20 hours in Istanbul

I booked my flight ticket back home from London to Malaysia with Turkish Airlines. The very main reason for me to fly with Turkish Airlines is because I will get a free tour, under the scheme Touristanbul that includes entrance fees to the few most notable historical sights of the city, transport and food. I have always wanted to go to Turkey (having watched so many travel documentations about The Grand Bazaar, The Blue Mosque, Hagia Sophia etc...), hence when I saw the cheap air ticket (about £550 for return flight to Kuala Lumpur) I got the ticket straightaway. Who can resist cheap air ticket and free tour of the city that you have always wanted to go?

To be eligible for the scheme, the passengers must fly with Turkish Airlines for both flights to and fro Istanbul and the time between the two flights should be longer than 7 hours for Business Class passengers and 10 hours for Economy class passengers. More information about the tour can be found here. 

Sights
1) Blue Mosque (Sultan Ahmet Camii)
After having breakfast included in the tour, we walked from the restaurant to the Blue Mosque. There was no queue when we went in (or maybe because being part of the tour allowed us to skip the queue). All women had to make sure that their heads and knees were covered. I brought my thin pink scarf there to cover my hair.

The Blue Mosque, gains its name from the mainly blue tile-work decorating its interior, and it is one of the most famous religious buildings in the world.

Apparently when this building was being commissioned by Sultan Ahmet I, the splendour of the plans provoked great hostility at that time because a mosque with six minarets was considered a disrespectful attempt to rival the architecture of Mecca itself (Source: Eyewitness Travel: Istanbul)

The tour guide was not quite helpful. Expecting a relatively comprehensive guide (since it is called a "tour"), we were pretty much left on our own to wander around the place. We were just told to meet at the exit 20 minutes later once we entered the attraction... I also noticed many visitors were just sitting in the mosque, which made the mosque a little bit congested. It was quite puzzling because it was just 10am and how could they get tired since the day had just started? (It wasn't the fasting month either...) Maybe they just wanted to appreciate the beauty of the holy building...

One of my tour mates went on to wash his feet with the taps outside the mosque... which is pretty cool :D

2) Hagia Sophia
Hagia Sophia is within walking distance from the Blue Mosque. With the tour, we managed to skip the long queues too.

Hagia Sophia has been around for more than 1400 years and it was built over two earlier churches in 537. Then in the 15th century the Ottomans converted it into a mosque. Currently, it is a museum.

Designed as an earthly mirror of the heavens, the interior of Hagia Sophia had a celestial feel. It could be even more impressive after the refurbishment in the building.

3) Basilica Cistern

Photo source: Tour Istanbul official website 

Basilica Cistern is a very unusual tourist attraction in the city. It is a vast underground water cistern to supply water to the Great Palace and Hippodrome. From my guide book, it says that the Ottomans did not know of its existence for a century after the conquest. It was rediscovered after people were found to be collecting water and even fish just by lowering buckets through holes in their basements. And indeed, there were many fish when I visited and they were HUGE! I wonder if the people actually feed the fish or something...

It is also interesting to see the Heads of Medusa being used as the columns to hold up the roof. I didn't take any picture in the place itself because it was really dark and slippery...

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/travel/2011/sep/14/10-best-sights-istanbul-city-guide

4) Spice Bazaar
Stalls in the bazaar stock spices, herbs and other food like nuts and sweets. 

I bought some Turkish Delight and pistachio for my family. The sellers constantly tried stopping me to sample the food and being totally on my own, I was very cautious. One man even said "I love you" to me seconds after saying "Ni hao"... 

More pictures of the stalls in Spice Bazaar...

5) The Bosphorus trip
Walking out from The Spice Bazaar, we went on to take a trip up the Bosphorus, the straits separating Europe and Asia. This is not part of the tour provided by Turkish Airlines. I saw quite a few Turkish people (probably locals) on the boat tour as well, probably because the cool breezes provide welcome relief from the heat of the city.

The boat trip costed 10 liras and lasted for 2 hours.

Bosphorus suspension bridge connecting the continents of Europe and Asia

Old man and the sea

Transcontinental flight

6) Galata Tower

Galata Tower is the most recognisable feature on the Golden Horn (where I boarded the ferry for Bosphorus tour). Its origins date from the 6th century when it was used to monitor shipping. Then it was turned into a prison and naval depot by the Ottomans. Subsequently it was used as a fire watchtower.

The entrance fee is 13 liras for adults. The view was breathtaking especially just before sunset.

It was already 8pm after visiting Galata Tower. I then took a cab with my tour-mate to the airport and ended our 20 hour transit in Istanbul.

