04/01/2024
I wasn't an early person but 9am here was Singapore's 2pm.
So we were out.
Walked pass Sultanahmet Park as usual but took a closer look at the German Fountain build in 1898.
Walking towards Topkapi Palace, passing by more historical buildings.
Marble wall sculptures so delicate.
Pic with door and bo chap dog.
Gloating over long queue at Bascilica Cistern.
History and information of Topkapi Palace.
Botak trees against baby sky was art work of nature.
Couldn't get enough of the scenery, cos Singapore don't have.
Entrance fee was a whopping S$62, old man felt a punch pinch, decided to give it a miss. So I had a mini solo trip into Topkapi Palace!
The entrance was really like a fairy tale palace.
European architectures in a Muslim country, you have be here to see these with your own eyes.
Model of the palace, total area 70,000sqm.
Beautiful arches and bo lang.
Marble pillars with sculptures, I am always amazed by the workmanship. Marble is a very hard stone, how they managed to carve on it...
Playing with selfie stick, cat walking.
I enjoyed and embrace bo lang moments.
After spending more time than I should here, I had to move on.
I began to wonder where's everybody lolxx...
Finally saw a few other tourists here.
Museum, I kinda walked through quickly.
Another museum exhibiting ottoman clothes. They were so large! Were the people so huge? Estimating with my eyes, the length of the clothes were about 2m and width 80cm to 1m.
2m length trousers.
Looking at the underground through glass panel.
Intricate ceramic tiles.
Tree with a big hole in it's trunk, not sure if it's alive.
I finally found where the crowd was.
All admiring the sea view from here.
Sibei sweeeeeeeeeeee....
Camlica Tower from far.
Beautiful pebble floor design.
A feel of Rome.
Every visitor had to put plastic covers over their shoes when viewing the above interior.
Beautiful wall with assorted marbles.
From what I saw, I had probably covered 70 to 80% of Topkapi Palace, had to leave cos I was too hungry to go on and there wasn't any cafe in here to grab a bite or something.
After I left Topkapi Palace, I was hunting up and down for chap chye peng (mixed veg rice).
Couldn't find a cheap one, ended up at one of the restaurant along the metro rail way.
Big damage around S$22 but super yummy wings and broccoli with tomato base sauce over fluffy puffy rice. Portion was big, ate until exploded.
Went back to hotel, took a nap lolxx...
We travelled opposite direction of Eminonu to Beyazit Istasyonu.
We were kinda late at 7pm and the bazaar was closing. The replicas were mind blowing and were extremely tempting...
Did our last round of shopping.
I was still bloated from the late lunch, so we had something light for dinner.
We shared a set meal.
We had chicken, was super duper delicious, tasted totally different from what's sold in Singapore. It's more smoky in flavour, juicy and tender.
The bad thing was, we couldn't bring ourselves to buy kebab from our pasar malam liao.
Hafiz Mustafa was everywhere in Istanbul, and this was our last night, so went in to try.
The shop was spotlessly clean, they wiped out every finger print on the glass.
Turkish coffee tasted different from the one I had in another cafe, this was really good, not too bitter.
Rather expensive (forgotten how much), but it was a good experience. Desserts were very sweet but could taste the freshness with nice crunch, perfect with coffee.
This was our last night in Turkiye. It's such a beautiful country, I never expect myself to miss it as much as Japan.
Couldn't bare to leave but at the same time couldn't wait to fly back to Abu Dhabi to visit my baby sis.
Next day was basically a fly day, and we gotten to try the newest Salt Bae restaurant in Istanbul Airport.
Thanks for reading and I should be able to complete my Abu Dhabi posts before flying off to Mauritius!
