Dubai Duty Free at Dubai Int'l Airport had its annual sale on December 20th, only one-day offer. This year is its 24th anniversary so all items were on sale at 24%. I wish I was there but unfortunately I got there (Dubai) on December 19th and left on 21st.
Next year if it has 25% offer, I'll be there.
A few days ago I came across this poster for the upcoming election in December. What I liked about this poster was the comment under each candidate's picture.
Under the picture of candidate No. 1 it says "ex-member of constitution drafting committee." Ok, he has some experience in politics.
Under the picture of candidate No. 3 it says "Ph.D. from Cambridge." Makes sense, he has knowledge to which he can adapt in his future political career. (If he got elected, of course.)
Now let's see candidate No. 2, under her picture it says "ex-Miss Teen". Do we need an ex-Miss Teen for this job? Doesn't she have any better qualification to put there?
This evening I did my usual things when I got home--get changed, turn on my computer, well actually only the monitor because I always keep my computer on, then check new emails. One of the most frequent email updates I got from those community sites is Multiply's What You've Missed email.
I skimmed through the mail quickly. Normally I just delete this kind of email right away. But suddenly something caught my attention! I just couldn't believe my eyes. Picture below was part of the message I captured. Look at topic 'Puma Ads.'
Jade? My best friend Jade's got a girl? That's a big update, to me at least, thanks to Multiply. Congratulations, dude.
I wanna fly a balloon like this! P'Varan took really great pictures.
Luv is in the air : Balloon Festa !!
Arguments in a relationship are not good. And I think almost every couple must have had disagreement in their relationships. But how not to let an argument become so bad and painful? This BBC article provides 10 tips that will help you argue in a more productive way. (Of course, it's Productive Arguing!)
I came across these 3 Lifehack articles relating to exercise and diet. Thought they're related to my previous post. They are:
Last night while we were hanging out at Saxophone, Jo mentioned himself losing weight by controlling diet without much exercise. He mentioned something about daily protein intake of 90 grams/day. I woke up this morning and was still curious so I googled it up and found this and this.
Basically daily protein consumption is pretty important if you're controlling weight. I've always thought of less carbohydrate, less fat, but no idea about protein. If you do not eat enough protein, the body will suck protein from parts of your body for essential body functions (instead of fat which we would want to lose). However, excessive protein consumption will end up as fat on your body.
I'd have to start monitoring what I eat too.
The new 2nd season of Amazing Race Asia which will start in November on AXN Asia features a couple from Thailand, Paula Taylor and Natasha Monks. Let's see how well they can play in this reality show.
Funny crew safety announcement on board kulula.com flight, a low-cost airline in South Africa.
A new series of videos were posted on YouTube a few days ago. They're talking about Thai politics in the past 2 years and mainly attack Gen Prem and Gen Sondhi.
I don't know who the creators of these clips are. But I know for sure that their intentions are not good. They did this to benefit themselves without considering the consequences that follow, either to their enemy, the country, or even themselves. Don't you think?
Note: these videos may be removed from YouTube soon, so watch it now before it gets deleted.
Part I: Defame the King
Part II: Eliminate the Heir
On Sunday at 4pm local time, a 1-2-go plane flight OG269 crashed near the runway at Phuket Int'l Airport. Of a total of 128 passengers and crew, it's reported only about 40 survivors.
I knew one of the crew on that flight. A co-pilot, Montree. He didn't make it.
Montree and I went to flying school in Hua Hin on the same year, but on different classes. Although we're not very close friends, I was still in shock when I first heard that it was him on that flight. Actually we just met 2 weeks ago at Thai Airways. He was accepted as a pilot at Thai Airways and was about to start training there. His life as an airline pilot had just started. So sad.
I mourn for my friend, and all the passengers and crew who have lost their lives in this tragic accident.
Read news: BBC UK: Search for clues after Thai crash.
With every new passenger jet aircraft comes certifications. One of the certification required by international aviation law is the evacuation simulation. The goal for the simulation is to evacuate a full plane, passengers and crew, within 90 seconds using only half number of exits available, in the darkness (only aircraft emergency proximity lights allowed).
This new super jumbo jet Airbus A380 can carry more than 800 passengers (in economy-class seat configuration). With its enormous size, evacuation of the whole aircraft is not going to be easy. See in the video how they did it.
