Its Winter in Melbourne

Its winter now. My bedroom is below 10C unless I have the heater on.

I've been waking up at about 5am - my body is still conditioned to Niue's time zone. Thankfully, I've learned to appreciate the sound of silence - no Roosters crowing here.

I swear the next time I go to Niue I'm going to catch some of those damn birds and make chicken curry or Hainanese Chicken Rice out of them.

Overall the trip to Niue was a bit of a let down. I had high expectations of the trip. I really was expecting to see very close encounters with the humpback whales - but the actuality was few and far between. You'd see a tail flip in the distance, a water spout - I probably saw most than the other visitors.

But I had seriously high expectations of the trip - in more ways than one.

Check out my video of the dolphin swim here:

http://vimeo.com/72629705

Anyway.

I've been listening to Aimee Mann to death for the last 20 days. Seriously, she needs to put a health warning label on her records - DO NOT LISTEN IF YOU ARE FEELING DEPRESSED... oh what the hell. Listen to it anyway, it will make you feel "good".

Watch this:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nay5ybrUEEY

Fuck, this is amazing music.

Found this amazing singer this week. Laura Veirs. Thanks to Spotify

Listen to her here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GHvhkndXKSg

She's got a folksy, ethereal, dreamy quality about her - a bit like Suzanne Vega in her first album.

On other fronts:

I've learned that my No.1 Uncle is not well. He's now in rehab. I love that old guy even though I really barely know him really.

Actually cancel that. I know him. He's my blood. We come from the same stock. We think alike. We behave alike. We share core principles - like honesty, kindness, integrity, compassion. We are family. And I love him.

He's so much like my dad that I feel very close to him. We think alike we are one and the same. I'm going to cry a river when he dies.

My mother however she claims she is a "Chiam". But despite a protestations - she is not. She is an "Ng" or "Huang". I've realized over the years that we are so far apart in personality, in manners, in the way we think. And its painful to see that. She is my mother. She gave birth to me. But we are so different. Her entire generation are mean, insensitive, spiteful, obnoxious, selfish, egoistical and simply unaware of the damage they cause to those that they claim to love.

Anyway.

Meanwhile, I'm still staring at a pile of fucking paperwork from the share trading that ain't going away. I am so not cut out for record keeping. The next time I do this sort of shit, I'm going to hire a book keeper. I must finish this shit if I'm going to go back to Singapore next year. I'm done with Australia. I have to get out.