eu07 istanbul turkey 2 4 june 2007

EU07: istanbul, turkey. 2 - 4 june 2007

turk hava yollari

for zuraidah and i, the EU07 experience started pretty much from the

moment we stepped on board the turkish airline flight. there was a

leceh woman in front of us (which irritated the hell outta me, knowing

how easily irritable i am) and just beyond her, a pretty hot steward.

hehe. he wasn't as good looking as the jude law lookalike i spied in

the aisle on the other side but he was charming as hell. this made me

forget all about miss leceh and i was pretty happy as i settled into

my seat. we got the very last row at the back. little did we know that

this would mean that we would be privy to the antics of cabin crew

when they think no one is paying attention...

haha no lah, nothing naughty. think our crew was pretty friendly, the

guys especially. the girls seemed like they had something up their

arses. not as accomodating. service standards, people, hello?

anyways, the charming steward's butt brushed my shoulder like 3 times

the entire flight. was that a hint dude? wahaha. then towards the end

of the journey i decided to watch a hindi film. bad idea. bad bad

idea. was blubbing like an idiot (come on, hindi leh. and i find

abishek smokin' hot. le sigh.) and this was the exact moment that

charming steward decided to hit my head with his bloody elbow. i was

like, ow. then he was apologising and rubbing my head after that.

haha. he decided to be a little more friendly and started talking to

me. keep in mind that my brain was already muddled by abishek at the

time and all i could do was give monosyllabic answers and grin like a

fool. when the conversation was over, i turned to zur and asked, i

have eye crap in my eyes don't i? aaaarrrggghhh soooo unglam lor!

first stop

then we landed. helloooo istanbul! we got airport pick up with our

hostel and were whisked away to our home for the next 2 nights. stayed

in the old sultanahmet area, within walking distance of the blue

mosque and aya sofya. antique hostel is pretty awesome lah, very

friendly staff, nice setting, good brekkie. too bad we didn't take

pics with the staff. oh well.

we dropped our bags off and walked around before checking in cos we

were a little early. fell in love with the quaint houses and

cobblestone streets. one thing tho, they drive like madmen! seriously!

u would think that a huge tour bus could never make sharp turns and

pass thru little streets and alleys but it can! saw it with me own

eyes! unbelievable. while walking down one of the streets, we got to

know a shop keeper named mehmet tim. he was very friendly and gave us

a few good tips. little did we know that there was an udang di sebalik

batu... hot tip for future tourists- never never accept an invitation

to drink tea unless u really wanna buy a carpet! ez and i got a carpet

each... small price to pay for escaping with our lives. wahaha.

there were hot men everywhere lah... zur and i cuci mata until we were

tired. haha. kept going kacak kacak kacak the entire time. ez wasn't

very amused but he was nice about it, seeing how we're so deprived in

sg of good looking men. haha. needless to say, our malay improved cos

we were gossiping about people right in front of them most of the

time. oh, in istanbul, we are malaysians. natives of kl in fact, cos

apparently they don't like u.s. allies and guess which country is a

u.s. ally? yeah, that's right.

ok this is the brekkie view we get in the morn. cool rite... looks

more awesome live!

took lots of pics of the blue mosque. was pretty obsessed about it.

haha. this is one of them.

inside the mosque... was stunning, tho the smell of hundreds of feet

stank to high hell.

yum yum... our fave restaurant, doy doy. damned good food in turkey.

everything halal sommore!

passing under a suspension bridge on our bosphorus river cruise. very

hot day, think we got a tan.

as u can see, our time in turkey was quite well spent. went to the

blue mosque, aya sofya, a museum or two, walked around and ate like

the locals, washed eyes a lot. haha. we got a glimpse of the new city

when we were on our daytour and we were like, thank god we're holed up

within the walls of the old city. new city like very normal lah, like

every other city around. crowded, tall buildings, etc etc.

our shuttle back to the airport was such an experience. like roller

coaster sia. they were weaving in and out and stuffing bags and people

into the van like no one's business. crazy fellas. just when we

thought they had no more room and couldn't pick up anyone else, they

did. when we thought there was no way they were gonna make it passing

thru a narrow street with a huge truck on one side and a rough wall on

the other, they did. it was simply a matter of maneuvering and closing

side mirrors here and there. u have to experience it to believe it.

really.

and just like that, our turkish experience came to an end. next stop,

roma, italy!

*dey got limit on no. of photos that can be uploaded leh! will put up