Hello everybody (a la Gru)
Glad to see so many still have the passion to fly. I'm still around. I get updates whenever my nick is mentioned in a post haha.
I'm in the east too. CptWizard, I got your PM. Sure we can have kopi and shoot the ****. There's no club or anything that I know of except this forum. Our little group of makan kakis were just like you guys now. 4 of us met up at McDonalds at Junction 8 for the first time 7 years ago while still figuring out how to fulfil our flying ambitions. So we went through blood, sweat and tears together. In the end, we all ended up in SFC in different courses. Now, 2 flying for J* and the other ended up my buddy for Type Rating and Line Training.
The decision making process is one of the toughest obstacles (which school/program, how to finance). The next biggest obstacle is getting the first flying job. Doing the course and passing the tests is a matter of course after the decision is made. You will hear many opinions and outdated information, ultimately you have to decide, just like the Commander of a flight after dispatch. Take ownership and responsibility of the outcome. In the meantime, do research and seek information from reliable sources. The Dream is Everything. Is yours strong enough?