I.S.T.A.N.B.U.L

Sebenarnye sgt malas nk update blog. Ape tah lg citer istanbul ni dh basi dah..hahaha...tp tulis gaklah..Istanbul mmg best...sgt charming in every way..so, let me tell you my experience in Istanbul..

Day 1-4 hours flight dr Doha ke Atarturk airport. Smpai2 dh kul 7 am. Naik metro to Zeytinburnu and transit naik tram ke SultanAhmet. Kt area sultan ahmet ni sgt touristy. mmg byk hostel. sgt convenient. walaupn agak mahal compared to area lain memandangkan kami brdua perempuan so safety first!!

SultanAhmet

lepas letak brg & bfast trus kluar ke Sultan Ahmet area. Went to Blue Mosque a.k.a Sultan Ahmet mosque first sbb klo mase zohor, masjid xleh masuk one hour before & after.

Blue Mosque
1~Blue sbb interior die smua biru. Nothing spectacular cuma bile bygkan mase zaman dulu2. this mosque mmg sgt majestic.

2~mosque with 6 minarets. Sultan Ahmet wanted a mosque with gold minarets tp architect ingat 6 because 6 and gold sounds similar in arabic. Sultan Ahmet dikritik sbb 6 minarets same dgn bilangan minaret MasjidilHaram so, Sultan Ahmet arahkan membina minaret ke 7 di MasjidilHaram.

3~the biggest mosque in Istanbul adalah Sulaymaniye mosque. Xpg sbb tgh renovate.

4~Population in Turkey 98% Islam. 2% Christians & jews. They have 2 synagoges, 122 churches and 2800 mosques. bole bayangkan mase azan waktu solat?for me..satu perasaan yg buat meremang bulu roma. every corner of the city dgr azan!!

Hagia Sophia
1~love this place. aside from the architecture tempat ni is a place where the world evolved. dr byzantine to Ottoman.

2~first dijdkan church and it was d largest cathedral for thousand years. Ade engrave gambar saint mary (maryam) & angel gabriel. Gambar st mary tuh pointing to the jerusalem. When Islam brtapak di Turkey semasa era Ottoman. Smua engrave ditutup dgn tile & dijdkan masjid. with a nice mimbar and mihrab. & they built an anjung for the sultans to pray. Now, the place adalah museum & u'll be amazed to see all the history engraved here. After Hagia Sophia, we went for Bhosporus tour sbb weather sgt cantik & avoid possibility hujan d next day so ktrng trus hop for the 40lira=100riyal tour. View of the Golden Horn..palaces..forts..mosques etc..etc..after about 2hours cruising we stop for lunch & after that patah balik ke area galata bridge. Some people go with the normal public cruise. it costs much less tp for me, it's not just the view yg i nk enjoy. I want to know about the history. the place. the people & so much more!!all in all.. worth it. Singgah ke Egyptian Market lps cruise. Org kt hotel kata kt situ murahlg berbanding Grand Bazaar. we spent 4 good hours shopping. moroccon lights,decorative ceramics & mcm2 lg. Lps memborong xlarat nk angkat naik tram, ktrng pn naikla teksi. dlm teksi br trpk..cmanelah agaknyer nk angkut naik flight..smua mende fragile..gulpp!! Smpai hotel, freshen up a bit then naik for dinner. Since mlm new year's eve ktrg amikla package dinner-belly dancing show. after dinner, ktrng jalan2 pusing Sultan Ahmet. i bet kt taksim square mesti lg ramai org. tp ktrng cam malas nk brsesak-sesak.

Pose vain..skali pandang nampak classic 2kali pndang lain mcmlah plak..

Skalitu acara belly dancing kt hotel start after midnite.nk menunggu agak seksalah..10.45 aku duk lepak kt terrace atas. ramai dh start minum2 & menari2. aku menguap pd sela masa seminit 10x..kul 11 turun bilik kejap..nk terkencing..& naik balik..tahan mata nih..elok kul 11.20, aku turun bilik kejap. 12 midnite..aku dh kt la la land..aku dgrlah dyrng countdown..fireworks die lamelah jugak..& aku dgr dyrng cheer mase belly dancing kt atas..tp my whole system dh hibernate. gud nite Istanbul & happy new year everyone!! *wink*

Day 2~Start pg hippodrome then ke Basilica Cistern. Sgt kagum dgn kehebatan cistern ni. Cistern ni is a huge chamber yg store 80,000m3 of water. Underground water tank. Air disalurkan 19km away using aquaducts. Cistern ni cater utk palaces, mase drought & during under siege. gua sembah ratulah kt engineer die!!!

