160407: Izmir, Istanbul

I can’t help but feel for the day like Garfield always does. Monday sucks. And waking up in Guzel Izmir Hotel doesn’t help, because the hotel sucks too. We got a flight to catch, and the cab is waiting downstairs for us.

Now that we’ve settled the payment, we left for the airport. All too eager to leave. But the worst is yet to come. It happened that the cabby that the hotel hired for us is too eager to pick us up as well, and he fixed the meter to cater for midnight charge, at 7 am in the morning! In the end, we hadn’t noticed the charge till it reaches close to 60 YTL for a 15km journey, all too dubious for our liking. On our 1st cab in Istanbul, a 30km ride costs us only 30 YTL. Hell. But the worst and most stupid thing to happen was, he stopped halfway along the road to pick up his lady friend! And we were made to share to cab! Maybe we should have exercised passenger rights, but we were not about to jeopardise our journey and compromise on a scheduled flight. It was after we reached the airport that we realise he was moonlighting. What the hell. Moonlighting in front of us at our expense. Even Allah will be angry. This is absolutely injustice.

The check-in and flight has been pretty smooth sailing. And reaching Istanbul was very much a relief. At least there’s room to negotiate something in English here. And guess what, our transport into Sultanahmet, the city centre, was through its Metro! The Metro line is the Turkish equivalent of London Underground and Singaporean MRT, but there’s a particular interesting thing about it. While the journey from Ataturk airport to a certain interchange is train like, the rest of the journey into Sultanahmet is by tram! To be serious, I’ve never taken a tram in my whole life before. My life existed around MRT tracks and buses but tram rides are a first. I mean, I’ve seen tram lines in Manchester and the such, and I know trams are available in Hong Kong as well, though I’ve never had the chance to go there. Well, travels always provide me with firsts, and I don’t know how many times of different ‘virginities’ I’ve given to Turkey. Ha, a little corny but true.

The entire Metro journey into Sultanahmet costs only 3.20YTL, which is a fraction of the 10 YTL per pax that we paid to go by cab. Still, an interesting experience. At least, it gives a nice twist for the day to the morning chopper. I never like to be a carrot, not to mention be seen as one.

We checked in after taking some time to find our hotel, Bahaus Guesthouse. It’s situated along a very prime location, where you’ll find lots of hotels and hostels. Not to mention lots of bars and pubs. Staff are very friendly, largely manned by 2 brothers who are both Turk and Italian. Our room is great as well, not to mention a kinky bed for Jo with a nice woven cover and matching cushion and mini bolster. Me and Kiat got a twin layered bed to ourselves, and I childishly took the lower storey and leaving Kiat to climb. Hope you don’t blame me, Kiat, I think you had fun up there. Ha.

Reception offered us a place for lunch, and Karadeniz as recommended is really a good place. Prices are pretty decent, and food is good. And restaurant staff are very friendly and cute. The manager of the place was ‘stroking’ Kiat’s head every time, and that sounds really kinky, at least to Kiat. The good thing about this place is the feel of it. I mean, the locals eat here and it’s really got the local feel of it rather than those restaurants that cater largely to tourists and feels fake. That feeling was what I set out to look for whenever I plan my travels, and no doubt it always makes me happy. The feeling of assimilation into local culture. Woot.

After lunch, we wanted to go to the Blue Mosque but it was prayer time. And Ayasofia (Hagia Sophia) does not open on Mondays (cursed Mondays). Luckily, we realised that the Topkapi palace does not open on Tuesdays and this is the time to go before we forgo the palace entirely. Jo and Kiat are both highly enthused about the harem, and thus this is a must go. The funny thing is, relying on our instincts, we walked the entire stretch of the 1st courtyard without ever reaching the palace. 2km of it. But the entire stretch is so filled with pretty tulips that I think we wouldn’t have minded.

The palace itself is still under restoration. And entrance is 10 YTL, with no student prices. Hell, the attractions are forgoing student privileges for profit and they are giving no damn to helping the future generations know about humanity’s past. Well, given our fascination with the harem, we can’t help it.

Within the palace itself, there isn’t really anything much to see. We toured a weapons museum and had fun trying to think of how the weapons are being used to kill. Ha. Jo was somewhat disgusted by the bloody descriptions, especially when we were talking about the samurai’s way of dying by his own sword than lose his dignity. Ha, lucky we already had lunch. Looking for the entrance to the harem was a little hassle. And entry prices are as exorbitant as entry into the palace. 10 YTL for it. Kaoz. Can’t they have a little sympathy for poor students like us?

It’s time for us to get in, and simply speaking, the harem is not as good as I had expected it to be. 4 walls and such. That’s about it. Rooms after rooms of tiles and ceramics but the Turks hadn’t ensured it’s interesting enough for people to want to get in again. At least, 10 YTL for Ephesus was pretty much worth it, but 20 YTL to get into harem sounds very much like a chopping board with a big cleaver. I had to end up taking photos of drains and stuff like that to keep myself occupied, and Kiat had fun taking ‘candid’ photos of me taking photos of the drain. Wow. How interesting. In the end, an evaluation of the palace merely adds up to the word ‘boring’.

The Blue Mosque itself is merely a vase. Nice and grand on the outside, but it’s just like any mosque on the inside. The majestic structure lends credit to the architect who designed the place, but other than that it’s only refreshing for Caucasians who do not understand Islam. Well, the highlight of the visit is largely Jo, I must admit. Pretty funny to see her in headscarf, or tudung as we call it. But I did meet something very strange in the mosque. Despite my hunger, it is usual for me to stay hungry till it is dinner time. But the strange thing is, I began salivating non-stop for the entire time I was in the mosque, and suffering from hunger pangs. I do not know why, but there’s something spiritual about the place. And the symptom that tells me this is not normal is when I walked out of the mosque to put on my shoes. The salivating stops, while the hunger pangs leave a tingling sensation in my tummy. Strange but true. Maybe Allah is trying to tell me something, but I never got the message.

