Istanbul : The.Spice.Market

As I entered this Market, the first thing in mind was I'm very sure this was how Malacca looked like during it's glory days.

Spices of every possible existence, teas, delights, dried fruits, you name it.

I walked around almost going blind.
You get to taste, smell and recognize spices and they are soo willing to hand you some. Even if you're not going to purchase any. They'll even offer you delights of every kind.

What I got myself from here was rose oil, which smells magical. Just pure extracted rose oil which can swoon people around you. How would I know? The guy was putting too much rose oil on me that when I went into another tea shop behind the bazaar, the old man looked so happy and talking in Turkish and bringing a whole bag of rose tea. bukan mok bagi free pun.
The smell is just enchanting. Remind me of perfume, the story of a murderer.

The second time I came back, I bought spices for kebab and barbecue, and also tea. Stress tea and rose tea.
owhh kantoi stress tea. Please help my pressured life.

What I love the most about the Spice Bazaar is what is behind it. Streets are filled with supplier shops selling party items from wedding to baby showers, disco balls, bakery needs, beads, jades, pearls, jewelery etc. owhh my, it got me even crazy. I went in and out of almost every shop.

For those of the creative minds, it's your pick and choose. My sister would have a heart attack here.

 Fasteners for bracelets, necklaces, wires for earrings, you name it.

 Have your pick of pendants and stones of every kind.

Beads are sold in meters and are just horrible to people like me.

Prices starts from 5TL which is like RM10 for half a meter of beads.

I'm going crazy. I feel like leaving engineering and engineer accessories for the rest of my life now.

 Shops for weddings and hantarans. 

Nikah is stated in the front.

Scarfs, shawls you name it. 

The silvers are anklets. I cheated on my Bidayuh costume and got myself a Turkish coin anklet.

As crazy as I got, I went into the baking needs shop and bought 1000 praline cups (those tiny cups they put almond Londons in). They sell them dead expensive here ok. like 2€ for 20 or something like that. 

In my head I was about to grab a cupcake stand, food coloring, ready made fondants in every color possible, baking trays of all kinds, tarts trays, pie trays. 

Lord have mercy. I forced myself to leave =(

And that's why every person with creativity and a business centered mind should indulge themselves here.

Istanbul : The.Famous.Grand.Bazaar

Everyone talks about Istanbul's Grand Bazaar.

Istanbul has a 540-year-old covered shopping mall of 64 streets, 4000 shops, 22 entrances and 25,000 workers, -the famous Grand Bazaar. 

An experience not to be missed. Being here makes me feel like I was teleported into Aladdin's Bazaar.

And you'll find everything that will make a girl jump for joy.

The downside is :
Tacky tag lines to attract customers. I've heard  
Hi miss, do you know that today is my birthday?
Selamat Datang Apa Khabar?
Lampu cantik-cantik murah-murah
Excuse me you dropped something
and lots lots more.

In short, this place is more of a Petaling Street. It's just that they don't send gangsters to chase after you like in Petaling Street.

They have fake LV handbags that costs 3000TL which you know not of it's design. Everytime I see fake high end products, makes me think of little children under forced labor and amputated legs so that they can't run away. It's a true story.

They do not put prices on their items and will price them really high and you have to bargain to get to your desired price. If it's too expensive, just leave it. It's their loss. You'll find a much cheaper one in town.

Scarfs and shawls are cheap here though. Pashminas, silk and cashmeres all start from 5TL each and varies according to quality and design.

To me, it's just an experience I could not let go of. I'd rather shop behind the Spice Bazaar in supplier shops which are dead cheap. That I would recommend.

Türkiye : Food.Hospitality Part II

You know I cant stop talking about food. It's naturally my passion. Here's more on Turkish cuisine.

Taverns
At home we call them mamaks, kopitiams, at the Medditerrenean, they call them taverns. As you walk down Sultan Ahmed Street, they'll be a line of promoters flashing their smile and compliments inviting you in for a meal. One I would truely recommend is Favos Restaurant. Friendly people, good amazing food and yes, a screen to watch football. T.T
And my favorite dish on the menu would be lamb chops (in Germany, lamb is rare to find *grrrr*). I also had their Sultans Harem which is lamb cooked with pomegranate and walnuts. A little too sour for me.

Rice Pudding
I've always thought that only Asians had rice pudding. Turkish ones taste more like pudding more than rice. Sweet, cold and creamy. They even have them in different flavours.

Fresh Seafood
Is that a lobster? Yes it is. Cooked Turkish style. Try the line of Seafood Restaurants under the bridge at Eminonu and you'll have one of the greatest dish. They carry a whole tray of fresh catch for you which includes king prawns, lobsters, sea basses and other catches of the day. Prices are by kg. They'll be glad to negotiate prices. 100g of the lobster was 25TL. We got it for 15TL per 100g. How happy can you get? They even carry you a tray of appetizers for you to choose from.
Place : Yaka Balik Restaurant.

Grilled Fish
Along the harbour, this place turns into a night market in the evenings. They have satays, grilled fish alongside their counterparts selling shawls, handbags and clothes.
Their grilled fish is served between bread which is more like a grilled fish burger. You can sit on stools with a small table overlooking the waters. Makes me feel like I'm having supper at batu tiga. 

