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

Missing those weekend trips....... The saying goes that often we only realised the importance of people or things after they have left or are no longer around us. In this case, it is those weekend trips that I am missing. Prior to the upheaval caused by COVID, going away for a short trip over a weekend was so simple. And because it really was very simple, I did not pay much attention to these trips. Actually, I did not even considered them as overseas trips despite the fact that I was actually crossing borders for these trips and a valid international passport was required to be produced at the border checkpoints. But now that international travel has all but vanished, these little weekend getaways started to be remembered as enjoyable overseas trips and a longing to undertake these same trips now feature as high on the agenda as those bucket list travel items. In December 2019, I went on a short weekend getaway to neighbouring city of Johor Bahru (a.k.a. JB), state capital of the Mala

Chinese New Year is usually the time when I embark on a road trip to neighbouring Malaysia; especially to the city of Ipoh in Perak State. This is where I took a break from my hectic and punishing work schedule. During my usual 4 or 5 days stay, I will spend time reading books, writing articles, going around time to enjoy the rustic charms of Ipoh and its surrounding areas and also catching up with relatives and friends. This year, the first and second days of the Chinese New Year were on 8 and 9 February which are a Monday and Tuesday respectively. Adding the weekends prior, and we have a 4-day period where we could travel without needing to apply for vacation leave from our work. To make full use of this long holiday weekend, I drove north to Ipoh on 7 February. A row of old shophouses in the Old Town area that have been repainted in a colourful blend of rainbow hues, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia (2016) During this road trip, I stuck to my usual habit of stopping by Ayer Kero