Convocation

It was a joy seeing my NIE mates again. As we gathered in our gowns and took pictures prior to the ceremony, much to the chagrin of the ushers who tried to keep us in our seats, it seemed like a happy reunion of sorts. Hey - great to see all of you again!!

The applause was thunderous as the last name out of 800 plus names was read out. We had sat through over an hour of name-calling after taking turns to be on stage for only some three seconds to receive our certificates. It was a relief when it was all finally over. Most of us had rumbling tummies as we had rushed down from school without lunch. By the time the ceremony ended, it was close to 5pm!

For me, the ceremony was different from the one I had back in my NUS days - and I was thankful. I was in the company of friends, and I was particularly thankful for Grace and mum to be there. As I put on my nicely-ironed gown, I felt thoroughly appreciative of mum who had taken over an hour to make sure that my gown didn't have a single crease on. Grace was my camera woman as she insisted that I took pictures.

The three of us headed down to East Coast Lagoon for dinner after the ceremony. Mum was craving for oyster omelette. We also ordered rojak and three big cups of sugar cane juice. Satay was particularly tempting on a Friday when we couldn't eat meat... Hmmm...

I must have been very exhausted cos I zonked out when I reached home. When I awoke again, Grace had left. I had my second dinner (cos mum also cooked fried bee hoon), did some work on the computer then, the Z monster hit me again...

Thanks, mum. Thanks Grace - for being there for me. And to my NIE mates - hey, hang in there! We'll catch up over the hols!

:)