Delightful Turkey Trip 12th - 21st April 2008 Part 1

"Yesterday... all my troubles seemed so far away ...
Now it looks as though its here to stay
Oh, I believe in Yesterday" - The Beatles, "Yesterday"


Its been 10 days since I'm back from Turkey. I still can hear the laughter from my tour group... the meows of the beautiful Turkish cats... the wails of the sirens of the ambulances in Taksim Square in the middle of the night!!! and not forgetting the automatic 'morning call' - prayer calls close to 4:50am in the morning blasted via speakers from most of the mosques within close proximity to each other.


The 12th April was a hectic day for me as my good friends and I went to watch "We Will Rock You" at the Esplanade at 2pm to celebrate my birthday. After which we went for a quick dinner at AzabuSabo Restaurant at Marina Square. They were so SWEET - giving me a "Jump!" Red Mayday T-shirt, with Stickers (imported all the way from Taiwan), a PRINTS Journal and a very "PC" Birthday Card.


YS was so sweet to give Ah Leng and me a lift home after the dinner as we had to be at the airport by 9:10pm.


Our flight was TK0066 and it would take off at 11:20pm. We took the Sky Train to T3 to sample the perfumes but had to quickly rush back to T1 around 10:20pm to get ready to board our flight! Such a rush!!! The flight was quite full and we saw tour groups from Hong Thai Travel & SA Tours as well! Seemed like a lot of people were going to Turkey during this period!


We arrived in Istanbul around 6am (Turkish Time) on 13th April 2008. Our first stop was to go to the hotel to pick up the other half of the group whom arrived the day before. The hotel was located in Taksim Square, which was a bustling shopping street. We went down to take some pictures of the surroundings and got to know this couple - Raymond and Jessie.


This was the monument standing in Taksim Square. There were lots of beautiful tulips planted around this monument. Tulips are in season in April. Our guide told us that tulips had originated from Turkey, but the King of Holland loved them so much that he brought the seeds back and cultivated and made them the national flower of Holland. However, the name "tulip" actually referred to "turban", the real name of the flower should be "la lae". Someone misheard the King of Holland's question and gave the wrong answer.... OOps...


Our first tourist destination was the Topkapi Palace. WOW! The palace was very near to Hagia Sofia Museum, as well as the Blue Mosque. However, there was this cycling competition going on. Hence, after we visited the Topkapi Palace, we were quite 'stranded' due to the barricades that was stopping us from crossing the streets to visit the Blue Mosque.


The Topkapi Palace was quite huge!!! There were so many exhibits in the Palace Grounds. I thought the courtyards were very pretty! There was this 89 carat diamond in one of the display rooms... The story behind this was quite absurd - In the past, when people do not know the value of diamonds, they actually threw it in the rubbish dump! And in the end, this was being traded at a 'flea market' for 3 silver spoons... If only I owned that piece of diamond... Right now, I would be a BILLIONNAIRE!!!!!


Sometimes I also wonder how those soldiers could go to war with so heavy armoury! Hmmm...


We had to miss our Iskander Kebab due to the stupid Cycling Competiton. Our lunch venue changed to "Grup Saray Restaurant". We were so hungry we mistook the appetiser as the main course!!! By the time the main course came, we were too full to finish the rice and the 'chicken tandori'. Nonetheless, lunch was quite scrumptious!


appetiser main course

After lunch, we took the coach to the harbour for a ferry crossing to Yalova. We had our first taste of Turkish tea on board the ferry... tastes very much like the English Breakfast tea, but I like the way they put it in those little transparent glasses.


Turkish Tea




Our hotel for the night was quite GRAND... well... from the outlooks of it. We stayed in Bursa Kervansaray Termal Room 514. There was even a balcony where Ah Leng could air her 'flaky jacket'! haha...



View from Hotel Room Balcony

We quickly washed up a bit and went to the hotel surroundings for a quick look before meeting at the restaurant for our buffet dinner.

As we were pretty hungry, we stopped by this Pastry shop - UN & PA Pastaneleri- by the corner of the road and bought some Pretzels and Eclairs... YUMM! They tasted HEAVENLY!!!!



Pretzels & Chocolate Eclairs


That sums up my first day in Turkey...