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

Travel taking backseat to work.......  I have been really busy with work since the beginning of the 2026. Work has been so hectic that I have been working 7 days a week, every week since the start of the year. The only break I had was a short 5-night trip to Hong Kong in February. In the midst of trying to beat each advancing deadlines, I often looked back longingly on my Japan trip during the first week of January when I visited Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto. Another Japan trip at the end of the year maybe, if I can find the time and budget. Things on the work front should be settling down a bit after this month, April 2026. I have another short 5-night trip to Hong Kong booked for the last week of May 2026. During this trip, I intend to spend some time cafe hopping and exploring more of the Sham Shui Po area, to check out interesting shops (fountain pens shops of course) and hunting around for delicious local food. This trip, I will be flying to Hong Kong with Cathay Pacific and staying ...

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...

One Trip, Multiple Destinations....... Those who know me know that I usually do not packed too many destinations into a single trip whenever I travel. I typically planned my itineraries such that I do not travel to more than 2 cities within a single trip. Usually, my trips were planned around a single city. This is because I definitely prefer to have sufficient time to explore the destination, to sit and people-watch, enjoy a cuppa at local cafe, to visit the local markets and eateries and to observe how the locals live, rest and play. The serene and tranquil neighbourhoods of Omihachiman with its traditional houses dating back to the Edo Period of Japan's history was an amazing personal discovery when I was in Shiga, Omihachiman, Shiga Prefecture, Japan (2018) However, in my most recent trip to Japan in early April, I did what previously to me was the unthinkable. I actually broke all my personal rules and traveled to multiple destinations within the 12 days of ...