(note to myself)
To get an international driving permit you'll need:
I got an opportunity to ferry an empty aircraft for delivery. I was pretty excited because it's my second time since school flight in January last year. Only this time the plane was really empty, only 2 of us, my captain and me. (Last time there were another 3 flight instructors plus a friend of mine.) Here are some facts about this flight:
Flight 8430 route: Don Mueang airport to Suvarnabhumi airport. (DMK-BKK) Flight planned route BKK DCT SVB; planned distance 45NM. Flight time: 20 minutes. The flight was originally scheduled to depart Don Mueang airport at 5.30pm but unfortunately postponed till 8pm because aircraft engineers were unable to complete the maintenance on schedule.
After hanging around at dispatcher's office for almost 3 hours we left for the aircraft. It was weird because there were like only 2 engineers and nobody else. Took about 15 minutes to get ready. Took-off and landed safely at Suvarnabhumi in less than 20 minutes. Back to Don Mueang airport by company car in another 40 minutes. Then drove back home.
And that's my 07.07.07.
I just realized, from Suksit's Always Plugged In? blog entry, that keeping the laptop plugged in all the time can shorten its battery life. I normally plug my laptop in whenever AC power is available. One reason is I'm using an older model of laptop which can supply only about 1:30 hours of power through battery, and I'm just too lazy to plug my adapter in and out every hour or so. Anyway, I guess I have to change that a bit.
MOS Burger on Flickr
MOS Burger, a Japanese burger fast food store, is now opening at Central World Plaza. They serve very good burgers. Tried it this past afternoon, very delicious! If you're a McDonald's fan, check this out and you'll change your mind from it.
My Cheeseburger on Flickr
My Cheeseburger on Flickr
It's another Thai's New Year (or Song Kran). Yesterday's flight was better than I imagined. (Well, it was a captain training flight and the instructor was supposed to "distract" the co-pilot, which was me, from doing his job and see if captain can handle the situation.)
Just be careful when driving and drinking. Have a happy new year!
I just can't find it anywhere. My LC-A has gone. I think I must have left it somewhere. I really really love this camera as it took many stunning pictures. *so sad* Here's one of my favorites.
Now I'm at Starbucks Khon Kaen. It's just opened a few weeks ago. They claim the first Starbucks in E-san (Northeast Thailand). Well it's just the same as Starbucks you can find everywhere in Bangkok.
Today is the first day of my second trip this month! See:
April 1: in Khon Kaen
April 2: in Udon Thani
April 3: back home
April 4: in Khon Kaen
April 5: in Udon Thani
April 6: back home
Very tight. *sigh*
Just had 3 days off. Somehow the flights I was supposed to work on got changed. Great!
This afternoon I'll go to Motorshow at BITEC to take some pics. Will post them later.
On March 26th I had a chance to fly a special flight from Gaya, India to Bangkok. One thing was that it's the last flight to operate before it's getting too hot to takeoff/landing in summer this year. Another was it's a flight with HRH Princess Somsawalee on board back home from making merit at Wat Thai Bodhagaya. It was a great honor to have served on this flight.
Another emergency landing without nose gear by ANA flight 1603 at Kochi Airport in Japan.
Watch the video from YouTube.
Phuket Bedroom
Originally uploaded by bitslice.
Somehow I've got 5 days off in a row for the past week. Vacation was the first idea that came up. So I made a few calls for the reservation. Luckily I've got this Phuket Villa at Wora Bura Resort & Spa. Perfect!
More pictures at my flickr photostream.
In previous post I mentioned about my PC passed away. That took me a few weeks to realise that fixing is just not worth it and upgrading the whole system probably is a better idea. A laptop is also a good idea since I'm away from home almost all the time.
So laptop it is. After wandering around Pantip Plaza for a few hours, I finally decided to buy an AMD Turion. Here's its specifications:
I've been away for a very long time, havn't I? The Christmas had passed, New Year had passed, Chinese New Year had passed, and Valentine's had passed. My life is still the same--go to work, eat, drink, and sleep. Nothing's changed.
Since the new year of 2007 my schedule has been very busy. It's because some of the pilots in my fleet got transferred to another in order to free some spaces for new trainees. However, the trainees were a bit behind schedule so there's a few months gap which the number of pilots is less than required. The result is a very tight schedule and less days off.
That was not an excuse for not updating my weblog, though, well, just a part of it. In fact, it's because my 6-year-old Athlon-1-GHz desktop just passed away earlier. It just suddenly went dead. My personal PC expert Maytha, a friend from undergrad school, suspected either the mainboard or the CPU was gone. And with my tight schedule recently, I just had to live without the 'net for a while.
