Sandra Loh's Blog, page 4

Coming soon....my first "overseas" book talk - Singapore!!!

Hi all,

I have some exciting news to share!!

I will be giving my first book talk in Singapore this coming November! After much "hassling" (for the past one year!), the kind people at MPH Singapore has finally agreed to arrange a book talk session for me. Yay!!
So for those who are in Singapore during my talk there, you are more than welcome to drop by MPH Parkway Parade on Saturday, November 30th 2013 from 2pm - 3pm.
Hope to see you there!!

Cheerios :)

POPULAR - The Star Readers' Choice Awards 2013 :)

Hi all,

A few months ago, I found out that my book was nominated for the Popular - The Star Readers' Choice Awards 2013 and I was pretty surprised! 
So today, the results have just been announced in a simple awards ceremony down in Kuala Lumpur. Congrats to the top 3 winners for this year's awards, namely Dr. Hjh Siti Hawa Mohd, Marina Mahathir and Lee Chong Wei  in the non fiction category :)

Wow, it was indeed an interesting event for me to attend and having the chance to mingle with some of the well known local authors and hear their stories like Dr. Siti (top winner in the non fiction category), Dina Zaman (top winner in the fiction category) and E.S. Shankar (3rd prize winner in the fiction category)

Although my book didn't get an award this round, just being nominated in the same category with some of these household names is rewarding enough for me.

Besides, there's always a next time!! :)

Congrats again to all the winners!

Cheers!

We just turned ONE!! :)

Hi all,
My book has just turned 1 year old today and we are only just starting!!
It has been a pretty amazing one year so far, lots of learnings but also lots of FUN!  Like an infant needing to  learn how to crawl first before he can walk then run (and then soar!), I guess my book has to go through the same kind of path as well !!
Thank you to all those who have bought my book since it was published last April and those who wrote back some really nice comments to me! I do hope that my book will continue to entertain lots more readers, near and far, from all ages, from different walks of life and from different nationalities, in the coming years!
Do drop by my site once in awhile for updates!
Time for me to go eat some yummy cake!! :)
Cheerio !!

Hot From The Press....Bicycle United Magazine, Thailand (BUMA) Issue #3!!

Bicycle United Magazine, Issue #3 :)







Hi there!

I just received the soft copy of the interview session with BUMA and they have given me an amazing coverage for my book! As this magazine is in English and Thai, they managed to use up most of the photos I sent to them :)
For the full story, just visit their website http://bicyclesunited.com/  and download the soft copy of their #3 issue. For my story, it starts from page 76 to 82  :)

Thank you Kris and your team for a wonderful job!

Cheers!!

First Malaysia, then Singapore and now, in Thailand!

 

 Bicycles United Magazine, Thailand

Hi there!!

Imagine my surprise when I received an email yesterday from the publisher of Bicycles United Magazine in Thailand, Kris Gomeze, saying that she has featured a short write up on my book in her February 2013 issue!
My book had caught her attention when she was at Changi Airport in Singapore :)

How amazing is this??
Her magazine is a free online bilingual magazine in English and in Thai as well as in print. The print version is distributed to bicycle shops, bicycle cafes, shopping malls, selected restaurants and shops in Bangkok....
To know more about her magazine, click on this link http://bicyclesunited.com/
And not only that, she was interviewed by Bangkok Post recently and she mentioned my book then and they featured my book cover in Bangkok Post!! haha....
Thank you, Kris! 
Needless to say, I'm pretty stoked....hope there will be more wonderful surprises coming my way !! :)
My book cover is in Bangkok Post!! ;)

Thank you 2012 !! :)

My reminder to stay strong! :)
Hi all,

As the year draws to a close, I must say it certainly has been an interesting year for me. Lots of new learning experience for me.like ....Being an author! (I still have to pinch myself from time to time!)Learnt the hard way to speak in public! (Not in a million years would I have thought that I would dare stand in front of a crowd and speak confidently!)Got to be "nanny" for a few months to 8 utterly adorable golden retriever puppies! (one of the best times of my life!)My very first encounter with snow when I was in New Zealand! (You got to remember that I come from the tropics, so seeing snow for the first time was very EXCITING for me!)Braving the freezing New Zealand weather to do some cycling in winter! (Hey, it's New Zealand, the great outdoors!! It would be such a waste to stay cooped up in my room, even though my feet and hands were kind of frozen after each cycling trip!A million thanks to my good friends, Darren and Jane Gamble for their kind generosity during my stay there!)
My abode while in NZ....above Mountain Bike Station, Ohakune :)

Mt. Ruapehu, New Zealand

Snow! Snow!

