Much has occurred since my last post at the beginning of the year.  I traveled to the Philippines for the first time in mid-February.  Three weeks later, I celebrated my 56th birthday in Davao, Mindanao, at De Bonte Koe European Restaurant with the travel group: Vanessa, Nena, Kathy, and our guide, Oscar Penaranda.  When the program finished in mid-March, I continued on to Tokyo, Japan, where my husband's family lives.  Though I had seen my mother-in-law the previous summer, it had been seven years since I saw the rest of the family.  Thus, when I went to the Philippines, my husband said, "You really should visit the family in Japan; after all, you ARE in the same time zone."  True.  And I'm so glad I did.

Since my return, I have begun two new writing projects.  One is a piece on my maternal grandfather, Celestino T. Alfafara who had a great impact on ensuring the future of Filipino-Americans through his extensive community activism.  Please stay tuned for updates as the project gets under way.  The second piece is a series of sketches, currently called, Four Flip-Flops and the House that Fried Chicken Built.  Several people ranging from colleagues in higher education as well as fellow writers have inquired about recent writing.  It is time that I shared what I've been doing since my return from the Philippines.  I hope you enjoy.  Feedback is always welcomed and appreciated.

Meanwhile, I will continue to work off the crispy pata and pinakbet w/ way too much bagoong that I consumed during my month long visit to the Motherland.

Thank you for your visit to my website.
Lisa Suguitan Melnick

If you'd like to see the travel blog - the fodder for the new stuff, please go to http://sampaguitablog.blogspot.com