Season's Greetings from Joanna (2009)

Dear Family and Friends,

Firstly, let me wish God's richest blessings on all of you and your family this holiday season! How truly blessed we are to find ourselves in the bosom of dear ones - a truth that I've been powerfully reminded of in 2009.

When the bottom fell out of the economy earlier this year, I received a call informing me that my role had been axed. Although it wasn't easy to bid farewell to a wonderful team of colleagues and the security of a paycheck, this news gave me exactly what I needed - a six-month break and a healthy bank balance.

Within 48 hours of reaching out to family and friends, I was enveloped in kindness and received invitations to stay in homes all over the world - a privilege I happily exercised. The Glass Half Full series chronicles this welcome break.

My heart overflows with gratefulness when I think of the many precious memories that were created this year:

• Our Yeoh family was reunited with Julie's homecoming to Malaysia during Chinese New Year, and family ties were further cemented when we took a family vacation to Sacramento, Lake Tahoe, Bodega Bay and Las Vegas
• A wonderful vacation to Candidasa, Bali where I enjoyed massages, snorkelling, fishing, massages, drinking, making new friends and I did mention Balinese massages didn't I?
• Spending time in New York City with my friends Andrew, Isabel and their beautiful boys. The many hours spent wandering through the inspiring Metropolitan Museum and Central Park has deepened my love for the Big Apple. And a big Thank You to Elaine Li for showing me the world beyond Manhattan, and to my NYU friends for the intellectual stimuli
• Hunting down the Liberty Bell, Independance Hall and Philly cheesesteaks in historic Philadelphia with Julie was good fun! We also made a side trip to Washington DC where we narrowly escaped a deadly train crash...thank God...
• Visiting and learning about the Amish community in a town called Intercourse ;-)
• Witnessing the gala reunion for BBGS (Bukit Bintang Girls'School) at the Pavilion KL was a dream come true. Thousands of girls and teachers came together to celebrate the spirit of a school that has outlasted its bricks and mortar. I am so blessed to have contributed to the event by writing the Back2BBGS blog and the Women of Vision exhibition
• Travelling to Australia to witness the wedding of my cousin, Aaron and the baptism of my god-daughter, Alyssa. Being able to catch up with so many good friends made it feel like a proper homecoming
• Enjoying 5 minutes of fame when the Star newspaper published an article on my career and travels, through which I connected with old friends and a gentleman who asked me if I liked younger men...YIKES!
• Watching all five of my god-kids grow in stature and spirit is such a joy. I'm so grateful to their parents for allowing Aunty Jo Jo to contribute to their development in her nutty, unconventional way

Let me say a big THANK YOU to all my family and friends for your kind words, hospitality, a warm bed, storage space, countless coffees and cakes, food, wine and friendship. All good holidays must come to an end so when October came round, I found myself another position at a oil & gas services company in Singapore. This city state will continue to be my home as I believe it's the perfect beach-head from which to ride the crest of the Asian century.

As we bid farewell to the noughties ('00s) and enter a brand new decade, let's continue to be grateful for all that we have and become all that He created us to be.

Here's wishing you a HAPPY NEW YEAR and a blessed 2010!

Just call me Godma

Baptism ceremony & Noah's ark cake for Alyssa and Zachary

Today, I had the honour of officially accepting Alyssa Wong as my god daughter. The ceremony took place in a Catholic church in Melbourne.

The setting was peaceful, serene and very symbolic. It was interesting that the unlikeliest couple were asked to be godparents given that I'm a Protestant and AJ (the godfather) is of Jewish descent. You should have seen the look of his face when the priest asked us if we "believed that Jesus Christ is the son of God, was crucified, died and rose again for the salvation of sins"! AJ stood stone still so I quickly said, "We do"! :-)

I also enjoyed helping to make the Noah's Ark cake to mark the special occasion. Carina, her aunty & I slaved for over 6 hours to create the masterpiece and judging from the response, it was well worth it. During the lunch at an Italian restaurant, other patrons came over to our table and started snapping photos of the cake :-)

I shall have to spend more time in Melbourne so that Alyssa won't forget her Aunty Jo Jo.

Brush with AFL hall of fame

Sat next to Brent Guerra (Hawthorn No. 18) on the plane to Adelaide

My four-year stay in Australia taught me one thing. Sports is a religion and professional players are gods.

