Tender Musings

I came back to Thailand on the day of the Loi Krathong Festival. Tired and sleepless from 24 hours of travelling, I slept all morning and woke up just in time to prepare for the festivities. But first, a quick history lesson on Loi Krathong. It is a festival celebrated annually throughout Thailand. It is celebrated on the full moon of the 12th month of the traditional Thai calendar. This usually falls on November. This festival originated from the ritual of giving offerings  to the water spirits in the olden times. People make Krathong and launch them on the river. Some make wishes when they do it. Making Krathong is easy but time consuming. It's made from a banana trunk decorated with banana leaves and flowers. To complete it, incense and candle is added. My Krathong-making teachers - Nok and Wiwi. The secret: PINS! Ready to launch my Krathong. Aside from Krathongs, people also light up flying lanterns. It reminded me so much of the movie Tangled. There were

After our Halloween Party at work, I left Thailand for a 2-week vacation to visit my family in Japan. Since direct flights from Thailand to Japan were quite expensive, I opted to go home first to the Philippines then fly to Nagoya the following day. That’s about 9 hours of travelling not including transfers and waiting time. Wheew! It was quite a trip. We both got 250 Baht after winning a game of BINGO. I arrived in Japan on November 2 and was welcomed by my adorable niece, who I have not seen for over two years. I was so eager to see her and my family. I decided to take this short trip because I wanted to attend my niece's 5th birthday. I have never been around to celebrate any of her birthdays with the family. In the past few years, I was on my mission and at school. We went to Grand Bowl a few days after my arrival. I was in Japan when Yolanda hit the Philippines. It was devastating. Hearing it on the news and seeing pictures on Facebook was disheartening. My h