She ain't pretty.

EWWWW.

Wednesday, December 31, 2008 11:29 PM

OMG freaking Tay Ping Hui is singing I'm Yours by Jason Mraz and he is totally spoiling the song with his really awful voice!

Why is Mediacorp making all these celebrities sing all this celebrated songs and they just spoil it.

UURGH! Simply disgusting.

all that excitement and then.....

Tuesday, December 30, 2008 11:05 PM

Oh what a good weekend it was for Liverpool after winning during Boxing Day and Sunday matches. Then Ben had to drop the bomb about Stevie G getting arrested for a bar brawl and the last I read he was charged.

I didn't know anything about this until today. Ben teased me about how truly a fan I was. He has to learn to shut up.

So has anyone watched Bedtime Stories? It's a really good comedy and at one point I lauged non-stop for at least 1 minute. Adam Sandler is such a good comedian. I recommend Bedtime Stories if you have plans to catch a movie during the New Year holiday. My jaw hurts at the end of the movie due to so much laughing.

Still living in it

Saturday, December 27, 2008 3:43 PM

I refuse to turn the time on my watch to Singapore time. So I let it be at Turkey time and I have not changed it since then. This watch have travelled with me to Turkey and it will remain at Turkey time as long as it can.

I took this picture at 330PM Singapore time and the watch reflects 930AM in Turkey. I used to wear this watch when I go to work but now I don't coz I keep it at home to "preserve" it.

Anyway one of the girls from the tour group, Brigit sent me a photo which I've forgotten about.

She got us to looked aside instead of the camera. My sister and I didn't even get to see the photo until it was sent to me. It's a nice picture...

Post Number 600

Thursday, December 25, 2008 10:02 PM

There are just so many things and so many pictures that I want to post and I want to do everything today.

Let's start with the hot air balloon ride. During the ride the balloon that I was in celebrated two occassions. One was Uncle Chew's birthday (Uncle Chew is one of the people in he tour group) and the other was a wedding proposal. A Turkish couple was in the balloon with is and suddenly he pops up the question and a ring and she said yes. Here's a picture of them. The one on the left most of the picture.

I realised that I have quite a number of photos in my handphone and they are much nicer than the one I had in my video camera. Probably because my phone camera has a higher mega pixel.

Here are some pictures from the Blue Mosque:

This picture was taken on the way to Ayasofia.

These two pictures were taken using the panaromic option. It takes a wider view of the magnificent sight in front of me.

Views inside the mosque. Simply spectacular!

The Goreme Open Air Museum:

The church in the museum.

Other pictures:

The street signs of Turkey

Views from inside the bus:

Remember I mentioned that the snowflakes looked just like...snowflakes? See the one that I circled in red? It's like a star!!!

More snow pictures...

Pictures from the cruise:

I don't remember taking this one but it's so pretty. The sun and the clouds were just placed so right in the picture.

Isn't this one just pretty? It's the wallpaper on my phone.

This time 2 weeks ago

12:26 AM

I met Marina before her shift at Changi Airport Terminal 3 and I couldn't help but just flash back to two weeks ago. I just wished that I am still in Istanbul.

I know that this can be irritating which is the reason why I kept it in just my head and not say it out loud. In my head I will just recall back what I did and where I was two weeks ago.

Twok weeks ago, at this time, i just reached Pamukkale's Lycus River hotel, waiting for check in. The weather was quite cold and my breath was smoky. I somehow got used to the weather and love it. I was surprised but thankful that my asthma was not in any way affected by the cold weather.

At this time in Turkey, it's still 24th December...

I think it will take me some time before I could accept that I'm back in reality and Istanbul would just be a memory. I'm going to take my time on this one.

I will prolly post another entry later on because I realized that I have nice pictures on my phone that I want to post and I missed out some things in my trip entry.

So for now...good night.

I Miss Turkey!!!

Tuesday, December 23, 2008 11:19 PM

My body is aching thanks to being so active during that fateful Sunday.