We went back to the hotel to put down our stuff, and ask the reception for recommendations to eat. They recommended us a fish restaurant, that is supposed to be decently priced. The restaurant would even provide chauffeuring if required. For our part, we decided to walk there and look around at the prices. Walking along the southern coast of Istanbul is refreshing, for it’s facing the seas and not just a river. For the sake of living the life of royalty, we decided to take up the restaurant, and order wine as well. There’s a live Turkish band that adds to the touristy atmosphere, and the manager who’s probably the only one who knows English served us constantly. Nice fish, nice wine. The atmosphere is the best I’ve ever had since Bodrum’s seaside dinners and I must say 145 YTL for it is pretty decent. I mean, I pay $80 in Singapore for prom which does not really give value to the money paid, but $50 per pax for a good dinner and wine is cheap in my opinion. Not to mention their after-service is good. The chauffeur drives a limousine and never in my life have I set foot in limousine before. Couple that with the wine and the feeling is almost perfect, with 2 good friends beside. Maybe I’m lacking in a lover, but I do not crave that desire actually. Wow, living like a king makes better sense to me now.

150407: Ephesus, Izmir

Today’s Efes day. Ok, Efes is Turkish for Ephesus. And the beer tastes like Tiger, but much cheaper. Waking up in Urkmez Hotel is like all other days; Jo’s alarm goes off, Kiat’s alarm goes off, my alarm goes off and I wake up while the other 2 laze in bed. Wow. They didn’t have long to laze, we have got a breakfast to go to. Heex.

Urkmez breakfast up in the terrace is something supposed worth looking forward to. And it is. The terrace itself, on the rooftop, holds only a few tables for some 10 people to have breakfast. And we got seats in the wonderful sun. The view spans from hilltops where House of Virgin Mary is located to the Selcuk castle and St John basilica on the other side. A good start to the morning, compared to 4 white walls. Breakfast is Turkish traditional. However, the manager made an omelette for us instead of hard boiled duck eggs. And he complemented it with a lovely fruit plate to give breakfast a nice, sweet end. It is undoubtedly the best breakfast we had, even better than Kalendar’s breakfast. Woot.

We told the manager where we were up to next, and he offered a free service into Ephesus. Wow. We were led to a carpet shop, where the owner actually collaborates with Urkmez like brother hotels to provide collective services for their customers. Ok, it sounds like we were duped into the shop, for me and Jo bought cushion covers for 5 YTL each. Being hand made, the needle work and patching are more coarse than usual. But that’s evident of handcraft itself. 5 YTL is pretty decent I guess.

The ride into Ephesus is a breeze. 10 minutes of on-road sightseeing overseeing plains and agricultural fields. But alighting from the vehicle is a nightmare. Stalls and shops lined the road, with locals all too eager to show you their wares and looking forward to digging to the bottom of your pocket. Ouch.

At the ticket office, we sought to use our trump card again, the ISICs. But this time round, it didn’t work. Despite the notice that says foreign students get free entry into Ephesus, the officials deny it all. So those of you who is going to Ephesus, maybe let me just remind you that top attractions like Ephesus give students no chances. Only less known ones like Bodrum castle and Mausoleum of Halicarnassus can close one eye on us. Haiz. What the hell. And the worst thing is, this attraction is expensive. 10 YTL. A hole in the pocket no doubt. But on account that we saved 15 YTL on the free entries, let it be.

Entering Ephesus like the troops of Korean and Japanese tourists holding big umbrellas, we can’t help feeling sorry for the sun being treated like a nemesis. It’s beautiful sun, and we appreciate it after getting grey gloomy skies in London for months. Ouch. And this is the start of our loathing for such tourists. To tell it simply, they and their umbrellas spoil pictures. In the end, me and Jo were challenging to take pictures without people in them. Or at the very least, without umbrellas. Ha.

I must say, Ephesus is a well preserved city. It reminds me of the ancient city in Rome. But here, there’s no one to rip it of its white marble. That’s the bare minimum respect people have of their history I guess. The contrast with the brown barebones of Roman ancient city as well as its glorified Monument of Vittorio Emmanualle is huge. Here, I feel less of the sadness. I could only feel how majestic it would have been had the city been still existing now, less the urbanisation of vehicles and communications. At peace and at ease. That’s it.

To make full use of the 10 YTL that we painfully paid for, me and Kiat had decided to do the unforgettable. We started climbing towards the top of every higher ground, taking photos where no others would have similar ones of like those in postcards. And I assure you, taking these photos are much more memorable that normal ones. For all the buzz about making us pay for our entry, there were actually no guards or working personnel within the compound. It seems like Ephesus is nothing but a money raking fluke for the Turks. Well, there are lots of no entry places with chains up and the red no-entry signs. But unwilling to concede to these stupid signs, and to make our 10 YTL worth its value, we started trespassing. Believe me, the excitement is worth it.

Entering forbidden areas where it’s relatively more dangerous to walk and climb has its value. In our cameras, we embed spectacular views and perspectives that we doubt any other umbrella holding tourist out there possess. But what’s more spectacular is that Jo followed us through the vegetation and rocks on her slippers. You hear that? Slippers that she only wear in her room back there in LSE Bankside Residence is now equipping her with the ability to trespass into forbidden lands. No doubt she’ll get a burn mark from the sun on her feet, but Jo, you don’t mind the memory right? Do treasure your slippers! Sometimes I just feel ashamed that while this sister of mine is in slippers, I was climbing in Clarks Gore-Tex boots. Maybe I should have gone barefooted. But nah, too late.

