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

Packing light for a short budget trip with a Low Cost Carrier....... Low Cost Carriers or LCC (a.k.a. Budget Airlines) offer a cost effective way to travel. While my personal preference is always to travel with a full-service airline due to a myriad of reasons, there were times when flying with a LCC became a necessity due to the travel location. This can be because only LCCs provide flights to the destination due to its low travelers' turnover or that the price differential for a ticket to fly to that location between a full-service airline and a LCC was just too great, such that opting to fly budget was the only sensible choice. However, flying budget has its cons. The key ones being the really no-frills part. If one is to start adding the small frills such as check-in baggage, more hand-carry luggages, seat choices and some simple onboard food and drinks, then the cost for the so-called budget air ticket begins to escalate quickly. At times, the final price one has to pay

Travelling to a new city for the first time... This coming Thursday, I will be travelling to Laos for the first time. The purpose of the trip is for a short vacation to Luang Prabang in northern Laos and to visit the UNESCO World Heritage Site of the Town of Luang Prabang. Being a first time visitor to Laos and Luang Prabang, I did some research on the internet and in the libraries to find out more about the cultural and religious norms of the city. I usually try my best to conform to and more importantly, to respect the local culture and religion of the cities I am visiting. Besides the more practical aspect of not getting into trouble with the local authorities, the main intention is to show respect to the local people, culture and religions. This is because I am a foreigner and guest after all and it will be rude to behave in manners that may offend the locals as well as their cultural or religious beliefs. The areas where I show respect and conform to the local culture

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

January heralds the beginning of a new year. A new year of work, a new year of commitments and of course a new year of travel! My travel programmes for this year should hopefully be a bit more interesting than that of last year although I already had to modify the travel period for my first trip of the year. I had originally planned to drive from Singapore to Ipoh (Perak, Malaysia) in the early part of February to spend the long weekend that comes with the public holidays for Chinese New Year (a.k.a. Lunar New Year). However, as my regular pet-sitter is already fully booked for this period, I have to instead travel after the Chinese New Year period. What a bummer but the trip is still on. :-) Ipoh, State Capital of Perak, Malaysia (2015) The crystal clear waters in the streams of Ulu Chepor, Perak, Malaysia (2015) My next trip should be a longer one sometime in mid-April 2016. I am planning a trip to Japan. Its been 18 months since I last visited Japan and I wanted