building blocks of architecture

Saturday, August 12, 2006

It's been an interesting week of sorts... the last week of the long summer hols that somehow at its prime never seemed to end haha.

But before I go on, I just wanna clarify something. Almost everytime I tell my internship story to pple, they all say u are so lucky to get all these contacts and all. I beg to differ. I say it's not that I'm lucky. I have all this because my God is a good and gracious God who made the path straight for me & blessed me more than I could ever ask for. All I had to do was trust, believe & obey. Sure there were times of pain, of uncertainty, of fear... it's all part of the growing, maturing process but I always knew God was there & He was & that He had a plan for me that was good for me. And hear this... not just for me but for each and everyone of you too. All you have to do is believe in Jesus Christ and confess it with yr mouth! hehe that simple. It's too good NOT to be true. =) so there what r u waiting for?

Ok back to my week =) Monday was the CPG open house thingy. haha it's like CPG is popping out everywhere in my life. Not that I'm complaining. but yeah I've changed my initial perceptions abt its image & all so that's a good thing. hehe part of the moulding, stripping me of my prejudices process by God so yeah =) anyhow it started out with these series of talks by various pple frm the diff depts. Got to see my boss & jerry which was great in that i felt it's like coming back to a nice familiar place, to pple i've grown used to seeing these few months and who have been so nice to me =). Then it was the reception and the tour by their architects. This time I got to go to the Schools dept which was i guess in a way good cos I got to see more of the other floors. i mean i did wish we had gone to my office and caught up with my collegues & all but God is real good again & the timing was great such that I got to meet them later all coming back frm lunch jus as we were abt to go to the mrt =) oh well wont get to see most of them till next summer hols =( but I shd be able to see those on the AH proj at groundbreaking come nov since Grace says she'll invite me =)

After the open house, we went to Minds cafe at prinsep street for a Studio1 outing heh yupsie. actually the plan was to go to Settlers' cafe at clarke quay but somehow on sat when i was surfing some aki blogs of pple i dun actually know... i came across this lone statement that jolted me. settler's (the clarke quay one) isnt open on mondays. I thank God that He amazingly revealed to me so else mond wd have been a disaster. so yj recommended minds and so that's where we all went. It was another blessing in disguise! not only was it cheaper than settler's ($5.50 compared to $6 for 4 hrs plus freeflow drinks from 2-6pm on wkdays) it was a nice cozy ambience and far less crowded than settlers'. Oh btw those of u who dun know what it's abt, but Minds and Settlers' cafe are actually games cafes where u sit down & play board/card games. There's food too if u want. and the games are more than yr usual monopoly, scrabble etc... they're real exciting and interesting yups most cant be bought in the stores. i think it's a better use of time & money than movies esp if u're gg out in a grp of guys & gals it's one of th efew great activities u cd do. yups.

After minds it was time for dinner with cheryl. wah what a long happening day haha. we had dinner at din tai fung and I must say that i still like crystal jade better, in overall. but din tai fung does have better noodles =) oh btw there's this restaurant at novena sq, also at plaza sing called lao beijing that has great spicy beef noodles that crystal jade cant hold a candle to. In my opinion. haha.

Tuesday was back to Alexandra Hospital for lunch with my boss and collegues there. had lunch at secret recipe. oh man keep eating at restaurants/cafes these past weeks... getting pampered man. but thank God all the same =) it was a good time of feedback & catching up... so yeah just pray it was constructive and helpful =) yups and it's nice to know that they'll keep me on their mailing list for events... yups beginning to look like i'll be able to see this whole project through. yup it's real amazing when i look back and see how far God has taken me so yeah I'm real grateful. another thing abt the whole internship is that it made me realise work life is actually quite exciting & flexible to so at least I can look forward to it now. b4 that i was always in the argh I dun wanna grow old mode so at least God has opened my eyes to see how silly that was. i mean it's like now i can be contented to enjoy my sch years, my youth while knowing I can look forward to working in the future =)

Wed was shopping in JB with parents! haha 1st year i missed ndp i think i mean ever since i was old enough to watch it i reckon. but the great shopping was more than worth it. thank God for the great time & buys! hehe.