The most unforgettable climb would be in towards the end. After visiting the Grand Theatre which was very much a disappointment with all the fencing and a gigantic crane, we followed the path to the former harbour. It says so in my map anyway. And no prizes for guessing what’s in our way: another no-entry sign. And to hell with it, we were in the forbidden zone in no time. Walking along the gravel path with folk songs to accompany us, it feels like a holiday all over again without the disgusting tourists. Ok, you may argue that we are tourists too. But at least we don’t brandish ugly looking umbrellas, we’re out to get a good tan in the good old sun.

The funny thing about this former harbour is that there seems to be no sign of water anywhere we turn. This former harbour may well be a former seaside city as well. Now lands abound east and west. But actually, Ephesus is indeed a marine city. But I guess the sea retreated over the few thousand years. Here, we found city buildings where the stones in the wall looks like its about to topple off and end its misery. And this is where me and Kiat decide we would wanna have a final go. In the end, it was easier to see him out at the peak on the pillar than to see a red me beside a taller pillar. And putting on the red Bodrum T-shirt that says Hotel Kalendar does not make it any better. Ha. I’m like a walking advertisement. Well, maybe they did deserve to be recommended. As I like it.

Beyond Ephesus is the famed 3km walk back to Selcuk. Basically, out of Ephesus, you’ll come to the touristy market selling souveniors and ‘genuine fake watches’. I don’t know whether to laugh or to cry, for Kiat saw the same thing and was trying to decipher if he should believe the word ‘genuine’ or ‘fake’. In the end, he had a picture of that for keepsake. Ha. I think the most characteristic feature to look out for is the bus bay cum carpark. It doesn’t only park cars, but also horse carriages with handsome breeds munching at tasty tall grasses. We had to follow the path of approximately 1km out of this place, then follow by the 3km walking route along the main road. It’s a Sunday, and the Turks can be seen taking children out for picnics and such. Heart warming and nice, it reminds me of how my mum used to take me out for walks when I was much younger. But somehow, I’m glad I grew out of my childish stubbornness that was much characteristic of my behaviour then.

Ephesus was our pre-determined last stop in Selcuk, and we decided to proceed with Izmir next. We gathered our backpacks from the hotel reception, which very kindly kept for us. On reaching the bus station, we went back to the Metro uncle who offered his help yesterday. And the coach ride to Izmir is surprisingly cheap. we expected some 10+ YTL, but the final price was 6 YTL each. Woooo.

The ride wasn’t too long either. But on reaching the bus station, our worst nightmare started. You see, the Izmir bus station wasn’t exactly the most strategic place in Izmir. It’s a good 1.5km off the main activity area, which is the Basmane (pronounced as Bas-ma-ni) train station. And that’s where our next hotel is as well. We took 1 hour to find out where to take the free shuttle service to the area, but guess what? We missed the stop! Being 1st timers in Izmir, we know shit about the place and the driver didn’t even had the helpfulness to take note of our destination. For one thing, people in Izmir doesn’t even care to speak English. That shows how isolated this place was from tourism. And to think that this place has the International Expo is an absurd idea. How do you promote trade without even educating the public in basic words of one of the world’s most commonly spoken language? Luckily, there’s a young man who came to know of our trouble with the wrong stops, and managed to negotiate a free ride to Basmane for us instead.

That isn’t the end of the nightmare, for goodness sake. The hotel which we went to, Guzel Izmir, deserves our worst rating despite being the most expensive up to now. 14 euros a night compared to 7 euros in Selcuk and Bodrum is daylight robbing. The receptionist, whom I presume is also the manager, doesn’t understand a single word of English at all. And for the 1st time in Turkey, I had to resort to sign language. Finally, I used the guide book to read to them the name of the airport, and then try to convey that we need a cab to the airport at a particular time. After all the shit that we had to go through, he seems to finally understand.

I do not wish to write down what further shit we had to go through in Izmir. It’s a terrible experience, and all I can say is fellow travellers out there who wanna pay Izmir a visit, it’s a bad idea. It’s the worst city I’ve ever experienced in my travels up till now.

140407: Bodrum, Selcuk

Woke up to giddiness. Thanks to Kiat. And despite being to worst off in terms of drunkenness, I’m the 1st to wake and wash up. Haiz, they are professional lazers in bed. Ha. Anyway, we woke up late for the earliest bus to Selcuk is at 12.30pm. No point waking up early. And hence last night’s frenzy. Ha.

Breakfast is the Turkish standard, but I’ve got no appetite for bread. Merely finished my share of nice and tender tomatoes, cucumbers and hard-boiled duck egg. Can’t help but think that the Turks really know what’s healthy and good.

Took pictures with Murti. And he is really lecherous. All the time wanting the photo he took with Jo on the 1st night. Not to mention his love for Geylang in Singapore. Haiz. And come to think of it, I’ve yet to send him the group photos. I think I should, but out of respect for Jo, maybe I should leave out the one he desired. Hehe. Jo, you gotta thank me big time.

The coach company sent someone to fetch us from the hotel to the otogar. Coach ticket prices are within expectation, I guess any transport into and out of Bodrum costs that much. We set off on time, down the road winding out of the hills surrounding Bodrum. Bye Bodrum, we’ll miss you. And I’ll be back.

The ride to Selcuk was pretty much uneventful, except for a couple of things that happened. My tummy, a little too lousy for my liking, actually felt bloated since breakfast. And the winding road help to release that bloat. Through my mouth. Haiz. But without a history of motion sickness, I can only attribute to last night’s drinks. Kiat, thanks again. The other thing was I had my MP3 player with me. And coincidentally, the song was 沉默的羔羊。Woot. I was listening to one earphone, and Jo the other. And through the final part of the journey, me and Kiat were singing that song with Jo giggling and learning from us. Of course, all other people in front, behind and beside us can help but stare at us. Ha. A heart-tugging song always helps to lift spirits.

