Editor,

I wanted to thank you for such a nice write-up in Guam Business [May June 2009 issue]. I really appreciate it. I sent a link to my family, Malika, and the Senator [Inouye] in DC.

Sometimes I wonder why I work so hard, but write-ups like this makes me proud of what I have accomplished, and more importantly that I can be successful and help people at the same time.

Kristal Koga
Fashion designer and owner
Kristal Kollection
2009 First Hawaiian Bank Guam Business Businesswoman of the Year nominee

Editor,

I really enjoyed the Businesswoman of the Year gala; so did my family. Kudos to you and the staff for putting it on so expertly.

Divina Evaristo
Marketing consultant
McDonald’s Restaurants of Guam
2009 First Hawaiian Bank Guam Business Businesswoman of the Year nominee

Editor,

Thank you for including my cookbook, A Taste of Guam, in the Media Update of the March/April 2009 issue of Guam Business.

There is a reason for everything: it is almost midnight here in Holly Springs, N.C. and I’ve been working all day and wanted to write all night for my third book, Chamorrita Passions. However, as I sat down at the computer over two hours ago, the energy seeped out of me. Hence, I have been mindlessly surfing the Internet. I do not typically waste time, as I appreciate my sleep. Alas, I stumbled onto your Web site.

Tonight’s discovery reminds me of the moment I realized why I am not home, why I am not living on Guam. In short, my mahalangness — my desire to share and preserve my culture — has instilled such a burning desire in me to write. A Taste of Guam was my first book. Remember Guam (a collection of memories and recipes to warm your heart and lighten your spirit), will be available by July 2009 and Chamorrita Passions, a Guam historical romance novel, is due out in a few years. If I was living on Guam, I am not so sure I would have been inspired enough to do what I am doing.

I have received many “thank-yous” for the cookbook. People are thrilled to have the exact [cooking] measurements. I have memories and stories from over 75 folks in Remember Guam, as well as 20 recipes (with video) not found in my first cookbook.

When I was a teenager on Guam, I felt I had some kind of destiny with my island. I didn’t know what it was, but I had this feeling deep inside me. I didn’t figure it out until after I wrote A Taste of Guam. While the cookbook was still at the publisher’s office, all of a sudden I had the idea to write Remember Guam and Chamorrita Passions. I knew that summer what I was destined to do. I realized why I am so homesick, why I have always had to keep myself so busy. In writing these books, I am fulfilling my destiny. At the same time, these books allow me to express my mahalangness instead of ignoring it.

Thank you again for the inclusion. Have a wonderful island day!

Paula A. Lujan Quinene
Author
A Taste of Guam