Turkish Delight

after performing umrah, and staying about 4 days in Madinah, 4 days in Makkah, we went to Istanbul, Turkey.

what's awesome about this place is that it's a muslim country!

masa kat sana.. macam jakun sekejap coz from the moment we stepped into the city, everywhere we went we were greeted with "assalamualaikum!" by mat-salleh-looking people.

imagine, people with coloured eyes, not the usual brown/black as we asians have, and hair yang macam blonde-ish, brownish, bukan macam asian yang typical black and kalau ye pun, dyed hair... and muslim.

tak ke cool?!!

senang gila!! everything there is halal, beautiful mosques everywhere and people are friendly!

it's like KL version mat salleh.

hahaha!!

my body pun culture shock kat sana. it was extremely cold! on the day of our arrival, it snowed!!

i was wearing this ThePoplook Henley Tunic top and had a sweater on, and guess la what happened. i was freezing my pants off!! my malaysian skin could not cope with winter it seems. hahaha!! so i caught flu when i was there. macam pelik je. catching cold when it's cold. why cannot catch heat when cold? apa ini maria shmaria? lu bukan budak medic maka tanya lah pakar nanti ya kenapa kita catch cold when it's cold. brehueuehheueee =p

yup, it was that cold. but my family coped better than i did. =)

so first day takde buat pape sangat. though we did go to Grand Bazaar that day, and i strongly recommend people to not shop so much there. it's nice to see but in terms of shopping, i think they mark up a lot because the grand bazaar is a tourist attraction. for example the pashminas, it's like 10 turkish lira there, about RM20. and material-wise, sama je. lebih baik beli sini je kot.. if you want to buy souvenirs, buy outside grand bazaar. can get cheaper price =)

mama and moi on 2nd day in istanbul =D

Istanbul, Masyallah, cantik betul the city. it's HUGEEEE!! and it's situated on the border of asia and europe! that's why diorang mat salleh tapi ada asian-ness!

here's me trying to get used to the chilled weather. was wearing ThePoplook Bell Sleeve blouse, my one and only jeans yang fit me nicely and my safety boots. haha! tak la. kasut gangsta i call it. =p

i thought i was ok on the second day, tapi tak jugak rupanya. still had to wear jacket. 

behind my pucat face is the awesome Blue Mosque!

it is one of the most beautiful masjid's i've ever been in. i wish i took more pics of the insides.. but masa ni my fingers were frozen. had to ask my bros to help me with the pics. heee =) it's my first time seeing a masjid opened for tourists. i think non-muslims yang visit pun cannot deny, it is beautiful, unique, bright and awesome! hehe!

this was at Topkapi Palace. again, couldn't take pics because my fingers malfunctioned. haha!

the best part about this place is this!! inside the palace museum, ada this place where we saw relics of Nabi Muhammad SAW and his sahabat! ada swords, ada hair from his beard, ada Kaabah's lock, Hajar aswad zaman dulu, and much more!! we couldn't take pictures in it.. and the security was kinda tight, so telan image dalam otak je. oh well. it was a blessing dapat tengok all those sutff. =D

we went to loads of places after visiting this palace, but sadly.. the cold got the better of me.. we got to see medusa's stone heads in an underground "city" called Basilica Cistern. i'm not an artsy person, so i couldn't care less about the significance of the heads. haha! =p

ada la banyak lagi tempat we visited. and the best part of it all, we walked throughout!! memang healthy to the max la the locals. kitorang malaysians ni kalau 1km pun nak drive je. the turks, they just walk. terror tul. but then, if our weather is like theirs, maybe we wouldn't mind walking around.. 

on the third day, we went to spice bazaar where we bought some tea, turkish delights yang yum! and mama bought some rare spices. 

this was supposed to be a family picture but ada orang enterframe! hahahhaa! kurang asam betul!

after the spice bazaar, we went on a boat trip where we saw the whole city, both from european side and asian side. from there, we actually saw the mixture in terms of architecture influences. istanbul is really really beautiful!

mama looking very happy here =D

as for me, i was freezing like crazy tapi muka tetap control. haha! this is my favourite safiyyah shawl xl from TudungPeople!

this is a place on the asian side of istanbul where we saw the panoramic view of the cities. and this jumping shot of Ike, is my kind of art. hahaha!! =p i je yang pandai tangkap gambar lompat! my jumping pics sume fail. geram tul. so tak dapat jumping shot, tangkap biasa2 je la. 

posing with mama =p

on the last day, we just went around shopping. actually, more on window shopping. to be quite frank, malaysia is way cheaper. we didn't buy much there but we had to look at what their market's like. i prefer malaysia's stuff. hahaha!

maria sedang bajet sebab pakai charlene chiffon maxi dress from ThePoplook yang best. haha!!

now, this is a bazaar i'd recommend people to go! cheap and cute stuff they sell. they don't have la plates or whatever kitchen stuff mothers would wanna buy, but for those yang nak beli souvenir yang light and easy, this. is. good. enough! =D
it's at this place called Ortakoy. we found the place by chance actually. abah wanted to go to Hard Rock Cafe and mama apparently found an address in the internet. so the driver took us to this place, only to find that there were no hard rock cafes in istanbul. maluuu! hahaha! nasib la jugak, or else we wouldnt know this place. =)

after eating, walking around and shopping, we went to have dinner at this place called Konak Cafe near Galata Towers. 

it's a cafe on a rooftop, and this is the shot of the view from up there. i could've taken more, but i was cold, and i couldn't feel my fingers. hahaha! ini je la yang mampu. =p the food was good too! strongly recommended!

it was a lovely way to end our short vacay sana. =)

we flew back to malaysia the next day, where heat awaits. i was literally holding back tears of joy when the plane touched down on malaysian ground. i missed the heat! hahahahaha! balik keluar airport, ha amek kau. humid air slapped our dry faces, terus jadi moisturised. (kat istanbul muka kering). ok exaggerate aje =p

so, Istanbul is definitely a beautiful city and to date, i think it's the most beautiful city i've been to!

there're more places that we have not explored and i'm sure i'll go there again!
and if i ever go there again, i'll go when it's not cold! woooottttt!! =p

peace.