long winded details of graduation trip
1st Dec
Went to Aunty May’s place for the night, so we can set off to Kings Cross early in the morning to catch the train to Newcastle.
.
2nd Dec
Woke up bleary-eyed with a cup of tea ready for me! (Thanks aunty!) Got my stuff ready and set off to the station with aunty in uncle’s car. Since we were there early, we went off to get some nibbles and entertainment (juice, nuts and sudoku book) for the 3+ hours train ride.
Arrived Newcastle pretty smoothly (for my part, not too sure about aunty though…. since she’s not partial to car/plane/train/boat rides of any sort…) and set off to Quality Hotel. Found it 5 minutes later from the train station just at the doorstep of my old stomping ground in Newcastle! Never realised that there was a hotel there too! Hmm…
Anyway… checked in and went up to our room, 409. Was supposed to be room 3somethingsomething, but it wasn’t ready and we weren’t fuzzed about the bigger room (anticipated Em coming along as well, but couldn’t make it at the end)…. so decided this non-smoking room would be better for us anyhow.
After a hot cup of tea, we ventured out from the hotel. First stop, TinTin for a late lunch. I had my usual Ngao Lam mee hun and iced Gong Sik Nai Cha (Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm~!!) and aunty had cha sui tong mai. Then we went off to Co-op for water, fruits, milk and more nuts. Thankfully, the hotel was a stones throw away from Co-op, so the 3 bottles of 2lit mineral water wasn’t a problem, though I did spend a few minutes gaping at the once-part-of-eldon-square de-construction site opposite Co-ops
Dumping down the groceries, we hopped off to Wilkinsons (opposite the hotel) and bought a brolly since aunty forgot hers, and being in Newcastle, its best to have one in hand. We mused about the lack of wind that day as well…. was anticipating the usual gusts of wind, but was thankfully surprisingly calm… except for the occasional 
drizzles (and the rain that we missed while we were in TinTIn)
Showed aunty some of the sights around Newcastle… though since it was nearly 5 at the time, it was already slightly too dark to see anything. Walked up to the Uni, and back down Northumberland Street. Hopped into a shop or two (and aunty bought me a new wallet! Shiney!)…. Oooh-ed and Aaaahhh-ed at the Fenwick window display which was Beatrix Potter themed this year.
Rounded the corner of the street to the Monument, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the Winter market was up! I forgot that there was that during this season! Unfortunately, everything was packing up, so didn’t get to see a lot of things (and me being slightly sidetracked by the mouthwatering aroma of weisswurst on the grill). We decided to go again the next day.
So legged the tiny distance from the monument back to the hotel (and oogled at GamesWorkshop, Forbidden Planet and a collector’s shop on the way) and decided not to go out for dinner again, since we both were still rather full from the huge lunch we had. Went off to co-ops again only to find that they were already closed! So in the end, bought sandwiches from sub for a late dinner that night.
Back in the hotel, we had nice looooooooooooooooooooong hot showers and lazed around for the night. I called Kristen for a bit of catching up, as well as to get Paulina’s phone number. (*grins* And recieving it 2 hours later) Drank lots of tea, ate fruits and the sub sandwich and read the night away….
.
3rd Dec
Woke up at 6.30am (Gawd, help!) and got ready… Went to the buffet breakfast provided by the hotel at around 7am…. Ate a rather big and hearty breakfast that was quite NYOM.
Set off to the Uni at 8am…. First thing I did was to collect my robes, since it was the closest building on the way. Suprised that there wasn’t a lot of people around there for that! Was in a building where we had a lot of lectures in, so I was quite familiar 
with the place.
Got my robes without a hitch, and met Paulina when I was donning it at the corridor…. After the usual hugs and gleeful greetings, I was 
given this delightful ‘omiyage’ from Mexico! (which is now sitting happily on the headrest of my bed in Borehamwood)
Next stop, was to collect my invitation cards and to register for the ceremony.
THAT queue was LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!!!!
Thankfully, I met Mathilde, and we chatted most of the time away while waiting for our turn…. 
(And me thinking about my final CF, which happened to be the British Queuing Culture.. ironically)
Finally set for the ceremony, we went to Kings Hall. Another queue for me (aunty went off to the guests seats upstairs) to have my hood nicely folded and placed on my right arm… and proceeded to the seats (No.72 for me!)
There, I saw Kristen and Paulina already seated. Tong Li and Oliver arrived shortly after…
As usual, the ceremony was slightly late… So we chatted and took some photos… and chatted some more… I even took a wee video just for the heck of it… Couldn’t do much because of the bloody hood that we have draped on our right arm… and us being paranoid about messing it up!
Thankfully, things started not too long after…
The academics filed in behind the mace and the Vice Chancellor… and we all had to stand up. I found it 
very difficult because of the robes…. They were volumous, and unwieldy… not to mention having LONG LONG sleaves which I kept either sitting, or stepping on….
