Massachusetts, USA

I (Sam) spent September-December in Becket, Massachusetts studying Macrobiotics and it was a great experience. Not only did I learn a great deal, but I also met some wonderful people and made some new friends. The course itself covered Macrobiotic Philosophy, Macrobiotic Healing, Macrobiotic Cooking, Oriental Diagnosis and basic Shiatsu. It was a grueling 12 week program, with classes from Monday-Friday, stating at 7 am and ending at 6 pm each day. Fortunately the weekends were free, but many of us used this free time to study. The great thing is that we got 3 freshly-cooked, organic, Macrobiotic meals a day, so we didn't have to worry about preparing our own meals.

At the start of the program, we were a big class of 28 people, but the class size didn't stay the same from week-to-week, because the modules are broken up into weeks and people can take as many modules at a time to suite their individual schedules. That said, there were 7 of us who stayed for the whole 3 months, including 82 year old Mary, who took the entire program with us (she was such an inspiration to the rest of us). We had people from all over the world in the classes, there was a lady from South Korea, two ladies from Brazil, two ladies from Italy, one from Australia, about 6 ladies from Japan and the rest from different parts of the US and Canada. It is great to know that Macrobiotics is being practiced all over the world, by people from many different backgrounds.

Cooking is a very important aspect of Macrobiotics and we had a hands-on cooking class almost every day. At the end of level 2, for our level 2 graduation dinner, we (the students) had to prepare our own dinner (and also cook for our teachers and some of the staff). We were all put in charge of doing something and I volunteered to make the dessert for the evening. After looking through a few Macrobiotic/Vegan recipes, I decided to make a Vanilla and Chocolate cake (my version of a Black Forest cake). I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, as I had never baked using wholewheat flour, no eggs, no butter and no sugar, so I was absolutely thrilled when it turned out great (I surprised myself!). It was delicious and everyone enjoyed it. The combination of the chocolate/vanilla cake, together with the cashew cream icing and the raspberry coulis was a hit. I had fun not only baking the cake, but also icing and decorating it.

Boston

David came for a visit in November and we drove to Boston for the weekend. Boston is about 2 1/2 hours by car from Becket. We had a great time shopping, relaxing and walking around the city. We also got to meet up for dinner with Dr. and Mrs. Angel, friends of David's parents who attended our wedding in 2005. It was good to catch-up with them and see them again. Boston is a really nice city with lots of history. We stayed at the Fairmont Battery Wharf, right on the water and we were treated to a lovely suite overlooking the harbour. It was a nice change of scenery for me (Sam) and I enjoyed the time spent with David and the break from studying.
It was great being in this part of the world during this time of year, as New Hampshire during autumn is just spectacular with the leaves changing colour.

National Day Parade, Singapore

The National Day Parade is a national ceremony that is held every year on the 9th August to commemorate Singapore's independence. This year Singapore celebrated 45 years of independence and the ceremony was held at the Padang. Before the ceremony, there was a parade through the downtown area by the armed forces (showcasing Singapore's impressive military resources), the police and emergency response teams. Spectators were also treated to a display in the sky by Singapore's Air Force. The ceremony was attended by the former Prime Minister and founder of Singapore (Lee Kuan Yew, who happens to live a block away from us), the current Prime Minister (Lee Hsien Loong), the current President (Sellapan Ramanathan) and other dignitaries. The ceremony ended with a spectacular fireworks display.

New York, USA

We flew to New York for two days, before heading to Massachusetts to attend a wellness workshop. New York is such a happening city with so much to do, see and experience. It is also a large city (in size) with a population of over 19 million people. We had a great time exploring the city and its countless sights, and we even got to see a couple of Broadway shows.

The Plaza Hotel
The Plaza Hotel is the grande dame of New York hotels and is currently operated by Fairmont Hotels. This 19-story French Renaissance building opened in 1907 as a residence for the wealthy and is today a National Historic Landmark. In 2008 it was reopened after a $400 million renovation (even the taps are gold-plated!). We stayed here for the two nights we were in New York and it was wonderful. The hotel is also ideally located - in Midtown, a block away from trendy 5th Avenue and across the road from Central Park.