Turkey, I will be back again to visit Cappadocia and Pamukkale. :)

5 Top Places to go in Vancouver!

Vancouver is such a fascinating city, while I like London more, the feeling of going to Vancouver has always been great, before my flight to Vancouver, I am always excited because it is always such:

• a refreshing change from the old, historical, full-of-tourists London
• a much needed break after the crazy spring term in Imperial (in second year for Spring term, I had 2 Mastery Tests which needed 80% to pass, and a formal final exam for Programming, given that I had only 1.5 weeks to prepare for that since I had already planned my holiday earlier, in addition to the exam madness, I had 5 other subjects which came with coursework submission almost every week)
• MOST IMPORTANTLY, to see my boyfriend (in case you didn't know, we started of just 3 months before we parted for studies in different countries)

If you are fortunate enough to visit this amazing city, do take an effort to visit the following places:

1. Stanley Park

If you have really limited time in Vancouver, a visit to Stanley Park is definitely a must, especially during Spring or Summer. I visited Vancouver during Spring, where I got to witness cherry blossom, and they were absolutely breath-taking. I've even heard of someone saying that the cherry blossoms in Vancouver might be comparable to what you would get in Japan! That is really interesting. So, if you do not have the chance to visit Japan during the sakura season, Vancouver might be a good alternative (if you happen to be in North America or something...)

Myself trying to take a picture with the pretty white Sakura

Stanley Park is massive, it's one of the biggest parks in North America, and walking around the park would take you hours. The best thing would be to rent a bike else where or near the park, and take your time to cycle through the park. Signs are everywhere so you don't have to worry about getting lost (yes it is THAT huge). Being very adventurous, I sort of dragged my boyfriend to try a cycling path that looked very dodgy, which seemed to lead us into a forest or something... Half an hour later we finally managed to get ourselves out of the cycling trail, and realised that it was one of the hardest cycling trails in the park. AND YES, we CONQUERED IT--- by lugging the bikes with us, instead of riding them. 

Me lugging my bicycle up the hill. It might not look steep here, but it really is.

And yes, I am usually walking ahead of him, probably because I am too impatient, or I can't trust his sense of direction, or he is just being a very caring boyfriend who wants to protect me by watching my back...

Even after our two visits to Stanley Park, I am not quite sure if we have covered the whole park. Maybe, it is always good to leave something uncompleted behind, and that would be your reason to be back. ;)

Just one of the very pretty sights of Stanley Park

Picture says it better: I was definitely enchanted by how beautiful cherry blossoms can be

Along the eastern side of Stanley Park

2. University of British Columbia

My boyfriend used to study in UBC, and I am sure that during summer time, the Rose Garden would be absolutely stunning. As I visited him only during Spring, I only have some pictures of the cherry blossoms in the campus itself. Coming from a university right in the city of London, I do not have a university with such a large campus, with greenery around. Even the libraries are really beautiful, unlike the library at my university... Most importantly, they don't try checking your student pass, which in other words, it would be much nicer for people to visit instead of having to apply for some sort of Visit Pass or something from the university.

Our favourite favourite picture!!! All credits to the awesome photographer, who painstakingly took so many pictures for us. Taken at Place Vanier in UBC

You could also visit Wreck Beach in UBC, apparently a popular clothing-optional beach in the campus of UBC and watch sunset there.

There is also Japanese Garden in UBC, which I clearly enjoyed the place. 

Remember to drop by Irving Library to have a glimpse of the pretty library. I don't mind spending whole day studying there lol!

3. Queen Elizabeth Park

I find QEP much manageable compared to Stanley Park. I think they both are pretty, it's just that QE Park is smaller and slightly more walkable than Stanley Park.

Unfortunately weather in Vancouver during Spring could be really unpredictable, so it started raining heavily when we were at Queen Elizabeth Park. Quite a shame, but the park was still really beautiful, and it felt good to be the only few people in the park - you feel like you have got the whole park to yourself! So peaceful that you get all the positive energy from the beautiful surrounding!

4. Fairmont Hotel

You might even get more English here. Imagine having an afternoon tea without burning your pocket? A proper Afternoon Tea in London could easily cost you £40-50 per person. So when I saw the voucher of getting an Afternoon Tea in Fairmont Hotel at CAD $70 for two, we both grabbed the voucher!

The experience was amazing, and it was definitely one of the most posh afternoon tea that we would ever had!

I would love to be back again, anytime. The service and the food were impeccable. 

5. Richmond

Being an Asian at heart who genuinely loves oriental food, I just have this thing for Richmond. I really like coming to this place, to get a feel of hawker centres and shopping malls. Richmond is such a Chinese suburb that you even get signboards in Chinese only, no English.(seriously I saw many signboards while travelling on the tube/metro)

You get cheap food in huge portion.

