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

Japan,  Tokyo This article was first published on thus blog in June 2018. Spring has always been the season welcomed by those living in places where the four seasons of spring, summer, autumn and winter can be experienced. It signifies the beginning of a new year with new dreams as the snow of winter melts and the warm of spring brings forth blooms of flowers. In spring of 2018, I was in Takashima in Japan's Shiga Prefecture. Staying at a hotel on the shores of Lake Biwa, I was literally transported into a magical world of flowers in the midst of sakura blooms as I found myself surrounded by the snow-like falls of the petals of the sakura whenever the wind blew.  A truly beautiful moment of peace and tranquility, an experience worthy of inclusion in any Travel Bucket List. ****************** Spring is generally a good season to visit any temperate countries. This is the season where wild flowers bloom aplenty and the weather is typically mild and cool. In Japan, a visit d...

While on a short trip to Lembar in the Indonesian island of Lombok, I saw these simple contraptions out at sea. They appeared to be fish traps to me. Of course, they could also be small floating fish farms.  I took this photo because to me, these structures out at sea made for a rather photogenic subject. With the green hills, shoreline and the small village huts in the background, this is a beautiful and idyllic setting for a fishing village scene. Fishing village, Lembar, Lombok, West Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia (2025)

Returning from my first trip of 2025.....  I just returned from my first trip of 2025. It was a 8-nights cruise from Singapore to Bali and Lombok and back to Singapore onboard Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas. I had visited Bali multiple times before because it is a favourite vacation destination for me and is only about 2-hours by flight from Singapore. I had however, only visited Lombok once before, in 2014! The sailing from Singapore to Bali actually took slightly more than two days and I am glad to say I finally get to sail across the Java Sea. 🛳 While I did not take any land excursions during the three Port Days of the cruise, I did disembark from the ship each time to walk around the vicinities of the port areas just to take in the sights and sounds. I must say that I felt I actually enjoyed the port days more this way as I get to interact with the locals and to simply spend the short time at port to discover what each port has to offer the random cruise visitor like mys...