2014 september

Accent S eptember 2014

Accent

OUR MISSION The American Club in China is a non-profit organization established for the sole purpose of serving the American and International communities in a family atmosphere, providing the highest quality food, recreational and social activities. The club will endeavor to enhance a cultural exchange with the R.O.C., effectively utilizing all available resources and assuring proper responses to Members needs.

Contents | September 2014 President's Message

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General Manager's Message

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Do You Know

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Food & Beverage News

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Sports News

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Hair & Spa

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Article - Travel Stories in Summer

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Social Events - ACC Travel Fair

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Photo Gallery

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Classic Recipe

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BOARD OF GOVERNORS Faye Angevine Godwin Chang Jim Clark Jenny Hong Siew Kang Sven Olsen Douglas Pierce Rachel Sawatzky K.C. Yeh Ellen Yin Richard Yin

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Sampson Mar Stephen Tan Andrea Wu

MANAGEMENT TEAM Todd Bretzlaff

Save Paper Save the Earth. - ACCENT magazine paper material contains 50% environmental recycle paper.

DAILY OPERATION HOURS Cashier & Member Services

Daily

8:00 am

- 10:00 pm

Library

Daily

10:00 am

- 7:00 pm

Terrace Terrace Salad Bar

Daily Lunch Daily Dinner Daily Daily Lunch Daily Dinner Daily Daily

Sigis Gyoson

General Manager

Tommy Chan

Rendezvous

Sabrina Chen

ACC Market Banquet Office Game Room TV Room Nursery Fitness Center

Sports & Recreation Director Marketing & Communications Manager

Gerry Gibb IT Director

Stella Hou

Financial Controller

Peter Hu

Purchasing Manager

Steven Hung

Racquet Courts Pro Shop & Reservations

Human Resource Director

Chi-Wen Lin

Swimming Pool & Jacuzzi

Mon - Fri Sat & Sun & Holiday

Hair & Spa

Mon - Sat Sun & Holiday

Engineering Director

Duxbury Low F&B Director

Fanny Tung

Senior Membership Manager

Emily Wang

Hair & Spa Manager

Jeffery Wang

Junior Executive Chef

Daily Mon - Sat Daily Daily Daily Mon - Fri Sat & Sun & Holiday Daily Mon - Fri Sat & Sun & Holiday

7:00 am - 10:00 pm 11:00 am - 2:30 pm 5:30 pm - 10:00 pm 11:30 am - 10:00 pm 11:30 am - 2:30 pm 5:30 pm - 9:30 pm 12:00 noon - 11:30 pm closed 10:00 pm Last Order for snack food 10:00 am - 9:00 pm 10:00 am - 6:00 pm 9:00 am - 9:00 pm 9:00 am - 9:00 pm 9:00 am - 9:00 pm 6:00 am - 9:30 pm 7:00 am - 8:00 pm 6:00 am - 11:00 pm 7:30 am - 9:00 pm 8:00 am - 6:00 pm 6:30 am 9:00 am

- 8:30 pm - 7:30 pm

10:00 am 10:00 am

- 7:00 pm - 5:00 pm

To advertise in ACCENT, please contact 2885-8260 ext 56 Sabrina Chen For membership information, please contact 2885-8260 ext 73 Fanny Tung Email ACC : member.services@americanclub.org.tw Website: www.americanclub.org.tw

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

Godwin Chang

Many hands make light work. - John Heywood Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. - Henry Ford Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much. - Helen Keller Sticks in a bundle are unbreakable. - Kenyan Proverb Dear Fellow Members, Welcome back! Hope that you all had a wonderful summer.

With everyone back, the Club is planning a lot of activities as we return to our normal lives. The newly created Movie Nights have been a tremendous success and the Social Committee is diligently working further new ideas to make the Club events fun, entertaining and even educational. In the coming months you will see more and more offerings such as cooking classes, arts & crafts and even seminars helping on daily life matters such as tax planning. So please be on the lookout for events that interest you.

The Board and Management will be continuing our efforts to fine-tune the food and service quality. It has already been a year since we introduced Japanese dining and as business steadily grows in Gyoson, we are now finding a greater challenge in keeping patronage up in Sigis. We are in the process of conducting focus groups to explore ways to boost Sigis usage. One of the key areas that we feel requires further improvement is the level of service and personalized attention in Sigis. I would encourage you to come to Sigis to enjoy the improved menu and provide us with any suggestions you may have on how we can take Sigis to the next level. Your suggestions and comments are most welcome either through our comment cards, to the Sigis Manager or directly to our GM , Todd Bretzlaff either by email or in person.

There will always be a perpetual need to fine tune our operations in our efforts toward continual improvement but overall the Club has been exceptionally successful in the last few years. I believe that one of the reasons for the success of the ACC is the teamwork that exists within and between the Board, and Management teams. The ability to have an interconnected Board from varying demographic groups brings diversity, new ideas and differing perspectives for more sound solutions in our ongoing journey toward our ACC Vision…….to make the Club the Best in Asia.