Rockefeller Centre
This National Historic Landmark is like a city within a city (it extends from 5th to 6th Avenues, and between 48th and 51st Streets). It is the hub of Midtown New York and is alive with activity day and night. In addition to the many restaurants, shops, offices and gardens, Rockefeller Centre is made up of a number of famous buildings like the G.E. Building, Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Plaza. It is also home to NBC Studios and the Today Show Studios.

Top of the Rock Observation Deck
We had read that one of the best views of the city is at the top of Rockefeller Plaza. The observation deck on the 70th floor did not disappoint and we were able to get breathtaking unobstructed views of Central Park, the Empire State Building and the city.

NBC's Today Show
On the Friday that we were in New York, there was a lot happening in the city - the biggest event that morning was John Mayer's appearance on NBC's Today Show (part of the Today Show's Summer Concert series) and his live performance at the Plaza at Rockefeller Centre. When we arrived at Rockefeller Centre, there was a huge crowd with hundreds of people lining the streets to watch him perform. Unfortunately we could not get a direct view of John Mayer, but we got to watch his interview (with Matt Lauer) and performance on the large TV screens outside the Today Show's studios.

The Early Show
Over at CBS's Early Show, we got to watch the taping of a segment for the morning news. Earlier on there was an appearance by Enrique Iglesias, but unfortunately we missed it.

Fox News
At Fox News there was a performance by a Country group, but the crowd was small compared to the turn out for John Mayer's performance

5th Avenue
5th Avenue runs from the north in Harlem, all the way south down to Midtown New York. 5th Avenue on the Upper East side runs all along the eastern border of Central Park and is home to the Metropolitan Museum of Art and exclusive apartment buildings. 5th Avenue in Midtown is the premier shopping street and this is where some of the most exclusive shops like Cartier, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bergdorf Goodman, Tiffany and Co., Harry Winston, Versace and Rolex can be found. It is also where Trump Tower, St. Patrick's Cathedral and the New York Public Library is located.

Staten Island Ferry and The Statue of Liberty
The Staten Island Ferry is a free ferry that operates between Manhattan and Staten Island. It offers views on board of Ellis Island, Governor Island and the Statue of Liberty.

Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is best known for famous landmarks like US Custom House, the World Financial Centre, Trinity Church, the New York Stock Exchange and Wall Street.

Ground Zero
This area was very busy with all the construction in progress.

Times Square
Times Square is known as the "Crossroads of the World" and is New York's most famous intersection. It is surrounded by the busy theatre district that includes Broadway. We visited Times Square during the day and then again at night when we saw it transform into a neon wonderland. Among the famous landmarks in this area are the Times Square News Ticker, Nasdaq's Headquarters, MTV's Headquarters and the Conde Nast Building. Many of the long-running musicals like Wicked, Mama Mia, Phantom of the Opera and West Side Story are still playing. At the time we were there, Harry Connick Jnr was also performing at the Neil Simon Theatre (would have loved to have seen him in concert, but unfortunately we couldn't get tickets).

Jersey Boys
One of the best shows ever! We thoroughly enjoyed this musical that tells the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. We have been wanting to see this show for a while now and we were so thrilled that we got to see it. We could have seen it a second time, it was that entertaining and enjoyable, and the music was great!

Central Park
Central Park spans over 843 acres and it is massive. That said, with the limited time that we had, it was impossible to see the whole of Central Park. Central Park was designed in 1858 and it took 16 years to create. Creating the park involved the planting of over 500,000 trees and shrubs, and the building of 30 stone and iron bridges and arches. On our last day in New York we walked from The Plaza Hotel, through Central Park to the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We found Central Park to be a beautiful, peaceful haven in the middle of busy New York.

Metropolitan Museum of Art
With all of New York's great museums, we had to visit at least one, but it was hard choosing between the Metropolitan Museum of Art, American Museum of Natural History and the Guggenheim Museum. After much consideration we decided on the Met. Considered one of the world's great art museums, the Met definitely did not disappoint (it reminded us a lot of the Louvre). It was founded in 1870 and today has over 2 million pieces on display. Among the highlights were the Egyptian art collection, the European sculptures, a special display of costumes spanning over the decades (unfortunately we couldn't take photos of this section) and an unusual bamboo display on the roof-top garden. It was impossible to see everything, but we saw as much as we could in the 3 1/2 hours that we spent at this wonderful museum.