Race of the raging bulls

04th of Nov marked the annual Red Bull Air Race in Perth. Swan river was thronged with heaps and heaps of peeps. We were baked and roasted under Perth's summer heat. As of every race, they had a runway strip and tower built. We camped near Mills Point and eventually moved closer to where the grand stand was. There we had a better view of aircrafts coming in at speeds up to 400km/hr. Most of the guys managed to average in about 1min17s. The French with Russian name champ came in at about 1min15s. For a more detailed coverage, log on to ah pek's blog at www.hoongji.blogspot.com

My vivid recollections

What's news?
Did my Albany nav with the rest of the guys the other day and it was hella fuN! About 360km down south, Albany was overcast and grrrrr... chilly. We brought food and drinks and had a little brunch in the airport terminal. The pictures says it all. Mind you, we DID NOT formation fly but came in at regular intervals ok! The CTAF frequency that day was filled with weird and funny noises. A blessing it was a saturday!

Age is just a number

And so it was hatch day for Leroy, the youngest-boy-just-turned-adult cadet in our course. Had plenty of fun as you can see, dressing him up as a baby and fooling around. He was such a sport! Albeit being the youngest guy in my course, he has maturity and sensibility that put most of his seniors to shame really.For those interested to find out more about this young available chap, go to http://www.leroylau.blogspot.com/

Life's a race itself

About time folks!
Seems that I haven't been updating this blog for more than a month. Would be lying if I said I was too busy. I was busy cancelling my flights and sitting around doing nothing. Yeah, pisses me off to have flights cancelled after having to wake up early for all the planning. Well like they say, "there's always another day".
The Perth City to Surf Run was sensational! Plenty participated and our boys didn't let the college down. All but 2 from my batch ran! Overwhelming response thanks to a charismatic runner like me :-)
So the blessed day was lashed with strong winds and downpour. Just 5mins after flag off, we were all wet to our socks. Hate running in wet footwear especially long distances. Anyways, I pushed on and completed the half marathon. Not a brow lifting timing compared to the glorious days back in navy. Read a little about Terry Fox the other day. I mean try running for 143days on one leg (the other prosthetic) for 5663kms and the ONLY reason you stop is because the cancer cells in you have penetrated your lungs. Aretha's "RESPECT" and Christina's "Fighter" suddenly comes to my mind. Kudos Terry.
One reason why I enjoy long distance run is the fact that I get to test the limits of my body. You'd probably think you are up the wall, 20km down the route but fact is that you CAN still run another 20!
I'll officially be a 6 month resident of Jandakot Airport tomorrow! 3 more solos to clear before I embrace Phase 3 with open arms. Can't wait to move on.

My inscrutable insanity

Plenty has happened since I last wrote!
TH's bdae went on as planned (somehow someone has to give the surprise away). Cake was decently tiramisu-ish and he then went on to devour the infamous cup.
Few of the guys got completely wasted after the 124's initiation. More scandals this time round as somebody kissed somebody! WAHAHAHA Control your inhibitions can!? TK had a really bad fall from his bed after plenty of alcohol. His carpet grazed face looked like 27 mafias were after him that night! Speedy recovery.
Caught 'Transformers' the other night as a batch. The movie was a little too fast for me at certain parts. Some of the fighting scenes looked like chunks of metal rolling all over the shop. Nice to see Optimus with new headlights!
Attached are some random pics.

The aftermath

1st anniversary went superbly well! Though the weather totally screwed up our BBQ plans, us thinking pilots brought the celebrations indoors! The kitchen was put to good used and the meats were all stove cooked to perfection! Apparently the lamb shanks were too thick for the stove and our very resourceful Husain sought help from one of his 'relatives' living here in Perth. Kudos to Husain once again. The shanks were really something to die for! *Slurps.. The cooking process was fun as the boys mingled around with booze and plenty of nasty jokes. Games followed after dinner and the night was something I'll remember for a long time...

