BLOGGING FROM ISTANBUL INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT

I am here in Istanbul International Airport, Turkiye, waiting for my flight to take me home in about 3½ hours. I will only get to know which gate I should go to at 11:55 p.m. This is such a huge airport and I still could not get over the horror of running from one get to another when we were on our transit to Milan last week.

Guess this should be the end of the one week trip to Europe. I still have time to window shop before going to the designated gate.

SPOT THE ERROR 200 - FROM ISTANBUL

AFTER CORRECTION:

THE GLASSES YOU'VE ALWAYS BEEN LOOKING FOR.

[verb tense: present perfect continuous]

Thanks to Mr. Ridwan Wahid for the feed, all the way from Istanbul.

SPOT THE ERROR ISTANBUL 4

There's one more I have not posted, from Istanbul.

QUR'AN RECITAL BEFORE THE SUBUH PRAYER AT THE BLUE MOSQUE

While waiting for people to come to the mosque to perform the "Subuh" (early morning) prayer, the imam (the person who leads the prayer) first read a few verses from from the Holy Qur'an and I think he must be an ALHAFIZ - someone who could memorize the Qur'an. 

Everything was just peaceful. The morning was cold, the mosque beautiful and the voice reciting the holy verses was soothing - it would heal any soul listening to it. I just wish I could lie down, close my eyes and listen and I wonder if I die there, would I wake up in heaven.

THE CALL FOR SUBUH PRAYER FROM THE BLUE MOSQUE

The call for subuh (early morning) prayer (azan) from the Blue Mosque. Something that had made my visit to Istanbul a significant one.

SPOT THE ERROR - ISTANBUL 3

A banner found in Basilica Cistern, Istanbul.

Similar error committed among Malaysians.

SPOT THE ERROR - ISTANBUL 2

... and I spied with my little eye, in Istanbul.

SPOT THE ERROR - ISTANBUL 1

The grammar policeman was still on the prowl, in Istanbul.

For the second word, the first two letters are not visible in the picture which are the "R" and "E".

So can you spot the error?

ATATURK INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, ISTANBUL

I arrived earlier at Ataturk International airport to catch my flight home as I had a very bad experience entering Turkey at the immigration checkpoint. Thank God, praised be to Allah, everything was fine and the travel document was cleared in just a breeze.

I met with this one sweet Japanese lady while checking in at the airline counter. Tourists are actually friendly people, we could simply strike a conversation and keep on talking (as there is nothing much to do.) She had been staying in Istanbul for 10 days and we happened to be in the same flight to Abu Dhabi.

I was rewarded for talking to her: I was given a packet of Japanese candy where if you look real close you could see images/pictures being drawn on individual piece of candy. Too bad, I can't even remember her name and I feel even bad that I could not return her kindness. If she contacts me, then I will post to her something small from Malaysia. And the moral of the story is: courtesy costs nothing.

"There's nothing like an airport that bring you down to earth"

~ Richard Gordon ~

THE LAST DAY IN ISTANBUL

13th February ~ All good things must come to an end. It was the last day in Istanbul and with a few hours left, the best thing for me to do was to take in a deep breath, absorb the beauty of the surrounding and wish that I could come back here again one day (or perhaps other parts of Turkey).

After four short days in Istanbul, I think I had seen what I was supposed to see and it was definitely a pleasant and memorable experience. Thanks to my friend, Mr. Razib, for agreeing to divert to Istanbul from our original plan and we shall see where we should go after this trip.

"Like all great travellers,

I have seen more than I remember,

and remember more than I have seen."  

~ Benjamin Disraeli ~

ISTANBUL DAY 3 - FROM EUROPE CROSSING OVER TO ASIA AND COMING BACK TO EUROPE AGAIN

At this time, my friend Mr. Razib, had already left Istanbul so I was on my own. I decided just to go for Bosphorus sightseeing tour on the hop on hop off bus, except that I only hopped on and did not not hop off. The bus trip was at 4:00 p.m. and it was full with tourists,

 

So I just sat on the top level of the double-decker bus. The bus first crossed over to the new city of Istanbul where there was a massive traffic jam, then the bus crossed this bridge and took the passengers to Istanbul which should be on the Asia continent. And then, the bus turned back and the whole journey took about 2 hours.

 

 

The scenery was picturesque and it was an enjoyable trip. The only problem was that the air was too cold so people had to put down the plastic cover to the windowless top level. And the plastic was a bit dirty so that should explain why the pictures I took were not that clear.

at one stop, a man would get into the bus 
and sell hot tea and coffee

I guess I had done what everyone else did - crossing over to Asia from Europe and coming back to Europe again, in less than an hour.

THE SUN FINALLY CAME OUT ON THE THIRD DAY IN ISTANBUL

Finally, on the third day, the sun came out in Istanbul and the city illuminated under the blue sky.

I am missing the beautiful Istanbul already. *sigh*