Now that we are over halfway through the year, it is time to commence the process of nominating candidates for the Board of Governors and Supervisors. These candidates will be running for the our elections in November held in conjunction with the Annual General Meeting. Board Members are elected on a two year cycle with roughly half of the Board elected each year allowing for better continuity and also for adding some new prospective. If you happen to be interested in being a part of the Board, I urgently recommend you to contact Rachel Sawatkzy, this year’s Nominating Committee Chair and if you are contacted by one of the Nominating Committee Members requesting you run, I hope that you will be able to find the time to help continue our journey toward becoming the Best Club in Asia.

Thanks to all for your tremendous support of our Club creating a very bright future.

See you around the Club.

Godwin Chang President

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GENERAL MANAGER'S MESSAGE

Dear Members,

Todd Bretzlaff

I hope that everyone made it through this particularly hot summer. Fortunately the pool renovation work has been exceptionally well received and the pool was even more popular than ever before.

I am sure that most of you also noted the construction work done in the car park over the summer. Almost a year ago we started having problems with a significant amount of water coming from behind the retaining wall and up under the car park. This continual flow of water was cause for concern as the water was damaging the asphalt surface of our car park.

The Club has been working with our landlord, city government, the Grand Hotel and a Geological Engineer to try to identify the source of this water. With the guidance of the Geological Engineer, we decided the best immediate course of action was to install a drainage system at the high end of the car park to catch and redirect the sub terrain water safely away.

Fortunately, the drainage system immediately solved this water problem. We will continue to coordinate with our landlord and city to monitor the amount of water extracted from the soil to ensure we have no other problems arising.

The summer has also been an opportunity Members to become more familiar with Gyoson, our Japanese Dining and allowed the outlet to establish itself as a popular dining option for our Members. After repositioning Gyoson down from upper-mid range to mid-range family dining, the outlet has been meeting and exceeded projections. The only negative is that it seems to have weakened business in Sigis during the week. This is not necessary cause for alarm as overall all F&B dining in the Club has increased, nevertheless we are now closely investigating how we can best tweak / position the operations in Sigis to generate more patronage and better serve the general Membership. The Club conducted focus group sessions with the assistance of individuals who specialize in this area of market research to better understand what the Members would like to see from this outlet. Once we have been able to compile and analyze the data received, we will use this information to tweak Sigis to best serve the Members’ expectations from the Club.

Although summer is practically over, I also wanted to take a moment to remind Members of a few Club Rules that need to be reinforced. First, I would like to thank all of you for being much more committed to the guest policies and the restrictions on an unaccompanied guest; however if you have a guest that you wish to entertain at the Club but absolutely cannot attend, we understand and you can request an exception for such unique situations. Regarding children, it is very important to remember that children six (6) years and older are not permitted inside the locker rooms and restrooms designated for the opposite gender. Further, children under 18 years of age must be accompanied by their parents or a responsible adult whenever entering the sauna facilities. Regarding mobile phones; although compliance to the restrictions on using mobile phones within the Club has improved, we still have situations where Members, and often times their guests, use a mobile phone within the Club. Please be sure to remind your guests that the use of mobile phones is not permitted within the Club premises including both the Sigis Deck and Terrace Lanai with the solitary exception of the public telephone area near the lobby rest rooms.

I would like to thank everyone who attended our 4th of July celebration this year. Everyone was feeling particularly patriotic as we had a significant increase in the number of Members attending. Our second “movie night” showing “Despicable Me II” was an even bigger success than our first movie night with the inclusion of popcorn and additional western food stalls as requested. We definitely look forward to holding more “movie nights” in the future. We have a number of events coming up over the next couple of months but we want to make sure that you have time to put our 4th Neon “Extravaganza” Party on the evening of 15 November on your schedule. The ACC team has come up with a number of fun ideas, great activities and new foods to make this third installment the best “Extravaganza” ever.

With the kids back in school and everyone settled into a more regular schedule, we look forward to continuing to have ACC be an active and daily part of your life.

Looking forward to seeing you at the Club,

Todd Bretzlaff General Manager

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NEW&RESIGNED MEMBERS / EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH

A Warm Welcome to New Members Sam & Holly Apgar / Nelson Au & Elaine Chen / Laura & Eric Barboriak / Hakan & Jeannette Cervell Derrick Chan & Kelly Liao / Victor Chen & Connie Lu / Paul Chen & Minnie Wu / Alex Cheng & Vanessa Hang Wei Chun & Chia Ling Cheng / Foster Chiang & Megumi Uchida / Steven Chung & Angelina Chang Don & Jamuna D. Harris / Triya Heliany & Imam Kisowo / Thomas & Erin Henderschedt / Jake & Josephine Hsiao Alan & Jennifer Hsu / Jeff Hsu / Joy Hu & Kenny Kao / Kell Hwang & Hsiu-Fen Huang / Ken Kan & Weily Shaw Ivan & Natasha Kanapathy / Chi-I & Shu-Hwi Tsai Kao / Yue Kwan & Linda Seet / Lillian Lai & Keith Wong Cheng I & Teresa Lee / Pei-Ling Liao / Kathryn & Jsyson Limmer / Maggie Lin / Kevin Lin & Chyi Chiu Roger Lin & Phyllis Heilian / Kirk & Christine Ling / Christopher & Cathy Ling / Alice Liu / Karen Liu & Tony Su Doug & Brenda Martin / Joseph Martin & Shu Chin Hung / Edward & Torill Mor / Wayne & Karen Nankil Alex Niu & Jacqueline-Anne Lee / Mae & Sean O’Malley / Darryl & Sharon Owens / Jai Pawani & Lakshmy Jai Millicent & Boh Ruffin / Kristofer & Kelly Saavedra / Vincent Shen & Nancy Tsao / Daniel & Misa Silver Tara & Nicholas Simeonidis / Nozomu & Kazuko Takamura / Ernest Tien / Winston & Anita Town Darlington Tseng & Iris Shu / Si’alei Van Toor & David Mahon / Edward & Hwei-Shin Way / John Winter Nicole Yang & Hiko Lee