Maap abang ikan bakar. Kami orang tidak mau makan roti. Dalam itu ikan saja kami makan.

Kebabs
The one thing that makes Turkey famous around the world. Their Kebabs. Have them in beef, chicken or lamb. In pitas, rolls or bread. Kebabs are damn cheap here. The cheapest could go till 2TL. The cheapest Kebab in Germany is 4€. In Greece I had Kebab which was 1.80€.
I would still prefer having kebabs in Germany though. In Istanbul, they're very dry. Quite a disappointment.

Türkiye : Food.Hospitality

Maybe it's the hot weather.
But the Turks really do know their way with food.
Here are some MUST HAVES in Turkey.

Turkish Tea
Cay (pronounced chai) means tea. It's much of a social thing than only a tulip glass of tea. You'll see people having them everywhere. In markets, streets, even men in business suits sit around having them with associates talking business.

Simit

They call it a Turkish Bagel. Sold everywhere possible and it goodly cheap. Call for a typical  Turkish tea hour? Have some Simit with Cay. There even is a Simit festival. No i'm not kidding. Cos I was there when it happened.

Turkish Ice cream
Once upon a time when my cousin was crazy over Turkish ice cream, she would go all the way to Mid Valley to have some. The reason is, Turkish ice cream is so different from other milky cold delights. It's rich and sticky and yummy and very traditionally Turkish.

 Green and yellow : Pistachio and Lemon

The ice cream boys even have tricks done with their rods. Quite delightful to watch. 

Turkish Delight
As sweet as their smiles, this will make you put a smile on your face. Even their colors are hard to resists!

Generally nougat, come are like jelly and gummy bears.
Have your choice of Pomegranate (which is everyone's favorite), rose water or orange and chocolate and banana and every other flavor you could think of it's always a must to try in Turkey. Even if you don't want to buy some, you can just taste some (of a lot that is) and you'll end up buying.

Baklava

Having much of these will send you high up in the sky flying like a pegasus. Baklavas are pastries soaked in syrup and of course they're sweet.

Pastries and biscuits

I do not know what they are called but it some kind of biscuit and they have a wide array of it. Gluttony hit me and I went i want one of each. And I finished up most of it. Obviously they can't be resist. It's so tempting to have another one. They have walnuts, almonds, pistachios, jam and generally everything. Feels like going Hari Raya visiting.

Istanbul : Basilica Cistern

What is a Cistern?
Generally a place to store water. Like those big blue tanks you have on top of your house. Or those silver tanks you have at your backyard.

Now here's one Cistern that saved a lot of people for centuries.
The Basilica Cistern. And it's the size of a cathedral.

It looks nothing like the one at your house and it lies beneath the city of Istanbul. Now it makes me think of the purpose of the SMART Tunnel.

Ever there since 476, it provided a water filtration system for the Great Palace of Constantinople and continued to provide water to the Topkapi Palace and into modern times.

Such a pretty place with a humble purpose.

There's even two heads of Medusa here.

Mysterious as it is, they still could not figure out why her heads are laid upside down and another one sideways.

As for me, the one Medusa I know is from the Powerpuff girls. Oh well well, I've checked and her name is Sedusa. Not Medusa.

Istanbul : History.through.Architecture : Hagia Sophia

Across the garden from the Blue Mosque is another iconic structure. The Hagia Sophia also known as Aya Sofya.

This building dates back to 360 (as stated in Wikipedia). Yes it's only three digits. Once built under the rule of Constantine the Great.

4 of the 12 lambs of God also known as the 12 Apostles

Once a church, burned down and rebuilt a few times, turned into a mosque and presently a museum which you will need to pay 20 TL to enter.

With much past the place had, we can clearly see the traces of both of Muslim and Christianity in it.

I'm not a historian so I won't talk much on its exact history. I know that there's Ottoman and Byzantine in most of it's past.

There's suppose to be Mosaic art here back from long time ago but I think they were taken down. They only showed photos of it. (which I didn't take any photos of ) but here's a link of what it is.

Istanbul : History.through.Architecture : Sultan Ahmed Mosque

Istanbul's main landmark is its Sultan Ahmed Mosque, also known as the Blue Mosque.
Built between 1609 and 1616, this mosque was built during the rule of Ahmed I. It is still used as mosque (I mean for people to pray), and also a main tourist attraction.

Like others places of worship turned tourists attractions across Europe, this place is swarmed with tourists. It is closed to tourists during prayer time. The line was already long when we got there right after midday prayers.

Dressing accordingly means to wear a headscarf for women and pakaian tidak menjolok mata aka. appropriate clothes (pants or skirts that covers till your ankles). The same goes for the men. Though they did not need to wear headscarves, they should wear long pants.

And if they didn't dress accordingly, well you can borrow some cloth to cover up at the entrance. I was expecting kain pelikat

I brought my own scarf to cover up. Proud to be Malaysian for that matter, because we were thought to respect the believes of others.

As huge as it is, the interior of the mosque is lined with more than 20,000 handmade ceramic tiles.

It's amazing how a building could stand through that many centuries.
Most buildings now only stay for a few years and are than replaced with new modernized ones.