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

After more than 5 years, I visited Phuket again in October 2022. While this trip was a short few hours because I was visiting this beautiful island as part of my cruise ship's sailing itinerary, it was nonetheless nice to be back in Phuket. More than 2 years of border restrictions due to the COVID pandemic, things seem to be returning pretty much to normal in Phuket. Eateries are open for business again, although many do remain shut, tourists numbers are rising again and the locals seem a lot happier to be able to again welcome visitors to lovely Phuket. In my few short hours on shore, we kept to the Patong beach area to dine on our favourite Thai food including Mango Sticky Rice, chill at a beachfront cafe, went for a nice foot reflexology session and just walked along the beach to enjoy the view, the sun and the Phuket vibes. I promised myself I will be back to Phuket soon, for a vacation. See you again Phuket! 😀 A tourist doing the touristy adventures, Phuket, Thailand (2022) A...

Japan, Tokyo, Nakano The original article was first published in this blog in July 2021.  I have always been happy to visit small towns when travelling. Unguided with maps or GPS , I enjoy simply walking around with no fixed plans, exploring and taking in the experiences and chance encounters that come my way.  While in Tokyo in 2017, I decided to take a side trip to Nakano, a ward of Tokyo which is just a 10-minute train ride from crowded and busy Shinjuku. I discovered a gem of a town, one filled with cherry blossoms trees in full bloom (my trip was in early-April), tranquility and most of all, the charms that come with travelling without any pre-planned itinerary. Instead of a lengthy article struggling for words to fully describe my side trip to Nakano, I decided that a short video is a more appropriate medium to share my experience of the magic of Nakano. ****************** I visited Nakano as a side trip while in Tokyo in the sprin...

  " Travel is a state of mind , I travel far and wide, both in person and in mind. " - Timothy Tan, tankstraveltales An anime-rendition from an actual photo of myself taken at a small cafe called Island Cafe Myu (アイランドカフェ ミュウ), Kamitsushimamachi Hitakatsu, Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan (2019)

A recent trend on social media is to have one's selfies being digitally transformed into anime renditions of oneself. For those who are not familiar with the term anime, it is basically animations of hand or digitally drawn stylised characters that originated from Japan. Because I am currently unable to travel due to heavy work commitments, I decided to "travel" digitally into the world of anime using selfies of myself taken during my travels.  Travel is after all not just physical journeys but also journeys of the creative mind! Here are some of my photos, transformed into anime character(s) of myself. Digitally generated characters of what I would possibly look like if I live in an anime world! 😂 The original photo from which this digitally generated picture of Anime Timothy was taken in Busan, South Korea (2019)  A semi-accurate rendition of myself in anime-style. The original photograph was that of myself taken in the balcony of a cruise ship somewhere along the Stra...

Holiday accommodations with personal spaces to relax in.......  Living in an apartment in a city, I am literally walled in. Yes, there are small pockets of greeneries within walking distance of my apartment, but I always believe it is good to live in a place with its own patch of open space, no matter how small. Where a small garden is not possible, at least a balcony where I can sit and enjoy the fresh air with a cup of coffee after a long day at the office. While I can't change much of my permanent living environment due to the high cost of real estate where I live, at least I have the luxury to choose my holiday accommodations when it comes to those few days of vacation escapades. When I travel, I thus tend to choose accommodations where the rooms come with a balcony accompanied by nice views or those rooms with a patio overlooking lush greeneries. When I am not out and about sight-seeing or shopping, a cup of coffee, some snacks and a good book will always accompany me on a nic...