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

UK,  Scotland, Glasgow Time do fly indeed. This article was originally posted in this blog on 17th September 2014 describing my trip to Glasgow even further back by another 3 years, in 2011. This was my one and only trip to Glasgow.  During the trip, I had spent time exploring the city on foot, alone. Without any digital GPS-assisted map to guide me. Why? Because I was neither looking for anything nor going anywhere in particular. Thus, began my love for uncharted and unplanned walking trips around cities I travelled to. I often will spent a day or so, diving straight into parts of a city; walking, sightseeing, discovering and enjoying what the city has to offer. And hopefully, serendipitously chance upon a minor adventure or two that I can translate into a travel tale after the trip. And while on my little "adventures", maybe to tick off an item or two on my travel bucket list. ⛰ ****************** Glasgow..... The name of this famous city i...

Modern day cruise ships are huge behemoths where almost anything imaginable can be found onboard.  After having been on several cruises already, I am beginning to believe that even on cruises with no or very few port days, I will still not run out of things to do onboard. After all, it is really difficult for one to get bored on a huge cruise ship that can span a couple of hundreds of metres or more, from bow to stern. Even on days when I may feel a bit on the introvert side, I can always find a relatively serene corner to read or write, a warm beverage in-hand. There will also almost always be a gym for me to work out, swimming pools to get some tan, a dance hall to enjoy music and a dance or two, lots of food for the glutton in me, spectacular shows for entertainment, even a promenade to shop or window shop, my room balcony to look out at the sea and contemplate life and more. Of course, there is also the opportunity to meet people and make new friends. While on a cruise that was...

For someone who plan and book my own travels every time, I still find it surprising how I can still make the most basic of mistakes; getting the travel dates in my itinerary all mixed up. Yesterday, I decided to book my accommodation for my trip to Hong Kong in April 2025. I had already been booked on a 5-night cruise that will sail from Singapore to Hong Kong, scheduled to depart on 16th April. However, foolish me happily believed that since it is going to be a 5-night cruise, I will arrive in Hong Kong on 20th April. Nope, its 5-nights and not 5-days. This means I will only arrive in Hong Kong on 21st April. Before this realisation, I had happily booked my accommodation from the 20th April onwards instead of from the 21st onwards. Fortunately, I had chosen the higher-priced package that allows me to modify or cancel without penalty. Otherwise, it will be money down the drain. This mistake had also happened just 2 months prior when I was booking my airline ticket to another destinatio...

Getting Ready for My Trip......  Exactly three weeks from now, I will be at the airport to board the flight for my vacation to Japan. Settled my pet's boarding arrangement and now planning how to ensure my plants stay hydrated while I'm away for almost two whole weeks. Trip accommodations have also been booked and paid, except for one which will be automatically paid before I commence the trip. No necessity to change currency because I still have lots of Japanese Yen left over from the previous trips and I will mostly be using credit cards to pay for my trip expenses. But if the currency exchange rate is in my favour, I will probably change some Japanese Yen to average down from the previous exchange rates of Yen vs SGD (Singapore Dollar) from two years ago.  Work-wise, I have completed most of my more urgent work tasks, well within the scheduled timelines. No hiccups there so everything seems in order, at least for now. My trip itinerary is rather flexible, as is my travel st...