One of the questions I usually get from friends and acquaintances both online and off was about the Australian tourist visa. Is it easy to get one? Are they strict? How did you apply for your visa?
I applied on my own, but if you would feel more at ease with having somebody guiding you through the process, there are a number of agents who can help. One of them is the Australian Visa Bureau.
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As customers, often than not, we can be very critical of the services we pay for. We can get really cranky if things don’t go as well as we expect. But what’s it like to be on the other side? To be the one who provide the service?
I came across two articles online that gives us an insight on the lives of flight attendants and baggage handlers.
Confessions of a baggage handler by Tim Cigelske
Luggage left behind: Check in at least 30 minutes before the flight. Any later than that and your bag will probably miss the plane. Sympathetic ticket agents sometimes call and ask us to swing back and pick up late bags, so you might want to beg them for help.
Most times, bags are delayed or lost for other reasons. Depending on the airport, luggage is sorted by the three-letter destination code, flight number, or both. (The ticket agent usually tears off bag tags from old trips, but it can’t hurt to rip them off yourself to avoid confusion.) There was one day when a delayed flight meant that we had two departures at the same time to the same city, and I loaded an entire cart of bags onto the wrong plane. Another day, we loaded so many bags of golf clubs bound for Myrtle Beach that the plane ran out of storage and we had to hold 10 bags. And sometimes there’s no explanation: Miscommunication is easy when everyone’s wearing hearing protection and shouting over jet engines.
Source: CNN.com
Unsung heroes by Charles Leocha
Airline flight attendants are unsung heroes in this country’s “war on terrorism.” Recent events demonstrate that this is true now more than ever. The efforts to attack us have not abated, but they have been thwarted by better intelligence and higher levels of security. For example, when terrorists came up with new ways to mix explosives with liquids last year, the Department of Homeland Security banned liquids aboard the nation’s aircraft. Once again, flight attendants found themselves on the front line of a war whose battles are constantly shifting while ever exposing them to danger.
Though experts cannot predict when there will be another terrorist attack, they can all agree that one will come. New plans are certainly being tested to attack our transportation systems. The stress on our airline systems has increased and will only get worse. And yet flight attendants continue to report to work every day, ready to do what they can to keep us safe. I hope the traveling public does not take them for granted.
Every time a plane takes off, every time a traveler stands up and walks toward the cockpit, and every time a passenger ducks behind his seat to dig through carry-on luggage, flight attendants go on high alert.
Source: Tripso.com
Both gives great insight on what these people do for a living. Makes you appreciate them better.
I guess those guys really knew what they were talking about 
MSN009’s third tour will take it to Dubai, Melbourne and the Philippine cities of Manila and Luzon from 8-13 October. From Toulouse the jet will then travel again to Bogota, before heading for Vancouver in Canada and Osaka in Japan from 15-19 October.
Source: Flightglobal.com
Hmmm, so if I want to see the A380, where’s the best place to view it in Manila?
Want to know if the flight you’re booked on will be full or not? Check with Seatcounter.com.
First, you fill in the box with the flight details:
Click on Show Availability, and you will be shown a list of airlines plying that route and the number of available seats in each fare class.
If you know your way around airline fare classes, this can be useful to find an award/upgrade seat. Some of the first class tickets are coded F, P (premium), A (discounted). Business class codes are C, J (premium), D (discounted). Coach or economy class are coded Y (full fare), B, H, M, N, etc. are discounted. Interesting. I must talk to my travel agent about this next time.
If you’ve been reading this blog long enough, you’d know that I am a bit of a shopaholic and a sucker for bargains. My recent addiction though, are travel books.
Now, I love to read. I love books. However, I’m not as fond about buying them. For one thing, I am not the most careful book owner. Secondly, I go through phases where I’d go crazy over one author, buy or borrow all his/her books and read nothing but their work for months. That’s why I hesitate to buy books that goes beyond a certain price.
