Hajj : THE Journey Part II

In Makkah we stayed at the Retaj Safwah Hotel, about 350m from the Haram. We got Room 901; a room with a corner window on the 9th floor.

With an awesome view of the street people where people pass by to the Haram and also of the dataran masjid in front of the King Abdul Aziz. We love the room. Subhanallah.

Aktiviti setiap hari di Makkah sama, sementara menanti wukuf. Pergi ke masjid mesti cepat sebab musim haji dan masjid sangat penuh. Pernah sekali terlewat, dan terpaksa naik ke bumbung.

Di bumbung takde kipas, but you get a view like this at Maghrib.

And I like to just sit (dan menung) di depan Kaabah. Especially in the early morning when most jemaah balik untuk sarapan. Sambil zikir. Or just stare at the Kaabah (sambil meraih pahala).

Bila tidak dapat ke masjid, I finished the time melepak je di bilik. Tengok orang pergi balik ke masjid. And take lots of photos of the street below.

These are taken from our corner window. Semakin dekat wukuf, semakin berpusu2 jemaah on the street below.

Arafah is surely an experience that I would love to repeat. Penuh sayu. Tiada haji tanpa Arafah. Kami tiba di Arafah selepas Maghrib. Perjalanan dari Makkah dan Arafah penuh dengan debaran. Tak tau pulak sebabnye. Maybe because it is something big dan sangat significant.

1. Gambar Kaabah di atas diambil di tv sebelum bertolak untuk wukuf. Ternyata Kaabah sangat lengang kerana jemaah telah bergerak ke Arafah. 2. Berjumpa Fatin di Arafah. Kami ambil pakej yang sama tapi berlainan hotel. Dan tak pernah pun terjumpa di masjid. 3. Khemah di Arafah agak lapang berbanding di Mina. 4. Khutbah Arafah disampaikan ustaz di luar khemah. Berjurai air mata. Selepas khutbah masa dipenuhi dengan zikir yang dibimbing oleh Ustz Zul Hamzah. 5. Dan antara waktu berdoa yang sangat mustajab adalah di Arafah, selepas waktu Asar. Cari lah mana2 tempat di bawah langit Allah yang luas dan berdoalah. Jangan doa dalam khemah kerana sangat digalakkan menadah tangan di bawah langit yang terbentang. 6. Apabila Maghrib, tamat lah waktu mustajab berdoa di Arafah.. Sedih bila nampak the sun was setting dan cahaya mula bertukar kepada kesamaran oren.

Selepas Isya' kami menaiki bas ke Mudzalifah. Bas berkali berpusing mencari peluang untuk berhenti tapi tidak berjaya lalu mutawif membaca doa dan kami terus masuk ke Makkah semula untuk tawaf, saie dan bergunting.

We arrived at the hotel at about 3am. Menyuci badan dan berwudhu' dan terus ke Masjidilharam untuk bertawaf. Kaabah sangat penuh tapi masih ada juga ruang untuk kami bertawaf di tingkat bawah.

Selesai tawaf, saie dan bergunting dan berjalan pulang ke hotel. Pagi raya.

We left for Mina in the afternoon, lepas Asar. Ternyata khemah di Mina sempit dan ruang untuk setiap jemaah sangat kecil. Tapi Alhamdulillah kami ada tilam, jadi tak de orang boleh nak encroach atas tilam kita.. We never have food or drinks problem di Arafah maupun Mina. Jus kotak, air mineral, tea and coffee is free flow. As well as Maggi (haha). Cuma nya air tak pernah dpt yang sejuk sebab laju sangat kena replenish (I am not complaining. Sekadar bercerita..)

Jamrah. Sememangnya Allah permudahkan urusan haji ini. Berjalan ke jamrah mungkin mengambil 15 minit. Kalau nak banding dengan jemaah yang terpaksa berjalan ber-km jauhnya. Kadang2 sampai tertanya, sikit ke dapat pahala kalau urusan haji ini mudah..?

