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

Review of my travels in 2016... 2016 has been an extremely busy year for me. It also marks a year when many of my planned trips could not proceed as scheduled due to a hectic work schedule. However, there are also a great many unplanned trips which happened during the year. Trips which I have to cancel in 2016 include visits to Osaka (Japan), Barcelona (Spain), San Francisco (California, United States) and Auckland (New Zealand) as well as my annual personal retreat to Bali (Indonesia). Unforeseen projects that crop up along the way as the year progressed lead to these cancellations which I will eventually undertake at a more appropriate time in the foreseeable future. Trips which were not planned but happened in 2016 include visits to Thiruvananthapuram (India) to attend a friend's wedding and to Orlando (Florida, United States) to attend a software conference with my customers. The visit to Thiruvananthapuram and Orlando were my first ever visits to India and the Unite...

I usually visit Bali at least once a year for vacation. And because the main purpose of my visit is to rest and relax from my usual hectic work schedules, I mostly spent my time within the resort grounds where I stay.  One of my favourite past times whenever I vacation in Bali is to take photographs of wildlife including flowers and insects. During my most recent visit to Bali in March 2016, I brought along my then brand new Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens. Using this lens for the first time, I wander around the lush gardens of the Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Resort looking for subjects to photograph. And there were indeed plenty of photo opportunities as insects throng the gardens busily harvesting nectar from the blooms of the beautiful lotus flowers. This allowed me the luxury of time and space to practice to try out my new macro lens. Here are a few photographs from my close-ups photoshoot during the trip. Blue Lotus, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia (2016) Honey b...

I am sure there are many occasions when we ourselves are not travelling but instead marvelled at the trips of our relatives, friends, colleagues and acquaintances. Social media is an extremely convenient way for us to somehow get involved in such trips by having almost real-time access to the photos and videos of trips not made by ourselves but by others.  Recently, a couple of my friends made a trip to the icy continent of Antarctica. As my limited financial means would not permit me to make such a trip; at least in the foreseeable future, I have to content myself with the simple joys of enjoying the photos and videos of my friends' trip. I shared the exhilarations that my friends experienced as they encountered penguins and whales whilst sailing in a luxurious cruise ship from Argentina to Antarctica, specifically navigating around the areas near Hope Bay. Iceberg, Hope Bay, Antarctica (2016) Iceberg, Hope Bay, Antarctica (2016) History and Geography From...

Ever wonder what life in Singapore was like in the 1960s? Time travel is possible when you visit Pulau Ubin! History and Geography Located in the North-East of Singapore, Pulau Ubin is a one of the larger islands in Singapore. Also known as Ubin Island, this small 10.2 square kilometres island is among the last, if not the last, remaining areas in Singapore today that is truly rural. This is a place that time seems to have forgotten. While the rest of Singapore underwent rapid industrialisation and development in the past several decades since achieving the status of an independent nation, Pulau Ubin remains very much like what life was in Singapore in the 1960s. Pulau Ubin, Singapore (2016) The word "Pulau" means island in the Malay language and "Ubin" means granite. Thus, literally translated, Pulau Ubin means Granite Island. The abandoned and disused granite quarries on the island are testaments to the island's past when it was a place wher...

The city of Lucerne is located in central Switzerland and is the capital of the Canton of Lucerne. The people in Lucerne speaks mostly German since it is located in the German speaking part of Switzerland. History and Geography Sometime in the year AD 1290, Lucerne became self-sufficient as a functioning city with a sustainable population size. Together with three other neighbouring cantons, Lucerne formed the Swiss Confederacy in the year AD 1332. When other areas including Zurich and Berne also became members of this alliance, Austrian rule over the area came to its conclusion. Much of the Lucerne of today consist of forested areas as well as land used for agriculture. Mountains and rivers are relatively common in Lucerne and the city itself is situated at the shores of Lake Lucerne and its associated River Reuss. The wooden Chapel Bridge is probably one of the most famous and most photographed landmarks in Lucerne. This famous bridge straddles the River Reuss and dates ...