~ 10 days in Turki (Pt.3) ~

- 2nd day -

 

we were scheduled to go to Bursa, so we checked out fr d hotel after breakfast. (** u'll find that we check in to different hotel everyday). as it was Monday, we got to see d morning traffic in Istanbul (ppl rushing to work, etc2). it's a similar view with the morning traffic in KL, so nothing unusual there (ada ke negara yg xde morning traffic, lagi2 on Monday?).

 

~ view from d bus ~

 

we then had our 1st ferry ride in Istanbul. it was freaking cold kt atas ferry! sejuk ya amatt!!! sejuk yg rs cm mulut kebas. tak tau nk decide nk snym ke x ms bergmbr, tp last2nye snym gk. tgn mmg cm ltk dlm freezer so gloves adalah amat pntg di saat2 cmni. idung beringuih x usah la ckp. so, pntg gk ada tissue dlm pocket di saat2 sejuk cmni.

 

~ view fr atas ferry ~

 

~ tgn seluk beg dh, cari gloves ~

~ cubaan to explore ferry ~

sesampai je kt darat, we continued our journey to Bursa. along d way, u'll see many farms - olive farm, apple farm, almond farm, grape farm, pomegranate farm - once a while we stopped to take pictures (disbbkn pokok2 byk yg tgh xde kuarkn buah/hasil, maka xperlu la nk tnjk gmbr eh). our first stop to shop was at a factory/shop that has various Turkish delights. locum, baklava, Turkish coffee, apple tea, bermcm2 chocolate, olive oil, etc2 pn ada gk. nk borong skaliharung so that xyh nk beli2 kt tmpt len pn boleh gk. for me, pntg utk jd food tester to know amenda yg kita beli tu boleh diterima tekak or tak. I decided to put on hold nk beli baklava sbbnye yg jual kt kedai ni manis sgt (dgn hrpn dpt jmp baklava yg not too sweet at other places). hasilnye...

 

2 boxes of choc + 3 Turkish delights + 3 bottles of pomegranate sauce + 1 box of apple tea + 1 box of cappuccino = TL130

 

for lunch, we headed to Kofteci Yusuf. this restaurant has d best grilled beef... mmg sedap & amat mengenyangkn (5 ketul in each plate/person). I mmg xleh nk habihkan sbb byk sgt rsnye 5 ketul tu.

 

~ complete set fr appetizer smpi teh o ~

 

we prayed zohor (+ asar) at Bursa Ulu Mosque. it's a beautiful mosque, with a fountain inside. org laki boleh wudhu kt fountain tu. u can easily find mosques in Turki. selalunye one mosque is just nearby the other. sblh dgn Ulu Mosque ni is Koza Han Silk Market, whch my two friends & I didn't hv d time to visit sbb x cukp masa (tkr duit, wudhu, solat, bersiap2, bergmbr2 dlm msjd tu pn jd lma sbb msjd cntk sgt). there's also a bazaar yg mmg packed dgn org next to d mosque. kesimpulannye, this mosque mmg x sunyi & jd tmpt berkumpul. ms zmn Rasulullah dulu pn msjd jd tmpt tumpuan&berkmpl org ramai jgk, kn?

 

~ Bursa Ulu Mosque ~

 

once done at d mosque, we continued our journey to our hotel in Kutahya. if u need to go to d toilet, there r plenty along the highway. toilet bersih, jgn risau. InsyaAllah ada air & tissue & sabun. we stopped at one Factory Outlet kt tepi jln for our "toilet stop". dh settle g toilet, smpt la cuci mata kt kedai2 dlm Factory Outlet ni. kalo org yg dok kt Turki ni nk bershopping kt Factory Outlet/malls, diorg ni rajin buat comparison hrga brg dulu. sometimes they r lucky to get discounts yg agk byk. kt Factory Outlet yg kitrg stop ni, my friends beli corn in cup. 1 cup = TL2. sedap la time sejuk2 dpt mkn menda pns to get ourselves warm.

 

we arrived at our 2nd hotel to stay - Gural Harlek Thermal Resort & Spa in Kutahya. hotel ni mmg xde aircond. disbbkn sejuk dingin, bkk tgkp sket, dh rs sejuk fr luar & sedaaaaappp je tido mlm, hehehe.

 

d journey continues later ya.

 

~ 10 days in Turki (Pt.2) ~

we booked our Turki trip during MATTA Fair last year (around Sept, if I rmmbr correctly). total price of the package offered by the travel agent is RM4895, which is quite reasonable to us considering that the price paid covers our flight ticket, accommodation, meals & transportation there. & we agreed to go in April (or late March) this year because it's the start of Tulip season in Istanbul (plus it's already Spring & I don't think I can bear the weather if we go during Winter).

