When clearing some of the old files, I found this aerogram written exactly thirty eight years ago on 5 March 1984. This air letter, a thin lightweight piece of folder paper was popular in the 70's and the 80's. But by late 90's when the use of emails exploded worldwide, this mode of exchanging news almost disappeared instantly.
I received this aerogram from my wife when I was in UK for a short course at the Loughbarough University of Technology, UK. The course on "Airports and Environment" lasted a mere five days from 12 March to 16 March 1984.
I had planned to do some sight-seeing including a trip to Paris after the end of the course. After the course, I was supposed to travel south from London to Sandwich after which I would cross the English Channel via the Euro-Tunnel to Paris. That's the reason why the letter was addressed to my sister-in-law's house in Sandwich. That letter arrived to its destination slightly too early. It was re-directed by my SIL to an address in London, a friend's home where I stayed.
I was supposed to have visited Paris. Unfortunately, at the very last minute, I had to cancel the trip and rushed back to Sabah for a new job interview. Earlier, just before leaving for UK for the short course which was near the end of my second 3-year employment contract, I had applied for a new job in the private sector. In the event I was successful, I would not renew for a third contract with PWD.
In the end, I abandoned the trip to Paris in favour of opting for a new job opportunity. I was fortunate to be successful in my new job interview. That decision changed the course of my whole life.
By the time I returned to Sabah, it was just a couple of days before my contract with PWD would end on 7 April. The trip to UK turned out to be a sort of a paid overseas holiday trip for my employment contract.
The decision to forgo the trip to Paris was a bitter-sweet decision. It took another thirty years before I finally visited Paris (Read here).
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