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

Many beautiful tropical islands can be found in Malaysia. One particular island that I usually visit is located in the state of Terengganu in West Malaysia. Pulau Lang Tengah (or Lang Tengah island; Pulau is the Malay word for island) is located geographically about 40km north-east of Kuala Terengganu (the state capital of Terengganu). It is a much lesser known island compared to the nearby and more popular resort island of Pulau Redang. Pulau Lang Tengah is the perfect place for those looking for a quiet and small island paradise without the usual tourist traps. There are only a four small resorts here catering mostly to locals from the Malaysian mainland and these resorts are nowhere near the standards of 4 or 5-stars establishments. Instead, these are small family-run resorts with basic amenities and the local kampung (a.k.a. village) feel. A stay at any of the resorts will include accommodation and meals simply because there are no other shops or restaurants on the island. I...

Note from the Author: This article was originally written in February 2000 based on my first ever visit to Ho Chi Minh City. Since then, rapid developments have taken place in Vietnam as the economy develops. Thus, I am sure what I experienced and saw during my trip may not be what will be experienced and seen by today's traveller to the same place. The photographs that accompanied this article were taken by myself using 35mm films and scanned into digital format simply because digital photography in the year 2000 was not only not popular but also really expensive! - Timothy, Nov 2014 *************** From its origins somewhere in the highlands of Tibet, the river flows to eventually empties itself into the South China Sea. This mighty river, the Mekong, cuts through parts of China, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam to reach its destination. As it enters Vietnam from Cambodia, the Mekong splits into two main channels, Tien Giang and Hau Giang. As it continues on the final...

Note from the Author: I wrote this short article in August 1999 when I last visited Sydney. That the aquarium is still around in 2014 speaks volumes about the popularity of this attraction. Reading this article again after so many years reminded me that I should start considering Australia as one of my travel destinations for 2015. After all, Australia is fairly near to Singapore geographically and Sydney (SYD) is just a mere 7.5-hour flight from Singapore (SIN). - Timothy, Oct 2014 I like wildlife, flora and fauna included. Therefore, in planning what to do and see prior to my trip to Sydney, I had earmarked the Australian Natural History Museum and the Sydney Aquarium as must-visits. Before my visit to the Sydney Aquarium, the only other large aquariums featuring marine life that I had been to were at home in Singapore. The former Van Kleef Aquarium near Fort Canning in Singapore is no longer there. The Underwater World in Sentosa Island was and still is a personal favorite....

In-between my planned trips to the Maldives in August 2014 and Japan in October 2014, I decided to take a short trip to some place nearby; preferably within a 3-hour flight time radius from my native Singapore. As part of its 25th anniversary celebrations, Silkair was offering 50% discounts on award redemption tickets to some selected regional destinations and I jumped on the opportunity to redeem my return air tickets to Lombok using my Krisflyer Miles (Silkair is wholly owned by Singapore Airlines and thus I could use my Krisflyer Miles to redeem award tickets on Silkair flights). Each return ticket only required 7,500 Krisflyer Miles to redeem after the 50% discount. Of course, I still had to pay the usual taxes and surcharges in cash. :-) My flight onboard Silkair MI128 from Singapore's Changi International Airport (IATA: SIN, ICAO: WSSS) to the new airport near the city of Praya; the Bandar Udara Internasional Lombok (IATA: LOP, ICAO: WADL) took about 2 hour 35 minute...