Happy New Year

Dear Friends,

As 2008 draws to a close, I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you for your support throughout the year, and to wish you all the very best for 2009.

We have seen many reunions this year, reconnected with old friends while making new ones. We have laughed over old memories and made new ones. We've grown up and surrounded ourselves with kids, family, work, travels and new experiences. There's so much to be grateful for. Economic cycles may come and go but true friendships last a lifetime.

So until we meet again in the new year, let's count our blessings and enjoy the celebration!

Warmest regards,
Joanna

Our first award

Today, I received a delightful email from Sujatha Rajagopal, a BBGSian who lives in San Jose CA. It reads:

Joanna, I just wanted to let you know that I am passing on the "Butterfly Award for the coolest blog I know" to you. My humble way of showing how thankful I am for Back2BBGS. Details here:

http://www.funschooling.net/2008/12/funschooling-has-wings.html

My heartfelt thanks to Suji for this honour :-) Now, apparently this award works like a chain-mail where I have to link to Suji's blog, which is easily done. The next part is a bit trickier and that's why I'm seeking your help. I'd like to find 10 blogs written by BBGSians to nominate for this honour. No doubt, these will have to meet the usual BB standards. So please hurry and send me your nominations for best blogs by BBGSians!

Cheers, Joanna

Welcome to Singapore

Joanna with Betsy Li and her husband, Ken Wong

Visitors to Singapore are a rare thing for me but today, I happily welcomed Ms Betsy Li and her husband, Ken Wong to a lunch at Wheelock Place. They're here for a short holiday and since I was in Orchard Rd for some meetings, we had a delightful lunch of Japanese bento.

Many of us who remember Betsy as "Miss Li" will probably be curious about Mr Ken Wong. Sigh...I was so curious that I shamelessly gate-crashed their wedding tea ceremony as Betsy reminded me today (haiyo.. so malu). Ken is also in the field of education and was a former Inspector of Schools. Intellectual, soft-spoken and loving is how I would describe him. Rest assured, he's taking good care of our "Miss Li". They've been married for over 17 years now and make a lovely couple.

Not surprisingly, we talked a lot about BBGS. Ken mentioned how impressed he is with BBGS girls who never fail to walk up to Betsy anywhere in KL and greet her affectionately. Unlike students from other schools (that will remained unnamed) who slink away and hide ;-) He even shared a story of how he was asked to host an Inspector of Schools from England and he insisted on taking him to BBGS because he wanted to show off the best school in Malaysia. What else can I say, the man has excellent taste!

Can't wait to catch up with them again when I'm back in KL later this month. Hopefully, I'll be able to see Miss Yeap and Mrs Abraham as well so stay tuned...