Not knowing who to contact, I thought, who is better to contact then the man who own the place? So, next thing I did was to email Dato' Tony Fernandes to inquire about the visit and got the reply the very next day. Barely a week later, the Academy has agreed to host us. I thought, "Man, this was not difficult at all!" Dealing with them about the dates and all was also hassle free. In fact, everything got done via emails. Ah, pleasures of technology. :)

We were welcome by Ms Safina Alfian (who's really nice btw!) upon the arrival at the Academy. The place is not exactly very impressive from the first look - you know, it's not very big, shiny-sparkly-classy and all that, but the cozy yet very professional architecture made up for it. You can actually felt the warmth and togetherness of everyone working and training in the building just by being inside. It's an unexplainable positive vibe that I find no adjective to describe. You just have to be there.

The first stop was the simulator bay - also the place that gave me the highest endorphin rush! Growing up, I was not like any other kids who had many ambitions. I only had ONE - to be a pilot. However, I (had to) bid goodbye to this little childhood ambition of mine when I was in form four, where I realized other than Additional Mathematics, I was not interested in any of the other Science subjects. I hated Physics! That being said, I still really, really love airport, airline and planes!

Being inside the simulator gave me a quick flash back of how much I wanted to be a pilot. It made me think for a while as to whether my decision of foregoing my ambition was the right decision. In case you're wondering, Yes, i do think I made the right choice at the moment. :) We were only given the chance to visit the simulator, and not really trying (even though my lecturer did try with the take offs and landing!) and I wish I have the opportunity to go back there to experience the real flying - to really "fly somewhere" with the simulator. Hehe. (Is there any pilot reading this? Remember this face ok? I wanna sit in the cockpit - of the real plane! :P)

After spending quite a bit of time in the simulator bay, Mr. Liew (who's our tour guide for the day) then guided us to the many classrooms that they use for trainings in the Academy. One thing I clearly recalled was along the way, Mr Liew kept mentioning, "See how thorough our trainings are?" Of course, this is the perfect answer for the skeptics who always question about the credibility of their pilots, engineers, cabin crews and staffs. For me, I flew with AirAsia frequent enough to trust their pilot and engineers. Cabin crews were always very friendly and accommodating. The service from the ground staff could be better but having said that, I never had major issues with them as well. Flight delays? Yes, a couple of my flights got delayed, but I love airports so a few minutes of extra waiting is perfectly fine for me.

There were 31 of us in total visiting the Academy and at the end of the day, we all perceived different views about the place. However, there is one thing that we unanimously agreed upon. That is, we could see how passionate and happy these people are working for AirAsia just by judging from the way Ms Safina and Mr Liew speak and believe in the brand. It is not the, "I'm obliged to say good things about AirAsia because I work for them," kind of thing. It does seem very genuine.

For me, I find it very inspiring because one of my ultimate goals in life is to work for AirAsia. And no, I'm not saying this just because I had visited the Academy. This came solely from an article I read in AirAsia's in-flight magazine two years back. I can't remember the title of the article but I knew there and then that if there is one company that I could choose to work for, it's AirAsia.

In fact, three days after the visit, I was back again in one of their office in PJ, meeting people of the same positive vibe , but for a very different reason. I went for an internship interview. To be completely honest, I think I did quite bad in the interview (Yes, I still can't forgive myself and very depress about it! =[ ) but I am keeping my fingers crossed that I made it through.

... And, hopefully one day, I'll be a part of the "All Stars". Hopefully!

Many thanks to Ms Brenda Marshall, Ms Safina Alfian and Mr Liew Kang Hwa for making this possible for me and my course mates!