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

Another trip completed while the next beckons .......  Mid-July 2026, I just returned from another short trip to Hong Kong, my third of the year to the southern Chinese city. During this trip, I had some time on my own and I discovered another fountain pen shop tucked in the Sham Shui Po district. I bought a pen from them to support local small business and also to justify to myself for making the effort to go all the way to look for the pen shop based on recommendations from friends who are into fountain pens.  I also enjoyed myself dining and sight-seeing, as usual. After achieving Silver Tier Status with my Cathay Pacific membership, I got to enjoy lounge access this trip, even though I was only flying Premium Economy. Enjoying the delicious food in the lounge, reading newspapers in the comfort of the lounge and getting myself freshened up with a nice shower just before boarding my return flight was certainly a travel experience to savour. Coming up on the first week of Aug...

I flew 'J' Class on from Hong Kong (HKG) to Taipei (TPE) on EVA Air (BR) during my recent vacation. This was my first time flying on EVA Air. As this was a vacation, I had wanted to take things a bit slower and also to travel in a bit more luxurious style to reward myself for working non-stop, including weekends, for the past 5 months. Thus, I decided to fly via Business Class in the late morning which I supposed is a relatively off-peak period for flight reservations, especially on a weekday. Thus, I was booked and flew to Taipei's Taoyuan International Airport via EVA Air's Flight BR852. The Flight BR852 that I was on, uses an A330-200 to serve the relatively short route from Hong Kong to Taipei. Total fight time was 1 hour and 45 minutes (official estimates) although based on my watch, we actually touched down in Taipei in less than 90 minutes after leaving Hong Kong's Chek Lap Kok Airport. As this was a short flight, I did not get the chance to real...

Airplanes are synonymous with today's notion of traveling. Whenever I am at any airports waiting for my flight, I always enjoyed watching planes took off and land. During such moments, I have never failed to marvel at the incredible engineering feat that enabled such big machines to literally lift off almost effortlessly from the ground and into the air! Amazing isn't it? As part of my aircraft watching past time, I usually took photos of these planes; using my iPhone as that is the most convenient camera that I have on hand. Here is a picture of a Thai Airways Airbus A380-800 taxying along one of the runways of the Hong Kong International Airport (IATA: HKG, ICAO: VHHH). Thai Airways Airbus A380-800 at the Chek Lap Kok Airport, Hong Kong, China (2012) See also other  Airplane Pictures  in this travel blog