Bon Voyage to Resigned Members Bradley & Nancy Achorn / So Won Silas & Jacqueline Anh / Philippe & Adriana Archambault Fred Bruner & Signe Schilperoort / Vinh Xuan Bui & Tram Quynh Le / David Chang & Nancy Hsueh Hsieng-Hwei Chang / Luis Chein & Karen Cheng / Chun Ho Chu & Eleanor Ho / Victor & Amelia Co Christopher Cossu & Elizabeth Galphin / Zachary & Joni Coughlin / Mark & Heather Endre / Philip & Stella Fei Robert & Lori France / David & Karen Freeman / Stefan Goger / Isaac & Dana Harris / Agnes Ho Carlson Ho & Lauren Shim / Marcel Holman & Sor Hoon Lim / Jennifer & Jesper Kanold / Wen Kao & Jenny Chang Daniel Khoo & Joyce Tan / Thomas & Christine Komons / Ming-Lun Lee / Jenny Ley & Hsiao-Wei Chung Chun-Mei Lin & Ming-The Hsu / Vivian Lo / Karen & Paul Moreau / Heike Niehues & Alexander Neth / Koji Nonami Steven Parker & Nora Wang / Katen Patel / Willi Ramm & Aisha Fang / Robert & Nanda Reuvekamp Ian & Andrea Roe / Kefetew & Desta Selassie / Vera & Richard Sikes / Loke Kheng Tham & Cheng Haw Lee Stephen & Amy Thorne / Jeffry Tjokrohaminoto & Liong Glenda Larkin / Philip Tseng & Sydney Tsuo Vicky Tu & Tim Kuei / Heidi & Matthew Vaughan / Philip & Kerri Vines / Scott Yu & Monica Hsu / Peter & Miyako Zumsteg

ACC Employee of the Month – May 2014 Jimmy is a certified Fitness Trainer from many fitness associations especially one called Sports Massage; which promotes a technique Jimmy applies to help Members reduce muscle tension and to promote their flexibility after working out.

Members are impressed with Jimmy's professional passion in helping them to improve and enjoy a healthier, fitter lifestyle.

Jimmy is an excellent communicator with good peer interaction and willing to adapt to any working schedule arrangements.

ACC Employee of the Month – June 2014 We needed a projector cabinet for the poolsidemovie night, and we provided some ideas to Leo. What he produced was much more than expected and it was produced in a very short time.

This is just one recent example of Leo’s attention to detail. In my experience, Leo is great at taking a basic idea/specification and very quickly providing exactly what was needed and when it was needed.

Name: Jimmy Kuo 郭瑋鈞 Department: Fitness Center

Name: Leo Huang 黃俊穎 Department: Repair & Maintenance

ACC Employee of the Month – July 2014

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Tracy has a great ability to anticipate situations before they become a problem, which is a great asset to ACC’s managers in ensuring the comfort of our Members. When we have emergencies, Tracy is always ready to provide relief duty even should they occur on her off-work days. During the ‘staff annual trip’, Tracy without hesitation agreed to support the Pro-Shop at the manager’s “appeal” – a great work ethic, recognized

by ACC management and the Club Members and very much appreciated by her co-workers.

Name: Tracy Liu 劉蕙菁 Department: Fitness Center

DO YOU KNOW

ACC Website News As you may know we are progressively expanding the interactive features of the website. Online booking of fitness class booking has been running very successfully for some time and we will soon be adding online booking for our club events. Look out for further announcements about this in the coming weeks.

Also, don’t forget all the other great features that are already available to you on the website: • Online Library (item search, and tracking of checked-out items) • Fitness class schedule & booking • Account balance • Account transactions • F&B Minimum balance • Club event calendar • All the latest news and promotions

• Accent magazine • Outlet dining menus • Event photo galleries • Member search • Control of your automatic notifications and communication options • Edit My Details

Some of these features require a login for the site. If you don’t have yours yet please contact Membership on accmembership@americanclub.org.tw, or call us on 28858260 ext. 66.

And finally …

Coming soon after online booking for member events will be online booking of tennis and squash courts and online dining reservations.

ACC Facebook You “Like” ACC? Then why not “Like” us on Facebook now!

“Why” - well on ACC’s Facebook you will be up-to-date on the latest promotions, social and sporting events, complete with regular updates covering all the interesting activities that happen throughout the Club.

So “Like Us” and support us now on ACC’s Facebook!

Ghost Wanted Did you come to our ACC Haunted House last year? It was “really horrible” - wasn’t it great?

This year for Halloween, we would like to invite our Members to be part of the ”Monster Mansion”.