I learnt the rules and watched my share of weekend cricket, rugby (union & league) and footie just so that I could understand conversations on Monday mornings. Seriously, no one speaks to you if you're not talking sport.

One of my favourite sports was AFL (Australian Football League) or footie. It's like no other game on the planet (a bit like American football played on a cricket oval without protection). The players are usually tall, fit and wear tight jerseys, which probably explains why it's my favourite spectator sport :-)

To my delight, I found myself sitting next to a professional footie player on the plane to Adelaide last Friday. He was actually all over me (ahem!). Probably because he had to climb over my semi-comatose form to get to the toilet!

Brent Guerra is a Hawthorn forward and has been playing for 11 seasons, starting at age 17. He and his girlfriend Rachel were heading to a wedding in Adelaide. We had a nice long chinwag about footie, travels and plans for the future. Looks like I've got to start following Hawthorne now, in addition to the Lions, Swans and Cats.

Beautiful Barossa

We spent last Saturday at the world-renowned Barossa Valley - home of the South Australian wine industry. It was very hot (39C) but that didn't stop us from enjoying the stunning views, gorgeous rose gardens and sampling lovely local wines. We stopped at Chateau Barossa, Peter Lehmann's and a fruit wine place. In addition to the wines, we were enchanted by the profusion of roses all over the valley. One garden worthy of mention is Queen Elizabeth's favourite at Chateau Barossa.

Enjoying a day out with mum & dad at the vineyards

This Adelaide holiday has been very different from my normal travels. I usually travel on my own but this time, I'm part of a large family entourage including mum, dad, aunt, uncle, granny and cousins and it's been FUN! The jokes, laughter and family time have been an eye-opener for me. A big thank you to Uncle David & Aunty Lai Sum for the invitation. And to Aaron & Pik Yee for playing tour guides.

(L) Aaron & Pik Yee with their darling Poh Poh

(R) Family photo outside Peter Lehmann
(although Pik Yee thinks we look more like convicts from Pudu Jail..haha)

Adelaide wedding

My little cousin Aaron got married in Adelaide this week and we all descended on the sleepy capital of South Australia. The Chongs, Wongs and Yeohs had a whale of a time with a laugh-a-minute throughout the five days. Even our 83-year old Granny joined the conga line during the wedding dinner!

Hope we didn't scare poor Jocelyn too much...welcome to the family, my dear...we're really quite normal - I promise! ;-)

Making connections

Aunty Jo Jo has her 5 minutes of fame ;-) An article on her travels was featured in the Star on 26 October 2009: http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2009/10/26/lifefocus/4947993&sec=lifefocus

While her job is in training, Joanna Yeoh never wants to stop learning.

FROM surviving the 1997 riots in Jakarta to learning to trade electricity in Brisbane, Joanna Yeoh’s work has taken her places. Being a travel enthusiast, Yeoh has no complaints. So far, she has worked in eight different countries and lived abroad for as many years.

“In Jakarta, I was posted to work on a process improvement project. We always had our passports and plane tickets with us just in case of an emergency evacuation,” recalled Yeoh, who was attached to a global consulting group in Malaysia back then, via e-mail.

In 1999, Yeoh was sent for her first long-term posting to Brisbane, Australia, and held the position of generation forecasting manager. “I had so much fun learning how to speak Strine (Australian slang) and understanding cricket and rugby because, otherwise, nobody spoke to you on Monday mornings,” she quipped.

The former Bukit Bintang Girls School student graduated with a Bachelor of Economics from Universiti Malaya in 1994. She went on to obtain her MBA in International Business from the University of Birmingham, Britain, in 1996, on a British Council Chevening Scholarship.

She returned to Malaysia in 1997 to join the global consulting group as a consultant in energy and mining. In the next seven years, she had stints in Australia, Indonesia, South Korea and Singapore.
Yeoh assumed the post of vice-president of human resources with a Malaysian entertainment and resorts company in 2003.

“That was one of my most interesting and challenging jobs. It’s a 24/7, 365-day operation there with the casinos, hotels and theme parks, hence, a never-ending cycle of recruitment, training and payroll. I loved every minute of working with the team there who were super-men and super-women!”

In 2006, Yeoh joined a multinational energy and petrochemical company for about a year before moving to Singapore in 2007 to join an American-based microprocessor solutions provider.

