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

This trip, almost exactly a year ago, was part of my annual travel up Malaysia's North-South (NS) Highway from Singapore to Ipoh to celebrate the annual Chinese New Year holidays. The NS Highway actually extend further north but the furthest drive up north for me is always up to Ipoh.  One of the many colourful wall murals in and around the vicinity of Old Town, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia (2024) This trip in February 2024, was no different. It typically took about 7 hours for me to get from Singapore to Ipoh, with one or at most, two stops in-between for washroom breaks and meals. The 7-hour journey only accounts for total drive time and does not take into account the time needed to clear immigration and customs on departure from Singapore and arrival at Johor, via the land bother points between both countries. Depending on traffic conditions, it can take up to 2 hours to complete the immigration and customs processes at both departure and arrival checkpoints. Waits of up to 3 hours are...

Thus far, my only cruises have been onboard Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas. Prior to this cruise, I had previously sailed thrice onboard the same ship, including a 12-night cruise from Yokohama to Singapore. These sailings had helped me made many friends including both fellow passengers and crew. I had met many wonderful people during these trips. Therefore, I decided to make one last sailing onboard the ship before it repositioned from Singapore to China in April 2024. This cruise was a 4-night sailing in March 2024 for a return trip from Singapore to Penang and Phuket. After three previous cruises onboard the same ship over a period of two years, I am rather familiar with the ship, its layout and its facilities. Thus, finding my ways around the ship was no issue. On the flip side, there was less exploring to do!  Entertainment-wise, I had actually watched all the onboard shows before but still watched them anyway during this trip. I did notice that even for the same shows...

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...

I visited the city of Kumamoto for the first time in August 2023 as part of a port visit by the cruise ship I was sailing on, Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas. The cruise's itinerary was to take passengers from Yokohama to Singapore, sailing in a south, south-easterly direction, whilst visiting some ports along the way. The original port visits in the southern parts of Japan were Shimizu and Osaka. But these 2 port visits were cancelled due to inclement weather because of a nearby typhoon. It was summer in Japan in August and the typhoon season was in town, literally and figuratively. The cruise company subsequently decided to add Kumamoto as a port visit to the itinerary to compensate for the lost of the the 2 cancelled port visits. Weather conditions are part of the forces of nature and I appreciated the cruise company's decision making discretion to ensure that all passengers had a safe and enjoyable trip. Thus, I was not upset at the lost of 2 port visits. Moreove...

Despite being a frequent visitor to Bali, I had previously only been to Ubud once. Yes, just once. Thus, when I traveled to Bali in December 2023, I decided that I wanted to visit Ubud. This was only my second time visiting Ubud in more than 10 previous vacations trips to Bali over the years. Religious festival; this photograph was taken with a zoom lens because I was observing from a distance, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia (2023) A simple day trip to Ubud will not suffice for me. I wanted to immerse myself in the vibes of Ubud. I also wanted to do walking trips around the vicinity of the hotel I was staying in. To explore the area, observe the local lifestyles and better understand the local culture unique not just to Bali, but also to Ubud. Located north of Denpasar, Ubud is well known as the centre for traditional crafts. It is surrounded by rainforests and padi fields are everywhere in the area. Some of these can be beautiful terraced fields while others may just be a small plot of land wh...

With some downtime at work due to the completion of several projects' milestones, I decided to go on a short 5 days/4 nights trip to neighbouring Kuala Lumpur in late November 2023. Flights between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur take only less than an hour each way, before factoring airport security and boarding times. City view from the platform of a Local Rapid Train (LRT) Station, Kuala Lumpur (2023) The aim was for a leisurely trip to visit Kuala Lumpur for the year-end festive mood and to do some shopping due to the relatively favourable forex rates of the SGD (Singapore Dollar) versus RM (Malaysian Ringgit). Festive mood at Pavilion Mall, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur (2023) However, the short trip turned out to be a rather interesting one, by way of several unforeseen incidents. First up, my travel partner dropped his ring at the airport in Singapore. Taking it in our stride that such things do happen when one was not attentive enough, we brushed the loss aside.  Next, our plane o...