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

    Alight from the train am I, Into a land of bygones past, Walk the streets alone am I, Into eras of glories past. Marvels fill my brain, Flights of fantasies within, Thoughts flow like trains, Imaginations like fountains spring.  This, my journey begins, Air of excitement reigns, That, my adventure ends, A road well worth the time. - Journeys , an original poem by Timothy Tan, tankstraveltales On my second trip to Angkor Wat, Krong Siem Reap, Cambodia (2022)

  " Travel is a state of mind , I travel far and wide, both in person and in mind. " - Timothy Tan, tankstraveltales An anime-rendition from an actual photo of myself taken at a small cafe called Island Cafe Myu (アイランドカフェ ミュウ), Kamitsushimamachi Hitakatsu, Tsushima, Nagasaki Prefecture, Japan (2019)

A recent trend on social media is to have one's selfies being digitally transformed into anime renditions of oneself. For those who are not familiar with the term anime, it is basically animations of hand or digitally drawn stylised characters that originated from Japan. Because I am currently unable to travel due to heavy work commitments, I decided to "travel" digitally into the world of anime using selfies of myself taken during my travels.  Travel is after all not just physical journeys but also journeys of the creative mind! Here are some of my photos, transformed into anime character(s) of myself. Digitally generated characters of what I would possibly look like if I live in an anime world! 😂 The original photo from which this digitally generated picture of Anime Timothy was taken in Busan, South Korea (2019)  A semi-accurate rendition of myself in anime-style. The original photograph was that of myself taken in the balcony of a cruise ship somewhere along the Stra

Wrapping up my personal Travel Calendar for 2022......  As I wrote this blog post, I had just returned fresh from a long-postponed trip to Bali. I had booked and paid for my accommodation back in September 2019 for the trip that was originally planned for April 2020. But for reasons that were beyond anyone's control, I had to repeatedly reschedule the trip until this month when I could finally enjoy my beach vacation at my favourite beach destination! This Bali trip marked my fifth overseas leisure trip of 2022. I have another trip coming up in the last week of October. This is a cruise from Singapore to Klang and Penang (Malaysia) and also Phuket (Thailand). I had booked the cruise back in January when prices were still low because of continuing travel restrictions. It will be my last vacation trip of the year and I am looking forward to enjoy the upcoming cruise. I am likely to be spending most of my cruise time onboard the ship, only intending to disembark at Penang. I had just

Japan, Gifu Prefecture, Okuhida The original article was first published in this blog in June 2020.  I am a firm believer that trekking, hiking or going about on foot are among the best ways to explore and experience a destination. Taking time out to explore a place on foot allows me to see more, feel more and enjoy more of a place than any other travel alternatives such as sight-seeing from a tour bus, car, tram, train or any other modes of transportation. Thus, whenever possible, I will always go on foot to explore a place that I am visiting. This article featured a personal bucket list travel item when I went hiking on trails around Okuhida during a stay at a wonderful local ryokan (traditional family-run Japanese inn) during a trip to Takayama.  ****************** Hiking on foot when we travel has many advantages. We get to see and experience stuff that would otherwise bypass us if we are in a vehicle or some other form of transport. Hiking trail, Okuhida, Takayama, Gifu Prefecture

Clocking my fourth trip of 2022, I visited Kuala Lumpur from 5th to 9th August. This trip was originally scheduled for March 2022 but I had to postpone it back then due to a myriad of reasons.  This trip marked the first time I travelled from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur by flight. I had travelled by bus between these two cities during all my previous visits and I am likely to continue the bus journeys for future trips to Kuala Lumpur. Air tickets are no longer cheap! 😂 During the trip, I met up with relatives and we spent time together, having meals and enjoying some local sightseeing and shopping. The five days that I spent in Kuala Lumpur passed by pretty fast; probably because I was enjoying the trip. While going around town for sightseeing and shopping, I noticed that the crowds were similar to those I saw in my previous visits prior to 2020. It felt good to see people out and about again, resuming their normal life.  My next trip destination is Bali in October of this year. While I

    "Looking for the next travel spot, For my next travel selfie. " -  Timothy Tan, author of this blog - tankstraveltales Selfie of myself onboard the cruise ship, Spectrum of the Seas, Straits of Malacca (2022)

