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Monday, March 26, 2012

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.

56 comments:

Sura said...

i miss turkey :(

bicara mak dara said...

Waduhhh bilalah dapat ke sana macam Maria dan family tu agaknya.. huhuhu

MOHD UZAIR NORDIN said...

i know that guy yg interframe tuh...
he's the travel agent guy right? he's actually did the same thing to us i bet that pic kat dpn spice bazaar...

Cik tikah said...

snow snow!!!

Qa said...

wahh bestnye :)

una said...

cantik ! :)

zoeLa said...

bestnyerr :)

Atiqah Razak said...

bestnya !

FirdausRock said...

nice!

Unknown said...

wow thats cool :P

Farah Suraya said...

Bestnya kak maria dpt buat umrah sekali holiday ke Istanbul .Sy nak sgt pergi Istanbul lepas baca novel Rindu di Awan Biru .Novel tu psl Hanan,tour guide .Hanan tu bwk rombongan ke Istanbul ni lah .Dari situ lah sy nak sgt pg Istanbul .InsyaAllah one fine day :)

mujagirl92 said...

istanbul should be one of my dream place to go but when i am economically stabil,, for sure i'll go during summer,, kih3

http://mujadafewa.blogspot.com/2012/03/first-giveaway-by-nurmujahidah-lady.html

LittleGurl said...

you're so lucky my dearest sista for been there :) i wish to be there too someday InsyaAllah.

Unknown said...

cantik!best!

Zharif Azis said...

uwaaa best nyaaa >__<

Anonymous said...

Masya Allah..the last picture is so beautiful!

dya nasir said...

best nye..teringin pula nk ke sana tp tak ada rezeki lagi..huhu

Maya Diana said...

interesting experience...please share dear.......

jemputan khas:Para bloggers yg kiut miut semua....apa kata share N3 u olls kat web ni RakanBlog . Meningkatkan trafik dan follower blog u olls.Rangkaian bloggers Malaysia.TERHANGAT DAN SEGAR DARI LADANG....hehehehe

Unknown said...

wowwww..kehlasss ko maria !!!


turki ni best & cun seehhh....bile laa dpt berangan nk p cb try test ek..

Sugus said...

Kakak dah macam orang sana je. ;)

athirah said...

sayangnyaaaa kita tak pi ortakoyyy :(

NadyaBubble said...

Subhanallah :D

ely said...

awesome :)
blue mosque , sangat cantek lahh

[wani_mn] said...

masjid tuuu... subhnallah.. cantiknya!

Ain Razali said...

best nye dapat pegi sane.. u make me want to go there la maria :)

fara said...

may i know what travel agency yang u guna? been there once. but masa tu i gi istanbul and busra then ahead to madinah and mekah buat umrah

i wud prefer buat umrah then gi jenjalan, like u did.

if it is ok, can u bagi tahu what travel agent. tq

Nana Tarmizi said...

haishh..bestnye kak maria :)

apricot pie said...

wowww..best nya.!such a nice place..must go there one day..

safiah sokher said...

Hope I'll get the chance to drop by someday :)

hujan freak! said...

hope i can go there someday.:)

Anonymous said...

sis maria sgt chumel...=)
btw, sis kenal x sallehuddin , ex utp
classmate sis ..
he send his regard for u ..=)

syitah said...

di malaysia pun ade
masjid opened for tourists :)

poplook is nice..
but they don't have my size...
so....not nice! ha ha ha

The Rocking Hijab said...

Salam sis Maria,

I am usually a silent reader but when I saw that black (what do you call that? jacket? coat?) thingie you're wearing, all the forces in the Universe seem to have summoned itself into me and thus, leading to me typing a comment, here. So persoalannya ialah, beli kat mana? :P

Unknown said...

ada tak makan turkish delight? hehehe

zUraiDa aWaNg mat said...

maria elena,

sorry i took a pics of yours from this blog coz i made this post about you. so thanks and sorry. huhu.

owh if free p laa baca. sbb honestly dh lama nk buat post pasal you tp bz. so there you go.

http://zuraidaawangmat.blogspot.com/2012/03/kenapa-saya-suka-maria-elena.html

Anonymous said...

turkey is awesome right? i miss turkey!! hoping to go back there once more.. i went there 2 years ago.. with 3 of my friends..no tourist guide... semua buat sendiri.. mmg adventure habes.

Ini Mashi said...

Nice view... and nice place... :)

RIZZNA said...

a wonderful turkey with a wonderful maria elena...

alhamdulillah, so when plak nak buat haji? wish u be there again... :)

Unknown said...

best nyaaaaaaa. someday kena ada vacation with kak maria. mesti ramai nk ikut. yay. count on me pls. HHAA

ku-ni said...

Salam.
hey girl!
nak tanya bout ur kasut gangsta tu. mana dapat ha? i'm dying to find a right safety boots yg nampak ladies sikit.
thanks. x)

Anonymous said...

the 5th picture is nice *thumbs up*

Nana said...

muka mak kak maria muda laa..

hanisah~ said...

You mean bekas Hajar Aswad yang lama? Mana ada hajar aswad yang baru or lama, there's only one :3

Anonymous said...

Dah lama ikut blog kamu..tapi saya rasa kamu makin ayu instead of cute..kamu cantik..

Zida said...

kak maria, nanti nak datang cairo plak ke, koba2 la ye :D

Pink Lavender said...

lps umrah dpt visit turkey!!

soo nica la bandar dia..
makneng follow kamu
jemput ke blog makneng juga

Serpil said...

Assalamu alaikum sister. its too hot in İstanbul now nearly 35 celcius. you should visit İstanbul in summer :)i am a new blogger please follow me on http://stayinagoodmood.blogspot.com/

muslimahmerahjambu said...

uu...seronoknya k.maria..jenjaln jer kje die..pgi umrah un dah..oh..istanbul..like it...ptut arr k.maria un jnis randomly behaviour and happening, fmily k.maria un sme..haha...

Puan Eka said...

disebabkan terpukau dgn kecantikan istanbul dalam cite istanbul aku datang,eh alert sangat dengan istanbul skang ni..

hehehe

ternampak entry lama kak maghia...

yeni dogan said...

salam , saya tinggal di istanbul for good sebab suami org sini . jom datang turkey lagi

Miss Naa said...

i wa to go t Instabul badly!! hee..

Anonymous said...

Nice pictures i appreciate you may ALLAH give you a chance to perform umrah and hajj if you are interested to perform umrah with family i suggest cheap umrah packages for group this is one of best package it provides cheap traveling cost.

Unknown said...

Istanbul .. nice places..bile dapat pergi tu? about 10 years from now..maybe..ehehe..n suke tgk video tu..one family happy go lucky ~ sbb tu awet muda ye kak..;)

http://sayangkunurhana.blogspot.com/

Unknown said...

assalamualaikum
We sell abayas , jilbabs, hijabs and really beautiful slides and hijabpins. We try to keep our prices as low as possible.Welcome to visit;
busana muslim

wa salaam

Yusof Mohd said...

Ada sesape yang boleh suggest agent yg boleh buat umrah dan ziarah? dah ada cuma nak tahu yang lain untuk mencari yang terbaik dan berpatutan.

Lensa Axfar said...

hahaha cools