Boxing Day BBQ 2008

STOBA Members And Spouses

Richard Leong Choy invited Sam Tet Old Boys Association (STOBA) members and spouses and his badminton kaki over to his house in Vermont for a BBQ on Boxing Day.

It was a glorious day, not too hot but sunny.

As usual there were lots of food and booze.... Sausages, chicken wings, lamb chops, pork chops, friend bee hoon, fried noodles, curry puffs, water melon, cherries, mangoes, beer, cordial, and everything in between.

There were lots of good company; the normal suites are Vincent (chairman), Richard, Kin Fong, Khai Yip, Kim Kee, and Chee Seng who is holidaying from Jakarta. I must confess I have forgotten at least a dozen other names.

STOBA Australia has been in existence for many decades. I still remember being welcome by STOBA members at the Melbourne airport when I first arrived to study in a high school back in 1979. Its members have kept in touch over the years and have endeavored to have regular social events for its members to meet and reminiscent the past(?!) and to foster relationships. For those of us who have emigrated to Oz I think it is important we have connections with our roots and the people we know of the same culture in order to feel we belong to the community and the familiarity of the past.

I had a freak accident just before picture taking time and cut my little toe on the right foot. Ex-Red Crescent Captain Chee Seng immediately swung into action and took charge of looking after the injury. All was well after I had my GP take a look at the injury and he had the toe wound stitched up.

Evidence Of A Caring Community

Tending To The Needy

The Offended Toe

Got To Use A Clutch For One Day

Following is a picture taken during a "welcome lunch" for Ben Hue at The Sofia Restaurant on Burwood Highway 13 Dec 2008. Ben was visiting Melbourne with his family from Malaysia.

Group Picture Of STOBA Melbourne Members @ The Sofia Restaurant

Christmas Lunch 2008

Kids In Their New Home

Pat decided to have a house warming party cum Christmas Lunch this year. It' was a rather rare occasion and so everybody turned up. The venue provided us an opportunity to connect other than just having a meal in a restaurant. We were of course made very welcome, we enjoyed it. There were lots of food. Too much in fact.

The house is nice, warm, smells new, very spacious, there is a large garden out the back. There is a bit more work to be done for the front lawn; with new paving and new lawn to be put in. Otherwise the house is fantastic and homely. The kids have their own rooms and they relish in their newness and are happy.

The food was typical Malaysian fare:- curry laksa, fried noodle, chicken lever (all time favorite), glutinous rice, battered fish, fries, chips, nuts, cheese platter, olives, water melon, strawberries, pita bread, cakes, coffee and tea.....

Chicken Liver (All Time Favorite)

The kids were having fun; having collected cash and gifts..... Kids love Christmas and so they should.

Gifts were also exchanged between adults.....

Grand Ma And New Grand Daughter

Friends Kin Fong, Ivy and kids were also at the celebration.....

Peace on earth. Goodwill to all man.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Flight To Cowes And Wonthaggi

Saturday 20 December was a glorious day weather wise. A friend Yik came out with me to Moorabbin for a flight to Cowes (Philip Island) and Wonthaggi. I wanted to recap some VOR intercept work and had invited him to come along for his first flight in Australia.

YIK (IVAN YEONG)

ROYAL VIC AERO CLUB FLIGHT LINE

GETTING READY TO DEPART

We took off in our Warrior VH-BZE on Rwy 17R. Having tuned and identified CWS VOR, I dialed in 159 deg Magnetic on the CDI and tracked for Cowes.

LINING UP 17R

IFR EQUIPPED PA28 WITH GARMIN GNS430

Passing overhead the CWS VOR station 20 minutes later I turned our plane on an outbound track of 072 deg Magnetic to the WON station. WON was only 19 NM away and so soon enough I tuned to its station and made an inbound track of072. Having passed overhead WON station I turned us to 308 deg outbound and headed back to YMMB Moorabbin.

