My Career Advancement?

I think by now there should be a few that noticed that I have been heavily tweeting and talking about planes lately. Even fewer that I told them I want to pursue the aviation industry. And its EVEN fewer that they know I want to become a pilot (now a few more knows...). 

Three stripes on an epaulette indicates First Officer (or co-pilot)

The interest isn't that noble like it was my childhood dream to become an airliner pilot. I have always been interested in engineering and technology and somehow planes have been part of it. I would find myself reading countless of Wikipedia pages or articles regarding certain model of planes from both Boeing and Airbus (even before the detection of wannabe-ing a pilot). 

Aircrafts are designed in a way that each steel in the frame has its own engineering purpose. Aeronautical engineers will make sure that every part of the plane has its own purpose or it will not be there at all. The aircraft is designed so carefully and so meticulously (all particular taken into account!) that you will not be to able recognize every function of every button you can find in the aircraft during your trip to Bali. Well this is what excites me. 

Boeing 747-8. It is the easiest aircraft to spot for its hump at the front. 

We won't know everything, agreed? You will never knew the real way of eating a Tic-Tac if you never seen it on 9GAG. Same goes with the little table on your pizza when you ordered it from home. I would like to unravel and uncover all the dirty little secrets the fixed-wing has (not primarily the reason though). 

Imagine you will be working everyday in different areas, flying through soft puffy clouds (or thundering black clouds, yikes!) and get to take people back home safely and meet their loved ones. That sound totally noble and righteous! 

And of course there are hundreds if not thousands of aspiring pilots in only Malaysia itself that has the same goal as I am. I dare not to compare myself to them as I believe most of them are probably the fan of the fixed-wing aircraft since small and it might probably be their life's ambition! But it doesn't matter because everyone deserves a chance to pursue their own ambition, given that they worked hard for it. 

Right now I am deciding to whether take up the Licensed Aircraft Maintenance Engineer (LAME) course in Shah Alam for 3 years or continue my Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering at UMP. Going into LAME would means I will be attached to the aviation industry entirely and will be (maybe?) one step closer to becoming a pilot. However I think that is not quite a good option given that I need to use 75k and 3 years just to be an engineer that maintains the aircraft, but not flying them. I have to find another way to get into a pilot course. No good. I am having second thoughts on this path. On the other hand, getting my degree would proved to be much more viable as a degree definitely will score you more jobs than a professional certificate does (since its highly specialized). Not to mention it's probably 50k cheaper. But the downside is that I might be working my path far away from the aviation industry entirely. 

Days of gender inequality should be over. LAMEs approve the airworthiness of aircrafts while his/her technician does the work. Sometimes bit of both. 

I am relying on the AirAsia Cadet programme to get myself a chance to realize my own interest. I hate myself for not discovering this earlier as I could have joined it with my friend in the earlier months of this year. Anyhow, the last intake had passed and assessments are still ongoing. I have to wait for next intake and it's probably the last one according to my friend. Nevertheless, I believe that the pursue will only truly ends when you decided to give up. 

"Nevertheless, I believe that the pursue will only truly ends when you decided to give up."

I guess that I actually have an idea already what to choose but I simply need more time to determine which is the best for me and my interest. 

Facts About Buffets

Image courtesy of mydeals.com.my

Buffets should be no stranger to everyone by now. According to Wikipedia, buffet is a system of serving meals in which food is placed in a public area where the diners generally serve themselves. And to us it simply means free flow of foods; meats, sushi, oysters, seafood and endless of desserts (girls, enjoice). 

When I was young (I am still young, just... when I'm 15 or something), I like to eat buffets. I can eat whatever they have with the amount I want. Some buffet restaurants are considerably cheap but still provide tasty delicacies like lamb and seafood. It would be an eating spree for my family and I whenever we visit a buffet restaurant. However, as time passes, I have a different approach on buffets. I begin to realise that buffets aren't that healthy and most have practiced the wrong way of eating buffets. 

1. Excessive Eating

Eating excessively will lead to indigestion which actually damages your digestive system. Imagine all those wasted undigested food you ate and it will come right out your anus in a way that the nutrients are not absorbed into your body. You tend to eat as much as you can because you think that you have paid more than what you should to be there. Therefore you will want to stuff everything into your tiny stomach. 

2. Food Wastage

I believe that you had saw the sign where "every 100g wasted will be fined RM5" is stated. Oh boy, oh boy, that didn't stop people from wasting food. Some people who took the wrong food ,e.g. not the one they like, will simply mix those food up with leftovers like prawn shells, tissues and bones and treat it like garbage. This is from the customer side. What happens to the food that is unfinished? How do the shop handles if the food begin to rot? The answers should be found in the rubbish bin. If they do not throw it away, this brings us to #3.

3. Stale/Unfresh Foods

How often do you encounter stale oysters on the platter? Seafood, sushi and uncooked meats (for steamboat/BBQ buffets) can't keep for a long time so what happens when the business plummet? You can even bet that cooked foods cannot be left for too long (max one day, but would they serve customers overnight foods? Go figure, else refer back to #2). 

4. Expensive

Needless to say buffets are generally expensive. Probably RM10-20 more expensive than your usual meal outside. Averagely, a buffet meal for one person should cost RM40. How many sashimi or how many kg of meat you have to eat only you are able to hit the goal? Dreams on, baby! 

5. Diet

Since you are basically a wolf when it comes to buffet, no one would really care how much they eat till they weight themselves. You will gain few extra pounds/kilograms the day after you had your buffet. For some, that few extra is very significant. 

However, don't reject buffets entirely. Just remember to eat moderately and never you should stuff more than your stomach and intestine can handle. They are your companion for life, take care of it! Forget the price and try to enjoy the atmosphere with your family and friends. It is definitely fun to have a steamboat/BBQ buffet with your pals while chitchatting. 

Personally, I like to eat ice creams at buffets. They are the one that I crave the most. In my opinion, the restaurant which serves the best ice creams are the one that should deserve a thumbs up (I like mint chocolate). Breakfast buffets are something that I adore too. Croissants with a bowl of hot chicken porridge is simply amazing. I believe that breakfast buffets are definitely healthier than dinner buffets as breakfast aims to provide you energy to start up the day! Not that you can eat A LOT in the morning too. Plus its relatively cheaper too. 

This post only reflects my own opinion, and in a way to remind myself to do what I wrote in the posts. Shall you have opinion, be it concur to mine or not, do leave a comment. Let's have a healthy discussion.