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

In my continuing exploration of local places that I had not visited in years, I recently made a trip to good old Chinatown. It is located near the Central Business District, in the southern region of Singapore. Walking through the old streets reminded me that many things remain the same as they were and yet not the same. The heritage buildings are still around, standing tall and proud, reminding us of an era long passed but whose days made us who we are today. But gone are many familiar shops, long closed and shuttered with "For Rent" signs plastered all over their shutters. I have no doubt the 2-plus years of COVID-induced business slowdowns had a lot to do with the disappearances of these once-familiar small businesses. On a positive note, local Authorities had just announced further loosening of travel restrictions as part of the move to living with endemic-COVID. Let's hope the return of international arrivals will help those small businesses still holding out. Thankf

Sometimes, we do not have to travel to experience sights that we so often see in photographs of far-flung and exotic destinations. This photograph is taken at Seringat Island (a.k.a. Pulau Seringat). A truly local experience, just a ferry ride away from mainland Singapore.  Seringat Island is now part of Lazarus Island (a.k.a. Pulau Sakijang Pelepah), having been linked to the now-expanded Lazarus Island through land reclamation works. Seringat Island Beach, Seringat Island, Singapore (2022)

This short video showed my climb up the steps to reach the Shrine of Datok Kong and Datok Nenek. This shrine is located in Kusu Island, to the south of Singapore. Kusu Island is just next to Lazarus Island and St John's Island. Video of Climb Up the Steps to  the Shrine of Datok Kong and Datok Nenek, Kusu Island, Singapore (2022)

Visiting the S.E.A. Aquarium at Singapore's Sentosa resort island left me both amazed and bewildered at the amount of sea life on display. What impressed me most are the efforts of the Aquarium to (as close as possible) present the animals in their natural environments and their efforts at encouraging conservation of our global marine life and environments. This was my first visit to the aquarium and it was time and effort well spent for me. I got to observe marine life in their natural aquatic environments in a way that no video or photographs can ever replicate. I will certainly be back for repeat visits in the near future. Moray Eels, S.E.A. Aquarium, Sentosa, Singapore (2022)

The wild beckons....... but..... Being stuck within the confines of a small apartment and its walled interiors for the past 20+ months while (at times) feverishly working-from-home to meet rushed deadlines imposed by clients has left me feeling a bit cooped up. Suddenly, usually boring and typically ignored stuff like a patch of grass or a bunch of trees in the distance has become a much yearn-for change-of-environment. In part inspired by my recent weeknights binge watching of Korean variety shows on cable showcasing life in rural outdoor places, I imagined how nice it would be if I could (for a short period of time) indulge in these same activities. In these shows, Korean celebrities camped out, prepared their own meals over open-air campfires, went fishing or simply just chilled out  and enjoyed nature. Unfortunately, I live in a small cramp city where there are hardly any wilderness to head out to, where driving camper vans and spending a week or two out in the wild is an impossibl

With international leisure travel being a distant pipe dream due to border restrictions to protect against COVID transmissions, dining out has become the main leisure activity for many folks. I am no exception.   The current main highlights of my week are dining out on weekends. I love all cuisines but Japanese, Spanish and Italian are my favourites. For the past 20 months, dining on foreign cuisines has become my personal go-to substitute for travel to distant shores.  😁   I am fortunate to live in a city where choices of international cuisines are plentiful!   Burger, American-style, Singapore (2020)   Grilled Squid, Japanese-style, Singapore (2020)   Sashimi Rice Bowl (a.k.a.  Chirashi ), Japanese-style, Singapore (2020)   Fresh Shrimps with garlic and herbs, Spanish-style, Singapore (2020)   Steak with garden vegetables, Spanish-style, Singapore (2020)   Mussels and Shrimps, Spanish-style, Singapore (2020)   Wood-Fired Pizza, Italian-style, Singapore (2020) Pan-seared Sea Bass, Sp

Singapore, Marina Bay, Marina Bay Sands, ArtScience Museum What counts as a bucket list item? For me, a bucket list item don't have to be something extraordinary. It can be something simple, something close to my heart. I do not have to climb the highest peak in the world or travel to the ends of the world to qualify a bucket list item; although those epic adventures would certainly have counted as not just bucket list items but special bucket list items! Bucket list items can be achieved closer to home, in one's own backyard or anywhere as long as it fulfils a special place in one's heart. ****************** Being a huge fan of the Star Wars franchise, I was naturally very excited when the "Star Wars Identities"  exhibition was staged in Singapore in the first half of this year. Needless to say, I made time to visit. Although I wish that there were more range and depth in the exhibits, I am still grateful that I was able to visit in person. Walking through the ex

