The fire alarm in the hotel went on just before midnight! On March 1, we overnight in Providence, Rhode Island. I slept early that night because I was tired. My sleep was disturb by a loud fire alarm. I peeked outside my door to see what's happening. Hotel guests were opening their doors and starting to find the exit to the first floor. Two firemen walked by my room and I asked them what's happening. They told me to head outside. I paused for a second and think of what I had to bring. I put on my shoes and jacket, grabbed my phone and purse, then I headed out. We stayed at the lobby for 15 minutes while they were investigating what's happening. Eventually, we were told that it was a false fire alarm. Fire or fire alarm would test our quick reaction. It was my first time to have this experience.  Fortunately, it was just a false alarm. This is something that can happen on a plane.  So far, I haven't had any incident on the plane except fo...

Kids are one of my favorite passengers.   On our flight from La Guardia to Raleigh Durham on March 5, we had a mom on board with her 3 daughters. Their names are Isabella, Juliana and Jocelyn.  Jocelyn is the baby and the two older girls are ages 8 & 7.  The mom told me that they are moving from Connecticut to North Carolina for good.   The girls are very nice, courteous and sweet. It only shows that they are very well disciplined.  The middle girl Julianna has a booklet of stickers and she gave me a piece of her sticker. I put it on my dress the whole flight.  I gave the girls Delta wings and they liked it.   Before they deplaned, Juliana gave me a hug and the mom thanked me.  I was touched by the gesture of this girl. And I wished them good luck.   At the end of a long and tiring day, these kind of passengers and experience tell me that I love my job!    

Thank you for your service, Sir!   My previous office, The US Department Veterans Affairs in the Philippines is my motivation to recognize and thank our Veterans on board our flight.  I always say that I am not yet an American citizen, but as someone who worked for the US government my whole life, it's my honor and privilege to meet Veterans, acknowledge and thank them for their service. On October 8, 2015 from JFK to Tampa, we had Mr. Farden, a World War II Veteran. I made an announcement of his presence and thanked him for his service. He's nice and I was privileged to have a photo with him.   Back in my embassy days, we always have a big event for Veterans. With a great crew and an extraordinary passenger like Mr. Farden, I considered that day as my Veterans Day on the plane.  

I normally don't take photos of kids on our flight. But this time, I did. In August 2015, we had a German family on board going back to their country. These girls, Nora and Josie are 6 years old twins.  During the flight, Nora asked me a couple of questions as if she's a journalist. She asked me an interesting question of how many languages do I speak. She taught me some German words, which of course I can't remember. I told her that I only know 2 languages, English and my own language and a very little Spanish. When we landed, Nora got off her seat right away and held my hand. She was all over me and wanted me to carry her. When I did, the mom took our photo.  These twins are extraordinary. They are smart, nice and pretty. I always say that I admire people who speak couple of languages. "Dunke" is the only word I know and learned during my trip to Germany in 2004.  So, I would like to...

    I am always honored to have Filipino passengers on board our flight.   It was my pleasure to have Mr. & Mrs. Molina on board our flight from Dallas to JFK on February 17. They are going to a pilgrimage in Holy Land. They are nice and very down to earth. As what I always do, I converse with Filipinos in Filipino language. I found out that Mr. Molina served in the military for 20 plus years. So I thanked him for his service.   They told me that they have been travelling for almost 30 years, and they haven't had a Filipina Flight Attendant on their flight.  It's their first time to have me. That was surprising! Nevertheless, I was glad to have this experience with them. Mrs. Molina gave me a sweet treat "Goldilocks Polvoron" from the Philippines. That was so nice of her.   I always look forward to have Filipinos on board our flight.  It's nice to meet them and share...

I was fortunate to have a nice layover in one of my favorite places, Nashville, Tennessee on Valentine's Day.  And because it's valentine's day, we had to do something to celebrate the occasion.   My work partner, Angelica, took me to this posh hotel, Gaylord Opryland Resort. It's huge and beautiful! I heard it's a famous hotel and people from other places come to stay. We had early dinner at the Cascades restaurant which is located at the center of the hotel. I was glad to have discovered this hotel, and had the experience of dining here.  I would love to go back and hopefully stay here for a night. After dinner, we went to one of my favorite restaurants, Cracker Barrel for dessert and coffee. It was a great Valentine's day! 

It was my second time to have had a celebrity on our flight. The first one was Ernest Hudson, who I really don't know. This time, it's somebody I know - Diana Ross on seat 1A from New York to Nashville. I love her songs, and I was actually planning to watch her concert in Nashville the day after that flight. She boarded first with an escort, but I didn't recognize her initially.  When I asked for her service drink and asked my typical question if Nashville is home for her, she said that she's doing a concert. I got interested and right away checked the manifest and found her name. I got excited and asked Erica to take my photo with her, told her that I love her songs and was planning to watch her concert. Unfortunately, she hesitated and said that she doesn't do photos!  I was embarrassed but I thought I handled it well. I continued my duties boarding our passengers. Before take off, she borrowed my pen, ...

I was lucky to got stuck in Jacksonville, Florida during the snow storm in the east coast that happened in January 2016.  My flight was going to New York, so my trip was cancelled.  I took the opportunity to visit my good friends, went to Sunday church with them and had an afternoon of eating and chatting. It's great to have long layover and nice to see friends. Looking back, a big snow storm had paralyzed New York in January 2015. I want to remember this day as well. That time, I was stuck in New York City and it was the first time that I saw JFK empty. We played around.  All flights were cancelled so we had to stay in the hotel. Despite the bad condition, it's always nice to be with nice crew and two of my favorites, Erica and First Officer Nomar. I took photos of the blizzard and submitted them on CNN iReport. They got vetted and asked my permission if they could use my photos on CNN news...

I love taking photos of cute stuff on the plane. They can be a topic of conversation as well. It's our pleasure to have little reindeer on our flight from Milwaukee to JFK. Our passenger told me that this is his daughter's toy.  He brings this reindeer on his trips, takes photos and sends it to his daughter and wife as soon as he lands. This is an unusual thing to do, especially from a father like him. It's impressive and I admire him.