The jamrah is modern, sleek. Berkilat sebab baru. Spic and span. Dan melontar dikelolakan dengan sangat efisyen dek ustaz2 yang bertugas. You walk in, briefed what has to be done, lontar, berdoa dan keluar. Lama2 pun tak boleh sebab pak arab jaga tu dah tiup wisel.

Before you know it, we are already turning our backs on the syaitans that were pelted. And just like that, our haj is done. Sedih pulak bila sedar kata dah siap dah haji sebenarnya.





~ Subhanallah. Alhamdulillah

Hajj : THE Journey Part I

Surely this is a sight that makes any heart melts. This is taken in Masjid Nabawi at sunset where everyone is hurrying for Maghrib prayer.

It was long journey, our hajj. We waited 4 musim haji before we were invited. Naik turun lif Tabung Haji pergi appeal dan bertanya. Tak kurang juga bertanya pada saudara dan kawan kalau2 ada contact yang boleh tolong.

Alhamdulillah. It was close to aidilfitri when we got the call from Rayhar informing us of the great news. I was making raya cookies in fact at the time. Menitik airmata saya bila Tabung Haji confirm that yes, we are listed for hajj that year (2016/1438); thinking that finally it is our turn Alhamdulillah. Lepas tu tiap hari pun berkisah dengan persiapan haji.

Taklimat akhir di Masjid Negara.

Kami buat doa selamat dengan keluarga with mum yang tinggal di rumah Ayah Cu masa tu. Sekali dengan khatam Quran. Kebetulan pun bacaan Quran keluarga dah tamat at the same time. And ke Kelana Jaya very early the next morning. Solat Subuh berjemaah di KLJ. Dan berair mata as the coach left the KLJ complex. Naturally terasa sebak; tapi bukan sebab nak tinggalkan anak2 (tak ada pun terpikir pasal keluarga masatu. And as I write this I wonder samada lebih kurang macamni ke orang yang nak pergi selamanye tu terasa. You are just thinking forward to the place you are going; be it to Tanah Suci or alam barzakh dan tak ingat pun yang akan ditinggalkan. Dan, macam kata ustaz kita ni memang selalu kena mengingati mati..)

Nevertheless.

Whilst on the coach the driver seem to hesitate over what road to take and sure enough the out-riders took us to the hotels in MidValley Mega Mall. And then the bus stopped dan kami tertanya ujian Allah apakah ini? After the longest moment, a TH rep came onto the bus to announce that our plane is still delayed in Madinah and we were to spend the night at the Boulevard Hotel. Pesan ustaz, sebut Alhamdulillah dan senyum under all conditions. And we did.

And we actually did that many times.. haha. Sebab no  one seem to know what time we will be flying out to Madinah. Ilyas, Zuf and Umar visited us that night di hotel (note : bilik kami cantik); sembang2 dan lepak2 lagi. We found a flyer under the door before Subuh the next morning stating we will leave the hotel at 8. We packed and amongst the busy Monday morning traffic we left for KLIA. Again we were left at lost at the airport with no updates. Khabar angin bertiup kata plane belum pun sampai dari Madinah.

Dah noon baru plane landed dan Alhamdulillah we were asked to board masuk je Zuhur. Ustaz azan di departure hall dan jemaah semua solat dulu. Ada announcement suruh kami board the plane tanpa melengah. Alahai, bercakap dengan orang yang nak pergi haji dengan ustaz bagai suruh jangan solat dulu bila masuk waktu.. (apakah?)

Alhamdulillah things were smooth after that. Di imigresyen pun laju. Kami solat Maghrib di Madinah airport. Hotel di Madinah jangan tanya; we got a four bedded room. Luas dan selesa.



Di Madinah the activities are the same like when you are on umrah. Cuma number of days are more untuk mencukupkan 40 waktu solat.


Maghrib (MasyaaAllah. Seronok kalau dapat ke sini lagi..)

Kami membuat ziarah Madinah yang lazim dan yang tidak; termasuk ke Muzium AsmaulHusna dan Sokaifat Bani Saedah - which are interesting sebab tak pernah pergi dan tidak pernah tahu pun.