How would you like your meat?

So 5 of us (Tjun, Husain, Gary, Ed and I) went to a meat market bought 5 mins drive away from Jandakot and we were overwhelmed by the variety of meat along with other stuff (I will tell you later) they had to offer! Anything from sausages, prime cuts, scotch fillets, lamb shanks and even hideous looking ox tongue!
Our batch 1st anniversary is taking place tomorrow and we are throwing a BBQ... at the courtyard. Well, we figured if we started drinking, someone will have to drive us back! So as responsible cadets, we decided to have it just outside of my window :-(....
We had to marinate the chicken wings as they didn't come pre-marinated. The marination included some honey, premium light soy sauce, pepper, chilli paste and plenty of dirt (my nail beds became cleaner after the marination!) WHAHAHA.
We stopped by this asian store selling groceries and I stumbled upon some very weird looking candy! I think it is made in indonesia coz it didn't look Behasa Melayu to me. So the one on the right is for the enhancement of male virility and help unleash the prowess in you (roars) and the one on the left is obviously for our female counterparts. I later deduced the drug is for breast enhancement (notice how the uncanny looking model has got some drowning cleavage!?). I was lamenting to Edmund on why are we still working hard on the bench presses and supersets with the wonder drug around! WAHAHAHA (yes I got the dirty look from him). Anyone fancy some "Kuku Bima"?

Hugo the drummer boy

Guess what people, three birthdays in the month of June! First it was Gary and now Hugo. Pics fresh from the oven for your ahem, enjoyment. So we deviced this immaculate plan of pouncing on our prey when it is most vulnerable.. the shower room! (Witch-like eVil laugh) Yours truly started by snapping pics of the helpless, screaming drummer boy while the lights went off. Edmund then hosed the frantic animal with cold water trying to cool him down further in the chilly winter night. GRRRRRRRRR.... Finally the beast was smoked out of the hole and forced to confront his predators!
Modesty was well preserved mind you.
Puke juice for hugo was a decent cup of lactose driven ingredients topped with generous chunks of fatty butter! Super value for money especially when he didn't have to pay! haha..
Cake was a chocolate marble cake with two puny cheeries.
Spoke to Tjun Huong in the gym about the cake and I wasn't the only one having a bad tummy after the night! Shall spare you the details! No more cheesecake shop.

Gary the Lear24

So it was GCP's bird day and we pulled once again our very predictable birthday surprise! (when are they coming around with my birthday cake??) Yes, so we have nothing to celebrate here in JDK and we SO look forward to each other's birthday!

Gary's puke juice this time must have tasted SO MUCH better than Alvin's (he drank it up immediately and almost asked for a second serving!) I mean who on earth can resist milk mixed with butter, jam, garlic paste, soya sauce and kaya laced with some other condiments which I forgot to check for expiry?! YUM with a capital Y!
Cake was a rich and heavy chocolate mudcake topped with a STRAWBERRY (funny how some can get confused with a CHERRY?? DUH)

Sue totally tuned up the bitch factor today! She confiscated our toilet bin coz we throw ALL kinds of trash into it. You have beer and wine bottles, left-over Mac burgers and rotten apple cores in there for days. So we'll be out of the bin for two weeks until we learn to be good boy pilots with good toilet habits! Now the toilet seems bigger without the bin. More stretching space! Yippee!

Tooheys extra dry. Excellent when chilled and served by your room mate!

TaboO!

Heyall!

Wet for the past few days and Scott was down due to ear infection. Something life changing occurred just few days ago, I am SO FUCKING happy.

This is the wine I was raving so much about! Can die..
Will give Weisiang some when he arrives in Perth in Jun.

