Liberation!
Ah, the ecstacy of completion. As soon as I darkened the Question 200 bubble with my No. 2 lead pencil, I was frickin' FREE! One part of me wanted to whoop it up and high-five-body-slam my seatmates, but the atmosphere was one of restraint. People were filing out and packing up their stuff all too quietly, sedately, seriously for my taste.
What a far cry from the last few minutes of the 1994 Bar, when you could hear all the different college bands striking up in the distance and you couldn't wait to rush out into the congratulatory wave of well-wishers. The Polytechnic University, the site of the '94 exam, leads out into a narrow street - and that's where the throngs of bar supporters parked themselves at. I was intoxicated even before I reached the UP station in the middle of the road: the Silliman people (I'd competed earlier that year in a debate at their school) accosted me with several shots of tequila as I made my way past. More drinking to come thereafter (I think we went for lots of beers and pizza and a loud band at Chatterbox), and the next succeeding days. Good times!
Fast forward to post-NY Bar 2008. Good thing that my sis Lea and I tested at the same location; we celebrated with a big dinner at Korea Town, then headed back home for a quiet evening. No tequila for me, just several well-deserved beers (yum); and no raucous well-wishers, just several phone calls, local and overseas, from my support network of family and friends. And then sleep, wonderful, peaceful, uneventful sleep!
Today I had more sleep (a little nap after waking up, he he), and then set off to explore the nooks and crannies of the Big Apple. I walked up and down West Broadway to buy stuff at a few specialty food stores (bagels, boursin, and brie! Tarush...), bought a tonload of (non-law related!!) books at Strand, did some midtown pasalubong shopping, got me some Chinese takeout, lugged everything back home on the subway...and now I'm enjoying the fruits of my "labor." "Enjoy" is the operative term: now that the Bar is over and done with and I don't have to think about another legal doctrine, element, or principle, I can actually begin to enjoy New York City, and the US, for that matter. Bar none, it's about time!
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
The Night Before
It's the “night before” - take two.
Almost 14 years ago, I swore I'd never, ever take the Bar Exam again, even if it meant that I didn't get to be a lawyer at all. Thankfully, I made it the first time around, and I joyfully basked in the thought that I would never have to undergo that experience ever again.
Fast forward to the 21st century, and guess what – not only am I going through the Bar experience again, I'm actually doing it out of my own volition. Knowingly, willingly, voluntarily (recklessly?). In a whole new jurisdiction where legal animals such as the Rule Against Perpetuities and Judgments Notwithstanding the Verdict prey on unwitting innocents. Eek.
But finally, after almost five months of wrapping my brain around the nuances of U.S. common law and the New York distinctions, it's the night before.
In 1994, the night before was a sweltering, rain-drenched evening in September, spent holed up in the sorority “shelter” (i.e., a seedy Manila motel near the exam site) with my roommate May Flores, a dear sorority sister with whom I shared the tensions and trepidations of the evening as we gazed up at the large ceiling mirror above the bed (I did say “seedy motel,” didn't I?). Tonight, it's a brisk but comfortable evening in Manhattan; I've just gotten home after a Chinese dinner with my Nu Yawk-er friend Carlo, and I'm happily “holed up” in the U.P. Law Portia Sorority's unofficial NY Bar shelter (i.e., a gorgeous apartment on the Upper West Side) with the apartment's resident and another dear sorority sister, Leah Olores. Tensions and trepidations? Not so much. I'm treating myself to a pre-Bar beer, and remembering how another favorite sis, Bembem dela Torre, and I would “de-tox” every weekend during the 1994 review over sisig, San Mig Light, and loads of great conversation at Trellis.
In 1994, I spent the pre-Bar day going to Mass, stressing a little too much, and not being able to sleep a wink. Tonight, after having heard Mass yesterday at St. Patrick's and dropping by another church today, I staked out the exam venue, had a huge lunch, and went shopping in mid-town Manhattan before meeting up with Carlo on Wall Street. I refuse to stress (“It is what it is”), and I fully intend to sleep through the night. Pass me another beer, please.
In 1994, all I could think about was how happy I'd be after the Philippine Bar was over and done with, and of all the stuff I'd be free to do right after. Tonight...ditto.
Let's get it on!
Almost 14 years ago, I swore I'd never, ever take the Bar Exam again, even if it meant that I didn't get to be a lawyer at all. Thankfully, I made it the first time around, and I joyfully basked in the thought that I would never have to undergo that experience ever again.
Fast forward to the 21st century, and guess what – not only am I going through the Bar experience again, I'm actually doing it out of my own volition. Knowingly, willingly, voluntarily (recklessly?). In a whole new jurisdiction where legal animals such as the Rule Against Perpetuities and Judgments Notwithstanding the Verdict prey on unwitting innocents. Eek.
