Blog — Angie Across America

Book / Author Review: Laughing Without An Accent, by Firoozeh Dumas

On a cold, gloomy and cloudy Saturday, while basking in the glory of a post swim workout after six months of inaction and with several cups of coffee for company later, I decided to read. I had other books in mind, but picked this one up because two words stuck out to me: "laughing" and "accent". "Laughing" because I know I can do with more of it, and "accent" because I'm a foreigner in America and I've often been misunderstood and judged for my accent, both by Americans and by my countrymen in Malaysia and Singapore (I only have one thing to say in my defence: I care less about accents than the need to enunciate). The book so humored and enlightened me I thought I'd write a review and share it.

Angeline TanMarch 12, 2016book, book review, author, author reviewComment

We are created for relationship

We are created for relationship. The impulse for love, acceptance, sense of contribution and belonging is universal, anywhere you go in the world. This is why there is no separation on earth. We are indivisible. The thing that separates us is not geographical or boundary lines, citizenship or ethnicity; it’s not even culture, although culture is what defines us as a certain group of people or is what demarcates civilizations. What divides us; and by division, again it is not physical division, but a mental one - is our ideology. What do we believe in? What do we subscribe to? That is what separates us as different groups of people. Write here...

Angeline TanFebruary 23, 2016Comment

I am valued

Fallen hair. The sight of a strand by itself, or a few strung together, or worse, a clump of them innocently laying on the bathroom floor, tiled-floor, living bedroom carpet, on the white dining table - they irk me to no end. Every time I spot a strand or clump, my sense of anxiety gets heightened. I wouldn’t be calmed till I get rid of them in the toilet bowl or in the thrash bin.

Angeline TanJanuary 25, 2016Comment

Year End: Writing, Cycling and 2016

Being typically Asian and driven to hard work to acquire a sense of accomplishment and acceptance, I've always been one to strive for higher goals, in the process of which I'm often pushing myself beyond my limits and burning myself out. That's exactly what happened to my relationship with cycling. I set a goal of cycling 4,000 miles across the third largest country in the world in under 40 days in 2014, and when I was done, I was done with road cycling.

[Click on bold title to read more]

JournalAngeline TanDecember 24, 2015writing, cycling, cycling across america, cyclocross, mountainbiking, christmas, new year, 2015, 2016Comment

Journal

Angeline TanDecember 15, 2015Comment

Nobody cares but you

The cold, hard truth is that nobody cares about what you do.

Interview, PeopleAngeline TanOctober 22, 2015custom made bag, cycling, entrepreneur, people, san franciscoComment

From my upcoming book: An Excerpt on Food

I had the grandiose idea of rolling into town for a good plate of lunch, and at the end of the day, I’d check into a motel, shower, and present myself clean in a restaurant for dinner deserving a 100-mile ride. How naive I was!

BookAngeline TanOctober 5, 2015book, upcoming bookComment

Meru - film review (a personal perspective)

This is not a review of the film, Meru. This is an after-thought, post-watching the film, which have little to do with the film, but everything to do with how certain elements of the film affected the way I view my life.

UncategorizedAngeline TanSeptember 28, 2015climbing, conradaker, documentary, film, jimmychin, meru, renanozturk, rock climbingComment

Back to basics: Backpacking and Camping

Backpacking and camping are not easy, but they offer lessons about getting back to the basics of humanity and reversion of civilization.

JournalAngeline TanJuly 20, 2015backpacker, backpacking, camping, wildernessComment

Why I hike: Ain't no mountain high enough, ain't no valley low enough

We are never meant to stay on the mountaintop. Life is a constant cycle where we keep walking through life’s constantly changing landscape.

JournalAngeline TanJune 15, 2015california, crater lake, hiking, mt shasta, oregon, running, trailComment

Off the Beaten Path: San Francisco, The Bay Area and Northern California

There are things you see cycling that you don't see driving, and there are things you see walking that you don't see running. Life is a journey to be explored through every possible means.

Out of the Pit

The road to Angie Across America has never been easy. I knew the journey would be likened to a salmon swimming upstream, with deep currents lashing and beating down on me. It truly was as I expected.

Journal, Post rideAngeline TanMay 7, 2015confession, down and out, honesty, truthComment