Origins

Wow, i havent written in ages.
Since i last wrote an entry, a lot of things have happened.
DW opened a small boutique at a Mall nearby, i transferred to the longhaul fleet and along the way, i've gone through some changes in my way of thinking and my philosophy in life. 

Sometimes it rains

On the descent, we saw some weather south of Brunei just on the approach path of Runway 03.

I suggested to the First Officer that Rwy 21 would probably be a better option what with it being a tailwind at 03.

We activated the secondary flight plan and avoided the weather ahead.

As we descended past 10,000ft, we were visual with the coastline and there was the huge greying clouds with rain hovering over the airport.

It didn't look like the 9km on the ATIS. It looked far less than that. We asked for the latest update and they reported a declining visibility of 4000m.

Another update as we descended furter and the wind was now 260/17kts. Thats just over 30km/hr of fast moving air.

This thing is going down.

Best course of action was to slow down and hold over clear skies.

I requested ATC for a hold over the centreline of RWY21 on a 9nm fix.

Approved! 

Over the hold at 4000ft, we could see the weather moving right to left over the runway, west to east.

It was mirrored over the weather screens in front of us. Red is always bad on the screens, purple a definite danger and purple pixels were forming pronouncedly on our weather radar screens.

Fuel check:

We had approximately 3.2 tonnes at the moment. The minimum fuel to have before we are down to final reserve was 2.4 but i usually give an extra 200kgs for extra fat and any delays.

KK was our alternate. Approx 100nautical miles away. Weather was clear so thats one less thing to worry about.

Latest weather update is now 800m of heavy rain. Winds up to 50km/hr. 

Right, we're not going anywhere from now.

I had earlier taken over control from the FO as the weather had gone below his minima. He was managing himself well. Myself, anxious but over the years i had managed to learn to slow down my breathing which in turn would slow down my heart rate and make better decisions.

Always sit on your hands first. Don't make any rash decisions. 

Another aircraft was holding 2000ft above us. It was a Malaysian. Another company aircraft from KL had arrived on the scene too. They were holding over the sea too.

Time is ticking and the fuel is burning. Decision time soon. 

We asked for another update. Still 800metres of rain. Our company minima is 2000m. Rightly so. We don't want to end up like the recent A320 that skidded off the runway just 6 days ago.

A discussion with my firsts officer on diversion and fuel and we had decided to divert if weather didnt significantly improved in 3 minutes.

Suddenly, an update. 3000metres said the controller and the wind had subsided to a headwind of 11kts.

We grabbed the window of opportunity and request for an approach. 

Flaps 1, 2, gear down, 3 and finally full flaps and we are on final approach at 1500ft.

We could see the runway now amidst the rain. Fuel indicated 2.6 tonnes. A brief on a go-around should we have to and  the landing checklist completed.

Wipers on FULL then down to MED . Runway right in front of us albeit wet.

Rubber met tarmac minutes later and we vacated at E3. Alhamdulillah! 

Taxied to stand 6. Engines shut and Parking checklist completed.

Looked at my FO and said thank you well done however we still have to do another KK sector.

Switched on my phone. Message from my wife: Pls call me.

And my mother in-law too: Pls call mama.

Called her no answer. Called mama. 

"Hello ....."

A minute later i made a call to Fleet requesting to be taken off the KK flight.

Life on the line continues.

One of my fears in flying.

One of my worst fears in this line of work is messing it up.

Yesterday afternoon at Brunei International Airport, an Air Asia A320 skidded off the runway and stopped on the grass.

May ALLAH protect me during my flights and all the flights in this world too. Ameen.

Fire in the skies

KL-BWN

Altitude: 2000ft

Time: 1603z/0003local

Position: Final approach RWY03 BWN

In all my years of flying commercial jets, this one was a first.

Night approaches into the Kingdom are a pretty mundane affair. It's rarely busy and i would call it boring even but i like it boring. It keeps my grey-hair factor down. 
Tonight though, the skies above our sleepy town was alive.

As we break cloud, i notice fireworks. 

Not one but two, three, four. Wait a minute. What's going on? Then i realised, its Chinese New Year and we were witnessing what would probably be a grand total of over a million brunei dollars worth of paper and gunpowder burning in the skies.

Its everywhere. Over Sengkurong, Gadong, Bandar, Subok, Berakas.

I got over the PA and told our pax to look out as this was a rare sight.

What i didn't expect was that as we got closer to ground, there were a few being lit quite close to our flightpath.

I told the first officer who was flying the approach to just fly it steady on the ILS glidepath. 

It wasn't that close but it was enough to have me worried for a second. 

Although if i looked at it from another perspective, we were being welcomed to land with fireworks. 

My trusty and able lieutenant smooched it on the tarmac and we landed with great fanfare into the Chinese Year of the Horse.

Life on the line continues....

HongKong

We are here. It's pissing down but no matter. We brought raingear and we were ready to trawl the streets of Kowloon and Canton.
The Hongkong Tourism board provided sufficient info for us to make our own self-tour. We ventured to Granville Road on foot to look for Nining's rings. Yes, rings. We passed The Kowloon Mosque, a white building which can house 3,500 muslims. Note: Have to pray in there before we leave.q
Granville Road itself was filled with fashion shops with their own local designers.
We found a local eatery called The Great Indian Kebab Factory and soent a fortune on poppadoms, saffron rice and butter chicken. I must admit they served really good curry which was probably why it was pricey.
After our stomachs were filled, we headed south for the harbour.
The Symphony of Lights starts everynight at 8pm sharp and lasts for 15 minutes. Its basically over 40 buildings and skyscrapers from Hongkong Island providing a terrific lightshow. A bit like the one at Jerudong Park but 1000 times better. Throngs of tourists filled the Avenue of Stars, myself included.
We ended the night looking for Bruce Lee's statue and we were not disappointed.

Cats & Dogs

Tis the rainy season and i ask myself why am i not on leave and basking away in the sunshine.
Last night's pummelling of water droplets by a few testosterone-filled cumulonimbus clouds over the Brunei Ayerport(pun intended) had triggered viral pictures aplenty.
The Company's instant reaction to an obvious photoshopped photograph in the social network had me in stitches.
Ah well, life on the line continues....

'The World Is A Book And Those Who Do Not Travel Read Only One Page.'

I've been thinking of visiting Hongkong for the last few weeks. I've flown to Chep Lap Kok a hundred times the last 16 years but i've never actually visited the place.

So after sending my medical in to the office and getting my roster updated, i saw that i had 3 days off next weekend. Allah is the best of planners i tell you!

So now i'm taking Nining to Hongkong with me in sha Allah and staying for 2 nights. Booked 2 nights at the Kowloon Hotel via Agoda.com and planning on sightseeing with 3 things to do in particular.

Visit The Peak at sunset and view the city, visit the mosque at Nathan Road and take a cruise boat from Kowloon to Hongkong island.

Can't wait.

 

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