Turkey: Our shopping spree

Bismillah.

Alhamdulillah, my family and I managed to pull ourselves out from daily routine of work and escaped to the land of Baklava.

As for my parents, they both are so crazy for olives. They started to like olive (known as 'zaitun' in Arabic), when their Arabs friends introduced it to them when they still in the States. They could eat olives with almost everything, sandwich, spaghetti, pizza, pasta , fried noodles, pita bread etc. So going to Turkey has served them way right as the Turkey has Mediterranean climate zone. So, this kind of climate of relatively mild winter and very warm summer produces olives, figs, walnuts, grapes and fragrant herbs of rosemary, thyme and lavender etc. So they have bought kg's of green olives from the spice bazaar (also known as Egyptian bazaar) in Istanbul.

I had no idea olives could come in so many colour. Thought only green and black. hehe

Since mom is so much into this fruits and spices, so she bought dried figs, walnuts, pistachios, apricots, some Turkish spices for chicken marination, olive oil for skin care, and chili.

See the signage at the entrance. Misir Carsisi  mean Egyptian bazaar or market.

As for me, I know what I would be looking for. When I was in Bosnia, I always checked on Bosnian girls, especially how the Muslim Bosnian dress up. Since I saw them mostly in winter, so my observations is that most of them wear wide leg pants or jeans with a long winter coat and plain colour shawls to cover the head. Sometimes they go for skirts. For younger generations, they wear pleated jeans skirt which I find it stylish yet modest.  In Malaysia, it's hard to find jeans skirt which I like. Mostly they are too curvy or too tight at thigh area. So, I decided to get one for myself and was hoping that they have my size. The thing is that I realized when I shopped for skirts or pants, most of them are made in Turkey. And I was told by a Turkish friend that they could get those in Turkey with cheaper price. All this while I had been wondering where to get a pair of nice skirt and loose jeans pant. From that moment, I made an conclusion that is where the source is. Turkey! :)

You can witness below when I said Istanbul is one of the shopping heaven for Muslim women! ;)

You can get everything from top to bottom.

Skirts/ Pants

Pardesu ( A long garment worn by Muslim women. In Malaysia we called them 'jubbah'. In the middle east, it is 'abaya')

Love the colour!

Shawls, pashminas & scarfs

Pashmina

Scarfs and shawls retail store. They only take if you want to buy in bulk.

For dad, he looked for office shirts and suit jackets. We stumbled across a complex where you can find most of men's wear. So, it's dad turn after so many ours. hehe. The price is reasonable too. Okay, guys! Don't you worry because you have shopping spot too! :)

Sisters finding ways to fill up the gap while waiting for dad.

Their significant welcome treat. Free tea!

So, I guess what makes each trip different from others is what we managed to find and bring home. Things which is not available at home or if there is, would costs us more. Therefore, a reminder to all, always make a research on your travel destination on what they specialized at and what is plentiful there, so that you won't miss getting something worthy. And worth the flight ticket! :)

Vietnam : Places to shop

Bismillah.

It is becoming common among the Malaysian to go to Vietnam because of its shopping paradise. Well, from what I heard, fabric especially for making baju kurung (a traditional Malay women clothes) are very cheap and they offer variety kinds of fabric and colours. I was so astonished to see several local shops. They are specifically tailoring for baju kurung. And oh, most surprising thing was, the local Vietnamese ladies could speak Malay! If you walked down the stores, you will hear, “Kakak, cari apa” , “ Kain cantik-cantik!” or  “Madam, kain murah-murah!” I thought I was in Jalan TAR, KL. I mean how could they possibly speak Malay? When I asked them if they have ever come to Malaysia, most of them answered ‘NO’. Even though they speak just the basic of Malay but I think they picked up the language really quick. This must have been the bunch of Malaysian, who keep coming here for shopping, indirectly spreading the language here. Or maybe Malay language itself is easy to learn. That is probably true. Remember what we learned in History in secondary school, where Bahasa Melayu (Malay language) served as the lingua franca in southeast Asia? It  had been adopted by Arab and Chinese traders in the region well before the European arrived. Okay, now I see the reason why. Bahasa Melayu can easily be adapted to foreign tongue. J

Okay, back to shopping matter. There are a few places, where you can buy pretty laces, beautiful cottons, viscose, chiffons or Vietnamese silks, just name it. They have it all.

