The Traveling Kit

My second niece, Fiana, at 5 Fiana, Your permanent teeth have started to grow now. And lately, you'd rather play with makeup than dolls. In time, I can imagine you going gaga over boys, talking about jobs, and doing boring adult stuff. But to me, you'll always be that Daddy's girl who once loved binge-watching My Melody videos on YouTube. That girl who'd dip her whole body in an ofuro and try to hold her breath for as long as she could. That girl who'd let the friendly deer in Nara lick her hands. That girl who liked to fold blouses and skirts with my origami paper. That girl who had difficulty pronouncing "anniversary" for her grandparent's special video. A post shared by Kikit & Froggie (@thetravelingkit) on May 19, 2017 at 4:33pm PDT Happy 7th birthday, Fiana. May you have more dandelion-blowing moments in life. And remember that I will always be here to cook your curry and rice. Love, Tita Kikit

My latest children's story in Bisaya language attempts to combine science, values education and my fascination with the sun and the clouds in a simple plot. | Sunrise photo taken in Dumaguete City A couple of weeks ago, a sales guy (let's call him F) messaged me and asked if I was interested in buying hunihuni.com. He contacted me because I own  huni-huni.com , the website for Cebuano instructional materials my husband and I started a few years back. I was, of course, interested. It was the domain I originally wanted to buy when we started our website, but somebody owned it then. I went to GoDaddy and looked it up. It was put up for auction and the minimum bid was more or less $12. It would have been easier if I just ignored F and opted for the auction, but I didn't. I had a frustrating experience with domain auctions in 2013. GoDaddy will ask you to register for a fee before you can bid. When the thelearningsite.com was on auction, I went through their process to...

The peonies hadn't bloomed yet during our visit, so here's moss phlox. While my eldest sister, her kids, and Dan were watching the Ultraman show at the event area, the rest of us decided to have ice cream. It was a hot spring day, and we wanted some refreshment under the shade. When we arrived at Sukagawa Peony Garden's food stall, we saw this elderly couple in one corner. They were in their 60's. The man was feeding his wife ice cream. He'd gently pull the cone away when she had enough in her mouth. And he'd wipe her lips with tissue paper once in a while. The woman seemed to be recovering from a shock. Her face was devoid of expression. She was blankly staring at one spot the whole time. She just nibbled the ice cream, never opened her mouth wide, like how I had mine. They sat there in silence. It was the most romantic scene I've ever witnessed in my life. Most romantic. I wished I had looked at them more closely, but I didn't mean to be...

“Kit, Steve Vai is coming to Japan and he's performing with four other legendary guitarists!” exclaimed my husband, Dan. “Awesome! Where are they performing?” I asked, trying to sound as if I was as excited as him. “Zepp Nagoya! We have to watch it!” I had to use an exclamation mark after Nagoya, a 30-minute train ride away from our place. A few times in the past, we had to take a day off from work and travel far to watch concerts. We flew from Davao to Manila for Jason Mraz. We traveled to Tokyo for Eric Clapton and to Osaka for Diana Krall. We took a two-hour bus ride to see Missing Filemon perform (and got drunk with Fighter Wine) in Buda. Generation Axe in Nagoya is more feasible to watch than all those concerts. On the day the tickets went on sale, we went to 7 Eleven to buy one. That was last week of February. “Dan, I don't want to go with you. I'm not a fan. I've only heard Steve Vai's Whispering a Prayer, and I only recognize Nuno Bettencourt b...

The title of this post is the highlight of the trek, and since I want to make an impression, let me show off this photo right here and now. I wish I could detail this moment but the truth is, the breathtaking view only lasted for about 10 minutes. As soon as the sun rose above the clouds, the sky turned into dark gray and all I could think of was how useful my raincoat was. A day before we headed to Fujikawaguchiko, my eldest sister warned me Typhoon Lionrock was about to hit Japan. Though it was forecasted to make a landfall somewhere northeast, the weather might be unpleasant during our trek. Since we had already booked everything (bus, train, accommodation, etc.), Dan and I decided to follow our original plan. We had been planning and preparing for this trek for months, so we might as well give it a go, rain or shine. We arrived in Fujikawaguchiko, a town at the northern foothills of Mt Fuji, on a Saturday with the rain pouring down. Tsk, not a good sign. I asked the st...