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

Sustainable Travel....... Climate change is the catchphrase of our time. To ensure that I play my own small part towards more sustainable and environmentally-friendly trips, these are the little rules that I follow while travelling: Do away with disposables - I pack my own small set of re-useable cutlery in my check-in luggage and use them during my travels. This allows me to totally eliminate the need to use any disposable cutlery for my meals during my trips. As much as I can, I will also avoid dining at eateries where food are served using disposable bowls, plates and cups. Cut-down on single use plastic bags - Bringing along my backpack when out sightseeing, small purchases on-the-go can be placed right into my backpack, drastically cutting down on the need for single use plastic bags. Re-useable Water Bottles - Boiling water at the hotel room and filling up my water bottle with the boiled water after it has cooled down to room temperature. This way, I avoid the

As I sat in the hotel lobby waiting for the transport to the airport, I looked up and saw this beautiful painting on the ceiling. I am not sure what is the technical term for such paintings, if there is indeed such a term. But I personally called it ceiling art. As I studied the painting in more detail, I reckoned it must be telling a story, albeit one steeped in Balinese history and culture. To "preserve and commit" this art piece to my memory as well as to keep a digital memento of my trip, I took out my mobile phone and snapped this one photograph before I had to rush off to the waiting taxi for my ride to the airport. Ceiling art at a hotel lobby, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia (2018) This is how the art piece looked from the front of the hotel lobby, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia (2018)

Japan, Hiroshima Prefecture, Hatsukaichi, Itsukushima - UNESCO World Heritage Site Considered one of the 3 best views of Japan, the Floating Torii Gate is part of the Itsukushima Shrine on the island of Itsukushima. The island is also popularly known as Miyajima. As shown in the photograph below, the so-called Floating Torii Gate don't actually float. It is just that when the tide comes in, the partially submerged structure appears to float on the sea because its base is no longer visible to the eye. The Floating Torii Gate at low tide,  Itsukushima,  Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan (2019) Itsukushima Shrine,  Itsukushima,  Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan (2019) The Torii Gate as seen from the  Itsukushima Shrine,  Itsukushima,  Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan (2019) Besides the world famous and tourist-favourite Itsukushima Shrine and its Torii Gate, the island has lots of other renown attractions including magical Mount Mise

"Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore "  - Andre Paul Guillaume Gide Sandbank at low tide, Mahibadhoo, Maldives (2014)

Just next to the popular and crowded Patong Beach in Phuket, are many small shops selling local food, touristy souvenirs, t-shirts and many other items. There are also shops selling art pieces. Being a person who is not artistically inclined, I have always admired those talented individuals who are good with art, whether it is in the areas of drawing or painting pictures, or crafting sculptures. Thankfully, I do enjoy art pieces. And on occasions when I encountered some nice works, I do buy them to support the artists, as long as the prices are within my budget.  While strolling and window shopping along the rows of shops next to Patong Beach on an extremely warm and humid afternoon, I came across a small art shop selling unique art pieces. The displays were captured by my mobile phone camera. The photograph was a nice memento for my after-lunch walk. Shop display, Phuket, Thailand (2017)

Working Trips....... Travelling on vacations and travelling for work are two totally different things, at least for me.  When on vacations, my mood was always relaxed and I was always eager for new adventures, to see new things and so on and so forth. Travelling for work is a different ball game altogether. There were always the "mission" tasks to take care of. The constant worries that the upcoming business meetings may not result in the achievement of the set KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) and whatnot. I personally do not enjoy work trips compared to my vacation trips. But, a trip is still a trip after all. And when travelling to a new city for the first time, there will always be the new experiences, the new sights, new people to meet and new culture to experience. Thus, I always try to make the most of my business trips. Because I often travel with my clients, it is thus not polite to extend my business trips to enjoy an extra couple of days of persona

On a rain-soaked morning, I arrived at the monastery town of New Norcia after slightly more than  3 hours of driving from Perth's city centre. Along the way, I had stopped briefly for breakfast near Joondalup before continuing on my road trip. Besides the many historical heritage of this small town, I came across a small olive orchard with trees neatly pruned and meticulously maintained along a straight line. This was actually the first time I had seen an olive tree in person, much less an orchard of them! Walking along the orchard alone and soaking in the peaceful and tranquil environment, I of course took lots of photographs to record my trip. Here I was, getting all excited over olive trees! But of course, the simple things in life can be awesome too. This is something that I have learnt and re-learnt many times during my travels.  Olive trees in a row, New Norcia, Western Australia, Australia (2018) Olives on the branches of the tree, New Norcia, Western Au