Hunt The Wind

              *     *     *     *     *      Yogyakarta, Island of Java, Republic of Indonesia      Monday, 29 th November 1993      On today’s schedule I was assigned to fly from Jakarta to Yogyakarta, Bali, Ujung Pandang, Palu, Balikpapan, Banjarmasin and return to Jakarta.  Altogether seven legs, with a total flying time of seven hours and thirty-six minutes.      First stop was Yogyakarta, at 264 miles east of Jakarta, with a flight time of 1:12 - slicing straight down the middle of the narrow Island of Java.      Twenty-five miles northwest of Yogyakarta is the world’s largest Buddhist Temple called “Borobudur.”  The same name of the five-star hotel BOURAQ put me up at in Jakarta.      The temple consists of nine stacked platforms, six squared and three circular, topped by a central dome, decorated with 2,672  relief  panels and 504  Buddha statues . The central dome is surrounded by 72 Buddha statues, each seated inside a perforated  stupa .  Borobudur is in an elevated ar

              *     *     *     *     * Flag of Malaysia. Malaysia Airlines B-737-200.      Patong Beach, Island of Phuket, Thailand      Monday, 15 th November 1993      Bright and early this day I got a frantic call from AVILINK in Singapore.  They desperately needed a qualified captain to take delivery of a fourth B-737-200 that they purchased from Malaysia Airlines for the BOURAQ contract.  It seems the captain they had lined up for this chore, bailed-out on them at the last minute.  So, could I hustle my butt down to Singapore, perform the acceptance check-flight, and then ferry the bird down to Jakarta, followed by another three-month contract?      In all honesty AVILINK had been good to me, so why not help them out of a jam?  I agreed, packed my bags and caught a flight down to Singapore the next day. *     *     *     *     * Flag of Singapore.      Island State of Singapore      Wednesday, 17 th November 1993      So here I am in a suit and tie, standing on the ra

             *     *     *     *     *      Patong Beach, Island of Phuket, Thailand      Sunday, 5 th September 1993      Currently I’m sitting inside Peter Shuster’s bamboo and rattan, open-air restaurant at his Patong Penthouse, next door to my town house, enjoying an excellent Viennese pork Schnitzel mit noodles - washing it down with a Singha Beer.  The restaurant is shaded by a gigantic, parasite jungle tree that has totally grown around a full sized sugar palm.  Living in this monolithic tree are two birds that have fluttered down onto my right shoulder – joining me for lunch.  One is a snow white sulfur-crested cockatoo named “Bee-Bee.”  The other bird is black with orange trim and red eyes, larger than a parakeet, named “Foley,” and I’m not certain what type it is.  Both are very friendly and tame – having free-run of the hotel – and I hand feed them bits of noodles.      Goddamn me with a spoon, dear reader, is it ever good to be back “home!”      Having pigged-out on