Yang lazim - Bukit Uhud dan Masjid Quba'.


Dan ini yang kurang lazim. Muzium AsmaulHusna.

Dan Sokaifat Bani Saedah. Sebuah kawasan di mana Rasulullah saw mencari tenang, bermesyaurat dan di mana khalifah pertama dilantik selepas wafatnya Rasulullah saw. Menang tempat ini tenang. Dan nyaman. And quiet.

Something that brings a smile to the face. Kesian; kepanasan agaknye.

Makan di Madinah sangat sedap. Alhamdulillah. Lamb, beriani, olives. Amongst our favorites. Namun, after a few days we cant help but wish for some "normal" food.. (inilah manusia..)

Of course we had maggi dan roti dengan serunding di bilik. And we visited their Baskin Robbins (tapi mungkin tak sedap macam di Msia..? entahlah)

Tekun mendengar tazkirah ustaz di Quba'..

A beautiful view from the hotel foyer.

We are always here when in Madinah. Buat jubah yang sangat sempurna at a very reasonable price.

We left Madinah exactly after the 40th waktu solat. Mid morning. About an hour to the scheduled RNR, one of the bus tyres meletup. Bunyi kuat with screeching noise; macam metal bergesel. Dan bas terhoyong hayang sekejap. The bus slowed. Tak berapa lama terus masuk ke kawasan kedai2 yang ada kedai pomen, cafe and even a masjid! While the  bus being repaired kami minum dan berwudhu'. It wasnt long before we were on our way again and arrived at the RNR. Zuhur pun dah masuk dan kami terus solat dengan tak payah berasak2 dengan jemaah lain di bilik air. Alhamdulillah. Allah yang lebih bijak mengatur.

I love the empty space of this land. Panas. Tenang. Lapang. Ada sayu di sini.

Kami sampai di Makkah pada waktu Maghrib. And I will continue next time InsyaaAllah.




~ Alhamdulillah. AllahuAkbar.

Never Too Late For A Raya Photo (Sheepish)

For the record, I am posting our latest photo from previous Raja Haji which was on 1 Sept.

We decided to do our qurban di luar negara tahun ini. So our raya was agak santai.

Cuma balik kampung and then visited my mum. We had raya dinner together minus Kaia who is currently in Sabah and also Ili, who came back later.

Luqman and family were in in-laws' place so there were only seven of us plus the babies.


Nikmat Allah.




~ Alhamdulillah 

Hello

It surely has been the longest time since the last post. I wanted to write but always other things got in the way.

I have been busy - on Insta (sheepish). Insta is fine although I think it lacks depth. To me at least.

 Anyways. I have loads to update. But first things first.

I was reading the Quran a bit and found this ayaat:

The word qorin at the last of the ayaat reminds me of a conversation on the syaitan that follows each and every man/woman. So I look up the translation and one thing led to another and lo and behold! Alhamdulillah I finished the translation for the whole of Surah az-Zukhruf that morning.

Nevertheless, more reading on qorin need to be done another time. Atau kena tanya ustaz nanti.

Dan doa menaiki kenderaan juga pada surah yang sama; pada ayaat 13-14:

I definitely need more practice.




~ AllahuAkbar

Letting Go

We took mum to see flowers in Sg Buloh again the other weekend. My adik was determined. Dan mak pun terpaksa menurut. It is good for her; or at least we think so. Kalau tak terperok je kat rumah tak ke mana. Dan kalau nak harap sesiapa bawak mak pun adik-beradik lelaki lah. Harap kami yg pompuan ni nak angkat mak masuk kereta pun takde daya.

Unfortunately my smart brother bawak Land Rover dia pulak that weekend which I thought quite impossible nak angkat mak naik. Tapi macam saya kata, my adik was determined. And he said you can if you put your mind to it.

Sampai Sg Buloh mak beriya tak nak turun. Ada adik saya kisah? Haha. Pelan2 dia pujuk mak. Mak pun terpaksa ikut walau taknak. Like I said to mum, dia ikut degil mak. Mak terpaksa mengalah; nasib baik mak gelak. Kalau dia marah tak tau la, balik la kami.