For those of you who are interested, please contact event team manager Sabrina at 02-2885-8260 ext.56.

Date: Saturday, November 1, 2014 Time: 4:00 – 9:00 pm Requirement: Male adults or male teenagers aged over 13 Required Number of “Ghosts”: 6 Deadline for signup: Thursday, October 9 We will offer a complimentary dinner plus free entrance per ghost on the event day.

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F&B NEWS

Terrace

September Monthly Specials

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Slow Roasted BBQ Beef Brisket Sandwich Shredded U.S beef brisket marinated with barbecue sauce on a burger bun; accompanied with baked beans and coleslaw.

NT$300

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Spiced Chicken Quesadillas Fajita marinated chicken with onions, bell peppers, tomatoes, coriander and pizza cheese in a flour tortilla; accompanied with tomato salsa, sour cream and guacamole.

NT$300

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Rendezvous

Monday to Sunday Beat the summer heat and enjoy a Pitcher of Carlsberg Draught Beer (1.5 liter)

Price: NT$350

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Monday to Sunday

Order our delicious Dessert and get a cup of regular coffee or tea for only “NT$45”

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plus get a refill for only “NT$55”

Every Monday

Forget the Monday blues and enjoy

“50% off” on house wines

and beers all day - only in Rendezvous.

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Every Tuesday

Enjoy our daily “Fish of the Day” catch and get a glass of house wine for only “NT$100”

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Gyoson

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F&B NEWS

Asahi Dry Beer / Kirin Beer 330ml Special Price: NT$99 All Day (Menu Price: NT$120)

Beer Promotion

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Fresh Geoduck Sashimi or Nigiri Six pieces of fresh geoduck sashimi or nigiri only

NT$600

Special Roll Marinated Mackerel (Shime Saba) Sushi Roll

NT$250

Ehrmann Fruit Yogurt Summer Promotion Buy four get one free

Market

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Duval Leroy Champagne Promotion

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Price: NT$1,500/bottle Special Discount:

20% OFF 7

September

Promotion Market

Sigis Horse Heaven Hills Merlot 2011 NT$980/Bottle NT$220/Glass

(Retail Price: NT$1,300)

6 bottles for NT$5,600 Buy 12 bottles and get 1 bottle free

1 Penfolds Bin 9 Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 NT$1,080/Bottle NT$250/Glass

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1

Cloudy Bay Sauvignon Blanc 2013 Special Price: NT$990

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Duval Leroy Champagne Brut NT$1,380/Bottle NT$280/Glass

Rosemount Estate Cabernet Sauvignon 2012 Special Price: NT$795 (Retail Price: NT$850)

Buy 3 bottles and get 1 bottle free

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2

Muga Barrel Fermented White 2013 Special Price: NT$750 (Retail Price: NT$800)

Buy 3 bottles and get 1 bottle free

Rendezvous Colombia Crest Two Vines Sauvignon Blanc 2011 Promotion Price: NT$800/Bottle (Original: NT$1,250) Promotion Price: NT$180/Glass (Original: NT$250) 8

Celebrate together with your family and friends; American Club Taipei welcomes you for a joyful

by the Poolside 4 1 0 2 , 8 r e b m e t p e 6:30 pm Monday, S , lt u d a r e p % 0 1 + 0 0 NT$1,0 unch p it u r /f r e e b d le t t o b 1 including ) 0 1 o t 3 s e g (a d il h c r e NT$500+10% p

Please sign up at the Member Services Desk.

Cancel by September 4 to avoid charges.

BANQUET

The event is not included under ACC’s minimum charge policy.

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SPORTS NEWS

ACC Tennis and Squash Dates to Remember Ladies Clinics & Ladies Open Tennis will commence on Wednesday, September 3 Intermediate Clinic: 8:15-9:30 am / Advanced Clinic: 9:30-11:00 am / Beginners Clinic: 11:00 am-12:00 noon Ladies and Men’s Open Single’s Events will commence on Monday, September 1 Ladies Open Singles: 9:00 am-12:00 noon / Men’s Open Singles: 8:00-10:00 pm Ladies and Men’s Doubles Open Tennis Events will commence on Thursday, September 4 Ladies Open Doubles: 9:00 am-12:00 noon / Men’s Open Doubles: 8:00-10:00 pm Junior Open Tennis Events will commence on Friday, September 5: 4:00-6:00 pm Junior Program will commence Monday, September 1 (Please see Notice Board outside Pro Shop) For more information on any of these events, please contact the Pro Shop.

Squash League

T

he Squash League will commence on Monday, September 6. This league is an excellent way to squeeze in at least one game of squash per week, which is essential if you plan to keep your skill level high and your fitness at its peak. If once a week isn’t enough, then you can join one of the travelling teams and compete against other local teams. We also have excellent squash coaches who will be able to cater to all levels, Alan Yang and Huw Kuo - please check out their bios on the ACC website. They will be around on Club Nights and Open Squash Events to give you some tips, feel free to speak to them and inquire about lessons or which route to take to make you a better player.

