Prologue:
Believe it or not, this was a not an intended trip. I was all prepared to stay at home, get a job to mend the dent in my bank...
Then... old man told me to plan for this trip just before we were leaving for Thailand (he said he got leave to clear, why cannot say earlier sia). Anyway, no idiot will turn down an opportunity to fly. Winter was not the best time to visit Turkiye, but it was in our bucket list, so we rather go to a country that we really wanted than to spend money on a half hearted destination.
So target was locked - TURKIYE. Old man was inclined to engaging tour package from Singapore, so I started doing my research looking at a few famous agents. Not much difference in price, they all have almost the same itinerary and all had one major put off - hotel hopping almost every day with coach travelling from at least 4hrs to 10hrs DAILY. I don't understand why is the trend like this when nobody in the right mind will like it. Anyway, people sucked it up cos it was too much trouble to do free & easy. I had been through this kind of travel in Europe, it's horrible. I had to self-plan the trip no matter how hard it was going to be. I had to say my beloved old man took a lot of courage to let me have my way, also he really loved me...
Next, instead of getting a direct flight, I chose to stopover at Abu Dhabi so that I could visit my baby sis for a little while.
Everybody was telling it was dangerous to do free & easy in Turkiye, random people on social media said the food was horrible, ALL WERE BULLSHIT! From what we observed, the country is very safe even for solo travellers, food is generally delicious though there's not much variety.
This trip was a great leap for old man and myself out of our comfort zone. So let's roll them all out!
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Duration: 25 Dec 2023 to 8 Jan 2024 (15D12N)
Destination: Turkiye covering - Istanbul, Izmir, Cappadocia, 2 nights layover Abu Dhabi
Travel style: old couple snail walked free & easy
Travel Insurance: NTUC insurance S$258/2 pax
Flights: Long Hual - Etihad about S$1200/pax return, Domestic - Turkish Airline about S$168/pax, SunExpress S$70/pax
Hotels: we had 3 hotels in 3 cities, will review in post
Weather: 0 to 15 degrees
Turkey currency: 10TL = SGD0.45
UAE currency: 10AED = SGD3.62
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25/12/2023
One week before the flight was "torturous". Was constantly checking if my business class bid was successful. Then this email came and said my credit card didn't get through. Waaaaaa.... I panicked sia, quickly used another card, then it took them 24hrs to get back to me with a confirmation phew...
So, on top of the economy fare, the upgrade was about S$900/pax, as a Christmas present for ourselves.
Etihad was now at T2 of Changi Airport.
Shiokness started without a queue but the couple in front of us took forever to get their boarding pass.
Heehee... swayed our butts to SATS. Review wasn't good for this lounge but it was worst than expected.
View of the new garden from the 2nd floor.
Christmas decor at the lobby, a lovely crew initiate to take a pic for us.
The lounge was very quiet with few passengers, which was very comforting else we would had left.
Food was very limited (any neighbourhood coffee shop offered more than this lounge) and were all cold. Why was all the food cold???
The famous laksa was nice in taste but was very luke warm, I think human temperature is higher sia.
Lepak. There were shower facilities but we didn't use it since we came from home.
Santa girls went around the lounge serving hot chocolate drinks and distributing biscuits.
It was a nice surprise.
The new garden was smaller than I thought, but still pretty.
We whisked through it before boarding.
Boarding Etihad Boeing 781.
Felt excited.
All the A, K, E and F seats were being taken, we were left with 5D and 5G.
The seats were very exposed, I felt as if I was sleeping on a roadside lolxx...
Anyway, be grateful, it's better than economy no matter what.
Toast to our last journey in 2023 and first journey in 2024.
Not sure if Etihad had stopped collaboration with Aqua Parma. The limited edition pouch was very pretty. They were now having this brand called ESPA, we had their face mist, lip balm and body lotion.
Also other little items like sanitising wipes, hand sanitisers, tooth brush, ear plugs, socks and sleeping eye mask. No slippers though.
7hrs flight time to Abu Dhabi.
Had warm nuts and some blue pea soda.
For once I had something eye pleasing, tuna tataki. Old man asked why cold one, it's a cold dish lah my sir lolxx...
Prawns briyani yummy.
Luckily didn't spend money to watch Barbie in cinema, it was quite lame.
Had Christmas strawberry mousse cake.
Then was snooze time.
Layover in Abu Dhabi new airport (just opened in Nov 2023) for about 2.5hrs.
It's so pretty!
At mid-night most shops and cafes were still open. If Changi Airport don't keep up, we could be easily taken over.
Lepak, happily playing with phone with free strong wifi. Before we knew it, it was time for the second leg to Istanbul at around 2am.
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