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?

Met inspiration 1

It was a gloomy and wet day in the Big Apple yesterday and I couldn't have been happier. As far as Aunty Jo-jo was concerned, it was a perfect museum day. Not just any museum, but the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The exciting collection ranges from Egyptian to Byzantine to modern art.

When I arrived at 9:30am, the queues at all four ticket counters were already snaking round the Great Hall. So I decided to make a $50 donation and become an Associate Member. That meant free entry for a year, free audio guide and best of all - no queues!

Despite its vastness, there was only place to start. The 19th & 20th century European art collection on the second floor. All the masterpieces that I'd only ever seen between the pages of a book - up till now. Oh...how my soul sang when I entered the galleries echoing Constable, Turner, Manet, Monet, Pissaro, Degas and Van Gogh.

Allow me to humbly share some of the inspiration with you.

Camille Pissarro

To my delight, I found a room full of Camille Pissarro's works. I first encountered this post-Impressionist artist at the Musee de Orsay in Paris. His colourful pastoral scenes have always evoked a sense of peaceful pleasure. Imagine my surprise when I found out yesterday that he was a sworn anarchist!

Vincent Van Gogh

The intensity of Van Gogh's work is captured wonderfully in the Cypresses painting, which is the Met's pride and joy. He worked on this piece during his last summer at the asylum at St Remy. By then, Van Gogh had perfected his style of vibrant colours and aggressive brushstrokes, as can be seen in the swirling sky above the cypresses & wheat fields. Another composition I saw for the first time were that of late sunflowers, one of his favourite subjects.

Claude Monet

The Japanese Bridge over the Lily Pond is one of the world's favourite Impressionist paintings. Mine too. A print of it hung in my bedroom at Birmingham University for the duration of my graduate studies. As trite as this may sound, seeing the original colours and textures with my own eyes was a such a joy. I was also fascinated by a light study of the Rouen Cathedral in the same gallery.

By Jersey shores

It is 4pm on a sunny Monday and I'm sitting in the garden on Jersey shores with a cup of Earl Grey tea. In front of me is a pretty row of flower boxes and my favourite view in the whole world: the Manhattan skyline and the Statue of Liberty resting on the watery blues of the Hudson River.

So while I may not be an investment banker in New York, I am so glad to have friends who are! Andrew and Isabel have welcomed me into their home with open arms, and for that, I'm well and truly grateful.

Tomorrow, I will be making my pilgrimage into Manhattan seeking the holy grail of art museums: the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And perhaps a wander around my favourite neighbourhoods...stay tuned!