Selcuk is a town where the locals LOVE foreigners. Not much difference from Bodrum. They rever us Asians as much as Caucasians. As long as we have cash on us. Ha. Once off the coach, there’s this man from a company called Metro that offers a lot of help. He helped us call our hotel, which had the manager drive down to the otogar to pick us up. He also offered to give us a timetable of coach rides for our next journey to Izmir. Woot. Now we can plan better, without having last minute delays in our plans. I mean, the ride to Selcuk was quite out of the way for we had to leave Bodrum earlier. Well, not that it make much difference now.

At the hotel, we managed to put down all our stuff, and decided to ask the manager for a place to have lunch. We wanted to go to a guide-recommended place, but a staff of his said that’s not really good. And to our shock, he started speaking Mandarin! It’s really both a pleasant shock but also a ‘oh no’ shock. I mean, it’s always heart warming to know someone in foreign lands could speak our mother tongue. But then, it also means we cannot really speak in ‘code’, ie in Mandarin and hoping Turks do not understand. Well, he recommended a restaurant right beside his hotel. It serves Turkish pizzas. Thinking about it, we had yet to have Turkish pizzas despite ordering in Bodrum. They always reply that they don’t have it yet due to the tourist season yet to arrive. Now we get to eat it.

Actually, the prices there are really reasonable. An all-mixed pizza for 4 YTL is really cheap. Not to mention the servings are pretty huge. And flavours are pretty varied as well. But the most interesting thing is their waiter, a young boy probably at the age of 14 years. He’s well-dressed in shirt and pants and tried to take our orders. And after our meal, he even offered complimentary drinks. All the more reason to tip him. Given his age, the chef making the pizzas in front of us is probably his dad, and everyone helps in the family business. Wow. Actually that’s not very rare. Come to think of it, I start helping my dad man his renovation outlet at the age of 13. Though I really know shit at the time. Haha.

After lunch, it was about 4 I think. And St John’s basilica is nearby. Our next stop. As we walked up the hill, there was a man who suddenly said hi and started to talk to us. He even offered to walk us to the castle behind the basilica, saying it’s along the way to his home. Going home at 4. Tells a lot about how much they are working. Haha. But people here are really friendly, Singaporeans are comparatively more snobbish. Haiz. When will we learn to have such service?

Entry into the basilica isn’t free. And not even our ISICs helps. Well, it’s just 2 YTL. Not that much anyway. The 1st thing that impressed us was the existence of this particular stone set in the west end on the basilica. At first, we were wondering what it really was, coming to the conclusion that it probably is part of the ruin. However, on closer examination, Kiat realised it actually represents a 3D map of the surrounding hills, and even the Temple of Artemis. WOW. That’s an interesting revelation. And I think the tourism board is pretty creative in doing such a thing.

After getting is, we realised that everywhere is full of ruins. From broken marble to half-erect pillars and the restored altar, everything is pretty much where they were supposed to be, with exception from some missing pillars and overhead cover. Vegetation was growing in the wild in all places, there were even an entire patch of tall wheat swaying in the wind. Can’t help resist but ask Jo to help me take a photo of me in the swaying wheat. And undoubtedly, she wanted one too. And all this while Kiat was missing. While we were wondering, we suddenly heard a shout. He actually managed to climbed up one of the gigantic pillars! And we don’t even know how he did it. Ha. He could really get down very much by himself, and I had to guide his footing down the pillar. Haha. And one thing is for sure, St John’s basilica is a very good place to take emo pictures. Haha. And shamelessly, me and Kiat took quite a lot. We almost woke St John up from his sleep, with 沉默的羔羊. Haha. Cant help but sing that emo song with emo posing in the middle of a emo place in the emo afternoon. Woot. Before I forget, this was where we shot a ‘See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil’ shot. Haha.

But the highlight for me was actually the Temple of Artemis. To marvel at this wonder is like another pilgrimage for me. Haha. And it is BIG. Very BIG. Comprising 127 pillars, and with each pillar spanning approximately 2 metres across the diameter, I don’t have to elaborate too much on its size. I already did. And these pillars surround a few healing pools then said to be blessed by Artemis, goddess of healing. And the biggest of these pools, located right outside the temple, spans a few basketball courts. Now it’s infested by water snakes and tortoises. As said, there’s only 1 surviving pillar left and it’s constructed from bits and pieces found in the site. Not to mention the existence of a bird nest situated right on top of the pillar. Nice touch, but not quite appropriate.

I supposed the unforgettable thing for me at the Temple were the salespeople, which were also locals. According to the person, they and their fathers were excavators at the Temple of Artemis and nearby Ephesus. They need cash urgently but local museums do not pay them for coins which they excavated at these archaeological sites. Hence they resorted to selling these coins in the Temple grounds to tourists instead, hoping that we would buy. I think the best thing I could do is to replicate our conversation as below:

Local 1: 1 coin for 20 YTL. There’s Mausolos, Artemis, Roman, Greek, anything you want.
We just walked away.

10 minutes later, local 2 came to me. He showed me 5 coins.

Local 2: Friend, all 5 for 10 YTL.
Me: What?!
Local 2: All 5 for only 10 YTL. Take it.
Me: All 5? Ok, 5 YTL.
Local 2: Give me 7 YTL for it.
Me: Ok.

I handed them a 10 YTL note, and asked for change. Then local 1 came back to me.

Local 1: 1 coin for 2 YTL. You don’t have this coin. Artemis. Only 2 YTL.
Me: No, no. I only want my money. I guess they wanna to dig more money out of me.
Local 2: How about bookmarks? We don’t have 3 YTL change. Only 1 YTL. Bookmarks for 2 YTL. How?
Me: No, I only want my money. No change, then I want my money back. pointing to my 10 YTL note.
Local 2: You see you made everyone look for change for you. And all the locals are indeed frantically looking for change to give me.
Local 1: Friend, 2 YTL for a coin only. Only 2 YTL.
Me: 1 YTL.
Local 1: No, 2 YTL.
Local 2 hands me my 3 YTL change, I hand 1 YTL to Local 1.
Local 1: No, 2 YTL.
I hand over another 0.50 YTL coin, and Local 1 shakes his head.
Local 1: No, 2 YTL.
Me: Alright, I make you as a friend, I give you 2 YTL.
And I walked away laughing, with Kiat can’t stop laughing as well. Jo seems resigned to my battering and bargaining. After that, Kiat commented that he knows I gonna start playing with the locals about the deal when I said ‘what’. Haha. He really knows me best. And he knows that if I don’t play the trick on the locals, I’ll regret it. Well, old ancient coins for 9 YTL. Even if they are fake, it still makes good souveniors. But I’ve a feeling they’re not. Woot. British Museum, I need your help. Heex.

