Leaving My Uni Life Behind

I finally mustered the heart to write this after unofficially ending my studies since June.

There are so many things I want to tell, as there are so many feelings I kept bubbling inside.

I will try to express as much as I can.

And gosh have I abandoned my blog for so long!

"20 years ago you don't want to be here. Now you don't want to leave."

-Dr. Archer to John Constantine

The quote above is how I felt when I started in UPM.

I dreaded having to leave my home and wished to go back as soon as I can every week.

But as I approached my final days in UPM, I wanted to stay as long as I can, after enjoying what might have been the best 4 years of my life so far.

Now that I have started working, I really miss my uni life.

Something about the life in uni that you know will never be the same again once we start entering the working world.

Things that I miss about uni:

1. Bringing all my stuff back to college every Sunday night. Carrying all my heavy stuff and walking up the stairs to my room and the feeling of settling down, and walking over to check if Jake is in.
2. Attending classes with PMP. Classes are just so fun when there are great companions to be bored with. Memories of the lecture, the room, the seats, the chatter, the ambience are all precious memories.
3. Looking out my window as I clatter with my lappie through the night. Most times just to see people walk and chat, once I even saw fire coming from the opposite block that summoned the fire department and medic.
4. Looking out the window during workout sessions, usually seeing LaiYee, PohYee and ShuXian walking back, and I would call out to LaiYee.
5. Workout sessions with Jake, and with Ray, the one who started it all. There is nothing like having a partner to workout with. The motivation and the mutual encouragement got us through what we felt was hell. Nowadays I lack the same motivation to push myself during workouts.
6. Bathing and washing clothes myself.
7. Dinner with college mates at 8pm (sometimes 7.30pm).
8. Party sessions with college mates every once in awhile, with cheap alcohol, snacks and a whole lot of games and drunkenness. (free flow anyone?)
9. Going to Jake's lappie to play games (his laptop was the most advanced gaming console at the time.)
10. Going to college events and doing cheers. Haven't done cheering in such a long time, but the memories are just nice for some reason.
11. Dinner and hanging out in Serumpun Cafe. There was a time where food in Serumpun Cafe was good, and we hesitated to go back after our meals. I miss the corn, and the roti canai, and the chats.
12. Registering for courses in FEM McD tables and yelling "DAFTAR ARAB! DAFTAR ARAB!". It is one of those PMP moments I will remember for life.
13. Meals with PMP in old flat (no longer there) and new flat.
14. Taking pictures of the funny moments of PMP.
15. Doing assignments and presentations with PMP & EKIN (though I always become the leader.)
16. Mountain hiking and skytrex with PMP.
17. Taking videos of PMP during trips with them. Luckily I did take the videos even though they disagree, as it turned out to be the most memory cherishing item we will ever have.
18. Going to bed in my college that felt oh-so-comfortable with the powerful ceiling fan that made the sleep so cozy. Also, looking at the shadows when I couldn't fall asleep and listening to the hum of the ceiling while I ponder on study issues that might come tomorrow.
19. The Amazing Race to Melaka Portugese Settlement with LaiYee and TakJie.
20. Being called "King"or "Boss".
21. Organizing PMP events.
22. Discussing Kpop and SNSD,
23. Playing Ironman with Jake's watch.
24. Playing Defender II with Jake and Chris.
25. Staying up with course mates to study on tips for exams.
26. Saying "See you again next sem." in the PMP Facebook page.
27. Recording our events and trips.

Things that I wished would have been different:

1. More time to express our thought and feelings to each other before leaving Sabah on our last course trip. We didn't get a chance to have pillow talk since our 1st trip to Port Dickson.
2. KMR didn't fell-out in our 2nd semester. Because of the problems faced in KMR, plus some amount of poor leadership, most KMR-ians pulled out and lived else where after semester 2. There in causing a large chain effect that cause most PMP to move out of KMR a few semesters later. It would have been nice if everyone would have stayed in KMR.
3. Organizing more activities like we suggested. Many activities were put on hold due to many reasons (eg, clubbing, Chilling waterfall, skytrex extreme).

But nevertheless, I wouldn't have changed anything about the four years I had in UPM.

I began a journey on the last leg of my studying life, who would have known I would make such good friends and had so much fun. People say the time in uni would be the best time of your life; I am inclined to believe so.

