didn't feel like coming back...

yeah... didn't really feel like coming back... from istanbul that is... there really isn't that much to not like about that place... well... the slumps weren't too enticing... but on the whole, i had an excellent trip... screw the airport security and all was great... damn those 9-11 people... weather in istanbul was brilliant... not a single cloud in the sky spare the last day i was there where it rained... sun was out but temperatures were between 16 to 18 degrees celcius in the day and at night it was 14 to 16 degrees celcius i think... it's like walking around in an air-conditioned room everywhere you go... my hotel room had an air-conditioner but it was only turned on once as it got too quiet inside my hotel room... went around to most of the stuff there was to see there... couldn't believe i could spend 3 hours in one place just taking pictures... then again... i spent almost 3 hours at every single attraction... so yeah... i took lots and lots of pictures... too many i think till i do not know which ones to put up on my blog... by the way, this is the list of image capturing devices that we brought to istanbul: 1 slr camera, 1 digital camera, 2 camera phones, 1 pda camera and 1 video camera... so yah... ALOT of pictures were taken... i finished 3 sd cards on my own... but there were just so many nice things to take pictures of... meals in istanbul are quite drab if compared to the plethora of choices available here in singapore... you get the usual bread and yoghurt at almost every eating place you go... turkish black tea is free (i think) almost every place too... then there are the salads of which the tomatoes there would bring shame to all the tomatoes here... the shishs and kebabs were great but i am not a very big kebab fan so i didn't really care... the pasta were good... fresh... and all the portions there were huge... but the price tag were quite big as well... so i guess... it was value for money although most of the time i didn't really finish everything on my plate... there is this particular vergetable served with the salads which i found very disturbing... it's purple in colour and smelt like it came out of the garbage... and it tasted quite putrid too... so if any of you go to istanbul and see purple-lettuce-looking thingies, you have been warned... the fish there were ok i guess... the people selling the fish there get away with murder i think by not serving any condiments such as ketchup along with the fish... i mean, if they plied their trade here like that, they will go bust in no time... but there... i don't think they really care about condiments... had to literally beg for ketchup of which they got out a bottle of ketchup which had probably been stored away in the freezer for i-don't-know-how-long... bad thing was that not many turkish people could speak english or at least understandable english... but we got through on a mix of basic english, sign language and pointing to the menu... heh... yeah... it was kind of interesting walking around the streets of istanbul as the terrain was kind of undulating as istanbul was built on 7 hills... not that i walked all 7 hills... interesting as one can get tired walking up and down the hills while trying to avoid the cars which go around like bumper-cars while getting used to the fact that they drive on the other side of the road there but yet one does not really break a sweat since it is quite cold... me being me trying to look as seasoned a traveller possible decided not to wear long sleeves or jackets in the day as it would have been so obvious that i wasn't used to weather but it did get quite nippy at times... silly, silly... trams there were kind of a rip off as it costs a one point zero lira to get to anywhere... can someone please tell me where is the sense in that? but they were generally efficient and reliable although i did see one break down in the middle of the road causing a trafic ruckus of sorts since it was a two-lane road and the big-ass tram took up an entire lane... and those of you concerned about security, well... the police there do a good job of ensuring visible police presence... they are almost everywhere and at night, they go around in their patrol cars with their blinkers on all the time... although their uniforms are nowhere as hot as the ones we are used to... heh heh heh.... ok ok ok... that is all i can write for now as i have got to go somewhere now... so yah... till next time...