It Is Over!

Convocation is finally over! I can now breathe. Everything was smooth-sailing, which I am thankful for. I know my P was happy with the whole event. He found it inspiring.

Things were alright, I guess, after 2 rehearsals, where my colleagues and I had to remind the students about everything!! Stride confidently to the stage. Do not drag your feet. Receive the certificate with both hands. Remember to say thank you. Lol.

The ceremony was quite grand indeed, with teachers dressed in their regal graduation robes and mortarboard. There were academic processions into and out of the hall with the accompaniment of gamelan music.

At the last minute, many parents and family members of the students signed up for the event, to give their moral support to the graduands. A few parents approached the teachers after the event last night, saying they were really touched by the school's effort to celebrate the outgoing sixth formers.

My feet became really sore by the end of last night. I could not walk properly, and had to take of my heels when I made my way to the parking lot. However, I think that all is worth it. I really thank my kids to help co-ordinate the event - from ushering to emceeing to overseeing gifts and souvenirs to photography, and so on. Thanks kids! I'm so proud of all of you.

My grouses :
We had our ceremony held at a 4-star hotel, but I was terribly disappointed with the food and the service. No doubt, I am glad that the hotel allowed us to do our rehearsals before the event. They were also quite agreeable when we requested for setting up of chairs and so on. Thank you so much!

But I think the hotel needs to make tremendous improvement in the food and the service. The food was bland, and there were not much variety.

My platter

Soup

The only appetiser served to our VIP table was a plate of umai. I asked for another plate of it, but it was never served. Thinking there were more salads at the main banquet, my principal requested for me to just get some from there. I walked over and found that there was no other type of appetiser served apart from a plate of umai & another of rojak buah. Rojak was not even served to the VIP table at first.

The soup of the night was chicken & corn soup, and the mains were fried rice, fried noodles, roasted chicken, lamb, cuttlefish and a vegetable. For dessert, there was a only a type of cake, and fruits.

That was the food. Now, the service for the VIP table was really very disappointing. The table setting was ordinary. The utensils were not up to par. Ordinary-looking plates and even melamine saucers were also used. EVEN my school has got classier utensils which we use for official functions at school.

The service was quite poor too. The waitress served the soup to the other guests on the VIP table first, when in fact, the first person to serve would be the guest of honour. Then she missed out serving my principal. Sigh. There was still a lot of food left in the tray but the waitress cleared it. I don't recall her asking for permission to clear the tray.

Overall, I was not happy at all about the food and the service for the VIP table. It is a marked distinction between the function which I attended at another hotel in town last month. I don't mean that the food was not filling. They were filling alright, but just not satisfying. Lots of room for improvement, if you ask me.