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

I visited the city of Kumamoto for the first time in August 2023 as part of a port visit by the cruise ship I was sailing on, Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas. The cruise's itinerary was to take passengers from Yokohama to Singapore, sailing in a south, south-easterly direction, whilst visiting some ports along the way. The original port visits in the southern parts of Japan were Shimizu and Osaka. But these 2 port visits were cancelled due to inclement weather because of a nearby typhoon. It was summer in Japan in August and the typhoon season was in town, literally and figuratively. The cruise company subsequently decided to add Kumamoto as a port visit to the itinerary to compensate for the lost of the the 2 cancelled port visits. Weather conditions are part of the forces of nature and I appreciated the cruise company's decision making discretion to ensure that all passengers had a safe and enjoyable trip. Thus, I was not upset at the lost of 2 port visits. Moreove

"Writing allows me to travel beyond my small world, to other worlds limited only by my imaginations ." -    Timothy Tan, tankstraveltales Islets at dusk, Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan (2023)

  "A good traveller has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving." - Lao Tzu, ancient Chinese Philosopher and Writer, 4th century BC* Views through the front window of a tour coach, Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan (2023) *Lao Tzu was a legendary ancient Chinese philosopher and writer. He was also reputedly the founder of Taoism. There is no firmed confirmation of the period when Lao Tzu lived. Dates ranged between the 4th century to 6th century BC.