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

I missed the days when with just a few clicks on the internet, I could purchase my air tickets and hotel accommodation and off I go to my next travel destination. For me, the excitement of travel began as soon as I reached my departure airport, searched for the airline's check-in gates via the airport's departure lobby's signages and check-in my luggages for the trip. While I now await the time when travel can resume without restrictions, I can only looked back on the travel photos of my previous trips and wish for the day when I can go on my next trip. Airport signage, Shanghai Pudong International Airport, Pudong, Shanghai, China (2015)

Cambodia, Siem Reap, Tonl é  Sap This was a previous post in this travelogue. It is a chronology of photos based on a first person view of what I saw when sailing on the famed Tonl é  Sap lake. This was from my trip to Siem Reap in Oct 2015. ****************** The Tonl é  Sap is a huge freshwater lake that connects to the Mekong River via the Tonl é  Sap River. The Tonl é  Sap is unique in that its size varies widely throughout the year as the rainy and dry seasons come and go. The lake is at its largest size typically during the months of September and October due to the southwest monsoon. Conversely, it is generally at its smallest size at the end of the dry season in the month of April. The difference in the lake's size between these two extremes can be as much as six times. Photograph of the lake as my boat makes it way upriver,  Tonl é  Sap, Siem Reap, Cambodia (2015) Life on the lake,  Tonl é  Sap, Siem Reap, Cambodia (2015) The lake is home to many people. These folks live o

Missing those weekend trips....... The saying goes that often we only realised the importance of people or things after they have left or are no longer around us. In this case, it is those weekend trips that I am missing. Prior to the upheaval caused by COVID, going away for a short trip over a weekend was so simple. And because it really was very simple, I did not pay much attention to these trips. Actually, I did not even considered them as overseas trips despite the fact that I was actually crossing borders for these trips and a valid international passport was required to be produced at the border checkpoints. But now that international travel has all but vanished, these little weekend getaways started to be remembered as enjoyable overseas trips and a longing to undertake these same trips now feature as high on the agenda as those bucket list travel items. In December 2019, I went on a short weekend getaway to neighbouring city of Johor Bahru (a.k.a. JB), state capital of the Mala

What is the most socially responsible way to dine-out in the current situation? How about a table for two within a cable car with only the two diners in the car! I enjoyed this cable car dining experience on New Year's Eve of 2020 to welcome 2021. Yes, it was a little pricey for my budget. But it was a small way to celebrate after a year of travel curbs and social distancing norms.  Cable Car Dining, Mount Faber, Singapore (2020) Cable Car Dining, Mount Faber, Singapore (2020)

I visited Nakano as a side trip while in Tokyo in the spring of 2017. Just minutes away from Shinjuku, Nakano is a world away from the hustle and bustle that defines Shinjuku. Here, serenity reigns. Being a rural area, the ambience is all about being slow paced and quiet. This is also an amazing place to catch sakura blooms (cherry blossoms) away from the crowds of central Tokyo. This video consisted of photos I took of Nakano. From the moment I alighted from then train at Nakano Station, walked around and enjoyed the surrounding areas and finally returning to the Station for my trip back to Shinjuku. These photos are presented in this short video in chronological order, based on my walking tour of Nakano. Walking Tour of Nakano, Tokyo, Japan (2017) Walking Tour of Nakano, Tokyo, Japan (2017)

I visited the Japanese island of Tsushima via a short ferry hop from Busan while holidaying in South Korea in November 2019. These were some of the photos taken with my DSLR and I thought it would be cool to put them together as a short video. This video was published in my YouTube Channel, Tanks Travel Tales . Enjoy........ 😊 A Short Videography, Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan (2019) A Short Videography, Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan (2019)

"Wandering when I travel, Is to discover what I did not know about myself. "  -  Timothy Tan, author of this blog - tankstraveltales   Stairs on a forest hiking trail, Jiufen, Ruifang District, New Taipei City, Taiwan (2016)

When I travel, I typically do not have a fixed itinerary or a list of sights to experience. My preference being to wander around without any fixed plans while hoping to serendipitously chance upon local gems not listed in any travel guide books. But occasionally, I did have an item on my to-do-to-visit list which I usually picked up while browsing magazines or watching travel shows on TV. The Kintai-kyo is one such item. Having been "introduced" to this historical wooden arch bridge while watching a travel documentary on Japan's NHK channel, I decided that when the opportunity presented itself, I will try to visit this local icon in the city of Iwakuni. That opportunity came in July 2019 when I visited the nearby city of Hiroshima. Taking the local train line from Hiroshima, it was easy to get to Iwakuni in neighbouring Yamaguchi Prefecture. Switching from the train to a local bus after arriving at Iwakuni Station, I finally arrived at Kintai-kyo which spans across the N