Yik had control of the plane for a while when were on cruise. He felt a little dizzy when we flew towards the WON ground station as the wind over the terrain caused slight turbulence. Other than that he enjoyed the flight.

PHILIP ISLAND

THE COWES GROUND STATION IS SITUATED ADJACENT TO THIS GRAN PRIX BIKE TRACK ON PHILIP ISLAND

LANDING

It was a good day. I got my fix.

Christmas Lights 2008

The house on Narracan St, Vermont South won the top prize for the 2008 Melbourne Best Residence Christmas Lights Award.

We went out there one cool evening to enjoy its ambiance and to appreciate the sparkling, themed lighting set around the house. There were throngs of people coming for the same purpose. The atmosphere was really fantastic, especially for the kids. Certainly it brought out some commercialized Christmas flavors such as Santa, reindeer, and presents.

Since that night out we had been there twice to show friends and family members the house.

Jack's Wedding to Mai

My nephew Jack got married on 6 Dec 2008. Proud parents Lee and Irene were obviously very happy that their youngest son is now married. They can now plan for their big trips overseas next year (China is on the horizon) and a closure to their years of planning for their sons' "coming of age". The Chinese have a belief that one is only an adult when one is married. I am sure the parents will also look forward to another grand child in the making, hopefully this comes sooner than later.

Night Before The Wedding (Mot A Stag's Night!)

Son And Dad

The big day was naturally hectic for the bride and groom. They took it well in their strides, though.

There were lots of activities going on..... sending of gifts to the in-laws, paying respects to the elders, tea ceremonies, , taking wedding pictures and the big wedding dinner.

Bearing Gifts

Bride and Groom

The In-Laws (And Out Laws)

Jack's Family & Extended Family
Front Row: Kevin Lam, Grand Ma, Grand Pa, Cheryl Lam, Kim, Kim's son, Ivan
Back Row: David Lam, Pat Lam, SM, Mom - Irene, Bride, Groom, Dad - CY Lee, Sin, Me, Stewart with Son Mathew, Wife Iris

Tea Ceremony
Wedding Dinner (Grand Parents)

All is well towards the end and the newly weds could now look forward to their honeymoon to Sydney. The Wedding dinner was held at Eastern Palace Chinese Restaurant

Laksa King

We had lunch with Darren and Linda @ Laksa King. Darren & family have been patrons of the restaurant for a long time and today we made it a point to buy them lunch as a going away thing before they leave for the holiday.

It would be more appropriate to say the restaurant is a cafe. It's unassuming, maybe can seat 30 customers. The location is not great, being in Flemington. On their recommendation we ordered curry laksa, seafood laksa, salted fish head vermicelli, and of cause, their famous sambal. All dishes turned out to be superb, very authentic Malaysian, and their true flavors and aroma were very apparent to all customers. I would give a 9/10 score. We enjoyed our meal thoroughly and was very glad we vetted our appetite.....

Curry Laksa

Salted Fish Head Vermicelli

Asam Laksa

Sambal

快靓正 Laksa King Restaurant
(03) 9372 6383
Shp3/ 320 Racecourse Rd
Flemington VIC 3031

Coffee At Flinders Lane

Flinders Lane

We went out with friends Darren and Linda to the city to have coffee after our lunch in Flemington's Laksa. We decided to take them to Flinders Lane where cafe's are aplenty. The coffee culture in Melbourne is world famous. One can find only a handful of Starbucks around the country, the rest of them are home grown cafes, well supported by the locals and visitors alike. Gloria Jeans was once owned by the Americans. They came out to Oz to set up the chain and in the end Gloria Jeans Australia bought out their parent company! Don't mug around with the Aussies when it come to the coffee culture.....

Anyway we found a little cafe and ordered our hot latte, flat white, cappuccinos. We also ordered a slice of mud cake and a cheese cake to go with our coffees. Every one enjoyed the atmosphere and time together. It was a good break away from life in the burbs.

