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I was born in Philippines, the second oldest and have two sisters and one brother. My parents were both school teachers. I finished my degree B.S. Civil Engineering in 1981 and passed the professional board exam the following year.

I worked in AG&P Manila (one of the biggest fabricator and construction companies in the Philippines at the time) for almost 10 years. For the first 3 years I worked as a Structural Steel Detailer, and the remainder as a civil/structural steel estimator.

In 1995 I received an offer from Filippo Fochi, an Italian company in Malaysia to work as a Site Structural/Civil Quantity Surveyor for a project with Shell, Malaysia Liquefied Natural Gas Expansion Project. I accepted, leaving my two children with my parents, because my husband was already working in the same place in Malaysia.

Working as a site Q.S. was a great experience. I actually saw how projects were constructed and erected from planning stage to finish. I had to cross over the big pipes to check the sub-contractor’s progress, in order to verify their progress billing. I needed to wear a cover-all, hard hat, safety shoes and at times carry a gas detector, because we were working inside a live gas plant.

I worked there for 3 years. Almost everything was free (tax-free salary, accommodation, transportation, plane ticket every six month), and there was nothing more you can ask for. But I needed to think of my children. Though they were with us every summer, that time was not enough so I resigned and applied for immigration to Canada. I thought this would give them better opportunities in the future, even though it meant starting over again.

In 1999, we arrived in Vancouver. Fortunately one of my friends told me about Dowco. I applied for work and was fortunate to be hired by Mr. Dobbie. Having only done manual detailing, now in Dowco I have learned to work with Xsteel software and am learning new things everyday, thanks to my co-workers.

My husband and I were college sweethearts for 10 years before we got married in 1987. Now we have 3 kids, Aki 15, Nikki 14 and Zai 3. We enjoy watching TV, listening to music and playing with little Zai.