When on Holidays one must relax, even at the cost of putting a few family members off!

So far, so good. No stomach problems and the heat is not taking its toll. Sure this place is slightly warmer and muggier than Melbourne but it has been nice. My team around me have been diligent in what food I eat, so touch wood all will be well and I get back in one piece. I have been relaxing quite a bit, reading books, watching TV and DVD's so I have come down to a level where I feel quite relaxed.

Yet I feel a bit bad because I have been here a week and have seen only a few relatives. My family is rather large and I have a lot of uncles and aunties here as a result of the large families my parents came from (this begs the question about the contraceptive, or lack thereof, in the old days or were my grandparents just rabbits!)

Still I love coming from a large family because this means family functions are always fun! A lot of my cousins have their own kids and so I am an uncle to a few offspring - the big, bald uncle from Melbourne!! And they are all so adorable and most are scared of me!!

But the conundrum when visiting Malaysia is to make the time to see them all. I would love to do that, but in undertaking such a task, it could result in increased stress levels with all the driving around. Not to mention, it would mean Metria would have to follow and therefore abandon her friends in some instances. There was already a case that just occurred today at lunch.

We went out to meet a friend for lunch and just as we were entering I bumped into a cousin who was going to lunch with her friend. So a group of 3 became 5 and I was trying to chat with my cousin while not appearing too rude to Metria's friend. I trend to balance the conversation between the both parties while not taking the focus for Metria and mate to talk. Tough!

Now we have less that a week before we hit Melbourne and I only have 3/4 days to see my family. Some tentative plans have been made and hopefully we can see as many of the family as possible. It is somewhat important as this is the first time I meet the family after the marriage but I hope they understand that if I do not meet them it is because I do not like them.

I enjoy spending time with my uncles and aunties but I really want to catch up with my cousins. Because we, the younger generation, will carry the family name forward and my family tree has always been very close, and I hope to achieve a similar bond with them. These days with the open lines of communication it is easy to stay in touch even if they are 8000km's away. Sure the day to day, physical communication is not there but as family the bond can be expressed somewhat through msn, blogs and email.

I hope my family feels the same way.