Badminton / Racquetball / Table Tennis

Badminton

Racquetball

Table Tennis

We cater for all these sports. Please visit the Pro Shop to book and borrow any equipment. We do have an excellent Badminton Coach, Jackie Hsieh, who is available for lessons. Having watched him teach the children in this year’s summer camps, I highly recommend him, Jackie makes the sport fun and his teaching methods are effective - give Jackie a try. Also, keep an eye on the Club Notice Boards for information on Tournaments and sign-up sheets; we have events planned for all sports.

New ACC Events and Sports eep a look out for “touch-tennis”, a new K and exciting tennis game that is travelling the Globe and is getting more and more popular with adults and juniors. To get more of an understanding of what touch-tennis is about, please visit the website www.touchtennis.com .

We are planning a touch-tennis demonstration event in September.

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A

brand new ball machine will be arriving very soon at the ACC. This machine will be available for rent at a special promotional rate during September. The machine comes with a 20 function remote control and can pretty much do whatever you want it to do; such as feed you topspin, underspin, moonball - you have to try it to believe it. We will be providing ball machine clinics to teach you how to use the machine - bookings can be made at the Pro Shop.

SPORTS NEWS

Fitness Classes Schedule for September

Monday

10:00 - 10:40 am 10:45 - 11:30 am 11:30 - 12:15 pm 12:30 - 1:15 pm

Tuesday

7:00 - 7:45 am 9:25 - 10:45 am 10:30 - 11:45 am 11:00 - 11:45 am 4:00 - 7:00 pm 7:00 - 7:45 pm

Wednesday

10:00 - 10:45 am 10:45 - 11:30 am 11:30 - 12:30 pm 12:45 - 1:30 pm 7:00 - 7:45 pm

Thursday

10:00 - 10:45 am 11:00 - 11:45 am 7:00 - 7:45 pm

Friday

9:25 - 10:45 am 11:00 - 11:45 am 12:30 - 1:15 pm

Saturday

10:00 - 10:45 am 11:00 - 11:45 am 4:00 - 5:00 pm

Sunday

11:00 - 11:45 am 2:15 - 3:30 pm 3:45 - 4:45 pm

Fusion Belly Dance (Wendy) Strength Lab (Joanne) Zumba (Joanne) Group TRX (Vincent) Cycle Fit (Niko) The “Power” (Billy/Vincent/Mandy) Gentle Yoga *# (Jen/Ted) Total Body Fitness (Billy) Mixed Martial Arts * (Anthony) Pilates (Jenny) Body Attack (Mandy) Mat Science (Mandy) K-Pop Belly Dance (Sophia) Group TRX (Ivan) Cycle Fit (Billy) Cardio Step (Tommy) Pilates (Mandy/Jimmy) Total Body Fitness (Vincent/Mandy) The “Power”(Jimmy/Mandy/Tommy) Cycle Fit (Billy) Group TRX (Kevin) Pilates (Jenny/Jimmy) Latin Fever (Darry) Kids’ Mixed Martial Arts * (Anthony) umba (Jerry) The “Power” (Jimmy/Mandy/Billy/Tommy) Cycle Fit (Niko)

Classes with * charge a fee Classes with # meet in the small fitness room

FUSION BELLY DANCE: Combination of the Middle Eastern belly dancing with many different types of dance movements.

K-POP BELLY DANCE: This class combines the upbeat tempo of Korean pop music with Middle Eastern belly dance movements.

LATIN FEVER: A dancy aerobics class with fun Latin style moves for a great fat-burning cardio workout.

ZUMBA: The joy of movement inspired by Latin rhythms , hip hop and funk keeps you moving through the hour.

BODY ATTACK: Powerful cardio training for the athlete in you. This class combines movements of Martial Arts and Kickboxing into a fun and exciting aerobic workout.

CARDIO STEP: Suitable for those familiar with Step. Class starts with basic (yet high intensity) combinations on the Step and then finish your workout with a relaxation stretch.

CYCLE FIT: This indoor stationary fitness cycling class gives you an intense and effective cardio workout with exciting music. Limited to ten members only per class.

THE "POWER": A tough but fun "Barbell" weightlifting class which is being taught for its simplicity, consistency, results, and excitement.

Never done it before? See an instructor first for an introduction to the various moves, for your own safety and to have an effective workout.

GROUP TRX: Developed by a Navy Seal, the TRX suspension training is a form of resistance training that includes body weight exercises in which a variety of compound exercise movements develops strength, balance, and core stability.

Class is designed for fitness levels from intermediate to advanced.

TOTAL BODY FITNESS: This 45 mins class provides cardio workout and resistance training for the entire body.

STRENGTH LAB: A lively fusion of ballet conditioning, core strength, abdominal work, balance work and incorporates resistance exercises.

GENTLE YOGA*: Learn and practice the basics of bending and blending mind and body through yoga modified for different levels.

PILATES: A different kind of strength and flexibility class for a mind-body fitness experience with graceful movements and powerful postures.

MAT SCIENCE: A combination of Yoga and Pilates, this class will energize, sculpt and relax the body as it improves the quality of your effort.

KIDS’ MIXED MARTIAL ARTS*: A practical and modern approach, combining the best that Martial Arts and Self Defense have to offer.

For adults and kids 6 Yrs old and above.

Additional Group Fitness Classes!

Fitness Center has added two more classes effective September, 2014.