My aunt organized a picnic/chalet gathering in conjunction with my cousin's and one of my grandma's brother-in-law birthday. The weather was hot and I really did not like it. The sun was shining so brightly and I was sleepy so it was a good day to just sit at home and sleep. I was feeling tired and I'm not sure why.

But at about 4PM, a few of my cousins and I decided to go to the beach. Our plan was to cycle and just walk around. Alas, that did not happen. I joined some of my younger cousins in a game of beach volleyball and then it turned to Captain's ball and that's when it all started. I was jumping around, snatching the ball from my opponents and practically was flat on the ground, lying on the sand trying to get the ball from them.

I was so competitive and it paid me back with strained back, legs and arms. I'm still feeling the strain.

Since Friday though, I've been sleepy at work I don't know what hit me. I'm so glad tomorrow is Christmas Eve which means Thursday is a holiday and I can wake up just a little late than normal. I'll be thankful for that.

So yesterday I was at the reception desk and one of the RMs walked in and commented that I looked fresher so I said that it was probably because exactly one week ago I landed in Singapore and the tiredness is gone. And he said "Welcome back to reality."

Yes I'm back to reality...how did I get back I'm not sure.

My Turkey Trip

Saturday, December 20, 2008 11:53 PM

Ok so this is how I'm gonna do it. I'm splitting all entries into days and dates and it'll be sequential such that when you read it, it will be in the order of how I spent my days in Turkey.

Along my trip in Turkey I left two things out there. First, one of my favourite pins/clips for my tudung must ahve dropped in the hot air balloon basket in Cappadocia. Second, I left my shoes in the Lycus River hotel in Pamukkale. You will know what happened to that unfortunate shoes.

I spend 2 hours doing this so read!!! Plus you can look at nice pictures...i'm sure you'll love the pictures.

Enjoy reading!

6 December 2008 Location: Singapore-Dubai Temperature: 24 degrees Celsius

11:53 PM

The day has finally arrived. It was 8PM and I was waiting for Effa to be done with her prayers so that we can leave for the airport. We were supposed to meet Mark, our tour manager at 930PM at Changi Airport Terminal 2. Getting a taxi from our place is not easy so I felt like we have to leave early just in case.

We reached the airport, briefed by Mark, check-in our luggage and by 1030PM we were in the waiting area for our SQ flight. I was really excited…and hungry. The airplane finally take off at about 1135PM and I immediately tune on to Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants 2 on the SQ entertainment port. Thankfully they have this movie because Effa and I were looking forward to it.

It was a 7.5 hours flight to Dubai where we transit for 40 minutes and then another four hours flight to Istanbul. It was painful and I couldn’t sleep much. I probably had only about two to three hours of sleep in all.

7 December 2008 Location: Istanbul Temperature: 14 degrees Celsius

11:52 PM

We arrive in Istanbul Ataturk airport at about 8AM to a cool weather of about 14 degrees Celsius. The wind was blowing my face and I breathed in the Turkey air. I was finally stepping on the land that I had been dreaming about for so many months. It was almost unbelievable.

We board the bus and were introduced to our driver, Farouk, and our tour guide, Huseyin. As the bus made its way along the streets of Istanbul, I grabbed my video camera and start to record the views of the streets on a Sunday morning.

We made our way to the Blue Mosque which is world famous for its blue tiled ceilings and domes. Seeing it right in front of me was almost magical. It’s really beautiful and serene. It was calm and quiet and I feel like I can just sit there the whole day.

We then made our way to Ayasofia which is located just across the street. Along the way we bought semit, a local delicacy and it tasted like pretzels. Ayasofia was build about 500 years before the Blue Mosque. It was build as a church and was then converted into a mosque and now it’s a museum. You can see from the pictures that a church and a mosque were present due to the architecture of the building.

After Ayasofia, we took a 10 minutes walk up a hill to Topkapi Palace. It’s unusual how I’ve always imagines that palaces are European. However Topkapi Palace has displays of Arabic words and inscriptions as part of its history.

We were all tired and hungry by this time so we were drove to a nice place for a Turkish lunch. One thing you have to know, they will always start with salad which comprises of thinly sliced carrots, red cabbages and lettuces, and then there will be soup and bread, and then the main course and lastly dessert. Turks love to eat. I love the restaurant’s skewered chicken.

