Thursday, May 15, 2008

I've just passed the sixth month mark in training here in perth, and the first phase of training took me 5 months, which is quite long by normal standards. But that was mainly due to some delays here and there that frankly should not have occured. Anyway 1 down, 3 more to go. I'm setting myself a target of 2 months for phase 2, 3 months for phase 3 and 3 months for the last phase. That would mean I'm trying to be back in SG by November. And this is already somewhat an ambitious estimate. The most conservative would be Christmas. But that is my best price. Anything after that and you can take it or leave it, thank you come again.

Right now I've just crossed the midway point in my navigation flying training, where I get to travel many miles all over western australia. Which is, apart from a few major towns along the coast, mainly farms, hills, lakes, rivers, tiny little towns and miles and miles of barren land. Not some of the more interesting things to see on a flight. However, when the going gets boring, the bored looks up, and takes in the spectacular view of the clear blue sky or the sun setting behind the ocean. And then the bored gets cramps and DVT from sitting in that tiny aircraft for 3 hours. You're strapped in the whole time, and even if you're not, there's no where to go. If you stretch your legs, you'll step on the rudder pedals. You basically stuck for 3 hours. Even though I enjoy the flying, sometimes I'm just glad to be back on the ground so that I can give my legs a stretch.

This is what's needed before each nav flight. Maps, charts, markers, rulers, logs and some fancy navigational instruments. And these same items have to be used during the flight, so you can imagine how messy it can get in the aircraft.

Here's some pics of Perth International Airport and Perth city's skyscrapers (the only skyscrapers you'll see) :

This is a large town:

And this is a small town (if you can find it) :

On a totally unrelated note, it has been slowly dawning on me that I'm increasingly becoming a boring person. Was reading my old posts and difference is apparent. Even I get bored reading my own recent posts. Maybe its a good thing that I'm not so lame anymore. After all, lameness doesn't work for everyone, only a select few haha. If whoever is reading this thinks otherwise, pls let me know. Else, thanks for sticking by my blog all through this boring period haha. (I'm so boring I actully just used a computer algorithm. Give yourself a pat on the back if you didn't know what it was.)

Anyway to end off, here's a little trivia of myself:
For the longest time, I have spelled 'weird' as 'wierd'. But if you do a google search for 'wierd', you'll find that there are 13,800,000 ppl who spell it erm weirdly too. Looks like this weird peculiarity is shared by many ppl eh. But that makes me wierd for even bothering to find out about that. There have been a few kind souls who have pointed out this mistake of mine, but somehow I always end up spelling it weirdly.

Wierd huh?

(Give yourself another pat on the back if you actually spotted and counted the number of times i spelled 'weird' wrongly, you wierdo.)

Posted at 4:49 PM

Monday, February 11, 2008

What's better than a concert from one of your all-time favourite bands? Concerts from TWO of your all-time favourite bands. On the 25th and 26th January respectively, Bon Jovi and Dream Theater kicked off their Australian leg of their world tours here in Perth. Needless to say, I was stoked at the idea of catching two of my fave bands back to back. Unfortunately, each gig had its own flaws that dampened my spirits somewhat, but that did not stop me from enjoying myself tremendously, and singing my lungs out.

By the way, this is a long post.

Bon Jovi
The Lost Highway Tour
25th January 2008
Subiaco Oval, Perth

The stadium was a fitting venue for a band of Bon Jovi's stature. About 3 quarters of the stadium's seats were filled, and the floor seats were packed. We managed to get seats somewhere near the area in the bottom right of the pic below, and had a great view of the lighting tower and a miniscule stage. Luckily there were three large screens to give us a better view of the proceedings. At this juncture, I would like to point out that watching a concert on the live screen is not unlike watching it on TV. At times it felt like I was watching part of some music festival like Live Aid.

