Graduation Day

Now before you start bombarding me with "CONGRATULATIONS" and hand over the traditional graduation gifts, I should let you know that I did not graduate today. In fact, the graduate happened to be my good buddy, Tina (Maria Cristina... Yeah that's her real name... and if your next question falls along the lines of "why do people call her Tina instead of Maria or Cristina?", I will only give you this 4-word phrase.. "It's a Filo Thing") Landayan, whom I got to know during my tragic high school years and is one of the Top 5 people on my 'Hit List' after she decided to demonstrate some infernal wrestling move that involved hair pulling... with her FEET!!!!!!! Yes she stepped on my hair, whilst i was vulnerably lying on the pavement, without my knowledge since my first reaction to her asking, "I'm going to do a wrestling move on you" was to get my backside (lame pun intended. Haha) off the pavement before she could make her move. Little did I know she had already made it!! Hey will you look at that! I'm going off track. Sorry i just got caught in the 'reminiscing' moment that usually comes with graduating territory. So with all those irrelevant things said, except for parts relating to 'Graduation', all "CONGRATULATIONS" should be directed at Tina! *The crowd goes wild chanting "Tina! Tina! Tina!...* whilst all graduation presents should still be given to me. lol, Only kidding! But if of course you still feel the need to congratulate me and give me gifts for my dedication to the procrastinating processes then I welcome them with open arms!!

So for all those with the perceptive skills of Paris Hilton, I attended and mini-celebrated Tina's Graduation. As a special present to Tina and for all those who unfortunately could not witness this monumental event, I shall preserve this special occasion by recounting the events so that people can read about it for many generations to come... Or at least until my Blog gets deleted...

TINA’S GRADUATION DAY, 21st December 2004
So there I was... Sitting right up the back of the almost-packed auditorium, in the "nose-bleed section" as they affectionately call it. All by my lonesome since I couldn't find Tina's parents (the downside of being short in a room full of tall people... Can't see over people's heads!), I waited patiently, listening to the awesome mini-orchestra playing at the front left-hand side, until the ceremony begun. And it FINALLY did.

Instantly I was hit with one of the most craptacular speeches I've heard from a Dean/Principal of an institution EVER. And believe me I've attended enough assemblies and graduations to compare. Not only was her speech BORING but it was full of useless statistics (which I think was only some ruthless promotion so that the guests could send more money their way when their youngest child is old enough to attend) and basically congratulated almost every class year except for the actual class graduating today! So here's a statistic for her... 99% of speeches given by a dean or principal at ceremonies are boring... 1% of those speeches spark violent tendencies within an audience... And we all know which percentage she falls under! So finally I survived the speeches and managed to keep myself from grabbing a pen and stabbing it in my eye, because i guarantee that would've been less painful torture. (And yes EXAGGERATION is my specialty). They announced the graduates and there was clapping after EVERY SINGLE ONE!! What ever happened to the usual announcement of "Please hold your applause until the end"? Thanks to that, the ceremony extended for an unnecessary 10 minutes and i had to endure a moronic young teenager in front of me clapping obnoxiously! It took all my strength not to 'accidentally' hit her with my bag. (Hmmm... I'm painting quite a violent picture of myself, but I'm not usually this violent! REALLY! I'm quite pleasant!) Now don't get me wrong, there were good bits to the graduation even though no-one managed to fall flat on their face much to my and Tina's disappointment (Damn graceful graduates!). One of them was when Tina's name got called out and she received her Advanced Diploma! And the awesome orchestra! Anyway, an hour and a half and a million random thoughts later, the ceremony ended and i was out of the claustrophobic hell that was the auditorium.

Now what's great about graduation ceremonies is the FREE refreshments after it! They had delectable cakes and cookies, along with the quaint coffee and tea and the best part was that I actually got to eat some!! Unlike my brother's graduation where i didn't get to eat anything because by the time i got there people had stuffed them in their own grumbling stomachs, they actually had a vast amount of refreshments to feed other grumbling stomachs and MY OWN! Oh it almost makes enduring that irrelevant speech worthwhile! Oh the wonders of food.

So after shutting up my stomach for a limited amount of time, Tina and I said our "goodbyes" to her parentals and headed out into the city to grab some much deserved lunch! Already Tina was faced with an important decision to make immediately after graduating... Chinese, Italian or friend chicken for lunch? And as hard as it was, she tackled the decision head on by deciding on eating at "PIZZA HUT". But the important decisions didn't end there! OH NO! At Pizza Hut Tina had to decide what fruit she wanted to eat from the wide range of fruits available... it was either watermelon or.... WATERMELON!! You can imagine the predicament right? But once again, she proved she could handle the hard choices and made the correct one. Pizza Hut was fun. Sitting at a sticky table with our pizza-filled plate talking about anything, while receiving smiles from a lonely young boy seated 2 tables away from us and waiting for the pasta to be cooked. The only reason you eat in at Pizza Hut is for the pasta! You don't leave Pizza Hut without having pasta! Unless of course you're allergic to it then you would obviously avoid it with all your power!

...3 platefuls and 5kgs later we decided to walk off the added weight and headed for a book store right near Central station in hopes of finding something to occupy my time. Unfortunately all hopes were diminished, so now all i have to occupy my time is going online and updating blogs... Sad... but true.

With (my) hopes crushed, we called it a day and I gave Tina one last "Congratulations" before she stepped onto the millenium train to go home and let all the graduating feelings sink in! Or as she said, "I'm going home and then sleeping"...

This Blog is for you Tina! CONGRATULATIONS and GOOD LUCK FOR THE FUTURE!!