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

I attended a friend's wedding in the city of Thiruvananthapuram in India's Kerala State last year. The wedding ceremony was an amazing experience for me. Culturally, I learned much about a traditional Indian wedding.  The ceremony was also an awesome photo opportunity for me. Armed only with my iPhone 6S Plus, I proceeded to discreetly take photographs of the wedding proceedings, taking care not to interrupt the work of the official photographers and without being too intrusive on the guests at the wedding. Here is a picture of a group of bridesmaids waiting for the arrival of the groom. The colourful umbrellas, their beautiful dresses and the traditional gifts they bore provided a picture perfect opportunity too good to be missed. Bridesmaids at a traditional Indian wedding ceremony waiting for the arrival of the groom, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India (2016)

Travelling offers much opportunities to experience new sights and sounds. During a recent business trip to Hong Kong in January 2017, I was out for a late night supper and saw workers setting up a pop-up store for the coming Chinese New Year.  Moments later, this huge and magnificent figure can be seen fronting the pop-up store which was located in Mong Kok, along Dundas Street and just next to the Bai Yu Business Center. The photos below were taken with my iPhone 6S Plus. When travelling, always keep a camera handy for that unexpected photo opportunity! And smartphones, with their in-built cameras, are the convenient choice for me. Giant figure fronting a Pop-Up Store, Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China (2017) The Pop-Up Store located just next to the giant figure shown in the above photo, Mong Kok, Kowloon, Hong Kong SAR, China (2017)

Bangkok is the capital city of Thailand. It is also the most populous city in the country with a population of over 8 million people. And that is not including people who lives within the Bangkok Metropolitan Region.  And so, if you have just 1 day to spend in this bustling and vibrant city, how do you spend your time here within that 24 hours? Silom Complex, , Si Lom, Bang Rak District, Bangkok, Thailand (2017) I recently spent a day in Bangkok as part of a business trip. Not one who really enjoys jostling with crowds and yet not a hermit as well, I tried to strike a balance between the crowds and nature. Here's how I spent my one day in Bangkok. 10.00 am - 12.00 pm Woke up relatively late at 9.00 am as I do not have to attend any meetings. After a couple of minutes lazing in the hotel room, a quick shower followed and I was soon out on the streets. Took the BTS Skytrain to the Ma Boon Khrong Center. This popular tourist haunt in Bangkok is also regularly re

Located in Gopeng in the Malaysian state of Perak, Gua Tempurung is one of the longest cave system in Peninsula Malaysia (a.k.a. West Malaysia). New to caves and caving? Gua Tempurung is a cave where beginners could breeze through with zero prior caving experience. A natural opening allows some sunlight into the cave near its entrance, Gua Tempurung, Gopeng, Perak, Malaysia (2016) History and Geography Estimated at around 10,000 years old, Gua Tempurung is a cave system that runs under the limestone hills of Gunung Tempurung and Gunung Gajah.  This is just a sign for visitors and is not the entrance to the cave, Gua Tempurung, Gopeng, Perak, Malaysia (2016) Gopeng and Gua Tempurung are about 25km from Ipoh, the capital city of the state of Perak. The total length of this cave system is estimated to be about 3km and there is a subterranean river spanning about 1.6km that runs through it. The main trail spanning both openings of the cave is about 1.9km in length.

Review of my travels in 2016... 2016 has been an extremely busy year for me. It also marks a year when many of my planned trips could not proceed as scheduled due to a hectic work schedule. However, there are also a great many unplanned trips which happened during the year. Trips which I have to cancel in 2016 include visits to Osaka (Japan), Barcelona (Spain), San Francisco (California, United States) and Auckland (New Zealand) as well as my annual personal retreat to Bali (Indonesia). Unforeseen projects that crop up along the way as the year progressed lead to these cancellations which I will eventually undertake at a more appropriate time in the foreseeable future. Trips which were not planned but happened in 2016 include visits to Thiruvananthapuram (India) to attend a friend's wedding and to Orlando (Florida, United States) to attend a software conference with my customers. The visit to Thiruvananthapuram and Orlando were my first ever visits to India and the Unite

I usually visit Bali at least once a year for vacation. And because the main purpose of my visit is to rest and relax from my usual hectic work schedules, I mostly spent my time within the resort grounds where I stay.  One of my favourite past times whenever I vacation in Bali is to take photographs of wildlife including flowers and insects. During my most recent visit to Bali in March 2016, I brought along my then brand new Canon EF-S 60mm f/2.8 Macro USM Lens. Using this lens for the first time, I wander around the lush gardens of the Sofitel Bali Nusa Dua Resort looking for subjects to photograph. And there were indeed plenty of photo opportunities as insects throng the gardens busily harvesting nectar from the blooms of the beautiful lotus flowers. This allowed me the luxury of time and space to practice to try out my new macro lens. Here are a few photographs from my close-ups photoshoot during the trip. Blue Lotus, Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia (2016) Honey bees

I am sure there are many occasions when we ourselves are not travelling but instead marvelled at the trips of our relatives, friends, colleagues and acquaintances. Social media is an extremely convenient way for us to somehow get involved in such trips by having almost real-time access to the photos and videos of trips not made by ourselves but by others.  Recently, a couple of my friends made a trip to the icy continent of Antarctica. As my limited financial means would not permit me to make such a trip; at least in the foreseeable future, I have to content myself with the simple joys of enjoying the photos and videos of my friends' trip. I shared the exhilarations that my friends experienced as they encountered penguins and whales whilst sailing in a luxurious cruise ship from Argentina to Antarctica, specifically navigating around the areas near Hope Bay. Iceberg, Hope Bay, Antarctica (2016) Iceberg, Hope Bay, Antarctica (2016) History and Geography From