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

Very often, cities come to be defined by just one iconic feature. This definition usually developed so symbolically that whenever anyone from anywhere in the world see that iconic feature, they will immediately think of the city to which this feature is associated. The icon can be anything from a natural feature to the cityscape itself. But more often than not, such icons are architectural buildings that tell the historical, cultural or religious background of the city. In Helsinki, one such iconic architectural feature is the Helsinki Cathedral. Located in the neighbourhood of Kruununhaka in the centre of the city, this is a Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Cathedral. The Cathedral's iconic green dome, flanked by four smaller domes, towers over the the city. It is today one of the must-see sights for tourists visiting Helsinki. Built in the mid-19th century, this distinctive landmark has come to be closely associated with Helsinki and is regularly featured in postcards and articl

Flowers have always been one of the subjects I love to photograph. Over the years, I have taken lots of photographs of flowers everywhere I go. I simply love the colours, vibrance and details that flowers present as a photography subject. And this is especially true when photographs of flowers are taken close-up (i.e. in macro mode).  Here, I took a photograph of a flower growing along the street just outside the Novotel Paddington located in Paddington Central. I was visiting London on vacation in May 2017 and there were many flowers, both beautiful and colourful, growing along the street just outside the hotel. I don't know the name of this flower but its bright purple colours caught my eyes and I snapped this photograph using my iPhone 7 Plus using its depth effect mode. Flower, Paddington Central, London, England, UK (2017)

Photo moments abound wherever we may be. These photo moments can be about subjects big or small. About places, architecture, people, food or simply that moment in time when something interesting caught the eye of the person wielding the camera. And of course, it can also be the floral and fauna of the places. Personally for me, insects make particularly interesting photography subjects. Mainly because insects are usually everywhere and thus easily found.  While hiking in the Okuhida region of Japan's Gifu Prefecture during Fall (a.k.a. autumn) of 2014, I encountered many interesting and beautiful flora and fauna of the local area. Key amongst the fauna were the numerous insects. Of the many photographs that I took on the several hikes I made during my stay in this mountainous area, here is a photo of a pair of mating grasshoppers. This photograph was taken with a standard 18-135mm lens with my Canon EOS-70D DSLR set to its Macro mode and the lens at 114mm. ISO 100, f/5.6

Mount Titlis at 3,328 meters (about 10,623 ft) is world famous as a tourist destination in Switzerland. For tourists, the ascent to Mount Tilis is usually taken from the resort village of Engelberg via a unique rotating cable car! This cable car system brings tourists from Engelberg to the summit at Klien Titlis (3,028 meters, 9,934 ft). Summit of Mount Tilis as viewed from  Klien Titlis, Tiltlis, Switzerland (2009) History and Geography  Since the mid 1800s, Engelberg has been known as a resort for vacation. Mountain sports have been conducted here from then until today. Easier access to and from the nearby city of Lucerne via road and rail links in the 1960s opened up Engelberg to the wider tourist market. The final sections of the cable car system was completed in the late 1960s and today, tourism is the mainstay of the local economy. The village of Engelberg, Engelberg, Obwalden, Switzerland (2009) Engelberg is administratively a municipality of the canton

Air Miles, are they worth the hassle? We have all read and heard of folks flying premium classes on 5-star airlines without paying a dime. And there are loads of articles, many of which I believed are sponsored, which attest to the realities of these free-of-charge luxuries in the air. Are there any truths to these fairy tales of the air? If you noticed that I had used the words "fairy tales" to describe these stories circulating wildly on social media, then you probably would also have catch that I don't really believe in these tales. Truth is, I don't believe and here are the reasons why. My cup of gourmet coffee served onboard the Business Class cabin of a Singapore Airlines (SQ) flight from Singapore to Hong Kong (2017) First things first, there are no such things as "free stuffs". Air miles come with loads of terms and conditions and they are by no means easy to earn. To get those so-called free tickets on First or Business Class on a

Regular readers of this blog will know that whichever city I visited, I always make it a point to go to the local market places. I strongly believe that the culture and heartbeat of any city is usually depicted in the activities of its markets.  And in Tel Aviv, there are no other markets more popular amongst both locals and tourists than the Carmel Market. Shuk HaCarmel a.k.a. Carmel Market, Tel Aviv, Israel (2017) History The Carmel Market of today can be traced historically back to as early as the 1920s to a marketplace known as the "Hakerem". Over the years, this market morphed into what today is the Carmel Market. Officially known as the Shuk HaCarmel, this market is well known to locals and tourists alike and is almost always described in travel guides on Tel Aviv. Getting There The Carmel Market is located along HaCarmel Street and is bordered by Allenby Street and the Magen David Square. It is within less than 5 minutes walking distance from

Despite being the touted as the tourist strip of Lombok, Senggigi is a relatively small collection of hotels, hostels, restaurants, cafes and small businesses catering to the tourism industry of Lombok. Located north of Lombok's administrative capital of Mataram, Senggigi includes a few kilometres of beach front. While visiting Lombok a couple of years ago, I spent a quiet evening walking along part of the stretch of Senggigi to take in the evening atmosphere and observe the local businesses. My route that evening was alongside the sometimes busy small road that straddles the vertical length of the island. Some of the views I experienced are captured in the following photographs using my DSLR camera.  These "moments" reminded me that I should perhaps planned a trip to Lombok soon. :-) Senggigi in the early evening hours, Lombok, Indonesia (2014) Senggigi in the early evening hours, Lombok, Indonesia (2014) Senggigi in the early evening hours