28 OCTOBER 2007. SUNDAY. 01:14AM.

No matter how many times I have said goodbyes in my trips home, it never ceases to evoke pangs of nostalgia in my heart. One would have thought many years of moving away would have harden me up, season my sentimentality to a mere passing emotion and take flight without looking back. Gone are the days where I would hop, skip and jump on a plane, any plane, to travel to far shores and not look back. These days my heart flutters nervously at the thought of possible turbulent skies ahead. A condition I have developed from taking too many red eyes.

Short trips like these are hard to manage. I haven't seen everyone enough, I haven't heard all the stories to be shared, I haven't had enough of the humidity to beg longingly for the crisp Australian air. But I take comfort that in the short span of 9 days I have reconnected with this part of my life, crossed off most on my wanted list, and hung around long enough for little Dylan to discover I have stars on my feet.

For everything else that I have missed out, I will take comfort that I have another set of plane tickets booked for home 3 months away. In the meantime, I'm dying for some real coffee.

SNAPS FROM NEW CANON (WARNING, FOOD ENVY MAY RESULT FROM THIS)