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

Singapore , where I was born and grew up in and still live in, has always been compared to Hong Kong . While both cities have their similarities, they also have their unique differences which defined each city it each own right. I was first "introduced" to Hong Kong as a kid when I watched Hong Kong-produced TV dramas with my family. Then, I started listening to Canto-pop, basically pop songs by Hong Kong artistes. While I was not conversant in the Cantonese dialect then, I did slowly picked up the language due to constant exposure. Today, I still do not consider myself conversant in Cantonese. But I can at least understand the dialect when someone speaks to me in it. I will try my best to reply in Cantonese, peppered with Mandarin of course. For the record, I am an ethnic Chinese with Hokkien ancestry . However, I have no known living relatives in China or the province of Fujian , just to digress a bit from the focus of this blog post. Back to why I love Hong Kong and fin...

Travel Year 2026 has commenced.......  I am a little late with my monthly Travel Bits post for this month because I had been traveling and only just returned home less than a week ago. Then, there were the office work, the home chores and of course, the usual procrastination to deal with before I could actually sit down and start writing this blog post. Truth be told, I am behind in lots of work and chores but I will just have to manage each task as they come! So where have I been traveling to? I started the year with a trip to the airport on 1 January 2026 for my 1.30am flight on 2 January to Hong Kong. I was actually on my way from Singapore to Osaka but transited in Hong Kong to meet my partner at the Hong Kong International Airport before taking the onward flight to Osaka.  It was a really short trip to Japan as we only had 6 days before we need to return to Hong Kong and Singapore respectively. This was because I had a cruise scheduled on 8 January from Singapore to Pena...

After a very good dinner, I was window shopping in Sha Tin's New Town Plaza when I discovered a beautiful rooftop garden. While the rooftop garden is beautiful, I find the view from this vantage point even more awesome. High hills with residential buildings in the background and children playground in the front, both nicely illuminated by man-made neon lights as well as the fading natural light from the dusk sky.  A photo opportunity that I simply could not resist. Rooftop garden with an awesome view, New Town Plaza, Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong, China (2025)

I have "met"  Godzilla many times in Tokyo! The last meeting I had with the famous and colossal legend was in November 2024. Godzilla, Godzilla Store Tokyo ,  Shinjuku Marui Honten Annex , Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan (2024) I had specifically reserved almost one whole day of my Japan trip just to seek out Godzilla at all the locations it has been known to appear. These include Shinjuku Tôhô Building , Hibiya Square , and of course, Godzilla's very own  Shinjuku Marui Annex (Shinjuku Marui Honten Annex). I also bought a Godzilla-themed t-shirt at Don Quijote Akihabara . Here are some "proofs" of my meetings with Godzilla! Godzilla, Hibiya Square, Tokyo, Japan (2024) Myself with my Godzilla merchandise paper bag,  Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan (2024) A Hobonichi X Godzilla Weeks Diary for 2025 bought at the Godzilla Store Tokyo,  Shinjuku Marui Honten Annex, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan (2024)

Angkor Wat and its archeological sites are steeped in history, religion and culture. Any visitors, will be in awe of all that Angkor Wat has to offer. While one may prefer to look at Angkor Wat from either a historical, religious, cultural, scholastic or scientific angle, but all will certainly agree that this is not simply a collection of archeological sites but a lot more.  In this photograph taken with my DSLR camera from a distance away, two young monks took in the sights, cameras in hand to record the magnificent beauty of Angkor Wat. Monks, Angkor Wat, Angkor National Park , Cambodia (2022)

I have always loved wildlife . But I am un able to take good photographs of wildlife , mainly due to a lack of patience and photographic skills . Whenever, I chanced upon an opportunity when a bird got near to me, I always tried my best to capture a photograph of it, hoping that one of these photographs will turn out well. I am not saying this photograph is good. But it was as good as it got for me. Wild bird ,  Kings Park and Botanic Garden , Perth, Western Australia , Australia (2018)

Most visitors to Cambodia's famed Angkor National Park are interested in its archeological sites, including Angkor Wat and Angkor Thom as well as many others. But for locals, sometimes, it was the natural surroundings of the sites that drew their interests. I was visiting Angkor Wat on my second trip to the Angkor National Park in 2022 when I caught sight of these two local kids admiring flowers on a tree.  From quite a distance away, I lifted my DSLR camera and zoomed in for a close-up photo of this magical moment.  Kids admiring flowers on a tree, Angkor Wat, Angkor National Park, Cambodia (2022)

