Season's Greetings from Joanna (2011)

"Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in Him, for He shields him all day long, The one whom the Lord loves rests between His shoulders"

Deuteronomy 33:12

2011 has been a year of resting secure in God's promises. I am writing this newsletter at the end of a six-week vacation in America with my sister, Julie. I've enjoyed the fall colours, celebrated Thanksgiving, harvested oranges and lemons, visited friends in New York and Los Angeles, seen one of my favourite Van Gogh's, and watched the taping of Anderson Cooper's talk show! All in all, a very good holiday.

This after celebrating the anniversary of my first year in business, which has been going well, thanks to the support of clients from Singapore, Malaysia and China. I've also been blessed with connections to new partners in Germany and US. The independence and flexibility of managing my own time, coupled with the intellectual stimulation of meeting new clients, training partners and coaches are just some of the rewards I enjoy about of being a business owner. Thank you very much for your prayers and words of encouragement, and I look forward to sharing some of my reflections with you in the near future.

The freedom of time has allowed me to discover two important things about myself. Firstly, that I truly love singing and miss using this gift. So in August, I auditioned for the New Creation Church choir and got in! I debuted in early November and look forward to serving with the choir in 2012. Secondly, I have gained a clearer view about my personal mission - how I'm meant to channel my skills, experience and networks to serve in a new field. It is very exciting and I look forward to obeying the call as His plans are further revealed in the next few years.

I pray that you will all enjoy the Love and Grace of God in your lives and homes this season. Until we meet again next year,
Merry Christmas and Happy 2012!

Top 5 Tasty Treats

I can hardly believe that I've made it to the end of my vacation with nary a mention of food that I've had on this trip! To remedy that immediately, here are some of my favourite finds for this 2011 trip to the US.

No. 1 Shrimp and Hot Links Pasta at Johnny Garlic's at Rocklin, California

I love watching Guy Fieri's "Diners, Dive Ins and Dives"on the Food Network and have been wanting to try his restaurant in Northern California for the longest time. The spicy pasta cream sauce was "MONEY!" as Guy would say. Absolutely delicious and highly recommended. And it's not just because I'm a groupie :-)

No. 2 Country Fried Steak and Pies at Marie Callender's

This restaurant chain serves excellent down home Southern style cooking. The very first thing that greets you when you walk in is rows of pies - apple, blueberry, custard, lemon meringue, pecan and everything in between. Went there for breakfast and had my first country fried steak with eggs and hash browns too. All 1350 calories of it. Gulp!

No. 3 Onion Steak at Logan's Roadhouse, Citrus Heights CA

I was carrying a steak craving from Singapore, and the satisfaction factor was met at Logan's Roadhouse. The juicy 6 oz steak was sandwiched between a layer of caramelized onions at the bottom, and topped with deep fried onion rings. That grin on my face says it all!

No. 4 Deep-fried zuchinni at Paul's Diner, Los Angeles

Here's a perfect way to make your vegetables tasty...coat with breading, deep fry to golden perfection, top with parmesan cheese and dip in ranch dressing! Super yummy and highly recommended anytime you find yourself at Paul's Diner located at Buena Park near Disneyland.

No. 5 The Green Room at Chelsea Market, New York City

A rustic yet chic farm-to-table restaurant at the heart of Food Network's HQ in New York. I enjoyed a deliciously healthy spicy sausage and lentil stew for lunch. I'm sure any of the Iron Chefs would have approved of this hearty dish.

From KL to LA

Don't you love catching up with good friends whom you haven't seen for decades? I do!

Kathleen and I were together at the College Ministry at Calvary Church KL in the early 90's, where we had a fair few adventures. Those were happy times, which got even happier when Kathleen met William, fell in love, got married and whisked off to Los Angeles. Kathleen is now practising immigration law while William works at Disneyland. They have two boys, Sam and Jo, who made us feel so welcome and provided a barrel of laughs!

Joanna and Kathleen in her LA home


(L-R) William and Kathleen with their boys, Samuel and Joseph

Happiest Place on Earth?

