Yesterday’s limo and dinner was a blast. And I hope today is as well, but kinda constraint by the amount of cash I have. The day starts with a breakfast at top storey, but it isn’t as good as what we had in Selcuk or Bodrum. Well, free breakfast is nothing much to complain about anyway. Izmir offered us much less.
Hagia Sophia is our target today. Pretty much loser if we are in Istanbul but we do not visit one of the reputed wonders of the world. 10 YTL for entry, again. Seems like attractions in Turkey actually coordinated their entry fee at 10 YTL, and the most amazing thing is that they do not have student prices! Again! Wow, what can I say? Getting in was troublesome again, with all the security checks. Who would wanna bomb the famed Ayasofia? Beats me. Before we enter the building, the courtyard was laid with numerous excavations from the previous Ayasofia before the present one was built. And of course, the excavations are not complete. Because buildings are always built on past ruins, it is impossible to carry out extensive excavations without harming the architecture of the main building itself.
Hagia Sophia itself is a linear combination of Islam and Christianity. While some walls are Christian mosaic, the rest are typically flanked by Islamic scriptures from the Quran. It is nonetheless more interesting than Blue Mosque. There’s a spoiler though. Right smack in the middle of the building are the restoration works. Aluminium bars erected to reach the top most dome is indeed an ugly sight. I think the highlight of Ayasofia was that Kiat managed to find a special angle where I face Quran scriptures, on-looked by Madonna and Child. Looks like a face-off, and other religions watch on enthusiastically. Cool one there, but my camera isn’t exactly the best one to use for such art.
Beyond Hagia Sophia, we are left with almost zero cash. And guess what, the Underground Cistern which I had been so enthusiastic about requires another 10 YTL bribery. Extortion at the expense of widening horizons, someone gotta do something about it. We decided to walk the streets of Istanbul instead. And guess where did we go eventually? The biggest market in the world. No kidding. The number of streets in this market is incredible. Not to mention the number of shops in there. The most amazing thing here is how vendors can double prices without even a blink in the eye. Kiat enquired the price of a cushion cover, and they name a price of 40 YTL. When we were about to leave, they immediately drop the price to 20 YTL. This is not to mention there’s yet a bargain going on. I was quoted 5 YTL for a set of tea glass and dish. After I lowered the price to 2 YTL, we transacted at 3! And all the while, I could have paid close to double the price. It’s easy to believe that Istanbul’s retailing economy runs on such unscrupulous means of doing business. Well, it’s thriving and people are happy, except tourists. In fact, Kiat and me then seek to bargain prices with the retailers for the fun of it, despite the fact that we’ve got no cash on us. And somehow, we managed to bargain so low that the retailers gave up on us. Heex.
We went back for a little nap, after which we’ve decided to take a little walk while deciding what’s for dinner. Jo was stoning since she woke up, she was only energised by Walls’ pistachio ice cream. Ha. And that started our random snacking. We had a pistachio ice cream each. But the nice part was how Kiat suggested each of us come up with a snack. And guess what I thought of? Kiat’s nemesis, cucumbers! In fact, Turks have a interesting way of eating cucumbers. They shed its skins, then slice down its core before prying it slightly open and sprinkling salt all over it. The end product is fresh cucumber with some salty sweetness. Wow. And Kiat posed with the entire cucumber in his mouth, goodness! What kind of kinky picture is that? Makes him look like a horny b**t**d. Haha. Another nice thing that we ate came from somewhere surprising. Turkey’s McDonalds’. Their deep fried cauliflower and broccoli is heavenly. And why do they not sell that in Singapore? It tastes so good!
The day ends with a little kindness. We were confronted by this little girl selling tissue paper earlier in the day for 1 YTL each. And 6 hours later in the freezing night, she was stilling selling! And no doubt Kiat was reminded of the story of the Matchstich Girl. He gave her quite some lira for a pack of tissue. Seems like a little kindness goes a long way. Hope the little girl went home early for a good rest.
Oh, not to forget, do not ever dance in public in Turkey. Why? Because people will mistake you for a gay!
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