My First Day At Brunei Shell Petroleum
Posted By:
Efren ES Ricalde @ 6:56 PM
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Indeed, it was a long process of saying goodbye to each other. Living together in one roof for twenty seven years with my parents and siblings and seeing our relatives during fiestas and Christmas season every year, - parting was a very difficult situation to manage. We are all gathered at our gate for a longer time before we finally drove to the airport. With me were Tiyo Garding driving the car, Tatay, Nanay and Jaime.
On board an old Philippine Airlines BAC One-Eleven flight to Bandar Seri Begawan Airport in Brunei, I left Manila as an OCW (Overseas Contract Worker) on that fateful Wednesday, July 29, 1981 - and have been an OCW for eight years till 1988.
 
Last night, I reminisced that day while I watching the movie "The Queen". There was a flashback of Lady Diana's wedding day which reminded me of a night at Brunei Shell Guest House near Panaga Club. Being my first day at Brunei Shell, I was welcomed by Lucio Cruz and Bobby Gonzales (Filipino FIC22 officemates), Conal Higgo (FIC Head), and Hubert Bol (Fic22 Head). Our animated discussions were interrupted by the TV coverage of royal wedding.
BBC News published this wedding day of 29 July 1981:
 Charles and Diana marry
Crowds of 600,000 people filled the streets of London to catch a glimpse of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer on their wedding day.
The couple were married at St Paul's Cathedral before an invited congregation of 3,500 and an estimated global TV audience of 750 million - making it the most popular programme ever broadcast.
Conal gave me a pot of flowering cactus plant and apologized for his dirty hands because he was busy during the day spray painting his son's bicycle.
Oh, I could still remember the smell of Brunei as we disembarked from the plane, the aircon at the Panaga Guest house and the plant Conal gave me.
A strange place .... strange people and to top it off .... a strange wedding - made my first day in Brunei.
("The Queen" from Wikipedia, "The Wedding" from BBC News)
Labels: brunei shell, Conal Higgo, Hubert Bol, life in Brunei, panaga
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- "MaSci to GSI" is a compendium of experiences from childhood to present. M2G shares my insights and knowledge on education, hard work, integrity, honesty, creativity, transparency, and aspiration of a Filipino.
M2G maps my journeys and adventures as a boy, student, dreamer and entrepreneur.
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 - Name: Efren ES Ricalde
- Location: Pasig, Metro Manila, Philippines
Efren, President/CEO of GSI, is an experienced public speaker and an avid tennis player, photographer, a beginner classical guitarist. He was the former Chairman of Philippine Geomatics Association (PhilGeo) and is an active member of other IT associations. He has a diploma in Strategic Business Economics from the University of Asia and the Pacific, units in MS Remote Sensing in UP Diliman, BS Geodetic Engineering at UP Diliman and an alumni of Manila Science High School.
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