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HOME SWEET HOME,
TURKEY IS LIKE MY HOME
~by apple~
Istanbul, the largest city in Turkey, was the
centre of Byzantine Empire for 1000 years. Mosaic art reached its peak
during Byzantine Era. I’ve longed to see good mosaic art in real in my
life. I always wish to visit Turkey one day because of this. The chance
came when Ernie was interested in Turkey too.
It was Aug in year 2002. Ernie & I spent a month reading info, planning
the 12-day trip while waiting our seats to be confirmed. Istanbul is a
popular city for transit or visit. Our names were on the waiting list
for nearly 3 weeks. The seats were finally confirmed only a week before
our departure. Ernie flied from Kuala Lumpur. I met her at Singapore
Changi airport since we were flying the same flight via the same airline
– Singapore Airline.
WE ARE MILLIONAIRE !
12-hour night flight could be long to me since I hardly sleep due to my
flu. Transited at Dubai airport half way, the grand palm trees inside
the famous Dubai airport was the only impression left to me. We saw the
daybreak in the plane. It’s 6.30am in the morning when our flight
landed. The air in the morning was refreshing.
It was very easy to access the checkpoint without filling in any
embarkation form. Before we started up our day, the most important thing
was money. ‘Let’s go compare the exchange rate 1st’, Ernie agreed with
me. The fluctuation rate of Turkish lira is real high. We decided to
change US$50 1st at the right end of the airport with the rate at US$1 =
TL1,600,000.
‘Gosh! How to use this money? There are so many zeroes!!’ I was in
bewilderment while Ernie figured out a good way: ‘Let’s don’t count the
zeroes at the back; it can be easier for us, a newbie user. |
Say this 100,000 note, we see it as 100’. This seemed
simple to me, gazing at this piece of smaller value of note in my hand.
‘We are millionaire now!’ I exclaimed. Ernie nodded happily, ‘Just a
day, we become so rich.’ Both of us broke out with laughter. To be
millionaire can never be difficult in Turkey.
APPLE TEA
We left Atartuk international airport via a cab to Sultanahmet for
accommodation. Sultanahmet is an old town with many famous tourist
attractions, shops, budgeted accommodation & restaurants. It didn’t take
us long to find a room with only a twin bed at US$16 to settle down.
Since we were not able to check in at once, we walked to the vicinity to
have a look.
Interior of Blue mosque with beautiful stained glass & iznik tiles
Just a few minutes walk, we reached Blue mosque. This six-minaret Blue
Mosque was built by Sultan Ahmet I. We were puzzled from its grey look
from outside. I see the answer lies in the interior. Blue tiles (Iznik
tiles) are covered the walls. That’s how the mosque earns its name. This
was the 1st time I saw beautiful stained glass in the mosque. I thought
stained glass can only be found in churches.
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