Disneyland claims to be the "happiest place on earth" and on a cold winter's Sunday last weekend, Julie and I set out to find out if that was true. We had free crew member tickets so that was happiness tick no. 1. Then we found out that parking costs $15 - not so happy about that.

Braving the thousands of baby strollers and screams of cranky kids, we made our way to Tomorrowland for the Star Wars 3D ride. The lines were so long that I gave up and headed for the Nemo submarine ride instead while Julie patiently stood in line for 60 mins to catch the Star Wars ride. We had a gumbo lunch at the New Orleans cafe (waiting time 30 mins), Mark Twain riverboat ride (waiting time 40 mins), Its a Small World ride ( waiting time 50 mins), Christmas Parade (40 mins in total). I must admit that after a full day of jostling with a sea of humanity, the experience was as blood curdling as a ride on the infamous Space Mountain!

Still, there's always a silver lining and I found mine at the Sleeping Beauty Castle. It's the one place that left me feeling that this is one of the happier spots in Disneyland, with or without the crowds :-)

Getty Collection

At the base of the Santa Monica Mountains lies a collection of art treasures attributed to one man, John Paul Getty, who made his fortune during the Depression of the 1930s. The Getty Collection, while not as extensive as the Met in New York or Musee d Orsay in Paris, is certainly a gem of a collection for lovers of Impressionism.

I was so excited to see two of my favourite paintings in one room. "Irises" by Van Gogh, which I had mistakenly assumed was at the Hermitage in St Petersburg and "Haystacks at Sunrise" by Monet. The Van Gogh painting was one of the first prints I ever bought in England, and it hung at the base of my bed for the duration of my MBA studies in 1996. Some of the other artists I was able to identify included Renoir, Manet, Gaugain, Pissaro, Degas and Toulouse-Lautrec.

Another amazing feature of the Getty is its stunning architecture and vistas which show off the City of Angels in all its glory. Thanks again to Julie for planning this trip so that I could get a dose of high culture and art. It was heavenly!

Harvest time at Citrus Cove

My sister Julie bought her own house in Northern California last year, and it comes complete with a 3000 sq ft backyard with orange and lemon trees. I've always fancied a job fruit picking, and this year, I got to help her bring in the harvest at Citrus Cove (the name of her home)

White Collar locations

My sister and I are polar opposites on many fronts. While I adore New York, she loathes it. In fact, the last time we flew to visit our friends on the East Coast, she refused to go into Manhattan! So it was a pleasant surprise when she agreed not only to come into the Big Apple with me this time, but begged me to track down specific tourist attractions. This change of heart was brought on by a new TV series called "White Collar" - about a gorgeous and very clever art thief, forger and con artist named Neal Caffrey who is working with the FBI to capture other art cons.

And so we spent a day tracking down the filming locations for White Collar.

Here's 351 Riverside Drive a.k.a "June's House" where Neal Caffrey has an apartment. It is a beautiful art deco house with views of the Hudson River. Only caveat is that it is nowhere near the Chrysler Building, which Neal's apartment allegedly overlooks.

No movie or TV show set in NYC is complete without some scenes shot in Central Park. Here are the Observatory Gardens set in the northern end of Central Park, at 110th St. It's less touristy than the Columbus Circle end, but no less beautiful.

The Day Everything Went Right

30 November 2011 is a date I will remember for a very long time. During English classes in school, teachers used to assign essay titles like "The Day Everything Went Wrong". Well, this is the day everything went right.

Lining up for the taping of Anderson at Jazz on Lincoln, Time Warner Center, NYC

Imagine having a birthday and Christmas present rolled into one. That's precisely what my sister Julie gifted me when she surprised me with tickets to Anderson, a day time talk show hosted by my favourite news anchor, Anderson Cooper. We flew to New York City and headed to Jazz On Lincoln at Columbus Circle for the taping of the show. The theme was "Looking Your Best for Less" and co-hosted by Heidi Klum. We scored front row seats and I'm very excited to watch the episode when it airs this Friday, 9 December 2011.