An Dong:  Located in District 5. Offers cheapest price according to the taxi driver that took us there.

An Dong complex

Fabric to make suits or blazer are also available

Gorgeous isn' it? So, to all bride-to-be, mayday mayday!

      

     Ben Than: It is located in District 1. A tourist area. According to the local, this place is more expensive than An Dong. But since most of the tourists stay in District 1, so this shopping attracts most of the tourists since it is nearer.

If you know Pasar Buluh Kubu in Kelantan, Malaysia, then this shopping complex is the closest thing to that. 

Both places offer the same item for fabric, textiles, ladies wear, embroideries shoes, handmade bags etc. For fabric and textiles, to get 10USD for four metres long, it is okay. 10 USD is equal to RM30 plus minus. But, if you buy more, you will get more discounts. Let say if you take four sets of four metres long, each of your fabric would costs you only RM27-RM25!  “Murah murah!” Oh yesss…J

For souvenirs and local hand crafts, I suggested that you go to Ben Than because it offers more choices compared to An Dong.

What we got from reading commentaries from the previous tourist to Vietnam, according to them, all of the items are actually expensive just on price tag. You need to bargain as low as 70% less than the price tag. If your negotiation skill is good, you might have the chance to get the best price. But sometimes, the seller is just as stubborn as you are. So, don’t try to make a scene. Just walk off. Yes, just walk away and just two steps you make, they might call back. Hehe. They would ask you how much you are willing to pay or they would give you a new cheaper price. Believe me. It worked for me most of the time.  Remember to pretend as if you wanted to walk away to go to the next shop. Just don’t walk too fast. You might want to hear them calling you. But, if you heard nothing, then, just walk off lah! Hey, there are like hundreds of stores there and don’t waste your time on that one particular shop. Keep your option opens!

There are more shops that you can find on the street.  

Saigon- Beautiful Shop, located in Nam Ky Khoi Nghia Street in District 1.

I personally suggest you to storm into this shop which specialized in producing bags. All handmade bags, embroidered bags. I think it’s cool if you buy here in bulk and sell later back home. So far, they sell the cheapest than any other place for bags. J

When Malaysian goes to Vietnam

Bismillah.

Arrived in Ho Chi Minh city two days ago along with my parents and my little sister. Just four of us. Were four of us. Now, just the three of us. Last night, we sent mother to the airport since she has to work today. We spent the last two days solely for shopping. Mother had always been the one all geared up and had been pulling us around to here and there. It is like she had the map and travel guide in her head. She could remember stores and streets very well. I know she had been looking forward to shop in Vietnam. Mother is always passionate about shopping which somehow I think is good. Now that she's gone home, i wonder what my day here in Saigon would be like.

And guess what, i think most Malay from Malaysia are like that. You see, when were walking around in the city, it was very easy to spot another Malay Malaysian in sight. I don't see many Chinese Malaysian here. Or maybe they look alike with the local Vietnamese that I don't recognized them. So far, I've met only one group of Chinese Malaysian and one group of Indian Malaysian. Other than that, Malay and Malay again. You can recognize them from their veil/hijab style and clothing. And their hands are always full of plastic shopping bags. That's what I'm talking about. Malaysian like to shop especially when the place offers cheap and various things to shop. Trust me. I have seen it Bandung and Bangkok. Now, I'm witnessing it again in Vietnam.

I think the reason of this phenomenon is due to the rising of low cost airlines systems in Malaysia. The famous AirAsia tagline, "Now everyone can fly" really works. You can even save up to 70% if you booked a year in advance. This low cost airlines has opened the opportunity for everyone to go abroad and thus, expanding their shopping coverage. To go shopping in neighbouring countries is way cheaper especially going to country that has lower currency rate than your country. :) And you know what, last night when we were lining up to check-in at the airport, most of people are Malaysian! I think they might be in the same case like my mother where they go travel and/or shop just for the weekend. Remember again, that "Now everyone can fly"? hehe.

we were in the queue for check-in. See those people behind us?

sorry for the blurry image

People can escape fromm their routine workloads in the weekdays and escape in the weekend! As they say, borderless world. huh? Thanks to AirAsia for making people less stress and spend less money. ;)

I will write more on travel in Vietnam. Stay tune.