Stepping out to launch my first published book came with a lot of uncertainty. While I didn’t sell a lot of books (and I knew I probably wouldn’t, because realistically, most first time authors sell averagely 200 books on the first attempt), I made a huge profit in terms of old bonds rekindled and new friendships made.
Read MoreI’ve always believed that money is and never should be a problem. I don’t know where this belief came from, but I’ve always believed that there is money in the world and we just need to find it. I don’t mean to say that money comes easy for me; in fact, it doesn’t, but my internal belief help me to have a mindset concerning money that encourages me to take steps forward and formulate strategies to raise money.
Read MoreBe a person of your word. Your credibility lies in what you say you will do and if you actually fulfill them. Especially in the current fast changing world that we live in, busy lives and constant distractions have us scampering from activity to activity, place to place, face to face. Anything and everything is demanding our time and we don’t know what is truly important anymore. Keeping your word is a virtue lost in this rapidly developing world. Unfortunately for me, keeping my word was something I never quite learnt as a young child till adulthood.
Read MoreCycle across a continent! Wow, cool! Yes, in theory it sounds cool, and don't get me wrong, it sure is an experience of a lifetime; one I wouldn't trade for anything else in the world (except to cycle around the world), but with its grandeur also comes a lot of discomfort and inconveniences.
Read MoreIt all begins in the mind. This morning I woke up to dark, threatening clouds and I thought, let’s go cycling! This is unusual, trust me, because the usual me would wanna bundle up, stay indoors, keep warm, and not get uncomfortable. But not this morning - I was excited and roaring to hit the road with my bike. Why? What changed? Here’s what… and it’s a huge announcement...
Read MoreI discovered this at the finish line of the race: it’s not about finding joy upon reaching the destination; it really is about enjoying every step of the journey so that when you get to the destination, it merely concludes the journey, and then it’s time to move on to the next journey. Reaching the destination is an indication that it is time to transit to the next level, journey or adventure. Understanding this is important so you don’t feel lost or stuck after arriving - there is something greater to look forward to.
Read MoreIn reading When Breath Becomes Air, a memoir by a Stanford neurosurgeon, Dr Paul Kalanithi, who died too young from cancer in 2015, I consider the depth of love that we humans are capable of giving, and the inexplicable amount of strength we display in the face of adversity and tremendous pain. I wondered, often and frequent, while reading, if I had that capacity to love and face my battles if placed in a similar situation as Paul did.
Read MoreIt’s more important to produce than to consume. For me as a writer, it’s more important for me to write than to merely read. Reading alone, without any other activity in between (like taking notes, researching on what’s mentioned, say a personality, a film, a place; or being inspired to fire a Tweet or Facebook post or Instagram picture), puts me to sleep anyway.
Read MoreOn 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.
Read MoreWe 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...
Read MoreFallen 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.
Read MoreBeing 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.
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Read MoreThe cold, hard truth is that nobody cares about what you do.
Read MoreI 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!
Read MoreThis 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.
Read MoreBackpacking and camping are not easy, but they offer lessons about getting back to the basics of humanity and reversion of civilization.
Read MoreWe are never meant to stay on the mountaintop. Life is a constant cycle where we keep walking through life’s constantly changing landscape.
Read MoreThere 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.
Read MoreThe 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.
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