December Smile

Few days right after I arrive at Maroochydore.. I saw a shooting star. I made a wish which I can't reveal right now. Even before I arrive, I tried to read up on what's interesting here. Surprisingly, one of the tours that this particular Brisbane website recommended is the UFO sightings. I guess this is few of the more unconventional tourist attraction to the home state of the Great Barrier Reef.

Two weeks later, I gazed into the sky again.. and guess what I see this time? See for yourself!

The sky is smiling down on me! How wonderful.. why worry about tomorrow? Live in the moment.

Some extract from Fox News:

Australians are getting a big hello from the heavens as Venus, Jupiter and a waxing crescent moon combine to create a celestial smiley face.

Local astronomers said that Venus and Jupiter had appeared side by side in the evening sky over the past week or so, but Monday night would be the best night to see the "face" appear.

Viewers in Western Australia have the best view, with the moon appearing closer to the "eyes" formed by the planets.
While the planets and moon appear to be close together, in reality they're not. The moon is 250,000 miles away, while Venus is 93 million miles away and Jupiter 540 million miles away.

"Home is where your heart is... God doesn't promise to protect us from problems on His earth. Instead He promises to give us the courage to face our problems with His strength. Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass.... It's about learning to dance in the rain"

Happy Advent to everyone. It'll be Christmas soon!!

Sunshine Coast-Brisbane-Gold Coast

Some background about Brisbane. Its the state capital of Queensland which covers the north east of Australia. Described as the fastest growing city in Australia, evident by the number of construction and road works in and around the city. Its the gateway to great barrier reef to the north of the city. The city is flanked by two tourist destinations namely Gold Coast to the south and Sunshine Coast to the north. We're staying in Maroochydore which is an hours drive from the city in Sunshine Coast. Weatherwise, its similar to tropical countries minus the humidity, plus all the beaches you can get and some kangaroos along the way. Brisbane in general is quite low lying and you can see marshlands not unlike those in Sarikei where I grow up. Queensland is also home for the Australia Zoo which hosted "Crikey!" Steve Irwin.

For 1st time since we reach Queensland, its time to chill out. My initial impression is that everybody here will be friendly and good natured as in Perth. I'm half correct. The other half is monster when it comes to driving in the city. Everybody was driving into the city on Friday night to see the Christmas Tree light up and that caused massive jam. I guess that's how it is in big cities around the world.

Sandeep missed our Swan Valley road trip when he was with us in Perth so he made sure that there was a road trip organized when he's around this time! So down south we drove to Brisbane in our huge 8 seater Terago.

The plan is to have no plan! We'll its all well until we found out that we're having difficulty finding accommodation there at the very last minute. All the happening places are near the backpackers and there's plenty of chicks all over the world walking around. After having dinner and sending cadet off to the airport, we went to check out the city by foot and then settled down for a beer or two. The view of the Brisbane Bridge is quite nice and the city is still bustling with people looking for night life.

Next day we drove down to Gold Coast only to manage Surfer's Paradise. Along the way we passed by all the theme parks such as Dream World, Movie World and Water World. That's for another trip due to time constrain (and not to mention gloomy sky). Gold Coast's skyscrappers are as impressive as Brisbane itself if not better. We walked around for a bit before driving back to the City's Direct Factory Outlet and then straight back to Maroochydore. I guess we'll be organizing more trips after Deep is back in Singapore again.. muahaha....

The drive into Gold Coast

Surfers Paradise

A month In Singapore

For a month, its lotsa happenings here.. as compared to a month in Perth. The action started from the time we got the call to leave Jandakot that fateful morning. Anyways, I took photos along the way.. but only manage to get it downloaded now (priority of task.. muahahaha). Well, here they are!! Enjoy!

0. Cleared JDK. Take photo.. play with the 'Gong', play with the Solo bell (waited 9 months to finally ring the bell)

Half in the photo have gone home. We're waiting for the other half to join us!

Bye bye Perth!

Helloooo mama!

1. Parents came over for a week's holiday

2. Bought a house

This is not the photo of the house. Its actually our current rented place. Think might just miss this place.

