i love polar bears!

he's playing with a plastic pipe... the wonders of the imagination  



look at how big and cute his padded paw is! =D  

on vacation...

finally, a blog entry without a mission. just random thoughts on my day.

this is the first time i have ever gone on vacation alone. technically speaking, i am not alone, because i'm bunking in my sister's place for the week. but i flew in alone, and will be going around the city alone (some of the time). tonight i'll be taking public transport alone (good grief!) in an unfamiliar place, which does not happen to me often. for someone who has lived in a hermetic environment most of her life, this is a trip. and i don't just mean a journey. it is strangely exhilirating to just go out and muddle your way through to the other side of the city with no clear idea if you're going in the right direction. to be able to just go out on my own, not having to ask anyone's permission, not having to inform them what time you'll be home. this is as independent as i've ever been. quite strange for a girl who just turned 25. but then, i was never just normal.

(by the way, i'm in singapore. just in case you didn't know.)

colonial house on emerald hill

complete with entourage!
check out the rubber ducks. =D  

board exam aftermath

So I took the architecture licensure exams last week. Now what? Now, we wait. And good things come to those who wait. Or not.

A lot of people have a lot to say about the board exams, so I’m not even going to go there. (Okay, maybe I’ll sprinkle in a little of my views here & there.) My main concern is getting through the next few weeks of prolonged agony, known as THE WAIT.

As I type, there are close to a thousand examinees who are anxiously scanning the dailies for any hint of an early report. But, as we all know, we always get hit when we least expect it. So maybe not ALL applicants / examinees are anxious. Some are writing posts about other people’s tension. (Guilty as charged!) But most would be mulling over the exam questions, the design problem, and the X number of sheets they were able to produce in 11 hours. Some would be researching on answers. Others would be comparing notes. “Ano sagot mo sa utilities, yun eklat eklat blah blah blah… C pinili ko. Kaw? Ha? Hindi ba ano yun?” But even those kind of distractions run out… so what do you do in the meantime? Eat. Sleep. Do whatever it is you usually did before you took the exams. Look for a job. Go back to work. Or, if you can afford it (which I know many can't), go on vacation. Take a trip. Just don’t dwell on the past.

On top of it all, keep in mind that you did the best you could, given such heinous circumstances. If it were up to me, all of us who took the exam should be given medals of valor. Everyone I saw had that “last man standing” attitude. (They’re not going to take us alive!!!) And with all the planted landmines and thrown grenades and time bombs we were subjected to during the course of 72 hours (not counting the supposed 24-hour hiatus, which was spent replenishing ammo) – we should be considered heroes. To go into rooms armed only with Number Two pencils, a calculator (which, incidentally, does little to help, programmable or otherwise) and black ballpoint pens, taking unexpected hit after unexpected hit. At the end of the ordeal, everyone felt that they were pretty much done for. But, dear examinees, remember: the wisdom of men does not compare to the wisdom of God. Therefore do not feel that you are the only inadequate architect wannabe walking the face of the earth. Because, in truth, everyone is. Others are just delusional.

Think not of the exam results, and if you had done all you can to prepare for it. Because you probably did prepare enough, and, in all honesty, there is no way you could have done better, save for getting contraband reviewers (read: LEAKAGE) or becoming psychic. If you fail, well, then it’s just further proof that the exam does not properly gauge one’s abilities to become a competent professional. That much I know, and believe with all my heart. So if I don't pass, I comfort myself in the knowledge that eighty percent of the people who speak to me about the board exam expect me to top it, in one way or another. And all of them expect me to pass “with flying colors”. Apparently, the board of architecture, who do not know me personally, how I work, how I think, and how I go about my personal business, are more in a position to judge my architectural competency than my office colleagues, my classmates, my bosses, my professors, my family or my friends. Do you really think I’d fall for that kind of logic? Would you???

on turning 25 and on growing older

It’s funny how in a day you become officially one year older, when in fact, all throughout the year you age. Yesterday I was just 24. Today (well, in two hours, officially) I am 25. And it’s a great number to be. A quarter of a century old. At the point in life when you can make life-changing decisions. And you finally get the guts to do it. When you can dream, and dreaming is not just some far-off goal like a fairytale where everything ends happily ever after. Things become reachable, attainable. All things are possible. And I’m just 25. God-willing, I have another 50 years to go (statistically speaking, anyway). That’s twice as many years as I have already lived. Twice as many things to do, twice as many places to see, twice as many people to meet, and twice as many opportunities to touch lives and make a difference. What a promising thought!

For the first time since I was a kid (a greedy kid wanting birthday presents, at that) I am looking forward to my birthday. Looking forward to getting older, to adding a year to my life, and knowing that I am also adding life to my years. It feels great to have come this far, and it feels even greater to know that I can go further. I know that God has wonderful things planned for me, and I’m just waiting to discover what they are.

I can’t wait until my next birthday.