Backwaters of Penang

On the second day of Chinese New Year, in the last few years, my family heads to Gertak Sanggul, which is located on the southeastern tip of Penang island. It is the home of Ah Huat, my cousin who is also my god-brother. He makes it a point to return from Kelantan with his family to celebrate CNY with the entire clan.

Before dinner, I will always make a trip down to the beach and walk along the weather-beaten jetty to enjoy the glorious sunsets.

Fishing boats along Gertak Sanggul, which was one of the areas devastated by the Christmas tsunami of 2004

Cal Mex @ Aunty Jo Jo's

My sister lives in California, and while it means I often miss Julie's company, it's a bummer because I miss her food too! She inherited all the Peranakan genes and is a superb cook. Which is why I'm so thrilled that she's back for a visit this Chinese New Year.

I wanted to make sure that my Singapore "family" also got a chance to savour Julie's cooking so the Chang family was invited to dinner tonight. To give the boys a taste of something different, Julie prepared a Cal-Mex meal of tacos and fajitas, with ingredients specially flown in from California. Judging by the way Justin licked the entire bowl of cheese sauce clean, I'd say dinner was a hit!

Jimmy, Jaclyn, Justin and Jared being treated to a home-cooked meal for the first time at Aunty Jo Jo's!

Season's Greetings from Joanna (2010)

Dear Family and Friends,

As day breaks over the last day of 2010, I pause to reflect and count the many blessings that have taken place this year. More than any year, this has been a year filled with new beginnings, in body, mind, heart and spirit.

You must have many memories to share as well and I thank you for the honour of sharing some of my highlights with you...

• Starting my own business, Five Talents Consulting, in Singapore is a long-cherished dream come true. HR consulting and leadership development programs are the focus and I'm delighted to report that we signed our first deal yesterday! Hip, hip, hooray!
• Celebrating my 40th birthday in style with a champagne brunch at the Ritz Carlton in the embrace of some of my dearest friends and ending the day watching my first ever Formula 1 race live
• Riding a camel into the Sahara desert to spend a magical night under the stars
  
• Wandering around the ancient souks of Marrakech and enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of mysterious Morocco. The men were pretty hot too! ;-)
• Falling in love with my Saviour all over again while attending New Creation Church, believing and enjoying unmerited favour and restful increase
• Spending a week at Date with Destiny with Anthony Robbins in Bali learning about moving towards love and contribution, and channeling abundance into places of scarcity
• Starting a fitness regime by eating properly, joining a gym and exercising with a personal trainer has resulted in a 3-inch loss all round and I'm fitting back into clothes I wore ten years ago! :-)
• Visiting Perth and Melbourne in August and it was wonderful to re-connect with old friends while making new ones
• Showing off sparkling Singapore to a host of visitors who dropped by throughout the year: Rene from Switzerland, Corrine from US, Grace from Australia, my parents from Penang, and the Lums from KL
  
• Spending quality time with all my godkids: Justin and Jared in Singapore, Kiersten and Katelynn in KL and Alyssa in Melbourne

Wow...even as I'm writing this, my heart is so filled with joy and gratefulness, and I'm excited to think that a fresh new year awaits with still more blessings and abundance to enjoy!

So here's wishing you and your family the highest favour, deepest love and greatest blessing for 2011.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Night of a thousand stars

"I sat under a canopy of stars in the Sahara desert and listened to a young Berber man tell me his dreams."

What a magical night it was! Who is this man of mystery? Would you like to know more? Read on...

His name is Muhammad, a Berber guide with beautiful olive green eyes set against a dusky complexion tanned by the desert sun. After dinner and songs by the campfire, he watched quietly as I stood staring at the starry sky for almost an hour before he approached me. We struck up a long conversation that lasted till midnight.

What did I learn that night?

• Muhammad is 25 years old, third in a family of eight children, whose parents live 56 kms away from our camp. They are farmers.
  
• He's never been to school but learnt English, French, Spanish and German from daily conversations with tourists who visit the camps, where he's worked for the last 3 years
• He dreams of getting married before 30 and visiting Switzerland
• "There's no time in the desert!" he said playfully as he pushed my watch away when I tried to see how late it was getting
  
• There are desert Berbers, mountain Berbers and Marrakech Berbers - all of whom have very different customs and languages
  
• There are thousands of stars in the desert sky and the brightest one is called "Taghir" in the Berber language. Muhammad taught me to patiently scout the sky for shooting stars and we were rewarded with two sightings!
  
• It is very quiet in the desert at night. Very quiet. And very beautiful

It's gets very cold at night in the desert but a warm campfire, woollen blanket and gracious companionship is a wonderful antidote.

Shukran Muhammad.

Shadows in the Sand