Perhaps we all know that this will be the last leg of our study lives before we move forward to the working working that we cherish our uni life more than other studying phases.

This is Jake. My gym buddy. I think we were close because of the similarities in our personalities. One of the most creative guy I've met, but applied to the wrong things most of the time. Imma miss our workout together. Thanks for letting us game on your lappie. Haha!

Chris and Susan. One weird couple who never showed much affection in front of us. I wonder if they do have any intimacy when alone. Occasionally they would post sweet messages for each other on Instagram, which I think is very weird to hear Chris write those kinda things. But I am still rooting for you guys, the only PMP couple of our batch. You guys are the luckiest 'cause you get to keep a piece of PMP with you after graduating. Wish to see you guys again after many years.

LaiYee! I feel like I am closest to her among all PMP. We used to joke that we are relatives as we share the same name and is of Hakka descent from Johor. Perhaps that's why we are close to each other. It's a shame we couldn't always take the same classes during semesters and as Susan mixed with Chris more you became closer to ShuXian and ChuiTeng, further dividing the gap between EKIN and ChekWongShuTeng.

This is ShuXian. I remember when I first met her she had a lot of white hair. But it disappeared as the time went by. She reminds me of the old generation folks who speaks older Chinese. We should have drawn more often together and chased our drawing dreams. Hope you can live your life the way you want, now that you are working now.

Dear ChuiTeng. Hope you don't blur liao and don't get bullied when you working ya. You have the right to choose what you want. Even though we have graduated, you can still find me for counseling. All the best in chasing your personal goals, I know you have many goals to achieve about improving yourself. You have made a huge leap by opening your mind and doing things you fear. One last advice for you, be firm and decisive, once you've made the decision, say "Yes." and that's it. Stand firm on what you want and what you decide.

Mr. Chek, my 1st year roommate. Wei friend, where are you lately? Sorry I couldn't keep my promise of playing chess with you since 1st semester. But I know I won't win you anyway. Haha! I will miss your cold jokes and weird antics. Make your girl happy, she's a good one.

Caroline~. The most non-ladylike girl I have seen so far but also the most outgoing girl I know. In her own words "if a guy loves me he will love my everything". This line has stuck with me since the 1st semester. It was fun when you wanna invite her to any activities as she will mostly join without hesitation. Without her, my videos would be boring as hell as the other PMP members are so camera shy.

This is PohYee! She has talent in martial arts I can tell you that, and a great interest in it too. A very moderate and down-to-earth kinda girl. Too bad I didn't have time to chat much with her. Haha! Sorry~

This is Ms. AnnGie. With the name of my mother and the face of my sister, but she isn't like either of them. The most lastly impression is that she uses big plastic clips to clip her hair (the type you use to seal a plastic bag or your bread). Unfortunately she never join many of our PMP activities. I wonder what would it be like if she came along. But then again she wasn't that close to all of us.

ChaiYoke. The girl with the radical thought. Someone to balance out the group think effects among PMP. Hmm, perhaps I should have been closer to you and get to know you more.

Nowadays it's just not that fun anymore. The days in the working office is mundane and repetitive. When coworkers talk to you you have to decipher the political implications and threat to your work position.

It's only 3 months since I ended my uni life, and I miss it so much.

"Memories are nice, but that's just what they are."

-Rikku, Final Fantasy X

I will keep the memories, all the good and the bad, the days of laughter and hardships, dearly in my heart, together with all my nakamas.

“一起欢笑一起流泪的日子，将这几年点缀成美丽的画面”

-Adrian 陈凯旋, <熬夜>

From now on marks a new chapter in our lives, but I will forever cherish the time we had together. Words can't describe how much I treasure those memories. Bye uni life, bye PMP, we had such a good time together.

"We knew this day would come, we knew it all along. How did it come so fast?"

-Daylight, Maroon 5

I put a lot of efforts in doing our videos, from editing and selecting songs, if you listen well, especially on Day 4 of our Sabah trip, I picked songs that mainly reflect our feelings. I truly hoped that you all liked it.

Here is one for the memories and the tears (gosh I miss you guys so much):

And this one is my particular favourite! A montage of all PMP trips, I tried to match to the beat of the music: (click to watch!)

More videos on my YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/RegenWLC

Even if I could continue to study in UPM again, it just wouldn't be the same without you guys anymore. Its sad things never last, but it is exactly that that makes us cherish our experiences even more!