'Sun' day
Wow! The sun is really shining today. Nice way to spend a Sunday.
Well, my Newark EWR trip was as we say in Dutch "kort maar krachtig". On my way to EWR, I was galley slave. I prefer that, than do serve in the aisle or do duty free sales. So during the briefing the Senior Purser asked if anyone has special requests, so I told her that I prefer to work the galley. She granted that request. The passengers were mostly quiet. Only that damned crying baby! I know it isn't the baby's fault and that she was probably suffering from ear discomfort, but still....
When we arrived at EWR, it was a drama. We landed at the same time as Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and Lufthansa and all 4 crews had to clear customs at the same time.
We then headed to the crew hotel. We use the same hotel as the Air France crew and Aer Lingus. Those people from AF were seriously a-social, making so much noise etc. I was embaressed for them. I mean KLM-ers are not perfect either. KLM-ers have this bad habit that when you arrive at the hotel they drop their bags and leave the handle 'flap' down, which in turn causes a lot of noise. Imagine this with a crew of 12 in the hotel lobby! We are warned about this during the CA course, but no one pays heed. Other hotel clients find it annoying. If you do something like this in Bonaire BON, no one pays heed, but do it in Dubai DXB or Hong Kong HKG, you get warned by the concierge. Unfortunately some members of the crew think they are the king or queen of the hotel.
Anyway after the traditional 'crew borrel', I headed to my room and took a nice long hot shower. We decided to meet in the lobby at 15.30. I have come to learn that there is a rule within the crew. "Als ik er ben, ben ik er en zo niet dan ben ik er niet"... if I'm there, I'm there and if I'm not, I'm not. This basically means that if we decide to meet up in the lobby it is not a must. Sometimes you get to the lobby and there are 10 people there and sometimes only 2. If that's the case you leave without finding out where the rest is. Sometimes they are just too tired, have better things to do or just want to things on their own. The captain wanted to eat at T.G.I.F. and everyone went with him, but I decided to go on my own. I took a train to Manhattan, which isn't too far from Newark. There I spent the day doing some shopping for summer clothes near Times Square. After that I headed to Brooklyn, where my aunt Enid lives to pay her a visit and I had dinner there. We had such a good time! I have a great aunt, you know. I ended up spending the night on the sofa and the next morning I took the train back to the hotel. I got packed, ironed my shirt and rested, because calling was at 13.45 in the lobby.
At 13.45, we headed to Liberty Airport, where we got briefed by Continental who handles KLM and then headed to the gate. Security is very strict within the USA... also with crews. We left EWR on time and this flight was full. Continental Airlines also has a EWR-AMS flight, but they were overbooked, so they rebooked passengers on our flight. A bunch of Indian people with onward connections to Delhi DEL, Mumbai BOM and Hyderabad HYD. Those people are a terror! Not to discriminate, but.... pfffff..... they are irritating with there behavior.
We made good time and landed at SPL at 05.30 yesterday morning, while the scheduled time was 06.00. We debriefed, shook hands and headed home. Before I went to my own apartment, I passed by R., because he was doing another 9 day Kuala Lumpur KUL, with double KUL-CGK-KUL (Jakarta) shuttle flights. That flight is a hard one to request and he got it back-to-back! Lucky bastard! I slept there for a while and then said goodbye later in the afternoon... in a special way. Lol! I then headed to my own house to do some shopping at the supermarket for the weekend.
Today is the is the Fortis Rotterdam Marathon and I am going to support my neighbor and buddy Mathijs. He is running in the marathon. It passes nearby my house. As the weather is great, I might sit at a terras and get a drink. Tommorow I have to work again, so you might as well make the best of it, right?
Enjoy the rest of the weekend, everyone!
Well, my Newark EWR trip was as we say in Dutch "kort maar krachtig". On my way to EWR, I was galley slave. I prefer that, than do serve in the aisle or do duty free sales. So during the briefing the Senior Purser asked if anyone has special requests, so I told her that I prefer to work the galley. She granted that request. The passengers were mostly quiet. Only that damned crying baby! I know it isn't the baby's fault and that she was probably suffering from ear discomfort, but still....
When we arrived at EWR, it was a drama. We landed at the same time as Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and Lufthansa and all 4 crews had to clear customs at the same time.
We then headed to the crew hotel. We use the same hotel as the Air France crew and Aer Lingus. Those people from AF were seriously a-social, making so much noise etc. I was embaressed for them. I mean KLM-ers are not perfect either. KLM-ers have this bad habit that when you arrive at the hotel they drop their bags and leave the handle 'flap' down, which in turn causes a lot of noise. Imagine this with a crew of 12 in the hotel lobby! We are warned about this during the CA course, but no one pays heed. Other hotel clients find it annoying. If you do something like this in Bonaire BON, no one pays heed, but do it in Dubai DXB or Hong Kong HKG, you get warned by the concierge. Unfortunately some members of the crew think they are the king or queen of the hotel.
Anyway after the traditional 'crew borrel', I headed to my room and took a nice long hot shower. We decided to meet in the lobby at 15.30. I have come to learn that there is a rule within the crew. "Als ik er ben, ben ik er en zo niet dan ben ik er niet"... if I'm there, I'm there and if I'm not, I'm not. This basically means that if we decide to meet up in the lobby it is not a must. Sometimes you get to the lobby and there are 10 people there and sometimes only 2. If that's the case you leave without finding out where the rest is. Sometimes they are just too tired, have better things to do or just want to things on their own. The captain wanted to eat at T.G.I.F. and everyone went with him, but I decided to go on my own. I took a train to Manhattan, which isn't too far from Newark. There I spent the day doing some shopping for summer clothes near Times Square. After that I headed to Brooklyn, where my aunt Enid lives to pay her a visit and I had dinner there. We had such a good time! I have a great aunt, you know. I ended up spending the night on the sofa and the next morning I took the train back to the hotel. I got packed, ironed my shirt and rested, because calling was at 13.45 in the lobby.
At 13.45, we headed to Liberty Airport, where we got briefed by Continental who handles KLM and then headed to the gate. Security is very strict within the USA... also with crews. We left EWR on time and this flight was full. Continental Airlines also has a EWR-AMS flight, but they were overbooked, so they rebooked passengers on our flight. A bunch of Indian people with onward connections to Delhi DEL, Mumbai BOM and Hyderabad HYD. Those people are a terror! Not to discriminate, but.... pfffff..... they are irritating with there behavior.
We made good time and landed at SPL at 05.30 yesterday morning, while the scheduled time was 06.00. We debriefed, shook hands and headed home. Before I went to my own apartment, I passed by R., because he was doing another 9 day Kuala Lumpur KUL, with double KUL-CGK-KUL (Jakarta) shuttle flights. That flight is a hard one to request and he got it back-to-back! Lucky bastard! I slept there for a while and then said goodbye later in the afternoon... in a special way. Lol! I then headed to my own house to do some shopping at the supermarket for the weekend.
Today is the is the Fortis Rotterdam Marathon and I am going to support my neighbor and buddy Mathijs. He is running in the marathon. It passes nearby my house. As the weather is great, I might sit at a terras and get a drink. Tommorow I have to work again, so you might as well make the best of it, right?
Enjoy the rest of the weekend, everyone!
posted by Traveller at 12:43 PM
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