In line with the sudden Gundam craze...





What Gundam SEED Character Are You?


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Although many of the guys are quite intimidated by my instructor, I find him very approachable and friendly. Yesterday, I chanced upon him in the planners room, and he asked how I was. Was rather surprised because that was the first time he asked me that. No wonder everyone calls me his golden boy. Hah.

He can also be rather witty at times. I have forgotten quite a number of instances, but today, he just showed that side of him again. We were tracking to Mandurah, and he tuned to the Mandurah radio station. To identify it, instead of listening to the Morse Code, we listen to the music since it is a radio station (duh). When the music came on, he said "Hey, I know this song" and started singing along. It was an old song, so don't ask me what song it was. But I did recognize it. Must be from one of my dad's old casette tapes that we listened EVERYTIME we sat in his car. But that's another story. Anyway, after singing for a few seconds, he abruptly stopped singing and switched off the ADF button and remarked "I hate that song". He then proceeded with the rest of the procedures.

Okay, I am pretty easily amused.

The sun is finally out, and the canaries are out to play. But one almost didn't make it because the stupid operator almost overslept. Not only did he not set his alarm clock or handphone alarm, the alarm clock is running on a half-baked battery which makes the clock run 50 minutes late. Luckily for him, someone from the Ops Room gave him a call, not a wake-up call, but for some other matter. And the sleeping idiot was me.

Was hanging out with one of my friends when out of nowhere, I started singing the PCK SARS jingle. I am actually quite good at it. Makes me wonder why am I wasting grey matter remembering crap like this.

A few of the guys are going to get sunglasses. Not just any sunglasses. "These are really good you know. Unlike my "lousy" Ray Bans, these will cut out the blue light. Doesn't make your eyes so tired. Then can fly better." Somehow, I am not really a fan of sunglasses. My free Oakleys (that's another story) is still sitting in my drawer, and only comes out to see daylight during the few days I decide not to bum in my room. My mum is going to have a fit hearing this. I can just imagine: "Why you don't want to wear sunglasses? The sun is very bright you know? The higher you go the brighter. Must wear. And while you are at it, soak yourself in sun block lotion too". I guess in years to come, I might regret not listening to good ol' mum's advice. But in the meantime, I am going to stick to the proven method of navigating with my naked eyes.

Yesterday's plan to go out was canned. Instead, it was television day! Whole afternoon was spent glued to the PS2. Early night was spent on Gundam. And the rest of the night and early morning were spent on Tour de France, The Ashes and The German GP. Television has never been so useful.

And this morning, the last man cleared his solo. That makes the whole course. So far so good. Let's hope it stays this way.

Yet another wash out. As it has been for the past few days.

Will be heading over to Freo to check out the market. Actually, I have been there once about 3 months ago, but I did not really have a chance to browse through what they have to offer. It kind of reminded me of Central Market back home. Same atmosphere, same people, same stalls. Maybe I can pick a thing or two before heading back.

Been watching quite a lot of Tour de France and The Ashes on the television. Seems like another runaway victory for the American. And the Aussies seems to be going for another runaway victory of their own against the Brits. Will definitely catch the last stage of the race back to Paris tonight.

Roommate disappeared quite early today. His blades are here. He's not at the gym. And no way is he at church. I wonder where he is...

I need my Diet Coke with Vanilla fix. It has been two days. That's inhumane.

My instructor still does not know which subsidiary he will be going to. He might even be in the same subsidiary as me. I can't wait to see if I will get to work with him in future. And the best part is that he still needs to get jet hours. Which means, he will also have to go to the east with the rest of us. Imagine this: "Paul, wake up, gardening duty". Yes, that's the crap we do here. My mum said if I don't study, I will be a labourer or garbage collector. Well, once a week, I sweep the floors, pull weeds, take out the thrash and, if I am lucky, mix cement. And I sure studied hard dammit.

Finally, a friend of mine getting married today. One down. Who's next?

And just like that, he went up.

It is not so much the fact that he went up. What surprised me more was the manner in which he went about getting it. And just like what my friends and I were talking about, he is a "tryer" with very thick hide for skin.

But it worked.

And meanwhile, I am sitting around twidling my thumbs.

"They have no right to push and shove" :Rice

Right...

And once again, we have reached the last episode of Gundam. At least, the last episode available to us. That means we have to resort on sitting on our thumbs and stare at the computer monitor every night again.

The instructors now have a board in their room, indicating the dates that some of their licences expire and what-not. In addition to all the seriousness, there is a column for them to write their call-sign and other totally irrelevant junk. Some of the callsigns were quite funny, such as MILF Hunter and The Neverending Corey (he just won't stop the interrogation). And the cadet quote of the week is "Crosswind now is M12. My rating is 8. Can I go up?" I am itching to find out who said that.

You will never get winds like this back home. I swear if I was standing in the middle of the tarmac, I would have been blown all the way to China Southern Airlines. So, despite the clear blue skies, we are still all grounded. That's the story of my stay here: strong winds, thunderstorms, never-ending rain.

Had a long-overdue course meeting this morning. Will be having a small trip over to the airforce base nearby. And while we are going to be there, there was a small suggestion that we should make a detour to a winery nearby. Just keep the plan hush hush and everything will be a O-K. We also had a small feedback session on our progress, and Mr X again showed how untactful he could be. Totally oblivious to all our sniggering when he said those words. Well, the underlying message was true, but there are a million ways to convey that message and he had to pick that. It was a good thing the subject of the conversation was not there. Or else, all hell would have broken loose.