Winter wonderland!!

Mt. Ruapehu from afar.....

Bumpy ride alongside the railway line :)

Biking part of the Old Coach Road, Ohakune

Slippery frost on the rails!!!!!!!


More frost! :)   

My borrowed Avanti and the lovely view  :)

Weee......grassy downhill ahead !!

 Hello Mr. Carrot! Ohakune
Another year is ending, a new one is coming with promises of more interesting and exciting surprises in store for me (or at least, I would like to think so!) Like the saying goes "When one door closes, another one will certainly be opened!"
This also means that I am at least one year closer to achieving my goals! Yay!! Like the time when I was still in the dark about when my book was actually going to be published, it's the same scenario with the rest of my goals...I still have no idea when they will turn into reality....sigh!

But unlike then (when I was mostly drumming my fingers while waiting), I have decided to use this period of waiting to "sharpen my old tools and learn new tricks" that will be beneficial for me in the long run!
My journey so far has been a mixed of a roller coaster ride, up and down, going through mind boggling mazes, roadblocks, detours and the occasional smacking onto a brick wall, all done in slow motion! It feels like I'm taking part in The Great Amazing Race, except it's my own race and I have yet to spot the finish line! (Hmm, think I will call it "Sanz Greatest Amazing Discovery Race!" hehe). However, despite all this, I am really grateful for the amazing (no pun intended) opportunities and the wonderful people that keep popping up and showing me the right way at the right time and I hope it will continue to do so!
According to famous author and professional speaker, Jack Canfield, who wrote in his book "How To Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be", once you know where you want to go, life tends to unfold for you every 100 feet and keeps unfolding until you have reached the destination you truly want, because you want it.
Well, I can certainly see that it is slowly happening to me.....life sure seems to unfold for me every 100 feet and is still unfolding and hopefully (fingers and toes crossed), it'll eventually lead me to where I want to go! 
So for now, I will continue chugging away, like a slow "choo choo" train (unless it suddenly decides to change into a super fast bullet train!) heading towards its desired destination......and keep listening to my "stay positive-you can do it" type of music as well as re-reading (over and over again!) my dog-eared, falling apart "How To Get From Where You Are To Where You Want To Be", and continue to look at the funny side of life (even though, sometimes it can be hard!), stay active and be truly grateful for what I have now :)
So THANK YOU 2012 from the bottom of my heart! You have been an AWESOME year for me with lots of new learnings and improvements! Let me also take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped and supported me, one way or another. throughout this year. My heartfelt thanks to you all! :)
I look forward to 2013...and for those who have goals like me....hope the above signage will be an inspiration to keep on going :)
Happy new year, everyone!! May 2013 be a wonderful year for all of us! Woof! Woof!

The Ups & Downs Of Book Talks....

 
Hi all,

Sorry for keeping quiet for the past few weeks as I have been busy shuffling between towns to do book talks to promote my book. It has been pretty tiring, I tell you! All those travelling around and not exactly having an excited crowd who came specially to listen to me speak ....now I know how it feels for a budding singer / actor / dancer trying to have his/her BIG break! I feel you, my brother and my sister!!
Boy, if you were there for my first few attempts to do book talks, you would either have laughed your head off or fallen asleep!! Yes, I admit, I was pretty bad!
At one time, during one of my more important book talks at a popular venue down in KL, it took me a few weeks to prep for this important book talk but when the time came for me to take to the stage, I had stage fright and promptly forgot to say what I wanted to say!!
Luckily for me, there weren't many people sitting on the chairs provided BUT the most embarrassing thing was my editor and some staff from my publisher were there to listen to my talk. Yikes! I had the jitters! What was supposed to be an hour session turned out to be a brief 15 minute talk....how embarrassing and I could feel my face going red!!

Ok, ok....it wasn't all that bad because I eventually managed to muster all my courage to start speaking coherently and tried my best to tell my story as best I could through my slide show presentation...but still,  it could have been much better! Oh well, I learn :)
In all fairness, I was ready with my paper in hand to share my stories plus my slide show presentation but when I saw the author presenting before me, he seemed so relaxed and comfortable up on stage and he didn't even have a piece of paper in front of him....so I thought to myself "Hmm, if he can do that, so can I!!"
Big mistake....what a valuable lesson I learnt that day!