After sitting through some lame-ass local band which somehow won a competition to be the opening band for about half an hour, we were waiting with baited breath for Bon Jovi to open with a bang. But instead Jon sauntered onto the stage without much fanfare and lauched into one of their new songs. And this was the major disappointment of the gig - they played quite a number of songs from their Lost Highway album. Granted it was The Lost Highway Tour, but it was obvious that the new songs weren't as well received as their old hits. Some classics they played were In These Arms, You Give Love a Bad Name, Keep the Faith, I'll Be There For You and Blaze of Glory. And here's disappointment number two - I was waiting the whole night to hear I'll Be There For You, from Mr. BJ himself, it being my fave BJ song, but he slacked off and gave it to Ritchie Sambora to sing. Now I'm not saying Ritchie can't sing, but its just not the same if Mr. BJ doesn't do it. Fortunately he managed to redeem the song by pulling off a sweet ending solo. At least they did Livin' on a Prayer, which was the best song of the night.

After each song, we waited eagerly for the band to launch into a familiar classic, but we were left speechless at the fact that they didn't perform Always or Bed of Roses. Everyone had to make do with blasting Bed of Roses in their car stereos after the concert.

After a less-than-climatic ending song, we streamed out of the stadium feeling kinda sore over the unplayed hits, not fully satisfied with the gig. But one thing's for sure, Jon Bon Jovi still has it in him, dishing out lots of showmanship and charisma with a good dose of stage antics.

Dream Theater
Chaos in Motion Tour
26th January 2008
Burswood Theater, Perth

Dream Theater in Perth. I couldn't believe it. I missed the opportunity to catch them the first time they came to Singapore due to reasons I'm lazy to elaborate. The next time they decide to return, I was going to be overseas. What arsed-luck. But then I realised it was their world tour, and sure enough, they were scheduled to perform in Perth.

The best pic of the night. Now this is what I call a grand opening. After screening a parody of the THX advert that you see before the start of a movie in the cinemas, the band came out with lights, guitars and drums blazing, to the tune of the theme song from 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Solo shots of the band members. I was standing really close to the stage and had the freedom to walk around the standing area as it was quite empty. The venue wasn't huge, but the size served to heighten the atmosphere and the acoustics were suited for a band with so much talent and muscianship.

Jordan Rudess takes showmanship to another level - wanking on stage

The screen behind the stage was well utilised - either to show close ups, of Petrucci's lightning fast shredding for example, or to screen MTV-style videos, apart from the usual visualisations.

Mid-way through the second set (the first set was an hour and a half long), Jordan Rudess was motioning to the techs on stage that there was nothing coming through his in-ear monitors, and shortly after, I saw James LaBrie's in-ears dangling off his shoulders. Inevitably, once they finished the song, James announced that they were having some technical issues and will try to rectify the problem. So we waited. And waited, for half and hour. I had a sinking feeling as to the outcome and sure enough, the band emerged only to inform us that something blew on stage and there was no way they could solve the issue in time.

They had to cut the gig short. About another good one hour's worth.

And so with apologetic waves and promises of returning to perform again from the band, the curtains came down on what was an amazing performance albeit cut short by that technical failure. Was it worth it? Definitely. A two hour performance was about the norm for concerts, but knowing that Dream Theater holds at least three hours long gigs was what made me feel somewhat cheated. Cheated once again of songs that I was waiting to hear.

It was definitely good while it lasted though.

Posted at 2:04 AM

Thursday, February 07, 2008

On the morning of 14th January, I made my maiden voyage alone into the aussie sky, for a total of 6 mins of 'airtime'. The rest of the time was spent on the ground, sitting alone in the aircraft, taxying and waiting. For every cadet over here, or anyone learning to fly for that matter, this solo flight is a momentous occasion, coming in second to passing the final flight test that would bring us back to Singapore. Everything else in between is just a means to an end. It's when our training really starts, so to speak.

That morning, the weather was excellent for flying - cool morning air, calm winds and clear blue skies. Being sent for my first solo flight was something that I've been trying to achieve for a few weeks prior to that day, and given conditions like this, I was determined to prove to my instructor that I was capable (and safe) enough for him to send me solo. So off I went, flying a few times round the runway, trying not to give my instructor any reason to prompt or criticize me, but botching a couple of my landings. Its kinda like the driving test. You want to ensure you don't give the tester any reason to fault you, or throw his little notebook down on the dash. You know you're a goner if that happens.

