Ill

Back in Taipei, and today I had planned to go down to the south of the island to visit relatives. But I guess the many days on the road and not sleeping or eating well enough, together with the oppressive heat, weakened me so that I'm suffering from a running nose and am feeling generally unwell...

So instead of being on the move again, I decided to take a "slow" day and went for a body massage in the morning. I know I just came back from Thailand, a place reputed for its great massages, but so many places I saw were "dodgy" to say the least, so might as well do it here with someone I know and can trust. The lady said I'm really tense, and a lot of my veins and puncture points are clogged up, which explains why I sleep badly and am often stressed. I do feel much lighter after the 3 hour treatment.

Mum is in Europe, but speaking to her I get a sense that things are not going well between her and brother. She said she can almost not live together with him any longer, because of his excessive obsession to keep his house clean. Even touching the walls seems to be a taboo, as he wants to keep it as whitewashed as possible... so imagine what he would say after mum's been to use the kitchen... I had a feeling that this would happen. When I was back in the Netherlands and stayed at his (it's really now his) house, I felt really uneasy using things, or just being there because it seemed like everything I did was scrutinised. Mum feels disappointed... that house was the fruit of years of savings and hard work, and now that it's been sold to my brother, he really makes it clear that it's his house...

Shame. Some people just don't see or appreciate where or how they get what they own in life.