A "vacation" by any other name....... As international border closures remain strictly in force, I have decided that an overseas vacation pre-pandemic style is simply neither possible nor practical. While it is true that I can theoretically travel to a couple of destinations currently, the required administrative loops and hurdles that I will have to jump through just to travel to these "select" destinations immediately made even the idea of leisure travel impractical. For example, based on the number of COVID testings one have to undergo just for a one or two-week trip, which can be as many as four or even five tests, simply don't make sense. Besides the costs involved (assuming an average of USD$110 per test), there are still the inconveniences of having to travel to designated clinics for these tests, queue up, wait, waste precious vacation time and to top it all the up, grapple with the amount of extra paperwork just to prove that I am vaccinated and also do

Leisure travel....... soon? Sunday morning. As usual, I woke up late, preferring to sleep in on weekend mornings, just so to differentiate between the weekend and weekday mornings of my new work-from-home lifestyle. As I went through the motion of eating my quotidian breakfast of cereal, oats and eggs while browsing the news websites on my laptop, with a little check on the current Olympic medal tally (today, 8 August 2021, is the last day of the Tokyo "2020" Olympics), it suddenly dawned upon me that leisure travel may soon be possible again in this part of the world. Of course, a lot still depend on the "ifs" and "buts" but there is now a small glimmer of hope that folks looking to travel for leisure may be permitted to do so, subject to some minor inconveniences such as swabbing, re-swabbing and more re-swabbing for viral particles that may be hiding somewhere up in the deep recesses of the travellers' nostrils. Meanwhile airports, airlines and othe

What is the most socially responsible way to dine-out in the current situation? How about a table for two within a cable car with only the two diners in the car! I enjoyed this cable car dining experience on New Year's Eve of 2020 to welcome 2021. Yes, it was a little pricey for my budget. But it was a small way to celebrate after a year of travel curbs and social distancing norms.  Cable Car Dining, Mount Faber, Singapore (2020) Cable Car Dining, Mount Faber, Singapore (2020)

  Looking on in envy....... The United States and Europe are slowly opening up for leisure travel while here in Asia, things look almost exactly the same as they were in 2020! While some Asian countries have relatively low Covid-19 infection rates compared to the US and Europe, they are firmly standing their grounds to stay shut. This is reflected in countries like Australia, New Zealand and Japan amongst many others. Australia and New Zealand are now like impregnable fortresses to foreign arrivals. Meanwhile, even though Japan is looking forward to hosting the Olympics next month (July 2021), it is at the same time saying that no foreigners are allowed into the country, wherever you are from. Such "disconnect" in policies is hard to fathom. I am not sure if policy makers are simply being too conservative or too cautious or both. Whatever it is, this continual shutting off from the World is having very damaging effects on their local hospitality and tourism industries. As Asi

Indulging in travel  fantasy....... With international travel still greatly restricted, leisure travel is all but impossible. While the body cannot physically travel, surely nothing can stop the mind wandering, even to faraway places. Yes, travel fantasy is an indulgent one must not discard when one needs to stay at home to wait out the Covid pandemic. Instead of slouching on the couch and rue what could have been if there had been no pandemic, one can take the time to read, explore (within the mind, of course) and plan for the next great personal travel adventure if and when this nasty Covid pandemic is eventually over. Go on, don't be shy. Explore the world with your mind through books and other published materials. Who knows, your next opportunity to travel, explore and enjoy the world could be nearer than you think would be possible. Meanwhile, I am taking national health advice seriously and getting myself vaccinated. My small bit in the national and international fight agains

When international leisure travel is not possible, the next best thing is to go local. To travel locally and enjoy the local sights and sounds that we do not normally indulge ourselves in. As a wrapped up to my rather pathetic travel calendar for 2020, I embarked on a local cable car ride on New Year's eve. This was my own small way to mark the end of 2020 and to celebrate the arrival of 2021.  That this was actually my first time taking a cable car in Singapore was quite surprising to myself. While I had taken countless cable car rides while overseas, I had not actually rode in a cable car in my home city! Well, that was then. I had since clocked my first local cable car ride and was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful night view as the cable car took me from its starting station at Mount Faber to the resort island of Sentosa and back. The drizzling rain made the ride a cosy one and I loved the natural effects of the rain on my photographs.  Where else next? Local attractions, I

