So what’s new with you?

Well, I’ve been traveling again on business. I was just in Australia (Sydney first and then to Geelong) and then to Singapore (Yes, exotic Singapore) last week.

More work than play this time I am afraid so not as much photos as I would have liked. I however had a chance to take a long weekend in Melbourne where I graciously lodged in the living room of a friend’s place in a location that defies pronunciation.

Paarhan ? Parahan ? Praharan ? Oh wait it’s spelt Prahran but pronounced Puh-ran. Obviously. C. dearie, if you are reading this, I wikipedia-ed Prahran and apparently “Prahran is also home to a large portion of Melbourne's gay community, with several gay nightclubs on Commercial Road” (Don't believe me...? Read it yourself : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prahran )

Bet you didn’t know that. Actually scratch that, I think I’d be worried if you did know that. Then again, wikipedia isn’t exactly a repository of reliable information. I remember looking up my own neighbourhood and reading “Taman Tun Dr.Ismail , or as it is commonly known “the hood” is a main township in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia…” This entry has thankfully been excised from the existing article but it was hilarious when I found it. Picture a tourist telling the cabbie. “Can you please take me to the hood?”

But I am rambling of course. So what is new with me? Without delving into the details, I thought I found something but it turned out that I thought wrong. Do I hurt? Maybe a little. It’s difficult to tell these days. Mostly I feel kind of numb and anesthetized emotionally.

Right….enough with the emotional nonsense..any pictures of where you’ve been ?

Well. I was in Rosehill for work. That’s not too far from Sydney but I only saw the airport and was there for too short a time to actually go into Sydney proper so the most exciting thing I saw was the race-track at Paramatta. I have no pictures to speak of so here is a shot of the view from my hotel window instead.

I then went to Geelong which a nice quiet town an hour from Melbourne that overlooks Corio Bay. I had a chance after work to walk around Geelong town. I figure that it is probably very nice in the summer but since it was winter, it was awful. What was interesting was that the town was home to the Australian National Wool Museum. Doubtless I would have had oodles of fun it was open.

So as I mentioned I was in Melbourne next. It’s a nice place. Very livable? Clean and new-ish looking to boot. I didn’t really do much sight-seeing but I had a nice time strolling up the river Yarra, watching a chess game on the street and wandering around the extremely over the top Federation Square, a mass of steel and concrete desperately trying to make a statement of some sort in the middle of Melbourne city.

I had a day trip to the Dandenong mountains with some friends of my friend which was pleasant. Note the amusing warning sign below.

As a foot note, I should probably mention the wedding I attended in Singapore of some old friends before I shot off to Australia. It was such a nice feeling to see the both of them tie the knot especially since I knew them when they only started dating five years ago. Reassuring that love does work out sometimes. I unfortunately do not have any photos of the event as apparently there was a ban on external non-approved photographers snapping pics within the church. Go figure.

The only picture I managed to bootleg was a shot of the very cute wedding car complete with the Hello Kitty hood ornament.

I was back in Singapore last week for work again unfortunately I left my camera at home so I have no pictures even though I thought the city looked really pretty as I has a night out on my own after work that I spent strolling in the Esplanade/Raffles/Marina Square/Suntec City area. Next time I guess.

What are you listening to ?

Well, there’s this Swedish band “Loney, Dear” ( Not Lonely ! Loney ) that I am currently into. ( http://www.loneydear.com/ ). Strong layered melodies on most songs. The lead singer has a sad expressive voice. This of course is a prerequisite for personal soul baring tunes which the band has plenty of.

I was also listening to the new Bjork album - Volta.( http://bjork.com/ ) Weird as always. Just when you thought the stuff couldn’t get stranger than her last album Medulla, she tops it by coming up with an odd tribal track in the form of Earth Invaders which apparently was written when she visited Indonesia just after the tsunami in 2006. It’s not too bad, save for a few of the duller songs that were jointly produced with Timbaland and Bjork, however to be honest, I prefer her earlier material she co-wrote with Tricky.

The new Travis album – Boy with no name.( http://www.travisonline.com/) It’s nothing new or groundbreaking but then again, I wasn’t looking for that anyway. The tracks have the familiar Travis folksy touch with a banjo riff here and there. I watched the video for their single off the album “Closer” ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2hYn_4yuhc ) (Yes, I am too lazy to paste the video here so you will just have to hyperlink your way there) which had them working in a supermarket with Ben Stiller cameo-ing as the supervisor which was very out of place to say the least. Or maybe that’s just me. On the whole I guess it’s alright for easy listening but Travis may need to come up with a new sound soon or risk being lost in the sea of brit-poppy bands with the same sound that ironically they helped to popularize.

What are you reading ?

I am halfway thru “ Fooled By Randomness” by Nassim Taleb. http://www.fooledbyrandomness.com/ It’s very clever but also very snobby. It’s about randomness and how the human mind is not built to accommodate randomness when we think we are rational. It’s also about him ranting a lot and being very clever and well-read. Some bits are useful but some bits are just acerbic.