So, I have done with Turkiye 1.0...
Shall this lazy me continue with Turkiye 2.0 ?
The answer is YES !
Hai... Assalamualaikum...
Day 02~
So, kitorang bangun pagi and segera bersiap...
Scheduled to start visiting at 9am...tapi 7.30 am kitorang dah keluar dari apartment dan menghirup udara segar di luar !
morning istanbul ! morning view just outside of our apartment... =D
right side ! istanbul city is on the hill...so streets, alleys and pavements all are elevating and depressing...
me in the morning ! sabah iyi... * good morning
so, we were like going around within the circumference of that place...
I liked walking alone and snapped photos...
While walking, there was a man jogging and greeted me...
he asked me about Istanbul...
and of course, beautiful was the first word to be said !
than he replied... " you are beautiful too..!"
gosh ! terharu...haha...
then, we talked for a while, and he kindly offered to show us places for visiting...
but I refused the offer nicely and said that there is someone handling and will bring us visiting...=D
Then, we had our first breakfast at the cafe of the apartment...
this was our breakfast... I took a glass of fresh orange because there was only coffee provided and I dont prefer coffee...huhu * cukuplah musim study week hari tu
dried apricots, dried fig * buah tin, slices of preserved meat * of course I dont like the taste, half of egg, bread, strawberry jam and nuttella...
* on that particular time, I really missed nasi lemak as I always have a plate of nasi lemak for breakfast when staying in hotel in Malaysia...
then, came someone, Turkish guy, tall and quite good looking greeting us...
rupanya beliau adalah tourist guide kitorang pagi tu
his name is Abou Bakr...and we called him Abou...
After having breakfast, he brought us to Gulhana Garden...
Gulhana Garden in morning... the word " Gul" means roses... so, basically, the national flowers of Turkey are Gul/ roses and Lale/ tulip...
Rose signifies as Rasulullah s.a.w and tulip signifies as Allah swt... and each seed of tulip could only grow a tulip from it..and ascends upward... Therefore, it symbolizes Allah as one and up there...
However, sekarang winter, so flowers dont bloom beautifully... ada tapi sedikit....
sky at Gulhana... blue sky...
another view
me...and Abou Bakr was there ! tak sedar bila dia duduk situ...aigoo ~
the museum in the Gulhana...
There were almost everything in there... astrology instruments, geometry, medical etc!
Interesting that all those came from the brilliant minds of Moslems...
collage of the several photos from the museum... to insert every each of them, duhh.. it would be a post only for that museum...
Then, in the middle of visiting, Saed came... from the beginning we called him 'ustaz' although he is a UIAM marine biotechnology post-grad, not even studied specifically regarding Islamic studies...
and of course, he is the brother of Syihab who supposed to fetch us at the airport... Unfortunately, he couldnt... so Nabhan and Arif came... As I remember, the first time we met him was at the apartment, managing our luggages yang berat macam nak duduk sana terus tu...=P
Next, they, Abou and Saed brought us to Hagia Sofia... Hagia means Saint/St. and Sofia is something like philosophy? according to Saed...
the ticket of passing in... 25 TL... only Abou came inside accompanying us...
entrance into the Hagia Sofia/ Ayasofiya...
me in front of Hagia Sofiya... =D
the first passage upon entering Hagia Sofia... I liked the view so I snapped a photo of it...
the kubah of Hagia Sofia... Pengetahuan ye... Hagia Sofia ada banyak kubah.... the purpose was to absorb the force of earthquake... because you know Turkey located within Pacific Ring of Fire/ Lingkaran Api Pasifik...
second photo of the kubah.... there were six circles of names if I am not mistaken... There are Allah swt, Muhammad s.a.w, the four of Khulafa' Ar Rasyidin ; Abu Bakar, Umar, Uthman, Ali, and Hassan and Hussin...
the place where khatib reads khutbah or mimbar.... =D
imam's place.. Historically, Hagia Sofia was a church for approximately 500 years and was changed into a mosque for 600 years in order to spread the Islamic syiar brought by Uthmaniyyah Kingdom when they succeeded opening the Constantinople... after the destroying of the Uthmaniyyah Kingdom, the status of Hagia Sofia was left pending until now... was gazetted as a museum for visitors...
us... =D
mosaics... camera flash was strictly forbidden here because as we can see... there was only half of the mosaic left while another half had gone due to the camera flash...