But clearly mak didn't really enjoyed the outing. Dulu masa bawak mak, mak ada jugak kata bunga tu cantik, bunga apa tu, bunga mana yang bau wangi ni. And she asked to buy a couple of orchids for her. Sekali ni diam je, kita cakap dia hmm. Kalau tak, silent. Tak apa lah. Kita sentiasa mencuba.

My mum has been a strong person all her life. Nurturing a big family. With my father passed away >30 years ago. Growing old independently. These cant help but make her strong. Sampai tua ni pun mak masih has that strong character. Sangat tricky to manage sometimes. Tapi kami sentiasa mencuba (ya Allah, let that be true InsyaAllah).

Saya terfikir this is a post about getting old. Untuk fikir dan buat yang terbaik untuk hari2 terakhir kita di dunia (if you can plan for it, that is).

For me, the first thing to do is letting go of the responsibilities that you should. Semua orang dah makan? Dah tidur? Pintu dah kunci? Baju dah basuh? Dah angkat dari ampai? Yang remeh2 ni biarlah masing2 pikir sendiri. Takkan sampai jadi nenek kebayan pun nak worry about these things. Anak2 tolong le pikir pulak.

Second, taknak pikir nak beli benda apa lagi dah. Yang ada tu sudah lah. Biar lah zuhud2 sikit. Banyak barang pun nanti dah pergi buat susah je anak2 yang tinggal nak kemas pulak semua. Saya dah hantar pinggan mangkuk ke free market. Letak baju2 pre-loved tu di bangsal second hand collection. Lepas ni buku2 nak dihantar ke tempat2 yang sesuai. Yang ada tu biar lah yang perlu saja. But I still have a long way to go. Note : barang yang perlu kena le beli, don't get me wrong.

Saya terbaca the other day, you have to learn to live without the things you think you cant live without. Saya terdiam bila terbaca. Dan fikir. Mungkin my family. Jadi nak kena belajar pelan2 hidup sendirian ke? Wallahualam. Who knows how long we will live? If we die young?

Teringat juga bait lagu Megan Trainor dengan John Legend, we never know when we'll run out of time so I'm gonna love you like I'm gonna lose you. I translate this more like doing the best for myself especially and for everyone that matters, kerana dunia hanyalah satu ujian yang sangat singkat, so let's do the best that we possibly can. 

Apa2 pun mati nanti pun sorang2 jugak. Buat lah persediaan yang patut. Kata ustaz, kalau umur macam gini tak larat itu dan ini, abis bila pulak nak buat? Nanti lagi umur meningkat lagi tak ada larat nye.

Semuanya terletak di atas sekeping daging yang nama nya hati. Have you seen the photo of an old sheikh yang membaca alQuran yang besaaar, dengan bulb lampu yang cerah di depan alQuran tu? Saya takde pulak gambar tu. Kalau ada nak share di sini. Now I want to grow old like that - berusaha sampai hari akhir untuk beribadah dan mencari redha Allah. InsyaAllah. Tapi takdenye rezeki itu datang bergolek.

Saya doakan yang terbaik untuk anda, ummah, keluarga yang disayangi dan saya sendiri. Semoga di bawah lindungan Allah hingga ke jannah InsyaAllah.





~ AllahuAkbar

Intriguing Istanbul Part 2

 

Nak sambung on the Istanbul trip lagi..

One of the things I wanted to do in Istanbul is to ride on the hot air balloon. Tapi tak nak terlalu mengharap takut cuaca tak mengizinkan. And the best place to do this is in Capaddocia (or so I am told).  

We booked the balloon tour in Istanbul via Ali, the tour operator whose small office is next to our apartment complex. The flight to Capaddocia took about an hour (a bus ride takes 9!) The driver who waited for us that afternoon said there might not be any balloon ride the next day as the weather is windy and foggy as well. Isy, isy.. I didn't want to fly out to Capaddocia for nothing kan..

As it turned out, the weather got better and we rode the balloon the next morning. Yeay..

