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

When I travelled to Hong Kong in February 2026 for a weekend trip, I flew on Cathay Pacific return. My outbound flight from Singapore to Hong Kong onboard CX690 was serviced using a Boeing 777-300ER and the return flight CX635 was serviced using an Airbus A350-900 aircraft. On this trip, I flew on mixed cabin class, in Premium Economy onboard CX690 and Economy onboard CX635. The service from the crew on both flights were similar, generally very good. Despite the crew being more busy in Economy due to the relatively larger number of passengers to attend to, they still managed their workload really well. As a passenger, I usually require very little or no assistance from the crew, preferring to sit quietly in my assigned seat during the flight, watching the inflight entertainment system or plugging in my AirPods to listen to my favourite music. Therefore, my only interaction with the crew was during the meal service. Check-In  The check-in for my outbound flight, CX690, at Singapore'...

Next trip.......  I had just returned from a short weekend getaway to Hong Kong, my second trip to the city this year. While there will likely to be at least a couple more trips to Hong Kong again this year, I am thinking of what other cities I can and should visit next. Because these will mainly be short 4-5 days getaways including over the weekends, there can be no faraway destinations relative to my home city, Singapore. This effectively rules out any sojourns to Europe or North America. Candidates for such short getaway trips thus include only regional destinations such as Bali, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Taipei and Shenzhen, all of which I had previously visited multiple times over the years. Manila, which I have never before visited, is a prime consideration. But any visit to Manila will have to be towards the end of the year because the paranoid traveller in me want to avoid the typhoon season that usually occurs in the middle of the year and we are currently in the middle ...