Family, Family, Family.

its been almost one year since i last met my brother in Singapore. i call him when ever i can to chat to him, or call my mom to find out how they are doing. now my brother is in Australia to visit for 2 weeks. he's here with my cousin too, its great, its been such a long time since i have hung out with the boys. we get to do boy stuff, like pig out on junk food, play video games, twiddle with the car and cook together. yes, the boys in the family all love to cook. its a passion that rub off from our parents. maybe its an asian thing to want to be able to cook well, or it might just be universal.

sometimes we forget how much family comfort means to all of us. me? i never forget. i grew up in a very close knit family. i have heaps of cousins. we all grew up together, played together, watched each other grow up and also lived together. its hard to come across people who get along with family, let alone be each others best friends. Strangely it does happen. by far and wide even siblings just tolerate one another, but us, we get along great, like pigs and mud. maybe its easier because in total of 8 cousins, all but one is a girl. and i guess boys will be boys. its hard not to have fun with so much time on our hands. team games are never a problem, we have enough for most games.

take some time to re-acquaint with your siblings or cousins. you might enjoy their company as much as i enjoy my family's company.

Blood is thicker than water.

Home, Home, Home.

i am finally home. i was away for my job in rural parts of Australia. the town i was sent to was called Karratha. largely a mining town built by miners for miners. it was a small town that supports about 10,000 miners. a lot of people who have been to Australia often describes it as being the red land mass. that description couldn't be more accurate at Karratha. everything inch of sand and rock is red in color. everything else that is exposed to it is also red in color. the cars, the trucks, the plants, the buildings and even the miners. after a hard days work, i see the miners that come in to the local watering hole for a cold stubbie, generally have the same lifeless expressions on their faces. it might be the job, it might be the town, or a combination of both. i'm not a miner and i too feel their disdain for this town. the town planners for the town don't even try to built amenities to try to draw in tourist. there IS nothing to see, so why bother trying to pull the wool over the eyes of people vaguely interested in visiting this town.

what makes the town more awful is the excess heat. its a regular 40 Degrees Celsius (104 on the Fahrenheit scale). it feels like you are literally baked when you are standing in the shade. kinda like working in a bakery, only this time, you are the bun and not the baker. and yes, who can forget the flies. this is pure fly-country. the flies come in epic proportions. like biblical plague amounts. you cannot eat a pie or have a drink without them swarming on your face, your food and just about anything you can imagine.

it's all an experience, all in all. even with the extreme bad, you will take away some kind of knowledge. it might be hard to see what it is from my vantage point now, but i'm sure given enough time i will see it. it took awhile for me to get red sand out of my hair, and the fly-juice that covered my arms from me squishing them. still i say its an experience to behold. do it once, do it once i say. at least i can tell someone someday when they bring up Karratha that i have 'been there, and done that.'

The old home town looks the same, as i stepped down from the train.