There were many, many balloons that flew that morning. I didn't expect so many to fly at the same time actually. Tapi MasyaAllah. Sangat banyak dan sangat cantik. It was cold in the air.

We were picked up at our hotel at 5am. Masih gelap. And taken to the field where there were many balloons being inflated. Seronok bukan main sebab ternyata we will fly that morning. Buns and coffee were served to ward off the cold.

There were 16 of us in the bakul and we flew for about 3kms for an hour or so. We landed after 3 attempts; on the side of the bakul! We flew so far out and seem like drebar balloon tu was determined to land on the third attempt. I wanted to land as well; it was quite cold up in the air and it looked like clouds were moving in. Alhamdulillah landing on the sides pun ok la. Hard landing kata dek mamat yang operate balloon tu (please note dalam gambar bakul tu kan terbalik.. we literally crawled out of the bakul haha).

We were served non-alcoholic fruit beverage dan dapat medal! Alhamdulillah naik jugak hot air balloon ni sebab masa pergi NZ dulu our balloon ride was cancelled because it rained. Taknak lah mengejar bucket list sepanjang hayat kan.

While in Capaddocia we stayed at a hotel that is built in the cave. Sejuk mak ai. Sampai kena mintak heater. Kat Capaddocia ni memang banyak history of man yang duduk dalam caves; in most cases adalah Kristian yang sembunyi dari ditangkap oleh paganites.

With out tour guide in Capaddocia, Fatima.

 

One of the must-dos in Istanbul is sailing on the Bosphorus. And we did. Tapi the morning was cloudy and windy. It was very, very cold on the deck. Jadi kami duduk di deck sekejap je lah. Cari feri di Eminonu. About TL20 from Sultanahmet.

It was scenic. I think I will do this again; nak cuba evening scenic cruise pulak..

One of the things I read about is the seafood in Istanbul. Saya memang mencari dan terjumpa fish sandwiches di Eminonu; where we take boats for the Bosphorus cruise..

Sandwich grilled fresh mackerel yang sangat sedap. Cuma tambah lemon juice dan garam. Oops, cili sos atau tomato sos tidak disediakan.. haha. Mussel tu pun sedap. Again, tambah lemon jus je.

We went to the Grand Bazaar for souvenirs dan jalan2 tengok bazar yang ada sampai 4,000 gerai. I like it because it is old dan sangat cantik.

And the boys met and tangkap gambar with this guy! Dan tidak pun memanggil saya yang berada di dalam kedai. Most unfortunate. They said tak teringat pun mama! Boleh? Anyways. kami sempat juga sampai ke Spice (Egyptian) Bazaar dan Arrasta Bazaar. Dua2 secara kebetulan. Alhamdulillah. But of course Grand Bazaar lagi best; but it is closed on Sundays.

One of the things I discovered that I like (And I didn't expect it) is the Turkish delights. Bukan yang plain and coated with powdered sugar tu. These are filled with pistachios or any other nuts and coated with more nuts or dried fruits and flavored with fruits - pomgranetas and oranges and strawberries etc. Sangat sedap. If you are in Istanbul you should get these. And their tea. I like the flavored ones, not plain and strong like those favored by the locals.

Sedap sebenarnye Turkish food nih.

I left Istanbul with a heavy heart. Macam tak cukup hari untuk buat macam2 lagi. But well..

Dengan our landlord Umar (with glasses) and Ali, our tour operator. They were most helpful and made sure our trip went according to plan.

We are looking fwd to visit Istanbul again some time (nak pergi beli Turkish rugs and tengok tudung2 puas2! And also I want to sail the Bosphorus again (in style sikit haha). Do the cable car, the Sulaimaniye Camii etc etc.. haha.. And take lot of amazing photos. This time I missed the Emirgan Park where the tulips and flowers are .. tapi tak sempat nak squeeze in jugak. Next time InsyaAllah.

InsyaAllah di permudahkan Allah.

Maka sebenarnya, nikmat Allah yang mana yang kita ingin dustakan?

~ xoxo

Bila Sakit

Salaam Darlings. Wishing you the best of health and imaan.