Well, I must admit I have been getting better and better at my book talks and even managed to last them as long as 45 minutes AND without reading from a piece of paper! Woohoo!!

To be honest, I seem to have mixed feelings about doing book talks....sometimes, I get very excited doing them, other times, not so but one thing I have learnt, that is....to be confident enough to speak in public and carry on talking even though I might only have one or two listeners in front of me. Sometimes, it can be quite discouraging but still, I have to persevere and carry on.

I tell myself that this is all temporary and it is a learning curve for me and that one day, all this hard work, having to deal with crappy microphones at times and all the travelling done at my own expenses will pay off! I know that one day, there will be people who will come to hear me speak!! 
The best rewards I get for now is when I do get some people coming up to me and telling me how much they have enjoyed my little book talk and that they will do their own exploration as well, be it on a bicycle or by car with their family. The additional plus points are when they asked me to autograph their copy :) Times like these is what keeps me going!

So for now, I guess I will continue to do book talks but only to a chosen few. For my next book talk,  it will be at Kinokuniya KLCC, one of the biggest bookstores here in Malaysia! Keeping my fingers and toes crossed that I will have an enthusiastic audience who will be interested to listen and who are not afraid to ask me questions  about my journey to make it more interesting and interactive!

Do drop by if you happen to be in KL on the 8th Dec, 2012 from 3pm - 4pm (as stated on the above poster, compliments from my publisher)  Now that I have seen what my publisher can do, I will insist on having more promotional posters like this for my future book talks to inform the public, at least one week beforehand.

Hopefully then, I will see a much better crowd for my future book talks.....

So, until my next update,  happy travels!

For the month of October 2012......

The Expat, October 2012

Hi there!
I had the pleasure of meeting up with the editor of The Expat magazine, Chad Merchant in August to discuss about my book. I was thrilled to hear that he agreed to do a write up for me in their October 2012 issue! A really nice and friendly guy who writes flawlessly! Thus, the post Editor !
The Expat magazine is a magazine specially written for all expatriates living in Malaysia, particularly those staying and working in Kuala Lumpur. It provides useful information about Malaysia and interesting topics about our Malaysian culture, sights and sounds
Recently, I browsed through their website and found more exciting information about them! Not only do they distribute to over 5,500 resident expats here for free but they are also on board Malaysia Airlines and Lufthansa, KLIA duty free shops and VIP lounges, luxury KL/Singapore coaches, expat associations, embassies and international schools nationwide, 4 & 5 stars hotel lounges and more than 300 selected restaurants, bars and retail outlets.....Wow. the list sounds impressive and endless! 
Well, having been in the market for the past 16 years, I'd say they are well established :) You can read more about them via the link below 
http://www.theexpatgroup.com/theexpat-read-online.php
And here is the online version of the article under their sister company TheExpatGoMalaysia.com
http://www.expatgomalaysia.com/article/727/book-review-pedalling-around-the-peninsula#.UKee1M6amrY
So nice of Chad to include my overall route map in his write up as well :) Hopefully, it'll grab the attention of the readers to want to know more about the interesting story he has done for me for he has hit it right on the spot! 
Once again, my heartfelt thanks to Chad and his team at The Expat group!

Cheerio!

Let's not forget our Malaysian medias as well :)

A two page spread in The Malay Mail, April 24th, 2012


The Sun, May 9th, 2012

 The Star, July 2nd 2012

And online paper Malaysian Insider on May 12th, 2012,

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/mo...
Also, not forgetting my very FIRST radio interview with BFM Radio. Below is the podcast for my interview.
http://www.bfm.my/assets/files/daily_show/2012-05-14_cycling.mp3

Well, it was pretty nerve racking being live on air for the first time but I'll get better :)

So, a BIG THANK YOU to all the newspapers above and radio station for featuring my story so far since the launch of my book in April 2012 :)

Let's keep the "wheels" rolling !!


Cheers :)

We made it into the Singapore media! Woohoo!!

The New Paper, Sept 2nd, 2012

Hi all,

Yup, it's me again with more happy news!!

I'd like to say a BIG THANK YOU to Danson Cheong from The New Paper in Singapore for featuring my story on Sunday, 2nd September, 2012. I think he did a nice write up for me :)

Hopefully, this exposure will help to promote my books to more Singaporeans to come and explore Malaysia, whether on two wheels or four wheels :)

Happy pedalling!

Cheers :)