A Trip Down Memory Lane and Hubby's New Hobby!

How many of you out there know where I was working before I started with the Dutch Oil Company? Answer? Probably less than a handful.

Before I gave up my life to work with the oil and gas industry, I was actually in construction. And that wasn't by choice either. I was given a scholarship by a construction company therefore by default I had to work through my bond which was 5 years. Which construction company, you ask? Yes, I worked with Gamuda Berhad. Proud to be a Gamuda scholar. But not so proud that I worked for a total of 6 months with them before paying back my scholarship to grab that better offer with the Dutch Oil Company. (Did I tell you that I only submitted my application to the Dutch Oil Company for fun, or actually just because Hubby did it, went to the interviews without putting too much effort, since I already had a career with a bond, and was complete boggled over when I found out that I got the job??!!)

I learned a lot about life, by being in Gamuda. It gave me a whole different perspective on life in the construction line. Or should I say, a female in the construction industry. I take my safety helmet off to those ladies who excel in this largely male dominated business.

I spent my internship on the construction of the SMART tunnel. Back then, they didn't even have a name for the tunnel boring machine (TBM). At 22 years old, I was going in and out of their multiple sites, visiting the retention ponds. Attending sessions with the public to inform them that the construction of the tunnel was not the cause of their house cracks and that it is definitely safe to drive in this 3 storey tunnel! It was definitely a surreal experience. Whenever I drive in the tunnel, I can still feel a sense of pride that I played a part in its construction. Did you know that if you were to run a staircase from the top to the bottom of the tunnel it would be at least 10 storeys tall? I only ventured once into the bottom of the tunnel, and back then I remember getting looks from the construction workforce.

Not admiring looks, mind you. They were actually not really happy as they believe that it is bad luck for a female to be inside the tunnel. Very superstitious, I must say.

After graduating, I was placed with SPLASH, a subsidiary of Gamuda who (back then) deals with the water supply for Selangor. At 23 years old, I drove a manual 4WD on my own for the very first time from Damansara Jaya to the Bukit Badong Water Treatment Plant. I would also venture into the deep jungles and even perkampungan orang asli to collect water samples for monthly reports to the Department of Environment Malaysia. One weekend I even drove the 4WD home and impressed my father in-law with my driving skills!

Needless to say, I was really sad when I tendered my resignation.

So when Hubby said that he wanted to drag me to Damansara Jaya to check out his latest craze, I agreed with the condition that we drove past the Gamuda office.

I used to drive on this road every single day to get to work.

*sigh* Bitter sweet memories.

Back then, lunch in KLCC or Pavilion was a ridiculous idea. It was usually lunch at the food court, or we would take turns cooking lauk for lunch. Well the cooking has to be done the night before at home lah. We would simply heat up the lauk. There was also a collection to buy beras as we would tanak nasi at the office pantry. Or if you feel like splurging, there's always Atria. Aaahhh those were the days.

So what exactly is Hubby's latest craze? Hubby has decided to ditch his scuba diving idea for another hobby - remote controled aeroplanes.

Aiden followed us to the hobby shop. Wasn't really a good idea as he wanted to touch every single aeroplane, helicopter and remote controlled car in the shop!

Love this yellow plane.

There is even an army themed aeroplane!

Hubby testing out the remote.

Yup this is the shop. Previously we checked out hobby shops in Berjaya Times Square and One Utama but by far, this shop gave us the best deal and after sales service.

After days and days of doing research and watching youtube videos (I swear I am going to puke if he forces me to watch just one more video of an aeroplane crashing), he ended up with this aeroplane model.

Even purchased a simulator so that he can sharpen his skills through the computer. Which I think is a good idea since the simulator will help his maiden flight to be accident-free. (And I don't think we can afford another aeroplane should this one crash into pieces.)

This was last week. We finally picked up his aeroplane as it took the guy 5 long days to assemble it.

So check out Hubby's new baby.

I will definitely take pictures of his maiden flight. Stay tuned!