Travel agent: Dilruba Turki Travel

 

we left KLIA on 30 March (KL - Doha - Istanbul). total flight hours (including transit time) is approximately 12 hours (a loooooong 12 hours flight adalah memenatkan). we reached Ataturk International Airport (Istanbul) at around 6.30 p.m. (that's 11.30 p.m Msia time) and after meeting up with our guide, he brought us to hv our dinner at Sultan Kosesi Restaurant.

~ lentil soup not in d picture ~

 

after dinner (xbrp boleh nk mkn sgt sbb it was already passed midnight Msia time), we checked in to the hotel. for our 1st night in Turki, we stayed at Istanbul Dora Hotel. hotel's condition? for me, it's OK & I hv nothing to complain. it's quite a new hotel that has been operating less than a year (as informed by our guide). nothing much to see around d hotel (even though it's still considered early when we checked in) because with the long flight, I think we were too exhausted & d best is to get our very much needed sleep, hahahahaha.

 

too bad that I woke up at 4.30 am Turki time d next day =( that's 1 hour earlier than d wake up call for Subuh. u do the math....

4.30 am Turki = 9.30 am Msia

 

no wonder laaaa... mata bukak ikut timing Msia. hadoiiii.... around 5.30 a.m., d three of us had our eyes wide open already & dh tak tau apa nk buat, so we took pictures from our hotel room. d result...

~ view fr our hotel room at 5.30 am & 7.00 am ~

 

i'll continue with our 2nd day journey in d next entry. bye for now.

 

~ 10 days in Turki (Pt.1) ~

i just got back from my 10 days trip to Turki on Tuesday. now still dlm sesi adjusting my eyes and body clock dgn Msia time. it's 5 hours time difference between Msia dgn Turki. if dh kul12 tghmlm kt sini (Msia), br pukul 7 kt Turki, belum masuk time nk dinner pn lg, huhuhuhu.

 

feelings dpt pegi Turki? uuuu....seronooooook sgt. & to be honest, I felt it's like a trip yg menginsafkan. rs rendah diri sbb tgk cntk sgt dunia ni diciptakan Allah. subhanallah, Allah is the best creator. perception about "toilet kt Turki sure xde air", or "toilet kt sna sure kotor", or "Turki tu sure x brp nk maju", ok zushhhh terpdm all those kinds of perception sbb it's totally different environment dgn apa yg dibygkn b4 smpi kt Turki. toilet yg kitrg singgah2 semuanye Alhamdulillah bersih. dan ada air (whether it's toilet duduk or cangkung). dan ada tisu. dan toilet x berbau busuk pn. dan Turki tu maju la weh, dlm maju2 tu diorg stil preserve historical buildings. hebat.

 

disbbkn trip ni 10 hari, I think i'll better write the entry utk Turki ni in stages. aku nk tulis pjg2 skaliharung pn cm xmampu. we 1st went to Istanbul, then Bursa, Kutahya, Pamukkale, Konya, Cappadocia, Ankara and back to Istanbul. checked in and out from hotel everyday (except 2 nights terakhir kt Istanbul). we experienced different weather than what we hv in Msia. we tasted the food. awl2 tu cm xleh nk masuk sgt dgn selera org Msia yg nk pedas, but we managed. we met their people (Alhamdulillah we met good people throughout our stay in Turki). all in all, I'm grateful to Allah for this opportunity. perjalanan yg menginsafkan ended last Tuesday, but the memory remains.

 

 

i'll write the entry in stages... sila tgg ye =) 

~ now trending: matluthfi ~

I sat in front of the television one day, watched the news on the missing flight MH370 & saw a "Kini Trending" segment... that's when I know about a youtube channel by matluthfi. for those of you who haven't heard (or watched) it, u r not alone because................ I just knew about this guy (matluthfi) sejak less than 15 hari yg lps!!! & that his videos r hilarious and he's soooo sempoi =)

 

when I discovered his youtube channel (lps dh tgk segment "Kini Trending" kt Awani), I had this idea to share it with my friends. you know... good stuff should b shared, right? rupa2nye, most of my friends already know about his channel & some even subscribe to it to get d latest updates/videos. seems like I la yg ter"ketinggalan" ni =(

 

- the "buat kepala" video yg trending -

 

d thing that I like about his videos is.... his style of speaking, hahahaha.

slang utagha pekat ya amat + sempoi = kelakaq.

 

& his facial expressions.

 

& his creativity. I rs there r others who do something similar... tp I still prefer matluthfi (yeahhhh!!!!)

