Of Pearls and Hornbills: This must be the longest blog i have ever written

My graduation journey started on Thursday when we headed for the airport at 8.30pm that night. I knew this trip will be one of my “last for a very long time” (I quote my lecturer). I was excited and happy and sad at the same time. Reminiscing the old memories I have of the Cat City I can remember the amount of fun I had with my friends and lecturers alike. Fond memories they are.

I reached the airport at 12 am. I wasn’t very sleepy and Danny was surprised I could stay up that long. We took turns to catch winks and ordered tea and fries from McDonald’s (our makeshift shelter for that night. It was the only one with a reasonable sofa to sleep on). Funny how LCC-T is so bz even though it was the middle of the night.

At 6am we checked in our luggage to be headed for the Kuching. I was excited again. The trip there was fairly pleasant and we caught some sleep on the plane. About 2 hours of it. We landed at 9.15am.

Sarah came to fetch us from the airport together with Felicia. I missed them so much. Seeing them was like seeing angels…which really they were in their own special way. They brought us back to Sarah’s. Danny went to sleep and I went straight for campus praying there wouldn’t be a jam there like Sarah and Jo said there would be as I was tired too and I couldn’t take lining up for hours for my jubah…at least not on that day. Guess what? My prayers were answered and there was no jam! Free! When others waited for hours I settled everything in half an hour! Praise God.

I adjourned on to see my lecturer. I just had to meet him. He has taught me so much that nothing I can do could repay him. That’s how I felt. Like it was ordained by God again, I managed to meet him in between his tight schedule. I was really so happy to see him as he has told me earlier on that he could not make it. We managed lunch together and it was so nice of him to show me round the permanent campus. It has changed so much. Everything has shifted there already. There were so few ppl at the old campus and it seemed that way at the new one too cause it is so big! Dr. Lee took me to see all he lecturers who taught me before. We chatted with them for a while and then left as Dr. Lee had another meeting to attend. Yup he’s a real bz person yet he makes time for everything. That’s why he’s my role model.

So I headed back to Sarah’s house after that and took my starving fiancé for lunch at Tabuan Jaya. Missed the food there. The first thing we had was Kolo Mee hehe. I came back to pack stuff that I had left in Sarah’s house for 3 months and later had dinner at Hui Sing. Sipping White Lady a local sweet drink was like ecstacy. Had some of Sarah’s mee and kiaw (wantan) and some jelly. Ah…missed that. Danny had tomato mee and he was quite pleased with it. Later, at 9pm that night we met up with Mike and his gf Po Yee (hoped I had spelt it correctly) I had asked Mike earlier on if he could take pictures for Sarah’s family as Sarah’s dad could not leave the house and it was so nice of him to agree. We discussed the time and situation over soft-shelled crab burgers and mayang tea at D’Alif’s at waterfront and it was agreed that he would be there on Friday afternoon. Sarah fetched Chris from the airport. So, that was the end of Thursday.

Friday started off with the graduation rehearsal an that took til 11 am. Me and the girls went to Pohonmas to have some food (we had promised to come back here during graduation) and some P.M.S. (pohonmas smell). We met the boys there and chatted and laughed for a while before going to pay for our graduation photos.
At 2.30, Mike was at Sarah’s to take Sarah’s family picture. I was glad Mike could make it as Sarah said they have never had a family portrait before so it was extra meaningful.

Danny and I checked into Holiday Inn after that. Took our baths and went straight to the photo gallery to have our pictures taken. Talk about posing. I thought what I was doing was awkward. Listen to this “ok tilt your head to the right…look down….down summore...ok…chin out….tilt…ok that’s right…good” *click* Try and do that and see if u feel awkward but the picture came out real pretty and me and the girls were really happy with it. So was Danny Chen who was so proud of himself for making it to my graduation.

