Istanbul Trip 2013: Day 2

28 May 2013 (dad’s birthday!)

Day 2 started early. We had breakfast at 7am. Emine came to the hotel to pick us up at 9am. While waiting for her, we had a stroll around the block amik angin pagi.

Budak ni makan coco pops with milk, ratah salami and breadstick cicah nutella. Kasi tu je hidup la dia. He’s not the type who likes to try new food. Unlike little Z who nganga to everything we suap. If tak suka baru dia spit it out. Si IY ni pulak jangankan rasa, bau pun pun tak nak kalau tak kena di mata dia. The hotel breakfast spread was not as lavish and scrumptious like Malaysian hotels, but it’s not bad. Peach juice dia fresh and sedap. It was my fav among all

The hotel ada free wifi. So kitaorang pulun la berFB, berIG, berinternet segala masa kat hotel. I bought the data plan only during our first day and last day je (sebab masa tu everyone berpecah jalan2 sendiri and we had to communicate with each other). I’m a Maxis-an so kena manually select telco Turkey named AVEA. It’s RM38 per day unlimited usage

Jalan2 round the block. Bentuk mukabumi kat sini is very berbukit (remember Lisa running in heels naik bukit turun bukit in the movie?). Bayangkan we had to tolak stroller jalan kat sini/dukung anak naik jalan ni! Dah la jalan dia jenis cobblestone macam tu. Whoaa! I lost 1kg during this holiday hasil tolak stroller and dukung Z most of the time. Suka tapi seksa!

Our first destination for the day was Camlica Hill. Ni macam ala2 park. People come to picnic or relax. But most of them come here for the view. Another breathtaking spectacular view!

Bright sunny day–268m above sea level

That’s Emine our tour guide

Next stop was the Beylerbeyi Palace. It’s the summer residence for Sultan AbdulAziz in 1861. It’s also the place to entertain the royal guests during that time. It’s huge!

We were not allowed to take pictures inside the palace. Masuk kena batch by batch in groups. Dia control tak boleh crowded sangat kat dalam. As we walked inside (with kaki kasut balut dengan plastic) we were given explanation by our guide about the story of the palace. It’s really huge inside with most of it made of real stuff–pearl, gold, etc. And the chandeliers are OMG! The size of each room is like the size our house in KL including kitchen! And when I say strict, you wanna know how strict? There’s a staff who followed us to ensure nothing is touched and we have to move fast. Takleh nak belek lama2 coz batch lain nak masuk pulak. Kat luar nun beratur panjang!

Palace compound. Only a bit part of it. 10% je kot. It’s that huge!

Adik with his lentok pose when asked to smile! Dan dan terus senget!

It’s not easy to be picture perfect with these 2! Tengok la sendiri!

We went for our seafood lunch. Sempat la salin diaper Z and bancuh susu sebotol dua untuk bekalan petang pulak. My boys drank a whole lot of milk along this trip. Maybe sebab kena makan benda baru and they are not use to the on-the-go kinda meals. Milk kept them full and energized. I brought a tin of formula and habis in 6 days! Tak cukup sebenarnya. Had to catu during the last day sebab dah nyawa2 ikan je supply. Went to look around the supermarket tak jual formula se-banyak kat Malaysia. Try cari substitute choc milk but the boys tak minat. Lucky Z is still breastfeeding. Although his direct bf now is just for penghilang haus je. LOL!

The restaurant is under the bridge. People ramai tengah memancing from above. Nampak tak joran fishing lines top left corner?

Makan Turkish seafood yang sangat healthy. Grilled seabass with the condiments. Mana la tak lose weight kan? LOL!

My view during lunch — if only the boys were not so kecoh I might have enjoyed it even more. *sigh*

After lunch, Emine brought us to a carpet wholeseller shop. Turkey is famous for its handmade carpets. Beautiful masterpiece! The tokey can speak Malay sebab he married a Malay Singaporean. So takleh la nak cover2 kutuk cakap Melayu. Kah kah kah!

Mountains of carpet. We were brought upstairs. Dia tebar satu per satu carpet. From the biggest to the smallest. From the most expensive to the cheapest. Anak saya lari2 dalam ni macam bapak dorang tokey kedai. Tumpahkan air atas sofa TWICE! Nasib baik bukan atas carpet. Kalau atas carpet, tak balik Malaysia kot kitaorang. Kena keje situ bayar hutang. *Nangess!*

These carpets cost puluh ribu USD!! Can you believe that? Jamu mata sajo. Gile nak beli? But I can’t deny it’s gorgeous! Capital G!! They are reversible boleh pakai both sides and the colour changes depending on the light coz the thread dye colour they use is from natural vegetables. Bukan artificial colouring. And ada yang yang shining tu coz it’s made of silk thread. Hoh cantik sangat!

We were served Turkish tea, Turkish coffee and juice for the kids. Most of the kedai there suka nak serve drinks to us. And it’s not polite if we say no. Tapi rasa bersalah je kalau tak beli, kan?

Demo on how they weave the carpets. This lady has 20+ years experience weaving carpets. She’s a pro. Tengok macam mana dia selit and ikat thread tu satu per satu. Yang atas tu is the pattern dia kena follow to form the design on the finished product. Same concept like when we do cross stitch. And oh, one carpet takes about 4-5 years to complete!

Done with the carpets, off we go to the jetty — Bosphorus cruise. Panas terik di darat, naik ferry terus semua jadi sejuk menggigil. But the view was magnificent. Subhanallah!

Z was a little cranky masa tu. He slept for a bit and woke up crying wanting to be held standing. Thought he was cold tapi dia tak nak jacket. We suspected he was sea sick. Nasib baik tak muntah. The cruise was quite long. Sejam setengah macam boring jugak la towards the end tak sabar nak sampai jetty

The Spice Market was just nearby the jetty. Walking distance lintas jalan je. Tapi manusia di situ Ya Allah ramai sangat! Nasib baik tak bawak stroller that day. Dukung peluk je anak. Even IY! Takut terlepas tangan. We didn’t spend much time at the market. Straight to the point Emine took us to a shop and we bought spices and nuts and Turkish delights.

One thing about going on a trip on a guided package is they take us directly to a shop. Takde chance nak explore pusing2 recce the place. And the other thing yang kurang best is they have a time constraint, we were like terkejar2 from one place to another

That was the last itinerary for day 2. Toodles!

-Pu3-