Saturday, July 17, 2004
this is strange. i'm at home on a saturday night. usually, i'm out with hannon either chilling out at his room or in town. But today, he's not feeling too well still and has zonked out for the entire afternoon. He's not been well the whole week with high fever on monday and tuesday and a bad sore throat on the subsequent days. I'm not frustrated or bored that i can't be out. In fact, just thinking of going to town bores me. In my mind, i'm planning a trip to lavender's army market to hunt out some bargains, get some cool tote bags. I'm also thinking of bbq stingray and rollerblading.
Sadly, that just leaves me with a week to do all these things. NIE orientation begins nxt week. I'm half dreading the tedious journey but then the thought of trying out the pool reputedly to be squeaky clean and the squash courts is quite inviting.
So a little update on what i've been up to the last week or so.
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i had my graduation ceremony on 15 July thursday. i never knew i could look so good in pink. That very morning as i spent my quiet time with God, i don't know why but i was half expecting Him to say something or to reveal to me something significant about the four years i've spent in NUS. i can't say that i've struggled really hard to be where i am. compared to all my examinations in college or secondary school, uni was a breeze and much more exciting in terms of my study areas and even with my "extra" curriculum involvements. I must say that helping to start the prayer group in NUS has been the highlight of my four years. More than the academic highs that one gets when your mind and soul engages in such an intimate way, the period of praying and seeking God will be unforgettable. It has become one of the turning points in my life, in my relationship with God.
For almost 3/4 of the day, well that something extraordinary did not happen yet i was happy to see my friends, to wish them well. To take photos, to spend time with my family and to eat lots of pleasure filling foods. i will certainly return to cha cha cha mexican restaurant with my babes to munch on their nachos and fantastic dips, to grow fat on fajitas, to taste what sangria is made of and possibly some margaritas too. yummm.
So i guess you know where this is heading: that something extraordinary did happen and it came in the form of Dawn's present to me. Thanks Dawn. psalm 91 sums up the little of what i've been through in NUS and the hope that is in my heart for the future.
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The next thing is something that i've been trying to write down a couple of times but unsuccessfully. First time i wrote it down, i accidentally deleted it and the other times i just could not pen it in the exact manner and effect i intended to have. So here it goes and i'll try to keep it short and not gush about it nonsensically.
i've had the most amazing reading experience. It's not to say that i've never felt this way before when reading but this has not happened to me in a very long time. the book is "Great Architects". well, there are a lot of pictures and the pictures speak more than the words themselves so maybe technically its not a reading experience. *nevermind* so the moment of epiphany and near ecstacy was the short write up on Kengo Kuma who is the visionary of the Yusuhara visitor's centre and a residential pad ambiguously named as water/glass. This absolutely lights my fire. If i had only discovered this before my critical theory paper, i think i would have a better chance of getting at least a B+ for the course, instead of the abysmal B.
Kengo Kuma asserts that architecture must establish a new relationship between subject and object, which overcomes the idea of building as a representative object.
sounds something from sassure perhaps? Anyway, the photograph of the water/glass house flipped my mind. imagine a glass and metal encased dining room, seemingly afloat this rippling pool, possessing the panoramic view of the pacific ocean on a rainy, foggy day and far off you can see the hill rising towards the coast on your right. All this on the edge of a cliff. i almost felt an indignation rising up in me against the architect for designing such a wonder yet restricting the enjoyment to the private individual, to the landowner swimming in money. It is a travesty on beauty that reaches a pinnacle of sacredness. But then the beauty of it overwhelmed me and i've only felt like that once when i knew hannon.
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Speaking about hannon, he just called me to ask why i had not come and i said that i called him several times but he did not pick up the phone. we had a brief argument about cards. He asked me whether he will be getting a get well card from me, one that i will make myself. i was surprised he asked since he never liked receiving cards and the first and last time i made one, he said that it was not pretty and he could do a much better job. am i being testy here? i just want to know what has changed his mind about cards and maybe get a nice apology. but he just kept quiet, became tense and said "bye".