*Update: So far I've identified 2 of the coins as dated back to Alexander the Great and a Greek people known as Syracuse. For the Alexanderian coin, only the shape differs. As for the Greek coin, only it's un-cleaned state differs. Awaiting British Museum's autentication.*

Dinner was settled to be at a local restaurant. And there seems to be quite a number of Caucasians. Well, can’t go wrong I guess. The waiter directed us to sit under Kiat’s favourite, an orange tree. Food here is pretty good, but the most interesting thing is the manager himself. In serving us, we actually enquired what aubergine is. And it seems that Turks don’t have another English name for it. In desperation, the manager went into the kitchen and came out a minute later, holding a eggplant to our surprise and laugh. Ha. Today, despite me not feeling too well, gave me a lobang and a worthy dinner. Woot.

130407: Bodrum, Kos Island (Greece)

It’s Kos day. A day for the Greek island. Actually, we were very lucky. Kos ferries leave for Kos on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and we happened to arrive in Bodrum on Wednesday evenings, planning for a Kos trip on Friday. And today’s weather is terrific. Murti sent us to the harbour for our ferry, with a few other people. Sunny clear sky with a mind full of fun. It’s time to set off.

The sea on the way to Kos was so calm. So calm you wouldn’t believe it’s a sea. Hardly any waves, hardly turbulence. Like the trip was made for us to enjoy. Woot.

But the queue to clear customs is mad. Long queue, long time to wait. But the highlight of the queue is a joke. A lady, standing beside the queue, actually noticed that Jo tried to sidestep a mat fully filled with water. She went up to Jo, and told her that she is required to step on the mat for security purposes. The water from the mat would then be used to imprint her footsteps for ‘further identification’. Ha. And Jo fell for it. Stunned and puzzled, Jo looked at her and then stepped on it. Only to see the smile of the lady’s face and still puzzle over why the lady is smiling. Unable to bottle it up any longer, I told Jo about the woman’s trick. And she finally realized her foolishness. Haha. What a joke.

Out of the port, we walked alongside the castle walls. After Bodrum castle, which was such a fluke, Kos castle no longer seem attractive. Anyway, we were hungry. It’s lunch time. But being curious about the Plane Tree of Hippocrates, I walked towards that direction and the 2 of them followed. Finally found it. A super big tree by imaginative sizes, but what’s left of it is just the outer layer. The internals are gone. Hollow out. And yet it’s still living. Shoots are still sprouting in the spring. Woooo. Suddenly, an old man came up to us. Introducing himself as the official guide, he started telling us about the tree and the surrounding areas. Thanks to his poor enunciation of English and a tendency to stutter, we couldn’t make much out of his stories. Finally, we had him to help us take a picture and then told him we need to be on our way for lunch. And he recommended Goodys. Great.

Lunched. Fed. Watered. Now we still need a map and a tourist information centre. In desperation, we almost entered the police station to ask for directions to a bicycle rental shop. What a laugh. Tried our luck at a local tour agency. And bingo. They gave us a map, and showed us the directions to the rental shop. Following the directions, we finally reached there. But they refused to rent to us. For god knows what reason. We started to wander aimlessly around till we realize there’s the advertisement of a bicycle rental shop on the map! Wow, where have our eyes been looking? And there evidently aren’t any babes on Kos. Haiz. The surprise was, the rent is super duper cheap. Even cheaper than in Singapore. 3 euros for a day. That’s like 6 SGD for 24 hours. In Singapore, 24 hour rental costs 5 times as much. Ouch. And we started our way up the mountains. After wasting so much time, we have approximately 1 hour to ascend before we need to descend for our ferry. Haiz.

One thing we realize: Greek villagers like to rear goats. There’re occasional cows and bulls and giant wolf-like dogs (we almost couldn’t tell the difference), but majority are goats. They even keep goat kids as pets. Goodness. So throughout our biking trip up the slope, we could hear all the ba-ba of the goats. Initially, we keep holanding. There were too many small roads leading up to houses and such. Finally, we managed to find a way up out of tar roads onto gravel roads. And the scenery starts becoming amazing. And the higher we climb, the more we are mesmerized by the landscape. Oh my goodness. But we did finally reach a point where we think we could just sit and watch the lands below us and wait for the sky to drop.

The backtracking of our routes were so much easier and effortless thanks to the slope. Just that I pity the bicycles’ tyres and brakes. Good luck to the retailer. And we had ice cream in the nice sunny weather of Greece. Mediterranean climate sure has its loveliness compared to gloomy London or fiery Singapore. Ok, London isn’t gloomy now anymore but still, I love the Aegean weather.

Back in Bodrum, our dinner is at a restaurant right beside the sea. Our table is in fact on the pebbled beach of Bodrum bay. And the sun sets while we wait for our food. After 2 days of beautiful and romantic sunset, I can finally understand why Bodrum is called Bedroom of the Mediterranean. You can really fall in love pretty easily in the atmosphere, relaxed, peaceful. There is this legend of Bodrum where you’ll find love easily in the town, and the love is lost as easily when you leave it. And it has a special name: Bodrum love, haha. I think I fell in love with the town, and up to now the love is still there in me. Woot.

