Once upon a time in ... Turkey, 2.2 - Istanbul, Sultan Ahmet Camii

Akcelinye, tonight ader our annual dinner. 
Tapi, cam malas nak pegi. X der mood.
So, i got some free time tonite to hapdet ... 

Jom kiter sambung ...

After makan tu, we headed trus to Sultan Ahmet Camii @ Blue Mosque

veeery impressive masjid. Majestic!

Weols duk lepak / rehat kat perkarangan masjid

Did some people watching.

Mr paPa did his solat here.

Makan ice cream. Sedap giler !

Haaaa... teringat ingat ... terase raser jer kat anak tekak ni!

i want that ice creamm .... 

A little info on Sultan Ahmet Camii or the Blue Mosque.

The Sultan Ahmed Camii is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior. It was built from 1609 to 1616, during the rule of Sultan Ahmed I.  The mosque is popularly known as the Blue Mosque for the blue tiles adorning the walls of its interior.

Source : Wikipedia

mr paPa braving the cold nak amek wuduk. Seejuk sangat air dia... Nak taw how sejuk ??  macam air yg kiter sejukkan dalam fridge tuk minum tu ... Haa, cam tu la. 

View from main entrance of the Blue Mosque

Stop cni dulu yer ... 

Once upon a time in ... Turkey, 2.1 - Istanbul, Topkapi Palace

kiter sambung from cni yer,

07/04/2014

last night … I did not sleep at all

pasai aper ?  Period pain!! Hadoi.

After breakfast …

Ok .. breakfast. Memula tenok kat the buffet table tuuu

Aarghk??? Nak mkan mcamana ni??

So, amek jus n buah dulu …

Pastu, tengok mat saleh sebelah meja ni makan ape?

Then, blasah jer la … makan sajerla labu.

Surprisingly … makan ntah haper haper tu

Kenyang gak perut ni!

Dua pagi breakfast kat otel ni ... the choice of makanan is lebey kurang same jer. Cili grill dia ni sedap la. Alahai, cam rindu lak makanan dia... (^-^)

View from the roof top restaurant

“So, where to today? Aper programme?” said mr paPa

“Since today is Monday, Aya Sofia tutup. Kite gi Topkapi Palace”

“Topikapi Palace? Tempat aper tu?”

“Topkapii ...., Istana raja.  Macam kat Jogja ... Istana Keraton tu"

FYI, this trip, mr paPa doesn’t know anything about the trip

He leaves everything to me. 5 hari lagi nak gi baru dia tanya ...

“eh, gi Turki x yah visa ke?  Hotel dah ader?  Gi sampai 10 hari, nak wat aper kat sana lama-lama?”

Haiyo  mr paPa …. *tepuk dahi*

So we walked to Topkapi Palace … folo jer signages dia

The day was quite cold. Hari pun cam mendung jer

Per Accuweather, there’ll be occasional rain.

Dok doa dlm hati .. “Ya Allah Ya Tuhan ku, Kau alihkan hujan ke tempat lain. Hambamu ini ingin melihat kehebatan ciptaanmu di bumi Istanbul ini”

Oops lupa.

B4 that, we went to cari to beli pad dulu.

Dok google … Dia kater cari kat farmasi.

Tanya kat reception, sib baik ade satu farmasi kat blakang hotel!

Phewww  … lega! Tapi ….

Ader tapinye … pad dia… Alahai

Nipis!! X macam kat Mesia. Heavy Flow dia … alahai

Still nipis!!  Aper nak buat, blasah jer la

Terus beli 3 bungkus. Janji ader.

carik yng ader signage cam ni. Credit to mr gooGle.

or yg cam ni ajer ... Credit to mr gooGle lagik

So, when we got there, about 10am kowt

The Q was quite long.

Tpi, x lama pun Q nye, bout 15-20minits.

When we got in …

Waaah … cantik garden dia.

We spent quite A lot of time in there.

Dalam Topkapi Palace ade a lot of peninggalan sejarah Islam

Form pedang Rasulullah SAW, janggut Rasulullah SAW,  jubah puteri Rasulullah Saidatina Fatimah and macam2 lagi.

Dalam dewan ni, ade orng mengaji secara live .. 24/7, since dari dolu dolu lagi.

Sedap swara dia … Syahdu dengo.

Ader pulak group mat saleh bebudak muda dok buat lawak bodo

Terus kena halau ngn pak guard! Tak hormat langsung!!