My first travel book (apart from guide books) was Vroom with a View by Peter Moore. I found it at this record store in Yarraville that has a table with a bunch of brand new books at discounted prices. My second find was my first Bill Bryson book, Down Under. It was in good condition, though it was second hand. A pretty good find for a hardbound book at AU$3.99. From then on, I was always on the lookout for familiar names, hoping to get another good find. I did found another Peter Moore, The Full Montezuma
During my stopover in Singapore, I fully intented to just stock up on Pinkies and Mangas. In my quest to get to my goal, I managed to stumble upon a couple of stores selling second hand books. Aside from a must-visit place for toy collectors, China Square Central also have a weekend bazaar where independent sellers can rent a booth to sell their goods. Apart from the toys, the clothes and accessories, there are also stalls that sell second hand books. It was in one of the hobby stores though where I found Holy Cow! by Sarah MacDonald, a book about her adventures in India, for only SG$10.
While hunting down the last couple of volumes to complete my Ouran High Host Club loot, I went to the biggest (?) Popular bookstore in Singapore; the one in the Bras Basah Complex. It turns out that this place is also home to more than a couple second hand bookstores. It started raining heavily while I was browsing inside Popular, and it still haven’t let up after I paid for my books. To pass up the time, I browsed through the other stores and found By the Seat of My Pants: Humorous Tales Of Travel And Misadventure from Lonely Planet for only SG$9.90.
Unfortunately, Manila bookstores have very limited selection of travel books. Not only that, they’re past the price I’m willing to pay. Last week though, while waiting for the Shroud of Turin tour to start, I felt something calling out to me, the same feeling I get when I know I’m going to find something good inside trift shops. True enough I chanced upon Frances Maye’s Under the Tuscan Sun AND Bill Bryson’s Notes from a Small Island. Save for a crease or two, both books are in pretty good condition. And the price? Php110 (approximately US$2.40). Not bad, eh?
Booksale at the Mall of Asia probably has the best selection of books. I’m a frequent browser at their SM North Edsa branch and occasionally at Megamall, but this has to be the first time I saw these authors inside their store. They have a great variety of titles, and the best condition of second hand books. Oh, and they also have a number of smutty books for only Php45. *koff koff*
Starting your travel book library doesn’t have to be expensive. If you know where to look, the authors to look for, and with a little bit of luck, you will be starting your collection in no time!
Found the link to this forum over at PEX:
Confirmed test A/C A380 will be in Manila Oct 11 and Clark on Oct 12 – plane is full of test equipment so no rides – they want to prove out airports for Bupac. Prepare your gear.
Oh, there’s a disclaimer too:
word of mouth among pinoy pilots currently working with bupak and ex bupakers. I’m not asking anyone to trust but i trust my aviation colleague. this is confirmed. please dont hold me responsible if the mammoth flying metal doesnt show up. salamat.
But still, if the A380 ended up landing in Clark on those dates… gah @$&@)*#!)*#)_!*#!!!!
P.s. Anybody know what Bupac is? 
There’s no official statement yet, but it seems it came right out of the older Gokonwei’s mouth.
A confident John Gokongwei Jr. thinks Cebu Pacific is ready to go long-haul like fellow low-cost carrier Air Asia of Malaysia, with the taipan aiming to cross the Pacific and launch non-stop flights to the United States West Coast, and possibly onwards to Houston and Chicago, by mid-2009.
But the taipan is quick to admit that he has yet to fully convince his son and Cebu Pacific president, Lance, about the long-haul dream especially how the attendant cost-escalations would impact on the financial model of a single-class, short-haul, quick turn-around budget airline.
Source: Manila Standard Today
Hmmmm, I certainly hope they’d get a bigger plane if they’re going to do long-haul flights. Or at least give more legroom. Or have video on demand (even with pay). *cringe* I can’t imagine being comfortable in their current fleet for flights longer than 5 hours.
The article was fairly interesting, but I perked up when I got to this line:
The Manila-Osaka and Manila-Tokyo routes are also being opened, hopefully in time for the Christmas rush.
Tokyo! Manila – Tokyo! In time for the Christmas rush! *explodes*
Nina, going through quarterlife crisis, decided to stop talking about traveling and actually start traveling. Starting with a solo weekend trip to Cebu to a backpacking trip in Thailand and Singapore, she finally made it out of Asia and into Australia. After spending close to six months down under, she's happily settled in Manila (for now), intent to explore the best things the Philippines has to offer.
