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

London, England, United Kingdom I have always been fascinated with dinosaurs since I was a kid. Growing up, I would read lots of books and magazines about dinosaurs. I still do. :-) At public libraries or bookstores, any books or magazines about dinosaurs or with a dinosaur picture on its cover will made me stoped right in my tracks for a second look. Thus, when I fist visited London's Natural History Museum in 2011, I was thrilled. I spent an entire day at the museum, mostly at the dinosaur-section. From then on, every visit to London would not be complete for me without a trip to the Natural History Museum. Dinosaur exhibit, Natural History Museum, London, England, UK (2017) On each visit, I would spend the most time at the dinosaur exhibits. Over the years however, I have learned to appreciate and thus spent more time on the other exhibits such as the Earth Treasury (featuring minerals, gemstones and rocks), Volcanoes & Earthquakes (learning about the changing face of the pl

  Where would you travel to, if you can travel back in time....... The end of November 2020 is almost here. This heralds the arrival of December, the last month of the calendar year. 2020 is best remembered as the year of a worldwide pandemic. For travel bugs like myself, the pandemic resulted in a whole travel-less year. Yes, no travel anywhere for a whole year and well into the foreseeable months ahead. News of the promising results of several vaccines under advance-staged trials provided glimpses of hope not just for travel but more importantly, for the health of the global population and economy. But it is still early days in terms of vaccine development, production and distribution. Without any travel for the year, there is definitely no trips to reflect upon during this year-end. Instead, I can only rely on my imaginations to reflect upon what could have been. So, I asked myself an age-old question. If I can travel back in time, where would I want to travel to? I would love to tr

    "A journey of a thousand li starts beneath one's feet ."  Contemporary translation: "A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step" - Lao Tzu, ancient Chinese Philosopher and Writer, 4th century BC* Traditional-style house, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China (2015) *Lao Tzu was a legendary ancient Chinese philosopher and writer. He was also reputedly the founder of Taoism. There is no firmed confirmation of the period when Lao Tzu lived. Dates ranged between the 4th century to 6th century BC.

Seeing wildlife where they are supposed to live free, in the wild, is always an amazing experience. This is especially true when witnessing wildlife flourishing in their undisturbed natural habitats. While on a cruise to Hope Bay, a friend of mine sent me these photographs of Orcas which he photographed from the deck of the cruise ship. It was an exhilarating experience seeing Orcas in the wild, he exclaimed. I have no doubt of the excitement and happiness of the folks onboard the cruise as they came face to face, almost, with this pod of wild Orcas. In our everyday life, we must always tell ourselves to be kind to animals, whether domesticated or wild. And to be conscious of our consumer behaviours to ensure that all animals are as minimally impacted as possible by our actions. :-) Orcas in the wild, Hope Bay, Antarctica (2016) Pod of wild Orcas, Hope Bay, Antarctica (2016)

London, England, United Kingdom The West End is located north of the River Thames and as its name suggests, west of the city of London. Most of London's major tourist attractions and entertainment venues are found here. Watching musicals at the West End can fairly be said to be one of the most common entertainment experiences sought by tourists visiting London. And I was no different. However, I only managed to find the time to watch my first musical at the West End after numerous visits to London; although this was not the first musical I had watched, having attended performances of musicals back in my home city as well as in other cities around the world. But my first time watching a musical in the famous West End was only during my 8th visit to London and that musical was The Lion King . On subsequent visits to London, I caught performances of Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables amongst others. Posters featuring the Les Miserables musical at a West End theatre, London, Eng

Singapore's Gardens by the Bay is famous worldwide as a beautiful garden located right in the city, next to the Central Business District (CBD).  During a staycation in August 2020 at the Marina Bay Sands hotel, I took this photograph of a night view of Gardens by the Bay. This photo was not a drone-taken picture but one that was taken with my iphone 12 Max Pro from the Observation Deck of the Marina Bay Sands hotel just after the sun had set. Night view of Gardens by the Bay, Marina Bay, Singapore (2020)

Next Travel Destinations....... when leisure travel resumes... After months of not being able to travel due to the current pandemic, I must admit I missed travelling and am looking forward to my next trips when leisure travel is able to resume. My last vacation before the closures and restriction of international borders was when I travelled to Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) in end-Jan 2020. While my last flight before the pandemic swept the world was in November 2019 when I travelled to Seattle (United States) on a business trip. As and when international borders closures and restrictions are lifted, the destinations for my first leisure trips will be Tokyo and Taipei. I missed the food and the shopping in both of these cities. Neon-lit giant billboards in Akihabara, Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo, Japan (2017) In Tokyo, I love dining on donburi (rice bowl dish); unadon (rice bowl topped with fillets of charcoal-grilled eel glazed with special sauce) and kaisendon (seafood rice bowl with slices of s