The meeting was followed by yet another meeting. This time, we were surrounded by instructors who were there to see how our project was coming along. And based on what our course presented the previous time around, I didn't think they were going to expect too much from a bunch of incompetent fools. Fools indeed... The only reason why the last presentation was a complete disaster was because I did not push the group leaders. And that resulted in the group leaders getting bitch-slapped during the previous presentation. Thank God I wasn't around at that time. But based on what the other two guys who were there said, this time was much better. Sometimes, a little nudge or a shove is what it takes to get things done around here.

And that is what is needed in my committee. Time to wake up their ideas tonight.

Was warned of a power cut earlier today. So, when it eventually did go off, us guys decided to catch a movie. And what better thing to do than to drool over Jessica Alba in The Fantastic Four.

Weather is coming in. Time to sit on my ass doing nothing again.

After a week of mundane days, I finally had quite an exciting day. Here goes..

Woke up early at 7AM to pick up a friend from the airport. He had to go back to renew his currency with his helicopter. After that, came back to sleep even more.

Okay, the morning wasn't that great. But the afternoon was better. Went to the training area and, with phase 1 done, had a small tour of the area. Finally, I had the chance to really enjoy the view and check out some of the routes that I will be taking in future.

Then, there was an emergency flight back into the airport. Apparently an aircraft couldn't lower its landing gear. So, it was going back to the airport with emergency vehicles all waiting. Having heard that on the radio, I quickly headed back home otherwise I would have to wait around for another 1/2 hour, which might go past last light. And that means a report for me. More paperwork...

Anyway, I was the last aircraft allowed to land before THE aircraft came in. Main landing gear did not come down, so it made a belly landing. It came in quite good, just that it landed on its belly instead of the landing gear. The moment the plane came to a stop on the runway, all the fire engines were around it. Could not see much from the college, but I figure the pilot was alright.

I guess the runway will be closed tomorrow morning.

Dinner at Freo after being confined to barracks due to lack of transportation.

Coldplay is God! Okay, maybe a demi-God. The real Gods would be RHCP and LP.

I can't believe that there is so much interest among the juniors in joining the planning committee. Well, no complaints from me. I better tap into the raging enthusiasm while it's still there. Also, one of the benefits of being a planner, apart from the Ops Duties, is that we get to see the true colours of many of the guys here. Sure enough, we have cadets signing up for p-checks early, looking for instructors to do their checks, pushing back their flights that the circuit is packed with our aircraft, and what not. A true reflection of what defines us: kiasu.

I better release the angst during the next house meeting before I implode.

Horror of all horrors...

With the other dude finally done with his training here, I rubbed my hands with glee at the thought of being the only student under my instructor. Or so I thought..

Now, I have competition from 3 other students vying for the ever-elusive 1 hour sortie with my, I mean our, instructor.

I hope I can go home by CNY...

Having a second post in one day can only mean one thing... I am bored.

I kind of remember a time when I used to drive a white Magna. Now I kind of miss it. Oh when will ol' faithful return to me?

As previously mentioned, the carpark is getting a little crowded for our "little" community. Even the much heralded yellow Hyundai has to settle to be among the mere masses of senior citizen cars. And who caused such distress to our poor Hyundai? Why, the 2 CRVs, the CRX, the Merc (oh yes, we are a rich bunch here), the Hilux and many more that I refuse to mention or else I am going to go bonkers.

And as the influx of masses continues (another bunch incoming due end of the month), the phone usage is also getting a bit out of hand. Waited about an hour yesterday before it was my turn. Managed to catch about 10 overs of England vs Australia test match.

Hopefully, this overcrowding will not affect the aircraft. In fact, I better go up tomorrow while I still can...

Oh joy! A quiz! And an intellectual one too...

You Are Incredibly Logical

(You got 75% of the questions right) Move over Spock - you're the new master of logic You think rationally, clearly, and quickly. A seasoned problem solver, your mind is like a computer!

How Logical Are You?

My mind is like a computer... Good on me!

Passed the check. On to the next phase, which I hope will be more exciting.

Instructor will be in Singapore for a week. Hoping to be part of the big boys. So, I will be here with my secondary instructor, who is already overloaded with other cadets, and on top of that, will also have to conduct checks. I foresee a week-long break ahead.

Woke up at 8AM today and went over to school. Found all the aircrafts covered with layers of ice. Had a jolly fun time carrying pails of water and pouring them over the ice to get them to melt. Good early morning workout that every cadet should experience.

After working out, went up to enjoy a clear, blue sky with minimal turbulence. Ahhh... it is times like these that really makes all the training all worth it. Came down and put my name in for my check. Surprisingly, I am now scheduled for my check tomorrow! No time to kid around. Better ask his student about his preferences.

My blog now has a new look. Decided to get rid of the old template after it started to get buggy for no particular reason. Anyway, comments?

Yesterday (1st July) passed like any other day. Went up in the morning. Came down. Did some work. Then at night, we had a huge cake that the guys bought for me, and another two guys who were also born in July. One guy is of the same age as me, while the other... his star is also of a monkey, but one round before me. So while he was chasing skirts back in secondary school, I was still the little brat bullying my sister and basically creating havoc in the household.

Decided to give myself a treat the night before (30 June) by paxing my senior's flight. He is under the same instructor as me, so it was quite easy to get a seat. Some instructors may not allow especially when there is no reason for me to sit in, since I have not reached that phase yet. And lucky me, the view was fantastic! The only thing I could see were the lights. And the lights of Perth City at night was great. Couldn't take any photos because it was way too dark. When we were asked to fly over the sea for traffic separation, all we could see was black. Pitch black. Now I understand how pilots can get disorientated when flying at night. Quite difficult to imagine it without experiencing it. And one other thing that this little joyride taught me was to always visit the restroom before going up for a 2 1/2 hour trip.

Had a four hour nap after dinner just now. Time to get back to bed.