Mat saleh depan ai lak mintak maaf kat ai ...

Sebab ai muslim kowt.

A little bit on Topkapi Palace :

-The Topkapı Palace is a large palace in Istanbul, that was the primary residence of the Ottoman for approximately 400 years (1465-1856) of their 624 year reign. The palace complex consists of four main courtyards and many smaller buildings. At its peak, the palace was home to as many as 4,000 people and covered a large area with a long shoreline. It contained mosques, a hospital, bakeries, and a mint.

-Construction began in 1459, ordered by Sultan Mehmed II, the conqueror of Byzantine Constantinople. It was originally called the New Palace (Yeni Sarayı) to distinguish it from the previous residence. It received the name "Topkapı" in the 19th century, after a (now lost) gate and shore pavilion. The complex was expanded over the centuries, with major renovations after the 1509 earthquake and the 1665 fire.

-After the 17th century the Topkapı Palace gradually lost its importance as the sultans preferred to spend more time in their new palaces along the Bosphorus. In 1856, Sultan Abdul Mecid I decided to move the court to the newly built Dolmabahçe Palace, the first European-style palace in the city. Some functions, such as the imperial treasury, the library, and the mint, were retained in the Topkapı Palace.

-Following the end of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, Topkapı Palace was transformed to a museum of the imperial era by Mustafa Kemal Atarturk.

Source : Wikipedia

Tengok jam … Pukul 2?? Lamanye duk kat sini.
lama pun bukan sebabape ... ralit tengok bunga tulips dia.
lagipun, nak masuk satu satu dewan tu kena beratur ...

Lunch … we just makan simit TL2 per piece.

Sapu ngan Nutella. Simits n jus delima. Kenyang gak.

Stop cni dulu  (◕‿◕) ...

Once upon a time in ... Turkey, 1

Macam mimpi rasenye.

Alhamdulillah, Allah mempermudahkan segalanya.

Finally, ader rezeki ai & mr papa menjejakkan kaki di bumi bertuah … Turkey.

Selama ni, ai dok sampai Turkey thru other peoples’ blog, thru google map…

Ok, lets start.

6/o4/2014

Was the day.

Got the green light from mr paPa, sometime in October 2013

Once approval dapat … Book flight. Although dah miss Sept Matta Fair.

Tapi, the price is still under RM2100/pax.

Zaap zup zip … terus masuk Booking.Com

Alhamdulillah, sumer hotel yg ai dah bookmark, sumer available.

We arrived in Istanbul at 1.30pm. Nak chop passport tu … Q dia…

Berpusing pusing. Ramai sungguh org datg visit Istanbul ni.

For someone yg dok travel to Indon jer & in Mesia.

Tengok byk bangsa luar ni… Dengo bahase diorg, yg selalu dengo dlam tv tu

Raser macam surreal jer...

Keluar jer epot, ai dah nampak my name on the namecard.

Our taxi was already waiting … Oh yes, ai wat booking taxi kat sini.

Nek van Mercedes ... uuu.  Kerrlass gitew.

Kat Mesia, pun x pernah nek Mercedes!! Terus to Hotel.

It was on a Sunday, so smooth ride all the way.

In 20minits we arrived at Hotel Evsen.

One thing about this hotel, from google map, hotel mcm depan jalan.

But its not, it’s a lorong, and taxi x masuk jalan ni.

So, the taxi drop kat depan jalan besar, and we walked ke dalam sket. 

Tak jauh pun. Tapi, nak seret bag tu la ... Jalannye x smooth.. 

Bilik dia … kecik!! Nak solat pun sempit.

Tpi, ok la kan. Bukan nk duduk dlam bilik pun.

Btw, theres no kettle in the room. 

Ayak botol complimentary pun x dak!

Letak beg jer … teruus tido.

Boleh pulak … ai dating period! @#$?*&%??!!

Dahla bawak pantiliner & pad yg biaser jer,

Bukan pon time dia untuk datng! Banyak giler lak tu.

Hadoi yai ... manalak nak carik pad kat sini ???

Kul 5ptg, bangun, mr paPa solat, baru kitorg kuar

Jalan dekat dekat jer pun.

Memula tu cuak gak.

Selama ni dok tengok jalan kat google map jer kann ..

Nak ke kanan .. cam x betul jer

Tanya la kat satu mamat ni.