Oh ya, before I end my log for today, let me just iterate that liquor in Bodrum is dirt cheap. You hear me? Dirt CHEAP. I had a litre of Absolut Peach Vodka for 10 euros in a duty free shop on my way out of customs. And Kiat bought Baileys for 14 Euros. 1 litre. No prize guessing what happened that night. I was somewhat drunk for the 1st time in my life, feasting on vodka and baileys shots. Ha. Bad boy. =p

120407: Bodrum

Today is supposed to be my mum’s birthday. And here I am in Bodrum. Sorry, mum, happy birthday and I promised goodies for you when I return.

It is today that I start to realize my travelmates are people who laze in bed. 1 alarm went off, another alarm went off, and they alternate. And none of them wanna wake up. I woke up instead. Only to realize my alarm was tuned to the wrong time. Hell.

Anyway, after last night’s drinks, I’m surprised that I’m feeling alright today. Cool. Breakfast at Hotel Kalendar was great. Traditional Turkish breakfast, on the terrace. A boiled duck egg, sliced cucumbers (Kiat’s nemesis), chopped tomatoes, cheese, butter, jam and loads of soft white bread. Not to mention nice fragrant Turkish coffee. Heavenly. And we met Kathy at breakfast. Sat with her, and had a great chat. Woot.

Today’s plans are the whole of Bodrum. No joke. It’s more like a port town than a city. Yeah. And we decided to go by the scenic windmill route that was recommended.

Erm, I think I can’t describe the scenery too well with English, or even Singlish for the matter. I’ve decided to include a poetry that I wrote on the plane back to London describing my feelings up the windmill hill.

漫步 轻盈
哼着谣曲
背靠绿油山坡
穿梭白锡屋寝
心中少了一份忧

艳阳 微风
飘着发丝
聆听绿蓝大海
遥望白云晴天
心中多了份安逸

携手相伴 写意同游
如此梦幻
如此真实
站在悬崖上
沉浸于鸟语花香中
天堂与否 毫无意义
此刻 此景 此真
天下绝妙享受

OK, it’s heavenly. Terrific weather, sunny and clear. Terrific landscape, mountains, marina, the seas and white houses. Terrific people, Jo and Kiat. In mandarin, it’s 天时、地利、仁和。 I’ve got nothing more to say. You just gotta check out my pictures. I’m so amazed by the view that there’s no words to describe. Or maybe no end to the words to describe.

Walking down to the marina, we holanded. Not entirely Kiat’s fault, though we kept teasing him about it. Ok actually more like I kept teasing him about it. Sorry brother. And the marina is luxuriously heavenly as well. All the yachts that are berthed there, hmmm, I just wish they could be mine. If only I had a few millions to spare. I’ll have a holiday every year in Bodrum, setting out to Greek islands on these yachts. But that’s a daydream. And along the way, we passed by schools dismissing their students, a traffic police vehicle lifting away a parked car and all sorts of funny things. Haha. Nice town life. And this time round, I holanded the entrance to the Bodrum castle. Insisting that it doesn’t make sense for entrance to castle to be facing the seas since most invasions happen to be from the seas, it appears that Bodrum doesn’t follow the logic. And we walked a big round to learn that lesson. Ouch.

Bodrum castle doesn’t seem to have a student rate for entry. But we kept showing them our ISIC and showed that we do not speak their language. And I think out of convenience, they waved us through. Haha. Saved 10 YTL each. That’s like the cost of our ISIC cards. And to tell the truth, the castle is disappointing. Nothing much. But the fun doesn’t come from the castle itself. It happens that there are free roaming peacocks in the castle. And Jo doesn’t seem to realize that. While pointing to a stationary one, she mentioned that it looks like real. And to her amazement, it moved. And she squealed like a peacock. Eh, maybe not like a peacock. But it was so funny the Bodrum castle became memorable for the little joke. And from then on, we started training her to differentiate between living and non-living. Was that supposed to be a Primary 3 science topic?

For lunch, we went to a little shop along the roadside. It looks like those mixed vegetable rice stalls that we get in Singapore. But here, they offer each dish as a main, not a side. Jo got her favourite eggplant (aubergine as they call it in Turkey), I got my chicken and cheese which tasted like cheese pudding and chicken and Kiat got his rolled doner. Not bad, and there were free tea. Woot. Starting to love Turkey more and more.

After lunch, we proceed to the food market beside the bus station (otogar in Turk). The food market happens to open only on Thursday and Friday, so we are quite lucky. Kiat bought some nuts for post-lunch desserts, and he got overpriced for some mixed nuts. Haha. Typical foreigner whacking technique. Beyond the market, we started walking to the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus. Actually, the Mausoleum was the prime reason that I came to Bodrum for. And we are supposed to pay 5 YTL for entry again. We tried flashing ISICs again, and after something like 5 minutes, he waved us in again. Woot. Free entry. Though not everyday Sunday, time seems to have stopped for us.

The mausoleum itself is long gone, only bits and pieces left. And Jo wasn’t really sure how it is a wonder. Lucky there was a room to show that size with modeling. And as expected from what I’ve seen in the British Museum, it is enormous. Enormous for the size of a building that people could have built eons ago. It took them decades to finish it. And much less effort than that for invaders to level it. Haiz. What a waste. And within the compound of the mausoleum, we started discussing about the wonders, and of course the Great Pyramid. Brother, don’t forget we have an agreed trip to Egypt.

There wasn’t really much in the mausoleum to look, and it’s actually more like a pilgrimage for me. Haha. The afternoon was spent walking up to the ancient roman theatre in Bodrum, which we did not go in because of the busy road separating us and the theatre. And the last bit was a unanimously agreed tea session at the bay. In case you are not aware, the Turks serve fabulous tea. I order a sage tea, which taste a bit like ginger with some herbs. I can’t remember what Jo ordered, but Kiat got himself a Turkish coffee which looks more like a Expresso shot. And we ate simit and acma (pronounced ar-ch-ma). After the 1st round of tea, we ordered a second round. This time round it’s lime tea, sage tea for Jo, and Kiat’s favourite orange tea which tasted too much like fanta. Haha.

