JapanJuly 30, 2026
Becoming Japanese Part 2: The Document Screening
The elderly gentleman led me to one of the small rooms in the middle. He took his seat and motioned for me to sit across from him. A glass barrier separated us. Today’s appointment was for the 受付—the formal...
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Awakening
It’s almost midnight, but I’m fully awake. With my phone in my hands tapping letters on the screen, under the blanket. I’m feeling guilty. I promised myself to not use screens before...
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06April – the Start of a New Beginning in Japan
The end of March is, in fact, one of the busiest times for moving companies, as university students relocate closer to their chosen universities or entire families move to accommodate a husband's...
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07Mari’s Great-grandma
No one is ever ready to face the passing of a loved one, no matter how sick or old they are. It is the only truth that people keep on denying. Losing...
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0811 Things in Japan That Surprised Me As a Filipino
I came to Japan in the spring of 2011 when my sister who lives in Japan invited me for a month-long spring vacation. During my stay (and even up to now) there...
Continue readingWhy the end of my breastfeeding journey brought me to tears
May 15, 2022. Two years, six months, three weeks, and two days, for the first time, my little one snoozed without the boobie in her mouth. She believed the story I made...
Continue readingThe end of my breastfeeding journey
Breastfeeding is hard in the beginning, harder in the end, and hardest when it’s over. I literally cried silent tears tonight afte my little girl, for the fifth night, slept without breastfeeding....
Continue readingA note from Maryan
Two homes. One unfolding story.
Stories to Tell is a personal journal about life, love, family, culture, and the everyday discoveries that connect the Philippines and Japan.