Rounding Up September: USM Convocation (Expo) 2012.

Prologue: ...and just by posting it on relevant pages on relevant time that it immediately became the most visited (though it's not certain they actually read it through or not) post of all time. We are back to our regular scheduled broadcast: rounding up September in the month of October!

Yet another attempt of multisensory reading experience to set the mood right: Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah! (cover by Johnny Mercer) The song itself is kind of short though so feel free to loop it as you see fit.

Universiti Sains Malaysia's 46th Convocation Ceremony was held on 19-23 September 2012. Besides scroll, academic regalia and mortarboard, convocation week also means...

...Convocation Expo which is basically a week-long fun/food/trade fair which take place as usual over the fairground right behind Dewan Tuanku Syed Putra (the main convocation hall) and Lecture hall foyer. In the week leading up to Convex, tents of various sizes and shapes spruced up all around the fairground, ready for all the prospective vendors to ply their trade.

As the Convocation week commences, the fairground is abuzz with crowds, Campus community or outside visitors alike are attracted by whatever that they fancied. Besides the usual stalls selling random graduation paraphernalia and commercial products (top row left and right), other bodies and organisations (within USM or from off campus) participated as well (for example on top row center: Muzium and Galeri Tuanku Fauziah or MGTF with their black air-igloo-dome thing probably related to space exhibits or something just to make money ofthrill the curiosity of kid. On the lower row center, special tent has been set aside for various research platform, course societies and such for showcasing their research work etc. PTPTN also set up an information counter as well for information.). Bouncy castle for excitable kid made a comeback this time but now with an ghost house addition right beside. There are different programmes/themes installed for visitors for different days of Convex and there's one day that featured pets and animals in which the Wildlife and Forestry Department were invited along as well bringing their exotic wildlife along for the ogling public eye. On the center row right is a cobra with its hood expanded probably weary of those poking fingers while an overly excited ferret/weasel thing (I have no idea what is its exact name.) climbing around its cage while poking hands trying to caress its fur. Of course, none of these feature is a bigger crowd puller when compared to the large food tent and rows of snacks and tidbits stalls!

They also have lucky draws as well to give away all sorts of random freebies (shampoos, toothpaste, discount coupons) from various sponsors in which yours truly actually got two free tickets for Night Safari at Taiping Zoo! Now, anyone wanna go Taiping with me? Better be quick because the ticket is only valid until 31 December 2012!

Here's a collage of what did I had over the fairground for one whole week of Convex: kebab and roti john (top row center: beef kebab, second row center chicken kebab, third row left roti john, final row left beef kebab together with coconut float/flurries drink which always appear over Pasar Malam Sungai Dua on Saturday but came in to Convex ground as well) is definitely a must have as evidently shown occupying 1/3 of the food I had and took pictures of. My first meal over Convex ground is the Buddhist Student Society's vegetarian stall's (their annual feature and more often than not, the only non-Muslim stall around the fairground) vegetarian set meal (top row left, RM 3 for three dishes and a cup of herbal tea), home made marsh potatoes and garlic breads (top row right, RM5 for two scoops of mash and three pieces of garlic bread), deep fried mushroom from Balik Pulau Mushroom Farm stall (second row left, RM2), nasi kerabu from Himpunan Anak-Anak Kelantan or HAAK's stall (second row right, supporting student business yo! RM4 I think), small pizza (third row center, RM5), a small cup of Marigold Chocolate milk before wrapping up the week with my final meal of Bee Hoon Soup (lowest row, center RM3.50).

Oh in case you noticed and wondered about the appearance of the official booklet for 46th Convocation Ceremony at the last picture (the one with Beehoon soup), someone actually left two of these booklet over the Freereading Corner outside the library despite how finely minted and memorable the booklet is for any graduates! So I decided to knick one of it took one of it under my care instead of letting it to rot and ignored over the freereading corner. Our new Vice-Chancellor Professor Dato' Omar Osman finally got his moment of being featured prominently in a Convocation Booklet. Meanwhile, spotted a familiar group of happy faces in the collages of happy graduates in the past year...

Of course, it's only fair to cover the actual Convocation Ceremony itself for a post that talks about Convocation Week so my heartfelt congratulations for all the graduates of 46th Universiti Sains Malaysia Convocation Ceremony. (I think Institute of Postgraduate Studies has the best graphic design/PR team among all institutions within USM. For their long graduation banners lining outside their office: a rainbow colour crayon writing-esque congratulations!)

...especially for fellow Bachelor of Arts (Translation and Interpreting Studies) or BATIan super-juniors of 2009-2012. Godspeed in all future endeavours whether its on career or further studies. Even though my mark in their life is quite insignificant (just one year) but I still got to know a few of them and so its only right for me as a senior (that seemingly never left, fortunately or unfortunately) to properly sent them off. Luckily I came out from my room just in time to take their group photo. Being the very last session on Sunday morning, it only involves School of Humanities and they came out at least an hour earlier than what I had before.

The weather was great with fluffy clouds and clear blue sky on that Sunday.  I wonder when is it going to be my turn again.

Epilogue: Made another teeny-weeny progress in writing...hopefully at least another small step forward this week or something. I am still wondering at the sudden influx of sideline work (with some income of course) these recent weeks as if these (profitable) distractions is a cue for me to get a job or something.