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

December has always been the month when I feel like traveling. If I cannot afford to travel further due to time and budget, I always try to squeeze in a regional trip. Living in Singapore, I am blessed with being located in a region where great travel destinations are plentiful. One of my favourite destination for a short getaway is Bali. Only about two-hour by flight from Singapore, I can simply jet away for a short vacation during the year-end festive period. This was what I did in December 2023 when I traveled to Bali, staying at Jimbaran Bay and Ubud during my 6-day trip. A relaxing evening at the beach, Jimbaran Bay, Bali, Indonesia (2023) At Jimbaran Bay, I chose to stay at the Intercontinental Jimbaran Bay, where I got to enjoy sumptuous buffet breakfasts, great dinners by the beach and of course, relaxing with a good book in and around the lush resort hotel. I also took the time to catch up on my writings. And of course, work was never far away and my hideaway to answer work em...

Ah..... the things that tourists do on their vacations. While beach combing ay Jimbaran Bay during low tide, I noticed many tourists casually riding ponies along the beach at dusk. Guided by their sure-handed handlers, the ponies casually trotted along the beach, each with only one tourist allowed on their backs, unless it was an adult accompanying a toddler. Unlike in many places, I also noticed the ponies here were relatively well-fed and were only carrying one passenger on their backs each time. Also, at dusk, the sun is not strong, thus ensuring the ponies were not subjected to heat stress. I concluded that this was a triple-wins. The ponies got to earn their keep, their handlers had a job and the tourists paid for and enjoyed their short rides along the beach.  Tourist, Pony and Handler, Jimbaran Bay, Bali, Indonesia (2023)

Year 2023 Personal Travel Wrap-up......  And so, 2023 is nearing its goodbyes and we are all looking forward to a brand new year in 2024. For travelers, a brand new travel year beckons. Personally, 2023 marks the first year when leisure travel truly resumes, after 2020 and 2021. Yes, I traveled a fair bit in 2022 compared to the two preceding years. But travel in 2022 was tentative, punctuated by the need to handle cumbersome vaccination certifications submissions prior to each trip, downloading official apps from individual countries and registering on these apps before embarkation, masks wearing, expensive travel insurance as well as limitations in where one can travel to. All these requirements were thankfully, slowly peeled away towards the end of 2022. Year 2023 is when we feel like normal again. Truth be told, COVID-19 is still everywhere, endemic. However, a combination of annual vaccinations and naturally acquired immunity from previous infections by previous strains of the...

Spontaneous vacation......  Due to my fast expiring air miles which had already been repeatedly extended out of goodwill by the airline company because of the COVID pandemic from 2020 to 2022, I realised I have to quickly book a trip by this month or I will lose those previous air miles. I don't actually have to travel within the month but need to get the booking confirmed. And because I am no big spender or frequent flyer, I only have enough air miles for a regional return-flight ticket. Best option? Bali, of course! I have two travel windows available for the trip. December 2023 or April 2024. Debating with myself, I argued that traveling in December will be expensive due to the year-end peak travel season and local school holidays. So, I checked out several hotel websites on accommodation prices for both December 2023 and April 2024. To my surprise, the accommodation prices are similar for both periods and still reasonable, at least in my economic context. Just for the record, I...