But finally, after almost five months of wrapping my brain around the nuances of U.S. common law and the New York distinctions, it's the night before.
In 1994, the night before was a sweltering, rain-drenched evening in September, spent holed up in the sorority “shelter” (i.e., a seedy Manila motel near the exam site) with my roommate May Flores, a dear sorority sister with whom I shared the tensions and trepidations of the evening as we gazed up at the large ceiling mirror above the bed (I did say “seedy motel,” didn't I?). Tonight, it's a brisk but comfortable evening in Manhattan; I've just gotten home after a Chinese dinner with my Nu Yawk-er friend Carlo, and I'm happily “holed up” in the U.P. Law Portia Sorority's unofficial NY Bar shelter (i.e., a gorgeous apartment on the Upper West Side) with the apartment's resident and another dear sorority sister, Leah Olores. Tensions and trepidations? Not so much. I'm treating myself to a pre-Bar beer, and remembering how another favorite sis, Bembem dela Torre, and I would “de-tox” every weekend during the 1994 review over sisig, San Mig Light, and loads of great conversation at Trellis.
In 1994, I spent the pre-Bar day going to Mass, stressing a little too much, and not being able to sleep a wink. Tonight, after having heard Mass yesterday at St. Patrick's and dropping by another church today, I staked out the exam venue, had a huge lunch, and went shopping in mid-town Manhattan before meeting up with Carlo on Wall Street. I refuse to stress (“It is what it is”), and I fully intend to sleep through the night. Pass me another beer, please.
In 1994, all I could think about was how happy I'd be after the Philippine Bar was over and done with, and of all the stuff I'd be free to do right after. Tonight...ditto.
Let's get it on!
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Andok-trinated
Just a short note to re-activate this blog - I know I've been less than assiduous in writing about the goings-on in these here parts. I promise to post more starting tomorrow; goodness knows I've got enough photos and a ton of non sequiturs to unload on this space, just haven't gotten around to doing it.
One thought I have tonight (or should I say, this very early morning) is about two of the loveliest words in the Filipino language. Lechon. Manok.
Yum.
I never thought that this common-place alternative to a fast-food take out would be the stuff of my gustatory longings. O, for an Andok's or Baliwag's or Sr. Pedro around the corner! With generous lashings of Mang Tomas spiked with sili and a big pile of achara, plus steaming hot kanin...hay. I also must admit that my favorite lechon manok side is... lechong liempo!!! Cholesterol heaven!!
OK sure, the local Jewel has those rotisserie chicken deals (a little overpriced for my taste, when I think of the $3 price tags back home), but it's not quite the same. I need the real McCoy, and darned if I don't take on the challenge while I'm here (especially since I discovered this lovely Asian grocery that carries all the familiar stuff, like Mang Tomas, Jufran, and yesss tanglad). After all, since I've been here, I've so far demystified my favorite comfort food, Luk Yuen halo-halo congee, Thai crispy catfish salad (with a twist), chicken curry in the absence of gata or yogurt, Yang Chow fried rice (hot dang, I've got it down to a T), Tom Cruise's carbonara, moussaka.... well, now you know what I've been doing when not studying.
So this short note didn't turn out to be so brief after all... but at least I got some sort of release. Will defrost the manok tonight, and post the 411 on the Andok-trination asap!
One thought I have tonight (or should I say, this very early morning) is about two of the loveliest words in the Filipino language. Lechon. Manok.
Yum.
I never thought that this common-place alternative to a fast-food take out would be the stuff of my gustatory longings. O, for an Andok's or Baliwag's or Sr. Pedro around the corner! With generous lashings of Mang Tomas spiked with sili and a big pile of achara, plus steaming hot kanin...hay. I also must admit that my favorite lechon manok side is... lechong liempo!!! Cholesterol heaven!!
OK sure, the local Jewel has those rotisserie chicken deals (a little overpriced for my taste, when I think of the $3 price tags back home), but it's not quite the same. I need the real McCoy, and darned if I don't take on the challenge while I'm here (especially since I discovered this lovely Asian grocery that carries all the familiar stuff, like Mang Tomas, Jufran, and yesss tanglad). After all, since I've been here, I've so far demystified my favorite comfort food, Luk Yuen halo-halo congee, Thai crispy catfish salad (with a twist), chicken curry in the absence of gata or yogurt, Yang Chow fried rice (hot dang, I've got it down to a T), Tom Cruise's carbonara, moussaka.... well, now you know what I've been doing when not studying.
So this short note didn't turn out to be so brief after all... but at least I got some sort of release. Will defrost the manok tonight, and post the 411 on the Andok-trination asap!
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