Graffiti Art

All in all a fantastic day. In the company of good friends, great Malaysian laksa and salted fish head vermicelli lunch, great cuppas, and a stroll in the city.....

Bourke St Mall

VOR ORIENTATIONS

I now can say that I have got the VOR intercepts down pad. Phew!

I have got all the mystique of how to use a VOR for tracking and navigation out of my system, I think.

Since we use a Garmin GNS430 on our Warriors there are two ways to track using VOR stations. Method 1 is to use VLOC function by homing to the station's frequency. Method 2 is to use the GPS & OBS function of the 430.

The 430 tells us via a message what track to use and so I dial up the OBS the track and follow the CDI to or from the VOR station.

For intercepts to and from a station there are basically 4 scenarios:-

Inbound to Inbound

Dial up the desired new Inbound track on the OBS and turn the aircraft in the direction following the CDI (say to the left) by say 30 deg. And when the CDI tries to center, turn the aircraft progressively following the rate of turn of the CDI to the opposite direction ie to the right to the new track.

Outbound to Outbound

Dial up the desired new Outbound track on the OBS and turn the aircraft in the direction following the CDI (say to the left) and cross the old track by 30 deg.

Inbound to Outbound

Dial up the desired new track on the OBS and turn the aircraft in the opposite sense to the CDI and stop the turn 30 deg before the new Outbound track.

Outbound to Inbound

Dial up the new desired track on the OBS and turn the aircraft in the opposite sense to the CDI and stop the turn 60 deg or so before the new Inbound track.

Tips:

1. Whilst flying the plane keep an eye out to the VOR station if you can see it and have a sense of where and how far you are from the station.

2. It will always be useful if you can visualise where your plane is and is turning to, in the real world ie N-S-E-W sector of a DG.

3. Using the GPS/OBS function is sometimes helpful because the GNS430 will display the track you are tracking to or from in the form of a white line to help the pilot visualise the true scenario of the intercepts.

4. When navigating using the GPS function do not toggle the OBS function on in the 430 because that is only useful for intercepts to a station. If the aerodrome or ground station has no VOR transmitter then toggle the GPS function on and DIAL UP the track you wish to home in to or track away from. This function works like a VLOC and actually shows the track you have dialed up.

Hero Pilot

Frankston Standard Leader Nov 21, 2008
BREAKING NEWS: Trainee and pilot survive emergency landing in Langwarrin
news
Emergency Services





First photo: The scene of the crash landing. Picture: Andrew Batsch

A STUDENT pilot and his instructor are lucky to be alive after the engine on their light plane stopped mid-flight, forcing them to ditch in a Langwarrin quarry just after 2pm.

The plane was on a training flight between French Island and Moorabbin Airport when it was forced to ditch near Quarry Rd, about 55km south-east of the CBD.

The pilot told the Leader he was "a little scared’’ following the emergency.

"I am very well considering,’’ he added, but refused to comment further.

First photos: Plane ditches in Langwarrin quarry

Sgt Darron Hedge, at the scene, praised the pilot, 45.

"If it had been a little closer to Moorabbin, it would have been much more serious,’’ he said.

"The pilot did a great job averting what could have been a disaster.’’

Sgt Hedge said the student pilot, 23, was flying the Piper Cherokee when the engine spluttered and cut out.

The instructor, aged 45, took over the controls and realised he had to make an emergency landing, looking for open space away from homes, Sgt Hedge said.

The pilot brought the plane to land, skidding along a bank of dirt and ripping away the undercarriage.

The single-engine plane stopped just metres from a large wall of sand.

Fire crews were called to the scene but police said neither the pilot or student were injured.
Their names are not known. Both are thought to be eastern European and its believed both are from the Royal Victorian Aero Club.

The club said it had been informed of the accident, but when asked if it was one of their planes refused to comment.

A Royal Victorian Aero Club aircraft crashed in Cheltenham in August after a mid-air collision, killing a student pilot.

The Leader is at the scene. More details to come.