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

Theme parks are not just for kids, especially those with rides as exciting and exhilarating as those at Six Flags Over Texas . Featuring both the tallest and fastest Roller Coaster in Texas, this is one that is certainly not for the faint-hearted. Game to supersize the excitement factor? Head over to Six Flags Over Texas for some adrenaline rush! :-)   The Joker, Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington, Texas, United States (2019)     Another of the many exciting rides at Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington, Texas, United States (2019)  

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...

With its relaxed and friendly feel, the city of Grand Prairie in the US state of Texas typifies the Texan attitude. Being one of the more populous city of Texas also meant that Grand Prairie provides lots of options when it comes to dining out. I particularly loved the ambience at some of the more popular dining places where people mingled,  chatted or simply just enjoyed themselves drinking their favourite beer and and tucking into delicious food. The decors and layout at these dining places are also delightfully Texan, adding to that country-style feel. Whenever I travelled to the Dallas-Fort Worth area, I always made sure to visit Grand Prairie just to dine and drink my favourite beer. One of my favourite dining places in the city of Grand Prairie, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, United States (2019) Lone Star, Grand Prairie, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, United States (2019) Country-ambience, Grand Prairie, Dallas-Fort Worth, Texas, United States (2019) T...

As I was waiting to board my flight from San Francisco to Singapore at the boarding gate, I looked up and gazed in amazement at this wall mural. Upon a closer look, I realised that the mural was made up of both painted and crafted artwork. This was an amazing piece of art and from the looks of it, it probably depicts life during the course of America's rich history. A wonderful way to showcase history and culture. Photo taken using iPhone X Wall mural consisting of both painted and crafted artwork, San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, California, United States (2019)

Working Trips....... Travelling on vacations and travelling for work are two totally different things, at least for me.  When on vacations, my mood was always relaxed and I was always eager for new adventures, to see new things and so on and so forth. Travelling for work is a different ball game altogether. There were always the "mission" tasks to take care of. The constant worries that the upcoming business meetings may not result in the achievement of the set KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and whatnot. I personally do not enjoy work trips compared to my vacation trips. But, a trip is still a trip after all. And when travelling to a new city for the first time, there will always be the new experiences, the new sights, new people to meet and new culture to experience. Thus, I always try to make the most of my business trips. Because I often travel with my clients, it is thus not polite to extend my business trips to enjoy an extra couple of days of persona...

While on transit at Los Angeles International Airport (IATA: LAX, ICAO: KLAX) during my recent trip to the United States, I have had the opportunity to walk around the Tom Bradley International Terminal as I waited for my connecting flight. The Tom Bradley International Terminal (also known as Terminal B) is where most arriving and departing international flights to and from the United States operate from. Terminal B was opened in September 2013 and is structured such that it is easy to locate the boarding gates even for passengers visiting for the first time. While the number of shops here are not as numerous as those found in some international airports in Asia of similar size and scale, the shops-mixed here do offer a wide-enough range and depth of merchandise to satisfy the shopping needs of most passengers. I was particularly impressed by the large LED display panels located throughout the terminal. There were at least 3 that I counted and these large electronic billboard...

Packing Travel Essentials....... What are travel essentials? Well, this typically differs from person to person. It also differs depending on the type of trips one is embarking on.  The travel essentials which I usually pack for my trips are light-weight items that add conveniences during my stays abroad. Whether its for a beach vacation, a short country-side or nature park trek, sight-seeing tours, shopping trips or a self-drive holiday, the list provides me with the bare necessities to enhance my travel experiences. While most of the items in the list can be easily purchased during my travels, it is usually more convenient and economical to pack and bring them along then to buy them on arrival at a new city. For example, they may not be sold in singular or small quantities or you may not be able to find the right size even if you can find the same items in the shops. Here is my top packing list: 1. Plastic Cutleries -  I usually pack a set of pl...

Returning from Orlando to Singapore during my recent trip to the United States, I had two transit stops  These transits were at the Denver International Airport in Colorado (IATA: DEN, ICAO: KDEN) and Narita International Airport in Tokyo (IATA: NRT, ICAO: RJAA). I don't usually have the habit of photographing the same plane that I was about to board for my trip probably because I was always busy walking around the airport taking photos of other planes as well as photos of planes taking off and landing at the runways. Thus this photo will probably count as the first time I did take a photograph of the plane I was about to board. This was also only the third time I had flew or about to fly on a Boeing 787 and my very first time on the 787-9 variant of the Dreamliner. My previous two Dreamliner flights were both on the 787-8 base model on All Nippon Airways (a.k.a. ANA) and United Airlines respectively. United Airlines Boeing 787-9 preparing for departure from Gate B32...

I missed writing and publishing my regular Travel Bits series for the month of May 2016 by exactly one week. But rather than miss it completely, I decided it is better to be late than never. And so, I went about penning and publishing this blog post on a Sunday afternoon to make up for it. :-) The last month had been an extremely busy one for me on the work front. However, just as I had an unexpected trip in April 2016 to Thiruvananthapuram (a.k.a. Trivandrum), I had another unexpected trip in May 2016. This was a last minute and hastily arranged work trip to Orlando in Florida of the United States to attend an industry conference. Dome of the Orlando International Airport (IATA: MCO, ICAO: KMCO) as viewed from within the airport's passengers sitting area near the Duty Free shops, Orlando, Florida, United States (2016) As usual with all my overseas trips regardless of whether these are for work or personal vacations, there are tons and tons of work to clear before, d...