My brother Dave, who works in American Samoa, likes to surprise us. He never announces his visits to the Philippines. He says he doesn’t wan...

Last days in book tours are rushed affairs: pack, check-out, eat a hurried breakfast, then head to the first event.        Above: Livin...

After delivering the Word at church—two services in a row in Iloilo city—I badly needed to drink a glass of water to wash down choked nerves...

The majestic and imposing church, built beginning in 1949 in Iloilo City, loomed large before me.  My stomach churned. I have spoken in ...

From now, I will hold the number eight in high esteem. It created a miracle. How it began Our university president (to whom I could neve...

These scenes—in malls, coffee shops, and homes—are oh-too-familiar today:   They are, it seems, a reflection of the behavior of their parent...

I will celebrate if all you'd remember from this seminar is this: No gadgets for kids who could not yet read. This was to encourage th...

We cry for different reasons. One would be over regrets. Had we been braver, more daring, more rash, we think we could have gone to the plac...

February, the heart month, ends today.    I had wanted to blog about love on the 14th, but Valentine's Day sneaked out on me while I was...

My book tour in Iloilo was more daunting than I feared. After three schools for Dump Truck in My Heart on the first day, I came face-to-f...

Coming home from a book tour in Iloilo almost seven years ago , I began my blog with, “Iloilo is now a bustling metropolis, which was a plea...

Just when I am agonizing over a recent malady that stopped my walking exercise at dawn, I read this post by my dear friend Manny on my FB...

In all of 17 years, since I walked away from the paid workforce, I turned to free walking in and around our neighborhood at dawn. It was an ...

Fast facts about chocolates from several sites on the Net:  Approximately one billion people in the world eat chocolate every day. Nine ...

In many official forms today, people are given gender choices: Mister, Miss, Mrs., Ms. plus that ambiguous word “Other,” about which I have ...

People often say to me, "You don’t look your age." I don't quite know how to react—smile or smirk. I am sure they mean well an...

That little red envelope with gold Chinese characters is known by different names in different places: ang pao, ang pow, ang pae, tae ea, la...

Why would Jesus choose turning water into wine, in a wedding, as his first miracle?! I’ve struggled with that question for years, especi...

My parents' farms in our home province never grew on me. Not even with the happy memories of my growing up years with four siblings: we ...

Ever heard of the word kyok before? Most likely not. It is archaic and not found in any dictionary. Yet members of our clan say it all the ...

All the exhilarating essentials that make our clan look forward to our annual reunion was in place, except for one additional bonanza. Our 7...

I’ve waited for this number for some time. If only I could catch it, I wished, I’d take a screen shot.  Why ever not? It comes only once i...

Fake news abound today. What’s worse in our country is that the most notorious fake-news peddlers are columnists who occupy high positions i...