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

When I travelled to Hong Kong in February 2026 for a weekend trip, I flew on Cathay Pacific return. My outbound flight from Singapore to Hong Kong onboard CX690 was serviced using a Boeing 777-300ER and the return flight CX635 was serviced using an Airbus A350-900 aircraft. On this trip, I flew on mixed cabin class, in Premium Economy onboard CX690 and Economy onboard CX635. The service from the crew on both flights were similar, generally very good. Despite the crew being more busy in Economy due to the relatively larger number of passengers to attend to, they still managed their workload really well. As a passenger, I usually require very little or no assistance from the crew, preferring to sit quietly in my assigned seat during the flight, watching the inflight entertainment system or plugging in my AirPods to listen to my favourite music. Therefore, my only interaction with the crew was during the meal service. Check-In  The check-in for my outbound flight, CX690, at Singapore'...

Next trip.......  I had just returned from a short weekend getaway to Hong Kong, my second trip to the city this year. While there will likely to be at least a couple more trips to Hong Kong again this year, I am thinking of what other cities I can and should visit next. Because these will mainly be short 4-5 days getaways including over the weekends, there can be no faraway destinations relative to my home city, Singapore. This effectively rules out any sojourns to Europe or North America. Candidates for such short getaway trips thus include only regional destinations such as Bali, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei and Shenzhen, all of which I had previously visited multiple times over the years. Manila, which I have never before visited, is a prime consideration. But any visit to Manila will have to be towards the end of the year because the paranoid traveller in me want to avoid the typhoon season that usually occurs in the middle of the year and we are currently in the middle ...

Not all Starbucks we encountered during our travels are the same. Many times, the Starbucks stores blend themselves into the local cultures and styles. One such example is the Starbucks store I encountered when visiting Kyoto's Kiyomizu-dera.  Nestled amongst the narrow lanes in the neighbourhood of the famous temple , this store blended itself into the local architecture so seamlessly that I almost missed it except for the familiar logo mounted at the side of the small building structure. An Edo-style Starbucks? Definitely looks like to me! 🏯 Edo-style Starbucks, Kyoto, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan (2026)

Finally, time for short trips.......  My hectic work schedule has slowed down a fair bit in May. This allowed me some time to travel. First up was a short trip to Taipei, actually a working trip but with some free time in the evenings for a bit of sight-seeing and eating. This trip on the first week of the month the of May was my first time visiting Taipei in more than 8 years. I could not remember much of the airport on arrival or how to find my way from the airport to the city via public transport. Thankfully, my colleague who is a more frequent visitor to the city, was on the trip with me and I just played "followed the leader" as we made our way to the city centre by the express metro train (a.k.a MRT). Arriving at the Taipei Main Station, we walked to Beimen before taking the MRT to Ximen where our booked accommodation was located. Arriving at Ximending, things started to be more familiar. The usual malls are still standing, the large department stores still having a str...

Visiting Taipei again after 8 long years, there is nothing more iconic to mark my return visit than to post a photo I had taken with my mobile phone of the Taipei 101 skyscraper.  Located in and around the area are lots of shopping and dining establishments for the visitors. As a tourist, I went to the area for both shopping and food. Seeing the Taipei 101 in all its lighted spectacle at night was a bonus, a photo moment not to be missed. Taipei 101, Xinyi District, Taipei, Taiwan (2026)

Over the past couple of years, I have become some kind of regular for cruises originating from Singapore to Penang (Georgetown) and Phuket. Thus, I seldom find the need to disembark during port days. Instead, I utilised the port days to swim in the pools onboard, when everyone else are on their show visits. After my swim, I will usually walk around the top deck (Deck 15 of Quantum Class ships) and enjoy the bird's eye views of the port and the surrounding areas. This photo I took with my mobile phone shows Georgetown as viewed from the top deck of Ovation of the Seas as the ship was berthed at Swettenham Pier. Bird's eye view of Georgetown as seen from Swettenham Pier, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia (2026)