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

  " Travel whenever you can, Choose your journeys, Live your adventures, Write your story. " - Timothy Tan, tankstraveltales Port Klang, Klang, Selangor, Malaysia (2022)

On a recent trip, I was at the Plaza Premium Lounge at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) waiting for my flight when I spotted this beautiful Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner in its special livery featuring the Manchester City Football Club (MCFC). The rich blue colour combination made this aircraft literally stood out amongst all the others that were parked around it. What a beauty! Spotting this aircraft in-person was one of those rare occasions when a plane with special livery appeared right in front of my eyes. 😀 Etihad Boeing 787-9, with MCFC livery, reversing from the Boarding Gate, Kuala Lumpur International Airport (IATA: KUL, ICAO: WMKK), Sepang, Selangor, Malaysia (2022)

I remembered my childhood days when soft drinks came in glass bottles. These bottles were washed after each use and returned to the vendors or provision shops. These would then be subsequently returned to the drink bottlers or recycle companies for eventual recycle and reuse. Nowadays, with the advent of plastic use and the focus on quick business turnaround, recycling efforts are few and far between. No longer do our drink bottles come in reusable bottles for reuse. Instead, plastic PET bottles are the norm. And although the words "Reduce, Reuse and Recycle" are printed prominently on the bottles, these bottles are almost never returned for reuse and recycle. Often, they are headed straight for the bins and the landfills after only a single use. Regretfully, it is usually in big cities where such recycling efforts are not widely practised despite these cities posting the biggest consumption of materials and goods. Instead, it is the small rural towns and communities

In December of 2019, after an almost 10-year hiatus, I re-visited Kuala Lumpur (a.k.a. KL) for the first time. Despite the relatively short geographical distance between KL and Singapore (where I lived), I was surprised it took me so long to re-visit this wonderful city. Flights from Singapore generally took about 40 minutes or so. Tour coaches typically take about 5 hours, including stops for meals and toilet breaks. If I drive, it will take me a little more than 3 hours, if I shorten the time for my meals and toilet breaks along the way. Petronas Twin Tower, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2020) Officially a federal territory, KL also serves as the economic, financial and cultural hub of Malaysia. It is the capital city of the country and was also previously the administrative capital until this function was moved to Putrajaya in 1999 to alleviate the increasing overcrowding and traffic gridlocks in KL. Still, the Greater Kuala Lumpur metropolitan area continues to grow both economi