Last year, she spent six months in Shanghai on a project (under the same company) as head of leadership and organisational development for the Asian region. “I had the chance to build its learning and development teams and also witness the phenomenal growth of China. My proudest achievement was finally learning to speak Mandarin. “I believe that China is ready to claim prominence on the world stage and is on the brink of a new ‘dynasty’ to rival the golden years of the Han, Tang or Ming dynasties.”

In her current position, which she assumed recently, Yeoh works with senior leadership teams to help improve the effectiveness of their organisational structure and people. “The most common areas of focus are performance management, talent and succession planning, leadership development and change management. This is a specialist field within human resources management,” she explained.

Her role is to keep things simple.

“While many leaders acknowledge the importance of organisational development or change management, it is often seen as nebulous and obscure in practice. My challenge is always to keep things ‘simple, implementable and tangible’ so that the benefits can be seen clearly and quickly.”

Yeoh finds satisfaction in her career by playing a role in selecting and honing young talents – “when I meet management trainees whom I hired as fresh graduates walk up to me and say, ‘Miss Joanna, I made it. I’m now a manager in XYZ department. Thank you for giving me a chance and helping me to grow.’”

Not surprisingly, one of her aims is to groom future leaders.

“I am passionate about coaching Asian leaders to lead at regional or international levels,” said Yeoh, who also hopes to pursue a PhD in the next five years.

The Kuala Lumpur-born also believes in trying new things and lending a helping hand to others. “My goal is to become the best person that God created me to be. Every year, I try to learn and practise something new, from skydiving to learning Mandarin to walking on hot coals.

“More importantly, I believe in giving back by helping someone else. One of my favourite quotes is by Winston Churchill: ‘We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.’”

Fact File
NAME: Joanna Yeoh

AGE: 39

HOMETOWN: Kuala Lumpur

EDUCATION: Bukit Bintang Girls School,Universiti Malaya, KL; University of Birmingham, Britain

OCCUPATION: Leadership and organisational development consultant

CURRENT BASE: Singapore

YEARS ABROAD: Eight

E-MAIL:

joannayeoh@gmail.com

All good things must come to an end...

...so that better ones can begin!

October has arrived and together with it, another first day at work. I've taken on another regional L&OD role with a multinational oil & gas services company based in Singapore. And so, I am declaring, albeit reluctantly, the end to my mid-career break, which is captured in the "Glass Half Full" series.

During the last 6 months, I have been blessed greatly. Thanks to a measure of financial security, I was able to travel freely to meet family and old friends around the world, and make many new ones. So while many of the earlier blog posts have captured stories about the places and activities, it would be remiss of me not to thank many people who have given so generously of their friendship and love.

Firstly, big HUG and KISS to my sister Julie for her love and support these last six months. She is my best friend, and has blessed me greatly with her love, prayers, home, airtickets and even a new computer. Love you!! My heartfelt gratitude also go out to Andrew & Isabel Chatterton who welcomed me into their New York home and Li Ki who has provided a resting place in Singapore. May God bless you all richly for all that you've done!

With Julie coming home for Chinese New Year, and Mum, Dad & I travelling to the US, the Yeoh family spent more time together this year than at any point in the last decade. We travelled to Las Vegas and Bodega Bay for a family vacation. There were adjustments that had to be made to accomodate different tastes and preferences but we survived.

We were also introduced to Julie's new "adopted" family: Jessica Moua and her three kids Josh(11), Faith (9) and Zack (6). Much bonding took place over hotdogs, brownies and cheesecake!

And last but not least, my dreams to revive BBGS finally came true in August. Thanks to a high-flying team of BBGSians, a gala reunion was held at Pavilion KL - the site where my alma mater once stood. The rush of adrenaline and nostalgia that was released from that one day was enough to last several weeks. Personally, I woke up with a hangover the next day despite having only one glass of champagne. In addition to catching up with old friends, I had the opportunity to make new friends amongst the many generations of BBGSians.

So now as I close the chapter on the "Glass Half Full" and embark on new adventures, I want to take some time to crystallise some lessons learnt:

• Work cannot continue to be the sole focus of my life
• The search for a compelling reason/purpose continues. What I thought I really wanted to do in retirement didn't take off when I had free time e.g. writing a book
• I am ready to embark on a God-honouring trajectory, wherever that leads

Birthday blessings

Today, I learnt that turning 39 feels a lot better than turning 30! Why I wondered?

Elizabeth Lee, my learned friend who's the Head of Sunway College, explains it best with a quote by Robert Louis Stevenson: To hold the same views at forty as we held at twenty is to have been stupefied for a score of years, and take rank, not as a prophet, but as an unteachable brat, well birched and none the wiser.