Singapore's Gardens by the Bay is famous worldwide as a beautiful garden located right in the city, next to the Central Business District (CBD).  During a staycation in August 2020 at the Marina Bay Sands hotel, I took this photograph of a night view of Gardens by the Bay. This photo was not a drone-taken picture but one that was taken with my iphone 12 Max Pro from the Observation Deck of the Marina Bay Sands hotel just after the sun had set. Night view of Gardens by the Bay, Marina Bay, Singapore (2020)

When will we travel again....... As international border closures and restrictions continue to remain in force due to the ongoing pandemic, the question on the minds of most travellers must be "when will we travel again"? Some may think that the more appropriate question  should be "when will we be allowed to travel again"? Because for them, the question is not the the fear of the virus preventing them from travelling but border closures and restrictions. For me, it is the latter. As a healthy adult with no underlying medical conditions, I am not really afraid of catching the virus. In addition, my usual practices and habits of conforming to rules and regulations such as frequent hand sanitising, wearing of proper face masks when in public places; both indoors and outdoors and observations of social distancing advices meant that I have a lower chance of getting infected though the off-chance. Instead, it is the border closures and restrictions that meant I have to k

Seattle, Washington, United States A bucket list item can be anything that one wishes it to be. That is the beauty of it. It can be as challenging and adventurous as climbing a mountain or as laid-back as a luxurious cruise around the Mediterranean. It can also be as complex as traveling to every continent in the world or as mundane as reading a book under the trees by the sea in a secluded Pacific island. One of my travel bucket list item is to take a non-stop flight from Singapore to the United States. That dream came true in November 2019. Although the trip was a business trip, it nonetheless still fulfilled the criteria for a tick against that bucket list item. My passport and boarding pass, SQ28 from Singapore to Seattle, United States (2019) During the trip, I travelled on Singapore Airlines' SQ28 from Singapore to Seattle, Washington. It was a non-stop flight of about 14-hours. The longest non-stop flight I had ever taken before this trip was abut 12 hours f

Explore your neighbourhood...... Travel in your own backward In a time when travel beyond national borders are difficult to plan and execute, traveling in our own backyard through exploring our immediate neighbourhood seems to be the new norm. At the very least, we get to know our own neighbourhood better, contribute to the local economy and at the same time, still get to "travel". Linkway between different wings of the museum, National Gallery, Singapore (2016) Traveling refreshes our mind and break the boredom of everyday work life. Anything that is not part of our normal and daily routine thus qualify as a new experience to refresh our minds. Go for a stroll in that nearby neighbourhood park. Spend an hour or two during the weekends to hike in the small hills, forest or meadows near your home. And you will be surprised how refreshing that experience can be for both body and mind. Of course, safe distancing and social responsibilities still apply. View

At the time of writing this blog post, travel around the world for leisure is not a viable option. Many countries are in lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic currently sweeping the world. Many national borders are closed to prevent further transmission of the virus and to stop the pandemic from getting more serious. Air travel has mostly grind to a standstill. COVID-19 first surfaced in November 2019. Slowly but then accelerating rapidly, it has now spread to many countries around the world. Current number of infected is around 1.7 million people with more than 106,000 fatalities recorded worldwide. Today is 12 April 2020. Here in my home country, we are advised against unnecessary international travel. Domestically, we are also advised to limit movements outside the home and to practice social distancing to help  contain the spread of COVID-19. Working from home (WFH) is the trending acronym not just in Singapore but around the world now. All these are in the interest of pub

To travel or not to travel....... At the time of writing this blog post, the travel industry is roiled by the ongoing coronavirus, COVID-19, outbreak. This has caused much upheavals in the travel world, including trips and flights cancellations. The question I kept asking myself was, should I still travel at this time? As a matter of fact, the fatality rate of COVID-19, at about 2%, is much lower than the SARS outbreak of 17 years ago in 2003. In most cases, healthy adults who were unfortunate to be infected with COVID-19 typically displayed mild symptoms and recovered without much or any long term effects,. This is based on currently available data. Thus, as a healthy individual without any pre-existing medical conditions, I should be fairly safe even in the event that I caught the infection while traveling. That being said, I could also have easily caught the infection even if I am staying put in my home country. Unless, I barricade myself at home and cut off all contacts wi