Indoor Cycle Fitness:

Total Body Fitness:

Mandy

Instructors: NIKO

Every Tuesday from 7:00 – 7:45 am for the early morning cycle enthusiasts.

Instructors:

Vincent

Every Thursday from 7:00 – 7:45 pm. This class provides cardio workouts and resistance training for all fitness levels.

Classes can be booked through the ACC Website.

2014 ACC Swimming Championship.

This annual event will be held on Saturday, October 18. Entry forms are now available at the Lifeguard Office by the Pool. Last day to return the registration forms is Sunday, September 21. The Swimming Pool Staff has complete details for this event and will be pleased to answer any questions you may have.

Sponsored by

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New Stylist John Robert Mouzakis

Born in Detroit, Michigan and raised in the small countryside town of Marquette on Lake Superior.

John graduated from the Career Institute of Cosmetology - Paul Mitchell Cosmetology School. With his cosmetology instructor certificate, he joined Vidal Sassoon as a stylist apprentice. After graduating from Vidal Sassoon’s two-year stylist apprentice program, he then became a stylist for Sassoon in downtown Chicago.

John was then picked up by Ulta Corporation to work as their Educator and Senior Stylist at the Ulta Flagship Salon in Chicago where he helped develop a salon education program that is still being used in Ulta's 675 locations throughout 46 States.

In 2010 John moved to Hong Kong to work with Toni & Guy as Art Director and Academy Educator.

While working with Toni & Guy he was actively involved with the advanced haircutting classes in over 14 countries.

After Toni & Guy John moved to the Private I QG Salon - Hong Kong’s Top Luxury Salon in the Four Seasons Hotel where he worked as a stylist and educator till moving to Taiwan to join our American Club. John is looking forward to meeting you in the Salon.

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  

Pumpkin Gnocchi and Pan-seared Pumpkin Salad Saturday, October 4, 2014

ACC

Time: 3:00 - 4:30 pm Location: South California Cost: NT$450 per person (Aged 12-17) ACC Members Only: Restricted to 25 attendees Please sign up at the Front Desk. For more details, please visit ACC website.

Coloring your Jack o Lantern and Deco Mini Pumpkin

Friday, October 10, 2014 Time: 2:30 - 4:30 pm Location: South California Room Cost: NT$350 per set including one pottery lantern and two small pumpkins ACC Members Only: Restricted to 25 children Please sign up at the Front Desk. For more details, please visit ACC website.

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My

SUMMER

VACATION

Members’ Summer Stories

Welcome Back! Summer vacation is finished, did you have a great time? It is always fun to know about other people’s trips and to exchange experiences.

You might know of a new place that is adventurous or something cool that you have never heard about before. There are six Members sharing their summer vacation with us! Let’s hear about their summer stories!

Text & Photos by Sonja Leavy, Joyce Ting, Teresa Lin, Danielle Lin, Audrey Kuan and Melody Hung.

Sonja Leavy

S

ummer vacation is considered a holiday in our household, therefore, it is something we look forward to every year. Life’s pace seems to slow down just a bit, and I for one find enjoyment in the chilled, relaxed pace of summer. Typically we return home to the States during this time, as was the case this year. We eagerly headed home anticipating seeing and spending quality time with family and friends we had not seen over the past year. Our nephew, Reginald, was graduating from high school, and we could not wait to revel in and celebrate his accomplishment. We took family trips to Grand Paradise Water Park in Collins, MS and the Audubon Aquarium of the Americas in New Orleans, LA. We barbecued and had cookouts in the back yard and enjoyed four generations of family gathered together at once.

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We strolled along the Mississippi River riverbanks while eating ice cream, and we enjoyed more than our fair share of the Cajun and Southern cuisines that had been absent from our lives over the previous year.

This year we decided to spend less time stateside than we have in years past. We felt as though we had lived in Taiwan for three years but had never experienced a summer in Taiwan and wanted to do so.

Time quickly passed and we headed back to Taiwan to enjoy the remainder of the summer and get Z back on track with school and speaking Chinese.

Although her pre-school is year round, we sought to strike a balance with her and make sure her summer was an enjoyable one. She has delighted in fun days at the Taipei Water Park, had arts and crafts play dates with friends, met friends at the playground for impromptu play, as well as swimming lessons and pool time at the club. My hubs and I have taken the time to enjoy a couple of date nights and have stumbled upon some great restaurants along the way which we will be adding to our favorites list. And lastly, I had the pleasure of celebrating my birthday with some very dear friends whom I have met while living in Taiwan. Summer has indeed been a time to sit back, relax, and unwind.

VACATION

Joyce Ting

I

t started with Tim’s comment: Jordan is the safest Middle East country. Let’s go see Petra, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World.

After some online research, we chose a private tour around Jordan for a week.

Only to find out later, most people travel in Jordan in the same fashion.

We were meeting the same tourist groups in various parts of the country.

When we landed in Amman, we did not know much more than the rough geography, some itinerary description, and few famous Bible stories. We were so naïve, we even forgot our trip was during the month of Ramadan.