I have been truly blessed by a stream of well wishes that include:

• a beautiful rendition of "Happy Birthday" by Katelynn on the phone from KL first thing in the morning
  
• long-distance phone calls from US and Malaysia from my family
• Facebook greetings from friends all over the world
• dinner with Lu Meng & family at Sakae Sushi in Singapore (thanks for the treat!)
• hugs and kisses from Justin and Jared to end the day
  

Birthday kiss from Jared & hug from Justin

On top of all that, I even managed to attend a property investment seminar on how to make a million dollars and caught the roar of engines at the F1 qualifying round. We saw a McLaren whizzing down the track as we drove along the Nicoll Highway. Hooray for Lewis Hamilton on pole...couldn't have asked for a better ending to a special day.

Thank You to everyone for your calls, smses, Facebook greetings, emails, hugs and kisses. I thank my God for every remembrance of you (Philippians 1:3).

This and that...

It's been six months since my mid-career break started and I'm still loving it! The time has been devoted to resting the body and spirit, and developing personal interests. I'm supposed to have written a book by now, but hey...all these blog posts count for something don't they?

Spent most of April - June travelling. July/Aug was devoted to the Back2BBGS mega reunion at the Pavilion. For most of August & September, I've started to meet headhunters and attend interviews. Am getting close to deciding on a role - a regional OD & LD position - with a start date yet to be determined.

O yes...I also attended an Anthony Robbins "Unleash the Power Within" program and walked on white-hot coals....and that was the easy part! Started eating more healthily, exercising regularly and breathing properly so watch out world ;-)

This week, I'm back in Malaysia - spending time with my parents in Penang and attending the twins' birthday party in KL. Will be back in Singapore next week and start making some decisions. So watch this space...

Reconnecting @ home

Wow...I've been back in Asia for over a month and this is my first post on Journeys. It's been a whirlwind...

Aunty Jo-Jo with Miss Yeap, her former headmistress, and friends from Class of 1987

I've actually been blogging A LOT but the Back2BBGS blog has taken centre stage because of the mega reunion we staged at the Pavilion. The six-star mall now stands on the land where my school once stood. In order to erase the bitter memories of the wrecking ball, and to replace it with happy memories of a grand reunion, we staged a black-tie event on 4 August 2009. Which is why I returned home early from the US. It was a magical event - to see all my former teachers and classmates - in the pink of health. The event generated so much buzz that I was suffering from an adrenaline hangover for almost 2 days :-)

I also attended the wedding of Agnes Long & Desmond Lim - two of my favourite Management Trainees (MTs) from Genting days. Agnes worked for me in HR and Des was one of our Hotel stars. They've both just returned from a year's working stint in the UK. It was so good to catch up with the other MTs as well: Adrienne, Jennie, Shevaun and to hear about their successful careers. O how well I remember the day when they had to go through my "Malaysian Idol" version of Assessment Centres.

And last but not least, catching up with my beautiful twin god-daughters! They've grown so much taller since I last saw them and are hyper-chatty. They are happy to entertain anyone with impromptu concerts, be it ballet or musicals. No more Do-re-mi for these young ladies, they can both sing the Any Dream Will Do score from the Joseph musical. An evening spent in their company gives me enough endorphins to last for days...

I love Intercourse...

...a town in Pennsylvania! The name may sound risque in today's modern world but really, it's more ironic than anything else. You see, Intercourse is in the heart of Lancaster County or Amish country. The community is well known for its traditional values, simple living and a resistance to adoption of modern conveniences. These include electricity, cars, bicycles and cameras. Unfortunately, that's exactly what busloads of tourists bring into the town daily. I too am guilty of unabashed curiosity.

Aunty Jo Jo sneaking a picture of a traditional horse & buggy used by Amish families

Andrew kindly took a day off work and we drove to Lancaster County on a very wet summer day. It rained non-stop and we could hardly find a dry spot to take photos. Still, we had a nice long chinwag in the car, while taking in the sights. There were enough farms, horse & buggies and families in plain clothing to satisfy my curiosity. I saw men and boys working the fields with nothing but horsepower (literally!) and women doing laundry with musclepower. Little girls pushed themselves along little scooters instead of bicycles. I stopped by the Amish Visitor Center to catch a one-hour movie about the Amish culture and lifestyle. It left me with a deep sense of respect and admiration for the community and their faith.