Then gerak ke Topkapi palace. Palace for the sultans during the Ottoman empire. Normal gigantic palace. 4 courtyards.Yg menarik adalah harem~section only for the females termasuklah Queen mother, queen, princesses, concubines & helpers. 1 building display all relics from this era. A few relics adalah hadiah from the Ottoman's sultan to Nabi Muhammad SAW tomb kt Madinah. And brought back to the palace during world war 1. gifts for/from tzar (Russia), Shahs (Iran) & Emperors (China). Tanpa sedar, we spent 4 hours here alone!!kaki mak sakit oooo!!!Memandangkan winter & sunset lebih kurang kul 4 lebih, we tried to rush nk g Galata tower tp takut nanti terlajak mase & bakal frust sbb bile dh malam gambar xbrape nk menarik. so, we proceed to Tunel & naik classic tram ke Taksim. mencanak naik bukit. but i love it. kedai2 kt tepi2 jalan..& i bought i nice painting. not the expensive one. nice tepi jalan nyer painting. lepak for dinner kt bwh galata tower smbil makan kebab & air pomegranate. damn sedap!!tram from tunel ke taksim adalah best sbb aku duduk kt belakang skali & menghadap lautan org.nice!! Smpai Taksim Square ktrng patah blk naik d same tram. sbb kt situ ramai sgt org & for me, xbrape interested ngn starbucks, zara and what not sepanjang jalan tuh. we tried to catch a darwisy dance show. alaa..org turkey yg pakai tarbus & skirt menari tuh. tp malangnya ktrng salah tempat. I end up menyamankan diri ke chamberlitas turkish bath. teringat citer fatima, thousand years ago, akan ade satu event dimana smua pempuan akan pg for turkish bath. Bakal2 mertua akan memilih menantu dyrng kt situ..scarry weh!!sila bayangkan naked dpn mak mertua korang??grrr..turkish bath die bole tahan bestla walaupn smua org ckp tempat tuh sgt touristy & mahal. for first timer mcm aku ni..seronokk weh!!note:turkish bath skrg dh x naked dh. half naked je..balik tdo dgn lena setelah mendapat scrub & urutan yg menyamankan..siap mandikan&shampookan rambut ok!!

Turkish Bath @ Hamam

Day 3~Hujan dr subuh tp ktrng tetap kna abiskan tempat2 yg xpg lg. First stop Grand Bazaar. 4,000 shops. Imagine that. aku siap print layout kedai sbb takut sesat!! mmg byk brg & yg best bole singgah minum teh dulu before smbg jalan. tp sbb kesuntukan masa, spent 1 hr je sbb nk ke Egyptian bazaar blk. dissappointed sbb souviner kt egyptian bazaar xsecantik kt grand bazaar..uhuk!!

Grand Bazaar

Rush for hop on hop off bus. decided utk pusing sa2 Istanbul ni. yelah, pasni dh xpg dh kan..knala round setiap pelusuk tempat.

View dr atas Bus.

Hop off kt Dolmabahce Palace. Another favourite spot. Palace ni dibina mase zaman Ottoman yg dh nk ujung2. Byk influenced dr English,French&Italy. Hugeeee!! org ramai gile & masuk batch by batch sbb smua interior still same since late 1800. so dyrng xnak org ramai2 masuk skali sbb bole sesat&bole runtuh kot!!kt sinilah Kamal Attaturk meninggal dunia.aku suka chandelier yg berat die 41/2 ton!!sayangnyer xleh amik gambar dlm palace. kate tourist guide tuh klo nak copy paste dr website!!apekah??

Dolmabahce Palaca~Disneyland look alike

Spend sejam stgh beratur. tour sejam setgh jugak!!grr..kluar je palace tuh hujan dh brenti. sunny!!suke..trus menghala ke Galata tower. view sgt cantik. 360 degree view of Istanbul. awesome!!rush back utk hop on our bus & smbg tour sa2 Istanbul.

Galata Tower

Complete sa2 round ktrng kembali ke Egyptian Bazaar for some shopping yg trtinggal & rush plak ke Grand Bazaar sbb ade yg xde kt Egyptian bazaar tuh. Sebelum tu smpat dinner kt bwh Galata Bridge. Restaurant biase2 je tp ambience sgt best. Price wise oklah. mcm mkn kt Kg Baru je.

Dinner~Galata Bridge

Akibatnyer..flight ktrng pukul 9.10. ktrng smpai airport 8.10. sepanjang dlm metro aku rase jantung aku berenti!!close gile!!Nasib baik flight xpenuh so aku amik 4 seats utk aku beradu sbb esoknyer nk kja. kesimpulannya sgt best!! ohh..last skali..dh blk br aku perasan..aku xjejak pn Asian part of Istanbul. hahaha!! oklah. finally abis gak karangan aku!! enjoy the pictures!! tata!! more pictures in my gallery~Istanbul.