After the boredom of 2020 and 2021 that is synonymous with stay-at-home, work-from-home and what have you, 2022 has seen leisure travel resuming; a little at  first and then gradually creeping back more and more as pandemic-related border restrictions were lifted.  Personally, I have joined in the worldwide phenomenon in releasing the pent-up demand for leisure travel even though I am currently only travelling regionally. Why so? Cost is the main driver in my choice of travel destinations. I do not have a large travel budget. Thus, I decided that several short regional trips beats one single distant trip. The resumption of leisure travel and the demand that comes with it seems to have caught many airport authorities and airlines by surprise. We have all read about the long queues at airports, the missed connections, flight cancellations and lost baggages hobbling travellers. However, such travel chaos are affecting different regions of the world differently. In my part of the world, So

Sense of normality......  And so the first week of July saw me complete my third leisure trip of the year. Now, three short leisure trips in a year, undertaken within the same region where I live, is really nothing to shout about. But considering the myriad travel restrictions imposed in the past two plus years because of a global pandemic, three trips within three months certainly do count for something. Yes, the optimist in me will now dare to softly whisper that for leisure travel, we are slowly returning to a sense of normality. A photo to capture the memory of my first visit to the city, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia (2022) While there are still additional paperwork and administrative matters required before one can travel, these requirements have gradually been watered down by many national and regional authorities, such that they are now at acceptable levels, at least to me. Some inconveniences, but tolerable. I am glad to say that after my three short trips, I had now clocked tw

    "Always make your next travel spot, Your best travel spot. " -  Anonymous Lazarus Island (Pulau Sakijang Pelepah), Singapore (2022)

After more than two and a half years, I finally went on my first overseas trip when I drove to Malaysia's Cameron Highlands as part of my road trip from Singapore to Malaysia in May 2022. Here in Cameron Highlands, nestled next to a golf course, is the Smokehouse Hotel and Restaurant. I have never stay in their hotel before but I love the ambience of their old-english style gardens which surround the hotel and restaurant. Smokehouse Hotel and Restaurant, Tanah Rata, Cameron Highlands, Pahang, Malaysia (2018) In my previous visits, I usually had tea in the restaurant to while away a lazy afternoon in the cool temperatures of the place, thanks to its high elevation at about 1,400 metres above sea level. Here, they serve great tea, most probably sourced locally from the many tea plantations in and around the area. Besides tea, I also love the delicious scones, old-english style, of course!  During my visit in May 2022, I visited the restaurant as usual for the tea and scones and also

I finally got to enjoy my first ever cruise experience. A short 4-days, 3-nights cruise from Singapore's Marina Cruise Centre to Penang's Georgetown in Malaysia onboard Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas. Deck 15 of Spectrum of the Seas, Royal Caribbean Cruise, Straits of Malacca (2022) Maybe it was my first time on a cruise and also my first time onboard Spectrum of the Seas but everything was new and exciting to me. I watched two performances on the first night of my cruise; "Showgirls" and "The Silk Road". For me, the performances were good and I enjoyed both shows. Over the next three nights, I also managed to catch two movie screenings on Deck 15 of the ship, where the pools were located. These movies were "Gorilla vs Kong" and "Cruella". Watching the movies in an open-air area reminded me of the times when I was a kid and had watched movies in those open-air drive-in cinemas which were no longer available in modern Singapore

After more than two and a half years, I finally resumed leisure travel again in May 2022. My first time travelling overseas for leisure in almost 30 months seemed like a dream came true. While I did not travel far, only taking a road trip from Singapore to neighbouring Malaysia, it was still a joy to finally be able to travel again. While there are a number of "new" procedures that I had to follow as part of the so-called new normal post-pandemic, I was glad that I still managed to successfully followed all these procedures and proceeded with my recent travels without any hiccups. Yes, new procedures meant extra cost and also more pre-travel administrative tasks unlike pre-pandemic leisure travel. But I was nevertheless thankful that leisure travel has now been made possible in many countries and regions of the world. As I look forward to a few more overseas leisure trips this year, I hope that most of my readers have also began to travel again, or at least start to make plan