Okinawa

Jasmine was excited to learn the good news before our recent trip to Okinawa.

This is her fifth time out of town. And there seems to be no stopping us from bringing our kid around the world. The more mileage we go, the more I become confident of her growing up.

Not much hassle with packing diapers is one thing, negotiating with my daughter what to bring is a lot more easier. We planned to bring her own suitcase, and she could not wait to pack it with all her favorite books. But then we decided to scrap the idea at the last minute, worrying about the limited space in the rented car. She was let down, and strangely enough, let go after a while. With that, we gave her thumbs up.

Pleasant memory of this trip, of course, is not a matter of what we didn't bring; the highlight is what we brought with us this time. During a recent visit of my daughter's kindergarten, I read about a Norwegian moose doll that children can volunteer to babysit when travelling. Oh, this is great, I thought, beaming jovially when I showed Jasmine the moose. She giggled and promised to take good care of the moose. Indeed, the moose filled in lots of our photographs (to be shown to other classmates later). Jasmine taught the moose how to walk, showed the moose colourful tropical fish at the aquarium, and hugged it with love.

Without doubt, Jasmine was awed by the opportunity to travel with her school companion. No one would ever mistake this.