Friday, December 21, 2007
Okay. Straight after my last paper which was iTech on Thursday, i got home and went to the airport to catch on a flight which departs at 11.30. I have to get there early to check-in and also to get the best possible seat in the plane. My aunts, cousins and uncles sent us off at the airport. I was so excited to go as this was my first ever trip to Europe.So we said our goodbyes and went in and boarded the plane, SQ490! Its Singapore Air OKAY! I love their services, good steward and stewardess. Nice ppl. Our family even got accuainted to a steward and chief stewardess which were husband and wife. Husband and wife working together, how cool is that!
The journey took about 12 hours as the flight from S'pore had to transt at Dubai before going to Istanbul, Turkey. It was tiring sitting in the plane bu it was cool. I just killed time by sleeping or playing vidoe games or watch movies and TV shows like Bourne Ultimatum, HSM2, Simpsons, Ugly betty and more..
Upon reaching, it was SUPER COLD! it was lie 3 degrees Celcius! Our breaths condensed into what looked like smoke as we were talking. COOL!
Got into our hotel which i made bookings online which i made 1 month before travelling. The ppl there are super friendly!! We did not shop a lot other than souvenirs as thier currency and stuff were more exp than in s'pore. Its like S$1 = YTL 0.82 i think. Imagine a Burger King meal costing about S$17 !!!!! and a large onion ring costs about S$ 8!! Super exp.. so dun complain abut the price in Singapore..its considered cheap okay!
The historical town was super BEAUTIFUL!! When i say Beautiful i mean BEAUTIFUL! The famous landmaks like the "BLUE MOSQUE", "HAGIA SOPHIA" and "TOPKAPI PALACE" was super nice. Full of history which ranges from the Ottoman Empire until today! The Blue mosque was indescribable. You'll have to see it with your own eyes. Being a muslim like the poeple there, i got to pray in the mosque.
The people there however knows very little English and they speak Turkish not Arabic so i had to ask them in super basic English language. It was okay. It was nice. Some know how to speak in very little Malay. Some, knowing we were from Singapore, wanted to see if we knew mandarin so they asked like "Ni hao ?" i answered back "Wo hen hao. Ni le?" at that point he was dumbfounded. surprised that we knew mandarin. Haha.. wait till they hear some Tamil words i knew.. haha.
All and all it was great family time and super nice scenic views of the seas and castles and historical buildings, Walking there is like walking in Paris. The streets are the same. I have sooooooo fallen in love with the country! Nice weather, nice people, nice food and nice places! I dun mind migrating there. hehe. I don't deny that i missed home quite a bit maybe due to the fact that we in Singapore arer very systematic people who is always in a rush. There in Istanbul, i had to adapt and learn to relax, unwind. They lead a slower pace in life which i longed for. They also enjoy the simple pleasures in life, which we in S'pore is uncapable of.
Being there opened my eyes. People there do not judge you by your skin color or race. Knowing that we were fellow muslims from different parts of the world gives me a sense of pride and bond that we share. Our common greeting like "Assalamualaikum" and "Wa'alaikumusSalam" were the same so they treated us as their own. I'll never forget the expereince of a lifetime i had in Istanbul.
Here are some of the pics i took. There's more to the storey of my experience there but i'll keep it short for now..
Me and my Brother at the Topkapi Palace! Super nice scenery.
Inside the Hagia Sophia which used to be a church then mosque after the Ottoman Empirer took over and now it is a museum. It survived a fire!
Family Time! Taken at the palace!
Entrance to the Grand Bazzar which hold about 41, 000 shops!
Inside the blue mosque
Cousin and me!
Air tix!
Labels: Istanbul, Vacation: Turkey
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