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

Returning from my first trip of 2025.....  I just returned from my first trip of 2025. It was a 8-nights cruise from Singapore to Bali and Lombok and back to Singapore onboard Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas. I had visited Bali multiple times before because it is a favourite vacation destination for me and is only about 2-hours by flight from Singapore. I had however, only visited Lombok once before, in 2014! The sailing from Singapore to Bali actually took slightly more than two days and I am glad to say I finally get to sail across the Java Sea. 🛳 While I did not take any land excursions during the three Port Days of the cruise, I did disembark from the ship each time to walk around the vicinities of the port areas just to take in the sights and sounds. I must say that I felt I actually enjoyed the port days more this way as I get to interact with the locals and to simply spend the short time at port to discover what each port has to offer the random cruise visitor like mys...

It has been quite a while since I last visited Europe. I am sure many things have changed since my last trip to the continent. But, many things probably remain the same. The food, the culture and the beautiful architecture that I have come to associate Europe with. My favourite city in Europe is Tallinn. The capital of Estonia is geographically small compared to many other European capital cities. But what it lacks in size, Tallinn makes up for in depth.  With its many well-preserved medieval buildings and structures, Tallinn certainly punches above its weight in history and culture. Its Old Town is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site and includes many notable buildings and structures dating back centuries. Toompea Castle is more than 800 years old, the Alexander Nevsky Orthodox Cathedral with its beautiful architecture is a sight to behold and the Town Hall is one of the oldest City Hall in northern Europe, if not the oldest. If I do travel to Europe for my next vacation, ...

Japan,  Tokyo This article was first published on my other blog, Monde des Stylos . This other bloc entered on anything and everything related to Pens and Stationery. Since I started using fountain pens a few years ago, I have always wanted to attend the Tokyo International Pen Show (TIPS). Thus, being able to be at TIPS 2024 is definitely an unlocking of one of my Travel Bucket List items. And to be able to attend TIPS with my Japanese friend, who is a fellow fountain pen user, certainly made the event even more meaningful for me. ****************** This was my very first time attending a pen show. I did not actually planned to attend this event. But somehow, my travel dates to Japan in autumn of 2024 coincided with the show. Realising this, I gladly took the opportunity to include the show into my travel itinerary and through social media, managed to get in touch with a kind gentleman based in Tokyo who helped me with my event ticket booking. Thus, on 3 November 2024, I attended ...

This trip, almost exactly a year ago, was part of my annual travel up Malaysia's North-South (NS) Highway from Singapore to Ipoh to celebrate the annual Chinese New Year holidays. The NS Highway actually extend further north but the furthest drive up north for me is always up to Ipoh.  One of the many colourful wall murals in and around the vicinity of Old Town, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia (2024) This trip in February 2024, was no different. It typically took about 7 hours for me to get from Singapore to Ipoh, with one or at most, two stops in-between for washroom breaks and meals. The 7-hour journey only accounts for total drive time and does not take into account the time needed to clear immigration and customs on departure from Singapore and arrival at Johor, via the land bother points between both countries. Depending on traffic conditions, it can take up to 2 hours to complete the immigration and customs processes at both departure and arrival checkpoints. Waits of up to 3 hours are...

Preparing for my first trip and cruise of 2025.....  In a little over two weeks from now, I will be going for my first vacation for the year. And also my first cruise and probably only cruise for the year.  In term of preparation, nothing much. Just mentally psyching myself up to take as much enjoyment as possible from the trip. I will be sailing on Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas on a return trip from Singapore to Indonesia's Bali and Lombok. For the trip, I will be bringing along my writing instruments to record my travel log and also for my journaling and writing. I will of course not be spending all my time writing but also will be out and about the ship, looking for fun stuff to occupy my 8-nights cruise. I intend to star gaze, if that is even possible considering how brightly lit modern cruise ships are and I am certain the Anthem of the Seas will be no exception. Then, there will be the late night dancing. I am not an alcohol drinker so no alcoholic beverages for m...

Thus far, my only cruises have been onboard Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas. Prior to this cruise, I had previously sailed thrice onboard the same ship, including a 12-night cruise from Yokohama to Singapore. These sailings had helped me made many friends including both fellow passengers and crew. I had met many wonderful people during these trips. Therefore, I decided to make one last sailing onboard the ship before it repositioned from Singapore to China in April 2024. This cruise was a 4-night sailing in March 2024 for a return trip from Singapore to Penang and Phuket. After three previous cruises onboard the same ship over a period of two years, I am rather familiar with the ship, its layout and its facilities. Thus, finding my ways around the ship was no issue. On the flip side, there was less exploring to do!  Entertainment-wise, I had actually watched all the onboard shows before but still watched them anyway during this trip. I did notice that even for the same shows...