Andrew and I set off to look for a lunch spot and there were plenty of home-style restaurants to choose from. They all had old-fashioned names like Plain & Fancy, Good & Plenty, Bird-In-Hand and Yoder's Family. We settled for Stoltzfus Farm Restaurant because Andrew had eaten there before. It turned out to be a delightful old farmhouse with friendly staff and a LOT of food! It was all-you-can-eat from the entire menu which included:

• Homemade bread and apple butter
• Chow chow salad
• Fried chicken
• Homemade sausage
• Homemade honey ham
• Mashed potatoes
• Corn
• Candied sweet potatoes
• Green beans
  
• Shoofly pie
• Apple crumble pie
• Cherry crumble pie
• Chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting

And so I let Intercourse filled with lots of plain, simple and delicious food, and memories of a happy day spent with an old friend, Mr Andrew Chatterton formerly of Barnsley inYorkshire.

Fun with kids

I'm back in Sacramento after spending three weeks in the eastern United States. While it's been fun, it's good to hang up my tourist boots and start enjoying ordinary civilian life again. Trips to the gym followed by shopping sprees to Costco. While Julie headed back to work today, I got the chance to spend some time with our neighbour's kids: Josh, Faith & Zach.

The Watermelon Kids (L-R): Faith, Josh & Zach

It was a hot day so the first thing we did was to carve up a watermelon. These kids knew exactly what to do: they each grabbed a slice of watermelon, headed into the back garden, lined up in a straight row and started munching on the juicy coral slices. "We always eat watermelon in the backyard. We don't wanna mess up the kitchen!", was Josh's reply when I asked what they were up to.

Kids enjoying the brownies they helped to bake

I love to bake so it was a treat to have an appreciative audience. Josh & Faith helped me to put together the Ghiradelli brownies and within an hour, we were all helping ourselves to the yummy chocolatey dessert...err...although we didn't actually have lunch. So much for having a responsible adult in the house :-)

Later on, I introduced Joshua to the world of Michael Jackson videos starting with Thriller, Black or White, Beat It, Smooth Criminal and his favourite, Billie Jean.

The nation's capital

Philadelphia's role as capital of the United States gave way to Washington D.C. in 1800. Julie and I followed the path of I-95 down to DC on Sunday to experience the "nation's capital" - a phrase that was repeated ad nauseum by every tour guide on every Tourmobile we got on. Still, it's easy to be impressed by the grandeur and beauty of Washington D.C's monuments, museums and malls.

By the Reflecting Pool @ Washington Memorial and calling on President Obama at the White House

We took a 90-minute tour around all the sights to familiarise ourselves with the orientation of the city. That essentially covered the Smithsonian Museum mile (all free!), the Capitol Building (no sitting), Union Station (best shopping), Washington Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Cemetary and the White House. It was a whirlwind tour and after a little while, I must admit that the drone of the tour guide's voice sent me into a daydream :-)

We got off at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue to call on the First Family for lunch but they were a little busy. So we made other arrrangements and headed to 1800 Pennsylvania Ave / The World Bank instead. Our dear friend, Isabel Chatterton was kind enough to show us the impressive premises where she works and we had a delicious lunch of green curry laksa, sushi and sandwiches. Believe me, the lunch counters at the World Bank represent world cuisines from every continent!

Inside the Lincoln Memorial and close-up of Washington Memorial

After lunch, we decided to explore the Lincoln Memorial before splitting up to visit different museums since Julie and I have different tastes. Julie headed to the Air & Space Museum while I went to the National Gallery of Art. It features the only Leonardo Da Vinci painting in America and it was so awe-inspiring, in the most delicate way.

We met back at the Mall and my feet were so sore that we ended up dawdling at a park bench instead of heading back to the Metro station at 5:00. Thanks to that, we avoided the deadliest Metro train crash in the history of Washington's transportation history. At 5:15pm, two trains collided on the red line that we were supposed to be on (although in a different direction), and 7 people were killed.

Thank you Lord.

Loving Philadelphia

Julie and I headed to Philadelphia in Pennsylvania after completing four hours of serious research on American history. We watched National Treasure 1 & 2 starring Nicholas Cage. Yes, Harvard intellectuals may sniff at simpletons like us but I think the movies worked. They created excitement and taught us enough American history (with a couple of conspiracy theories thrown in ) and sent us on our merry way to explore the cradle of American Revolution.

