PLEASE. Flush the toilet.

Every job has its own dirty side. And as for mine, it's the toilet. 

It is never in our job descriptions to clean the toilet. But we are always reminded to keep it tidy, which boils down to the same action of what else, of cleaning it. Honestly, I could care less about it. I can never open that lavatory door and save myself from the shock of seeing the end result of what you have eaten. But being seated to a jumpseat next to the toilet, I can't stand it. I just have to clean it! I just freakingly have to clean it!

Here's what a flush button looks like in aircraft lavatories aka toilets:

Located in the upper right hand of the toilet bowl is the flush button. Yes it is flat, but pressing it makes the flush work. It is not touchscreen, for heaven's sake, press it. Sometimes, passengers would say that it is not working. Well, with all due respect, it DOES work. Each and every flight, we do this pre-flight check and that includes the toilets. So we know for sure that the flush is working.

And a helpful reminder, the orange button near the mirror is not a flush button. It is the Flight Attendant Call Button which is used in emergencies like if you need some help whilst inside the lavatory. Accidentally pressing that button (sometimes mistaken as a flush) only makes us open the door even if it is locked, making yourselves exposed to us while your pants are down. Geez.

So the next time you board an aircraft, do your flight attendant some favor. Please flush the toilet.

My First Birthday 33,000 Feet Above Sea Level

I don't want to forget the details of my first ever birthday in the skies so I am taking record of it. I know most flight attendants have a list of their own, so here's mine!

July 30, 2012

I operated Flight Number SV 1903 and 1902, Riyadh-Taif and then back again.

Aircraft Operated: Airbus 320

Position Taken: R1 - which was quite a shock since I was forced to take it, as no senior would want to during that time. But then as the flight went on, I indeed enjoyed being R1, and would definitely love to take it again given the chance. :)

Days before that, I met Amira, a beautiful, sweet and funny fellow flight attendant who had the same flight schedule like mine, so I was with her from July 28 until the 31st. By the way she is Egyptian.

Amira and me before the flight

This girl Amira is such a sweetie. In the morning of my birthday, she ordered from the hotel room service for an Egyptian breakfast for me. She wanted me to try Om Ali, a buttery, milky, sweet soup-like breakfast prepared with different kinds of nuts. I love love love it! :) Well, yes I love anything sweet but this is special. I would like to show how it looks like but I'm sorry I finished the whole stuff right before thinking of taking a picture of it.. haha.. :) Thanks to folkmann.ca, here's a picture of it's goodness:

Warmed in the oven until the outside turns brown, but sweet and soooo creamy inside. Hmmm.. :)

I enjoyed the whole day as everyone was so nice. From the cockpit crew with whom I got the chance to serve, to every single crew in the cabin, all of them were so nice, we worked altogether harmoniously.

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Another surprise took my heart away when I finally reached my flat after my flight schedule. My close friend Erikka, who is more like a sister to me, brought out the child in me with this "New Year Cake", as I call it.. This was the first time I had a cake complete with fireworks!! :)

Erikka and me

Erikka and me, and some of our few close friends here had been through a lot. From Day One of application for this airline until now and until the end, we only have each other here as family. **Grouphugggggg**.

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Over the distance, a lot of my friends also extended their love and birthday greetings and wishes, which I am so thankful for. Mkaye and Eds, thank you for having that Starbucks Moment "with me" though I was not there physically.

I don't know if the rest of my birthdays will always be spent on the skies, but definitely I will never forget this first one. :) Thank you Lord for my good friends and for adding another year in my life.