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

Over the past 10 years or so, quaint and lovely Ipoh has become more like a second hometown to me. I loved everything about Ipoh, from the unhurried pace of the life here to the delicious food that only people of Ipoh can somehow whip up with the simplest of ingredients. Common yet unique. Myself posing with the wall mural of a Tiger, Old Town, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia (2023) This abandoned shophouse being reclaimed by nature shows the rustic charms of Ipoh, Old Town, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia (2023) And in the last decade or so, many cafes had sprung up here. Most of these are of the local, owner-operated type rather than the international franchise varieties. These are all usually located in the Old Town area of Ipoh where weekends saw tourists, both domestic and international, arriving in their hundreds to enjoy Ipoh as a destination of choice. Cafe chilling sessions aplenty by myself and also with friends, Old Town, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia (2023) A delicious serving of pancakes, Old Town, I...

Singapore, Sentosa, S.E.A. Life Sometimes, we travel far and wide in search of new experiences and new sights. But, right in our backyard, literally, are new experiences and sights that we had totally overlooked. Before I get mistaken, I am a huge proponent of international travel. I am a firm believer of the benefits of travel to far and distant lands. But, I am also an advocate in discovering experiences and sights unknown to ourselves in our own country, city, town and so on. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic when international travel was more or less near impossible, I took to visiting local sites that I had never been to before. Visiting the S.E.A. Aquarium at Singapore's Sentosa resort island was one such experience. The visit left me both amazed and bewildered at the amount of sea life on display. What impressed me most were the efforts of the Aquarium to (as close as possible) present the animals in their natural environments and their efforts at encouraging conservati...

With world travel, both business and leisure, now firmly back on track in most parts of the world and the need for cumbersome documentations and proof of medical vaccinations on the back burner, many around the world have rediscovered the magic of travel again. For businesses, nothing beats an in person meeting as opposed to speaking through the camera and microphone of a laptop computer. For leisure travellers, nothing beats seeing another city and its landmarks in person than through photographs, whether these are printed or digital. Personally, I had been on six trips in 2022 compared to just a single trip in 2020 (pre-COVID) and zero in 2021. This year, I had already been on two short trips and have a long month-long pan-Asian trip  confirmed for August. My travel year for 2023 will be rounded up by a year-end retreat at a beach and mountain location. Physical trips aside, I had also recently purchased some writing instruments with travel themes serving as inspirations to their...

    "Travelling allows us to escape from our daily lives and gives us a new perspective of who we are ." -    Timothy Tan, tankstraveltales Boats at the beach, Senggigi, Lombok, Indonesia (2014)

Spontaneous vacation......  Due to my fast expiring air miles which had already been repeatedly extended out of goodwill by the airline company because of the COVID pandemic from 2020 to 2022, I realised I have to quickly book a trip by this month or I will lose those previous air miles. I don't actually have to travel within the month but need to get the booking confirmed. And because I am no big spender or frequent flyer, I only have enough air miles for a regional return-flight ticket. Best option? Bali, of course! I have two travel windows available for the trip. December 2023 or April 2024. Debating with myself, I argued that traveling in December will be expensive due to the year-end peak travel season and local school holidays. So, I checked out several hotel websites on accommodation prices for both December 2023 and April 2024. To my surprise, the accommodation prices are similar for both periods and still reasonable, at least in my economic context. Just for the record, I...

UK, Scotland, Inverness, Mythical Glencoe This article was originally published in this blog in October 2017. This relatively short article was a reminisce of my first and only trip to Glencoe in 2011. ****************** The A82 is a major road that runs between the cities of Glasgow and Inverness in Scotland, UK. Famous landmarks that are located within close proximity to the A82 include Loch Lomond, Glencoe (a.k.a. Glen Coe) and Loch Ness.  Considered one of the most beautiful places in Scotland, Glencoe is surrounded by mountains in the east from the A82. The village of Glencoe is located at the foot of the valley. In Scotland, Glen usually refers to a long and deep valley with a watercourse running through it. Glencoe is named after the River Coe which runs through it. Scottish Highlands, Glencoe, Scotland, UK (2011) Passing by Glencoe on the A82 while travelling to Loch Ness from Glasgow, I listened attentively as my friendly Scottish guide shared the history of this...

Fresh from a trip and looking forward to another......  I had just returned home recently from a short 4-days trip to Hong Kong. Looking at my travel calendar, I have no other trips for the year except for an almost month-long trip to multiple cities in Asia in August. So, while I settle myself down at home to get use to my daily work-routine, I have nothing to look forward to in terms of travel. Except for August, no other travels are in store for me in 2023, no other leisure and no work trips. Perhaps that's good. It will make me appreciate and enjoy my upcoming month-long Asian cities grand-trip a lot more. More time for planning and anticipation. 1/200 scale Airbus A380 model planes on display, Narita Airport, Narita, Chiba Prefecture, Japan (2019)