Waikato Weeks - Uni Mate Meets

It’s been a fantastic 2 weeks with 2 uni mates who visited from Sydney and Auckland. It gave us locals the excuse to round everyone up and meet for food. One strange thing to note is that we hardly meet unless someone from outstation/overseas comes back then only we catch up. So it’s a good thing we have friends living overseas so we locals can meet when they visit.

Heck, for some locals, we meet them less often than we do the “foreigners”. Spotted here is a rarely seen creature, my ex-housemate, who’s been hiding in some cave hence his pale skin.

Anyway, for the span of the last fortnight, we have had 4 eating sessions. It’s exciting when someone has done well and it’s astounding when they remain humble exactly like how they were back in uni. So many of them are shaping up to be the movers and shakers of their chosen field. Meeting them is like being given an extra boost of adrenalin, you leave feeling energized.

Some have gone off to do out-of-this-world stuff. Kelabit Language Preservationist? Okay, he’s my uni mate’s brother, so not counted. Or wait, didn’t he do some studies in flying planes in Hamilton or Auckland? Ah, I believe every Malaysian who has a Kelabit friend is truly blessed, believe me, they’re amazingly interesting folk. Or maybe it’s just this family.

Sorry, I always seem to digress when it comes to Kelabits. Anyway, I truly appreciate these friends because from what I hear, not many uni mates still keep in touch or worse, some still hiss and scratch when they bump into each other.

So here’s a cheers to my uni mates who, after a decade, are still the same bunch of supportive, interesting and humble folks. Now go study in New Zealand while I plan when to visit the kampung of the Kelabits - Bario.