So, sooner after having done in the Hagia Sofia... we went out and had lunch... on that day, we ate kofte... all of us liked that !
again...I dont remember the name of this restaurant.... but Saed brought us there...
the food... kofte was nowhere there... too tired walking maybe... I dunno what did I capture for...
but right in front of me is a plate of rice...
Then, after we had eaten, we continued to Topkapi, the palace of Uthmaniyyah Kingdom...
again...entering pass... spelling is Topkapi... mentioned as Topkaper... something like that ~
view near the entrance of Topkapi...
entrance of Topkapi... such a very long way before entering....
I was happened to capture several photos before reaching the entrance...
one of them...* just bila masa lah aku pegi hendap tepi pokok ambil gambar ni...huhu
another one of them...=D
I barely dont remember whether this photo was outside or inside the Topkapi... You know when there were up to 500 photos captured, you were easily forgot when and where each one of them was ! huhu
it was inside the Topkapi...yeah I remember it was...
because I love the view so much, I combined them into a single collage... but not all were in Topkapi, actually most of them were in Topkapi except the greenish land at the bottom...
there was a part of the Topkapi which heading to the sea... and this was it...
What were there actually in Topkapi?
Okay, briefly, it was a very huge and wide and beautiful place where all the kingdom's matter being done...
there was a parliament, a house for army which is now a place to display most of the Sultan's properties...like the clothes, the crowns, the Sultanah's necklaces etc....
And there was a house where they keep Prophet Muhammad's beard....
I dont think I had captured any photos in there, because none of that kind of business was allowed...
After we finished there, then, we went to Arzu's house... a Turkish lady not-to-forget we had met her in Hagia Sofiya... initially she invited us to her university, but we had only completed the schedule at almost dark, so she brought us to her house... and her house is in Asia... Repeating.. Istanbul consists of two continents; Europe and Asia... Hagia Sofia, Blue Mosque, Topkapi and other places that we had visited for now were in Europe...
So, we rid on a ferry to reach there...
on board...! =D
almost dark... Istanbul's view was never disappointing ! =D
while that, we threw bread to the birds... it was fun when first time doing that...
Then, Abou came along and gave us a packet of biscuit...
We were so excited throwing the biscuits to the birds...
Till Abou said..." You dont throw the biscuits..you eat !" Hahaha...we just laughed...
reaching Asia.... beautiful you know...! grrr~
the jetty...
We took a bus to Arzu's place... Abou and Saed left us when reaching Arzu's...
There were many ladies from the neighbourhood came to Arzu's to meet us... They all were sooooo kind... !
Firstly, we did a taaruf or ice breaking...
Then, there was a sharing... regarding belief and man... and they gave us a book each...
Then, meal time !
at Arzu's : Aishah D, Baby, Hash, Fatma-Turkish, Me, Maya, Jiji, Dayah, Arzu and Qihah...
Food they served...
Ayran ! Goshhh ! Salty- yogurt ever !
I dont drink any milk products...and they gave me yogurt and it was salty? only once, and I was done !
This ayran is famous one in Turkey... Only Dira succeeded finishing the whole glass...
one of them gave us these...from Syria... The girl is from Syria...
Tea.... after having meal, they must drink a cup of tea... energy consuming katanyahh...
the glass is tulip in shaped...
Then, after all, we went back to the apartment in Europe... most of us were fallen sleeping in the ferry...
penat sangat gamaknya...
Okay, those were all regarding the second day...
I shall come again with Turkiye 3.0...
Bye..! Goodnight ! =D