Heidi Klum and Anderson Cooper aka "The Silver Fox"
(Photo courtesy of andersoncooper.com)

Anderson was standing just 3 feet in front of me for most of the show, but we weren't allowed to ask for photos or autographs so I had to just quietly admire from my seat. He wasn't as tall as I expected but his self-deprecating humour and quietly confident personality came through in person as much as it does on TV. It was also great to see the gorgeous Heidi Klum live in person. But what I really enjoyed was the off-camera banter that took place throughout the show. We got to see these celebrities in a normal every-day setting. Then again, how many normal get to tape a TV show every day? :-)

Strolling through Central Park with Julie

Julie and I lunched at Whole Foods at the Time Warner Center before heading across the road to Central Park. It was magical as always and sharing it with my little sister was very special. Although the colours of fall were slightly muted against the cloudy sky and yet, this iconic setting never fails to evoke a sense of thrill in me about the fact that I am in New York City - my favourite city of all time! As we left the park and boarded a bus on Fifth Avenue, we were stopped by President Obama's motorcade, as he arrived in the city to attend some fund-raisers.

We found out by chance that it was the day of the Christmas Tree lighting at Rockefeller Center so we made our way to 48th St and joined the throng of tourists making their pilgrimage around the tree taking photos. And lo and behold, music started playing on the loud speakers and Michael Buble appeared in front of us! He was rehearsing for the show with some back-up singers. That's celebrity sighting number 4 - in one day!

As if I really needed more reasons for loving New York City!

Christmas Tree and Michael Buble at the Rockefeller Center

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is an American tradition that began as a celebration of the harvest when the Pilgrims first arrived to settle in the New Country. It is also a celebration of thanks for everything that God has blessed us with in life.

My sister Julie is one of the chief blessings in my life and I thank God every day for her. Her courage and determination to start a new life in America is an inspiration to me and many others who have entered her circle of friends. She is an amazing cook who has increased her repertoire rapidly from Chinese Peranakan cooking to traditional American Thanksgiving fare in the six years that she's arrived in California.

Our Thanksgiving dinner this year included roast turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, stuffing with sausages, green bean casserole, cornbread muffins, baked yams and mashed potatoes. Given that we were born and bred in tropical Malaysia, I believe this was a very credible attempt at producing a traditional Thanksgiving spread. Clap..clap..pat ourselves on the back...

However, food is only part of the equation for a true Thanksgiving. The real essence of the holiday lies in the people who come to share in the feasting with you. This year, we were blessed to share dinner with Esther and Albert Hui, a pair of siblings from Julie's church and the Mouas: Jessica, Joshua, Faith and Zachary.

Fall Colours

I arrived in Northern California a week ago to visit Julie, and it's the first time I'm seeing America in the fall. The colours are breathtakingly beautiful and I'm really enjoying the walks around the neighbourhood. Inviting you to join me on a tour to enjoy these sights too. These pictures will speak for themselves.

Shanghai Revisited

Going back to the city I lived in 2008 was very exciting because I love the energy of Shanghai. The super-sonic growth that this city has enjoyed has given it a shiny confidence to greet all visitors. I had the pleasure of showing my American partners, Amy Happ and Eric Woodworth, around Shanghai during our recent visit in October.

One of the things I really wanted to do was to visit my friends Martijn van der Valk and John Laing, who have built a new luxury boutique hotel in the heart of the city, near Jing An Temple. It was so exciting to see the fruition of their dreams, after having listened to them share their visions and plans for the place during our long champagne brunches in 2008.

Posing with Martijn and the brand new Mercedes SLS AMG on the grounds of Hotel PuLi

Kdrama Addiction

It all began innocently enough one afternoon at the end of July. I had taken a day off to nurse a slight fever and cold. After a futile few minutes of channel surfing, I decided to rummage through my DVDs in the hope of finding something to keep me entertained. My eyes spotted a Korean drama DVD set called "Winter Sonata", which was still in the original plastic wrapper from the time I bought it in 2009! I put the first disc into my DVD player and fifteen hours later, a Bae Yong Joon (BYJ)-loving ahjumma was born!

