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

Over the past 10 years or so, quaint and lovely Ipoh has become more like a second hometown to me. I loved everything about Ipoh, from the unhurried pace of the life here to the delicious food that only people of Ipoh can somehow whip up with the simplest of ingredients. Common yet unique. Myself posing with the wall mural of a Tiger, Old Town, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia (2023) This abandoned shophouse being reclaimed by nature shows the rustic charms of Ipoh, Old Town, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia (2023) And in the last decade or so, many cafes had sprung up here. Most of these are of the local, owner-operated type rather than the international franchise varieties. These are all usually located in the Old Town area of Ipoh where weekends saw tourists, both domestic and international, arriving in their hundreds to enjoy Ipoh as a destination of choice. Cafe chilling sessions aplenty by myself and also with friends, Old Town, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia (2023) A delicious serving of pancakes, Old Town, I...

  " To travel is not to escape life, But to learn about life." -  Anonymous  Snapshots from Old Town, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia (2023)

  "Let your wanderlust take hold and bring yourself to places unknown....... " - Timothy Tan, tankstraveltales Stairs, Old Town, Tallinn, Estonia (2017)

Estonia, Tallinn, Old Town - UNESCO World Heritage Site From a young age, I had read countless books on fairy tales where the central characters lived in medieval Europe. The age-old story of Hansel and Gretel quickly came to mind when I was planning a trip to Helsinki and the idea of a side trip to Tallinn cropped  up. Reading up as much as I could about Tallinn, I realised that the Old Town district of the Estonian Capital is considered to be the best preserved medieval city in northern Europe. Pictures of cobblestone streets and buildings with Gothic spires convinced me that I had to make the trip as a personal travel Bucket List item. Inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997, the Old Town of Tallinn has no lack of churches, houses, barns and streets all dating as far back in time as the Middle Ages.  When I arrived in Tallinn onboard the ferry from Helsinki, I immediately headed for the Old Town. Entering the town through the Viru Gates transported ...

I was awestruck by the grandness and magnificence of this building during my walking tour of the Old Town of Tallinn. While there, I had no opportunity to enter the building itself. Thus, admiring its facade and photographing its structure as I walked around its perimeter had to suffice.  The  Palace of Ungern-Sternberg, Tallinn, Estonia (2017) Without knowing what this building was, its history and its name, the photographs I took allowed me to conduct basic research on it after the trip.  Based on my rudimentary research into the building long after my trip to Tallinn, I was to discover that it was built in the year 1865 by the German architect, Martin Gropius. Also known as the Palace of Ungern-Sternberg, the building is today the home of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. The Academy is a group of scientists whose aim is to promote research & development and scientific cooperation as well as knowledge dissemination.  The main build...

Recovering from a trip. Is there such a thing? Of course there is! For one, if you travel between continents, there is always the issue of jet lag to take care of when you are finally back home. And if jet lag is not a problem for you, there will always be chores to do. These usually include household chores that piled up while you were away enjoying yourself on that sun-kissed beach or skiing on the slopes of that snow-capped peak. Besides the domestic chores, there will also be office work to chase when you get back to office after those days away posting your beautiful vacation pictures on social media to share with family and friends. Little Venice, Paddington, London, UK (2017) So while a holiday can be an invigorating experience and fun, there are the before and after of the trip to consider. I have wrote about the "before" in a previous blog post on my Travel Bit series (click the link here to read more  The to-do-list before embarking on a trip....... )...