I must have faired not too badly. On taking off the third time, my instructor turned to me and said, "Eugene, I'm going to send you for solo on the next round. Do you think you're ready?" I paused for a moment and said yes. I wasn't feeling overly confident, but my desire to get this over and done with made me want to do it. I rolled the aircraft to a stop some distance from the runway and my instructor proceeded to get off. He shook my hand, gave me a congratulatory salute and stepped out of the aircraft, not forgetting to remind me to latch the door after him.

As I watched him walk away, my adrenaline started pumping. I was nervous and excited. I silently told myself to focus on doing what I've been taught so far, and not get caught up in the moment once I was in the air. Before I knew it, I was climbing out over the runway, with the faint roar of the propeller above the constant radio chatter coming through my headset. It was definitely a different experience - the absence of my instructor and his prompting forced me to focus on certain aspects at the expense of others. Still, I tried my best to keep everything under control, knowing that I'd be once again on the ground shortly. A few minutes and an embarassing landing later, I exited the runway and taxied back, the events of the past 6 minutes still running through my mind.

Moments later the reality of it all sank in and a slight, somewhat smug smile formed slowly across my face.

The aircraft that I flew in:

Posted at 1:54 AM

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Remember this guy?

This is him now:

And this is why he felt like ripping off his shirt and stuffing himself into tight leather pants:

Posted at 6:45 PM

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Ok so I toyed with the idea of setting up a new blog, with a different address and perhaps another host. But I realised I would be leaving behind about 3 years' worth of posts and besides, this change is mainly to commemorate (for lack of a better word) this hopefully exciting stint down under. In other words, the new blog would be just temporary lah. So here it is - same place, better look. I hope the same can be said bout the content though. You know the Newton circus hawker centre revamp? Looks better, but the food isn't.

Here's my address in Perth for anyone who's kind enough to send packets of char kuay teow (with hum), laksa, chicken rice and any other Asian food you can find. There IS Asian food here, but its overpriced and you know, it ain't Asian food without the A in it. DVDs of TV shows and movies are welcome too.

Singapore Flying College

22 Compass Road, Jandakot

WA 6164

Ahhh Perth, the city that sleeps....at 5pm. I'm not kidding. Late night shopping / extended shopping hours means shops close at 9pm, and that only happens on thursdays. We're entering the summer months right now and the sun rises at 6am and sets at 830pm. You can be walking around in broad daylight but its a ghost town everywhere. A damn hot one might I add. The weather was perfect when I arrived 6 weeks ago: sunny with clear skies and cool winds. The weather today? A 20-year record high of 44 degrees celsius. Add that with a low relative humidity and you've got a sauna for a city. Forget about cooking an egg on the ground. You can grill a chicken on a drain cover.

And I thought this can only be found in a Star Wars movie: Seeing the moon on a sunny afternoon.

Training here has its ups and downs. The instructor you're assigned to will play a part on how you perform. You can prepare for a flight for many hours, but if he has really high standards and shouts/screams at every small mistake, you'll come down from the flight feeling mentally drained and totally demoralised. I'm fortunate to not have been assigned to any 'screamer' as yet, but I just completed a few hours with one who has really high standards. So right now I feel like I can't fly for nuts. Luckily I heard my next instructor is a nice guy who teaches well because my first hurdle in training is to fly solo for just one round around the runway, including the take off and landing. And solo meaning the instructor won't be in the plane with me, so if anything goes awry during the flight, I'm supposed to take corrective actions. Sounds easy? It's not. I'll give you a comparison. Let's say I ask you to make a left turn in a car along the road. No sweat right? Now what if I tell you to ensure your left wheel stays on the dotted road marker at all times during the turn, maintain the same speed and engine rev, look out for any other cars around you, listen to the deejay whom you've just called and reply to his question, and all this while a strong wind is blowing your car to the right and the road is riddled with potholes. That's quite a challenge trust me. And I haven't even gone into what goes on in landing the plane. So before you tell me 'But flying is so easy what! Why do you have t train so much?', think again. That statement might be half-true in a technologically advanced commercial jet, but in a plane with a manual transmission and without power steering, to speak metaphorically, it sure is not.

