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

Together with yodeling, the alphorn is an icon that characterizes Swiss music and culture. When I was touring Switzerland in June of 2009, I experienced first hand the musical notes of this amazing musical instrument. Here is a picture I took during that visit. Alphorn, Lucerne, Switzerland (2009)

Engelberg is located in the canton of Obwalden in Switzerland. This resort town is the "gateway" to the  popular tourist destination of Mount Titlis. When I visited Mount Titlis while touring Switzerland in June 2009, I was so awestruck by the picturesque look of the village of Engelberg that I simply stood in amazement and childlike wonder at the scenery before me. I felt transported to a time when I was a kid and when I still believed in fairytales. If fairytales are for real, then Engelberg must surely be one of those locations where fairy godmothers, trolls, wizards, elves and the like still exist! Engelberg, Switzerland (2009)

To me, one of the most interesting photo opportunities when traveling is to be able to take photos of the local culture and people. This can be tricky because certain cultural and local sensitivities may mean that folks do get offended when they noticed their pictures being taken unsolicited. I usually solved this by first chatting up my potential subject and when he/she gets comfortable with me, I will ask politely if I can take pictures of them going about their daily lives. The answer is most often than not, a "yes".  Chatting with people has that priceless reward of making new friends, learning about new cultures and having a chance to share with those we met on our travels, something about ourselves. A great part of traveling is the experience itself. So go forth and make friends with the locals when you travel. You will be surprised to find out how rewarding that can be! Here is a photo of a pizza man whom I met in Toulouse, France while I was there to attend a...

Horsburgh Lighthouse (or Horsburgh) is located on an outlying small island (a.k.a Pedra Branca meaning "White Rock" in Portuguese) near the entrance to the east of the Straits of Singapore. The lighthouse was named after Cpt James Horsburgh, who was a hydrographer with the then East India Company. Horsburgh is located about 54km (34 miles) east of Singapore. It was raining in the morning as we set off for the long anticipated trip which was planned as far back as 3 months ago in August 1998. There were four of us; YK, Kenneth, CC and myself.  
 Soon, we were on our way to the suppossedly rich fishing grounds near Horsburgh Lighthouse. This locale is considered a good fishing ground for recreational fishing because commercial trawling is supposedly not permitted.  
 We reached our first fishing spot at exactly 5.00 pm local time. Looking around, we couldn't see actually any lighthouse but who cares, it was the fishing that we were coming for, not a visit to so...

Mapur Island is administratively considered part of the Bintan group of islands which are in turn part of the Indonesian province of Riau. Mapur is located in the South China Sea just east of the main island of Bintan. This trip in late July/early August of 1999 was my first fishing trip to Indonesia. A 45-minute ride onboard a fast Catamaran ferry brought us from Singapore's Tanah Merah Ferry Terminal to Bintan. From here, we transferred to a speedboat before boarding the fishing boat, a fine 50-ft fibre-glass sports fisher.  On the way out to sea, we encountered extremely strong waves and had to "take cover" near a small island. At around 6.00pm local time, we moved out again and soon reached the designated fishing grounds for this trip. Strong waves continued to hit the boat causing everybody to slip time and again as the boat pitch and roll to the wishes of the sea. We had to grab hold of rails as we move around the boat. Falling into the sea in such cond...

Shenzhen is a major industrial and commercial city in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. The city is located in the so-called Pearl River Delta with Hong Kong just south of Shenzhen. This close proximity to Hong Kong has no doubt contributed to Shenzhen's economic success with both the Chinese territories having a symbiotic and integral economic relationship. I last visited Shenzhen in February 2012 when I was there to attend an Information Technology (IT) Seminar. As my trip was only for 3 days, I didn't have the time to really move around the city to take in the sights and sounds of this vibrant city. Inside one of the modern shopping malls of Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China (2012) Shop display, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, Guangdong Province, China (2012) Despite the limited time I had during this visit, I still managed to do a little bit of walking, shopping, and eating. I was amazed by the modernity of this city. The orderly way the cit...

For those who travel, I'm sure you will agree that on many unexpected occasions, interesting photo opportunities do crop up. It is precisely for these unplanned occasions that having a camera on-hand and ready, really pays off. With the advent of smart phones, having a camera on-hand and ready at all times has become more of a norm rather than the exception. While I was visiting Tokyo in October 2014 and window shopping around the Ginza district, I chanced upon this interesting statue of Cupid. With a snap on the camera button of my iPhone, I immortalized that moment of the "Peeping Cupid". And here it is, just for sharing. :-)  Peeping Cupid, Ginza, Tokyo, Japan (2014)