Over 2500 photos taken in 2 weeks, i don't know where to begin. So lots of photos to follow, the rest can go up on facebook.
For the 1 week in Melbourne i stayed in my aunt's place in Mont Albert North, which is just next to Boxhill. A real blessing, as this saved a lot on accommodation not to mention a nice homey spacious place to stay, instead of being cooped up in a tiny little hotel room. And even better was that she was leaving for holiday the day we arrived, so practically we had the entire house to ourselves, and not only that, but she called up to put me on her insurance policy so i could use her car as well =) Well, this meant lots and lots of commuting, especially those times i had to make the 30km round trips to send my family back and then come back out to the city again to meet friends - the Eastern Freeway was my best friend. My geography of suburban Melbourne has improved so much in 1 week compared to the 3.5 years i was there, especially the Eastern subarbs. Only gripe about driving there is the very conservative speed limits. The speed limits of 100km/h on the highway and 60km/h, sometimes 40km/h in the suburbs are almost impossible to adhere to. =(.
Watching the sunrise from the plane, a couple of minutes before landing.
Watched 2 movies during the flight in - Kung Fu Panda & Iron Man + few other random short episodes like Discovery Channel. I guess watching these shows on such a tiny screen spoiled the top billing these shows received. Slept less than an hour. So after arriving, settling in, and having some food, i slept from noon till 4pm. After which it was time for dinner with relatives at some Chinese restaurant in Box Hill.
Saturday = graduation day. Woke up at 6.30am with like 2 hours sleep. Got prepared. Drove to uni. And after the rushed picture taking with everyone i hurried off to Wilson Hall. And this is where it gets interesting. You see, i was given a slip with my seat number on it. By the time i entered the hall all the other graduates to be were already seated so i hurriedly searched for my seat. I think my seat was in row T, and upon seeing the sticker indicating row S i looked at following row and saw an empty seat, so i assumed that that was my seat. After all the formalities of the ceremony were over with, it was time to start the proceedings proper. Names were called out, and my name was slated to be quite early in the proceedings. After a while, it struck me that something was not right. The names were proceeding too fast for it to correlate to where i was seated. I quickly got out of my seat and went to see someone in charge, whereby she informed me that it was too late. They assumed that since my allocated seat was empty, i was absent and hence took my name of the list. So, I have no idea who's seat i was taking, but my options were either to just take my certificate there and then, or come back later for the afternoon ceremony.
So yes, I suspect I'm a rare breed of one of the few "special" students who ever had to sit through TWO graduation ceremonies. Actually no, i didn't have to endure sitting through the entire morning ceremony. Once i realised the mistake i left the hall. But all things work together for good.. My silliness, naivety, carelessness, assumptiousness - call it whatever you want - meant that i had more time to take photos. I had my regalia rental extended the whole day at no extra charge, plus i managed to procure extra tickets for the afternoon ceremony which meant this time my entire family was able to enter the hall. And to top it all, a bright, vivid, ephemeral rainbow appeared right outside Wilson Hall during the ceremony. =)
During the afternoon ceremony I was the odd one out as almost everyone else were Arts students. I had a special seat designation, and what's more, i was told that i was to be the FIRST one on stage and briefed as to the proper protocol and things you had to do. Oh well, everything turned out okay and for all the effort and trouble parents go to attending their children's graduation, it's actually quite an anti-climax. Such is the life and times of a Melbourne Uni student trying to graduate. haha.
Anyway, here's photos of ppl who came to take photos - thanx for coming. Major complain is still the Melbourne Uni tradition of NOT providing graduates with a mortarboard, which is the quintessential image everyone has in mind when they think of graduations - ppl from other unis still find this omission shocking.
Managed to catch the Engineering graduation bear wandering around, so i stopped him for an obligatory photo.
Family pictures.
Btw, in case anyone was wondering if my sister's dressing looks familiar, it's for no other reason than that she was entirely outfitted by Jo the fashion stylist from own wardrobe (they're the same size =P)
It is at this point that I'll quote an apt portion from J.K. Rowling's
speech at the the recent Harvard Uni Commencement
(credit to Jeannie & Veron)I am nearly finished. I have one last hope for you, which is something that I already had at 21. The friends with whom I sat on graduation day have been my friends for life. They are my children's godparents, the people to whom I've been able to turn in times of trouble, friends who have been kind enough not to sue me when I've used their names for Death Eaters. At our graduation we were bound by enormous affection, by our shared experience of a time that could never come again, and, of course, by the knowledge that we held certain photographic evidence that would be exceptionally valuable if any of us ran for Prime Minister.