Smalam lepas balik dari mom-sitting rasa macam letihhh sangat although mum had a good night sleep. Lepas pergi breakfast, buat laundry dan kemas rumah terus tertidur. Woke up feeling tak keruan. And felt under the weather for the rest of the day sampai malam.

Patut lah. Harini bangun rasa macam demam. Mandi dan basuh kepala. Kut lah nak rasa sihat sikit. Solat. Masa nak capai baju terfikir, baju ofis ke baju rumah? Ofis ke rumah? Ambik baju rumah terpikir nanti lewat pagi dah sihat kena pergi ofis hari ni ada progress meeting. Buat laundry. Letih terus tidur balik. Terjaga dan teringat Efan first day practical harini. Pergi breakfast, hantar Efan dan terus pergi klinik.

Viral fever (adakah itu jawapan standard doktor? I don't know). Sambil bercerita dengan doctor pasal urat2 yg sakit dan is this arthritis? dan dah penat jumpa orthopedic. The kind doctor suggested pergi buat acupuncture; why not? Ini antara usaha kita sebab jumpa doctor background omputih pun dah tak jadi apa. She recommended the hospital in Jalan Pudu. Kata doctor her husband goes there as well (lupa pulak nak tanye sakit apa). Maybe I will try this.

Balik rumah terus makan ubat dan tidur lagi. Terjaga groggy with palpitation. Macam payah bernafas. Dan bertanya nak mati ke? Macam ni ke orang nak mati rasa? And comforted self with a stern merapek! Tertanya lagi macam ni ke mak rasa bila dia mengadu sakit dan mungkin dah nak pergi.  Kesian pulak kat mak, mesti visualize that I am living in her shoes..

Apa2 pun terus istighfar dan zikir. Thinking this is what life is, yang rapuh dan sementara. Bila ditarik nikmat oleh Allah baru lah kita cepat2 ingat pada Allah semula. Kebetulan sekarang tengah mengaji Juzuk 27; dengan Surah arRahman. Maka nikmat Allah yang mana yang ingin kita dustakan?

Teringat pulak ada satu gambar seorang sheikh yang tua; yang mengaji dengan sebuah Quran yang sangat besaaar dengan bulb lampu tergantung depan Quran tu. Have you seen that? I wish I can put that up  here. Saya andaikan dia dah rabun sebab tua kan. Tapi masih semangat untuk mengaji jadi guna Quran yang tulisan besar dengan lampu yang terang. Saya nak jadi macam tu. Nakkan semangat tu. I don't want to grow old dispirited dan hanya menunggu hari untuk pergi. Tentunya Allah akan uji kita tapi macam mana kita nak overcome ujian Allah itu.

Dan. Teringat juga kata ustaz, semasa di university masa untuk kita belajar sangat limited. Ikut syllable yang ada dan tak boleh nak baca dan explore other areas. Jadi masa tua ni lah kita cari lagi ilmu. Mencari dan belajar. Malu untuk saya cerita, tapi bagi saya masa di university lah masa membaca dan menimba ilmu.. Dah tua ni baca lah jugak, tapi sikit2 je. How wrong can one be?

Kita hanya nampak bila hati kita nak tengok. Kalau hati tertutup, yang dangling depan mata pun kita tak perasan. Astaghfirullahiladzim. Saya minta ampun ya Allah.

Alhamdulillah. Ada berkat sakit ni.



~ AllahuAkbar

Intriguing Istanbul Part 1

Salam darlings. How are you? I have always intended to write here tapi niat selalu tak kesampaian. Nevertheless hari ni akan tulis juga. We just returned from a trip (nothing like the excitement of writing after a vacation I suppose..).

Anyhow. I felt compelled to leave the daily humdrum and get away for a while. And we were thinking of Melbourne (the rugged coastline and the adorable cafes looked interesting) or Istanbul (with the great history and architecture and often touted as the romantic place where east meets west over the Straits of Bosphorus. And somehow the Orient Express comes to mind). I wanted to do Marrakech and Spain as well. Including Athens and Santorini! Haha  itu lah manusia tak cukup2.

