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

Public transportation provide visitors to any cities with a convenient way to get around for their sightseeing activities. It also provides visitors with an imitate experience to mingle with the local crowds. I usually travel by public transportation when I visit a city. And in London, this is also the norm for me. Getting around London via the Tube (a.k.a. London Underground Metro System) is an easy, convenient and relatively affordable mode of transport. And the Tube is not just a public transportation system. It is rich in history too. Parts of the Tube that stand today were opened in the year 1863, becoming the world's first underground railway system. Today, the entire network has expanded to 11 different lines which collectively serve close to 5 million passengers each day. Each time I took the Tube, I was reminded of its history, including the unique architectures of each and every station that I passed by. Marvelling at the wonders of technologies then and now that...

This photograph was taken from the window seat of a Singapore Airlines' Boeing 777-200ER plane as it taxied towards the runway at Singapore's Changi International Airport Terminal 2 on 23 November 2017. This is a photograph of a Malaysian Airlines' Boeing 737-800. What caught my attention was the plane's very beautiful and retro livery which featured the Malaysian National Flag. The livery was splashed across the second half of the plane's fuselage and  towards its tail. The colours of the national flag stood out against the white background of the plane's body. In my opinion, this is one of the best plane livery that I had seen in recent memory. Malaysian Airlines' Boeing 737-800, Changi International Airport, Singapore (2017)

Mingling with the crowds at local markets is one of the best way to immerse ourselves in the local culture and lifestyle of any city we travelled to. While on a driving tour of the Izu Peninsula of Shizuoka Prefecture in spring of 2017, I chanced upon a local day market near the town of Ito. Because it was still relatively early in the day, some of the stalls were still being setup while others were already opened for business.  3-D artwork, Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan (2017) A stall selling hand-made products at the local day market, Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan (2017) The stalls that were already opened, collectively put forth a very interesting mixed of items for sale. This ranged from cheery blossom ( sakura ) tree saplings/cuttings to small porcelain chopsticks holders and even Godzilla and Ultraman toys. Sakura sapling/cutting for sale at the day market, Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan (2017) Porcelain cho...

2017 Travel Review....... In terms of travel, 2017 has been the year where I travelled the most in recent memory. For the year, I have clocked a total of almost 130,000 miles in air travel alone. I basically travelled at least once every month; for all 12 months of the year. Three-quarters of my travels in 2017 were for work with the rest being vacation trips. New cities I had travelled to included vacations to Atami and Ito (Japan), Helsinki (Finland), Luang Prabang (Laos) and Tallinn (Estonia). A street in the Old Town of Tallinn, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tallinn, Estonia (2017) The Helsinki Cathedral, Helsinki, Finland (2017) Vat Manorom Temple, Luang Prabang, Laos (2017) Other cities that I had travelled to in 2017 were mainly for work and they included cities which I had previously visited multiple times. The repeated visits to these cities did not in any way diminish the enjoyability of these trips and I did manage to snatch time out from my he...

Previously part of the fleet of Singapore-based Low Cost Carrier (LCC) Tigerair, the 23 Airbus A320-200s were transferred to fellow LCC, Scoot following the merger of the 2 LCCs on 25 July 2017 by parent company Singapore Airlines.  I flew on this aircraft from Singapore to Ipoh in October 2017.  Scoot's Airbus A320-200 still bearing the Tigerair tail livery on the tarmac disembarking passengers upon arrival at the Sultan Azlan Shah Airport, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia (2017) The same Airbus A320-200 from the earlier photograph but with the additional "flyscoot.com" livery visible on the side of the aircraft in this photograph, Sultan Azlan Shah Airport, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia (2017)

The Travel Bits series of blog posts were usually posted at the end of the calendar month. I've thought on the practicality of this arrangement and decided that it will be better if the Travel Bits blog posts are instead posted at the beginning of each calendar month.  This change will transform the Travel Bits blog posts from being a month-end summary of travel knickknacks into more "forward-looking" articles to discuss travel knickknacks for the coming month and maybe to share a travel hack or two, depending on the season of travel. In line with this minor editorial change, the Travel Bits series will now be published at the end of the first week of each calendar month, beginning in the month of December 2017. For the reader, the change will be seamless and relatively un-noticeable except that you get to read  two different  Travel Bits  blog posts this month in relatively quick succession.  I hope you have enjoyed reading my Travel Bits ...

Year-end Travel Rush....... We are again approaching the time of the year when the school holidays have begun and parents as well as those without kids are all in a rush to clear their annual vacation leave days before the end of the calendar year. For most folks, this annual end-of-year rush means planning for and going on an overseas holiday with family or friends at short notice. And while we all know about this year-end rush since the beginning of the year, our often hectic and busy lives often meant that we ended up in November and early December without having planned or booked anything with regards to that long desired year-end vacation break. Well, you are not alone. But as this time of the year arrives, the cost of air tickets and hotels are also rapidly advancing upwards, the basic law of supply and demand dictating the direction of the prices. And if you really do missed out on having that overseas holiday squeezed in because of budget or time constraints, t...

Helsinki is the capital city of Finland and is located in the south of the country, right on the shores of the Gulf of Finland. It is also the largest Finnish city and has an extended population of about 1.4 million when the metropolitan area is included. Despite being a small city, Helsinki is dotted with parks. These green spaces provide great recreation areas for walks, jogs or just places to sit, read a book and enjoy nature.  Green spaces, Helsinki, Finland (2017) While visiting Helsinki in spring of 2017, I was extremely glad to discover that the hotel where I was staying during my trip, is situated just next to a beautiful and serene park with a small lake. Every morning, instead of taking the tram or taxi to town which is about a few kilometres away, I decided to take short and relaxing strolls to town through this park. Taking in the beauty of nature whilst enjoying the delightful sounds of birds singing in the trees, I truly enjoyed those morning walks whic...