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

When will we travel again....... As international border closures and restrictions continue to remain in force due to the ongoing pandemic, the question on the minds of most travellers must be "when will we travel again"? Some may think that the more appropriate question  should be "when will we be allowed to travel again"? Because for them, the question is not the the fear of the virus preventing them from travelling but border closures and restrictions. For me, it is the latter. As a healthy adult with no underlying medical conditions, I am not really afraid of catching the virus. In addition, my usual practices and habits of conforming to rules and regulations such as frequent hand sanitising, wearing of proper face masks when in public places; both indoors and outdoors and observations of social distancing advices meant that I have a lower chance of getting infected though the off-chance. Instead, it is the border closures and restrictions that meant I have to k...

For me, travelling is a holistic experience. I do not travel to a place just to visit its most famous tourist attractions or world-renowned sites. Of course, I do love visiting those much-talked about attractions and sites. However, I usually prefer to keep a day or two of my trips free of any plans. On these days, I would simply wander around without any fixed plans. Taking in the sights, sounds and experiences that I serendipitously chanced upon. And these were often the moments when I felt that I had truly visited the destinations. Some of my friends said I was wasting precious vacation time and limited trip days doing just nothing. But for me, these moments of wandering around without fixed plans were reflective of the wanderlust in me, the travel bug. A cute poster interspersing a pig's head with the Chinese character for Fu (good fortune) on a noticeboard inside South Horizons Station of the South Island Line, Ap Lei Chau, Hong Kong SAR, China (2019) Despite having visited Ho...

Vendace ( Coregonus albula ) is a small freshwater fish found in lakes in northern Europe. Usually eaten fried, it is a tasty and delicious treat that is also affectionally known as Finnish fast food! One of the rewards of travelling is to enjoy food that we don't normally find at home. And good food will most definitely turn a good trip into a great trip. Visiting Finland in 2017, I got to taste fried Vendace for the first time. And I absolutely love this dish to bits.  My personal recommendation to anyone visiting Finland is to try out this dish for yourself. And for those who do not know, Muikku is the Finnish name of this tasty fish. A delightful seafood platter of fried calamari, salmon and muikku , Helsinki, Finland (2017)

  "White clouds, green leaves, young leaves, for miles and miles. "  - Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902), Haiku Master Lake Ashi viewed from Komagatake Peak of Mount Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan (2018)

Reminiscing my past travel trips and looking back at some of the photographs I took during these trips, I came across this photograph of a polite queue of visitors. The folks seen in this photo were all waiting patiently in line for a photograph of themselves with the Floating Torii Gate of Itsukushima Shrine to commemorate their trip to Miyajima (a.k.a Itsukushima). And why shouldn't they? After all, this is considered one of the three best views of Japan. Partaking in the fun, I joined the queue soon after I took this photograph. And I was rewarded with that memorable picture of myself with the Floating Torii Gate. :-) Queuing for  a photograph with the Floating Torii Gate of Itsukushima Shrine, Itsukushima, Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima  Prefecture, Japan (2019)

Negev Desert, Israel The Negev Desert is located in the southern region of Israel. The largest city in the area is Beersheba (a.k.a. Be'er Sheva ). Generally unpopulated, except for Beersheba, nomadic Bedouins do live here in temporary accommodations whilst moving with their livestock according to the seasons. A Bedouin and his livestock, Negev Desert, Israel (2017) This was my first visit to a real desert. In this trip, my travelling companions and I opted to self-drive. Moving in two separate vehicles, the eight of us explored the desert, marvelling at the natural beauty of the area. Along our drives, we stopped frequently and disembarked from our rented vehicles to marvel at the picturesque sceneries and also for those selfies. The desert, Negev Desert, Israel (2017) The desert, Negev Desert, Israel (2017) The desert, Negev Desert, Israel (2017) The desert, Negev Desert, Israel (2017) The desert, Negev Desert, Israel (2017) Desert road, Negev Desert, Israel (2017) One of our ren...

Travelling........ Through Books Books are our personal windows to the world. This is especially true at a time when leisure travel is next to impractical because of border restrictions and closures due to the current COIVD-19 pandemic. The next best thing to travel, besides watching travel programmes on television, is reading. Yes, reading is something we can enjoy anywhere, anytime. And at this time when we are all cooped up at home or in our home city, there is no better way to beat the boredom than to curl up in our reading chair or sofa with a good book. And for travel bugs like myself, well, books on travel or travel-related stuff. Books fire up our imaginations. And when our imaginations are alive and soaring, we can figuratively travel to anywhere our mind takes us. Grab a book and start "travelling" from home or wherever you are. Read, imagine and soar across any mountain peaks you wish, from the comfort of home. Its all in the mind. :-) Soaring above the skylark; th...