I come back home from a Monday night out with my girlfriends and my mom tells me I bought the wrong book. And that kind of hurt. Thing is, when she told me to get her the Secret Garden book from Popular , I honestly had no idea what she was referring to because I hadn't seen what she picked out though I had paid for it. Everyone picked out a whole lot of stuff that day and all I did was make payment for them so I didn't get a chance to see what exactly I was paying for. I paid because I didn't mind paying for family. But she wanted the same journal she picked out the other day and I was asked to help her buy so I said okay since I'm free today and I was going to be out. After my appointment this morning, I headed to times  since it was the only bookshop I could find in Plaza Sing (and I was there.) I didn't want to buy the wrong book so I called my mom right before I made payment and said: " It's a colouring book with the 2016 calendar. " And s...

" If I had known Papa was going to pass away so early, I would've documented his life on paper and shared his stories in words. But I didn't. I was seven when he passed away and the unfortunate regretful fact is I will never know him the way others did because I was only seven. " For the longest time, I avoided talking about Papa. The truth is, even hearing people talk about him stirs an unfamiliar feeling in me and I'm not sure I know how to deal with that. Recently, though, after numerous interviews with writers, I set down my determination to start on a new project of letters addressed to Papa. I titled the new collection Letters to my Papa  and this comes years after I unintentionally put away my paper and pen and left my passion for writing behind. I used to write short stories when I was in Secondary School. I would marvel at the way words moved me the way my first essay dedicated to Mama moved her to tears. I was awed by the power of words a...