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

On my Train Journey from Bangkok to Singapore in May 2024, I decided that it made the most economic sense to fly budget one-way from Singapore to Bangkok. This was because my "return" trip will be via train routes. With this in mind, I searched for the most competitive fares and decided to book the flight with Thai Air Asia. Thai Air Asia is a low cost carrier formed via a joint venture between Malaysia's Air Asia and Thailand's Asia Aviation. From Singapore's Changi International Airport (IATA: SIN, ICAO: WSSS), Thai Air Asia fly to Bangkok's smaller Don Mueang International Airport (IATA: DMK, ICAO: VTBD). Thai Air Asia planes at  Don Mueang International Airport, Bangkok, Thailand (2024) Check-in My flight was on FD356 departing Changi International Airport Terminal 4 on 27 May 2024 at the scheduled time of 2pm. Checking-in was simple and hassle free. I arrived at the departure terminal about 2.5 hours before the scheduled flight time and cleared immigratio...

A 5-part mini series of videos on the topic of "Love the Seas" has been uploaded to the YouTube Channel of this blog at TANKS Travel Tales YouTube Channel. S.E.A. Aquarium, Sentosa, Singapore The idea behind the mini-video series is to focus on the wonderful world of life under the sea. The main underlying message is of course fo all of us to play a part in saving the seas; to use less plastics, stop pollution and work towards a more sustainable lifestyle in our everyday activities. The video footages and photos were taken at the S.E.A. Aquarium in Sentosa, Singapore. The links to all 5 videos are here: Link to Video - Part I Link to Video -Part II Link to Video - Part III Link to Video - Part IV Link to Video - Part V

In a recent visit to the ArtScience Museum in Singapore's Marina Bay Sands, I toured an exhibition about "lights". Titled "Future World-Where Art Meets Science", the exhibits featured the wonders of light and allowed visitors to immerse themselves in a world of digital arts, all powered by lights. I had a fun time strolling through the halls, marvelling at the wonders of light and at times, immersing myself in the exhibits. Yes, some of the exhibits were structured such that visitors may actually "immerse" themselves. Unlike traditional museum visits where one could only view exhibits from a distance, this was one place where one can enjoy some the exhibits physically. Each exhibition at the ArtScience Museum is exhibited for a pre-determined period. Most of these so-called travelling exhibitions will be closed and taken down after the pre-determined period, to be taken over by another travelling exhibition. One can thus visit the ArtScience Museum reg...

This is a review of my experiences when I flew on Business Class (i.e. 'J' Class) onboard Singapore Airlines (SIA) flight SQ163 from Siem Reap International Airport to Singapore's Changi International Airport in May 2022. I had just a week ago, flew the outbound sector on SQ164 from Singapore to Siem Reap. The flight tickets were redeemed using my frequent flyer miles accumulated through retail purchases during the pandemic-induced stay-at-home period between March 2020 and April 2022. Selfie of myself sitting at the Departure Gate waiting to board SQ163 from REP to SIN, Krong Siem Reap International Airport, Siem Reap, Cambodia (2022) Check-in Check-in at the SIA Business Class counter at the Siem Reap International Airport was a breeze. During the check-in process, I noticed that passengers in Economy Class were processed just as quickly. Probably because the flight was not full and most leisure travellers were still hesitant to travel because of COVID. As usual, the coun...

It has been a while since I last wrote a review of my inflight experiences. In hindsight, "inflight" is actually a rather incorrect term for this series of reviews because the experiences include pre-boarding and at times, disembarking from the plane. So, the reviews do not exclusively focus on just experiences that occur inflight.  In-between my last inflight review posted in this blog sometime in 2020, I had flown on a small number of flights, both for work and for vacations. However, during the period from Feb 2020 to May 2022, I stayed totally grounded because of worldwide travel restrictions due to the COVID pandemic. Thankfully, for everyone and especially for the industry, those days are over. This is a review of my experiences when I flew on Business Class (i.e. 'J' Class) on Singapore Airlines (SIA) from Singapore's Changi International Airport to Bali's Denpasar Airport in December 2023.  The flight tickets were redeemed using my expiring frequent fl...

Singapore, Turtle Island Off the southern coast of Singapore lies many small and beautiful islands that one do not normally associate with a high-tech driven city. But herein, havens of tranquility, nature, beautiful beaches, turquoise-coloured waters and wide-opened spaces offer unique escapades from the busy city-life of mainland Singapore. That all these islands can be reached within half an hour by ferry makes traveling there even more appealing. UNESCO World Heritage Sites these islands are not. But they definitely do qualify as  personal Bucket List items . In this blog post, I am featuring one of these island. Kusu Island is where one can find several shrines, nice beaches and yes, many turtles (mostly red-eared sliders,  Trachemys scripta elegans). ****************** Kusu Island, a.k.a. Turtle Island in the local dialect, is also known as Pulau Tembakul in Malay. Lying less than 6 km from mainland Singapore, Kusu I...

Singapore, Sentosa, S.E.A. Life Sometimes, we travel far and wide in search of new experiences and new sights. But, right in our backyard, literally, are new experiences and sights that we had totally overlooked. Before I get mistaken, I am a huge proponent of international travel. I am a firm believer of the benefits of travel to far and distant lands. But, I am also an advocate in discovering experiences and sights unknown to ourselves in our own country, city, town and so on. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when international travel was more or less near impossible, I took to visiting local sites that I had never been to before. Visiting the S.E.A. Aquarium at Singapore's Sentosa resort island was one such experience. The visit left me both amazed and bewildered at the amount of sea life on display. What impressed me most were the efforts of the Aquarium to (as close as possible) present the animals in their natural environments and their efforts at encouraging conservati...

Singapore, Tanglin, Singapore Botanic Gardens -  UNESCO World Heritage Site Singapore is a small city-state where land scarcity is a perpetual issue. However, in the midsts of all the buildings and structures of concrete and glass, city planners somehow managed to find space for beautiful gardens and reserved primary and secondary forests. The Singapore Botanic Gardens is one such place and is amazingly located right in the fringe of town. Flanked by foreign embassies on one side, a busy and world renowned shopping stretch on the other, a hospital on another side and private landed bungalows along much of its perimeter, this tropical oasis of a garden took pride of place right next to a bustling world city. Swan Sculpture in the middle of a lake within the Gardens' grounds, Singapore Botanic Gardens, Tanglin, Singapore (2023) Growing up, visiting the Gardens were a fairly regular activity for me, from school excursions to family outings during festive periods. I always loved these ...

Following my first-ever cruise trip in July 2022, I embarked on my second cruise vacation in end-October 2022. Despite this being my second cruise holiday, I had actually booked this trip way back in January 2022 before I even booked my first cruise trip for July 2022. Ah, the irony of life! 😁 Like my first cruise, this trip was also on the same ship, Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas. Unlike my first cruise, this was a slightly longer trip for 5 nights onboard, 2 nights more than the previous trip. Deck 15 of Spectrum of the Seas as seen through the glass canopy of the North Star , Phuket, Thailand (2022) No longer a cruise virgin and having been onboard the same ship just months earlier, I had matured into a seasoned cruise pro. Boarding on sailing day was a breeze, I had my essentials packed and was all ready to enjoy my holiday. View of Marina Bay Cruise Centre as Spectrum of the Seas pulled out of port, Marina Bay, Singapore (2022) Cabin Classes I had booked myself and m...