It turns out to be one of our favorite vacations; we love the attitude of Jordanian people, who are content, sincere, open and kind. People would roll down their car windows to wave “Hi” while driving by; they apologize for mishaps and really try their best to make up the loss; they follow their religious rules strictly, but never intend to impose any rules on foreigners. We felt very safe during our stay, even though the unrest in Gaza started when we were half way into our trip.

Petra, a UNESCO site, was amazing! All the “buildings” were carved into the sheer rock face by the Nabatanaeans over 2000 years ago. The 810 meter tall Treasury appears in front of your eyes after a 2km walk inside the canyon like a movie set, it simply takes your breath away. From there on, we went in the valley to see royal tombs, theatre, street facades, even climbed over 800 steps on donkeys to see the less visited highlight: the Monastery.

The children’s favorite memory was dangling their feet on top of the cliff across from the Treasury, looking down at the Treasury like a dollhouse below.

It does not take much imagination to see how the city was in the past; it is a great tool to understand how Roman people used to live.

We anticipated the children to be tired after few days of historical sites; we took them to the Red Sea and then the Dead Sea. The marine life in the Red Sea is abundant and wonderful, we felt like we were diving inside a man made aquarium while just snorkeling nearby the shore.

Floating on the Dead Sea was a wonderful finale. It was too bad no photos are allowed anymore near the shore, nor inside the sea. It’s a really strange feeling to lie like a leaf floating on the water; only half of our body was inside the ocean.

Jordan has left such a positive impression; we would love to go back one day. If the region is peaceful, we hope to include Jerusalem and Damascus, since they are both less than 2 hours away by car.

The city of Jerash was my personal favorite. It is the largest Imperial Roman ruin outside Italy. The amazing part of Jerash is the whole town was preserved and intact. After the impressive city gate, the city wall contains two amphitheaters, hippodrome, colonnaded streets and plaza, Artemis and Zeus temple ruins, shop structures and more.

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VACATION B

Teresa Lin

ack in the spring as the soundtrack from the movie Frozen played in heavy rotation at my house, I was planning for our summer and feeling as giddy about it as Olaf, the snowman from the same movie. He sings with delirious excitement about sipping fancy drinks and getting gorgeously tanned in summer. While that sounds enticing, the summer percolating in my mind had a larger portion of simpler pleasures. I was shooting for an idyllic summer reminiscent of ones I had when I was a girl growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta, GA. Thinking back on it now as school is starting and we have said goodbye to summer 2014, I have a smile on my face. We had as perfect a summer as I’ve ever had.

Some of the simple moments that made this summer delightful were chasing and catching lightning bugs at dusk, losing my breath during ferocious thunderstorms, going on long car rides through endless country roads scanning the fields for horses, watching the kids blow all sizes of bubbles, chase them down and giggle as they popped, walking with my little one while she rode her new pink bike with training wheels through the quiet neighborhood streets, and gazing at a beautiful sunrise on a chilly morning. We also visited a sea turtle hospital in southern Florida, played games with Grandma in the evenings, and slipped on moss covered rocks in the same stream where I played as a child. But the most precious moments were shared catching up with some of my favorite people whose good company make those long days of summer pass by far too quickly.

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Danielle Lin(age 10)

M

y family went to Atlanta, Georgia, for summer vacation. Our summer was filled with exciting things. We caught fireflies, we went to a drive through safari zoo, we hiked a nature trail and played on the rocks in a river, we enjoyed the beach, but we mainly spent time with family and friends.

My favorite times were being with friends playing and laughing. We also saw our family and I especially enjoyed playing Rummikube with my grandma. I miss them all so much.

I had a great summer, but I was ready to come back to Taiwan. I missed TAS, my friends, and ACC.

Audrey Kuan(age 10) I spent a couple of months in America this summer. It was an extraordinary trip. First, I went to a five-week summer camp at Robert Louis Stevenson School, and I stayed at the school by myself in the dorms.

While there, I learned a new sport called speedball, which is a combination of soccer and football.

After the camp, I visited Google in Silicon Valley. One of the neatest things I saw was a 3D globe where you can see all of the homes around the world. There was also a globe where you can see all of the different languages spoken in the world.

While there, I made a wish to someday work at Google. I really think it would be great to work there and enjoy all of the free lunches in the cafeteria. If I try really hard to achieve my goal, maybe I can work at Google in the future. It’s an amazing place!

Melody Hung

S

ummer vacation offers a excellent chance to completely get away for a good travel break with our 2 school-age kids and 1 toddler. This year we spent our time in Japan and we also went on a fantastic trip to the Disneyland in Tokyo.

Disneyland is definitely the happiest homecoming on earth. All our family members got highly emotional going to a trip to Disneyland since we had been living in southern California for more than 6 years. And our home was just miles away from the Disneyland in California. This trip reminded us all the priceless moments of we spent in Disneyland California when they were babies. And we know all the memories we experienced here will truly last a lifetime.

As a parent, we love to experience local life and different cultures with our kids. Traveling could be the best way to explore them. As you might guess we all took the public transport system around Tokyo areas within our 10 days trip. Although it might be troublesome for parents to help the kids getting on and off the buses and trains but it was full of fun for our kids to see the true life style of a foreign country. Kids with uniforms, Japan languages, Temples, cleanness of the city and even the Japanese accent English interested them greatly.