Anyway we did Istanbul. And yeay! It was indeed a wonderful trip. And of course I have a few photos (although wishing that I can share them all).


The beautiful Blue Mosque by night.

We stayed at the Sultanahmet neighborhood; the historical part of Istanbul. Everything we wanted to do are located there; Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, Topkapi Palace including the Grand Bazaar and lots of other interesting places to visit.

We got the apartment through TripAdvisor. Walaupun mencari merata. Dan apartment amat selesa for the four of us. Clean. Dan agak recently renovated. With a small kitchen equipped with periuk, dapur, microwave and fridge and plates and everything you need (we didn't plan to eat out all the time..)

Our first meal - Turkish breakfast. Turkish bread yang sangat sedap dengan cheese dan yogurt and honey. Olives. The sweetest tomato we have ever tasted. Omelette. And lentil soup yang panas. And of course Turkish tea (their tea is strong. Unfortunately tea like this is not my cup of tea! - pun intended haha). Anyways I didn't expect breakfast macam ni sedap; but it was. Sangat sedap actually.

We visited the Blue Mosque where entrance is free (of course, it is a masjid after all) and Hagia Sophia (charged). Dua2 pun sangat cantik. Bangunan tua yang penuh sejarah. Tak boleh imagine the hard work required to get the buildings up without modern machinery.

The masjid is still in use dan visiting is only allowed during non-prayer times.

 

The masjid memang sangat cantik. The dome, the courtyard and its grounds. The rustic chandelier. And the size of the columns are beyond belief. Sangat lah besar.

And we did the Hagia Sophia. First a church then a mosque. And during Ataturk's reign was turned into a museum. Till today.

Hagia Sophia is beautiful inside as well as out. Saya suka cobbled stone flooring yang mendaki ke tingkat atas tanpa tangga dengan laluan yang landai. Which makes me think that carts might have been used to transport supply to the upper floors.

Aya Sophia (as the Turks call it) at night. Memang tersergam cantik.

Turkish food is in fact delightful (I mean talk about Turkish delights). We had dinner at the recommended Doydoy Restaurant with the beautiful Blue Mosque view in the background. It was quite surreal. The food was good too here. Rupa2nya Doydoy ni agak popular because when we told the cab driver to drop us at the restaurant he knew exactly where the place is.

We were also at the Basilica Cistern. This is the largest of several hundred ancient cisterns beneath the city of Istanbul that provided water filtration system for the buildings nearby. The place is big and is illuminated with muted lights that gives it a mysterious atmosphere. Ada upturned medusa heads at the base of two columns in the cistern that konon nye to keep evil away (yeah, yeah). Saya tak lah plan nak letak gambar medusa tu kat sini kan..

 We stopped at the Hippodrome where chariot racings were held during the Byzantine Empire. Only a few fragments of the original structure still remains today.

I love this view of the Hippodrome in the evening as we walked back to the apartment. It was raining and cold and we were very tired after our walk to the Grand Bazaar.

Dan Topkapi Palace is another tempat yang mesti dilawati. It is one of the palaces of the Ottoman Sultans now turned into a museum. We were most intrigue with some significant relics of the Muslim world, including pedang Nabi Muhammad saw dan 4 khalifah.

 The place is huge. The gardens were beautiful with a view of the Golden Horn.

It rained so we had coffee at the teahouse that faces the most amazing view of the Golden Horn. I wish it was sunny then the view would be much, much better. Actually hujan batu sebenarnye. And our walk home was windy and wet and super cold.

It is spring time therefore flowers are aplenty. Istanbul has a tulip international festival although it wasn't until we left that the festival starts. Unfortunately. Btw, did you know that tulips originate in Turkey and then were taken to Holland?

 I was told that Emirgan Park is the place to view flowers in Istanbul but our stay was too short and our schedule was too packed for us to visit the park. Maybe we can visit Istanbul once more at a slower pace to catch up with everything (wink).

This post seem too long to put in everything. So I will continue next time.



~ xoxo