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Saturday 6 October 2007

The People Who Posed for Me in Istanbul

As I have mentioned earlier, the Turkish people in Istanbul are extremely friendly. They seldom turn you down if you ask for their permission to take their photos. After seeing you taking the photos of the people that you've asked, some others will just come up and pose for you without having to ask them.


The hotel restaurant waiter who posed for me at the kebab station.


Two gentlemen who are manning the kebab station near the Spice Bazaar.


Two young ladies who man the local fast food outlet near Eminönü.


A Turkish ice cream seller who asked for USD2.00 after I have taken his photo. I knew he was joking.


The two gentlemen who asked me to have their portraits taken. One of them then asked me to send the photo to his mobile phone but unfortunately my camera doesn't have Bluetooth connection.


The other gentlemen who asked me to take his photo with his cousin at the Spice Bazaar.


A shopkeeper at the Spice Bazaar who asked me to take his portrait.


A policeman and a lady waiting to get across the road at a traffic light on the way to Grand Bazaar.


An old lady selling the bird feed beside the New Mosque (Yeni Camii).


A young girl selling fancy spinning tops to tourists at the Blue Mosque.


A young couple at a junction of the main streets in the city.


A hunk doing the catwalk at the same junction.


Catwalk on the street of Istanbul.


Oops! The are certainly not Turkish. I guess they are Koreans.


A political party leader campaigning for the election. It's so sweet of him giving out roses to his supporters.


A boy at the ghetto who asked me to shoot his hip-hop dancing pose.


If you would like to read more of my travelogues on Istanbul, here are the links:-

On the Streets of Istanbul

I arrived Istanbul on the 27th of June, 2007, one of the hottest days in the hottest summer in more than a hundred years! The temperature was at a ridiculous record of 40 ºC, the first time in my life under the ambient temperature higher than my body temperature.

My friend's fiancé Yakup picked me up at the Ataturk International Airport and sent me to the hotel that I put up, Dongyang Hotel owned by a Korean. My friends who were in Istanbul a month ahead of me helped me to booked this hotel and they managed to negotiate the rate from €30.00 to USD30.00, thanks Siaw Ling! The hotel manager Ayham is a very friendly person whom you can chat your free time away easily.

I was very tired after the 13-hour flight, not to mention the temperature of 40 ºC, so I just roamed around the streets of the hotel on my first day. In fact the hotel is in the heart of the city, so I was actually roaming around the main streets of Istanbul.

The streets of Istanbul are filled with shops selling clothing and accessories.

I simply walked in to a restaurant by the roadside and ordered a set of kebab. It was a very big mistake! Eating the pita bread was like chewing rubber and the meat slices were cold and hard.

I went in to another restaurant for lunch the next day. Another mistake! The food are colourful but the taste is a totally different story. The rice is very oily and the vegetable tastes like leftovers. The moral of the story is, never take the cooked food on display!

The most convenient way to travel around the city is by tram. However, I prefer walking as a substitution for my lacking in exercise at home, so I just walked along the tram line.

There are many building which are slim and painted with interesting colours. I seldom see buildings painted in black.

Not only the buildings, the shops are also very colourful.

Was I back to Malaysia? Languages are very interesting. The same word carries different meanings.

This is the sloping street that I had to pass through to get to Süleymaniye Camii on top of the hill.

A local fast food outlet near Eminönü, the ferry terminal for the Bosphorus cruise.

The local cakes and sweets look so delicious, but unfortunately I need to control my sugar lever. If not, I would have swallowed up tons of these!

I couldn't resist anymore, so I settled for same local pastry which is not sweet on the next day for lunch. On the left is a cheese puff and the one on the right is a puff filled with spinach. They are very nice, especially the flaky crust.

The fruit hawkers at the hub of public transport have very colourful stalls. Some of the displays rival the ones in fancy supermarkets.

If you need to travel to the outskirt of the city, then the Metro is a good option.

The cabin car of the Metro is very clean and cozy.

This is the ghetto area. I was warned by a local passerby that robbery is a very common scene here. He advised me to keep my camera out of sight.

I took very quiet snaps of a celebration going on here.

I think it was an engagement ceremony as I saw a wedding gown on a plate. After taking these shots, I quickly stored my camera inside my camera backpack.


If you would like to read more of my travelogues on Istanbul, here are the links:-

Friday 5 October 2007

Top Ten Sights in Istanbul – No. 1: Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia, the "Church of Holy Wisdom," or sometimes referred to as St. Sophia, was built more than 1400 years ago. The main dome is more than 30 m in diameter supported by four pendentives. In the 15th century, the Ottomans converted it into a mosque. It is now serving as a museum.


Hagia Sophia overseeing the fountain in the park.


Hagia Sophia by night, under floodlights.


One of the pendentives supporting the main dome.


The interior is lighted up by chandeliers all around.


The upper gallery of Hagia Sophia.


The mosaics of Virgin Mary on one of the pendentives right above the 'mihrab.'


The mosaics of Virgin Mary with Emperor John II Comnenus and Empress Irene.


The mosaics of Christ flanked by Emperor Constantine IX and Empress Zoe.


If you would like to read more of my travelogues on Istanbul, here are the links:-

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