She was expounding on the importance and significance of the friends, i'll extend it to not merely the literal friends who was there at my graduation, but i believe friends that we have made so far that has brought us all the way to our graduations, through our formative years, at school, college, and university. These are our true friends. No doubt many acquaintances, even maybe friends, may be formed later on in life. But in this corporate environment, in this rat race that we all are inevitably a part off, isn't there an inkling of doubt as to whether the motivation of such friendships has to do with perhaps gaining business contacts / contracts, to further their careers, or just out of social obligation & necessity??
Whereas, i can safely say that the friends that we've formed during the fun times studying are true friends, not due to some hidden agenda, but for the shared connection, camaraderie, values, and sheer simple satisfaction of enjoying each other's company. I may have lost touch with many ppl over the years, when we meet up it's sometimes as if time hasn't passed and we can continue from where we left off.
I remember the first day i stepped into IH, arriving for the first time ever to Australia, in the midst of the cold winter, and the first person i saw was this cheerful little girl who was extremely helpful and helped me settle into my room. This person was no other than Kimmy, who never failed to greet me with a cheerful Hello! each time i saw her =). Staying in IH proved to be a wonderful experience, and i cannot imagine the stark difference that i would have faced had i decided to stay out by myself in an apartment. IH was a place whereby i had lots lots of fun and made lots of friends (it's impossible not to when you see 240 students all the time and at every meal).
The memories - the ever present gossiping and scandals which the entire college will somehow find out by the time the guilty party wakes up the next day (even my floor in Wadham was the scene of a couple of nocturnal philanderings), the many nights of staying up till late at night when most ppl have slept, playing foosball and ping pong at 4am in the morning (many times whilst we're actually cramming for exams the next day), studying in the Tute rooms, 'helping ourselves' to the bread left behind the kitchen early in the morning, our staple diet of Mi Goreng for supper, self help, the annual Ekiden runs, playing football, tennis, and basketball in the court, the countless 'surprise' birthday parties at midnight, the formal dinners, balls, Cafe, national nights, the group holidays to Grampians, Central Australia (a freaking cold desert in winter!), spending 1 week on a houseboat sailing aimlessly up and down the Murray river, Phillip Island, Wilsons Prom, etc. So many memories. And no, drunken debauchery wasn't one of them (if anything, i'll just fall asleep =P). I did participate a bit in college activities, though in hindsight i wished i had been more involved. After the influx of all the new freshers in 3rd year though, IH just felt different.
I'm glad i moved out during my final year. It's a totally different experience, not having 3 meals a day prepared for you (though i think I've only been to maybe 5 breakfasts during my entire stay in IH - at that too waas prob during fire drills), having to go grocery shopping and actually buy meat instead of junk food (living right abouve Safeway = convenience at your doorstep), having bills to pay which means not blatantly leaving the heater on 24/7 like in IH, not having a whole bunch of friends just outside your door whom you can call at any time. =(
But it was good nonetheless. It forced me to be more active in uni, and it was at this time that i joined MoMU and AIESEC, though Kai who has stalked me right from college was ever-present =P. Organising the MoMU events - night market, rock climbing, Merdeka Kenduri, i even emceed and was part of a boyband dance for the latter! AIESEC was about LCMs, organising the online portal, publishing the newsletter. Oh, and i was a tutor in uni too, which wasn't too great, but got paid a lot =)
I miss uni life too. No doubt lectures, assignments, and exams are always a bane when you're faced with them, but it's actually not too bad. As Chong Shen or MC will attest to, it goes without saying that you'd have quite a good chance of finding either one of Kai, Fred, or I asleep during lectures, and on rare ocassions all 3 at once! haha. I remember the many many last minute assignments which we would start the night before, stay up all night, go to uni to hand it in at 8am in the morning, and come home to sleep the whole day (Strategic Marketing was the worst of the lot!). The cramming for exams, which SWOT Vac has to be the best thing invented. It's amazing how one can go through the entire semester totally not understanding a single thing being said, and within the 1 week of studying everything suddenly becomes so much clearer.
I didn't mean to reminisce and wax lyrical about all that. I shall continue with the rest of the trip in he next post.