Before dinner, we lazed on the bayshore. Watching sunset. For the 1st time in my life, I watched a full sunset. A whole 3 minutes of it. Fabulous waters, fabulous beach, fabulous hilly lands and fabulous mates. What else can I ask for? This is supposed to be a romantic moment, so those people out there who’s looking for a romantic place to spend their honeymoon, Bodrum is the place.

We scouted around for a good seafood dinner. And we found some cheap and fresh sea bass and sea bream. Never since leaving Singapore do we have had fresh fish for dinner. Grilled. Taste so much like home, yet taste like a paradise away from home. Ok, this is getting too emo.

We went back to the dessert pastry shop yesterday for desserts. Try something new and everything is cheap. Woot. Along the way, we also catered for a bottle of Yeni Raki. Ha. Tonight’s raki night. Bridge, Indian poker and raki. It’s gonna be fun.

110407: Istanbul, Bodrum

No sleep again since leaving at 2.30am. Kiat came at around 11+ to 12, and we really had a good laugh on Facebook. Jo came down close to time, and we left for St Pauls. Bus N11 really gets on our nerves. Beware of the half hourly timings. Managed to get to Victoria just in time for the Greenline coach. The Greenline coach is pretty good; there’s few people taking it and we could just relax. Haha. Despite planning our transport with buffer time, we actually got hit by last minute check-in calls because there were so many people in front of us. Haiz. And worst thing is, after we got through customs and queuing up to buy some water for the flight, we got hit by final boarding call! So everything is a rush in Luton. The flight itself is alright I guess. Compared with Ryanair, EasyJet is so much better. But then again, we paid a higher premium for it.

The nightmare came after we touched down. Customs were easy, for the red Singaporean Passport sounds more like a Red Trump Card and we are visa-exempted. For once, the Ang-Mohs are behind us, and they gotta queue up to ‘buy’ their visas. Woot. Getting to Istanbul City Centre was quite a nightmare. Cabs were stalking outside. We asked for the fare to Ataturk International Airport for our next flight, and were quoted 75 YTL. By the way, YTL = Yeni Turk Lira i.e New Turkish Lira. So we decided to take the Havas instead, costing us 14 YTL each and leaving our fate in city centre to the higher beings.

And the nightmare continued with horrific jams in Taksim. Taksim is northern Istanbul, and the worse thing was the rain. Everywhere was jamming like mad, and cabs are not willing to pick up foreigners in the busy centre. For lunch, we just picked up a pastry at the roadside stalls, something that looks like a donut with sesame seeds called simit. We managed to pick a cab up to Ataturk, and luckily for us the cabby did not scam us with the fare. 30 YTL for the ride to Ataturk is decent. So actually in total, each of us saved 1 YTL each. Haha. Talk about cutting transport costs.

And Onur Air surprised us with their service. Onur Air is the domestic arm of Turkish Airlines and my impression of it was marred by a lousy website. But they do check-ins very fast and they even served us refreshments on the flight! Hey EasyJet, are you reading this?

Bodrum Airport looks located in the middle of nowhere. Mountains and highlands abound, and few buildings. Again we took a Havas to Bodrum city centre. The view along the way was, erm, undescribable. Haha. I mean, seriously, you gotta see it to know. A winding road alongside the highlands looking down on sea that’s coloured with true blue and turquoise waters and distant highland horizons decorated with white box like dwellings. Not to mention the slanted sun in the late afternoons and casting sun rays on the calm waters. The 1st amazement of the trip. Actually, to me, it’s a wonder in itself. Never in my life have I seen such a view so close. Can’t wait for Bodrum.

We arrived in Bodrum, and took a cab to Hotel Kalendar. Seems that they have quite a reputation here, and everyone even knows what transport policy they have. Our cab there was free, and the cabby even had the sense to go to the reception to ask for cab fare. Woot. Free ride. Anyway, now is the low season for tourism. Or rather, the pre-high season. The hotel is not as occupied. And the good thing is, the hotel is largely occupied with Australians and New Zealanders who work there part time I think. Because of their involvement in WWII on Turkish grounds, Australians and New Zealanders (Anzac) have roots and tributes to pay to here in Turkey. Cool, never knew much about that. We had a Anzac to tell us the scenic routes in Bodrum, places to eat good food and etc. at least we don’t have to pin point and use sign language instead. Actually, up till now, we never really had a total language barrier. Great.

We got lost somewhere while out for dinner in the dark, but somehow found our way to a restaurant. And we found raki. Raki is the local brewed spirit of 45% alcoholic volume. Stronger than vodka. And it had the funny cloudy white colour. We didn’t order the drink, but a ‘kind’-hearted man who could speak a little English and went to Singapore before actually let us have a sip of the drink. Unique taste. And the local beer, Efes, tastes like Tiger. Haha. At least it’s not like Carling or Cauffrey. London beer suck.

After dinner, we found a pastry shop for dessert. And they have cheap and good pastries. But we never really had the chance to eat them. The moment we reached outside of the hotel, the general manager of Kalendar called Murti and a Australian called Kathy were on their way for a drink. And dragged us along. We went to the local Australian bar, called Outback (obviously). Had pretty much fun there, with pool and good drinks. This was the place where we started to have raki shots. You know, the locals drink raki in diluted form, 1 part raki and 1 part water. But we never got to know why raki in bottle is clear but looks cloudy in glasses. Somehow, raki becomes cloudy when mixed with water, mysteriously. Anyway, instead of using vodka on flames, we experimented with raki instead. This was when I had my 1st spirit shot of my life. Not vodka, not rum or any cool sounding spirit. But raki. Ha. My virgin shot. 45% with flames. Who can beat that?

