“Suntok sa buwan” — a punch to the moon — that’s how Filipino street lingo would put it when you aim to hit something that is obviously unreachable.

That was the state of affair I was in when I decided to reach Japanese Ambassador to the Philippines Koji Haneda. We didn’t know each other from Adam, and it was an aimless exercise I was embarking on by attempting to communicate with him. Who is an obscure writer anyway for his Excellency to mind in the first place?