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

Connecting Flights....... This coming weekend, I will be traveling to Taipei (TPE) via Hong Kong (HKG). Because my flights were booked on different airlines under different booking codes, I have to collect my check-in luggage upon arrival in HKG from SIN, clear immigration and customs, check-in again for my next flight from HKG to TPE, go through immigration again as well as the necessary security checks before I can emerge airside at the airport for my connecting flight. Departure Hall of the Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong SAR, China (2017) Sounds like a hassle? Not when I will be flying J-Class (a.k.a. Business Class) on both sectors from SIN to HKG via SQ (Singapore Airlines) and HKG to TPE via CX (Cathay Pacific) on tickets paid with air miles. Sure, there are hassles with the connecting flights on 2 different airlines with different booking codes but they are worth it.  In order to ensure that I have a seamless transit at the Hong Kong International

Hoi An is a city located in Quang Nam Province of Vietnam. A fairly well preserved ancient city with architecture that showcased its long history, Hoi An was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. Today, visitors to Hoi An will be awed by its many old buildings with architecture ranging in designs from traditional Vietnamese and Chinese to French, reflecting the eras that this old city has seen in its journey though the years.  Interspersed with canals that evoked an almost exotic and magical feel, the Hoi An of today is a melting pot of locals and tourists, a fusion that has come to define this former port city of Vietnam.  After dark, Hoi An lights up in splashes of colours, a kaleidoscope of culture, beauty and history all combined to wow anyone fortunate enough to be here to experience its rich traditions. Night scene of Hoi An,  Quang Nam Province,  Vietnam (2018) Small water crafts ply a canal in Hoi An,  Quang Nam Province,  Vietnam (2018)

As a new year dawns, many of us will be busy with work. However, we must also find time to rest, relax and rejuvenate as the year progresses. What better way to do that than to plan a road trip to your favourite travel destination? For me, I will be going on another road trip to Japan in early April 2018. The trip's dates are timed to coincide with the annual cherry blossom season and also early spring where the weather is cool but not very cold and I can spend a lot more time outdoors without feeling the chills. I will be doing a road trip from Osaka to Takashima and Kyoto and then to Tokyo. In April 2017, I went on a road trip from Atami to Ito along the Izu Peninsula. The trip was awesome  and it brought back great memories interspaced with many travel tales to share. There were many firsts for that road trip. These include staying at a hostel for the first time in my travels, visiting a zoo (sort of, I visited the Izu Shaboten Park) for the first time outside my ho

Public transportation provide visitors to any cities with a convenient way to get around for their sightseeing activities. It also provides visitors with an imitate experience to mingle with the local crowds. I usually travel by public transportation when I visit a city. And in London, this is also the norm for me. Getting around London via the Tube (a.k.a. London Underground Metro System) is an easy, convenient and relatively affordable mode of transport. And the Tube is not just a public transportation system. It is rich in history too. Parts of the Tube that stand today were opened in the year 1863, becoming the world's first underground railway system. Today, the entire network has expanded to 11 different lines which collectively serve close to 5 million passengers each day. Each time I took the Tube, I was reminded of its history, including the unique architectures of each and every station that I passed by. Marvelling at the wonders of technologies then and now that

This photograph was taken from the window seat of a Singapore Airlines' Boeing 777-200ER plane as it taxied towards the runway at Singapore's Changi International Airport Terminal 2 on 23 November 2017. This is a photograph of a Malaysian Airlines' Boeing 737-800. What caught my attention was the plane's very beautiful and retro livery which featured the Malaysian National Flag. The livery was splashed across the second half of the plane's fuselage and  towards its tail. The colours of the national flag stood out against the white background of the plane's body. In my opinion, this is one of the best plane livery that I had seen in recent memory. Malaysian Airlines' Boeing 737-800, Changi International Airport, Singapore (2017)

Mingling with the crowds at local markets is one of the best way to immerse ourselves in the local culture and lifestyle of any city we travelled to. While on a driving tour of the Izu Peninsula of Shizuoka Prefecture in spring of 2017, I chanced upon a local day market near the town of Ito. Because it was still relatively early in the day, some of the stalls were still being setup while others were already opened for business.  3-D artwork, Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan (2017) A stall selling hand-made products at the local day market, Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan (2017) The stalls that were already opened, collectively put forth a very interesting mixed of items for sale. This ranged from cheery blossom ( sakura ) tree saplings/cuttings to small porcelain chopsticks holders and even Godzilla and Ultraman toys. Sakura sapling/cutting for sale at the day market, Izu Peninsula, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan (2017) Porcelain chopsti

2017 Travel Review....... In terms of travel, 2017 has been the year where I travelled the most in recent memory. For the year, I have clocked a total of almost 130,000 miles in air travel alone. I basically travelled at least once every month; for all 12 months of the year. Three-quarters of my travels in 2017 were for work with the rest being vacation trips. New cities I had travelled to included vacations to Atami and Ito (Japan), Helsinki (Finland), Luang Prabang (Laos) and Tallinn (Estonia). A street in the Old Town of Tallinn, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Tallinn, Estonia (2017) The Helsinki Cathedral, Helsinki, Finland (2017) Vat Manorom Temple, Luang Prabang, Laos (2017) Other cities that I had travelled to in 2017 were mainly for work and they included cities which I had previously visited multiple times. The repeated visits to these cities did not in any way diminish the enjoyability of these trips and I did manage to snatch time out from my he