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

Travel is getting expensive......  While working on my travel plans for 2024, I realised that travel is becoming really expensive. While I expect the usual price increases due to inflation, but the astronomical increase in ticket and accommodation prices far out-strip the percentage rises in inflation, at least based on my searches when checking out airline tickets and hotel accommodations. How this is so, I have no explanations. Add the fact that I am not traveling in luxury classes or staying in 5-star accommodations, the exponential increase in prices year-on-year is even more baffling. Admittedly, I am not backpacking or the like but still, middle-class travel is getting a bit out-of-reach and out-of-hand, pun intended. Thus, while I will still travel, I am cutting back on the number of trips and also on my discretionary expenses when traveling. No more souvenir hunting, no more buying something nice but my travels henceforth will focus merely on taking in the sights and e...

Ah..... the things that tourists do on their vacations. While beach combing ay Jimbaran Bay during low tide, I noticed many tourists casually riding ponies along the beach at dusk. Guided by their sure-handed handlers, the ponies casually trotted along the beach, each with only one tourist allowed on their backs, unless it was an adult accompanying a toddler. Unlike in many places, I also noticed the ponies here were relatively well-fed and were only carrying one passenger on their backs each time. Also, at dusk, the sun is not strong, thus ensuring the ponies were not subjected to heat stress. I concluded that this was a triple-wins. The ponies got to earn their keep, their handlers had a job and the tourists paid for and enjoyed their short rides along the beach.  Tourist, Pony and Handler, Jimbaran Bay, Bali, Indonesia (2023)

After a whole day of walking, sightseeing, eating and shopping, my favourite way to wrap up a hectic vacation day is to relax with a warm cup of beverage.  In Busan, head to the Jeonpo Cafe Street. Packed with hip cafes offering a myriad of themes and different ways to enjoy one's favourite cup of coffee, this is a haven for coffee lovers like myself. Cafes at the famous Busan Cafe Street a.k.a. Jeonpo Cafe Street, Dongcheon-ro, Busanjin-gu, Busan, South Korea (2019) Getting There Jeonpo Cafe Street is easily accessible.  It is located just minutes walk from the Seomyeon Metro Station. Tips Walk around, soak in the cafe culture and atmosphere, choose a cafe that appeals to you most, head in, order you favourite roasts, grab a seat, relax and enjoy your cuppa. What if there are more than one cafes that catches you fancy? Easy solution. Patronise them all! A warm cup of my favourite roasts made my vacation day a much more enjoyable one, Jeonpo Cafe Street, Dongcheon-ro, Busanjin...

South-East Asia, Malacca Strait This article was originally published in this blog in July 2022 as one of my Trip Recollections articles. The article reminisced my first ever cruise trip and also my first ever visit to Penang's Georgetown as part of the cruise ship's port call. Even though this was a relatively short 3-nights regional cruise, I really enjoyed the trip. While I had since went on longer cruises including a 12-nights cruise from Yokohama to Singapore, this first cruise will always be fondly remembered as the one that "introduced" me to a cruise vacation.  A bucket list item well and truly checked.  ****************** I finally got to enjoy my first ever cruise experience. A short 4-days, 3-nights cruise from Singapore's Marina Cruise Centre to Penang's Georgetown in Malaysia onboard Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas. Deck 15 of Spectrum of the Seas, Royal Caribbean Cruise, Straits of Malacca (2022) Maybe it was my first time on a cru...

With some downtime at work due to the completion of several projects' milestones, I decided to go on a short 5 days/4 nights trip to neighbouring Kuala Lumpur in late November 2023. Flights between Singapore and Kuala Lumpur take only less than an hour each way, before factoring airport security and boarding times. City view from the platform of a Local Rapid Train (LRT) Station, Kuala Lumpur (2023) The aim was for a leisurely trip to visit Kuala Lumpur for the year-end festive mood and to do some shopping due to the relatively favourable forex rates of the SGD (Singapore Dollar) versus RM (Malaysian Ringgit). Festive mood at Pavilion Mall, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur (2023) However, the short trip turned out to be a rather interesting one, by way of several unforeseen incidents. First up, my travel partner dropped his ring at the airport in Singapore. Taking it in our stride that such things do happen when one was not attentive enough, we brushed the loss aside.  Next, our plane o...

New Year and new Travel Plans......  2024 is in full swing and January is always the time when I map out my travel plans for the year.  What's been cooking in my travel plans pot? Nothing much really! At least not for the time being. Between the last week of January and first week of February, I am likely to embark on my annual road trip to Ipoh to spend Chinese New Year (a.k.a. Lunar New Year). This year's Chinese New Year falls on 10th and 11th February. I usually will start my trip before or after the festive period. This is to avoid the traffic jams at the border crossings between Singapore and Malaysia. This year will be similar, I will travel early to avoid the peak travel season chaos. Photographs of my trip to Ipoh in February last year, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia (2023) Next up will be a 4-nights round-trip cruise onboard the Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas from Singapore to Penang and Phuket. This will be my fourth time cruising on the same ship and probably the...

  " The world is a book , and those who do not travel read only a page  ." - Augustine of Hippo (a.k.a. Saint Augustine, 4th Century AD) , T heologian and Philosopher and the Bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa Japanese island south-east of Kyushu, East China Sea (2023) Note: While often used as a travel quote, the above quote may not be actually meant to inspire travel. Instead, it could be meant by Saint Augustine to be used in a biblical context. In any case, the author of this blog is not a historian and will thus leave this argument to scholars of history and other well-read researchers.