The Black World Of Solitude.

Thursday 24 June 2010

And so I returned, alive, from Basic Aeromodelling Wings Course, held at NCC HQ (which is freaking far from here, damn). Three days and two nights, and I failed the course. What a joke.

On the first day of the camp, we assembled at nine. Got myself a bed directly under the fan. ;D
We learnt how to fix model Cessna planes and played around with epoxy glue and some mercury adhesives. But I ain't poisoned yet. Then we had lunch. Fried rice with fish, chicken, vegetables, and some unknown fishball with vegetables inside. After lunch we flew simulators as a test before attempting to fly the real thing. I passed that test, and proceeded along with some others to fly the actual plane.

So someone flew the actual plane first. Quite nice flying. Then the transmitter was passed to me, and I somehow crashed the plane, because I banked the plane instead of pitching up. The nose was torn apart, the motor in front flew out. Obviously the plane cannot be flown anymore. And someone had to keep taunting me about that crash throughout the entire course. There was a replacement plane, but somehow that plane couldn't work. A third plane brought by another group crashed into a flying fox line while the instructors were testing the plane and the fourth and fifth planes just didn't work at all. So I didn't manage to fly for even five seconds on my own on the first day. And the people queued behind me didn't fly at all. My fault.

Then we had dinner. Nasi Bryani with fish, chicken, vegetables and some unknown ball thrown at one side of the box. We showered after having dinner and went for a theory lecture. It was after this lecture that I realised how stupid I was compared to the others there. They know tens and hundreds of different planes (like F14, F16 and whatever), and I know none. After the lecture we had supper before the day ended and my life just got shorter by another day.

On the second day of the camp, we had kuay teow for breakfast. It was continuous flying of real planes from morning all the way to late afternoon. There was a practical test in the late afternoon, although it was postponed later as our performance were all bad. Didn't crash any planes this time. So elated. Lunch in between the flying was fried rice with fish and chicken and vegetables and one fishball again.

After flying we had dinner before showering. Nasi Bryani with fish and chicken and vegetables and an unknown ball again. Then we had the theory test for flying, the test that destroyed everything. I didn't study much, and lost 10 marks for not naming a right-circuit flying correctly, 14 marks for not being able to name even a single aircraft (both fighter and commercial) that was displayed on the paper, 3 marks for not being able to name the position of wings based on aircraft figures, and more than 4 marks for not knowing the meaning of the word 'enpennage' and for some more questions I can't remember. Passing mark was 70, and I got below that.

On the third day of the camp, we had bee hoon for breakfast. We had further practices on the real plane before having the test. However, it began to become cloudy with strong winds. Hard to fly, but I barely passed the practical test (I was flying far too fast, I banked at an angle greater than 45 degrees, and I flew the plane over my head thrice; the plane can only be in front of you because your body cannot move at all). Then we had lunch again (fried rice with chicken and fish and vegetables and one fishball) while seeing a plane stuck in the tree. But someone managed to get that plane out. Then it rained heavily and no one could take the test, while those who took the test already went back to the aeromodelling centre and slacked there. A group of us were talking to these sergeants from RGS, and it was indeed weird to find one of them listening to metal music more horrific than what I listen to.

Finally after the test was over we had a graduation ceremony. Only those who passed will get that aeromodelling badge. But I failed. If our flying was excellent, we would pass the course straightaway. If our flying barely passed, the instructors would look at the theory test and see if we passed or not. If we passed, we would have passed the course as well. But because of the stupid aircraft recognition thingy, I failed the entire course. 3 days of life gone, and no good returns.

Damn. Now I have to return to NCC HQ every Saturday to pass the practical test again and get that badge. What a failure.

=(

Labels: Mohenjo-Daro

人之命，若无意，何生乎？19:36

Tuesday 8 June 2010

Well, i went for the Fantasia concert. Obviously no heavy metal. And i hate classical music. But i have to say, this one's great.

So on that day, i rushed to RV along with Cheryl Ong and Yong Kuan. Time was running out, and i needed the toilet. However, when i attempted to enter the toilet, i was informed that i wouldn't be able to enter the auditorium again until the band was done playing the music. Damn.

The performance was great. First there was a performance by some band (it appears there are two concert bands). Following that were three pieces of music played entirely by percussion instruments. There was the stick-whacking and banging performance, followed by some music played by some instruments. Then there was the second concert band performance.

So it was great.

Labels: Mohenjo-Daro

人之命，若无意，何生乎？20:34