Bae Yong Joon - the original Korean Valentino who's my biggest crush of 2011

I suppose it would have been a passing phase if I hadn't declared my middle-aged crush so openly on Facebook. The confession opened a floodgate of romantic gushing from my friends, many of whom were die-hard fans of Kdramas, who thought I was too "atas" (Singaporean slang for snob) to ever join the fray. So I spent the entire month of August catching up on the Hallyu (Korean Wave) that started back in 2002 with the release of Winter Sonata. Over many sleepless days and nights, I started chasing down all the BYJ series I could find, both online and on DVDs. These included The Legend, Hotelier, April Snow and Untold Scandal (which is a "hawt" re-make of Dangerous Liaisons).

After listening to my obsessive rantings about Bae Yong Joon for six weeks, Lu Meng, one of my best friends from the Ahjumma Club, gently told me that BYJ is actually passe and it was time to move on to some newer dramas. And so she introduced me to a whole array of delightful new dramas such as Dream High, Boys over Flowers, You're Beautiful and Secret Garden.

Moved on to ogling hot young Korean actors half my age in Boys Over Flowers and You are Beautiful

So in a matter of a few short months, I have become enough of an expert to spot a few trends in Korean drama storylines. It all seems so corny and canned, but I get sucked in every time!

• All the lead actors are blindingly beautiful, super fashionable and filthy rich. Look up "eye candy" in the dictionary and you'll see a list of Korean actors. If you don't, then they should be!
• The lead actresses are innocently pretty and often economically and intellectually challenged. They seem to need a lot of rescuing!
• Boys always end up piggy-backing their drunk girlfriends home
• Boys running after bus
• Boy always gives girl a star or moon necklace
• Boy often has a "bitch" mother who messes with his self-worth and causes him to be supremely obnoxious
• Pitiful second male lead who always loses the girl no matter how much he loves her and is always there for her
• Someone always has a memory loss/amnesia resulting in an ending with a twist
• Sauna spa back rub scene for all the guys
• Girls fight by pulling each other's hair!?
• Lots of soju (rice wine) accompanied by barbecued pig skin/intestines (which inevitably leads to piggy back for drunk girl)
• TEARS!! Every actor and actress can cry to order and weep so prettily that your heart just breaks watching them  *

And the funny thing is that I had mixed feelings about Korea when I worked there in 2000. But thanks to this new obsession, I just might consider another visit soon.

SARANG HE! (I love you!)

*  Additional contributions from my KDrama group friends

• Boy always sings girl a song, even if he's grossly out-of-tune
• Beautiful boy has deep thoughts in the shower while camera focuses on his killer body and abs! (yummy)

A Special Place

Just at the end of my street lies a pocket of nature known as Fort Canning Park. It's steeped in history dating back to Singapore's inconsequential existence as a fishing village in the 15th century. This 60m hill was known as Bukit Larangan (Forbidden Hill) when Stamford Raffles set foot on the island, and subsequently became the site of his first home.

One afternoon last week, I was looking to retreat from the bustle of my city home and decided to spend a few hours in the quietness of Mother Nature. And I couldn't have wished for a more private oasis.

Fort Canning was home to my father during the years that he was based in Singapore as part of the Malaysian signals in the 1960s. On his last visit here, Daddy discovered that his barracks had been converted into the visitor centre, while his offices are now part of the salubrious Fort Canning Hotel.

I spent a lovely afternoon sitting on a wall hidden under a canopy of trees quietly thinking about the past, present and future. I counted my blessings, thought about my business, sang a few songs and was even inspired to pull out some oil pastels to capture the moment.

That afternoon, I found one of my favourite places in Singapore.

I love Durians

Can you imagine driving 350kms from Singapore to KL, resting a night, then driving another 400kms to Penang to stay a mere 48 hours? What would possess Aunty Jo Jo to do something as manic as that? DURIANS of course!

Its durian season in Penang and I had to be there for my ang heh (red prawn) and D24! Yumms..

And of course, I got to spend some time with Mum & Dad too! :-)