This lovely single-storey red brick building is our office, and where we stay is directly opposite this, across the road, in a lovely double-storey red brick building. Somehow I didn't see the need to take a photo of our accommodation. But its really convenient to have your office just a stone's throw away from where you live no?

And this is where our aircraft are parked, just behind the offices. Its called the apron, and there are more aircraft. I'll try to post up a better photo to show the extent of it, because this isn't my photo.

I have been living in different rooms for the past 4 years, and have been quite used to shifting stuff in and out of them. Here's my latest room, which is the best I must say, apart from the one in my house of course. It's huge (even if you were to convert it to a single room) and it has air-con. TV reception ain't that great though and the internet usage has its limits. Once we bust that limit, we're running on speeds slower than a 56kbps modem. Simpsons and Friends take up primetime television, with David Letterman later at night. Oh and explicit language and sexually suggestive scenes are tolerated in TV with just a content warning before the show. No surprises, given that you can find topless photos in magazines in any bookshop. Sweet.

And this is where our cars are parked, just a 5 min walk from our accommodation. Its called the scrapyard, and there are more cars. I won't try to post up a better photo, because the cars are really old. Most of them at least...

...like this one. It's a 1990 Toyota Camry, 1.6L 5-speed manual, power-steering (thank God), radio and CD player, no air-con, no central locking, comes at a cheap price of A$1600, and...it's mine, shared between 4 of us. Everyone here has a car, you can't leave home without one, not in the suburbs at least. I now understand why some people prefer manual cars. It's just more fun to drive and makes you feel more in control of the car. Driving in perth is quite relaxing, because traffic isn't really a problem and there are hardly any pesky motorcycles zipping in and out of lanes. I've only come across a total of 5 so far.

So that's just a short intro of life here. More trivia and facts about perth as I post more. Unfortunately I haven't been very trigger-happy with my camera so bear with the diarrhoea of words. It's to make up for my lack of blogging anything interesting the past few months anyway haha.

Posted at 1:40 AM

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Helllloooooo Perth!

Terminal 2, SQ223
Tues 13th November
9:30am

And to mark the transition into the next phase of my training, I'm gonna start a new blog. Emoboy here on the left has to go. Will post the link once I get the new site up and running.

Posted at 5:22 AM

Tuesday, October 09, 2007

This is how I'm feeling today:

And this is the reason:

RRRRRAAAAARRRRRR!!

Posted at 1:33 PM

Sunday, September 30, 2007

When shit hits you, it hits you all at once.

My results are out and I'm just a few marks short of an early departure and that means I'm stuck here for a few weeks more. I'll update when everything's confirmed.

Here's another random thought: It's funny how some people can, to speak metaphorically, get away with bloody murder and yet be the person everybody loves. And then there are people who do not need to lift a finger to get what they want.

But that's just the way the cookie crumbles isn't it.

Posted at 8:46 PM

Monday, September 24, 2007

What you don't know can hurt you the most. Because u start to formulate all sorts of scenarios in your head, ranging from the best to the worst case. Ultimately, one of them comes true, or none at all. Right now I'm hoping none of them are true. But my intuition tells me to fear the worst.

Last paper on 2nd October. I think I wun be leaving so soon judging from the way I've faired in my papers thus far.

My mind is running around so much that I'm afraid I might just lose it soon. And frankly I'm quite sick and tired of it.

Posted at 3:38 AM

Friday, August 10, 2007

It sucks when you're the only one among your friends/peers who has exams.

Exams are in 3 wks' time. And i'm panicking. In uni, i wld only start panicking or rather get down to serious studying 10 days b4. How times have changed.

I can't stand ppl who don't keep to their word. If you don't intend to, then don't give it, even if it's said in passing. I hate the feeling of expecting something that never comes.

Randomness can hit u suddenly eh.

I'll be back when the shit's over.

Posted at 3:36 AM