The Hooding started after we sat back down. One by one, we were led to stand at the side, and waited for our 5 seconds of fame.
The setting was waaaaaaaaaayyy less intimidating compared to my undergrad. ceremony (HUGE hall, loads of people and the Prime Minister’s wife was our Chancellor) or Leo’s 
MA graduation ceremony (at Preston) since this was a relatively small ceremony with only 1 school. So when it was my turn, I stomped up, handed my hood, and had it slipped over my head…. and felt like the string was choking me…. Urgh~ That was REALLY uncomfortable!!! The hood was NOT the lightest, so having it being held in place by a string around your neck was NOT fun! 
Then, as all and every graduate did, I walked over to the Vice Chancellor, and shook hands over the Mace while being congradulated.
Walked off down the step (while mentally chanting "Don’t trip over robes… Don’t trip over robes… Don’t trip over robes… …." ) I gave a glance towards the camera mounted on the podium on the second floor…. knowing that my parents (and extended family!) were watching all the way back in Malaysia, on the other side of the globe! Ahhh~ Technology… Don’t you just LOVE it!
Succeeding NOT to step on the robes and fall flat on my face, I 
managed to reach my seat without any life altering embarrassment…
After everyone’s name has been announced, the Vice Chancellor gave a speech. The academics left after that, with the Mace to signify the end of the congregation….
The Graduates then left the Hall into the corridor to catch up with the guests, and we all went to the Quad for multiple photos!
We went around taking photos, lots and LOTS of photos.
Happily, it was a nice and sunny day, with not MUCH wind…. and not TOO cold… since we were all without jackets, and the robes did not do much in terms of blocking the wind and chill….
To me, this was the time when I missed the others who were not able to attend this ceremony the most. I really wanted photos with all of the CCC + Media bunch… Would have been so cool to have all… 15? of us dressed up in Harry Potter-ish robes and running around the Quad for photos!!! Jeez… Even with only the few of us, we managed to linger for more than half an hour ! I think we’d still be there if it were the 15 of us!!
With all of us shivering and having ice cold hands, we went off to the Receptions at Kings Road. There, we had a glass of wine to celebrate the occasion, and chatted with our lecturers (Deborah Chambers and Tony Young)
I avoided the food, because they looked slightly dodgy… and the only little finger-nibble I had was saturated with oil! NOT good for the train ride ahead of me in the afternoon!
After mingling for about an hour… (and MORE photos), and saying 
goodbye to friends… I went off to have my studio photo taken. And again, was pleasantly surprised that the queue was not at all long! In fact, I wasn’t IN a queue! Was ushered into a room pretty quickly, had quite a number of shots taken, and had 3 proofs printed out for me to choose from, with or without the hat. Aunty offered to pay for it as my Christmas Present! *yay* So, I’ll be ordering them online…. still thinking of which package to have!
There, aunty also bought me the photo of the hand shaking (see above) that was printed out on the spot. Not too happy with the 
shot, but was considered one of the ‘ok’ shots there…. *sigh*
After all the flaffing about, we went to return the robes.
Again, no queue!!!!!!
.
I wanted to buy some newcastle uni thingy… and decided to get this darling little mascot.
Its a 15.5cm soft toy of the Uni mascot with the Newcastle scarf! So I managed to snag the last one from the souvenir shop at the Museum of Antiquities. *yay*
Set back off to the Hotel…. One the way back, saw this.
All that was left of the de-construction site opposite co-op was the door at Eldon Square I usually go through to avoid the wind… On top of that, one of the workers was setting up a christmas tree!!! He was hotwiring some electrics to get the lights to work!! *grins* Was quite funny to see that there!
While aunty was showering and relaxing before our 2pm checkout, I went off in search of some apply juice for the train ride, and also to forbidden planet where I picked up a LOTR Children of Hurin diary with loads of Alan Lee’s drawings~! *faints with glee*
After showering, tea and checking out, we went back to the winter market at the Monument. There we bought some stuff like chocolates, truffles, fudge, olives to cart back to London… Then, it was onwards to Blakes for a coffee and lunch (my fav. again. salmon quiche from the cafe!)
We had a walk to the Castle Keep before heading to the train station just in time for a nice little 10 minute wait for the train…. and it’s back to London we go….
I read more of my Crystal Cave trilogy on the way back. Interesting tale, specially since I grew up with various versions of the Arthurian legands… and drank loads of water, finished the apple juice and cashew nuts.
Uncle picked us up at Kings Cross at around 7.15… and went to have dinner.
I was then plonked back to Balmoral drive, happy, tired, but glad to be back after such a full 2 days trip up to Newcastle.
.
For more photos and videos, go to http://s79.photobucket.com/albums/j127/Enkemeniel/family/newcastle%20graduation/?start=all&paginator=top .
Cheers!
