'If you kiss me, you'll have to marry me.'

After almost a decade, we finally made a trip back to my Dad's family's vacation house in Lumang Lipa, Batangas. The house isn't in great shape but after all these years, it still holds a nostalgic charm.. the worn out wooden floors, abandoned antique furniture, empty rooms, everything just seemed to complete the missing pieces of the hundreds of stories told endlessly by my Dad and his siblings.

I remember my Lola telling me (may she rest in piece) about the different American and Japanese soldiers in that area that courted her as a teenager. She would tell me how they would bring her baskets of apples and sandwiches quite often, which she usually just turned down. There was this one story she told of an American soldier named Johnny (according to her pretty vague memory), who tried to kiss her.. my Lola giggled when she told me that she just replied, 'If you kiss me, you'll have to marry me.' She's such a ham. I love her and miss her very very much.

So it was great to be back there, experiencing what they all experienced there once a long while back. I really hope I get to go back soon.