For example...

Another of my favourite would be the beef noodle from Chef Hung:

The list doesn't just end here... Granville Island, Downtown Vancouver, Kitsilano Beach, Capilano Suspension Bridge and so on...

But those five places are definitely those places that I would strong recommend to anyone. :)

浪漫爱琴海-- Day 2

第二天早上的早餐

在Santorini我们一早就计划好要好好休息，为回到现实生活慢慢调试，这样回到我们各自的岗位的时候才不至于太过shocked，不能抽离在holiday的时光是多么的美好--这也叫post holiday blue吧。

我们就在Santorini的时候睡到自然醒，然后等酒店负责人带早餐到我们的房间。通常他们会在前一天给我们一张纸，我们要吃什么就在旁边打个勾，隔天他们就会在我们指定的时间带早餐来。早餐选择也很多，有Greek Omelette, Bacon and Egg, Western Omellette，还有很多种sides，有Greek Yogurt, Toasted Bread with Ham, Homemade Brownie...但对我们来说，吃的还不是很饱，但是看着那么漂亮的景色吃，还是很享受。忘了说，每天早上有Champagne，这其实也是这酒店的卖点之一，就是Champagne Breakfast at Your Private Balcony，虽然听起来有点奢侈，但我们在淡季的时候来，酒店其实也不是很贵！

黑沙滩附近的教堂

只可惜第二天天不作美，早上的时候一直都在下着雨。。。这让我联想到在Sipadan的时候第二天也是一直下雨T__T，没办法也只好默默地希望天气快点好转了。还好我们租了车，不然的话骑着摩托就得淋雨了

雨中的黑沙滩

 四月的Santorini还不是很温暖，我们也没带泳装来游泳，就走马看花了。

 陪我们绕岛的出租车--Smart Cambio。开始的时候就想租辆smart for 2，不需要smart cambio。那个时候还不是很清楚smart cambio除了开蓬还有什么，后来才知道只有smart cambio有power sterring，我的他第一次在另外一个方向驾车，就觉得就花多点钱租辆比较好一些的车吧。

一开始他驾的时候是觉得这辆车有点“没力”但后来他慢慢习惯了也觉得ok了。

天气不好没关系，回酒店休息吧

绕岛一圈后回Fira吃午饭

 淡季虽然人少了很多，但吃方面也少了很多选择，本来打算在黑沙滩附近吃午饭，但全都没开，最后之后回Fira找东西吃了。

我们在Lonely Planet上面看到Salt and Pepper的排名很高，就去吃了~

没事做拿食物玩~

 Salt and Pepper的老板娘好亲切，听说他们的面包也是每天早上自己做的，那时候我吃这面包的时候，还是温温的的哦，通常我觉得面包都很硬，但在这里的面包真的很好吃，吃完了可以再要多一些，也是免费的。

好多天没吃鱼了就叫一个Grilled Fish

他的Grilled Squid

 在这吃东西要等一段时间，他们所谓的slow food。你坐着的时候还能看到老板在煮东西，就有点像我们吃日本拉面的时候总会看到师傅们在煮面那样。

天气转晴！

吃完饭后天气突然变好了，最后我们决定再绕岛一次，反正都租了吃就好好利用，不要一直窝在酒店里面~

我们房间的balcony

Pyrgos, Santorini

绕了一圈又回到酒店，好好休息，在房间享受在fira的日落。

浪漫的爱琴海:Day 1

一直以来都很向往这座岛屿，蔚蓝的大海，还有依山而建的白色的洞穴屋，是我自小以来就从电视上看过，只是不知道名字的岛屿。

后来到了英国读书，才知道这个地方叫Santorini。当他要来找我的时候，我们就决定一定要去Santorini了。我们俩都爱大海，一起去过不少的岛屿，这个地方算是最特别的一个了。

爱琴海总会让人觉得消费很高，但其实不一定。我们俩去了一趟Sipadan，算起来在那的住宿还比Santorini还高一些，虽然是包吃但在Santorini也一样可以找到平民价钱的东西，经济又美味。

之前在欧洲住的酒店通常都选二或三星的酒店，就觉得两个人还年轻不需要太奢侈，但我的他对酒店还是会有一定的要求，希望有自己的厕所，不用和别人共用。但这一次，我们破例定了一家超出我们预算的酒店，就希望能宠宠自己，好好享受，既然难得来到那么一个浪漫的地方，就花点钱住间较好的酒店。

看了许许多多的reviews，我们最后选择了Asteras Villa。两个怕输的我们在十一月的时候就定了四月的酒店，还真是佩服自己。那个时候也是觉得既然都订了机票就干脆定酒店了。