020407: Windsor

This was a last minute trip. It just happened that Huijie was going with Candy, and I wanna go Windsor. Ok, I’m a castle freak but it’s all because Warwick was half a disappointment for being so small. So much for being the best castle in England.

Met Huijie and Candy at Waterloo. Was 25 minutes late. But guess what, I’m not the worst! Gerard, he just woke up when Candy called him at 9. Wow, the statistic showed that Singaporean guys are the worst in being late. Even with an ultra small sample size and too many degrees of freedom. Crap. Somehow, Gerard was fast enough for us to catch the 9.58am train. Woot.

The journey there was pretty much lotsa chatting and catching up between the whole lot of us. And thanks to them, I did not actually feel too out of place within the creative group. For your information, they are all arts students. Well, I like contemporary, though appreciating isn’t quite as much as the artists themselves. Tate Modern, you failed to inspire me.

We reached a pretty ulu train station in Windsor. Well, it’s just out of place within the little town. And we did what Singaporeans do best: follow the crowd to the castle. Ha. For the world’s biggest resided castle, security is inevitable. The usual scanning, zapping, whatever. I think by the end of my studies in London, I’ll probably die of radiation. But not before all the others who sit beside the zapping machines. Ha. Talk about being evil. Well, we entered the castle through a little cottage beside the castle. The main entrance was reserved for HM the Queen I guess. And I must say, this castle is unique. Why so? While all the other castles I’ve visited have similar looking buildings within the castle walls and fortifications, this one doesn’t. The varied architecture of the buildings surprised me. So did the sunny weather. Anyway, the various forms of structures is curiously special. There exist not just rectangular buildings like Edinburgh and Warwick, or cylindrical ones like those in Castillo de San Angelo in Rome, but a mix of different kinds. It gives a refreshing feeling to observers of the castle-scape. Indeed, like what the audio guide says, it’s a city within the walls. However, it’s pretty much a disappointment the moment we started exploring. The Semi-State rooms are out of bounds, so is the Queen’s residence. In fact, We could only go into the famed Queen Mary’s doll house, the State Apartments, and of course St Georges’ Chapel.

Being the Queen’s summer residence, it is a norm to see the castle grounds and gardens well attended too. In spring, the blossom of flowers and plants gives life to the greenery and the old castle bricks. Now I understand what the author of Secret Garden is describing. In fact, I doubt I’ll be able to see much of the flora in a landscape like London’s. But coming out of the main city itself provides freshening colours to the dead concrete box we live in everyday.

And we got to queue again. The 1st time round, it was for claiming of the ticket. This time round, it’s for entry into the doll house. I think it’s to prevent overcrowding within the exhibition. 30 minutes later, we did manage to get in. the 1st exhibit that greeted us was the big big big house. It’s like a castle to Barbie as much as Windsor is a castle to us. And the details of the house is unique. In fact, it’s a Lilliput. Without the dolls. Everything was made to perfect proportion, not to mention amazing precision. As the girls say, like a big Polly Pocket. But this miniature castle definitely cannot fit into a pocket. Not even a king or queen has a pocket this big. Next up are the dolls. And they are creepy. They reminded me of Chucky’s bride. But prettier. Nevertheless, I’m still worried their eyes may follow me as I walk past or even wink at me when I turn to look at them. Gives me my goosebumps. I still prefer the house. Haha. And clothes made for the dolls look like they can fit a little princess. Life sized. Sends shivers down my spine even as I tried to recount. Haha.

Next up is an exhibition on Queen Elizabeth II. Her life, from young to marriage and coronation. It’s interesting though, particularly the coronation ceremony. Not that we could witness such an event as we like it. The way the Anglican church crowns a monarch is pretty special, and it kind of complements my knowledge of the Scottish Crown when I last visited Edinburgh castle. Especially when the Stone of Scone (Stone of Destiny) is placed under the throne which the Queen sat on (this is Scottish) and the placement of the Crown on the Queen’s head followed by the wearing of coronets by the royal family (probably English). A unity of both Kingdoms. A symbol of the United Kingdoms. How the name of the country came about. Woot. Worthy of a visit if you are interested in the constitutional monarchy of UK.

The State Apartments doesn’t interest me too much, except for the presence of ceiling art which gives much resemblance to what I see in Rome and the Vatican city. Though those in the castle are not as impressive and famous as the Vatican ones by Michelangelo.

St Georges’ Chapel is something worthy of mention. Given that I still had fresh memories of how Catholic churches look like, Anglican churches are different. As much as Catholic churches are centred around Virgin Mary and infant Christ as well as the Holy See, Anglican churches are centred around the throne. Yes, they follow the Christian faith. But in a way, the monarchy and the church co-exist such that without the monarch, there’s not church and vice versa. The throne is as important as the church. Within the Chapel, you will observe the existence of different coat of arms of the knights of Garter. Where a religious building should be kept peaceful, the internal of the church are filled with swords representing the knights. And of course the throne. Curious, very curious. I didn’t bother listening to the audio guide, I grew sick of it.

And last thing to note: a ticket into the castle is not a once-off entry. It provides a year long entry into the castle. So remember, get your brochure stamped and validated.

Windsor is not all about the castle. The town is pretty energetic, and its location beside River Thames gives it more touristy points. We went down to the riverside, and we rented a motor boat for 20 quid. Yes it’s a waste of money, but cruising along Thames on such a sunny day is different. Not to mention that Thames is filled with lotsa swans and ducks. Big fat swans. And small ducks. Gerard is a skilled sailor, and I made them all eat twigs. Yes I did. Don’t ask me why.

The finale of the day in Windsor is a little surprise. We discovered a outdoor adventure shop, and me and Huijie bought sleeping bags. Of all things, you ask me. Well, it’s cheap and I can’t deny that they have quite some good buys. Haha. Shopping for unrelated items on such a day, such a place, such a arty farty group. Oops.