Julie & Aunty Jojo exploring Independance Hall & City Hall

The Independance Hall in Philadelphia is where the founding fathers met to conceive, debate and sign into being America's Declaration of Independence in 1776. It certainly took courage and vision for men like Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin and John Adams to declare independence from the British and inspire a society where "all men are created equal" and have the right to seek "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". Standing in the room where the Declaration was signed, I began to understand why Americans get so fired up about Liberty. I grew up in a society that accepts inequality amongst its citizens and I admire the way that America constantly reinvents itself and tries to do the right thing, even if it means having to pay a price.

Walking around the streets of Philadelphia, we felt very welcome. While the monied avenues of New York may whisper to new arrivals "Think you're good enough? Well, prove it!", Philadelphia seems to declare "You belong here - just as you are". That was the inspiration behind the founding of the colony of Pennsylvania by William Penn. Himself a Quaker, he welcomed other communities such as the Amish, Mennonites and Jews to build their homes there.

Founding history aside, Philadelphia is also the birthplace of the cheesesteak and Julie and I couldn't wait to sink our teeth into one! Our first stop was Pat's - King of Steaks in South Philadelphia. As you can see, we thoroughly enjoyed the cheesesteaks at Pat's although we found another one the next day that tasted better - Jim's Steaks.

I love Philadelphia and can easily see myself living there. Maybe it's time to get that application in to Wharton...hmmmm...

Thank you, Elaine!

The last time I met Elaine Li, she was 12 and I was 16 and we went to Bukit Bintang Girls' School. However, the years were emphatically erased when we met up in New Jersey this week. She is now a flight attendant with Continental Airlines based out of Newark so when she noticed from my Facebook postings that I was in New York, she got in touch and offered to show me the city. When I heard that she's a local, having grown up in New York since she re-located from Malaysia, I jumped at the chance to get off the tourist track. That means seeing the other boroughs of New York, not just Manhattan. Needless to say, Elaine really knows her backyard and I'm grateful for her generosity.

Elaine & Aunty Jojo by the shores of New Jersey

First up - Flushing, Queens. I could hardly believe my eyes - it was like being transported into Hong Kong or Shanghai. There were Chinese everwhere! Orientals were pouring out from dim sum restaurants, bubble tea bistros and roast duck shops. Next, we headed to Mitsuwa Marketplace in Fort Lee, New Jersey. It's an upmarket Japanese supermarket with authentic ingredients imported directly from Japan. That weekend, they had arranged a food fair with chefs flown in directly from Tokyo and Hokkaido. This meant long lines of hungry people were queuing for delicious hometown foods and Elaine and I jumped right in! Thanks to our lucky stars, we ended up with the last two bowls of Shinasoba Ramen and last two pieces of a dessert whose name escapes me. Yummy...

Elaine and her husband, Li takes Aunty Jojo to SEA - a hip bar restaurant in Brooklyn

Last Friday, we made our way to a hip bar/Thai restaurant in Brooklyn. This time we were accompanied by Li, Elaine's husband, who had flown from Atlanta to spend time with her. The Sea Restaurant is so cool, it could almost be a setting for Sex in the City. Walking into the bar, one is greeted with a bronze Buddha statue standing in a relection pool. The waiting area is littered with bubble chairs and swings!

And the mango mojitos were simply delicious. So was the deep fried calamari, tom yam gung, pad thai, green chicken curry, roast duck in red curry and fried fish in tamarind sauce. I really can't decide which was better - the food or the company. Elaine, Li and I had so much fun talking about our travels and all the funny stories that have happened to us. Craving ice cream, we made our back into Manhattan for dessert. We ended up in a frozen yogurt bar in Lower East Village called 18 Handles. You get to pick & mix your own flavours and toppings. Double yummy...

I'd like to say a big THANK YOU to Elaine and Li for their wonderful hospitality and I look forward to returning the favour the next time they visit Singapore or Malaysia.

Met inspiration 2

The gloomy weather in New York has persisted despite some sunny bursts of hope during the weekend. That has given me an opportunity to spend more time at the Met Museum. Yesterday, I was blown away by yet another artist: Louis Comfort Tiffany. I've always been drawn to the colourful Tiffany lamps that are quintessentially New York. But nothing prepared me for the sheer genius of the works in stained glass, mosaics and enamel currently residing in the American Wing. What do you think?