Driving around Tahoe

Fall 2014.  On the second last day of my third trip to California this year, Julie and I drove out to the mountains.  On the recommendation of a friend, we headed for the Nevada side of North Lake Tahoe to check out a place called Incline Village.  It was a beautiful day with fresh snow on the ground.  The views were simply breathtaking!

Joanna and Julie "frolicking" in the snow... err...not quite

Aunty Jo Jo's winter glamour shot :)

Absolutely stunning views of Lake Tahoe

Hanging out in LA

As much as I love spending time with my sister Julie in northern California, waking up to freezing temperatures in winter is really not my cup of tea.  And so we planned a trip to visit friends in the sunnier climate of southern California.  Los Angeles was our first stop.

 

(L-R) Kathleen, Joanna, Julie and Swee Kit

 

Kathleen's place is always my first port-of-call in sunny Los Angeles.  We first met in Calvary Church KL back in 1996 before she married and moved to LA.  Her beaming smiles and warm hospitality makes it much easier to bear the horrible traffic on LA freeways.   This time she arranged for us to have dinner at a classic American diner - Norm's in Whittier - before whisking us to a play about a nun in Las Vegas!

 

We also caught up with Swee Kit, one of Julie's school friends who recently moved to LA to start postgraduate studies at Biola University. 

 

The next day, we spent a whole day hanging out with Kathleen and her family.  Of course, the girls decided to first treat themselves to morning dim sum, foot massage and coffee & cakes before heading home to see Kathleen's boys.

 

Kathleen's darlings:  Samuel (dark blue t-shirt) and Joseph (sky blue t-shirt)

 

These two little boys have a very special place in my heart. It was so good to see how much they've grown and developed.  They showed off their acrobatic agility and prowess by doing a balanced stand on their dad's legs while Joe played dodge ball with a very uncoordinated Aunty Jo Jo. 

 

We took some photos with the boys in the backyard.  Here's me posing with Sam - whom I think has the dashing good looks of a Korean drama star.  Don't you agree?

 

The highlight of my day came after dinner when Joe started cuddling up to me when I sang him lullabies.  So sweet!  Is there any wonder that my heart melts every time I visit these little ones?

 





Sunny San Diego

I love it when a new city springs a surprise and charms me into falling in love with it.  This only ever happens when I'm not expecting anything major and open to possibilities.  San Diego is such a place. It's not as big and loud as LA, or as bohemian and exclusive as San Francisco.  It's just warm, welcoming and quietly confident.

View of San Diego from Coronado Island Ferry

Julie chose a hotel on Coronado Island as our getaway home for a few days and I'm so glad she did! Sunset walks along white sandy beaches really does marvellous things for the soul.

In front of Hotel Gran Del Mar, a gorgeous Victorian-style wooden structure where Marilyn Monroe filmed "Some Like It Hot"

Stepping into Silicon Valley

On 8-9 April this year, I got to take a peek at the innovation geekdom that is Silicon Valley.  As a member of LinkedIn100 - a group of customer advocates for the professional networking giant - I represented Singapore at a conference that took place at LinkedIn's headquarters in Mountain View.

Stepping into Stirling Court on a lovely spring morning, we were treated to the breakfast buffet at the staff restaurant, which had everything you'd expect to find at a professional catering facility in the heart of Silicon Valley.  Healthy, yummy and free!

LinkedIn's headquarters sits within the Google bubble and it was easy to spot all the signs of social media success.  The Toyota Priuses in the parking lot, bicycles whizzing around the campus, engineers in hoodies coding furiously on their MacAirs at picnic tables and park benches.

One of the most memorable segments was a fireside chat with Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn.   The key takeaway for me was an idea from his soon-to-be-published book entitled Tours of Duty.

What a talent or knowledge worker really looks for today is neither lifelong employment nor a freelance nation.  They are looking for tours of duty - a 3-5 year stint where they can contribute their talents towards a specific mission or goal.  At the 3 year-mark, they would welcome a "honest conversation" with their leaders to see if there are enough challenges left in the organization for them to sign up for another tour of duty.  If not, they are introduced to other teams or organizations that would provide them with other "tours of duty".

This idea really resonated with me because it's exactly what I've been doing with my own career over the last 20 years.

Thank you LinkedIn for a wonderful experience!

Hanging out with other LinkedIn100 members in front of a giant Lego logo

17 Mile Drive

On our final morning in Pacific Grove, Julie and I decided to do the 17-Mile Drive to see the lone cypress and take in more views of the magnificent Pacific coastline.  

The Lone Cypress - which I saw for the first time as a backdrop for the Karate Kid.  Remember the scene where Ralph Macchio was practising the "bird move"?

A day in the life of the rich and famous

Carmel by the Sea is the playground of the rich and famous in northern California.  Clint Eastwood was once the mayor of this picturesque little town, which could easily have been transplanted from the south of France, except for one thing.  The copious number of luxury brand-name stores that line the main street.  I succumbed to the call of capitalism and bought myself a pair of Tiffany earrings by Paloma Picasso.  The Luce earrings are a little dose of everyday chic which I shall enjoy very much.

One of my best paintings by a local artist which I saw at a Carmel art gallery.  One which I resisted buying, thank God! ;)

Julie and I stopped at a lovely little patisserie for lunch.  It was full of rich retired white folks and we were definitely the "ethnic minority".

Sunset Symphony

Watching the sun set over the Pacific. So beautiful.

Spiritual Home on the Pacific

After so many visits to California since Julie moved there in 2006, I think I finally found my spiritual home - Pacific Grove.  This beautiful piece of coastline is so inspiring that I find myself completely drawn to its charms.  Been here twice already this year - winter and spring. Perhaps I'll own a home here one day.  Where I can finally settle down to write.  After all, it worked for John Steinbeck who called Pacific Grove home and set many of his novels here.

Julie and I stayed at a cottage close to the beach and enjoyed daily walks, in the mornings and evenings. Loved the springtime blossoms that sprang up to delight the senses at every turn.

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)

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.

USA - San Francisco

Joanna & her sister, Julie in beautiful San Francisco




So many songs, movies and stories have been written about this little gem of a city in northern California. Any attempt to add to it almost seems futile, but Aunty Jo-Jo will try, nevertheless.
My first trip to San Francisco was in the summer of 2006, to visit my sister Julie, who now lives in the Bay Area. We saw all the famous sights and I found the city very pretty and comfortable, but not overwhelmingly so.
I found myself thoroughtly enjoying:-

• the beautiful tourist sights - Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz, Pier 39, Red & White ferry ride around the Bay. Despite what anyone says about commercialism, just enjoy it!
• Monet in Normandy exhibition at the Legion of Honor. It was amazing to study so many of my favourite Monets sitting side-by-side: the water-lilies, the haystacks, Rouen Cathedral. I also enjoyed introducing Julie to the world of the Impressionists.
• the ethnic neighbourhoods which integrate so comfortably into each other. I loved the fact that I could have my wonton mee for lunch, and wander down the street to pick up an authentic gelato for dessert!
• SFMOMA (San Francisco Museum of Modern Art). Although I don't really understood modern art, I was lucky to bump into Carmen Garcia, an aspiring artist, who was kind enough to show me all her favourite pieces at the museum
• the wine regions of Napa and Sonoma are a delight to discover. The wines are so different to the Australian vintages I'm used to. Especially last year's Orange Muscat by Villa Mt Eden...yummmm