‘Sultan Ahmet Camii?’

‘Yes, yes.’ Sambil tangan duk tunjuk jalan terus.

X smpai seploh minit jalan dah sampai.

Memula nampak tulips …

Waaaahhh … cantiknyeeee…

Nampak Aya Sofia …

Waaahhh … Besooornye

Nampak Blue Mosque @ SultanAhmet Camii

Waaaaaaaaahhhh ...

Lapar lak ... Ade orng jual bende aper ntah ... Beli jer. Sedap gak.

Roti canai like .... sapu ngan Nutella!!

Eksaited jumpa tulips ... 

X leh duduk lama …

Sejukkk … sampai kuar ayak idung.

Then weols jalan ikut the tram line

Nak tuko duit.

Bloggers pesan suh tuko duit kat area Grand Bazaar

Tpi, mlm tu .. x larat rasenyer nak jalan jauh

Sejuk tahap gaban!!

Lepas tuko duit, carik bende nak isi perut

So, we went to one of the restaurants.

After dinner, balik hotel.

Almost tersesat cari hotel tu.

Maklumla tempat baru. X familiar, lagipun dah gelap.

First dinner in Istanbul ....

Ok.

That's the end of day 1.

Umrah 2014

haaish ...
i have to finish this first 
b4 i stat wif stories on Turkey.


After balik from Masjid Hudaibiyah,
terus gi wat umrah right after zohor.
completed 5 minits before asar.

Lepas solat asr tu,
mr paPa, berkejar balik
sebab nak join panjat Jabal Nur
me??   x pe la. i duk bilik ajer
lagi pun penat gila, masa saie tu.
Oh yes... masa saie tu...
ujan turun dengan lebatnye!!
Alhamdulillah .. ujan rahmat
Tp, mase ujan tu pulak
my mom tgh wat tawaf kat atas.
Basah sebasah nye!! Inside out ... :p

di kaki Jabal Nur

Another selfie of Mr paPa againn

Tangga ... bayangkan zaman Rasulullah S.A.W dulu ... camne dia panjat!! Pastu Siti Khadijah dok datang ari ari anto makanan .... 

Kat bawah tula ruang tpt gua Rasulullah berkhalwat...

Sunset ... ZamZam Tower dari kejauhan ...

Cakkk! ... Sempit ruangnyer. 

After Isyak baru mr pApa balik otel ...
dok ngadu ... lenguh kaki!! :p

Ai think this is the last posting on our Umrah trip.
Coz, kalau x silap selang shari of going to Jabal Nur ni,
we went back to Mesia.

Overall i'm quite satisfied with mai travel agent ni.
InsyaAllah next year, klu ader rezeki we'll go again
Amiiin.

Once upon a time in ... Turkey

Since tengah cuti lagi ni ...
i'll write on the daily xtvt when we were in Turkey ...

06/04/2014, Sunday

12.30am - Checkin at KLIA

02.30am - Boarding

03.30am - Flight take-off

07.30am - Flying above Benglaore, India

06.15am - Arrive Doha (Doha time)

07.50am - Boarding

09.30am - Take-off … Lama tunggu passenger yg x sampai2 lagi …

01.30pm - Arrive Istanbul, 19C

03.30pm - Checkin hotel, then tidoq!!!

05.45pm - Out jalan jalan  area Blue Mosque / Hippodrome.

Gi tuko $$.  Bought kebabs for dinner.  Balik hotel, sebab sejuk sangat!!  X tahan..

07/04/2014, Monday

09.30am - Topkapi Palace, E/fee TL25/pax. the Q was quite long

12.00pm - Blue Mosque, osem masjid!  Huge!  Solat here, had simit, jus delima & the osem ice-cream!!  Bought Istanbulkad from a lady selling aper ntah.  Had Islak burger .. sedaaap!

04.30pm - Grand Bazaar, walk around.  Keluar entrance mana ntah.

06.00pm - Tram to Spice Bazaar. Smaller than Grand Bazaar.

07.30pm - Head back, sejuuuk!!!

08/04/2014, Tuesday

10.00am - Checkout, leave bags

10.30am - Gulhane Park, beautiful garden.  Osem tulips here.  Giler tengok!!

02.00pm - Aya Sofia,  E/fee TL25/pax. Q was ok. Sangat jaw dropping with the building. Huge! Massive sungguh!! Pictures in the itenet didn’t do justice. U have to be there to see it!  Had Simits & promegranate juice

04.30pm - Basilica Cistern,  E/fee TL10/pax.

