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

We all are familiar with and have come to expect condiments to be provided as part of our dining experience in a restaurant or eatery. This has somehow become standard practice almost everywhere in the world, from large metropolis such as London and Bangkok to villages nestled along the trekking routes of the Annapurna Region and the foothills of Ubud. However, the amount of dining condiments provided vary widely. From simple bottles of pepper and salt shakers to a small saucer of ketchup. But when dining out in South Korea, expect the unexpected when it comes to the amount of condiments provided by the eatery. When eating out during my trips to South Korea, I was always pleasantly surprised and confounded by the mind-boggling array of condiments laid out before me. Of course, I enjoyed every single one of these condiments. This is one of the main reasons why I enjoy dining out whenever I was in Seoul, Busan or any other Korean cities. A mind-boggling array of condiments accompanying a

  " Signs of Spring Sakura Blooming Strolling under the Spring Blossoms" -  Timothy Tan, author of this blog - tankstraveltales   Sakura blooming along the shores of Lake Biwa, Makino, Takashima, Shiga Prefecture, Japan (2018)

Visiting markets wherever I travelled to has always been a favourite activity for me. From Seoul to London, Basel to Tokyo, Fremantle to Taipei, Bangkok to Tallinn and many other cities, I always made it a point to visit the local markets. Mingling with the locals and enjoying the sights, sounds and tastes of fresh local produce have been and will continue to be among the highlights of my travel itineraries. On a rare chilly January afternoon in my home city of Singapore, I was going through my digital archives of travel photographs and came across these photos of the morning market in the southern French city of Toulouse. These photographs were taken on my first trip to Toulouse many years ago when I was there to attend a work-related conference. Being a work trip, I had no time for much sight seeing. Thus, my visit to the morning market, on a weekend, absolutely delighted me because it provided me a chance to enjoy the city.    Fresh and locally-produced carrots, Toulouse, Occitanie,

Tiberias and Galille, Israel Growing up in a Catholic family, I had been schooled and taught the bible since young. Thus, while the lands of Tiberias and Galilee were foreign to me, the names definitely were familiar ones. Having an inquisitive mind and a streak of wanderlust in me since my childhood days, I had told myself I shall visit these regions when I am a grown up. This bucket list travel item was fulfilled in 2002 when I visited the region for the first time as part of a packaged tour group.    Statue of St Peter in Capernaum, Nahums Village, Galilee, Israel (2002)   The Tiberias of today is a city on the western shores of the Sea of Galilee with a population of about 45,000. The region and the Sea of Galilee were mentioned many times in the Bible. The Sea of Galilee was where Jesus walked on the water and the surrounding regions were where Jesus spent much time with his disciples.    Sea of Galilee with the view of the Golan Heights in the background, Tiberias, Galilee, Israe

Travelling on foot allows us to see and experience a lot more than if we were to just zoom pass a place on a vehicle. And nothing beats going on a hike around a locale during a visit. A hike opens up a whole new world of discoveries. The delights and joys of experiencing new sights, meeting people and simply discovering the surprises that a local trail may offer are the immeasurable. And these were what I experienced when I went hiking in and around Interlaken during a previous visit which took place around late spring/early summer. Apart from the many local flora and fauna that I encountered during my short one-day hike near the Lutschine River, I also came across many beautiful little gardens tended to lovingly by their owners. I especially loved the way they decorated their gardens and window sills with clay figurines of gnomes and other small creatures. The figurines added a touch of mythical air as well as a romantic fairy tale atmosphere to the gardens.   Gnomes figurines in a ga

Its almost Christmas of 2020....... and time for my travel reminiscence of the year....... 20 December 2020, 5 days to Christmas. Time to slow down, take things easy and enjoy the festive period between Christmas and New Year. And the year-end period is also typically the time when I reminiscence for the year that is ending, including my travels for the past twelve months. This year's reminiscence of travel is definitely different from years past. With Covid being the wrecking ball that it has been on almost everything in 2020, travel had been an impossibility or near-impossibility. For the whole of this year, my one and only trip out of my country of residence was in late January 2020 when I travelled to Malaysia's Kuala Lumpur and areas around it in Selangor State. The trip was memorable in the time spent with family members located across the border, not knowing at that time that it will be quite a while before I will get to see them face-to-face again. Yes, we still keep in

Murals, when artistically and correctly placed, could add much character and colour to a location.  I have always appreciate well-designed and tastefully-coloured murals in all the cities I have visited. And this mural of a brightly-coloured and fiery tiger on a wall along the River Clyde was amazing. It brightened up an otherwise dull neighbourhood and somewhat added character and finesse to the locale. Tiger mural, River Clyde, Glasgow, Scotland, UK (2011)