 

I'm sharing with you guys now (terutama skali utk sape2 yg cm I, yg xpnah tau kewujudan matluthfi & his creative works) because I feel that u deserve a good laugh di celah2 daily stress korg...walaupun video2 klakar from matluthfi sekadar around 5minutes je. his videos make me laugh & I hope u'll hv a good laugh too.

 

thanks to matluthfi for adding more fun things in the world. clap-clap-clap.

 

~ it's still a mystery ~

i looked back at my travelling photos and found these...

 

 

 

those are pictures I took when I travelled on the plane. I prefer the window seat than the aisle. thus, the opportunity to capture the beauty from up there.

 

.#PrayforMH370. we hope you come back safe.

 



~ personal (data) protection (Pt.1) ~

since a couple of months back, I've been receiving various emails (and smses) from various organisations regarding their policy on protecting personal information of their clients. drpd bank, ke Telco, ke tv station, ke apa2 ntah lg la yg I dh dpt. I believe that u guys do receive the same emails/smses as well. ke, xde?

 

I'm now more careful to reveal my personal info yg melibatkn IC number, phone number and addresses (home and email). mcm2 phone call yg I dpt, most of it adalah telemarketing utk promo insurance, or menang "free" (???) voucher for a one-night hotel stay, and mcm2 lg. I sll terperangkap nk KENA jwb d phone call&dgr promoter tu ckp. bila diorg ckp nk explain in 3minutes je, ok la I dgr. dh smpi 3minutes tak habis gk lg explanation, I had to be lbh firm. jadilah kdg2 ayt berbunyi kasar sket. maaf, saya sweet utk 3minutes tu je.

 

recently ada sorg promoter approached me utk interview for a survey. he said there's only 8 questions & it's gonna b a quick intrvw, so I agreed. 1st question, "What's ur name?". I told him "ANONYMOUS" and he laughed at me cz dia igt I bergurau. yeah, I mmg bergurau but I said to him "I thought u said this is a survey. u can't ask the person's name when u r conducting a survey, bukan ke?" mbe la I salah in that sense tp xpelah. after complete dh sesi interview utk survey tu, dia ty lk whether I'm interested to get to know more about the product, and I bg unfavourable answer - "No, not interested". igtkn tamat dh kt ctu. tetiba dia ty my phone number (don't know knp soalan survey de phone number lk kt ujung skali), lg skali dpt unfavourable answer - "I don't simply give my phone number bcz I value my personal data protection". kasihan encik promoter. muka hensem tp too bad dpt sample yg mcm I; yg too secretive & xbrp nk bg cooperation.

 

I brtukar mnjadi sweet after that interview session ended & apologized...

"I'm sorry. I know this is ur job to sell, but I only answer to questions that I want to answer. too bad u approached me cz at d end, I'm not revealing much info. I sggst u try to approach others. they might gv u d info u want, ok?" (-- plus an apologetic smile --)

 

.bebrp saat kemudian, ayahnda called and said "dh kt Citibank". ini "Personal Protection", hahahaha.

 

~ creativity tested... batik coloring ~

ever since I was small, art mmg x berapa boleh nk sebati dgn I. thp creativity I adalah limited kpd colouring and conteng2 je. sllnye mnda2 yg melibatkn creativity ni I bg je kt sape yg lbh hbt... I nk senang2 je, hehehehe. having family members yg lbh creative xprnh lgsg buat I rs nk emulate diorg utk nk jd creative gk.

 

atas sbb "perlu mendidik anak2 utk develop creativity", my father sent my sister and I to drawing class ms kecik. hasilnye? my sister semakin hbt dan I tetaaaaap gk xleh nk jd lbh kreatif. drawing class yg kitrg attend to every Saturday je. pttnye 2jam for each class, tp sbb uncle yg ajar tu is a fren of my father, jd la class selalu extend sbb diorg borak2 while tgg kitrg settle drawing/coloring lesson for that day.

 

my sister's creativity is not only limited to drawing. she can design business card/t-shirt for printing. she made her own hantaran for her wedding. she made my baju kurung looked lbh "up" sket dgn jahit manik2. tu just part of her creative works yg I tau....

~ these are d hantaran she made for her wedding ~

 

recently, I menguji thp kreativiti I dgn g buat batik coloring. design dh mmg sedia ada, I just choose je yg mna I nk & start d coloring process. I took nearly two hours to complete coloring the piece. tujuan asal I made this is to sell it for charity drive sale dkt ofis. tp memandangkn xde yg beli, I plan to donate my 1st coloring-work to one hospital's paediatric ward.

 

kalo nk buat aktiviti batik coloring ni, u can do so at Kompleks Kraf Jln Conlay, KL. kalo xtau d location, d nearest landmarks are Royal Chulan Hotel and Pavilion KL.

 

.I jst realized that it's not easy to make a nice 4-meter batik piece.