Bonding with my daughter on a trip to Japan

The writer reflects on how the 10-day journey brought them closer and allowed her to relive her youth.

- Chang May Choon

Mama, don't grow old so fast. My 15-year-old daughter said this every time I winced aloud due to knee pain when we travelled in Japan recently.

Meanwhile, I kept saying to her: I just want you to be happy.

We had embarked on a mother-daughter adventure to our favourite travel destination without the male figure in our life, as I wanted it to be a girls-only bonding trip.

It was intended to be a reward for both of us enduring a rough patch. I had suffered a meniscus tear that compromised much of my physical activity, while she had a challenging time adjusting to Secondary 3.

I was also racked with working-mum guilt, having spent too much time on work and our new house, and too little with her. It was time we took ourselves out of our comfort zone and embarked on a little adventure, before she got caught up with O-levels preparation.

The first and last time we travelled together, in South Korea's southern city Yeosu in 2017, she just followed me everywhere. I fondly remember the seven-year-old's giggles as she grabbed my hand and ran in a beautiful field of reeds glistening in the evening sun - though now she can't recall the moment, or much of the trip.

This time, however, she is finally mature enough to decide for herself what she wanted to do during the holiday, and I wanted it to count in her core memory.

I also hoped we could bond like friends during the trip. As she grows up, I am secretly afraid that we will grow apart as she spreads her wings and finds me too naggy as a travel partner. Call it separation anxiety. I have only one child and I wish we can remain close forever.

TWO JAPANOPHILES

Japan was an easy choice for both of us. I consider myself a Japanophile and I have collected more Customs stamps from Japan than any other country since my first visit there in the year 2000.