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

Langkawi is administratively part of the Malaysian state of Kedah. Unknown to many visitors, Langkawi is actually an archipelago of 104 islands and is located north-west of Peninsular Malaysia (a.k.a West Malaysia) in the Andaman Sea, in a location that is approximately south-west of southern Thailand.  Because of its proximity to Thailand, the local cuisine in Langkawi has strong influence from Thai cuisine and Thai ways of cooking. Tom Yam Soup, a popular Thai dish, is widely available in Langkawi. I last visited Langkawi many years ago in 2002. During that short trip, I decided to include a visit to the mangrove areas of the main island (a.k.a. Pulau Langkawi or Langkawi Island) as part of my trip itinerary.  The photos below documented my trip to the mangrove areas. Upstream of the Mangrove Forest, Pulau Langkawi, Kedah, Malaysia (2002) A Brahminy Kite a.k.a. Red-backed Sea Eagle ( Haliastur indus ) fishing for food, Pulau Langkawi, ...

The city of Takayama is also known as Hida-Takayama and is located in the mountainous Hida region of Gifu Prefecture in Japan. A popular dish in Takayama is Wasakana or river fish. There are many species of river fishes in Takayama but the ones that are regularly served as part of the local cuisines are Ayu ( Plecoglossus altivelis , ) a.k.a sweetfish and Iwana ( Salvelinus leucomaenis ), a species of river trout.  Wasakana (River Fish). This fish was pickled and then grilled. I am not sure of the species of this fish which was caught in the river behind the Ryokan where I resided during my stay in the mountains. Takayama, Gifu, Japan (2014) The fishes are usually marinated with sea salt and grilled. This method of cooking the river fishes is most popularly shown in pictures or on travel documentaries. During my visit to Takayama in October 2014, I finally got to savor the delicious tastes of the Wasakana prepared in authentic local styles by the locals....

Prior to the year 2000, I have never visited Europe before, much less Germany. But from the start of the millennium, I have visited Europe many times both on working trips as well as personal holidays. Being a major air hub in Europe, I naturally get to travel to Frankfurt on numerous occasions during my frequent trips to the continent.  Frankfurt (officially known as Frankfurt am Main) is part of the German state of Hessen. This city is a centre of commerce, culture, tourism and traffic. Besides being home to one of the world's busiest airport in the world, Frankfurt is also home to the European Central Bank, the Deutsche Bundesbank and the Frankfurt Stock Exchange.  The Bear and the Bull, Frankfurt Stock Exchange, Frankfurt, Hesse, Germany (2004) Personally, I have always been fascinated with how Frankfurt city planners managed to ensure that the city's unique timber framed buildings (in the "old town" district a.k.a Altstadt) are preserved alongs...

Singapore is an urbanized city. This highly populated city state is a jungle of concrete and steel tightly packed into a land area that is just 718 square km (about 277 square miles). However, Singapore has an extremely efficient civil service corp which includes an amazing group of city planners. These people have ensured that Singaporeans, residents and visitors alike, are not deprived of the benefits and enjoyment of the natural environments. Within the limitations of the natural land areas, Singapore's city planners have somehow managed to ensure that pockets of wilderness are efficiently managed and interspersed within the various towns and business districts. One of these towns is Pasir Ris which is located in the eastern part of Singapore. And just at the doorsteps of this town, is the Pasir Ris Park. Occupying about 70 hectares of land area, Pasir Ris Park is a coastal park which includes a beach and a natural mangrove forest. Kingfishers and Fish Owls made thi...

My trip to the Maldives in August 2014 was planned to be conducted on a limited budget of USD$1000. This budget limitation meant that those flashy resorts located on palm trees fringed white sand beaches we usually see on holiday brochures were out of my reach. Instead, my friends and I opted to stay at a local guest house located in one of the locally inhabited islands. And this beautiful island that I was to spend 6 days holidaying is Mahibadhoo. Stretch of white sandy beach on a sunny August day in Mahibadhoo, Maldives (2014) We flew from Singapore to Male via Tigerair. Traveling on a budget airline meant that our return air tickets cost only around SGD$300 (about USD$220) per person as the tickets were bought during a promotion. Mahibadhoo is the capital (island) of Alif Dhaal Atoll. It is located south-west of the Maldivian capital of Male and it takes about an hour and twenty minutes by speedboat to reach Mahibadhoo from Male. Mahibadhoo has ...