Goodbye Edusquare

Nine months ago, I checked in to TTS5/2 (AKA Edusquare). I got a nice corner room upstairs, which is a bit hot in the evening (when the sun shone in directly through the windows), but it has a nice view at any time of the day. The roof downstairs extended just directly below my window, and I immediately dreamt of crawling out of the window, lying there on the roof at night, staring at the stars. I would soon realise the stupidity of this idea - the guardhouse was just barely 6 metres away, and I hate to think what they would do if they see me climbing through my window in the middle of the night.

My room, September 2008.

The room seemed perfect to me and I found myself loving the place more than I expected. Maybe because it marks the turning point of my life - entering university. Maybe because I enjoyed the company of 13 housemates who are so different from my KTAR ones. Or maybe it's just because I spent 6 days a week there for the past year.

I take the stairs so oftenly I couldn't even count the number of times I use it in a day. I even noticed that there are an odd number of stairs (19, I think), so I always step on the bottom most one before taking them two at the time, so my final step would land on the top floor.

Soon, the place became more homely than I could ever call my house in Klang.

Upstairs, September 2008.

For the past 9 months, I did many things in my little room. I clogged up my toilet boil. Not once, but twice.

That little room was where I did the three things I never thought I'd do.

I even witnessed the walls surrounding the house grow by more than a foot some time ago.

The conference table where the few of us sat and discussed serious matters, like why Char Siew Pau cried in the movies but Man Tou didn't.

Time passed by, and things must change. Some noticeable changes of the house include the amount of notices that accumulated over the months.

Click on the image for a bigger shot.

Light bulbs popped. By the time I finished my second exam, all but three light bulbs of the common area upstairs were broken.

Of the many ornaments we already had (our house was used as a showhouse before we shifted in), we still managed to get one more.

The Chinese Calligraphy writing in the living room, written by me some two or three months ago. Missed focus here (got the couch instead!), but I still thought this picture looked a bit modernistic.

I wrote the four words for my dreaded subject Malaysian Studies some two or three months ago as part of a group assignment. It isn't my best work, but it definitely is one of my favourites because of the unforgettable experience of producing it.

As time went by, my room got messier.

My room, 15th June 2009.

But other than these things, many others stay the same.

We took care of the house well. Our place was simply one of the cleanest (male) houses in Edusquare.

How bad can the other houses be? Well, let's just say my friends are surprised we still have both of our TV sets - theirs were stolen long time ago. We don't use the TV though. Reception was poor, and I tried to hook it up to my laptop with no success.

The living room upstairs, September 2008.

The living room upstairs, 15th June 2009.

Anyhow, sooner or later, we'll have to go. The truth of having to leave never really set in until the accommodation office called me last Friday to arrange for a checkout appointment.

Suddenly I realised that I had to say goodbye to my room. Suddenly I realised that the house would be nothing but memory to me in a few days' time. Suddenly I realised how much I've bonded with my room.

My bed and my stuff beside it.

Being the type of guy who doesn't get touched by movies, I didn't expect myself to gave in to my emotions so easily. I took my time packing up my things on Monday, hoping to delay my goodbyes.

There was the colourful curtains, which served so well as the backdrop of so many of my photos, the most notable one being my Facebook profile picture.

My table - the curtains posed for the photo before our goodbyes.

That night, I brushed my teeth and was off to bed for my last night in Edusquare. After switching off the lights, I noticed the cloudless night sky outside, filled with twinkling stars.

I toughened myself up and crawled out of the window. It felt smaller than I anticipated. I laid my feet on the cold porcelain roof tiles, made sure they're strong enough to support my weight, and lied down.

It wasn't as good as I imagined.

The streetlights were too bright, and I couldn't see the stars as clearly as I hoped. The roof tiles were hard and uncomfortable. The occasional appearances of traffic were noisy and annoying.

Few minutes later I crawled back in and went to bed.

The next day, I had everything packed away and looked around my room.

That's everything I had in my old room.

The room was irrecognisable. Blank, still, quiet and cold.

And it looked exactly the same when I checked in 9 months ago. Everything was gone. Evaporated. The soul. The liveliness. Everything. It's like your best friend had an amnesia or something.

Nevertheless, when I carried the last of my bags out of my room, I couldn't help but stole one last look of my room.

I'm not going to forget this last peek of my room so soon. Coincidentally, this shot turns out to be my favourite among the pictures of my room. Ex-room.

I heaved a heavy sigh, and moved on. That last peek of my room I'm certainly not going to forget so soon.

Goodbye, Edusquare. May the next batch of occupants take good care of you.