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

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

Traveling is always fun, even when strolling in malls. During my most recent trip to Busan in November 2019, I came across this very colourful and beautiful wall painting of characters from Line Friends. I was not exactly looking for something so beautiful and interesting. Rather, I was looking for the washroom after having lunch at a mall when I came across this wall art just beside the washroom. The lively portrayal of the Line Characters simply brightened my already happy day. I just could not resist the urge to snap a couple of photographs to share with friends on my social media account. And here is one of those photographs. Wall art in  mall, Bujeon-dong, Busanjin District, Busan, South Korea (2019)

"Travelling is an adventure in self-discovery "  -  Timothy Tan, author of this blog - tankstraveltales Great Northern Highway, Chittering, Western Australia, Australia (2018)

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. While hiking in the Okuhida region of Takayama, I enjoyed the sights of many beautiful wild flowers and plants. Following a stream which eventually joined with other streams to turn into a river, I spent almost an entire day just admiring, sketching and photographing the flora of the area. Because it was autumn during my hike, the pleasant weather and temperature made the hike a lot more comfortable.  Wild flowers encountered during my hike, Okuhida, Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Japan (2014) And of course, I was never far from civilisation as the small clusters of village houses and scattered plots of small vegetable farms were always within sight. Yet, I was alone to enjoy the beauty of nature. I could hear the waters flowing in the stream, birds sing and insects chirping. Armed with my small sketchboo

Travel Reminiscing....... In a period where worldwide business and leisure travels are heavily curtailed due to a pandemic, the next best thing to satisfying the travel bug in all of us is to reminisce past trips.  Boat waiting to board passengers, Mal é , Maldives (2014) As part of my travel reminiscence, I started a 30-day Travel Reminiscing series of posts on my Instagram account (timothytanks) for the month of May 2020. For this series, I set a self-imposed limit of one post per country/territory/city. This is to allow me to recap and share 30 different destinations over the course of one month. The featured country/territory/city over the 30-days in chronological order were: Post 1.   Helsinki/Finland Post 2.   Nazareth/Israel Post 3.   Jiufen/Taiwan Post 4.   New Norcia/Australia Post 5.   Siem Reap/Cambodia Post 6.   Loch Ness/Scotland Post 7.   Kanchanaburi/Thailand Post 8.   Rome/Italy Post 9.   Kowloon/Hong Kong Post 10. Mah é /Seychelles

Gothenburg will always be remembered by me as the first city in Europe where I stayed. But the distinction for being the first European city I ever visited belongs to Copenhagen. Located in south-western Sweden, Gothenburg is a coastal city with direct maritime access to the North Sea. This photograph of Gothenburg's Harbour was taken on my first visit to the city. It shows the harbour's two famous landmarks; the Barken Viking and the Lilla Bommen. The Barken Viking was and still is the Nordic's largest sailing ship (387 feet). Launched in 1906 as part of Denmark's merchant fleet, the ship was decommissioned in 1950. It is now both a hotel and a restaurant. The distinctive building with the red-coloured top to the right of the photograph is the Lilla Bommen. With its unique red-coloured upper floors, it is more popularly known as "The Lipstick Building". Gothenburg Harbour, Gothenburg, Sweden (2000)