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

Taiwan,  Beitou, Hot Spring Resort Town This bucket list article described my experience visiting the hor spring resort town of Beitou in the mountains slightly north-east of Taipei. Not the traditional off-the-beaten-track location, Beitou is well-known amongts locals and international visitors for its hot spring resorts. Despite having visited Taipei many times, I had only been to Beitou once, just once. Why? I always had so many items cramped into my itinerary whenever I visit Taipei that I simply could not find the time to get away to relax and simply do nothing except to soak in the hot springs. Well, once is better than none and I still have a promise to myself to return to Beitou again. Hopefully soon. ****************** Taipei City's Beitou District is well regarded by locals and international visitors alike for its hot springs and the many hot springs resorts in the area. Being a resort town of sorts has its merits. Here, life is noticeably slower than the rat race in Taip

Planning for December Travel......  Traveling in the year-end month of December is different from traveling during other months of the year, at least for me. Somehow, December being the last month of the year, has that festive vibes that make me more relaxed while every part of life simply just seemed to slow down, from work to personal. Travel during the traditional holiday month of December is definitely more expensive in my part of the world. December coincides with the year-end school holidays here in South-East Asia and is also the "last" month when most workers will need to "clear" their annual leave for the current year before the start of a brand new work year. This results in a rush to travel during this period, leading to higher costs in air tickets and destination accommodations. But, there are always ways to mitigate the increased costs of traveling during this period. My strategy is to choose a nearer regional location and to travel earlier in the month

Yatsushiro Port is located on the western coast of central Kyushu, one of Japan's main islands. The port has always been an important center for international trade, such as the distribution of agriculture, forestry, and marine products.  Today, this Port is one of the largest port in Kumamoto Prefecture. Besides handling cargo vessels, Yatsushiro port also caters to cruise ships and their passengers.    Yatsushiro Port, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan (2023) Yatsushiro Port At Yatsushiro Port, a small park has lots of Kumamon on displays. The park is great place for photo shoots with cute Kumamon.  Visitors love Kumamon, Yatsushiro Port, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan (2023) Who's hiding? Yatsushiro Port, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan (2023) Yatsushiro Port, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan (2023) From Yatsushiro Port to Shin-Yatsushiro Station It is not possible to walk from Yatsushiro Port to Shin-Yatsushiro Station. Taking a taxi from the port to the station is a good option.  For cruise pas

South Korea,  Gwangan-dong, Suyeong District,   Busan This article was originally posted on this blog on November 2019. It described my experience visiting a morning market in the city of Busan. Should a travel bucket list item be something totally off-the-beaten-track and out-of-the-ordinary? Yes and no. Anything not generally experienced in our everyday lives or out of reach of most folks certainly qualify as a travel bucket list item. But for me, it is not so much doing or experiencing something that not many people have done before. In my personal travel bucket list, an item can also be something that I personally enjoy and do not generally get to experience at home unless I travel. It also mean interacting with locals, seeing and sharing the everyday lives of people in the destinations that I traveled to. Where better to mingle with locals and share their everyday lives in a non-intrusive way other than to visit the local markets! This is one of the reasons why I always make it a

On a recent cruise onboard Royal Caribbean's Spectrum of the Seas, I visited Hong Kong for the first time via a port visit. While I had traveled to Hong Kong many times previously, all these visits were by air via either Cathay Pacific or Singapore Airlines. This was the first time I visited Hong Kong by sea! View of Hong Kong's water from onboard Spectrum of the Seas berthed at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal, Hong Kong SAR, China (2023) The cruise ship was already berthed at the Kai Tak Cruise Terminal by the time I woke up lazily in my cabin at about 8am. After a quick breakfast at the Windjammer cafe at Deck 14, I disembarked from the ship and was soon onboard the free shuttle bus that ferried cruise passengers from the cruise terminal to different areas of the city. I chose to take the shuttle to Mong Kok and had a great time relaxing over aromatic coffee and delicious waffles whilst people watching at Langham Place. I also found time to shop at the many and varied retail shop

During a recent trip to Ubud, I serendipitously came upon a religious festival. Following the colourful procession from a respectful distance and only using the zoom function of my camera to "get close", I make sure to stay as inconspicuous as possible. I certainly did not wish to be seen as "intruding" upon the locals celebrating their culture and religion. Thankfully, all the locals were really friendly and they did not mind me walking behind, from a distance. They smiled continuously and even explained to me the significance of the festival. The following video on this blog's TANKS Travel Tales YouTube Channel was sewn from a few of the video clips and some of the photographs I took at the event. Hop over to view the video and enjoy the colourful and beautiful spectacle of the festival. Religious Festival in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia (2023)

South East Asia Train Journey......  I had just got home from a train journey from Bangkok to Singapore traveling through the South East Asian countries of Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore. While I do not have an exact number on the actual kilometres travelled, my estimate was that I had probably covered close to 2000 kilometres of rail travel as my journey from Bangkok to Singapore took me through the Thai provinces of Nakhon Pathom, Ratchaburi, Phetchaburi, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Chumphon, Surat Thani, Nakhon Si Thammarat and Songkhla, the Malaysian States of Perlis, Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor, Melaka (a.k.a. Malacca), Negri Sembilan and Johore as well as the Malaysian Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur. My itinerary took 8-days to complete, with overnight stopovers in Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan, Hat Yai, and Taiping. There were also two overnight train rides. The first was between Prachuap Khiri Khan and Hat Yai in Thailand. The second was in Malaysia between Kuala Lumpur and Joh