My parents arrived at night and we took them to the Venue to try the fried oysters there which I totally adore and the tortoise meet there. They didn’t have Midin that night so we settled for cangkuk manis instead. We took my dad to Everrise to buy shoes as he was not very comfortable in what he was traveling in and then we all went back to the hotel.

Saturday morning my mom, dad and bro went for their city tour. It came with the Golden Holidays package. It took them to the Bird’s nest factory, Kuih Lapis factory, Civic Centre and Waterfront. Everything was new to them coz they have never seen anything like Sarawak before so it was pretty interesting.

While they were on that Danny and I joined Chris’s family at some Sup Babi at Carpenter Street. Ahh… we just love it even though the hawker has many times shouted at our faces. We go back for the good food and are amused by the hawker’s antics haha. Danny and I reached at 11am and our food came at 11.30. We were lucky this time. The last time we went at 12pm and we waited til 2pm!!! Lip Khoon was there and so was Kelvin. It was good to see them again.

We went back to the hotel after that and took my parents to Waterfront again to do some souvenir shopping. Mom bought a lot of t-shirts while dad got amused with the size of the cakes and buns that were along the walk. We later went for lunch again as mom insisted of having Kolo Mee. After that we went back to the hotel to drop off my parents and took my bro shopping for stuff for his gf. We shopped a while at Tun Jugah and walked over to Sarawak Plaza for sushi. Must say the standard of sushi has gone up…much more delicious now. Good on ya Kuching!

Dinner was at Sarah’s. Chris had planned this and catered food in since sarah’s dad couldn’t go out. She ordered home cooked food. Midin, paku, pork leg, bamboo shoots, kacangma and asam fish. Sarah’s mom cooked wild boar. We had a feast and the food was fantastcic. The boys came over and so did David and his son Dylan, the boys and Mr. Tay and of course the four families: Grace’s, Chris’s, Sarah’s and mine. It was tonight too that sarah presented all of us with our gifts. It was orang asli baskets and hats. How beautiful they are as gifts to remember the family by. Sarah’s mom has been the most patient mother to her children, husband and me. Sarah’s bro was really a good boy and Sarah….words cannot express how she is like but I assure you they are all very good things. The sacrifice the family makes to stay strong together is amazing. The hats had patterns that corresponded with our Lun Bawang names. Chris’s is Liung (no particular meaning), Grace’s is Mungak (flower) and mine, Gituen (star). We went home early as I was tired but the guys and Chris stayed back and drank sup harimau (Tiger Beer) all night long!

Chris, Grace, me and Sarah with our hats and baskets

Sunday. G-Day! Finally! We all left the hotel by 7.45am as instructed by Sarah. Snatched my parents off their free buffet breakfast and headed for Sarah’s house. She said we were to leave in two cars and so we did all dressed up and looking fine with smile from cheek to cheek. Upon reaching we got our line up numbers. We all got a free breakfast snack which would fill the corner of my stomach but along came Danny and said he was hungry. So I gave him half of my cake and the rest of the box of the goodies. 8.10am came and all of us lined up and by 8.30am we were all in the hall.

Felicia, Sarah, me, Audrey and Ah Mau all prim and ready

In the hall, we sang our uni song and I couldn’t help but to feel a pang of sadness. They did tell us that we would only sing the song twice in our life. Once during orientation and another during graduation. I was singing the song for the last time. Unimas Gemilang. The dignitaries entered the hall after that together with the cokmar followed by Pehin Sri. After the speeches we went up to get our certs. It was the best moment of my life. I had finally graduated. After proudly walking up the stage and receiving my cert in front of so many ppl I walked down again enjoying the 1 minute of fame that just past hehe.

After that, was a period of rush all the way. Took pictures with friends and family, went back to the hotel to check out, had lunch (I had 4 layer teh si peng = gula melaka + milk + wheatgrass + tea, lui cha, rojak, kuih chap and salad chicken rice) and by 2.45pm we were already at the airport. I reached back in Penang at 10.30pm. Fin.