12 months into 2025 and looking forward to 2026.......  Similar to my Travel Bits article of November 2025, I will start by repeating that I had just returned from another weekend trip to  Hong Kong . This was my 6th visit to the city for the year. However, my next trip will be just a mere month away, in January 2026, on transit while on my way to Osaka . Next week, I will embark on a road trip from Singapore to Ipoh . This trip will wrap up my travels for 2025. Meanwhile, I had already started planning for my first overseas trips in the first two weeks of 2026. I will begin the new year by traveling to Hong Kong, Osaka, Kyoto, Penang and Phuket in quick succession. A busy travel calendar to start the new year. Equally busy is my work schedule. I am expecting myself to be working on the go while I vacation. There are analyses to conduct, reports to write and online meetings to attend. A fast paced December to conclude the year of 2025 and an equally fast paced January to st...

Petaling Jaya, Selangor This article was first published on my other blog,  Monde des Stylos . This other bloc entered on anything and everything related to Pens and Stationery. Attending a local Pen Show is a personal milestone in my Journaling hobby. At such events, I get to not only meet like-minded enthusiasts in the world of pens and stationery, but also get to see and touch many of the pens and stationery that I would otherwise only get to see virtually from photographs online. Traveling from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur just to attend a Pen Show was the first time I travel specifically for such an event. Certainly a Travel Bucket List item for me! ****************** This was only my second time attending a pen show. And because it was the inaugural  Malaysia International Pen Show  and it was also held in a venue relatively close to my home city, I decided to travel to attend the show; also taking the opportunity to meet up with friends whom I have not met for so...

Malaysia's KTM is currently the only service provider that runs regular trains between Johor Bahru in Malaysia and Woodlands in Singapore . Nothing spectacular or amazing, I personally consider this as just a regular inter-city train connection between Peninsular Malaysia 's southern most city of Johor Bahru ( JB ) with Singapore's northern region of Woodlands. The only difference between typical inter-city trains and this service, is that this train service actually crosses an international border between two countries even though the actual journey each way is less than 5 minutes. Therefore, passports and travel documents are required for immigration and customs clearance purposes. Named the  KTM Shuttle Tebrau , this train service is highly subsidised when tickets are purchased in Malaysia at JB Sentral Station's Ticket Counters . Return tickets from JB to Singapore generally cost only RM5 at the time of the publishing of this blog article.  Buying the tickets in...

Johor Bahru (JB) is located at the southern tip of Peninsular Malaysia and is connected to Singapore via the Causeway , across the Straits of Johor. Due to its close geographical proximity to Singapore, as well as the favourable currency exchange rate between the Singapore Dollar (SGD) and the Malaysian Ringgit (RM), many Singaporeans and Malaysians working in Singapore, typically made day trips to JB via the Causeway. During these day trips, most travelers will dine and shop. It is not uncommon to see folks returning to Singapore from, JB in the late afternoons and evenings, laden with shopping bags. This happens on most days, not just the weekends. Although during weekends, the crowds crossing the Causeway are noticeably larger. Being someone who does not really enjoy being in a crowd, I mostly stay away from such day trips. On occasions when I drove across the Causeway, it was mostly to travel further inland into Malaysia, either to Kuala Lumpur or to Ipoh. But on one weekday after...

Kumamoto , Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan This article was first published on this blog in April 2024. Prior to this trip, I had already know about Kumamoto and their cute mascot, Kumamon . This day trip was a port visit when the cruise ship Spectrum of the Seas made a port call as part of the cruise from Yokohama to Singapore in August 2023. Originally not part of the itinerary, this port visit was a last minute insertion after the ship had to skip port visits to Shimizu and Osaka due to Typhoon Lan . I was not upset about the skipping of the two scheduled port visits because I understand the importance of safety for everyone onboard, both passengers and crew. I was instead thrilled about the last minute inclusion of Kumamoto (via Yatsushiro Port ) as a port stop. And thus, one of my bucket travel list item to visit Kumamoto was achieved. ****************** I visited the city of Kumamoto for the first time in August 2023 as part of a port visit by the cruise ship I was saili...