Also, we played 'Taboo' yesterday! It was so freaking funny I swear. We almost brought the roof down! Well in short, my group consisting of me, Gary, Kenneth, Jo, TK won! WOOOooo! TK didn't even have to play his turn for the last round! So it was my turn to present to my mates the word 'Dragon'. I asked, 'What is the opposite of phoenix?".. No one knew... And so i asked again, "What is the mystical chinese creature?".. Gary answered, "Chicken?"... Someone PLEASE KILL ME! Such a lousy room mate I have! HelllO!! We need thinking pilots!
Funny how it is a lot easier when you bring the word out of the context. Especially when the word has two meanings.

Okay enough of that buggar..
Edmund, Jab and I sold our dear 95' Honda and bought a 2.5L 95' Mazda 626 with V6. Higher fuel consumption leh. Edmund said it is equivalent to his Evo back home! Which means a gas truck has to follow us wherever we go. Yikes.

This gourmet meat shop down at Garden City has some decent sashimi! Bought some back to try and verdict... Fresh and Good! Then Ed asked if I could taste difference between a regular soy sauce and a premium Japanese one. I said of course! Now he wants to make a bet and see if I live up to my words. Bring it on!

Smoky haze

Had a college quiz two nights and guess what.. Our batch (Badshape) came in 2nd! We were so close to the winning team which was made up of who else but the instructors of course (spits). They only won because they assume a ball of crushed paper as 'the ideal plane' we had to build and of course it 'flew' further than ours. Then again the lousy rules laid down didn't specify if the 'ideal plane' should have wings or not...

Played a game of risk last night with the gang and weeeee... I won again! Think some of the guys are starting to get pissed with me because I ALWAYS flaunt my victory. Had a few drinks too with the game, which happened to be the beer intended for my post-solo flight celebration. 'Emu mid-strength', smooth and not too strong.

It was such a good laugh yesterday when I went to Carousel with TK and Ed. We incidentally stumbled upon the 'can-die' wine we were selling our souls for and we went NUTS! There were I think two bottles left in Perth and we were hanging on to it like a sacred relic. Makes me thirsty just thinking about it.

Breezy afternoon today in Perth. Ops duty went well as I only have to refill ONE a/c. Smoke haze in the area and was RVFR. Might just have a game of MJ with the gang later.

Posted some recent pictures. One of which is taken during community service at Hays Street with Jab. The other one was taken with the a/c that I gave my 1st to..

CIao

A brand new day

Hey Yall!

Finally a virtual space to express myself and let out some steam! Kudos to whoever came up with this blogging thing.

Been away for more than 2 months already. First thing I miss about home (sorry ma pa and friends), is my dog! Called ma the other day and she told me pa was CLOSE to hitting boy for something wrong he did. Just as pa raised his hands simulating a tight slap, boy let out a loud baby-like 'OooUU'. Smart ass. Ma was laughing over the phone the other day.

Life here in Jandakot is relaxing, less the flying checks of course. Well I'm not complaining really, having gone this far. We get to plan our flights, though at the mercy of the weather. It can be really sucky at times when you're all really to fly and the weather is here to stay. Days not flying are spent well at the gym, playing DOTA with the guys, drinking wine (freaking affordable can-die wine) with some cheese in, playing risk and monopoly and watching movies. It is a lot quieter here in Perth compared to the other major Aussie city. Sometimes we get so bored we end up forfeiting and entertaining each other over alcohol! What a life I have..

Today is Tuesday and... Yes, pizza day! Yup, A$5 for a large pizza (xtra $2 if ya want chicken). I had the 'Hot and Spicy' from Pizza Hut, full of chilli and peppers! What can I say, yum.
Dropped by the Liquor Land for the second time since yesterday and my ALL TIME FAV wine has yet to arrive! Its so good that it has been swept clean of the shelves. How much per bottle you may ask, A$5.99. Please make our shower taps here run the 2005 north west victoria merlot can?

Today FINALLY clear my solo on the C172, after all the bad weather! Will post pictures and comments soon. Thanks Hoong Ji for making me pose for nothing..

Tomorrow there's a dual flight early in the morning, have to turn in early tonight.

Ciao