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Beautiful day at Seattle’s Space Needle.

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail”

To a certain extend, I’ve got to agree with the above quote after I’ve had bad experiences of being unprepared previously and ended up paying a huge price. Although many will point out that the plan may be subjected to changes, I thought it is better than having none. This is why I make it a point to pen my new year’s resolution though I missed it last year unknowingly.

It is not so much of listing the items and announcing it to the world but rather, I felt that this method serves as a useful tool to keep track of goals I’ve set out to accomplish for the year – with a repercussion effect of pressure and reminders from friends and strangers whom may be interested with the progress.

Hereby presenting the 3 resolutions I hope to achieve by the end of 2010:

1. Visit the gym and exercise regularly
I have not been visiting the gym and exercising regularly since returning from Australia in 2008. As usual, one of the main reasons I’ve always managed to convince myself is work commitment and feeling lethargic. Of course, this is not entirely true and I realised I’ve just been getting lazy.

Before things get out of shape and I begin to fail my annual physical proficiency test, I’ve decided to live a healthier lifestyle by visiting the gym at least once a week even during busy work schedules. I’m pretty sure I can afford to sacrifice at least an hour during weekends with the exception that I’m being deployed elsewhere that has no access and privilege of working out.

2. Resume reading of non-work related books and articles
An apple a day keeps the doctor away. I figured that by resuming my hobby of reading and completing at least a book a month, I would have expanded my horizon and gain a better perspective of various subjects. Though there’s probably so much more to read and absorb in the course of my work, deviating and reading on other subjects, be it a novel or biography is definitely refreshing.

3. Better time management and remaining focus
Procrastination is the art of living with yesterday. Given the amount of work to complete daily and personal agenda, it will be disastrous and unforgiving if things started to snowball and get out of hand because of procrastination. Thus, I hope to work on my time management and task prioritisation skills in terms of administratively and getting things done without distractions.

In short, by achieving the above, it should put me in a better position – both physically and in character.

For one, I’ve finally realised my childhood dream of being a pilot and earned my aviator wings and began my career as a military pilot after 3 years and 2 months as a trainee. To top it off, I was granted my choice of platform that I’ve always wanted to fly and the opportunity to return to the states for short stint training. Before I knew, I was being re-stationed to the states once again, this time for a good 2 years!

Not forgetting the advancement with technology and the numerous gadgets I have acquired over the last couple of months. I’ve finally took the leap onto the Apple wagon and this includes being a proud owner of a 15″ MacBook Pro and an iPhone 3GS! This has got to be one of the biggest and fruitful changes after being a loyal fan of the PC for almost 20 years!

In short, I’m thankful to have sailed through 2009 peacefully with tremendous support from my family and a bunch of great friends whom I have met along my life journey thus far.

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Having a quick bite at Cheesecake Factory and admiring the beautiful ceiling design.

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As I sat at my desk with a glass of warm milk looking out through the window, light snow showers arrived at Dallas Fort Worth, Texas during Christmas eve. This really sets the mood for the occasion.

Merry Christmas everyone!

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Departing Nashville, Tennessee after a good 5 day working trip.

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On board American Airline heading for Nashville, TN. Very full flight for a Monday morning. Flight is being delayed while maintenance attempt to repair holes found in cargo floor compartment. What an exciting way to start off the week.

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Greeted by sight of beautiful flurries falling from the sky when I opened the window blinds this morning.

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I was absolutely amazed and impressed with the idea of viewing real-time flight profile video broadcasted from the flight deck when I took Japan Airlines recently.

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1.5 hours stopover at Tokyo Narita international airport before boarding the plane for another 10 hours of the journey.

My colleague and friends are envious but I suppose that’s entirely superficial. What will really overcome this fear and anxiety is the process and journey that I’m about to experience, which is also a test of independence.

You’re invited to join me in unfolding this journey by following me on twitter.

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Definitely one of my favorite food.

What’s new
To start off, the forth incarnation features a wide view design layout for the increasing number of widescreen users. Most of the photos can be expanded for a larger view when you click on the photo itself. This is an experimental feature and I’m still working on fine-tuning it for a better experience. Each article published now comes with relevant keyword tagging and this process helps to keep the contents within this site properly organized. To search for articles, you may choose to browse through the archives or through the search form. These are just a few examples of enhancements done to the site in the sprit of better browsing experience within the site.

What’s gone
I have decided to drop support for Internet Explorer 6 users. If you are still using internet explorer 6, you ought to upgrade to a better browser since you will be missing all the good stuff on this site and many other good designs on the internet. Movie ratings, book review and photo gallery has been removed until I’m able to figure out a better way to publish the content. However, I will be posting most of my photos to flickr, which is being featured at the bottom of this site.

A redirector is in place to capture non-existing links request. Should you experience any difficulties while browsing the site, feel free to drop me a note. I would also love to hear your feedback on the re-launch of this site.

Update: Due to some technical difficulties, I’ve recently changed hosts. I suppose the DNS propagation should be completed by now and you should be viewing the latest design and contents.

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It was my misplaced luggage tag! Thanks to the kind employee from Delta/Northwest (you have very nice handwriting by the way) who found it and make the effort to mail it back. You’ve definitely gained the trust of a potential frequent flyer on your airline.

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Lining up on Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport Runway 27 for take-off.

I’ve since flown 3 flights within 2 weeks and I’m absolutely loving it! It’s amazing how tandem rotor system aircraft function, not to mention that I’m getting accustomed to the multi crew environment and the size of the aircraft. Gone are the days of checking clear for other traffic yourself and maneuvering the aircraft swiftly.

The learning curve is steep and the pace is fast. I’m enjoying every flight and exploring the capabilities of this aircraft though there are times when I felt lousy as I can’t seem to fly the basic parameters well. Come next week, I’ll be expecting maneuvers like slopes, slings, emergencies procedure and terrain flight. This is on top of having to improve on flying the aircraft with the Advanced Flight Control System (AFCS) turned off.

I like the environment and the way things are conducted here. The academics classes are one of the best I’ve attended in my flying career thus far, with professionals conducting the classes and sharing their enriching experience. Out in the flight line, one get to see and experience encounters that’ll never happen back home – how interesting indeed.

The course has officially started last week and my mind still seems to be idling. It has been pure academics till this week and I’m already feeling overwhelmed by the loads of knowledge and information delivered by the experts. A good way to illustrate the feeling would be imagining a water hose being shoved into your mouth and turned on at full blast — at least a good 50% of the water (knowledge) is flowing away.

I thought the limitations and emergency procedures (EP) during my rotary wings course days were daunting, until I started reading and memorizing those we are expected to know of here — it’s at least twice of what’s back home! Before I could even square out the limits and EPs, simulators have started and now, I have the flight check-list to be familiar with as well! Since the course duration is so short, things are expected to happen fast and furious. Naturally, the stress level has started to accumulate now that there’s so much to learn, so little time and capacity to absorb as well as maintaining the country’s image.

Probably I’ll just have to take it easy and pace myself well to gain the best out of this deal. This is one of the best training one can get and the instructors are all experienced and professional. What I like about this course is the style of the academics being conducted as well as the training aids available.