Luckily, kids had no complains about the long walks between each destination and hot weather and we make sure they were well fed to be able to fuel our long days of sightseeing and explorations.

Summer is near the end and the new school year is around the corner! Are we planning an idea of our next perfect family vacation retreat? Yes, the place for great family time will be our favorite place!

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ACC

Fair

Saturday, September 20, 2014 Time: 1:00 - 7:00 pm (Join us at any time during this period) Location: California Room Cost: Complimentary Admission Date:

d n a s r e b m e M l l a We welcomtse to join this event! your gues

This is the first Travel Fair offering customized and special travel packages for our Club Members!! Travel specialists will present to you popular, unique and high-quality tours for adults and children at a variety of travel destinations designed to meet your personal interests such as cultures, adventures, shopping and culinary delights.

We have invited specialists in the following categories to participate: . International Hotels and Resorts . Travel Agencies . Airlines . Theme Park . Tourism Bureau

raw Lucky D offer on

the day!

The specialist’s service teams will be on-hand to answer all your questions.

So! What are you waiting for? Please sign-up now and mark September 20 as the “Hunting Day” for your year-end vacation plan!

Please sign up at the Front Desk. For more details, please visit ACC website.

21

PHOTO GALLERY

2014 American Independence Day

Yes!!

We win!

We are READY, go go go!!!

ity tim reat water activ g d ha ll a s id K pool. and rocked the

e

They must be the super models on the “Float Runway”.

Over 200 Members had great fun while celebrating this AID at the ACC! 24

PHOTO GALLERY

Summer Camp-Cooking Class Kids surrounding Chef Bruce to learn all the tips about Sushi.

Mm...

Yummy!

Summer Camp-Craft Kids are making dinosaur specimens, just like real bones!

ing our

We argeeurss to create

magic finar t pieces! the

Wow‌ colorful aquariums with many clay fish, all made by children.

25

PHOTO GALLERY

Movie Night – Frozen and Despicable Me 2 The very popular pool event this summer – Movie Night! No matter adults or kids - all brought their Pool Floats to watch the movie while floating in the pool, so enjoyable~!

See, Members are really concentrating on the movie! laxed, So re the best

it’s er! summer ev

I lo colorf ve my ul c candyotton !

26

PHOTO GALLERY

88 Father’s Day Card Making Kids showed their creativities, made a special Father's Day Card for “BaBa”!

Can you see what they are making? Wow~ it’s father’s hand-made cards for you! shirt card!

Daddy, look at my

Father's Day Craft- Mosaic Photo Frame Kids made a one and only beautiful mosaic photo frame, they colored and decorated so hard and it’s so cute.

Many daddies came to help and had fun together!

Others

Our Food & Beverage director Duxbury showed how to ‘cook it up’ Singapore style in the kitchen.

The ACC team gathered to wish our favorite librarian,

Wallace & Billy led Members for a fun run in the neighborhood.

Squash Friendly-Hong Kong Football Club vs ACC.

Sue Chen, a “Heartfelt Farewell” as she enters her well-earned retirement!

27

CARTOON & AD

28

EXHIBITION & SALE Two week special September 1~15 2014

Antiques and Reproductions snuff bottle of different materials and finishes.

Сᘝ͆˒ఓࡳ̂‫ ܈ྠٶ‬Bai Win Collection

Сᘝ͆˒ఓࡳ̂‫ ܈ྠٶ‬Bai Win Collection Antiques & Objets Antiques & Objets d’Art d’Art έΔξ̋̚Δྮ̱߱405‫ޒ‬2ཱི Tel: (02)5525 2874 5525 ͔̻ͥˁʲ̻ཕ˘‫ޘ‬405ܹ2༚ Tel: (02) 2874 #2 405, Chung ShanShan N. Road Sec. 6,Sec. Taipei6, Taipei #2Lane Lane 405, Chung N. Road (across from thethe Pencil (Shr Dung) Elementary School.) School.) (across from Pencil (Shr Dung) Elementary

Beef Lasagna

/4

servings

Ingredients 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 onion, finely chopped 2 stalks celery, finely chopped 1/2 carrots, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, crushed 600g lean minced beef 737g tomato pasta sauce 1/2 cup red wine 350g packet fresh lasagna pasta sheets 2 cups thickened cream sauce 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Method Step 1 /

Heat oil in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add onions, celery, carrots and garlic. Cook, stirring, until onion is tender. Add minced beef.

Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break-up the minced beef, for 8 minutes or until browned.

Add sauce, and wine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low. Simmer, uncovered, for 40 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Remove from heat.

Step 2 /

Preheat oven to 180째C/160째C fan-forced.

Lightly grease a 7cm-deep, 25cm (base) square baking dish. Spoon 1/2 cup of minced-meat mixture over base of dish. Arrange one quarter of fresh pasta sheets over minced-meat mixture, breaking sheets to fit. Spoon one-third of the remaining minced-meat mixture over pasta.

Drizzle with one-quarter of the cream Sauce.

Sprinkle with one-quarter of the shredded mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers twice. Top with remaining pasta sheets, cream sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with parmesan.

Cover loosely with foil.

Step 3 /

Bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil. Bake for 15 minutes or until pasta is tender and cheese golden. Stand for 10 minutes before serving.