Thurs was back to sch to see the USP advisor and design briefing. thank God i got technology for P1. At least i dun have to deal with it in sem 2 as my main proj phew. So it's envt I guess and not urban as I had put for 1st choice. but given this whole emphasis on envt in the AH proj it is prob better that way. yups God knows best =) after that i went for this guest lec by this professot from Harvard Design sch and its all abt materials & what they do there in yr1. which made me feel like they're so cutting edge in their design & we're like much more pragmatic. but well to each his own and i dun think that makes us worse only different. i mean i feel that for now the balance between design & pragmatics is still ok though i'm sure some of my fellow akimates beg to differ =)

oh and now for the semesterly ritual of module bidding. like some sort of initiation b4 u start sch haha esp for yr ones i guess. after 4 fierce days of battles i can happily report that i came out unscathed, only 401 points poorer. But the most impt thing is that I got my modules! Hallelujah! hehe. esp for this new module which i personally think is God-sent for me, called Space & Health. How appropriate, after this internship of mine =) it cost a hefty 400 points & i have no idea who's taking this but i got it! hehe actually at first i could'nt take it cos it clashed with a fixed aki core mod but God shifted that so i guess it was really meant for me =) i pity the poor year 1s actually cos they prob didnt have the points to bid for the popular, expensive mods and all but well be patient =) your time will come.

yups so haha now after all that happenings & one of the most fulfilling hols i've ever had... it's time to tidy my room and get ready for sch =) third year now gotta upgrade majorly hehe... and first time i'm taking so few mods and all. And without all those pple on exchange. And with new pple coming in.
Time of transitions, time for changes.
For the better.
Into an exciting future.

I'm ready. It's time to start the construction. C=

Thursday, August 03, 2006

hi! much apologies for the long hiatus.
somehow work seems to leave me less time for blogging than sch does. something i still cant figure out why since i was sleeping more during workdays than schooltime. I reckon maybe it's the early waking up hours that leaves u tired at nite.

"Taste and see that the Lord is good
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him."
~ Psalm 34:8

ok essentially that verse encapsulates the last few weeks of my internship & my life. it's been amazing all thanks to God. Not necessarily smooth sailing all the way but a great time of walking by faith with Him and seeing the beautiful results of it. Sure it was a great test of faith at times but that's how u grow and how u see him weave miracles u never thought possible.

It all started ard a month ago when my boss asked me if i wanted to go to the technical meetings at CPG which is the aki firm doing this new alexandra hosp building project. I was like are u sure they won't mind? and she was like no they won't and proceeded to type out this email to CPG that basically set the wheels into motion... next thing i knew CPG was like offering to accomodate me for the rest of my internship! i was like yay hallelujah! hehe was so happy =) and quess what the next few days were so painful haha i had to complete the rest of my assignments at alexandra and the worst one was sitting outside the wards to count the no of visitors during visiting hours... basically it was for a study regarding visitor loads and lifts. but God was so faithful thruout my ordeal. i mean even simple things like providing that 1 and only cab for me on that nite i had worship prac at church (cos visiting hrs end at 8 so i needed to get to church fast) I felt so bad abt always kinda nagging at God haha like why isnt this happening? why is that happening? and all. but i learnt to realise that He'll never forsake me & all he does is the best for me cos He loves me! =) hehe

and guess what the next week at CPG was the best ever part of my entire internship. I was well taken care of, I got to do fruitful work, I got to learn lotsa stuff & go for interesting site visits =) after that i was still with CPG but we had a whole slew of meetings at the hospital for the next 2 weeks so i didnt really get to do much stuff. last fri was my last day at CPG which ended nicely =) and monday was my last day at alexandra which ended uneventfully.

haha the funny part is that i'll be gg back to CPG next mond cos they're having this open house for NUS aki pple & to alexandra the next day for a lunch with my collegues. Oh well the past 2 months & a week have been real interesting. looking back now I thank God with all my heart for giving me this internship. He really knows best. yupsie haha this hosp proj will last all the way thru the rest of my 3 years of sch & into my 1st year of work so well haha literally can see it thru. I guess its gonna be real exciting to see something u have been a lil part of being built =) so yeah thank God for the opportunity =) it was great learning frm the architects too i mean they tell u stuff sch wont ever teach u... so yeah it's been a busy but meaningful hols =) hehe

so now i've got nearly 2 weeks b4 sch starts. it's time to muck out my room haha, settle the bidding for modules thing (argh yes it's back) shopping, catching up with friends and basically getting my life back in order... erm and body too haha time for gym again after all that sedentary work life sigh. ok oh well it's been a great roller-coaster ride & as school starts time for a new one! haha year 3 THE year of yr whole aki school life & guess what? the guys my age will start year 1... hmm hai poor thing they're 2 yrs back i still cant really get used to this 2 years lag sys. oh well it's even worse when u get out to work... the age range is staggering... but at least i'm still the youngest hehe =) ok God showed me that actually working is not so bad it's actually pretty exciting as an architect so ok i'm free frm my biases now haha actually sometimes i wish i wd quickly grow up! but then again what for? just enjoy your youth & schdays =)

ok i shd go sleep soon. take care and goodnite. Blessed sleep! C=