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

Malaysia, Pahang, Cameron Highlands The leisure-travel restricted periods due to the Covid Pandemic that last somewhere between the beginning of 2020 until 2022 (in most places) were painful for those who love to travel. Be it travel to distant destinations or to places that one is familiar with, this luxury was denied to most folks around the world due to the need to efficiently manage the spread of the dreaded virus. With the slow re-opening of travel in 2022 onwards, I took baby steps to resuming my own travels by first visiting neighbouring countries and going to places that I had previously visited before, enjoyed the experiences and wanted to return again. Cameron Highlands in the Malaysian state of Pahang is one of these places.  With cool all-year round weather, gentle pace of life, beautiful sceneries, fresh air and great vacation places, Cameron Highlands is definitely one destination in my personal travel bucket...

As the title of this blog post suggests, this photograph is all about the nostalgic beauty of a Balinese padi field.  The lush green and young padi in the field set against the bright blue sky, while the sculpture of a traditional Balinese statue standing guard all come together for that nostalgic rural scene. A photo moment captured to remember my trip. Padi Field, Ubud, Bali, Indonesia (2023)

It has been a while since I last wrote a review of my inflight experiences. In hindsight, "inflight" is actually a rather incorrect term for this series of reviews because the experiences include pre-boarding and at times, disembarking from the plane. So, the reviews do not exclusively focus on just experiences that occur inflight.  In-between my last inflight review posted in this blog sometime in 2020, I had flown on a small number of flights, both for work and for vacations. However, during the period from Feb 2020 to May 2022, I stayed totally grounded because of worldwide travel restrictions due to the COVID pandemic. Thankfully, for everyone and especially for the industry, those days are over. This is a review of my experiences when I flew on Business Class (i.e. 'J' Class) on Singapore Airlines (SIA) from Singapore's Changi International Airport to Bali's Denpasar Airport in December 2023.  The flight tickets were redeemed using my expiring frequent fl...

Gearing up for my next trip......  In less than a week's time, I will be going on my planned vacation. This will be my second trip of the year. After this, I have no other trips either planned or confirmed for 2024. I am still trying to come to grips with the astronomical increase in travel costs. Thus, I have been searching and waiting for discount deals on flight tickets and accommodations, but no luck so far. And so, the search and wait continue. The coming trip is a relatively short and unadventurous 5 days/4 nights return cruise from Singapore to Penang and Phuket. I had booked this cruise sometime in the middle of last year, paying a lot less than what I would need to pay if I am to book a similar cruise itinerary today. And, I love the ship, Spectrum of the Seas. Sadly for me, this ship will leave Singapore next month (April 2024) for its new home ports in China. Thus, this will very likely be the last time I cruise on Spectrum unless it returns to be home ported in Singapor...

Japan, Tokyo, Nakano This video was originally published in this blog in July 2021. The photographs shown in the video are based on my visit to Nakano in 2017. Before the trip, I had read about this quaint part of the greater Tokyo Metropolitan area and resolved to pop by for some sight-seeing and a walking tour if time on my itinerary permitted. And yes, I did visit Nakano on that trip. But why a video and not an article? Sometimes, pictures do speak more than a thousand words! Another reason was that I wanted to share what I saw and experienced in Nakano from a visual perspective.  And of course, my side trip to Nakano was an item in my travel bucket list.  ****************** I visited Nakano as a side trip while in Tokyo in the spring of 2017. Just minutes away from Shinjuku, Nakano is a world away from the hustle and bustle that defines Shinjuku. Here, serenity reigns. Being a rural area, the ambience is all ...

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)