After lunch we made our way to Bolu which was about three to four hours drive from Istanbul. We stayed the night in Yurdaer Hotel Ayrilik Cesmesi Mevkii Bolu. It’s a boutique hotel opened by a local artist. It was almost like home and the key to the room was attached to those mini Converse shoes keychain. I was tired and a little hungry and thankfully about half an hour after check in dinner was ready to be served.

Soup was the nicest in this hotel, it’s like cream of mushroom and there were beans as sides and the main was nice but because I was gorging myself with the beans I got full.

My sister and I went back to the hotel room and took our long awaited shower and slipped into very clean clothes. I had a good sleep eventhough it was cold. I was probably tired. The weather was nice and cool and I miss the weather. I’m not sure if sweat exists. I did not sweat the whole time I was in Turkey.

8 December 2008 Location: Ankara - Cappadocia Temperature: 10-14 degrees Celsius

11:51 PM

The next morning we were driven to Ankara, the capital of Turkey where we visited the Ataturk Mausoleum. Ataturk was the man responsible for modern Turkey and I feel like the Turkish have a lot of respect for him.

Oh and I forgot to mention that my shoe gave away in Ankara. The sole almost came off and there’s a hold in my shoe. The socks are not keeping my feet warm and I was desperate for a new shoe. We shall get to that later when I found fake Pumas in Pamukkale.

After the museum we had lunch and a long drive to Cappadocia. We stayed two nights at Dinler Resorts. Two nights were great because it means that we didn’t need to unpack and pack again the next day. Cappadocia was where we had the hot-air balloon ride. I did not plan on getting on this optional activity because it cost USD220. We had a briefing before the trip so we were told about the additional activities available. However Effa coax me after she offered to pay USD50 and we were told that it will cost USD200. This one is in the next part.

9 December 2008 Location: Cappadocia Temperature -5 to 0 degrees Celsius

11:50 PM

So we woke up the next morning hoping that the weather would be fine for a balloon ride because it was quite foggy the night before. Effa eagerly waited for the wake up call and as soon as I stepped into the bathroom we got the call which means we will be going for the balloon ride. Well I’m not good with words so I’m just going to let pictures tell you guys how beautiful Cappadocia is.

After the balloon ride we went to the Goreme Open Air museum where ferry chimneys were once the homes of people. We visited a church, the living area, kitchen and dining hall.

Next we went to a pottery place owned by a man by the name of Salim. He has been in the business for 17 years learning the art of pottery that was passed down from one generation to the next. We bought our mum a purely handmade clock-plate which was the only one in his shop so it’s very unique…and expensive.

We then had lunch in the mountains...literally. This restaurant was built in the mountains and they served pottery kebab; kebab cooked in a pot and the meat was really tender and almost sweet.

After lunch Huseyin brought us to a place to take nice pictures of ferry chimneys and along the way we were surprised by a snowfall and we were all so excited because it was everyone’s first time. We got down the bus and feel the snow falling on our faces.

We then made our way to one of Cappadocia’s underground city called Kaymakli, which was once a refuge of 15,000 Christians. We saw a church, living area, kitchen, and winery and meeting hall. It was really small and narrow and I was afraid that I may turn claustrophobic. Just half an hour underground we came up to a winter wonderland. It was all white and the snow was falling and it was cold and it was pretty. The snowflakes were really pretty and you know how snowflakes were pictured…those crystal-like shapes…well they really look like that!

We made our way to a place where they made carpets by hand. They were all nice and pricey and I understand why they were priced that way. After looking at how they weaved the carpets by hand, you will know that you’re paying for workmanship.

We went back to the hotel and it was cold and kinda freezing but it didn’t stop Effa and me from playing a snowball fight.

It was probably way below zero degrees Celsius and the thought of taking a two-minute walk to the hotel’s restaurant for dinner turned me off but I was hungry so I had to brisk walk there to keep me from freezing in the middle of my journey there.