3. Went to see Airshow in Boon Lay with Bunny (almost as good as Red Bull Air Race)

Singapore's own Peter Besenyei

4. Completed our Learjet ground school (dun play play.. 3 weeks non stop study ok? plus exam some more)

5. Got my CPL licence

6. Had my 1st snow crab to celebrate passing the exam

7. Went for basic theory to convert my driving license (almost!!! Just give me one extra day!)
8. Going to Brisbane (one day before my theory test)

One Month Break

In case you're wondering what happened.... I'm back in Singapore. Just for one bloody month. That's why I'm utilizing my time not updating the blog.. but just savouring the sights, the sound, the taste buds and the companionship.
That and as well as juggling the ground school at hand. Think I'd have more time by the time I'm in Brisbane hopefully for just short of 3 months. But until then, which is just 2 weeks away from now... don't think you'd see any updates.. even on my own 'gong'ing!

Breaking of the Fellowship

The fellowship of this course began the day we went for briefing. We hardly know each other back then. But little did we know that our life would be so intertwined with each other. It doesn't take long for each individuals to feel a sense of belonging here. Everyone is unique but in their own way complement the group, bringing flavour to it.

We were here too long, that we almost forgot that there's an end to our stay. Then when Macha and Iswen cleared their flight test, we were estatic! It was a sign of hope after so much turbulence in our course. To set the record straight, the course on its own is very strong. Its the external forces that bumps the whole course around, upside down, left and right. After so much trials and hiccups; we are finally reaching our goal.

On the other hand, there's a sense of sadness that the core of our group is breaking up. Its exactly the same feeling that I had when I read LOTR.. but alas, do not despair and be sad! Because as we know in that classic, we know that towards the end, the fellowship will cross swords paths once again.

Cleared Round 4!

Round 4! Start!

The fight begins from the bed. Psychological warfare starts from the time you wake up. You think you're good enough but the person sitting next to you will try their very best to bring you down. You try to keep your spirits high throughout the two and half hours of something that should be enjoyable.

Aim high, hit lower. Always be on your guard! If you identify flying with boxing, then the left hand guard is HSI, right hand guard is the Altimeter.. and your aim is always the Altitude indicator.

As the fight ends, there was no clear winner. The judges retreated to delibrate on the show they had just seen. Finally the verdict is out! The contender won with just a narrow margin! The judges weren't exactly impressed. He just slipped through this final stage! He's victorious! Its marginal but a win is still a win!

I guess I'm just blabbering out the words of wisdom from my instructor as well as what just happened this afternoon. Not a fantastic finish at the moment but a closure nevertheless. I think I should be going head over heels about it but I'm not. Not sure what's missing from the picture. Arghh.. for now I just wanna relax for a while. Tomorrow I'll worry about improving myself. What doesn't kill you only makes you stronger.

My heart goes out to the rest who's in my same predicament. I really hope all our guys from 126.07 get through this unscathed. God do I pray everybody will be fine.

The Beginning of the End

22nd September was suppose to be a day of celebration. Instead, it became one of the devastating day of this new career. I thought I was ready for anything that comes my way. And I couldn't be far wrong. But I've moved on. Retry is the word. You can only rise up stronger everytime you fall. I have to admit that my flying was marginal. Is there any exterior motive involved? I don't know and I don't care. The next time I fly, it would be so good that nobody could dispute it with any exterior motive and no weather be it good or bad could stop me!

Apart from flying, Mark and myself had been busy trying to sell off our car.. our faithful and loyal Nissan Pintara that brought me safely to Augusta and back. The roaring of its Porche engine marks our presence everywhere we go. It marks (hopefully) the end of our stay here. How soon is the end is yet to be seen.

Once the deal was sealed between us and the buyer, I quickly took the chance to take a photo with it since I realize I had never taken any photo of the car with me in it. 2.4L engine is definitely a very powerful car but I have a feeling that this would be the biggest c.c. car I would ever own for now. Having said goodbye to a piece of metal, its back to concentrate on my confidence building flight tomorrow.. and then another shot at my ticket home!