Beaches along the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia are heaven for aviation sports enthusiasts. The main attraction is the long stretch of white sandy beaches along the coastal line. The view from 500 feet above the ground looked like a straight road heading to somewhere mysterious, my favorite view while flying Paramotor here in Terengganu and Kelantan.

In August 2019, Kuala Terengganu celebrated its latest tourist landmark in the city, the Kuala Terengganu Drawbridge. Yeah, I know that the event was way back a year and a half ago but with the pandemic, time felt slow-mo to me … the memory during the weekend when we were there still felt new to me. So, if you plan to visit Kuala Terengganu don’t forget to stop at the bridge for a quick selfie.

25 Malaysian PPG pilots gathered here for our annual “meet-up on-air” event. We spent 3 days 2 nights. We did 70 km coast to coast paramotor XC from Kuala Dungun to Kuala Terengganu Drawbridge. The next morning, another 80 km XC from Kuala Terengganu to Kuala Telemung and back to the Drawbridge. The weather a week before was perfect but as we approached the weekend (our event dates), we had to experience the annual haze season from our neighboring country at its peak and a strong wind condition due to the Southeast wind decided to pass through the Peninsular East Coast areas.

Ironic.

Regardless of the challenges, we had fun. I had the chance to fly together with my PPG friends and experienced looking down at the Drawbridge from 700 feet above the air. The strong wind made our flights crazily bumpy and extra hard on our take-offs/ landings. The haze was another sad story, just imagine yourself traveling at 500 feet above the ground with your window winded down, face facing the wind while breathing thick smoke for two hours during the XCs. The side effects were … dull-looking photos/videos and I have to endure a month of itchy dry eyes due to the thick smoke.

That was the “not so good side” of participating in a scheduled event, you have to do it regardless of any circumstances, as a promise is a promise. I saw the experience as mental and physical training to build self-resiliency. A resilience character helps to cultivate an attitude for survivorship. Not only do we need intelligence to survive but resilience helps us automatically bounce back against challenges in life where over-criticising, bullying, manipulating and politicking are rampant nowadays.

My advice.

Playing any kind of game mentally or physically … table ping-pong, chess, jogging, hiking, paramotoring, paragliding, cycling, etc … helps build and strengthen positive self-character. Whatever mental or physical game that you are into right now … keep it up!

Cheers

MM

ps: link to Janjifly Paramotor at Kuala Terengganu Drawbridge video