06.30pm - back to hotel,  naek shuttle bus to Buyuk Otogar.

08.00pm - Sampai bus station

08.30pm - Bus to Cappadocia

09/04/2014, Wednesday

07.15am - Reached Nevsehir, changed to a smaller van to Goreme

08.00am - Reached Goreme, within 5minits, Ahmet of Arif Cave came and picked us up.          Checkin, freshen up, had breakfast.

09.30am - Green Tour. TL100/pax.  Penat!! Whole day of hiking & walking. But, it was fun.  Met new friends from Tunisia, Georgia, Columbia, Korea, China, and ... mana ntah lagi.

06.30pm - back at the hotel. Too tired to go out for dinner!!  Makan biskut & air jer

10/04/2014, Thursday

05.00am - They came and pick us up. Had breakfast at their office.

06.30am - To the location

07.15am - We r up in the skies …  What a feeling!!!

09.00am - Back at the hotel.  Had breakfast again.

11.30am - Checked out.  Walked to Goreme Open Air Museum …. Twas a verrrrrrry looooooooong walk!!!

01.00pm - Lepak around the small town of Goreme.

07.30pm - Bus to Pamukkale

11/04/2014, Friday

05.40am - they dropped us at the roadside, changed to another small van. Waited for an hour for another bus.

07.30am - Reached Pamukkale office

09.30am - Tour TL60/pax.  Visited Hierapolis, Pamukkale, lunch & Onyx factory.

04.00pm - back at the bus station. Took a van to Denizli

05.00pm - Bus to Selchuk.

08.30pm - Arrive Selchuk, Emre pick us up & checked in

12/04/2014, Saturday

09.30am - Took dolmus (TL5/pax to/fro) to Ephesus. E/fee TL25/pax

12.30pm - Checked out.

01.00pm - Walked to Isabey Camii. Impressive masjid. Different from other masjid.  Walked up to St John Basilica.  E/fee TL8/pax.

03.00pm - walked back to the bus station, drop bag. Jalan keliling, went to the pasar malam like kat belakang bus station.

04.30pm - Took dolmus to Sirince town (TL6/pax to/fro)

06.00pm - Back at the bus station. Took another dolmus to Pamuncak Beach (TL6/pax to/fro). Nothing much here.

07.00pm - Back at the bus station.  Lepak, solat & dinner.

10.00pm - Bus to Istanbul

13/04/2014, Sunday

05.10am - Reached Topcular Feri Terminal. The bus nek feri for +/- 30minits.

07.00am - reached Buyuk Otogar. Took taxi to Hotel, nightmare in the taxi.

07.50am - Checkin the hotel, had breakfast

10.30am - Dolmabache Palace, TL30/pax. Another jaw dropping experience here!!

01.30pm - Had Balik ekmek at Galata Bridge are. Ader pulak bebudak bergaduh kat sini …!

03.00pm - Took taxi to Miniaturk. TL10/pax. Nice place.

05.00pm - Walked to Grand Bazaar … Shopping kat area luar Grand Bazaar.

07.00pm - Dinner and lepak around Sultanahmet area

14/04/2014, Monday

09.30am - Walked to Kucuk Aya Sofia, 15minits walk jer. Cute little masjid.

10.30am – Terjumpa Arasta Bazaar

11.00am -  Galata Bridge, had another round of Balik ekmek

12.30pm - Bosphorus Cruise.

03.00pm - Spice Bazaar … Shopping

06.00pm - Grand Bazaar … Shopping

07.30pm – Dinner, solat & lepak around Sultanahmet area

15/04/2014, Tuesday

09.30am - Checked out

10.00am - Walked to Suleymaniye Camii.  Another very impressive Masjid!

12.00pm - Grand Bazaar … Shopping kat area luar.

01.oopm - Lunch

02.00pm - Solat & lepak around Sultan Ahmet Camii area, last kebab here

03.30pm - Taxi to Atartuk Havalimani, flight delayed!

08.00pm - Flight to Doha

11.45pm – Arrive Doha

16/04/2014, Wednesday

01.15am - Flight to Kuala Lumpur

02.45pm - Arrive KLIA

04.00pm – Home Sweet Home

   ---  The End ---

i'll get into the details of the trip later, ok  ;p