时间一转眼就过了，我的两学期也就这样过去，去完了意大利的主要城市和雅典就到了我们最后一个目的地---Santorini。

到了机场，一出门口就看到有人拿着我的名子的牌。那就是我事先定的Smart Cambrio，付了钱，拿了车，我们就驾车去酒店啦~

我事先用了google map找去酒店的方向，结果谁知道google map的路是竟然是后巷，唉害我们在斜坡上要reverse冷汗直流（santorini依山而建，fira不是很平坦），还真感谢我的他，在我hysterical screams之下还能保持冷静，没撞到别的车，更没撞到人（当时有个小孩在我们差点驾进那后巷的时候还跑出来在我们的车前面玩耍，真是感谢这小孩对我们的信心，对了他妈妈好像也在那，但也没阻止他。。。)

最后，我的他下车去问了个陌生人要怎么去我们的酒店，那个人没听过我们的酒店，还替我们打了个电话到酒店去问方向，真的是很感激。。。（虽然那个时候我被锁在车上完全不知道为什么我的他这么慢）

转回大路后，再经过一连串的迷路还有问路，我们终于到我们的酒店了。话说当地人还真的很愿意帮助人，我问了一个老伯伯哪里有parking space他还亲自走路带我们的车到附近的家乐福，还用走的为我们找了个泊车的位子（我们一直都在车上）。那个时候我迷路的快疯了，没好好的向他道谢，也是太不好意思了。

终于终于，我们到了我们梦寐以求的酒店啦~到的时候，酒店负责人还给了我们free upgrade，让我怒气减了不少，再看到房间美丽的景色，什么怒气都没啦~

我们private balcony的景色

那么漂亮，怒气全都没啦

第一天就在附近走走，去家乐福买了水果还有当地的葡萄酒，准备看夕阳的时候，在我们的private balcony一边喝葡萄酒和吃晚餐，啊真的是太爽了~好像现在就回去呢~

Athens-- The cradle of Western civilization

Airport

The first impression of Athens was a great one. The airport was one of the most modern ones we have came across in our trip. We even got the student-priced tickets for the shuttle bus to the city! It costs only 2.50 euro instead of 5 euro for normal adults. The bus transfer took us about 1 hour plus to reach Syntagma Square that is just 5 minutes walk from our hotel.

First impression of the city

When we got off the bus, we found the city extremely quiet and there were very few people even at the main street. We even saw a truck carrying soldiers/people in uniform while there seemed to be a protest going on right at the place where we alighted the bus. One old woman went to the street and had a look at what was going on. Two of us being really clueless at what was going on went to ask this woman and she simply shrugged and seemed not to be aware of what was happening too. 

Hotel

Our hotel receptionist at Metropolis Hotel was not as friendly and helpful as the people we met in Rome and Venice too. And the whole room smelled like detergent. We thought that 60 euro for a hotel in Athens was not cheap since a room in Venice being a much more expensive city costs us the same too. And the room in Venice was more nicely decorated and we even had a room with a canal view!

Attractions

Athens is easily walkable and most of the attractions can be reached by foot. Taxi might try fixing fares with you and it is best to stay firm and not get conned by them.

To visit the Parthenon, it is a must to bring your student card with you. Students from the EU get to enter for FREE! And students from other countries in the world get a half price discount--6 euro for the entry to many historical complexes including the one with Parthenon, Ancient Agora (with a museum entry as well), Temple of Zeus etc. I didn't bring my student card out with me that particular day because I was afraid of getting snatched (LOL) and I had to pay the full price for the entrance...

You get a great view of Athens from the top.

Troop marching around the ancient complex

The Parthenon

Massive Greek flag that is visible from most part of the city

Temple of Zeus with Parthenon as the background

Change of guard that takes place every hour at Syntagma Square

Greek food

Grilled meat is quite common in Greece and they are similar to the kebab that I have in London. So normally going for the grilled meat/grilled seafood is a very safe option for both of us.

Greek coffee on a hot day is such an indulgence

Greek salad with feta cheese. Never really love cheese so much-- feta cheese was a tad too strong for me

Grilled meat platter for two of us to share. 

The food was quite good and we had the whole floor of the restaurant to ourselves with a view over the street. 

Myself posing on the exclusive balcony with just us two

The sunny balcony

It was too sunny that we moved in eventually

Myself with stewed lamb that was tender and yummy and the boyfriend had his favourite, fried squid

The view of Parthenon at night from our restaurant. 

If you have got free time, go to Adrianou Street and shop for something that you might like. We bought some cloth with really pretty Greek design that could potentially be used in our future home!