TANKS Travel Tales - a travelogue.......

Last calendar quarter of 2025 beckons.....  As the last calendar quarter of 2025 beckons, many of us will be looking forward to our long planned year-end overseas vacations or at least planning or thinking of embarking on an overseas trip. In the month of September, my work schedule as expected, has dropped significantly for me to actually start dreaming of a longer vacation. Of course, I will always be required to do some work while away. But at least it will not be on every single day or require the need to check and reply my office emails every 30 minutes or so and in the process, irk my partner no end.  I had actually just returned from a weekend trip to Hong Kong on the second weekend of September and this coming weekend, the last weekend of September, I will be travelling to Kuala Lumpur to attend the Malaysia International Pen Show. Short trips, but nevertheless still good short breaks from my usual routine of work and continuous work. And in last November, I am plannin...

Basket boats are rather unique. Typically made from bamboo strips , these lightweight vessels are also known as Thuyen Thung or Thung Chai in Vietnamese . Basket Boats, Da Nang , Vietnam (2025) While I have often seen photographs of these unique fishing vessels from Travel Guide Books or Travel Magazines, my very first time encountering these in-person was when I was in Da Nang (Đà Nẵng) in April 2025. Right before my eyes, the Basket Boats! With my DSLR in-hand, I could not resist snapping away, photograph after photograph. 📷 And, nope, I did not get the chance to ride in one of these! Basket Boats close-ups, Da Nang, Vietnam (2025) Basket Boats close-ups, Da Nang, Vietnam (2025) Fishermen and their Basket Boat, Da Nang, Vietnam (2025)

Malaysia, Perak , Taiping This article was first published on this blog in January 2025. A travel bucket list or any bucket list should not be just about the relatively unattainable that only a select few get to experience. For me, my bucket list items are made up of experiences that I personally cherish and want to try out. And food is one of these. No, not Michelin-starred restaurants  because while these would be great to experience but there are certainly out of my price range.  Street food is what I am after. Why do I love street food? They are affordable, reflects the local culture and are more often than not, extremely delicious! And so, when I was in Taiping on an overnight trip as part of my train journey from Thailand to Singapore , through Malaysia, I finally got to taste the delicious hawker food of this small town! ****************** For me, food is always a highlight of any trips. Local food, especially street food or hawker food is always a delight....

When my summer months are all about work.....  We do not have such a thing as summer holidays in my part of the world. I live in the tropics , near the equator . If there is such a thing as summer holidays in my city, then we will be having summer holidays all year round. Because here in my home city, it is summer for each month of the year! Nevertheless, I had not anticipated for my past few months to be as busy as they were. And no, it was not due to poor planning on my part. It is simply a confluence of events that somehow flooded my office calendar with work and more work between the months of June and August. But when September comes around, work will start to drop and practically disappear altogether for the last three months of 2025. Life has an interesting way of throwing unexpected things at us. For the month of August, I am squeezing in a short 5-night trip to Bali with my partner. A short break in-between a storm of work! Needless to say, my work laptop will be accompan...

Cambodia, Angkor Archeological Park , Angkor Wat This article was first published on this blog in May 2024. Built almost 900 years ago, Angkor Wat is located within the ancient Khmer city of Angkor.  Visiting Angkor Wat has always been on my Travel Bucket List since I was a kid. I finally visited for the first time in 2015. This was followed by a second visit in 2022 when I recorded this short video for my YouTube Channel. ****************** The Angkor Archeological Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site . It is also one of the most important archaeological site not just in Cambodia but also probably in the South-East Asia region . The park covers an area that extended for hundreds of square kilometres and include major sites such as the Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom ancient temple complexes. Other notable sites include  Banteay Srei , Beung Mealea , Srah Srang , Preah Khan and Preah Lup . I had been fortunate to get to visit the Angkor Archeological Park twice. During these vis...

Nowadays, wall murals seem to be a popular way for cities and towns to get visitors to take photographs and post these photos on social media. A rather easy way to promote the destinations, without having to spend lots of efforts and resources on marketing. A simple way to get visitors to "help" promote the destinations they visited, to other potential visitors! Of course, I could be wrong on this and the murals were simply put up because they beautify the areas. And having these murals around simply have nothing to do with destination marketing or promotion.  Nonetheless, there are some murals that I encountered in my travels that simply stopped me in my tracks. Why? I do not know. Maybe because the mural do tell a story. A story of the place.  While traveling through  Mueang Prachuap Khiri Khan District of Thailand, I came across such a mural. Despite the fact that I was really tired from a full day of travels and simply cannot wait to reach the hotel to check-in for...